Recent Reads - The War of the Worlds

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War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells - I vaguely remembered reading this pioneer work of science fiction when I was in high school, but it was so long ago that this was really like a first-time read. We studied this book in the Lit class I'm teaching at a homeschool co-op.

The unnamed narrator of this classic opens by setting the backdrop, explaining his acquaintance with scientists and their observation of the planet Mars. Several anomalies observed on Mars are unexplained, until meteorites that land in the English countryside turn out to be cylinders containing extra-terrestrial visitors from Mars. The local gawking and fascination soon gives way to panic when the Martians begin using a heat-ray to wipe out entire towns and terrorize the area in their strange walking metal transports.

The narrator manages to get his wife to relative safety, then returns to their hometown to find it destroyed. On his flight out of danger, he is thrown together with an hysterical curate and trapped in a partially demolished house right next to a new Martian landing place. From their dangerous vantage point, they are able to observe the Martians somewhat more closely, and eventually the narrator escapes, still determined to find his wife. 

He arrives in London to find it mostly in ruins and with very few inhabitants, but soon learns that the Martians are not invincible after all.

The girls in my class and I agreed that although the early parts of the book were slow going, we felt it was a worthwhile read and found that it definitely got more interesting as we went. 

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Recent Reads - The Last Book In The Universe

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The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick - This post-apocalyptic novel is assigned reading for the high school creative writing class I'm teaching at our homeschool co-op, so obviously I needed to read it if I'm to guide discussion about it. It's targeted for a younger teen audience, around middle school age, and was chosen to go along with the high school level writing course because its easy readability makes it a generally quick read for older students who are then able to focus on the story-telling aspects and learn from it.

So here's what happens in the fast-paced story. The protagonist is a teenager who has become known as Spaz, thanks to his epilepsy. His disability got him banished from his foster family and the 'latch' (a neighborhood run by a gang) he'd been brought up in, and he's an outsider even among outsiders. It turns out that there's some good news to having epilepsy though - he was never able to use mind-probes, which is the addictive and brain-draining method most people in the latches are getting entertainment and information. Spaz meets an old man named Ryter who takes an interest in him, and eventually accompanies Spaz on his quest to reach his ill foster sister.

Spaz and Ryter must cross forbidden latches, travel through no-mans land areas, and face all kinds of dangers. Along the way, Ryter continuously talks to Spaz about the importance of books and writing, which are almost completely unknown in this future world. They even wind up rescuing a 'proov' (genetically improved people who live in Eden, which is completely off limits to 'normals') and then try to enlist her help in getting to Spaz's sister.

I read this book in a couple of hours as we drove home from vacation, and I look forward to being able to discuss it in class with my students. It's a great quest and adventure story with interesting characters and a theme perfect for a writing or literature group to discuss.

This book is a Book Under 250 pages for the Full House Reading Challenge 2018 hosted by The Book Date; and a book you can read in a day for the 2018 Reading Challenge at Modern Mrs. Darcy.

©2008-2018 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

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Recent Reads - The Fatal Tree

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The Fatal Tree (Bright Empires) by Stephen R Lawhead - I feel badly that it took me so long to finish this book. I admit that in part it was because this is the final book in the Bright Empires series and I kind of didn't want it to end! As I've come to expect from Lawhead, the story kept me turning pages and holding my breath as I followed the time travel adventures of Kit and his friends.

Quick recap from the previous books: Kit Livingstone and his girlfriend Mina, along with a growing cast of characters, have been learning as much as they can about ley line travel, which is essentially traveling into alternate timelines. Their own introduction to ley travel was accidental, but they are following in the footsteps of a master traveler, who mapped his own vast knowledge on his own torso using tattoos. Trying to beat them to the complete map is Lord Burleigh and his henchmen - clearly the bad guys! In the fourth novel, the questors included Kit and Mina, Cass and her father Tony, and Gianni; and they'd discovered that something was happening to time - something potentially disastrous that would end the universe.

All around the world, strange and inexplicable anomalies in time are resulting in disasters small and large. Unexplained mysteries to most, but the Questors recognize that these blips could mean cosmic disaster. When they figure out that the Well of Souls probably holds the key to stopping and reversing the damage, Kit helps them travel back to the prehistoric world of the River City Clan that he had lived with previously, since he had seen the Well of Souls from there. But the portal is completely blocked by a gigantic tree which seems to be part of the ley portal itself. Even worse, contact with the tree burns out their shadow lamps and even kills one of their members. How can they get to the Well of Souls with the fatal tree in the way?

While Kit, Mina, and the others are trying to solve this problem and navigate the increasingly unstable leys, Burleigh languishes in a medieval Prague prison, with Mina's friend Etzel caring for him. When Mina and the others finally find their way back to Prague, they are shocked to find Burleigh released from prison and working for Etzel - and claiming to have been converted and wanting to help them set things right! Can he be trusted? What choice do they have in their race against time?

By the same author: The Shadow Lamp, The Spirit Well; The Skin Map; Patrick; The Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - Ticker

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Ticker by Lisa Mantchev - Penny Farthing has a clockwork heart. The doctor who invented it saved her life, but at what cost to others? Dr Warwick is awaiting trial for murder, because his testing of improvements to the Ticker and other Augmentations have killed dozens of people. On the last day of his trial, there are protests throughout Bazalgate, and an explosion at the Farthings' factory that nearly kills Penny's brother Nic. When Penny and Nic finally make it home, they discover that their parents have been kidnapped, and they receive a ransom note demanding all the research for Augmentation.

With the help of friends Violet and Sebastian, and the head of the security force army, Marcus Kingsley, Penny and Nic try to stay ahead of the mysterious enemies and unravel the mystery of who has kidnapped their parents and why.

This is the first steampunk novel I've read, and I have to say I loved it from the opening sentence. Well, from my first look at the cover art, actually! Bazalgate is set in an alternate universe that is a charming - and surprisingly believable - combination of Victorian industrial and futuristic mechanical world. The story is told from Penny's point of view, and she is delightfully plucky and determined character, with a witty and slightly ironic voice. The mystery was detailed enough to keep me guessing even when I had a good hunch as to what was going on, and the romantic elements were sweet and clean, yet with an undercurrent of powerful emotion and passion. This was another occasion when I absolutely fell in love with a book that is clearly intended for a young adult audience. It is so well-written and clever that I can heartily recommend it to adult and teen readers alike. In fact, I have already encouraged my young teen daughter to read it when she has the chance, and I myself am hoping to be able to read more by this author.

©2008-2015 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads - The Eight

The Eight by Katherine Neville - This exciting adventure story has been one of my favorites for many years, and it's one I re-read fairly regularly. It's sort of a combination of thriller, mystery, and historical novel, with some sci-fi and fantasy elements thrown in for good measure. There are parallel stories taking place in two different time periods. In one, a French nun named Mireille has fled an Abbey during the French Revolution, and she carries with her pieces of an ancient chess set said to have mystical power. Some of the other nuns have carried away pieces of the chess set as well, and the mission the Abbess has charged them with is to protect those pieces and scatter them so that the mysterious formula hidden in the chess set cannot fall into the wrong hands. Mireille eventually winds up with many of chess pieces, and on her own personal quest to recover as many of them as possible and figure out the secret hidden in the set. She travels all over Europe and to Algeria in her search, and faces intrigue, conspiracies, and deadly situations. In the second story, Catherine is a computer specialist in the 1970s who has been assigned to develop programs and models in Algeria for the fledgling organization OPEC. Before leaving the USA, she is recruited to hunt for an antique chess piece while in Algeria. She becomes a player in the same dangerous Game as Mireille, and embroiled in her own race to find the chess pieces and decipher the formula before the "bad guys" do. But who is on the Black Team and who is on the White Team? Who can either of these women trust as allies?

As many times as I've read this book, I thoroughly enjoy it every time, and I especially love the character Catherine's dry humor.

My previous posts about The Eight can be seen HERE and HERE.

By the same author: The Fire

(Book #39 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

Recent Reads {The Shadow Lamp}

The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead - I waited a long time for this fourth book in the epic time travel science fiction fantasy series, so it does me no credit that I dallied awhile before reading it. But once I started, it was hard to put down! 

Refresher from the previous novels: Kit Livingstone and his girlfriend were unexpectedly introduced to ley travel by Kit's great-grandfather, but were initially separated when Mina wound up in medieval Prague instead of staying with Kit. Mina made the best of things, while Kit and a growing cast of characters searched for her and searched for the pieces of the skin map and its secrets about ley travel. The travelers include descendants of Arthur Flinders-Petrie (the man who had the map tattooed on his chest); Lady Haven Fayth and Giles Standfast; Gianni, a priest-astronomer; and Cassandra Clarke, who stumbled upon a ley line in Arizona that took her to 1930s Damascus and the Zetetic Society. The Zetetic Society is a fellowship of ley travelers devoted to helping each other and protecting the secrets of ley travel. To this end, they are all searching for the skin map, but so is Lord Burleigh, but his quest is for his own gain and he is clearly the bad guy. Confused? Well, I do recommend reading this series in order and not trying to jump in partway through!

In this installment, Cass is sent by the Zetetic Society to find out what's happened to a couple of missing members (Kit's great-grandfather and his colleague, Sir Henry Fayth), and joins Haven and Giles in a ley journey to Prague to meet Kit, Mina, and Gianni. During one of their attempts to retrace Kit's leap from the River City Clan and find the bone house where he saw what he believed was the spirit well, their shadow lamps burn out. Their next job becomes finding out what fuels the lamps so they can have more made, the lamps being useful for locating active ley lines. In the meantime, Cass's father is searching for her and finds his way to the Zetetic Society, where his background as an astro-physicist is highly valued. In another part of the world, Charles Flinders-Petrie is making plans to retrieve the skin map from a time before it was separated into pieces, but he has to find it first - in his grandfather's tomb in Egypt. Lord Burleigh is busy also in his own quest for the map, employing criminals and a ship, and engaging in general evil and brutality to get what he wants.

Once again, Lawhead kept me on the figurative edge of my seat as I followed the characters in their breathless race through time to find the map. During the course of this book, the theory is presented that time may soon start moving backwards, which would result in a catastrophic end to the entire universe. Members of the Zetetic Society believe that the skin map may hold the secret to avoiding this disaster, and that they may be able to avert it if they can find the map and the event that has precipitated the backwards movement. There's plenty of suspense, adventure and intrigue involved, as it's still not always clear to the players who can be trusted. As the book came to a close, it seemed the Zetetic Society was on the verge of a breakthrough, so I will be anxiously awaiting the conclusion in The Fatal Tree, coming out in September 2014.

By the same author: The Spirit Well; The Skin Map; Patrick; The Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail

(Book #27 in the 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge)

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Teaser Tuesdays: June 24, 2014

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. To play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Tony considered this for a moment. "I certainly don't mean to be, in Mrs. Peelstick's term, snarky -- if I seem that way, let's chalk it up to parental concern and exhaustion brought about by utter . . . disorientation and a massive paradigm shift. But how can I be certain that you don't have Cass stashed in your basement or locked in an attic somewhere?"
~The Shadow Lamp by Stephen R. Lawhead, page 166

©2008-2014 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads {The Spirit Well}

The Spirit Well by Stephen R Lawhead - First, I have to say that it came as a shock to me when I neared the end of this book that there are two more still to come in this series! What?! How did I not realize that earlier? On the plus side, there's two more books for me to look forward to!

Okay, in the two previous Bright Empires Novels, we met Kit Livingstone and his friend Mina. Kit's great-grandfather introduced him to the world of ley travel and through circumstances Mina got involved too. Kit and Mina were accidentally separated and Mina has been making a new and successful life for herself in medieval Prague, while Kit and his great-grandfather and other associates are travelling through other time periods. We also learned about Arthur Flinders-Petrie, known as The Man Who Is Map, a great pioneer of ley travel. As Arthur learned the intricacies of the intersections and portals of ley travel, he had a map of symbols tattooed onto his chest. After his death, the tattoo map was separated into five pieces, and ley travelers have been racing to find and decipher the pieces ever since. Some are the good guys, some are the bad guys. We've already met several bad guys, including Archelaus Burleigh and his henchmen, the Burleymen. When last we saw Kit, he was with a Stone Age tribe he thought of as the River City Clan.

Kit's Stone Age experience includes a ley line visit to a place he is sure is the Well of Souls. In The Spirit Well, he finally finds a ley (quite by accident!) that returns him to Europe at a time when he providentially meets up with Mina again. In this installment we also follow the adventures of the Flinders-Petrie descendants and their relationship to the map. Which of them can be trusted? Some are trying to protect the map and hide it, and others are trying to put it back together again. We are also introduced to a new character, Cassandra Clarke, an archaeologist. While on a dig in Arizona, she stumbles into a ley and finds herself in 1950s Damascus. Her search for answers and for the way back home leads her to the Seekers, the last of the Zetetic Society.

Once again, an action-packed blend of science fiction, history, and mythic mystery combine to make The Spirit Well an absorbing read. It took me a very long time to get through it, because I kept reading other things along the way and getting distracted. The large cast of characters sometimes needed a bit of refreshing when I'd come back to the book after taking a break, however it was only the Flinders-Petrie men that I had trouble keeping straight. The historical and Biblical references were fascinating, and there were definitely a few plot surprises along the way too. As I was reading the last couple of chapters, I kept thinking, "how is he going to wrap all of this up in just the few pages left?" and then when it became clear that there would be another cliff-hanger, I finally caught on. Yes, there are FIVE books planned for this series. I will be kept waiting until September 2013 before the fourth is published - The Shadow Lamp.

By the same author: The Skin Map; Patrick; The Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, Grail

©2008-2013 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Tuesday's Treasures - The Eight

This post is copied from my main blog, Homeschool Coffee Break, but because this link-up is about books, my contributions will appear here too!

This week I'm featuring another book that would never have caught my eye, except for the recommendation of an acquaintance. The Eight by Katherine Neville was suggested as a monthly read by a lady in a book club I was in several years ago. The book club members scrounged up copies through the library, inter-library loan, and half.com and got to reading. I purchased a copy and hoped that I wouldn't regret having spent the money. I never have.

This is a thriller/medieval mystery/historical novel/romantic adventure story all rolled into one.  The action jumps back and forth between two main characters and their respective time periods - Mireille, a French nun in the late 1700s; and Cat, a modern-day computer specialist in the 1970s. As revolution grips France, Mireille and her cousin Valentine flee the ancient abbey with the mission of carrying away pieces of an ancient chess set supposedly once owned by Charlemagne. Cat is sent to Algeria for her accounting firm, but has been asked to do a little side job while she is there - search for an antique chess piece. Each woman finds herself on a quest to find and decode the secret of the ancient chess set which holds a mysterious power, and to find the scattered pieces of the chess set before the team of  "bad guys" does. Intrigue, conspiracy, power struggles, and dangerous situations are part of their daily adventures in the Game they are involved in.  In many instances, it's hard to tell who is on the White Team and who is on the Black Team - and even which team is considered the "good guys"! The first time I read it, most of the surprise ending elements were truly unexpected - I read the final chapters with all the storyline resolutions and realized that it all made sense but I hadn't seen it coming at all. I've read it several times since and have enjoyed just as much upon each re-reading.  

There is also a sequel, The Fire, which is not quite as gripping, in my opinion, but is still very good.

One little caution - this is definitely a secular book, and subtly presents the idea that all religions are based in the same ancient mysticism. The mystical and fantasy elements will not appeal to all readers. There are also a  couple of 'love scenes' that aren't overly graphic, but are more descriptive than is necessary.

Here are the posts I originally wrote about The Eight and about The Fire.

The original post is linked at Every Bed of Roses for Tuesday's Treasures. Blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading, or one you found at the library.

©2008-2013 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/

Recent Reads {Libriomancer}

Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines - Credit my library's feature shelf for another step out of my usual reading confines.  I saw this one and couldn't help being intrigued.  Hines is an experienced fantasy writer, and this is Book One in a new series from him - Magic Ex Libris. In it, we are introduced to Isaac Vainio, a librarian in Michigan, who is also secretly cataloguing books with magical potential.  He is not only a librarian, but a member of a secret organization of Porters founded centuries ago by Johannes Gutenberg to protect the world from supernatural threats.  Isaac is a type of magician known as a libriomancer - he can reach into books and create objects from the stories - but he has been ordered not to use this skill except in an emergency.  When a trio of vampires attacks him in the library because they believe he has been killing their kind, he has only his magic and the help of a dryad named Lena Greenwood to help him.  Oh - and his pet fire-spider named Smudge.  Isaac and Lena work to find out who or what is killing vampires and magicians, and soon realize that they are up against an unknown killer with incredible power, and that they cannot even count on the Porters to help.  To make matters even worse, Gutenberg himself has disappeared.  Isaac continues to search for the Gutenberg, and the killer, and the connection between the two, and he will need all his libriomancer skills and the guts to experiment with magic and take some crazy risks if he is to succeed.

I think this book would appeal to book-lovers who appreciate imaginative fantasy fiction.  The story is full of literary and historic references and involves magic, mythology, science fiction, vampires, and more.  There are mild profanities in many places, and some readers may be offended by references to immoral relationships, but there is nothing graphic that would be offensive, in my opinion.

Recent Reads {The Skin Map}

The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead - Most years, when I get birthday money, I spend at least part of it on books.  This year I purchased my own copies of The Skin Map and The Bone House with birthday money.  I had read The Skin Map very shortly after it was first published, but now that I had the second book in the series to read, I thought it would probably be a good idea to refresh my memory of the first.  I enjoyed it every bit as much the second time through, but then again, Lawhead is one of my favorite authors and I never seem to get tired of reading his work.

The Bright Empires series is an intriguing combination of science fiction, suspense thriller, and historical novel.  Kit Livingstone lives a rather dull existence in a dead-end job and a lackluster romance, but all that changes when he unexpectedly meets with his great-grandfather and is introduced to the adventures of ley line travel.  Kit tries to show his skeptical girlfriend Mina what happened, but they become separated - she finds herself in Bavaria of long ago, while Kit returns to the London of the 17th century where he had been with his great-grandfather.  And so begins their quest to find Mina in whatever alternate universe she has landed in, while eluding the bad guys in the race to find the skin map.  At the same time, Mina is adjusting to the surprising changes in her circumstance and making the best of things.

My comments from my first read of The Skin Map.

By the same author:  The Pendragon Cycle: Taliesin, Merlin, Arthur, Pendragon, and Grail;  Patrick.