The Life in the Angel Carving by J S Warren

Miranda was carved out of stone long, long ago. For some unknown reason, she has a living soul and a mind that can think. But for many, many years she is trapped inside of the stone carving of an angel. She can only look and think, movement is impossible. The world passes her by. In the middle of a terrible war, Miranda falls from her high perch on the church into a pond down below. Much to her surprise, Miranda falls through a gateway into another world.  And she becomes human.

The story is about Miranda's life on Arbarron, the strange world she came to, and her quest to save the world from an unknown evil.

I thought 'The Life in the Angel Carving' was a good plot idea. It had great potential and I was curious from the beginning. But it took too long to get going. The story was very slow and it seemed as if there was too much unnecessary information, or information that just wasn't brought to life. My attention wasn't caught until the last few pages of the book. I thought the characters were nice, but nothing special. Also, some of the characters weren't described as well as I would have liked. I thought the King was an older man but in truth he wasn't as old as he looked. I thought that was a bit confusing because he spoke of how old he was and yet he didn't appear old.

In the story, there is a massive gateway in space connecting the Artex Galaxy with the Milky Way Galaxy. Earth is in shambles and is falling apart with every horrible thing imaginable. Disease, war, famine, drought, death, greed - the list goes on and on and it was very depressing. It was too much like someone was giving me a lecture on how bad Earth could become if we don't do something. The author portrayed humans as if they were the most detestable creatures alive and it was all their fault. Personally, I don't enjoy being "yelled at” when I'm trying to read an enjoyable book. It was much too heavy and gloomy to drag into the book. If the description had been shorter and not so terribly uncomfortable and preach-y, that would have been fine. But I'm so tired of everyone shouting to save the world while we can, to recycle and save Mother Earth! I find it tedious and not enjoyable to read about.

 Some of the words and phrases the author uses would be too hard for younger children to understand. There were a few curse words here and there that might bother younger children.  Also, the pages and descriptions about a futuristic Earth gone to shambles could be disturbing.

Reviewer Age: 15

Reviewer City, State and Country: Doylestown, PA USA

Night Mare in the Hamptons

Summary: Night Mare in the Hamptons is the second installment of the Willow Tate series written by Celia Jerome. After first dealing with a ten-foot-tall red troll, Willow has another problem on her hands. Not only does the whole town expect her to take care of three enchanted mares that are running amuck, but she also has to work with a cocky horse-whisperer along the way. At least she'll have the help of the uniquely talented locals, or more accurately, psychic, talented locals. It looks like graphic novelist Willow Tate has a lot on her hands.

Opinion: This is a book that I would read once, but it isn't really one that I would reread. The writing style isn’t one that I enjoy, but the idea of the story was what kept me reading. The subject of the book was interesting and very creative. I felt like Willow and Ty contradicted themselves a lot, so you can't get a very good read on what their personalities were. All the other characters had solid personalities, and they didn't waver on who they were. The writer gave great detail about everything, but I don’t enjoy this; I don't need to know what every surrounding town is like and where everything is.  Some people may like the book more because of this, but it was the part I had the most problem with.   I did like the humorous writing style of the author, it had me laughing out load at times, and made me smile.

Content:3  The reason I gave this book a 3 on the age content, is that during some parts of the book there were sexual themes. Anyone that reads this book should be on a mature level, if they aren't, they should put this book back.
5
Katie Campbell_IVMS
Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Fairborn, Ohio USA

Wildwing by Emily Whitman

As a young woman of no means in 20th century England, Addy has very few options for her future. When a rich classmate taunts her in school, Addy leaves and becomes the maid of mysterious local man, Mr. Greenwood. While in Mr. Greenwood's house, Addy comes across a time machine in a locked room. She is transported back to the 13th century where she is mistaken for a Lady. Addy is given the chance to live the life of the rich, and she couldn't be happier. But as time passes, she learns that the life of a wealthy lady is just as difficult as hers was. As she comes to this realization, Addy has to make a choice between staying a Lady in the 13th Century or returning back to the future and her family.
As soon as I picked up Wildwing, I got caught up in the story. I'm a huge fan of all historical fiction novels, and this story combined both the 13th and 20th centuries. The idea of time travel made the story more interesting. Addy was a great character to follow and I looked forward to all of her adventures. The only thing that bothered me about the novel was the way it was written; it's better suited for younger readers. But the story was excellent and I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

Reviewer Age:24
Reviewer City, State and Country: Philadelphia, PA USA

Time Riders by Alex Scarrow

Three times in history, a mysterious stranger shows up right before a child was about to die in a disaster. Each time he offers the child a choice: to come with him and live an invisible life, or to stay where they are and die. The three children that accept are taken through time to the year 2001. There they learn about their new job as time riders. They are in charge of keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary that would signify a change in history. If they find one, they must risk life and limb to go back in time and correct the change.  One day, all of a sudden the United States in no longer its own county; it is part of Nazi Germany. The time riders must go back to when the change was made and correct it if they want their world to stay the same.

I thought that this was a good book overall. As far as I know, A. Scarrow came up with a completely original idea and made it into an amazing book. It was easy to identify with the characters; I can see some of the same qualities in myself and my friends. The vocabulary was challenging enough to make the book seem like it was written for teenagers, but not so challenging as to discourage readers. I would definitely recommend this book too. I have a lot of friends who are in to science fiction novels and would enjoy reading through this book just as much as I did. I' d love to see what Scarrow would do with a sequel of this book.

Reviewer Age: 15
Reviewer City, State and Country: Berwyn Heights, Maryland USA

The Year's Best Science Fiction by Gardner Dozois

The Years Best Science Fiction is a collection of short stories. They are all about new worlds, future lifestyles, and adventure. Each story has a different idea of the future, and they are all unique. Some stories are about different planets, some are about government, and there is many interesting inventions. The setting is very detailed and you will feel like you have traveled in time.

The Years Best Science Fiction was pretty slow reading. It has some good stories in it, but overall I was not very interested. There is some very good description though, and you can really feel like you are in the future at times. Unfortunately, the plots were pretty confusing, and the stories did not all make sense. I wish this book were a little more exciting or at least interesting enough to keep you turning the pages. I actually had trouble finishing the book, because it was just very dull. I would not recommend this book for teenagers, but some adults might like it.

Reviewer Age:13
Reviewer City, State and Country: Broken Arrow, Ok united states

Enigma by C. F. Bentley

Sissy is the high priest of all of Harmony, and is therefore expected to have an intense connection with the goddess. However, in her previous adventures, she lost her sacred bond as a result of an attempted murder. One of her closest friends had died in the bombing, and left her with the prophesy to fix her connection with the Goddess among the stars. So began Sissy's adventures aboard the Labrynithe Station. These adventures include a forbidden love for a man who is not born of her planet - a love ominously threatening to destroy her reputation among her people. However, she is not prepared for a monumental discovery about her origins, aliens who desire to take over the station, or double-crossing humans prepared to leave no trace of their passing.

I found Enigma to be a fascinating read, a bit boring at the beginning, but quickly picking up speed as the plot developed. It only really had two settings though, and this could become drab if you prefer variety in the books you read. However, the two settings were very intriguing, one being a complex space station in which invaders could seemingly move about undetected, and the other an imaginative planet not too different from our own. The tone of the book was mysterious; you never knew when a critical event was about to take place. Thus, I was on the edge of my seat for the entire book. Another factor that contributed to my overall enjoyment in the book was the main characters. The human characters were very true to their race; they felt anger, pity, love, hate and other human emotions. They believed in a higher being, such as a god, as many humans do in the real world. Interestingly enough, the alien beings experienced very similar emotions to those of humans. I found this to be a fascinating aspect of the novel, and it caused the book to further appeal to me.

The author achieved an excellent novel that explores the ideals of religions, as well as exposes the unfavorable characteristics of many humans. However, this is done in a very captivating fashion, one that was not boring in the least bit. Sure, the book had a few weaknesses, like its slow beginning and slightly complicated and confusing setting, but overall it had many more strengths then weaknesses. It had strong, realistic characters with very real emotions. The book had a strong plot that kept you guessing where it was going next. It had romance infused with drama. Because of these traits, it was one of the best books from the science fiction genre that I have read. However, I don't believe it was better than its prequel, "Harmony", but it was still very good. My personal response to Enigma is that it was a thrilling novel with mystery intertwined into the plot, and thus deserving its title. I would definitely recommend Enigma to most anybody, as it is very age appropriate, as well as exciting.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Baltimore, MD United States

Timelock by David Klass

Timelock by David Klass, is a book that fuses both the future and the past together. A boy named Jack is the Prince of Dann in a future world. His parents sent him back in time to our present-day with a set of legal guardians, in hopes that he will save the future world. There are many sacrifices that the royal family made to save the grim future. But will they be enough?

Timelock is the third book of the Caretaker Trilogy. If you ask me it was fairly easy to follow, but they did refer to the previous written books on numerous occasions. If you plan on reading this book, I'd suggest reading the first two books to get the full emotional impact.

Since the book was written in past and present tense the author did divide the book into different parts. Personally I found the reading too choppy in the present tense, which was how the majority of the book was written. Also, certain parts were a little too cheesy for me. It was definitely not my favorite book. That being said I have to commend the author for the wonderful fight scenes. These scenes were the only ones that I liked in present tense. The fights had a perfect balance--weren't too bloody-gory, and yet I felt involved. The scenes were also vividly captured and to the point.

This book took me over three weeks to read, because I kept putting it down and didn't want to pick it up again. It needed suspense to propel the book forward.

Reviewer Age:14
Reviewer City, State and Country: Libertyville, IL United States

Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi

Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi is about Zoe Boutin-Perry, a girl living on the colony Huckleberry. Zoe is adopted by John and Jane Perry after her father, Charles Boutin, passes away. She has two bodyguards, Hickory and Dickory, members of the Obin race, to whom she is something of an Queen. They learn how to live by watching her live. One day, Zoe's parents are asked to lead a new colony on the planet Roanoke. The whole family goes. Many people from ten different colonies help to settle Roanoke. However, when they get there, they find out that they are being hunted by the Conclave, a group of alien races that work together to settle the universe. In order to avoid detection, they have to give up all technology. After a year on Roanoke, during which the colonists start from scratch to build themselves a life, they are contacted by the Colonial Union. They discovered that Roanoke is a trap for the Conclave, and that now that the trap is ready, they can use technology again. By using it, however, the Conclave is drawn to them. Will the Colonial Union trap work, or will the Conclave destroy Roanoke? If it does work, how will the Conclave respond? Read Zoe's Tale to find out.

Zoe's Tale is a terrific book. I really connected with the characters, who are so lifelike, they could be real. The author's sense of humor really shows through his characters, and it brings the story to life. I recommend this book to anyone who likes Science Fiction novels. Zoe's Tale receives a ten out of ten.

Reviewer Age:14

Reviewer City, State and Country: Chambersburg, PA United States

Rating: 10

Content Rating: 2