The Column Racer

Release Date: 11/6/2012

Overview

For fourteen-year-old Areli Roberts, her dreamy new school isn’t really a dream come true.  There is already a blade being sharpened to promptly execute her if she doesn’t perform in the racing coliseum as she is expected, she constantly feels the bite of animosity from her new teammates, and no matter how hard she tries, she can’t seem to clean away the growing amount of blood on her hands. 

Areli is a dragon rider, and one of the newest recruits to a school with the most prestigious and talented column racing team in the Empire, which carries an impeccable winning tradition.  Outside the mountain walls of the valley where she now lives, there is a brutal manhunt for Degendhard the Great, someone who threatens the Emperor’s rule.  When Areli’s not racing or training, she is spending her time with her best friend Fides or falling deeper in love with her new boyfriend Yats.  But after an altercation with the Emperor’s niece and later acquiring a deadly secret about Degendhard the Great, Areli is plunged into a different kind of race.  One in which not only her life is at stake, but also the lives of everyone she loves.

The Column Racer, is an adventure of love, loss, pain, and sacrifices.  It is a character-driven fantasy novel for young adults, and the first in the series of two books that delve into the world of Areli Roberts and the events that change her for the better . . . and for the worse.    

Cover Art!

This is the cover art for my first novel, The Column Racer, done by Claudia McKinney at phatpuppyart.com!

My Thoughts on Wither

So, recently I finished the book Wither by Lauren Destefano, and I thought it was very good.  If you read my post about Bitterblue, you will know that whatever book I read directly after reading a story weaved by Kristin Cashore has a lot to live up to.  And Wither was up to the task . . . mostly.

By mostly I mean I was still sad about Bitterblue ending up until the second page of Wither.  It is such a beautifully rendered story.  So, the story is about how man has conquered cancer, but it came with an unexpected price.  The next generation of children were given a limit on their life-span.  They will never reach the age of 80.  They will be no such things as grandchildren, unless of course you're a first generation (the one's first freed from cancer).  They won't go through a mid-life crisis in their mid-thirties.  And the female population won't even be able to legally drink, or obtain a four-year college degree.  As the male population will never live past the age of 25 and girls not past the age of 20.

With the world being as it is, girls are kidnapped and either, killed, sold off to prostitution, or forced to wed into polygamous marriages.  So, what's a girl to do?  For Rhine, she hid from the world, and was under constant protection from her twin brother.  But after a costly mistake, she gets torn away from him, and forced into a marriage she never wanted, along with two other girls, to a wealthy twenty-year-old skinny guy who is still grieving after the loss of his previous wife, and is as much a captive as they are.  Their warden, Housemaster Vaughn, their husbands father, who is searching for an antidote at any cost.

One of the girls loves being a sister-wife, the other only hoping to die, but for Rhine . . . she plans to escape. As you get deeper into the story, relationships between the sister-wives grow, feelings and loyalties are questioned and tested, and for Rhine, desires grow . . . for someone not her husband.  It's a thoughtful book, with human characters forced to face the issue of mortality at too young of an age. 

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

If you haven't read The Rook by Daniel O'Malley yet, I would suggest that you go out to your nearest bookstore and buy a copy.  IT IS SO GOOD!  Okay, I might be a little bias, but I don't CARE!  I LOVE everything about this book, from the first word, to the last word (which is always the saddest word in a really, really good book, because you really want it to go on and on and on).

So, what if I am crazy about anything The X-files, or anything remotely resembling The X-files.  Yes, I will admit it helps if you're an X-files nut, and if you happen to not like the X-files, first off - shame on you, and second off - put your hate aside and read this book anyways (it's that good).  And humorous.  And good.

So, what is this good, humorous, X-filey book about anyways?  Hold, your horses . . . I'm getting to that.  So, anyways, the book starts in London, in a park, with a woman, named Myfanwy Thomas, but she doesn't know she's Myfanwy Thomas, because she had her memory licked away from her.  So, this woman, this Myfanwy Thomas who doesn't know she's Myfanwy Thomas, in the opening pages finds herself surrounded by bodies, dead bodies, all of whom are wearing latex gloves.

It turns out that Myfanwy Thomas is a Rook, an operative in a secret government agency called the Checquy that takes care of paranormal and supernatural disasters, incidents, and situations, all very confidential.  So, the story follows Myfanwy as she tries to navigate her way around this secretive world, all while trying to figure out who erased her memory, and trying to expose a bigger conspiracy in the works.  It's all so very technical and you are going to need level five clearance for me to say any more.

The real beauty about this book, is the growth that Myfanwy Thomas goes through.  She has her memory wiped clean, and she has the long and extensive letters of her previous self to help her get through her responsibilities of being a Rook.  It's not the old Myfanwy Thomas, who was shy and timid, this is the new Myfanwy Thomas, and she comes into her own nicely.  This book with it's handful of hilarious characters, will excite you, it will make you laugh, it will cause your heart to race and your lungs to halt . . . and who know's . . . you just may love it just as much as me.

Was it Really Amazing . . . Or Was it Just in the Title?

So, I just saw The Amazing Spider-man last week.  So, what did I think?  Did the film truly embody what the title promised?  Did I get amazing?  Or should they have just called it 'The Spider-man.'  I'll be honest.  I got amazing.  But I also got something else.  The movie is really like the leftovers of Thanksgiving dinner.  You know how that is.  During Thanksgiving, the whole house smells of turkey that had been roasting before the sun broke the horizon, mixed in with the mouth watering smells of marshmallow topped sweet potatoes, stuffing, and the classic green bean casserole.  

When the meal is served, every bite is like morsels of chocolate popping and melting in your mouth.  After you lick orange-cranberry sauce off your plate, you are wanting more (Spider-man).  You get seconds, in which the tastes build on the delights of the first (Spider-man 2).  And then you are like, I am so full, but I just can't stop eating even though you know you really should.  And after you are midway through your third helping . . . you're screaming at yourself - WHY? (Spider-man 3)  After that, you're done and take a nap.  The next day, your refrigerator is stuffed with all the delectable foods of yesterday (five year's later), and your mind instantly goes back to how good it tasted the day before (movie execs) and you're like . . . second's please! (thus the creation of The Amazing Spider-man)

So, you load up your microwave safe plate, stick it in to be cooked for a few minutes, and then dig in.  And what do you get?  You get the same flavors, most of the same joy of the day before, but the texture is off because it's not as fresh, as vibrant, as special as having it on actual Thanksgiving (So like The Amazing Spider-man).  

You're basically served an updated version of the first one, but only in the measure of special effects.  The first had a better origin story . . . which actually made more sense, than the oh so coincidental one of the newer one.  The bad guys are essentially the same, both green, both criminally insane.  And the plot is a map of the first.  The differences.  The female lead is a blonde.  And Spider-man is more brash and filled with more angst.  So, I would say go see The Amazing Spider-man, only if you're hungry for leftovers.

Feeling Like I Should Talk About Bitterblue

So, awhile ago I finished reading Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore.  So, what did I think?  First off, I love both of Kristin Cashore's previous two books Graceling and Fire.  So, it wasn't that hard for me to fall in love with Bitterblue as well.  The story is a direct sequel to Graceling and a companion novel to Fire, and characters from both novels enter into this one.

I am always sad after the final pages of Kristin Cashore's books, mainly because I wish they were longer, even though they are at a length of over 500 pages.  Her writing is simply beautiful.  She weaves a tapestry with words, bringing to life characters that you yourself wish you were friends with.  Well, at least some of them.  If you read the book, there is this fellow by the name of Danzhol, who is well, graced in an unappealing way. But with characters like Bitterblue, Katsa, Po, and Giddon.  You'll enjoy the journey that Kristen Cashore takes you on.

There is one thing about Kristin Cashore's books that I will mention.  Even though I love her books, her stories are always accompanied with a handful of slower moments.  BUT these are times she uses wisely to build her characters and entwine layers into her plot.  She is meticulous with her pacing.  She expertly keeps you captivated with intense plotting, crisp and at times humorous dialogue, and colorful and very well-developed characters.  Her endings can be anti-climatic to some.  But when you really think about it.  How else can they really end?  She always has the perfect ending for her stories.  It's not the one Hollywood would come up with, but it's the right one for the world of her stories.  Desperate, intense, and thoughtful.

I highly recommend everyone to pick up a copy of her books.  Kristin Cashore is a skilled storyteller that knows when to slow down the pace to allow the characters to grow, and then how to rapidly speed it up, sending her characters on a collision course with danger.  If I were to compare her stories to anything.  I would compare it to a roller-coaster.  At the beginning of the ride, you start that steep climb and you get this nervous feeling inside, you hear the clicking sounds and you just keep getting higher into the air (intensity is building), and then there is a pause (and you're like this is it), and that's when the ride really starts.  You slice through the air at incredible speeds, you're sent through jarring turns, you scream through loops, and the end of the ride always comes a bit too soon.  But only because you had so much fun.  Her books will delight you.  Fascinate you.  And if they captivate you like they mesmerize me . . . then the next book you read after hers . . . has a tough act to follow.

I can't wait for Kristin Cashore's next book!!!

Was Brave . . . Brave Enough?

So, I just saw the movie Brave last weekend in the theater.  Did I like it?  Yes, I liked it.  Did I love it?  No . . . no, I didn't love it.  And that's sad.  Because I really, really wanted to love it.  It's a PIXAR film, and who doesn't love PIXAR?

Every PIXAR movie I have ever seen has been wonderful, and I truly love their movies, like Toy Story 3, Up, and Wall-E.  I didn't see Cars 2 though, but could you blame me.  The movie got a dismal, totally bad rating on Rotten Tomatoes.  What was that score you may ask?  38%!  WHAT!  I'll repeat.  38%!!!  How? I don't know, but come on, before Cars 2 came out, I thought it was virtually impossible for an animated movie to get less than a 70% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, however I am aware that there are those select few animated films that are incredibly bad, which to keep them from further shame I will not mention them.  But for PIXAR, you might of as well have given the movie a 0%, that would be it's equivalent.  Okay, enough of Cars 2, and it's apparent suckiness.  We were talking about Brave a minute ago, let's get back to that.

So, Brave, liked it, didn't love it.  What was wrong with it?  What lacked in it that made me not feel the Disney magic?  Was it a well made story?  Yep.  Was there good funny characters?  Yep.  Was there action?  Yep.  Did it have a good message?  Yep, it had a great message.  Then what is going on?  Thinking about it more and more.  Maybe the story feels a bit . . . um . . . generic.  I wanted out there Disney.  I wanted primetime Disney.  I wanted Wall-E Disney.  I wanted to be on the edge of my seat.  I wanted to jump with joy.  I wanted to feel the true Disney magic of riding on a roller coaster of emotion and feeling.  I wanted unique.  I wanted special.  And Brave.  Even though good.  Even though entertaining.  Even though funny.  Wasn't Disney at their best.  And that left me unfulfilled.  The last line to be narrated before the credits was: "Our fate lives within us.  You only have to be brave enough to see it."  I believe it.  I just wish PIXAR still believed.  They used to be the pioneers in the animation businesses.  Now, they are so Hollywood . . . running on sequels . . . and making movies relying on their name!  Please, Monsters 2, don't be a rendition of Cars 2.  Bring back Disney/PIXAR magic!