by ·0 Comments

Jarrett J. Krosoczka

3.5 Stars

Image result for L'Académie Jedi: Le directeur contre-attaque

Both as a French as an English book, I believe that this series overall has been very successful, until the original writer, Jeffrey Brown, left the trilogy as it was. So Jarrett J. Krosoczka, the author of Lunch Lady, took over and extended the trilogy with a brand new main character, Victor Starspeeder. The Principal Strikes Back describes Victor’s final year at the Jedi Academy, and it is one he will never forget.  

As anyone would presume, Jarrett’s extension to the series wouldn’t be as successful as the original trilogy that Brown began, but this book does do the series justice. I would personally recommend the English version of this book to younger people as the vocabulary would be lacking, whereas the French variant would be directed towards seventh to tenth-grade students. 

The story does get a bit stale at the midpoint, but I do think that it is very deserving as the sixth book in the series and the final year for Victor Starspeeder. The characters are mostly unique, but I would’ve liked to have seen more character development for Elara Ayres and Artémis Oophanoe. They didn’t have too much of an impact in this book in comparison to A New Class, the fourth book in the series. 

All in all, Le directeur contre-attaque is a little disappointing, but also what we expect when we think about how any series, whether it’s a movie, a show, or in this case, a book, will most likely get boring and stale as we approach the double-digits. 

Alec T.

View in Library Catalogue: Graphic Novel

by ·0 Comments

Skyward

Brandon Sanderson

Imagine a planet where its inhabitants live in constant fear of attack. Imagine the attacks are issued by an alien race, whose motive is to destroy human kind. This is Spensa’s world, and in her people’s fight against the Krell, their only defense are fighter pilots.

All Spensa ever dreamed of was becoming a pilot, to follow in her Father’s footsteps and help defeat the Krell. Throughout the novel, Spensa must defend her Father’s legacy as a deserter from his pilot team and fight for her chance to fly. Filled with action, suspense and swift dialogue, Sanderson’s Skyward takes readers on an adventure through the skies and does not let them go until the very last page.

View in Library Catalogue: Print | eBook

by ·0 Comments

Iron Gold

Pierce Brown

A decade ago Darrow was the hero of the revolution he believed would break the chains of the Society. The Rising has shattered everything: Instead of peace and freedom, it has brought endless war. Now he must risk all he has fought for on one last desperate mission. Darrow still believes he can save everyone, but can he save himself?

And throughout the worlds, other destinies entwine with Darrow’s to change his fate forever.  A young Red girl flees tragedy in her refugee camp, and achieves a new life for herself, one that she could never have imagined.

An ex-soldier broken by grief is forced to steal the most valuable thing in the galaxy—or pay with his life. Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile to the Sovereign, wanders the stars with his mentor, Cassius, haunted by the loss of the world that Darrow transformed, and dreaming of what will rise from its ashes.

View in Library Catalogue: Print | eBook

by ·0 Comments

Nemesis (Project Nemesis, #1)

Brendan Reichs

Min and Noah have both been killed five times, every two years on their birthday since they were eight years old. Yet, somehow they don’t die. Each time they are killed, both wake up in a secluded area unsure how they have gotten there. All marks of their injuries disappeared, as well as any evidence that the murder happened. For Noah, these come as nightmares. Nightmares promised to go away but keep plaguing him every two years.

However, the earth has bigger problems. The Anvil, an enormous asteroid, is threatening to hit earth and wipe out everything. Nothing will make it. No humans, no animals, no buildings. Everything will be rubble. Everyone is on edge as they wait to find out if this asteroid will miss or not. However, far beyond the Anvil lies a series of even more complicated and sinister government plots that no one knows about. It isn’t until Min and Noah start working together when they uncover years of secrets that involve them and their sophomore class in Fire Lake.

By far, Nemesis has been one of the best books I have read. Not only is it action packed, this book is full of mysteries, questions, and always leaves you wanting more! I am hoping there will be a sequel to this book as the end reveal leaves so many unanswered questions and made me want to know what will happen and how everything will turn out. I would definitely recommend this book to you if you enjoy reading thriller books with an edge of mystery. I look forward to reading a sequel if one does come out, and will definitely look into more books written by Brendan Reichs. – Juliana M.

View in Library Catalogue

by ·0 Comments

Push (The Game, #2)

Eve Silver

This book is the sequel to Rush.

Miki Jones is exhausted and stressed from The Game and The Committee’s cruel ways. The Game is where groups of teenage boys and girls are set out on missions to ambush The Drau, aliens that are planning to take over the earth (as if I haven’t heard that for the plot of every alien movie ever!). The whole process is in a form of a video game.

Things don’t make sense when Miki discovers that Jackson isn’t there but his jeep and keys are. Remember when Jackson would keep secrets from Miki in the previous volume? Well, that’s nothing compared to the number of secrets that The Committee is hiding from the players and humanity, secrets that simply don’t line up with the rules of The Game. Confusion isn’t nearly enough to start to describe what Miki is feeling. All the nightmares she begins to have about The Game, the strange events that follow it and her desperation to find Jackson is driving her crazy! Her mind is filled with question after question with barely enough answers to solve anything – questions like, maybe when your con goes red, you don’t necessarily die? That maybe the Drau aren’t the enemy after all? Let Eve Silver steer you down this wacky path of sci fi mystery that will make you dive right in and resurface with the determination to get your hands on the next book, Crash.

I adored this novel! The plot picked up right where it left off, starting off with the aftermath of the previous mission Miki, Jackson, Luka, Tyrone, Lien, and Kendra were part of. Last time I almost gave up Rush due to the fact it got boring for a bit, but in Push, it was so exhilarating that I barely put the novel down. Pure Genius. – Celine J.

View in Library Catalogue

by ·0 Comments

Rush (The Game, #1)

Eve Silver

Miki Jones enjoyed her ordinary life, unlike most girls. She had control over everything such as her weekday jogs and her strict healthy diet while being a homework queen. To be honest, right now she sounds like the perfect daughter that my mom would be yelling at me to be more like her. It wasn’t until she saved a little girl’s life that her own life went into chaos. She is brought into a game where she and a few other players – Jackson, Luka, Tyrone, and Richelle – are given a mission to terminate the Drau, beautiful extraterrestrials that are planning to destroy Earth. Questions obviously flood Miki after hearing this situation, and when her very “helpful” teammate agrees to answer some, they only lead to cryptic answers and even more questions which would infuriate anyone. These questions are keeping her mind distanced from reality and wondering more about Jackson, the leader of the group, as he is the one thing that keeps her awake at night, thinking that maybe her greatest enemy is her trusted leader.

Rush, as expected, was a fast-paced sci-fi adventure. It started off normal for the first few pages then the plot kicked in a little, after that it slowed down to a pace where I was starting to get bored of her ordinary and controlled lifestyle. Eventually, the book picked up again and became exhilarating and continued for the rest of the book. I understand that the main character can’t always be in eventful situations twenty-four seven, or that would be boring, but there was a part where it almost got too boring to continue reading, so I’ll leave this novel at four stars. The author represented a teenager’s lifestyle precisely as it included some high school drama and dealing with friendships with other personal problems even though usually they aren’t about saving the world from an alien invasion. In the end, Rush is an exceptional novel that I would recommend to sci-fi lovers. – Celine J.

View in Library Catalogue

Continue with the next book in the series, Push!

by ·0 Comments

Earth and Sky (Earth & Sky, #1)

Megan Crewe

17 year old Skylar feels wrongness. She sees things or events that shouldn’t appear or happen, yet they do.  She doesn’t understand or know why these panic attacks happen, but they never leave. After the panic attacks or feelings of wrongness go away, nothing out of the ordinary does or will happen. It isn’t until she meets a mysterious boy named Win when the truth is revealed. The humans on Earth are not alone. We are experiments to human like creatures called Kemyates. In fact, Kemyate scientists sit above earth changing and manipulating what should be normal; changing the past and the way circumstances should play out. This is causing the essential fabric of our world to become frayed and unravel. Eventually, the world we now have and know will disappear forever.

Luckily, Win is part of a rebel group who wants to shut down the experiments and leave Earth the way it should be. Skylar is the only earthling he has met that is sensitive enough to notice the feeling of wrongness or ‘shifts’. With her help, he plans on finding the pieces of a weapon that Jeanant (the rebel’s group leader from a different era) has scattered around the world in different eras. If they recover these pieces to the weapon, then they can shut down the experiments. Although it will be difficult to retrieve these pieces as enforcers will be right on their tail, determined to shut down the rebel’s operations.

This is not the usual genre I would read, however, I did enjoy reading it. This book includes science fiction, action/adventure, and mystery. Some parts of the plot were hard to understand but as you got deeper into the book, the plot and main idea became clearer. There are also two more books following the first one which I am looking forward to reading. – Juliana M.

View in Library Catalogue

by ·0 Comments

Idols

Margaret Stohl

This is the sequel to Icons.

Dol, Ro, Lucas, and Tima have destroyed the first Icon base with the help of Fortis, their merk and leader of the rebellion. Destroying the first base led to their mission of taking out all other icons, the next one being in the middle of a canyon. Where one path ends, another begins as Dol has a reoccurring dream that is driving her crazy with suspicion. Dol also must choose between Ro or Lucas as confirmed from the last book that she is in love with both. The more time the Icons spent with Fortis, the more they realize how much they don’t know much about their merk friend and how many secrets that he hides. Secrets that are about them, about the Lords and how he may not be their friend after all…

I found Idols a very interesting book. It is very like the previous book, having tons of adventure and action, and the pressure we see put upon Dol as she is their leader. We also see the romance she has with Ro from the first book and how it affects her with Lucas in this book. We also see how Dol is very confused with her emotions for the two as the series is based on the emotions of these four teens. I did prefer the first book to this one just because the plot in this book floated off into a sci-fi romance theme. I also was disappointed in a way from the ending of this book was very sudden, leaving a lot of loose ends. I personally enjoyed Idols but was slightly disappointed at the ending; still is a book that I would recommend to anyone else. – Celine J.

View in Library Catalogue

by ·0 Comments

Icons

Margaret Stohl

Doloria has lived in the grasslands for as long as she remembers. Safe from the Icon and their terrifying immense power, she is showered with love from Padre, her pig Ramona Jamona, Bigger and Biggest at La Purisima and her best friend Ro. Dol could never imagine a life without them, but one truth will always remain with her, haunting her: she’s something else, different, as she survived while her biological family died on The Day. Why? Dol’s fate takes her on the path to that answer, to the Embassy — a task force off the coast of Metropolis, a city that was once called the city of angels. As the answer to one question is answered by a billion more questions, Dol seeks to find out what really happened on The Day? Who are the Icons? Why does she have a birthmark of a dot on her wrist? Who are the Lords? Dol soon starts to realize after each question is answered that she is meant for something that is way beyond her, a dangerous task that only a handful of people like her can do that might result in death.

I found this book extremely exciting, packed again with action and adventure even some science fiction and romance that will make you scream for the next book Idols. This book also showed a message that family doesn’t mean your own blood, which was a very nice touch given how suspenseful and action packed the book was. Truly an amazing book. – Celine J.

If you want to know what happens to Dol, check out the sequel, Idols!

View in Library Catalogue

by ·0 Comments

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Douglas Adams

Although The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, written by Douglas Adams is a fairly old book, published in 1979, it still remains a lively story full of adventure and dark humour. The story begins with a normal English citizen, Arthur Dent, who wakes up to a construction team that wants to destroy his home to make way for a bypass. The next thing he knows, his eccentric best friend Ford Prefect, tells him that the Earth is about to be destroyed and hitchhikes his way onto a Vogon fleet’s spaceship with a dazed Arthur in his wake. But soon, they are rejected by the Vogons, who are unpleasant space creatures, and sent out to suffocate in space — that is, until they’re picked up by yet another ship — a stolen top-of-the-line government project, driven by the president of the universe. The novel follows their wild adventures through space and time and their search for the answer to the ultimate question; the answer to life, the universe and everything.

I think this novel is a great sci-fi comedy with plot twists and turns at every chapter. Douglas Adams’ strange sense of humour is entertaining, although the narrative of the whole story does get a bit confusing near the end. It can become a little difficult to keep track of everything that’s taking place in the novel because a lot of the story flips back and forth in between the past, present, and many different locations around the universe. Despite all this, I still think it’s really fascinating to read, especially when you consider how long ago it was written and the author’s perspective of futuristic beings and technology. So, overall, I’d recommend this book to anybody who’s into adventurous sci-fi, because it’s exactly the sort of thing they’d enjoy.
– Mady R.

View in Library Catalogue