Review: The Black Lotus by Kieran Fanning

Ghost, Cormac and Kate are not like other kids.

Ghost can turn invisible, Cormac can run up walls and Kate can talk to animals - all abilities which make them perfect recruits for the Black Lotus, a training school for ninjas. But when the Moon Sword - a source of unimaginable power - is stolen by samurai, the three are forced to put their new skills to the test in sixteenth-century Japan ...

Add too many ingredients to a bread or cake on the Great British Bake Off and you'll have to suffer the wrath of Paul Hollywood. Do the same when writing a book and you may not face wrath, but it will make your story appear disjointed and confused. Kieran Fanning's debut middle grade novel, The Black Lotus, has young people with super powers, martial arts, fantasy swords with magical powers, ninjas and samurai - that's a hell of a lot of ingredients for a literary cake yet somehow Fanning pulls it off to produce a mouthwatering adventure story that will satisfy the appetites of action-hungry young readers.

The Black Lotus is set in an alternate 21st Century planet Earth, where much of the world is part of President Goda's samurai empire. London, Paris, Rio... all are part of Goda's empire and it seems that the USA is one of the few nations that lies outside of his influence. For the time being at least.

We are initially introduced to this world through the lives of three teenagers from very diverse backgrounds, although all three have at least two things in common - they all believe themselves to be orphans and all three of them have a special power. Ghost lives in a Rio de Janeiro favela, and can turn himself invisible if he concentrates hard enough; Cormac lives in a Hinin House, or orphanage, in Ballyhook, Ireland and can run so fast that he is able to run up vertical walls; and Kate lives on the streets of NYC having run away from a children's home. Kate's special gift is that of communicating with animals, literally speaking with them. All three think they have managed to keep their special abilities, however all three have come to the attention of the Black Lotus, a group of ninja freedom fighters who have spent centuries fighting against the totalitarian rule of Goda (yes, you read me correctly - NINJA FREEDOM FIGHTERS). Soon the three find themselves teaming up to join this fight, and on an adventure that sees them travelling back to 16th Century Japan to retrieve a magical sword that goad could use to subjugate the rest of the world.

To describe The Black Lotus as cinematic would be a disservice to Kieran, as to me it can imply that a story relies far too much on action set-pieces, and yet this book would make a damn fine action/adventure film. The Black Lotus certainly isn't just a chain of action scenes with little in between them. In fact, although the action scenes are fast-paced and exciting to read (and are full of NINJA martial arts wonderfulness), it is the relationship between the three young heroes that makes this story work so well. Each one has different back histories and thus different motivations, and although, for plot reasons, we find out more about one of the three than the others, it is still very easy for the reader to empathise with all three.

The Black Lotus is yet another fab addition to the plethora of great middle grade books that have been published in the UK in 2015. It is certainly a book that will have young readers clamouring for a sequel, although I would guess that we have quite a wait for that ahead of us as The Black Lotus was only released two weeks ago. 

And did I say that it has lots of ninjas?

My thanks go to the fab people at Chicken House for sending me a copy to read.

News: Hattori Hachi Global E-book Giveaway

I've mentioned before that I am not a fan of In My Mailbox posts - to me they seem a little too much like bragging about the number of books received in a week, and I'm pretty sure my readers don't want/need to read that week in week out. However, yesterday morning I received a book in the post that I can't resist shouting about, as my review of the first book in the series is quoted on the front cover. My first front cover quote!

The book in question is Hattori Hachi: Curse of the Diamond Daggers by Jane Prowse. I have been a huge fan of Jane's kick-ass ninja heroine, ever since I read the first book in the series back in 2010. You can read my reviews of The Revenge of Praying Mantis here and Stalking the Enemy here. The great news is that the third book in the series has just been released, and to celebrate this Jane and her publisher Silver Fox are running a global eBook giveaway of the first Hattori Hachi book. This giveaway is only going to be running for a limited period and will stop once Hattori Hachi has reached at least one person in every country of the world.

So go on, head on over to http://www.hattorihachi.com/ and download it for free whilst you have the chance. If you loved fast-paced action stories then you will love Hattori Hachi.

Review: Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge by Nick Lake

Taro was just a fisherman's son...but then his father was murdered and he was forced to become a Blood Ninja, fated to live by night, doomed to live on the blood of others. But he has had his revenge. He has killed Lord Oda, the warlord who had his father assassinated. But Lord Oda is not quiet in his grave. He has found a way to reach beyond death and Taro and his friends soon find themselves facing samurai armies, a deadly enemy from the past and strange ghostly creatures who suck life from the living. Dangerously weakened, Taro, must recover the one object that Lord Oda was desperate to find before he died: the Buddha Ball, the source of limitless power. But if Taro is to complete his perilous quest - to save himself, his friends, his mother, and the girl he loves - he must go to hell and back and face his arch enemy once again. For Lord Oda has returned - as a Blood Ninja.

Blood Ninja by Nick Lake was one of my favourite reads of 2010. For me, everything was right about it. For a start, how could I not like a book where ninjas were vampires, this fact immediately explaining the secret behind their legendary powers. Add to this a story rich with historical detail, fantastic action set pieces, great characters and the occasional gory death and I felt that Nick Lake had delivered the perfect package for boys and girls who are confident readers and want something a little more challenging in their reading diet. And let's not forget that amazing book cover by Hydro74.

Eighteen months on and I am now ready here with my review of the sequel, subtitled Lord Oda's Revenge. In my mind there was a lot riding on this book - would Nick Lake be able to sustain the magic over a second volume? The answer, happily, is a resounding yes. Lord Oda's Revenge has everything its predecessor had, and more and I am slightly surprised that neither of the two books have appeared on the major children's book prize lists so far. Perhaps, like Rick Yancey's brilliant Monstrumologist books, it is just too good for the intended audience who have possibly been dumbed down by the flood of average YA titles teenagers have had to endure over the past few years?

The book picks up the story not long after the close of Blood Ninja. Taro is pining for news about his mother, whilst also being confused about where is relationship with Hana is heading. After all, although he is the lost son of Lord Tokugawa, in his mind he is really the son of a lowly fisherman and his wife, and subsequently lacks the social skills and awareness of etiquette expected of a high born Lord. Together with Hana, and his best friend Hiro, Taro sets off on a quest to find his mother and retrieve the Buddha Ball, even if he has to go to hell and back. Standing in his way is evil personified, the vile Lord Oda, as well as Yukiko, who is hell-bent on a little revenge.

The stand out element of this book for me is the character development. The middle book in a trilogy is always going to feel as if something is lacking, as the story has already been established, and no reader is going to expect a completely satisfying ending that ties off all the loose ends. Nick Lake does what George Lucas did with The Empire Strikes Back, and that is direct the reader's attention to the characters, to make up for this ultimate lack of reward come the final page. I challenge anyone who reads this book not to develop feelings for the main characters - Nick Lake really made me care about them as they faced trial after trial.

In my review of the first book I likened it more to an adventure story than a horror. I am pleased to report that the blood splatter had increased slightly in this sequel, although never to a point where it overshadows the storyline. I would not be surprised if some enterprising artist over in Japan picked this story up to turn it into a manga series. It is not an area on which I am an expert, but the few manga books I have read suggest that this story would fit perfectly within their ranks.

For some reason these books have been released earlier in the US than over here in the UK, and I wonder whether Nick Lake secured a publishing deal over there first. It isn't something that bothers me as we got the best book covers by far - just go onto Amazon US and compare, I am sure you will agree with me. However, according to that very same internet store the third book in the series is not scheduled to be out in the US until August 2012, and considering we didn't get the UK edition of Lord Oda's Revenge until a good eight months after it was published in the State we are in for a pretty long wait to find out what happens next.

Blood Ninja 2: Lord Oda's Revenge was published in the UK at the beginning of August, complete with another stunning Hydro74 cover design. My thanks go to the good people at Corvus for sending me a copy to review.

Review: Hattori Hachi: The Revenge of Praying Mantis by Jane Prowse

Fifteen year old Hattie Jackson’s apparently normal life in Camden changes forever when her Japanese mother Chiyoko disappears one night under mysterious circumstances. Hattie is understandably startled to discover that she and her mother are, in fact, the last in a line of renowned ninjutsu warriors and that, if she is to stand any chance at all of rescuing Chiyoko, she must face her ancient family’s most implacable enemy – Praying Mantis. Before she can do that, however, she has much to learn...

OK... I know the cover looks a little girly but boys, please read on as this book is brilliant. In fact, I don't think I have felt this excited about a new action series since I first read Joe Craig's Jimmy Coates: Killer several years ago, and that is praise indeed. Fortunately this book was brought to my attention by fellow book-blogger Liz over at My Favourite Books, otherwise I may never have discovered it - just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover.

The book tells the story of Hattie Jackson, an almost normal schoolgirl living in a small attic flat in Camden, North London with her parents. Hattie's father is from Yorkshire and her mother from Japan, and they have travelled around a lot as a result of her father being a police officer. I say "almost normal" as we very soon discover that Hattie's everyday routine is a little different to that of her peers as, ever since she was a small child, her blackbelt mother has drilled her regularly in martial arts and various other tests of skill, agility and endurance. Hattie puts this down to being a loveable quirk of her mother and her background but we very soon discover that it is this Japanese ancestry that creates the focus for the plot.

Having used Chapter One to give us a brief but detailed overview of Hattie's life, Ms Prowse throws us straight into the story at the beginning of the next chapter, when Hattie and her father receive a late night visit from the police, who deliver the news that Hattie's mother has disappeared, leaving signs of a bloody struggle. Before we know it, the action hits us squarely between the eyes as Hattie is attacked by shadowy figures, only to be rescued by the most unlikely of people, Yazuki the little old Japanese lady who runs the laundry on the ground floor of Hattie's apartment building. We soon discover that Hattie's mother belongs to the highest ninjutsu family in old Japan, a family that is now being targeted by the malevolent Praying Mantis and his gang of evil ninja renegades known as the Kataki warriors. Yes boys.... Hattie's mother and Yazuki are both highly skilled ninja warriors, and the various exercises that Hattie has had to perform through her life designed purely to train her in the art of ninjutsu.

I have mentioned a number of times in earlier posts that boys don't seem to warm to books with female main characters. However, this book could change that attitude as it is as thrilling an action story as anything written by Anthony Horowitz, Robert Muchamore or Joe Craig. Writing realistic, non-repetitive action scenes is not an easy task, yet Ms Prowse accomplishes this with a finesse that is often lacking in adult action novels. Hattie's ninja training scenes, and the subsequent fight scenes against the highly skilled Kataki warriors, are a joy to read.

As well as this amazing fast-paced action, Jane Prowse is also very adept at creating realistic and exciting characters. My personal favourite is Yazuki - every great coming-of-age martial arts movie has a memorable and colourful mentor for the emerging hero/heroine and the author has Yazuki playing this role to perfection. In addition, there is also the brilliantly named Mad Dog, one of Hattie's best friends, who also brings a little comedy to the story. These characters, and many others, are well-developed and are all totally believable. Their dialogue is tight and realistic, and their actions drive the plot along at a breathless pace - they had me reading as quickly as I could to find out just what would happen to them next.

If you haven't been persuaded to get your hands on this book yet, then read on. Not only has Ms Prowse delivered us memorable characters and kick-ass action scenes, but the plot itself is also brilliant. There is mystery and intrigue, as the story twists and turns its way towards the dramatic conclusion. Hattie never knows exactly who she can trust, and we even see moments of extreme paranoia where she begins to suspect her closest friends of being in league with the enemy. There are far too many moments of nail-biting tension to mention in this review, and as a reader I was never entirely sure whether all Hattie's allies would make it through to the end of the book in one piece.

Hattori Hachi: The Revenge of Praying Mantis was published by Piccadilly in July 2009. As I said at the beginning of this review, I am incredibly excited about this as a series of books, although I am going to have to wait until June for the sequel, entitled Hattori Hachi: Stalking The Enemy. If subsequent books are as good as this first one then this series has the potential to be huge; I just hope it gets the recognition it deserves. As the Harry Potter series became increasingly popular, the publishers started issuing it in two different editions - one with a colourful cover, and another with a more adult-friendly cover. If Hattori Hachi was reissued in an edition with a cover that is more appealing to boys then I am sure that many more boys would pick it up and become as hooked on the story as I am.