DUST AND DECAY by Jonathan Maberry

DUST AND DECAY by Jonathan Maberry

Title: Dust and Decay

Author: Jonathan Maberry

Publisher: Simon and Shuster

Publish Date: 2011

Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Source: Purchased

Six months have passed since the terrifying battle with Charlie Pink-eye and the Motor City Hammer in the zombie-infested mountains of the Rot & Ruin. It's also six months since Benny Imura and Nix Riley saw something in the air that changed their lives. Now, after months of rigorous training with Benny's zombie-hunter brother Tom, Benny and Nix are ready to leave their home forever and search for a better future. Lilah the Lost Girl and Benny's best friend Lou Chong are going with them. Sounds easy. Sounds wonderful. Except that everything that can go wrong does. Before they can even leave there is a shocking zombie attack in town. But as soon as they step into the Rot & Ruin they are pursued by the living dead, wild animals, insane murderers and the horrors of Gameland -where teenagers are forced to fight for their lives in the zombie pits. Worst of all...could the evil Charlie Pink-eye still be alive?

In the great Rot & Ruin everything wants to kill you. Everything...and not everyone in Benny's small band of travelers will make it out alive

So I came away from "Rot and Ruin" with a sense of awe and curiosity, and while I enjoyed the sequel, I just found it rather safe for a novel about a world infested with flesh-eating monsters.

Maberry still does a fantastic job with getting his world into the reader's head with his swift prose and clear descriptions, but the story was sometimes too clear, if that makes sense. I could see every twist and turn coming (except one) and I just wasn't as enthusiastic about this book. Maybe it was because this was no longer my first book about zombies and the novelty wore off.

Either way, the story still intrigued me, and the action was definitely fierce. The characters were brought further to life (and for the zombies, to death). I will still be reading the next installment in this series, but I probably won't go to three book stores searching for it, like I did for this one.

3.5/5

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

Title: Rot and Ruin
Author: Jonathan Maberry
Publisher: Simon and Shuster
Publish Date: 2010
Genre: YA, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Pages: 458
Source: Purchased

In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash—but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

Acclaimed horror author Jonathan Maberry makes his young adult debut with this detail-rich depiction of a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has fallen, the dead have risen, and danger is always imminent

So I hate to say it, because I know it's a huge jinx, but I am on such a book hot streak. First the "Mistborn" trilogy from Brandon Sanderson and now this fantastic coming-of-age novel by Jonathan Maberry.

I don't know why, but i've kind of steered clear of the zombie craze as of late. I'm big into magic (and there are so many magic-centered books to go around already) so when it comes time to pick a sci-fi/fantasy book, I usually gravitate to something magical. I rarely read fiction about vampires or werewolves, although I know there are some great ones out there, and until this book I had not read one book about zombies. 

I was hesitant, but I met Mr. Maberry at the BEA and he signed a copy of "Rot and Ruin" for me, so what the hey, right?

It's moments like these that I treasure. Diving into the unexplored (both genre and author) and coming up with a glowing pearl. I really, really liked, "Rot and Ruin". I was prejudiced against zombies because I keep thinking that authors might use them in a way to draw readers in, but might rely only on the inclusion of the creatures, ignoring plot and depth. Maberry does something fantastic. He uses the zombies to examine humanity, and what actual struggles someone might face growing up in a society that had once been overrun by the living dead. 

Character development ain't easy, and Maberry manages to turn protagonist Benny Imura, at first a snotty, lazy punk, into someone honorable and memorable. I don't want to include any spoilers, so I'll just say that if you're like me, and you haven't yet read any zombie fiction yet, this should be your foray into the field of the living dead. And if you like zombies, then you're a shoe-in to like "Rot and Ruin."

I'm not giving it a perfect score because I definitely saw many things coming, but I hope that doesn't deter you. This book was a quite a ride. And just to further emphasize my attachment to this book, I went out RIGHT away and bought the sequel. Which I'm planning on diving into right away, and hopefully continuing my hot streak :)

4.5/5

ODE TO BRANDON SANDERSON

CHEERS to you Brandon Sanderson. You are so amazing that you've inspired me to Haiku.

It's Allomancy

Magic and metal combined

And I so want it

Despite the terrible, TERRIBLE covers, Brandon Sanderson's "Mistborn" trilogy has had me completely and utterly captivated for the better part of the last three weeks. The books are tomes, so I've been doing pretty much nothing but working and reading, but it's been quite the ride. I've been so engrossed that I've even stopped blogging for the last week. My mind was in sort of a 'Should I blog? Or should I dive back into the epic adventures of Vin and Elend? Ummm... Book please' kind of place.

These books are incredible. Seriously. I'm a fan of worldbuilding, and Sanderson's world is so three demential that I found myself in it while dreaming. And I was following all of his magical rules and everything. 

Though these books are not as mind-splittingly amazing as Patrick Rothfuss' "Kingkiller Chronicles" (though I'm not sure anything is), Sanderson has created an all-star cast of thieves, doing their best to set the world straight. 

If you've been finding your YA books to simple and formulaic these days, take a chance and dive into something a little deeper.

Like perhaps, a Well?

NEXT UP !?!?!?!?

I'll be giving away an ARC of "Fathomless" by Jackson Pearce.

I've heard some great things about this volume AND the ARC that I'm giving away is quite special. The cover art on it is not final and in my opinion it makes it even more valuable (even if only for sentimental reasons.) I figure one of you will appreciate it, so here goes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

From Goodreads:

Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant -- until Celia meets Lo.

Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea -- a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid -- all terms too pretty for the soulless monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality.

When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her . . . and steal his sou

GOOD LUCK ALL!