Hush, Hush Saga

Hush Hush, Crescendo, and Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick

I am thinking that fallen angels and Nephilim are the new vampires.  There are a whole slew of books out there, especially in the young adult fiction world, that involve angels, archangels, fallen angels and Nephilim.

This is the story of Nora, a high school sophomore in Maine whose father was recently murdered.  She and her mother are trying to make their lives work with just the two of them and everything seems to be going fine.  Then, one day, Nora's biology teacher decides to make a change to the seating chart so Nora no longer has her best friend as a partner, she has a mysterious new transfer student named Patch.

Soon, Nora learns that when God first created humans, he put angels on the earth to watch over them and protect them.  Some of the angels lusted for the human women and when their children were born, Nephilim, the archangels of heaven ripped the wings from these angels and they became "fallen".    Still roaming the earth, the fallen angels do what they like.  Fallen angels have some of their angelic gifts like mind control but they can't feel.  They have emotions and they can see and hear but they don't taste and they don't have the sense of touch.  From the moment their wings were ripped from their backs, they wanted nothing more than to have the human sensory experience.

Two weeks a year, during the Jewish time of Cheshvan, fallen angels have to ability to possess the body of another.  Human bodies are weak and often die within a week but the bodies of Nephilim are strong and can easily last.  The downside of this possession is that the spirit of the Nephilim is still in the body when the fallen angel is but the Nephilim has no control at all - they are a helpless bystander in their own body.  The Nephilim are forced to swear an oath of fealty to the fallen angels so they have no choice in the matter of possession.

Needless to say, only two weeks a year isn't enough for many fallen angels and they are always searching for another way.  The Book of Enoch supposedly tells of how a fallen angel can become human by killing his Nephilim.  The Nephilim are immortal though so things get complicated and involve killing a human progeny of the Nephilim when she is sixteen.  At the same time, the Nephilim are tired of being vassals for the fallen angels and are planning a way to stop the process before the next Cheshvan.

Nora and Patch slowly unravel mystery after mystery.  This is a young adult novel so there is the teen romance aspect even though Patch appears to be a couple of years older than Nora but is really hundreds of years older.  The frustrating aspects of teen romance, such as not communicating, are very present and affect more than just the romance - of course.  This is an entertaining series thus far and book 4 which is titled Finale? is scheduled for release in late October of this year.  I will probably read it just to finish the series.  I can see a spin-off series ensuing from this but I am okay not reading any more than just the four books.  The world of fallen angels is an intriguing one but not compelling enough to read much more.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This is book 1 of the Maze Runner series.

Lately there has been a bunch of hoo haw on-line regarding whether the movie The Hunger Games (rated PG 13) is appropriate for elementary students. The book was extremely violent and dark and was all about the government forcing 12-18 year old kids to fight each other to the death.

The Maze Runner is of the same ilk. It is young adult fiction and the youngest kid involved in this particular scenario seems to be about 13 but no one actually remembers exactly how old they are or where they came from. They remember their name and that's it for personal information.

The book begins as Thomas wakes to find himself inside of some sort of metal box and it seems to be moving up. He can't remember anything about himself, save his name, and he's pretty freaked out about the whole thing. After awhile the box stops moving and the ceiling is pried open. A bunch of boys ranging in age are peering down at him. After they hoist him out of the box, their leader, Alby, barks orders at Thomas and the others and Thomas is left in the care of Newt. Thomas has a million questions but no one is answering them. It seems as though telling someone too much, too soon, results in death but this is never really explained.

Thomas learns that he is in a place they call The Glade. It is surrounded by a Maze. Small lizard robots keep an eye on everything and make sure no one is breaking any rules. The rules aren't spelled out, they have been deduced over the past two years as kids who break the rules, die horrible deaths. Thomas makes a friend of Chuck, the newest arrival prior to Thomas. Chuck seems extremely like-able although hapless. The inhabitants of The Glade are all boys age ranging from about

Thomas is frustrated by the fact that eve

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

This is book 1 in the Kane Chronicle series.

What Rick Riordan has done for Greek Mythology with Percy Jackson and the Olympians, he is also doing for Roman Mythology in the series The Heros of Olympus. Now, he's embarked into Egyptian Mythology with the Kane Chronicles.

Carter and Sophie Kane are siblings who have been raised apart the past 6 years or so. After their mother died, an apparent custody battle ensued. Their maternal grandparents took Sophie to live with them. Their father, Dr Julius Kane, took Carter. Carter was home-schooled by his father while they traveled all over the world. Dr Kane is an Egyptologist. Their mother had been an anthropologist specializing in ancient Egypt.

On a rare 2 hour visit to the British Museum, Dr. Kane promises his children that he will "make things right." Just after that, everything seems to go very wrong. After their father becomes imprisoned in a golden sarcophagus that sinks through the floor, the children are taken in by their fathers brother - the Uncle they didn't remember that they had.

Magic and Mythology combine in this fun story in which children must save the earth from Chaos. This series covers the basics of Egyptian Mythology and explains why the gods and goddesses have differing relationships depending on the story and time. This is a great way for kids to learn the basics of Egyptian Mythology including some of the magic that was used.

I would recommend this book for kids about 12 and up. Sophie is age 12 in the book and Carter is 14. There are some scary situations that could be a little much for younger children even if they are able to read the text.

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

This is book 1 of a young adult series.

The book begins with Thomas waking up in a dark metal box that seemed to be moving up. Aside from his name, he couldn't remember a thing about himself personally. He's understandably freaked out and a bit angry as well. Once the box stops moving, the ceiling is pried open by a group of boys. The boys all seem to range in ages from 13-19. Thomas is hoisted out of the box and his nightmare continues.

Thomas encounters a couple boys who seem rather disagreeable as well as a couple who seem genuinely nice. He had a thousand questions and no one will answer them which intensifies Thomas' anger. Thomas soon learns that many of his questions can't be answered. Where he is is a place they call The Glade. The Glade is at the center of The Maze. Why they are there, no one knows. Why supplies show up every week, a new kid shows up once a month - no one knows. Why are there bio-mechanical killing creatures called Grievers in the maze especially at night? No one knows. Thomas really wants to know.

Thomas goes through the tour of the Glade and starts taking turns at the different jobs available. He continues to ask questions and some are answered and some are not. After only two or three days in the Glade, Thomas breaks the number one rule in an attempt to help save two other kids. He steps into the Maze as the doors are locking the kids into the safety of the Glade at night. He and two others, one seriously injured, are trapped with the Grievers for the night. No one has ever survived a night in the Maze.

When Thomas and the other two survive their night in the Maze and appear at the door to the Glade shortly after sunrise, everyone is freaked out and now suspicious of Thomas. Some think he is some sort of spy sent by the "creators". Later that day, a girl appears in the box with a dire warning and then she drops into a coma of sorts. This new turn of events heightens the tension in the Glade as well as the negative feelings toward Thomas.

Soon, Thomas, the girl and the other Gladers are racing to solve the Maze or the puzzle of the Maze to get out and get home. The big question is, once they escape, will the world they find be a better place than the Glade or much, much worse?

This series seems as dark as The Hunger Games. The violence is less about kids killing kids and was more about kids getting killed as part of the puzzle. The book was okay but the plot and the characters didn't draw me in as much as The Hunger Games did. If I didn't have about 30 books to read, I would probably read the rest of these but I have too many other books I am interested in so I think I'll stop here.

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod

The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

The Chronicles included six books. They follow Vladimir Tod from eighth grade until twelfth grade plus a side book giving us the back story of another character, Joss MacMillan.

Vladimir Tod is half vampire. His father was a vampire and his mother was human. They both died in a strange and isolated house fire that consumed them and the bed they were sleeping in and nothing else. Vladimir now lives with his "aunt" who was really his mother's best friend. Only his aunt and his best friend, Henry MacMillan, know that he is a vampire. Other than being a vampire, he's pretty much your average kid. The story is basically what his life is like. Each book covers one year.

Joss MacMillan is a vampire hunter. In the course of a job in which he is sent to hunt a vampire in the small town where his aunt, uncle and cousins live, he makes friends with a shy boy his same age named Vladimir. The extra book in the series gives us the back story of how Joss became a vampire hunter and why.

This was a fun series for tweens and teens. It is a good portrayal of what life is like for teen boys trying to figure out teen girls as well as dealing with bullies and all the other social groups that affect their lives. It was fun and entertaining and had a good amount of vampire lore.

Clockwork Prince

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

This is Book 2 of the Infernal Devices series and it picks up right where Clockwork Angel ended.

It is a fun fast read that is young adult fiction.

I may just stop and wait for all the books to be written in this and the "modern" series The Mortal Instruments. Then, I can start at the beginning and read them all in succession. Maybe not.

The frustrating aspect of these books is that the teen characters are so characteristically teen that I want to slap them up side the head. I just keep thinking, "if they'd only just say what they mean/feel, this could be resolved immediately." But, of course, that doesn't happen in teenager world and it would make the books much shorter to boot.