Sapphire Blue

Sapphire Blue picks up where Ruby Red left off--Gwen and her time traveling partner Gideon are making regular trips back in time to meet with Count Saint Germain and others to work out the mystery of why they are the last time travelers and why their distant cousins Lucy and Paul have stolen the other chronograph to keep the Circle from closing. Gwen is seen as a poor replacement for her cousin Charlotte and Gideon keeps giving her mixed signals. Despite all this, Gwen begins investigating on her own, running into a young version of her beloved grandfather who decides to help her. Danger lurks; Gwen suffers humiliation; people aren't who they seem to be. This middle book sets the stage nicely for the final book, Emerald Green.

I love Gwen because she's such a real character who puts up with a lot of nonsense from those who should be most supportive. She's tough and she doesn't play by the rules, but her weakness is obviously the hard to read Gideon. He was quite irritating throughout this book, never giving clear vibes as to his intentions and what he knows about the Circle. The real surprise for me was that I liked the appearance of Xemerius, a ghost demon only seen by Gwen; usually these types of characters make me lose interest in a story because they seem silly, but Xemerius is actually funny and helpful in ways almost none of the humans are. In general, I'm pretty irritated by the secrecy and arrogance of the adults and Gideon, and will be glad to see if Gwen can take them all down a few pegs as she solves the mystery.

Sometimes a middle book in a series suffers from lack of action and the addition of non-essential information, but Sapphire Blue seems to have transcended those issues and gives a good story that furthers the overall plot well. I love Gwen and can't wait to see where all this time traveling ends up...but it looks like I've got a year to wait until the final book comes out.

~taminator40

Son by Lois Lowry

The fourth book in Lois Lowry's The Giver series, Son begins at roughly the same time as The Giver but from the viewpoint of Claire, a young birthmother. Claire gives birth to a boy but something goes wrong and she must have a c-section, thus ending her days as a birthmother. She finds herself reassigned to work in the hatchery, but somewhere along the way, she realizes something is odd...she misses the "product" she gave birth to. With just a few clues, Claire is able to track her son down in the newchildren's care giving center--and we, the long time readers, realize it's Gabe, the baby Jonas took with him at the end of The Giver. It's a good way to begin the book Son; it gives us another perspective on the community in the days leading up to Jonas's flight.

Son is mostly about Claire and her years long quest to find Gabe after Jonas leaves with the toddler. Claire winds up in an isolated village, the victim of a shipwreck, and spends a good deal of time training to climb a very steep cliff that will lead her on. Along the way, she is befriended by Einar, a lame young man who also once tried to escape the village, and while there is nothing explicit between them, the reader definitely gets the sense that if Claire stayed, there would be a relationship. Once she completes her mission, she runs into the mysterious Trademaster from The Messenger, who exacts a massive toll to reunite Claire with her son.

There is so much to love in Son but most of all the writing is engulfing and captivating. I experienced Claire's despair and her determination; I could feel the narrowness of the village where she lives, and I lived her loneliness after encountering the Trademaster. The story is obviously allegorical and full of symbolism that will not be lost on long time readers. It's not that the story is action packed or even new in its approach, it's that it flows so well and is so human that we can all identify.

Now, that being said, I did have some problems with the book that were overridden by the wonderful writing style. I understood the need for Claire to train for years but I found it frustrating that the story didn't move along farther in that time period. And I'm still dissecting how I feel about the ending...there didn't seem to be much lead up to the how of what happened, if that makes sense. I get it, really...but that doesn't make it any less abrupt. But overall this book is a fitting ending to a quartet of stories that ignited the fire of today's post-apocalyptic story boom.

~taminator40

Blogiversary!

Happy Blogiversary to me!

I so meant to keep an eye on the calendar so I'd know when it was August 27, but naturally it sped on by without my noticing. But if I had, I would've been excited to let you know that it's been SEVEN years since my first posting to Under a Blood Red Sky! And that hardly seems possible.

While I'm not a faithful poster, I do enjoy posting; mostly about books and book reviews, but sometimes silly stuff, sometimes touching stuff, sometimes just stuff. It's fun and it makes me happy...mission accomplished!

And just in case you are wondering where the title comes from:  It's from U2's "New Year's Day" because you can never have too much U2 in your life.

Thanks for being here! 

~taminator40

Of Ramblings and Readings

Well, well, well...here it is, September, and I've finished two books in the past month. It's not that I haven't been reading, it's that what I've been reading has been slow going, and most of that blame can be squarely laid at my feet.

First I read The Twelve by Justin Cronin (see review below) and that sucker was HUGE and INVOLVED. Very, very well done but it took quite a while to move through all the layers and story lines.

Next I've been tackling:

I've been reviewing it for HNS so I can't post a review here yet. I will say that ultimately I loved it and I'll recommend it for those who love good historical fiction with a solid mystery.

Mostly, however, I've just been:

That's right, just plain old distracted. School started up August 1 and it's been a rough start with teacher evals, Core standards, and an eighth grade class shipped in from hell every day to give the devil a break. Plus high school band season is rolling and with youngest daughter in her junior year, we're as busy as ever with all that stuff. I've also become involved with an online group that writes fan fic and I am loving the opportunity to get back to writing! It's been good for me to be complimented on my writing skills and just plain fun interacting with the others in the group. 

Next up I'm going to enjoy

for review for HNS. I missed the first in the series so I hope that won't be detrimental to figuring out what's going on. This one looks super good! 

Finally, I took Thursday off to accompany K to the Country Music Hall of Fame where we went to an intimate interview with Keith Urban! You guys know I love me some Keith and he did't disappoint. Very down to earth answering the 400 high schoolers' questions and interacting with the crowd. 

That's it, that's all from me for now. What's up with you?

~taminator40

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Here's what I've been reading since August 11...yes, that would mean more than two weeks spent with one book, but...oh, what a book.

The Twelve by Justin Cronin is the sequel to The Passage (review here), the post-apocalyptic tour de force released in 2010. I became completely immersed then in the America that suffers an attack by a group of escaped virals, men (with one notable exception) who had been on death row who were used for a military experiment that went horribly wrong. The Twelve picks up five years after the ending of The Passage, and our band of fighters has scattered, with its members either joining the Expeditionary, taken, or fighting separately. The virals are as prevalent and deadly as ever, and even after the death of Babcock in The Passage, no one is closer to finding and eliminating any other of the Twelve. It's almost as though time has stalled for Peter, Michael, Alicia, and Amy...until Alicia's determination to discover the hiding spot of Martinez brings momentum back to the survivors of the First Colony. Meanwhile, there is some time jumping as we are introduced to Lila and Guilder, two characters who will play extremely important roles almost immediately after the initial disaster began; Lila, a pregnant doctor, is traumatized enough by an emergency room attack that she in essence becomes convinced that *nothing* happened, and Guilder, a man suffering from ALS, survives an attack on his own, transformed into something I never saw coming. How these two lives' mix into that of Lawrence Grey from The Passage is both heart wrenching and horrifying, and leads directly to the main action climax of The Twelve.

There is SO. MUCH.  in The Twelve, and I'd recommend a reread of The Passage if time permits because it is all so intricate and complicated. There is time movement between the initial attacks, then forward about seventy-five years to another disaster that became known as The Massacre in the Field, and finally, we are led back 100 years post-apocalypse to our First Colony fighters and their determination to destroy the Twelve. The discovery of a settlement with echoes of Hitler's concentration camps leads Peter, Michael, and Alicia northward while Amy is drawn separately to the same place. There are echoes of Brad Wolgast and his deep connection to Amy; there is the hint that not all of the Twelve have lost all traces of humanity in Carter's ability to speak with Amy; there is the appearance of a mysterious woman who leads virals to not only attack, but to take some select humans alive. And through it all, we meet and re-meet people and we're given tantalizing hints of what might happen until it all goes to hell.

I feel as though I'm not doing justice to this novel which has totally enveloped me in the past two weeks; I want to say so much more but yet saying one thing would lead to another and I don't want to possibly spoil anything. I will say that much like The Passage,  there were moments and sections in The Twelve when I was so confused and there was so much going on I couldn't keep it all straight, and then there were pages when I just wanted the story to move ahead. But when the action hits, and it hits often and hard, it is next to impossible to put this book down. And you don't know where you're going, and you don't know if a beloved character will make it...and I have to say that the final 50 pages or so are probably some of the best action sequences I've read in quite some time. 

I want to talk about what happens to Amy, to Lila, to Grey, to Guilder (the bloody bastard), to Peter, Michael, Alicia, and Hollis...I want to bounce ideas against someone who has read the final 50 pages to see if they interpret a few things as I do. The writing is so detailed, so deep that I feel as though it washed right over me at times; I was riveted, repulsed, and spellbound. I *need* someone else to discuss this book with me! 

The Twelve is a worthy sequel to The Passage, and Cronin's writing is both grand and gripping. When I think back over the 500+ pages, I almost feel as though I'd read two or three separate books that somehow weave together to form one momentous story. Amazing and awesome. I suggest you pre-order it now for it's October 2012 arrival.

I received this ARC from a friend who attended BEA earlier in the summer. I'm not being paid for this honest review, but my imagination has surely been stretched and hammered through its reading. LOVED IT. Seriously, seriously loved it.

~taminator40

All You Desire

In All You Desire, the story opens with Haven and Iain living, they think safely, in Rome, away from the Ouroboros Society and the horror of past lives lost. Having been quietly in Rome for a year, things begin to change when Haven starts to suspect someone is following her, then the money she "inherited" upon Iain's faked death is cut off; but most disturbingly, Haven's best friend Beau travels to New York and ends up missing. Trying to draw on a past life to help Beau, it doesn't take long for Haven to realize she must go to NYC herself in order to save her friend, and Iain, though it will place him in danger, must follow. Once there, she comes face to face with Adam Rosier once again, but is it possible that he's changed? Does he really intend to leave Haven alone in this lifetime and to cleanse the Ouroboros Society of the greed that has overtaken it? And should Haven be having the feelings she is for him?

What I Liked: I love the relationship between Haven and Iain. Even when there is friction, you can still feel the deep emotion these two share. I also liked the introduction of new characters Owen and Alex, and I adore Leah and her visions. There are lots of twists and turns in All You Desire, and I love that I'm just not sure whether Adam has changed. The idea that Haven and Iain could go from living relatively normally to being pulled back into the OS was well handled, and I'm anxious to see how everything is going to play out in the next novel. After being taken on an exhausting ride in AYD, I can only begin to imagine where we'll finally end up.

What Annoyed Me: Haven is *still* too naive and gullible and I seriously wanted her to grow a spine at times, especially when dealing with Adam. The Horae, the mysterious sisterhood woven into the OS and Beau's disappearance, was full of mean-spirited, hateful women and I wish Haven could have stayed away from them fully, though I know they were central to the story. Doesn't mean I have to like them. And the speed at which Haven solves the mystery occasionally felt slow...at times she became too sidetracked with Adam and Beau became lost in the shuffle.

I was concerned that this installment would be a letdown from the excellent The Eternal Ones, and I was pleasantly surprised that this edition built soundly on the original story. Very complex, All You Desire was every bit as good as The Eternal Ones; I cannot imagine how it's all going to play out and that's the beauty of the story. And that ending? Killer cliff hanger! Well done and absorbing.

~taminator40

The Hallowed Ones

Katie is Amish and has lived her entire sixteen years as a member of her church community, helping her family and raising golden retrievers, looking forward to her upcoming Rumspringa that she will spend with her sort of boyfriend, Elijah. Pretty normal for a Plain girl...until the day in late September when the ravens began to act weirdly and the people Outside, including some of the Amish, disappear. Katie and Elijah leave their community to go in search of his missing brothers and find...nothing. No trace of them or much of anyone else. And when they return, all within the community are forbidden to leave, and while Katie understands (better than some) that it's for her safety, she still feels cheated of her youthful wandering time and pushed into a world that she's not ready for.

There is so much more to this novel than the post-apocalyptic story of the survivors of a bio-terrorist attack, and it's a page turner for sure. Katie is headstrong and rebellious while at the same time a dutiful daughter with a kind heart, and you can just feel her pain and disappointment at the loss of her freedom and the shift in Elijah that comes as a result of the loss of his brothers. It's these feelings that lead her to defy the Elders and rescue an Outsider; it's these feelings that lead her into a truly terrifying encounter with what's Outside now. And it's her spirit that leads her to do what's right.

The Hallowed Ones is well written and gripping and I spent a very late night finishing it since I literally had to know how it played out. Katie's reality doesn't stop her from taking risks despite the sheltered existence the Bishop wishes to keep on his flock; she's feisty and determined with a clear voice that gets you inside her head. The action is almost non-stop and at times heartbreaking: Ginger, Katie's customer who finds herself stuck and cut off from family brings the truth home to Katie in ways her Elders refuse to see. But mostly this book is horrifyingly creepy, with dark, dark images and atmosphere that pulls you into the scary settings. It's gory and disturbing but yet it's human in a world gone mad. This book is different than many of its genre with its Amish connection and ties to ancient evil. If you don't mind gore and a strong creep factor, pick up The Hallowed Ones...I doubt you'll be ale to put it down. I've rarely been so deliciously scared.

I received this novel from the Amazon Vine program.

~taminator40

Scorch, following on the heels of Croak, picks up with heroine Lex still feeling guilty over the death of twin sister Cordy at the hand (literally) of fellow Grim Zara and knowing that she has to do something to stop Zara from Damning people wildly. The upside? Lex can still visit Cordy in the Afterlife (even though Cordy's taken up with a very impressive historical personage). The downside? Too many to mention actually, but the biggest is that the entire town of Croak has turned against her (with a few exceptions)...and also against Uncle Mort, the mayor. With the knowledge that she must stop Zara torturing her, Lex is further dismayed to learn that Zara's also looking for a mysterious text known as the Wrong Book, and the consequences will be very dire indeed if she finds it.

Scorch is just as quick a read as Croak, though it's more violent at times. Lex is still a moody teen but the loss of her twin has only made things worse; her relationship with fellow Junior Driggs continues with lots of physical encounters (that Uncle Mort tries repeatedly to discourage). Lex is a great anti-heroine; she's rude and angry, but she also wants to make things right in whatever way she can. Though there's a lot action, there are also lots of secrets which aren't revealed until we're far into the book. The final two chapters throw major kinks into the story and it's going to be interesting to see how everything plays out. The writing, while at times a bit silly, still engages and captures the imagination. I'm hooked and I can't wait to see what happens next.


~taminator40

Beautiful Days

Beautiful Days takes up the lives of Cordelia, Letty, and Astrid--three young women living the glamorous life in the 1920s. Cordelia's brother Charlie has taken over the bootlegging business upon the death of their father, while Astrid, as Charlie's girlfriend, continues with her superficial life of parties and drinking. Letty, meanwhile, has moved in with Cordelia and is still hoping for her big break as a singer. As the story progresses, all three end up far from where they began at the start of this novel, and that's not necessarily a bad thing at all. Along the way, Cordelia and Astrid come to realize just what a dangerous occupation Charlie has, and Letty discovers that her desire to be in the spotlight may trump her newfound feelings for writer Grady. No one is safe from heartbreak and danger.
Beautiful Days started off a little slowly for me; I felt as though I was spinning my wheels, waiting for one of the girls to actually make up her fluffy little mind and get on with her life in a meaningful way. And as far as that goes, it's still a ways into the book before more mature decisions are made. But the emotions are strong, and I especially loved reading about the nightlife of New York during Prohibition. I admit to feeling frustration with Astrid particularly; she seems so shallow, and I'm not sure Godbersen intends for her to gain much depth. The action is good once the story picks up (probably a third of the way in), and the very unexpected complication in the relationship between Max and Cordelia is going to be fun to explore. Godbersen's writing is descriptive and detailed; occasionally I got tired of reading what everyone was wearing but in general I felt as though I was smack in the middle of the Roaring Twenties. Good characterization and an engaging storyline makes this a winner of a sequel and has me ready for the next book. Recommended.


~taminator40

Wanna Know What It's Like to Teach? Ask Tony Danza

This slim (less than 300 pages) book is the story of the year Tony Danza (yes, that Tony Danza) spent as a high school English teacher in Philadelphia. Finding himself at loose ends after the cancellation of his talk show, Danza decided to put his teaching degree to use as well as develop a television show around his experiences. After searching nationwide, Northeast High School in Philadelphia agreed to take him on, with many stipulations: He would be treated as a real teacher with the same responsibilities as the other teachers, he would have a one-on-one mentor, and he would only be given one 90 minute class to teach (Dang, where do I sign up for that gig? lol). He agreed, the camera crew arrived, and the adventure began.

As a teacher myself, I have to say I was skeptical of Mr. Danza at first, much like his colleagues must have been. He came in with lofty goals and had reality smack him in the face repeatedly: kids with bad attitudes, parents who were no-shows, fights, unengaged students. Danza persevered, despite the odds, and something happened as he did: he became a *real* teacher, one who strove to come up with lessons that excited his students, one who looked past the academic and into the lives of his kids, one who saw through the standardized testing into the concern of his students actually learning. Did he make mistakes? Oh yeah, and sometimes they were huge (hello, drinking on a field trip!), but he was able to forge relationships that he maintains to this day.

This story of a year in the life of Tony Danza is well written and a reliable look at the state of education in public high schools today. While I feel that a few tales may have been glossed over, I believe fully that Danza put his heart and soul into this job and that he gained as much as his students during his tenure. His stories are real and he feels he needs to let the world know the reality of the situations teachers face on a daily basis. This is a good read and one that should be read by all of us with a vested interest in the education of our young people today.

~taminator40