Then it's time to talk about it!
SF&F Literati meet Monday July 23!
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| Prepare for a rollicking review session! |
Where: The Oak Park Barnes & Noble Booksellers (see embedded map below!)
When: 7:00 p.m. Monday July 23, second floor
What: A. Lee Martinez's Chasing the Moon
B&N Overview:
“Unspeakable horrors
threaten the earth in this fantastic new comic fantasy from the author of Divine Misfortune.
“Diana's life
was in a rut - she hated her job, she was perpetually single, and she needed a
place to live. But then the perfect apartment came along. It seemed too good to
be true - because it was.
“The
apartment was already inhabited - by monsters. Vom the Hungering was the first
to greet Diana and to warn her that his sole purpose in life was to eat
everything in his path. This poses a problem for Diana since she's in his
path...and is forbidden from ever leaving the apartment.
“It turns out
though that there are older and more ancient monstrous entities afoot - ones
who want to devour the moon and destroy the world as we know it. Can Diana, Vom,
and the other horrors stop this from happening? Maybe if they can get Vom to
stop eating everything...and everyone.”
Publishers Weekly Review:
A talking
closet and a landlord who's "a bit of a nut" herald the beginning of
the end of human civilization in Martinez's lighthearted tale. When Diana moves
into apartment 5, she accidentally becomes the caretaker of monstrous, ancient Vom
the Hungering. It doesn't seem all bad at first: the fridge is never empty, and
she meets interesting neighbors. But she also acquires the startling ability to
straddle "multiple floors of reality" and see that the world is
suddenly full of bizarre creatures and their squabbling cliques: "It's
like high school, except instead of jocks versus nerds, it's the things who eat
civilizations versus things who eat galaxies." When Diana learns that
Calvin, one of her monstrous new buddies, is planning to destroy the world, she
must persuade her other bizarre friends to help head him off. Martinez (Divine Misfortune) excels at off-the-wall
storytelling that perfectly suits this cheerful apocalyptic fantasy. (June)
Now's the time to buy next month's book!
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| In August: old story, new "take." |
Same time
Same place
New book: Cinder, by Marissa Meyer
B&N Overview:
“Humans and androids
crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the
population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their
move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .
“Cinder, a
gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious
past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But
when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly
finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden
attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must
uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.”
Publishers Weekly Review
First in the
Lunar Chronicles series, this futuristic twist on Cinderella retains just
enough of the original that readers will enjoy spotting the subtle
similarities. But debut author Meyer’s brilliance is in sending the story into
an entirely new, utterly thrilling dimension. Cinder is a talented teenage
mechanic and cyborg—part human, part robot—who has been living in New Beijing
with a demanding adoptive mother and two stepsisters, ever since her late
stepfather took Cinder in after a hovercraft accident. Several events abruptly
turn Cinder’s world upside down: a chance meeting with the handsome Prince Kai
has her heart racing; a plague pandemic threatens her beloved sister Peony;
Cinder learns she is immune to the plague; and the evil Lunar Queen Levana
arrives on Earth, scheming to marry Kai. Though foreshadowing early on makes it
fairly clear where the story is headed, it unfolds with the magic of a fairy
tale and the breakneck excitement of dystopian fiction. Meyer’s far-future
Earth is richly imagined, full of prejudice and intrigue, characters easy to
get invested in, and hints of what might await in future books. Ages 12–up.
(Jan.)
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