Pages

Tuesday 8 June 2010

New paperback releases - June 2010

Whilst I was waiting in line for Charlie Higson's session at the Hay Festival I had a brief conversation with the mother of three boys who had with them an impressive pile of books. Somehow we got onto the subject of hardbacks versus paperbacks, with her saying that she rarely buys hardbacks as they are often quite expensive and therefore her boys either have to borrow the books from the library or wait until the paperback edition is released. Her one small moan was that whilst the hardback editions of popular books generally arrive with quite a fanfare of publicity, the paperbacks are often released without a lot of fuss and it would be nice if blogs such as The Book Zone could occasionally highlight when these books are getting their paperback release. So, with this in mind, here are a few of the big paperback releases of boy-friendly books for this month:

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

It is the cusp of World War I, and all the European powers are arming up. The Austro-Hungarians and Germans have their Clankers, steam-driven iron machines loaded with guns and ammunition. The British Darwinists employ fabricated animals as their weaponry. The Leviathan is a living airship, the most formidable airbeast in the skies of Europe.

Aleksandar Ferdinand, prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battle-torn Stormwalker and a loyal crew of men. Deryn Sharp is a commoner, a girl disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With the Great War brewing, Alek's and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way, taking them both aboard the Leviathan on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure. One that will change both their lives forever.

In my review back then I described this book as "one of the finest examples of steampunk fiction for boys that I have come across". Since then I have read Cherie Priest's amazing Boneshaker, but Leviathan is still a good second place. Is it steam punk? Or is it diesel punk? Whatever it is I really enjoyed this imaginative story with its original premise when I first read it at the tail end of last year. 

Crocodile Tears by Anthony Horowitz

Targeted by a hitman and under threat of his past being exposed by the media, Alex reluctantly turns to MI6. But their help doesn't come cheap: they need Alex to spy on the activities at a GM crop plant. There he spots Desmond McCain, a high profile charity organiser, who realises that Alex is on to him and the real plans for the money he's raising. Kidnapped and whisked off to Africa, Alex learns the full horror of McCain's plot: to create an epic disaster that will kill millions. Forced to ask MI6 for protection, Alex finds himself being manipulated in a deadly game that could lead to the destruction of an entire East African country.

Mission 8 for the seemingly indestructible Alex Rider, and in my opinion one of the best books in the series. In my review I stated that: "Reading Crocodile Tears is very much like watching a well-made action movie – Mr Horowitz manages to balance perfectly the highs and lows of the story so that during the quieter moments you are tense with wondering what happens next, and then you get fantastic full-on, white-knuckle action scenes that have you turning the pages as fast as possible to find out just how Alex is going to survive the latest test on his abilities. In this respect this book was very similar to the adult action thrillers written by Matthew Reilly, who readily admits he to writing action movies in novel form. There is no chance to get bored reading this book – the pacing is perfect throughout."

It doesn't really seem like ten years since the first Alex Rider book was published. In order to celebrate this Walker Books is publishing the entire series in new cover designs. In addition, each of the books also contains a new Afterword by Mr Horowitz, in which he takes us behind the scenes of the series with information about the gadgets, locations, characters and many more insider secrets. 


And if you like reading all this extra background information then as an extra little treat, today I saw this great article in The Telegraph about the trip Anthony Horowitz took to Egypt in order to research the next Alex Rider book, to be called Scorpia Rising. Follow this link to read the full article.

The Enemy by Charlie Higson

They'll chase you. They'll rip you open. They'll feed on you...When the sickness came, every parent, policeman, politician - every adult - fell ill. The lucky ones died. The others are crazed, confused and hungry. Only children under fourteen remain, and they're fighting to survive. Now there are rumours of a safe place to hide. And so a gang of children begin their quest across London, where all through the city - down alleyways, in deserted houses, underground - the grown-ups lie in wait. But can they make it there - alive?
 
This book was published in hardback before I started this blog so no review has appeared on here so far. However, I did mention it only yesterday in my write up about Mr Higson's highly informative session. If that isn't enough for you then you could do a lot worse than go over to My Favourite Books and read Mark De Jager's great review of it. As an added bonus for the paperback edition you also get a chance to read the first chapter of the sequel to The Enemy, enitled The Dead, as well as a short interview with the author.

5 comments:

  1. I still haven't read Crocodile Tears despite having it since Christmas. Shocking. I must read it ASAP. Loved Snakehead. And I love the new cover for The Enemy. Puffin outdid themselves with that one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like this idea. We cannot afford to buy hardback editions most of the time but so it is nice to know when the paper backs are beinf released.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for providing such valuable information. There is one such company that goes by the name of Online Assignment Expert that caters to the needs of students in universities around the world. We provide Assignment expert Australia with our exceptional team of writers who are experts in their corresponding disciplines and cover numerous amounts of related topics.
    You can do a lot by efficiently delivering java programming assignment help that is a part of the discipline of computer science. Our value-added services cover one-to-one sessions with the experts of Assignment provider proofreading, and quality checking free of cost! Moreover, assignments written by us are plagiarism-free provided with a set of Turnitin report. We guarantee 100% customer satisfaction through our services. Contact our services now!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you for organizing such wonderful info. Students can now make their life easy and hassle-free by opting Assignment Help service of GoAssignmentHelp portal. It is one stop gateway for success in the academic field. You can ask for do my assignments for me like python programming assignment help, nursing assignment help online. We will make it for you at affordable price.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a nice blog! I have enjoyed reading through the article.
    Thanks for your nice informative blog regarding the topic
    My Assignment Help is also share kind of information which is
    is the No. 1 online assignment help in the US, UK and Australia. Now you
    can hire our experts to secure A + grade. We are the most prestigious
    assignment help services in the USA offering expert assistance in various
    disciplines like java, python, c++, C# from 2000+ experts in the US. The continued growth of treat
    assignment help in the industry is a clear indication of our simplicity in
    all areas.
    Need online assignment help, hire our experts and Feel free to get in touch with us at any time of the day or night if you require assistance.
    Assignment Help
    Click Here for more information : ☞

    Java Assignment Help

    ReplyDelete