Competition: WIN The Demon Road Trilogy by Derek Landy

This competition has now closed and the winner has been notified. Thank you to all who entered.

Happy Hallowe'en!

I wrote yesterday about how much I enjoyed Derek Landy's, dark and bloody Demon Road trilogy.

Now you have the chance to win the trilogy, simply by filling in your details in the form below. Thanks to the generosity of HerperCollins I have a set of the three books to give away.
  

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win a set of books. The deadline for entries is 7pm GMT Friday 4th November. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Competition: WIN a pair of signed Abi Elphinstone books

Abi Elphinstone's The Dreamsnatcher was my 2015 Middle Grade Book of the Year. Last week saw the release of the sequel, The Shadow Keeper, and it is so good that it is already vying for a top spot in my 2016 list.

Now you have the chance to win signed copies of both books, simply by filling in your details in the form below. Thanks to the generosity of Simon and Schuster I have five pairs of Abi's books to give away.
  

The first five names drawn at random after the closing date will each win a pair of books. The deadline for entries is 7pm GMT Monday 7th March. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Competition: WIN a copy of Superhero Street by Phil Earle

This competition is now closed and the winners have been notified. Thank you to who all entered.

Phil Earle's Demolition Dad was one of my favourite books of 2015. This week sees the release of Superhero Street, the next book in his Storey Street series, and it's another corker.

Now you have the chance to win a copy of the book, simply by filling in your details in the form below. Thanks to the generosity of Hachette Children's Books I have three copies of Superhero Street to give away.
  

The first three names drawn at random after the closing date will each win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is 7pm GMT Monday 29th February. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Competition: Win A Pair of Tickets to the Divergent European Movie Premiere

Thanks to those wonderful people at HarperCollins UK, I have an pretty damn amazing prize on offer for the winner of this competition: 

a pair of tickets to the European movie premiere of Divergent!

The Premiere is taking place in London next Sunday (30th march) and will will be attended by stars Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet and director Neil Burger. And you could be joining them on the red carpet. Sadly I can't go myself, but having been fortunate to attend a couple of movie premieres in the past (XXX and Bad Boys II), I can say it is a fantastic experience.

Competition details and information about the Divergent Fan Experience:

Experience the world of the hotly anticipated DIVERGENT movie in Leicester Square and attend the EUROPEAN PREMIERE!

On Saturday March 29th and Sunday March 30th Leicester Square will be transformed into the dystopian world of DIVERGENT, where fans will be invited to undergo initiation tests and, like Tris Prior, choose where they belong. Would you survive in Dauntless? Fans will be put through their paces with Dauntless training to see if you are brave enough to join their faction!

But that’s not all – we have a pair of tickets for the European premiere of DIVERGENT at Odeon Leicester Square on the Sunday at 1.30pm, attended by stars of the film Shailene Woodley, Theo James and Kate Winslet! So not only can you discover the world for yourself, you can walk the red carpet, mingle with the stars and watch the film before it’s released in the UK!

Enter here for your chance to win this once in a lifetime experience! If you aren’t lucky this time, you are still in with a chance - get down to Leicester Square early as we will also be giving out a limited number of premiere tickets to fans on both days!

The Divergent Fan Experience Timings

Saturday March 29th 
11.00am – 6.00pm

Sunday March 30th
11.00am – 12.00pm
3.00pm – 6.00pm

Premiere timings

Sunday March 30th 
Doors open – 1.30pm
Doors close – 2.30pm
Film starts 3.00pm

DIVERGENT is released April 4th 

FB handle: DivergentUK
Twitter: @Divergentmovie
#Divergent

How to enter:

Simply fill in your details in the form below. Competition closes at 9pm GMT on Tuesday 25th March. Please take careful note of the Terms and Conditions at the end of this post.

Terms and conditions

The prize is one pair of tickets to the premiere.
Only one entry allowed per person.
The winner must be 13 years old or over.
Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The winner must be available on Sunday 30th March, and be able to make their own way to London.
The winner will be responsible for their own travel expenses.
Contest open to UK residents only.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will pass the contact details of the winner on to the publisher following the close of the competition. The winner will then be contacted by the publisher.
Closing date for entries is 9pm GMT on Tuesday 25th March.

*** Competition: WIN a Signed Copy of The Windvale Sprites by Mackenzie Crook

edit (02/12/13): This competition is now closed. The winner is Jane Clarke.


On Sunday I posted a review of The Lost Journals of Benjamin Tooth by Mackenzie Crook. Now, thanks to the lovely people at Faber, you have the chance to win a signed first edition hardback of its predecessor - The Windvale Sprites - simply by filling in your details in the form below.

  

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is 7pm GMT Tuesday 26th November. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Conquest Competition Result

The fifteen lucky winners of the Conquest competition are:

Megan Campbell
Carolyn Montgomery
Suzy Grant
Jax Blunt
Becjy Scott
Ryan Grainey
Laura C. Martin
Andrea Chettle
John Massey
Christine Park
Michael O'Sullivan
Michelle Mckernan
Paula Garratt
Lucas Cushion
Tamalyn Roberts

Well done and thank you to all of you who entered. I will now endeavour to contact the winners by email. Many thanks to Headline for providing the prize. 

*** Competition: WIN one of 15 proof copies of Conquest by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard

If you like YA or adult science fiction then this may be the competition for you. Thanks to the lovely people at Headline I have fifteen (yes, you read that right 15) copies of the proof of Conquest, a fab new book by John Connolly (yes, he of the Charlie Parker series and the Samuel Johnson vs the Devil trilogy) and Jennifer Ridyard.

Here's the blurb:

CONQUEST is the first instalment in the Chronicles of the Invaders series, an epic new science fiction series for teenagers written with by Sunday Times bestselling author John Connolly and his partner, Jennifer Ridyard.

Described by Connolly as “an adventure novel, with an extended chase scene at its heart”, it is inspired by the novels of John Wyndham, as well as classic science fiction films including John Carpenter’s The Thing, Ridley Scott’s Blade
Runner and Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. With a strong female and male protagonist, the series will appeal to both a male and female teenager readership as well as adult fans of crossover fiction and science fiction.

Earth is no longer ours. It is ruled by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilised yet ruthless alien species. But humankind has not given up the fight, and Paul Kerr is one of a new generation of young Resistance leaders waging war on the invaders. Syl Hellais is the first of the Illyri to be born on Earth. Trapped inside the walls of her father’s stronghold, hated by the humans, she longs to escape. But on her sixteenth birthday, Syl’s life is about to change forever. She will become an outcast, an enemy of her people, for daring to save the life of one human: Paul Kerr. Only together do they have a chance of saving each other, and the planet they both call home. For there is a greater darkness behind the Illyri conquest of Earth, and the real invasion has not yet even begun...

To be in with a chance of winning one of these proof copies, simply answer the question below (hint: the answer will be in a short extract from Conquest that you can read as a pdf by clicking here) and in your details in the form below.
  

The first fifteen names drawn at random after the closing date will each win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is 7pm BST Thursday 5th September. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

*** Competition: WIN a set of Department 19 books by Will Hill

Today is release day for Department 19: Battles Lines by Will Hill (you can see my review here).

Now, thanks to the generous people at HarperCollins and The Big Shot you have the chance to win a set of the three Department 19 books that have been released to date, simply by filling in your details in the form below.
  

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win the three books. The deadline for entries is 7pm BST Friday 5th April. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Department 19: Battles Lines 
The Department 19 Files

Third Blogoversary (with Bumper Book Giveaway to Celebrate)

The Book Zone (For Boys) is three years old today, and just saying that comes as something as a relief to me. In the past few months I have come very, very close to announcing the end of The Book Zone as it started to feel like a chore. At one point I thought I had found someone to help me out with review writing, but sadly I got let down. Things then slowed down considerably back in July due to work pressures, but I fully expected to use a sizeable portion of the school summer holidays to catch up on the back log of reading and reviews. When that time came I just could not find the motivation to blog, or even to read many of the books on what had become a stupidly tall To Be Read pile. Instead, I devoted my summer to catching up on some of the many adult books that I had bought but never found the time to read. I also made the conscious decision that come the start of the new school year I would be easing off on the blogging, dropping from 20ish posts per month, down to a more sustainable 10ish. I feel that now is the right moment to apologise to all those publishers that sent me books which I have not yet read or reviewed - I will try to get around to them as quickly as I can.

The news that my very good friends Liz and Mark de Jager are bringing their brilliant My Favourite Books blog to an end, as well as rumours that another high profile blogger is also thinking of throwing in the towel, quickly brought back my buried thoughts about quitting. But then I think back to my reasons for starting the blog in the first place - to "raise awareness of the vast wealth of 'boy-friendly' books that have been published since Harry Potter burst onto the scene", and then I am wracked with guilt and feel that I am letting people down if I stop. And so, at least for the immediate future, The Book Zone will continue, with slightly less output per month, and probably significantly shorter reviews as opposed to my usual rambling essays.

With all that doom and gloom out of the way I want to concentrate on a few highs of the year. The greatest of these is also the most recent: the writing god that is Anthony Horowitz taking part in a Q&A for The Book Zone. Another great moment was when I met Michael Grant earlier in the year at the Electric Monkey launch event. I had only just finished Bzrk and it was great to be able to tell him just how much Bzrk messed with my mind (in a good way). I have also taken great enjoyment from the number of amazing books that have continued to come through my letterbox, many of them from début authors. Some of these books will make it on to my Best of 2012 list when I publish it in December, and one of these débuts may even be my 2012 Book of the Year. There is still a couple of months to go but at the moment there are two or three books in the running for this 'award'.

As ever, my huge thanks go to the authors and publishers that have made this past year so enjoyable again by keeping me supplied with books and taking the time to answer my interview questions, as well as to the other bloggers out there who have been a constant source of inspiration and guidance. I want to mention Liz and Mark again, as well as Sarah who also writes for My Favourite Books, as their blog as been my 'benchmark' ever since I started writing The Book Zone and if anyone ever asks me advice on blogging I always send them there first - My Favourite Books will be sorely missed. My thanks also go to the readers of this blog, whether you are boys, girls, parents, teachers, librarians, book lovers, or a combination of the above - thanks you for reading and I hope you will stay around for as long as I do.

As a special birthday celebration I have a fantastic prize up for grabs. I have been sorting through my books and seem to have a number of double copies, and so one lucky reader of The Book Zone could win the following:

Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill
Summertime of the Dead by Gregory Hughes
All three books in Sarah Silverwood's Nowhere Chronicles
The Enemy by Charlie Higson
Brothers to the Death by Darren Shan

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

and possibly a few more.

To be in with a chance of winning all of these books just fill in the form below by the competition deadline of 8pm GMT Monday 29th October 2011. Due to the cost of postage this competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

*** WIN A Framed Zom-B Poster Signed by Darren Shan

Today is the release day for Zom-B, the first book in Darren Shan's new zombie series. I posted my review a month ago (click here to read it) and I know Darren's legions of fans have been eagerly waiting for this day to arrive. When I got my copy the lovely people at Simon and Schuster very kindly let me have a second copy for my godson Danny who has been a Shan fan for many years, and should you put more faith in the thoughts of a teenager rather than those of a teacher then this is what he thought of it:

I've read ZOM-B twice now and really enjoyed it both times. The first time i read it in one night, I couldnt put it down it was that good. I found the storyline very typical of Darren Shan and I absolutely loved the way he described the zombie "scooping" their dinners' brains out of their heads. The cliffhanger at the end of the story was brilliant. I cant wait for the next book to come out. I am definately a big fan.

Now, thanks to the generosity of those fab people at Simon and Schuster I have this awesome signed and framed poster (see below) to give away to one lucky winner. All you have to do is answer the question in the form below and fill in your details. The deadline for entries is 7pm BST on Thursday 11th October.This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

Huge thanks go to Simon and Schuster and Angel Publicity for arranging this competition.

*** Competition: WIN a copy of Crusher by Niall Leonard

Last week I posted a review for Crusher, the new YA crime novel by Niall Leonard.

Now, thanks to the generous people at Doubleday you have the chance to win a copy of the book, simply by filling in your details in the form below.
  

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is 7pm BST Friday 21st September. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

*** Competition: WIN a signed copy of Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked

Last week I posted a review for Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked, the latest book in Derek Landy's brilliant series.

Now, thanks to the generous people at HarperCollins you have the chance to win a signed copy of the book, simply by filling in your details in the form below.
  

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win a copy of the book. The deadline for entries is 7pm BST Thursday 6th September. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

*** Competition: WIN a pair of Sam Silver: Undercover Pirate Books

Last Thursday I posted a review for Sam Silver: Undercover Pirate, the fun new series for 6+ kids from Orion Children's Books.

Now, thanks to the generous people at Orion you have the chance to win a set of the two books, simply by filling in your details in the form below. What's more, I have three sets to give away. 

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win a set of three books. This is a one day competition - the deadline for entries is 7pm BST Friday 29th June. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the publisher or I will be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

News: Red House Young Writers' Competition

Aggghhh.... curse you gmail spam filter! I have just found an email featuring the following news looking very lonely in my spam box and I had to share it with you as you still have nearly a fortnight to get your entries in (closing date is 2nd May).

Red House Books seeks talented young writers for 2012 Yearbook!

Is your child a budding writer, poet, or journalist? If so, we have a brilliant opportunity to get their work in print! We want aspiring young writers from around the country to enter the 2012 Red House Young Writers’ Yearbook competition and win the chance to see their stories or poems published in a beautiful hardback book.

To enter the competition, your child should be aged between 7 and 17. They can submit a story, poem or article and it’s up to the individual what subject they choose to write about. This year the competition entries will be divided into four age categories: 7+, 9+, 11+ and 13+.

As well as becoming a published author, your youngster will also win the opportunity to attend a Red House Young Writers’ Workshop, which will be held at our headquarters in Surrey and run by Matt Whyman, the bestselling author of Goldstrike and Inside the Cage. The workshop provides participants with fun and stimulating challenges to help them hone their skills and lots of feedback to encourage and inspire! If you would like to see the standard and range of work produced by previous young yearbook authors, why not buy a copy of the Red House Young Writers’ Yearbook 2011! This inspirational book is the perfect present for wannabe writers. To enter, simply fill out the form below.

Entries must be under 1000 words.

Head on over to the Red House website here for the competition entry details and web-form.

Pile of HarperCollins Books Competition Result

The lucky winner of the copy of the fantastic pile of books published this month by HarperCollins is:


Jan Moyle 

Well done and thank you to all of you who entered. I will now endeavour to contact the winner through by email. Please reply within 48 hours or I will draw another name out of the hat. Many thanks to HarperCollins for providing the prize.

*** Competition: WIN a pile of books from HarperCollins

I feel like I should be christening March 2012 as HarperCollins month as they have so many great titles being released, every one of them a potential contender for my book of the year. Thanks to their almost overwhelming generosity I have a copy of each of their big titles that are coming out this month to give away, and you could be the lucky winner of a copy of each of the following:


Ash Mistry and the Savage Fortress by Sarwat Chadda
Department 19: The Rising by Will Hill
Freax and Rejex by Robin Jarvis
The 13th Horseman by Barry Hutchison
 

To enter all you need to do is answer the simple question below and add your details to the form. The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win all four books. Deadline for entries is 8pm GMT Monday 19th March. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the author or I will not be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

*** Competition: WIN a copy of Talina in the Tower by Michelle Lovris

This morning I posted my review of Talina in the Tower, the latest fantasy story set in Venice from author Michelle Lovric.
Now, thanks to the generous people at Orion Children's Books you have the chance to win a copy of the book, simply by filling in your details in the form below.
 

The first name drawn at random after the closing date will win a copy of the book. Deadline for entries is 8pm GMT Friday 9th March. This competition is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the author or I will not be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.

News: WIN $250 AUD By Making A Trailer For Money Run by Jack Heath

I saw a link to this competition tweeted by author Jack Heath yesterday, and I thought it was just the kind of thing that some of you might be interested in. I reviewed the book back in July 2011 and thought it was one of the best action thrillers for the 10+ age group that I had read in ages.


Now Jack is offering up a prize of 250 Australian Dollars for the winner of his 'Make A Money Run Trailer' competition. As long as you live in Australia, UK, USA, Canada or New Zealand you are eligible to enter, and the deadline for entries is Tuesday 21st February. Jack isn't necessarily after anything long or expensive, and gives his own home-made trailer for the sequel, Hit List, as an example (see youtube video at the end of this post).


Full details cane be found here. Happy film making!

Competition: WIN a signed copy of Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy by Andy Briggs

2012 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Last year, to help commemorate the occasion, Faber published Tarzan: The Greystoke Legacy, the first book in Andy Briggs's new series featuring the legendary character (I loved it - you can read my review here). The second book, Tarzan: The Jungle Warrior, is scheduled to be published in July. 

Thanks to Andy Briggs you now have the chance to win one of four signed copies of The Greystoke Legacy, simply by answering the question below and filling in your details.
 

The first four names drawn at random after the closing date will each win a signed copy of the book. Deadline for entries is 8pm GMT Monday 16th January. This contest is open to UK residents only.

Contest open to UK residents only.
Neither the author or I will not be held responsible for items lost in the mail.
I hold the right to end a contest before its original deadline without any prior notice.
I hold the right to disqualify any entry as I see fit.
I will contact winning entrants for their postal address following the close of the competition. Winners have 48 hours to reply. Failure to do so in this time will result in another winner being randomly selected.