We showed you the movies we’re looking forward to this fall, but hows about some TV?! With a whole slew of hopeful new pilots airing this month, we had to take the time to sort ‘em out. Here are the shows we are looking forward to…

I. New Shows We Cannot Wait to Watch:

Glee (Fox)
Premieres: Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 9/8c

Glee makes me want to throw up my hands and sing and cry and cheer. Inspiration meets musical meets comedy, and I cannot wait for the season premiere! I don’t even care that “Don’t Stop Believin’” is gonna be stuck in my head for weeks on end. Hell yes.

Community (NBC)
Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 17 at 9:30/8:30c

Senor Chang included, Community has a pretty solid cast and has the makings of being a truly pee your pants funny show. Following a bunch of people you’d find at a community college, this is a fresh fall pilot and I hope it lives up to how funny some of the commercials are!

Bored To Death (HBO)
Premieres: Sunday, Sept. 20 at 9:30/8:30c

Trailer Here

Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis (the guy that made The Hangover hilarious) and Ted Danson star in this new show that looks flipping WONDERFUL. Schwartzman plays a writer-cum-private detective who gets into shenanigans. Sold.

Modern Family (ABC)
Premieres: Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 9/8c

Trailer Here

Every season I make a decision to watch ONE new sitcom comedy as an ‘out on a limb’ bet, and this year it’s Modern Family (Community doesn’t count because it’s a safe bet). The dude from Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake and Al Bundy, plus the pretty funny – so far! – commercials are the reason I’m giving this comedy a shot.

FlashForward (ABC)
Premieres: Thursday, Sept. 24 at 8/7c

Based on the Nebula Award winning book by Robert J. Sawyer, ABC’s new scifi thriller (to be paired with LOST) follows an ensemble cast of survivors. One day, a freak incident causes everyone on the planet to black out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds – except they haven’t ‘blacked out’, they’ve actually witnessed a glimpse of some unknown time in their futures. Following the disaster (for disaster it is, since 40 million souls die during the 2 minute blackout), the survivors try to piece together what they’ve seen, and why they’ve seen it. Starring the likes of Joseph Fiennes (lesser known brother of Ralph, you may remember him from Shakespeare In Love or Enemy at the Gates), John Cho (you know, Harold), and Penny!!! (from LOST), and written by David S. Goyer (Batman Begins), I’m hoping just as anxiously as ABC execs that Flash Forward will be able to fill LOST’s shoes.

V (ABC)
Premieres: Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 8/7c

JULIEEEEET!!!!!!! My beautiful, luminescent Elizabeth Mitchell makes this a no brainer watch for me (the lovely Ms. Mitchell is at the top of my girl crush list). And then, when I actually heard about the plot of the show, I was even more on board. Yeah, it’s kinda Independence Day meets “To Serve Man” of The Twilight Zone…but I love all of those things. So, I’m in. Apparently it’s a reboot of the 1983 show of the same title, which I’ll have to find online somewhere.

My only concern about V is – does this mean Juliet is really dead on LOST?!?!?!? *sobs* NOOOOOO!!!!!

Human Target (Fox)
Premieres: Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 8/7c

Trailer Here

Based on the DC comics of the same title, Fox is giving Human Target another chance at a series (it fizzled out in 1992 on ABC). Mark Valley plays the lead as Christopher Chance, and he seems to be a damn good fit (if you ask me). Jackie Earle Haley as Guerrero is another keeper (anyone that can do what he did for Rorschach is a baller), and Chi McBride rounds out the solid cast. I’m hopeful for this one, especially since girl crush #2 Trish Helfer makes an appearance in the pilot.

Caprica (Syfy)
Premieres: Friday, January 22, 2010 at 9 pm

So, the miniseries pilot wasn’t totally awesome, but BSG has left a hole in my heart and TV lineup and I need to fill it any way I can. Personally, I’m more excited for Battlestar Galactica: The Plan…but more on that later.

Spartacus: Blood and Sand
Premieres: Friday, January 22, 2010 at 10 pm

I cannot really tell if this is going to be crap or if it’s gonna be good. It stars Lucy Lawless (girl crush #3), which is a good sign, but it looks like some highly stylized crappy ripoff of 300 and Gladiator…still, I’m gonna give this a try.

II. Shows We CANNOT WAIT to Welcome Back:

The Office
Premieres: Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 9/8c

Yes. Cannot wait. The Office will be back in full swing! Pam and Jim are having a baby! Michael is up to his usual shenanigans, and hopefully we will be getting much more Holly. Seriously, cannot wait.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Premieres: Thursday September 17, 2009, at 10/9c

If you don’t watch Sunny, you need to get on it. NOW. This is one of the funniest, most wrong shows on TV. One of my absolute favorites and I cannot wait to see what hilarity this new season brings. Really. WATCH IT.

House (Fox)
Premieres: Monday September 21, 2009 at 8/7c

House is back and freaking insane. Well, in the mental house. I cannot wait to see what happens in this season…finally, we’re seeing the ramifications for House’s…well, House-ness. And I want real House and Cuddy sex. Please.

Castle (ABC)
Premieres: Monday September 21, 2009 at 10/9c

Woohoo! Richard Castle is baaaaaaack, saved from the dust of cancellation. And thank goodness – this show is like the perfect combination for Ana and I. An author, played by the one and only Nathan Fillion, accompanies beautiful but damaged Detective Kate Beckett with the NYPD on “research” for his next novel heroine who he’s basing off Kate, Nikki Heat. He’s charming and quirky and all Nathan Fillion-y, and Stana Katic is wonderful as the brass balled chick detective. The writing is solid, the chemistry between these two is fabulous. I cannot freaking wait.

Dexter
Premieres: Sunday Sep 27, at 9/8c

Dexter Morgan is back – and now he’s married and a new father of three children. And he still needs to find time to kill people. Dex is probably both Ana’s and my favorite character on TV (behind Sawyer from LOST of course). It’s not creepy that Michael C. Hall is on The List, now is it? Simply put, Dexter rules. It’s made of awesome. Smart, thrilling, bloody, funny, terrifying…it’s everything you want in a TV show. AND this season, John Lithgow is Dexter’s foil as a notorious serial killer known as The Trinity Killer. Hell. YES.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (SyFy)
Premieres: (on DVD) October 27, 2009

Only one of the best scifi shows on television EVER, back for a look at the cylon side of the human apocalypse. I cannot wait.

LOST
Premieres: Early 2010

Official Trailer:

From Comic Con:

Duh. Obviously Ana and I are looking forward to LOST’s final season more than any other show on TV. *sniffles* I’m actually getting a little choked up considering this is going to be IT for my current favorite show. Guh. And I’m really desperately trying to avoid spoilers. Trying.

III. Shows That Look So Stupid They Merit Preemptive Mockage

NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS)

Seriously? LL Cool J and freaking Chris O’Donnell. This is just sad. What’s even sadder is that the show will probably be successful (because we need ANOTHER cop show on tv). Real original.

The Forgotten (ABC)

Because Christian Slater needs another show since My Own Worst Enemy worked out so great for him. AND it’s Jerry Bruckheimer produced. Win. *snorts*

Vampire Diaries (CW)

Poor Ian Somerhalder. After being killed off as Boone in LOST, I haven’t really seen much of him…and now this. I’m sure it’ll be a hit and all what with the Twilighter drones, but it looks ridiculous. But that’s the CW’s bread and butter, right?

Expedition: Great White (NatGeo)

LOLOLOLOLOL Paul Walker talks about science LOLOLOLOLOL

**********

And those are our picks!!! What are you looking forward to this fall (and beyond)?

Title: The Strain

Author: Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Genre: Horror, Speculative Fiction

Publisher: William Morrow (US) / Harper Collins (UK)
Publication Date: June 2009 (US & UK)
Hardcover: 416 pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in the planned Strain trilogy.

Why did I read this book: Well, there are a few very compelling reasons. One, it’s oscar winning freaking genius Guillermo del Toro (I have such huge love for Chronos, Hellboy, Hellboy II, and Pan’s Labyrinth). Two, it’s a new, vicious take on vampires (as opposed to the leather-clad/ridiculously sexified vamps that dominate literature and tv these days), in the tradition of ‘Salem’s Lot. Three, Ana is my sugar mama – she went to a signing in London to celebrate the release of the book with a bunch of other wonderful UK bloggers, and SHE GOT ME A PERSONALIZED, SIGNED COPY OF THE BOOK. Seriously:

So, as you can see, I had no choice but to read this book.

Summary: (from amazon.com)
The Strain

So begins a battle of mammoth proportions as the vampiric virus that has infected New York begins to spill out into the streets. Eph, who is joined by Setrakian and a motley crew of fighters, must now find a way to stop the contagion and save his city–a city that includes his wife and son–before it is too late.

Review:

The Strain begins with a prologue of sorts, as a young man named Abraham listens to a bubbeh meiseh, a grandmother’s story, about the evil that lurks and waits in the darkness. This evil has overwhelmed many before, and continues throughout history, as Abraham will discover during the course of his life. Many decades later, an airplane lands at JFK in New York, but something is horribly wrong. The plane is dead. No lights, no noise from the pilots or passengers. When the CDC arrives on the scene under the leadership of Ephraim Goodweather, the find that the all the passengers on the plane save four have died, mysteriously drained of all their blood. Fearing a viral outbreak, Eph rushes to find the cause of the mysterious deaths – but what he discovers shakes him to his very core, and forces him to confront everything he’s ever known about science. As the situation in New York grows more dire following a total eclipse that eerily coincides with the airplane deaths, Eph teams up with an old man who has seen this evil before and remembers it well from his grandmother’s stories, and together with a few other determined survivors they strike out to stop the spread of the strain.

The Strain isn’t really what I was expecting – I thought this would be a horror novel, when in actuality, thematically and in writing style this is much more of a thriller novel. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – simply unexpected. In many ways, The Strain reminds me of books by Robin Cook or Richard Preston (i.e. Outbreak, The Hot Zone). I used to read these bioterrorism/CDC/USAMRIID books when I was in middle school and Ephraim’s scientific angle with the CDC dominates a lot of this story. On the other hand, balancing the scientific elements The Strain is also a tale of the supernatural, written very much in the tradition of ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. There’s a Master, there’s a moving coffin storyline, there’s a male hero with the son character, and there’s the necessary Van Helsing character. I guess what I’m getting at, is that The Strain borrows heavily from established works of fiction (even the central theme behind the trilogy, with vampirism as a pathogen or strain can find its roots in Richard Matheson’s classic tale I am Legend), cobbling together a modern, grittier take on vampires.

Unfortunately, the overall effect is sadly uneven as the story struggles to balance both thriller with horror and blend science with fiction. The Strain isn’t a bad book, but it’s firmly locked in mediocrity.

The beginning of the novel is undeniably strong – starting with a prologue of sorts in Romania and a glimpse of young Abraham (who will become our Van Helsing in New York many years later). It’s a very Guillermo del Torro-esque way to start a story – as with the story of Nuada and the Golden army in Hellboy II, the grandmother’s tale about the monster Sardu is one that sets an eerie, dark atmosphere for The Strain, haunting with the telltale sound of the monster’s cane (“pick-pick-pick“). It is in this element, the supernatural, that Mr. del Torro and Mr. Hogan excel – the old stories of evil, powerful master vampires in the trenches of WWII, the ancients that still remain on Earth, the motivations for destruction of the human race – these are the thematic and storytelling highs of the novel. In contrast, the medical thriller The X-Files-cum-Outbreak just doesn’t quite work. Ephraim’s struggles with his bureaucratic bosses may ring true, but it’s not something I want to read about for fifty pages, and the alacrity that Eph and Nora switch from concerned CDC scientists to sword-wielding slayers of anyone infected isn’t quite believable. There’s also an attempt to make vampirism a pathogen that can be defined by science, but then it’s countered by decidedly non-scientific factors that don’t make any sense if vampirism is due to a virus (vampires cannot cross moving water unassisted, mirrors only show vampires if they are backed with silver, vampires can be hurt by UV lamps but not killed by exposure to the sun). It never really quite works either way.

As I’ve mentioned above, The Strain is written in the style of a thriller. Actually, a more astute observation would be that The Strain is written in the style of a TV movie or episode of CSI. Sections end on commercial break-like cliffhangers, switching constantly from following Eph’s storyline to Setrakian’s (that is, Abraham’s), to the infected survivors from the plane, and to anyone these characters may have been in contact with. It’s a schizophrenic, sensationalist writing style that I’m not particularly fond of – but perhaps this is just a matter of personal taste. There’s no beauty to the writing, it simply is. Blood gushes, eyes look angry, etc. The action verbs and adjectives are in the right places, but The Strain is descriptive without finesse or anything to set it apart. Yes, there is an apt amount of description of dismembered body parts, but it’s hollow. There’s a lot of ’so and so was sad and tired’ instead of ’so and so rubbed a weary hand over his brow, attempting to soothe the pounding in his head’ or whatever. There’s simple telling, but no showing.

The characters are similarly bland – not badly written, but not particularly memorable or compelling. At best, they are caricatures. Archetypes. There’s the Hero – estranged from his wife, a Good Man, a doting father to his loving son, the man who means well but is married to his job of saving the world. Of course, there’s his predictable love interest Nora (who hardly gets any narrative insight other than being Ephraim’s partner at work). The other main character is of course Setrakian, the knowledgeable old man who has been fighting evil since his days as a survivor of the Holocaust. Again, the characters aren’t poorly written, but there’s nothing particularly interesting about any of them.

Also, another notable writing flaw in The Strain is a bizarre tendency to explicate the strangest little things. For example, at one point in the story, rats have invaded an apartment by vents in the walls. The narrative will suddenly break from the story and start describing characteristics of rats in apartments, i.e.

Norway rats – Rattus norvegicus, city rats – have a highly defined sense of smell and taste. Their front incisors are long and sharp, stronger than aluminum, copper, lead, and iron. Gnawing rats are responsible for one-quarter of all electric-cable breaks in the city, and the likely culprit behind the same percentage of fires of unknown origin. Their teeth are comparable in pure hardness to steel, and the alligator-like structure of their jaw allows for thousands of pounds of biting pressure They can chew through cement and even stone.

While this information is undeniably interesting, these textbook-like asides to the reader by an otherwise non-present narrator is distracting and…well, odd. It’s everywhere in the book, from descriptions of HAZMAT suits and eclipse details.

The biggest detractor, however, from The Strain would have to be in the plotting of the story. The first fifty pages or so are strongly gripping, engaging reader interest, but then for a good chunk of time (about half of the novel) the book plods along with boring exposition. The survivors go home and start to feel a little strange. Eph and Nora deal with bureaucratic BS. Setrakian works his pawn shop with a sense of impending doom. As the first book of a trilogy, it has an open ending that will be resumed in the next volume…but I’m not entirely sure this should have been made a trilogy, as there is a good chunk of nothing happening in this first book that surely could have been reduced or cut out of the novel entirely. One particular problem I had was with the whole eclipse storyline – WTF why? There’s a scary total eclipse. People irreparably damage their retinas by looking at the eclipse without protective glasses…and that’s it. There’s no real tie-in to the vampires or anything (and this eclipse takes up a good chunk of narrative time, in the ballpark of two chapters).

Now, I’ve harped on about my problems with The Strain, and I know I sound like I hated it. That’s not the case – I actually did like the book. It’s nothing new or particularly groundbreaking, and it certainly isn’t perfect. But once I slogged through two-thirds of the book, things FINALLY pick up and get interesting. By the time the strigoi-killing dream team has been assembled, humans are becoming vampire meat and silver swords fly, it’s really freaking exciting. And good. And fabulously gory. I just wish it didn’t take so long to get to that point. There are cinematic elements to these big battles at the end (Setrakian’s “My sword sings of silver!” is just as memorable and unexpectedly splendid as the priest in Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive busting into kung fu zombie slaying while yelling, “I KICK ASS FOR THE LORD!”), and I finished The Strain in a flurry of pages, bloodlust sated. I also appreciated the sense of scope in the novel – as nights continue to pass, the threat of the vampire curse spreading grows to apocalyptic proportions and there’s a revealing scene near the end within the vampire world itself. As for the vamps themselves, I really did like this new descriptive invocation of them. Stinger tentacles as opposed to the usual fangs, mutating and disjointed body parts…it’s really wicked good stuff.

Was this action enough to make up for its other shortcomings, all its flaws and lackluster writing? In my opinion…sort of. At least, it was enough to make it worth reading the sequel.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the first chapter:

“Once upon a time,” said Abraham Setrakian’s grandmother, “there was a giant.”

Young Abraham’s eyes brightened, and immediately the cabbage borscht in the wooden bowl got tastier, or at least less garlicky. He was a pale boy, underweight and sickly. His grandmother, intent on fattening him, sat across from him while he ate his soup, entertaining him by spinning a yarn.

A bubbeh meiseh, a “grandmother’s story.” A fairy tale. A legend.

“He was the son of a Polish nobleman. And his name was Jusef Sardu. Master Sardu stood taller than any other man. Taller than any roof in the village. He had to bow deeply to enter any door. But his great height, it was a burden. A disease of birth, not a blessing. The young man suffered. His muscles lacked the strength to support his long, heavy bones. At times it was a struggle for him just to walk. He used a cane, a tall stick–taller than you–with a silver handle carved into the shape of a wolf’s head, which was the family crest.”

“Yes, Bubbeh?” said Abraham, between spoonfuls.

“This was his lot in life, and it taught him humility, which is a rare thing indeed for a nobleman to possess. He had so much compassion– for the poor, for the hardworking, for the sick. He was especially dear to the children of the village, and his great, deep pockets–the size of turnip sacks–bulged with trinkets and sweets. He had not much of a childhood himself, matching his father’s height at the age of eight, and surpassing him by a head at age nine. His frailty and his great size were a secret source of shame to his father. But Master Sardu truly was a gentle giant, and much beloved by his people. It was said of him that Master Sardu looked down on everyone, yet looked down on no one.”

She nodded at him, reminding him to take another spoonful. He chewed a boiled red beet, known as a “baby heart” because of its color, its shape, its capillary-like strings. “Yes, Bubbeh?”

You can read the first two chapters of The Strain from DreadCentral online HERE.

Additional Thoughts:

For all its writing flaws, The Strain would make a kickass movie. And there are the cinematic book trailers from two scenes in the novel below to prove it!

You can find out more about The Strain online at the very pretty book website HERE.

BUT for a look at books that The Strain channels, here’s my recommended reading list:

• The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
• Outbreak by Robin Cook
• The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
• ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
• Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons
• They Thirst by Robert McCammon
• I am Legend by Richard Matheson
• Nekroscope by Brian Lumley

Verdict: An all around bland book, but not without its highs. I certainly wasn’t impressed by this literary effort from Mr. del Toro and Mr. Hogan, but I’ll be sticking around for the sequel in hopes that the writing and plotting improves. Recommended only for genre fans (because, of course you’re going to read this book anyways).

Rating: 5 – Meh, but not without some merit (especially by the end of the book)

Reading Next: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Ahoy mateys! I’m back from Vegas, didn’t lose too much money or sanity, and I’m taking over the blog…

Well, not really. Just to give you the skinny on another Sunday, and another stash. First, we have a giveaway winner to announce…

Giveaway Winner:

The lucky winner of our giveaway of The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker is:

Congratulations! You know the drill. Send your snail mail address to us (contact AT the book smugglers DOT com) and we’ll get your winnings off to you as soon as possible.

This Week on The Book Smugglers:

We’ve got a SUPER packed week coming up for you. On Monday, while Ana’s out enjoying her bank holiday Thea (finally) reviews The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan…

…and also takes a look at the upcoming fall TV schedule.

The sequel to the highly praised The Hunger Games, Catching Fire is already making its way to the top of many “Best of 2009″ lists…so on Tuesday, we’ll be having a SuperMegaFantastic Catching Fire bonanza! To celebrate the release day of one of the most highly anticipated books of 2009, Thea will review Catching Fire, and then later in the day we will be offering a giveaway of THREE copies of the book, along with prize packs of T-shirts and mockingjay pins. Make sure to stop by for a chance to win this great swag.

On Wednesday, we bring you a brand spakin’ new feature: “What She Said…” In which Ana and I read books that the other has read and loved this year. The idea arose after Ana *cough*STOLE*cough* Name of the Wind from the “Joint Review” pile and decided to go rogue and read it on her own (even though I’ve had the book on my shelf for ages and was the one who told Ana about it!). She loved it, wrote an awesome review about it, won’t stop gushing about it…and I’ve had enough. I want to read and review this book, but the dilemma was that if I did read it, I wouldn’t really be able to post again about it. Right? WRONG. Hence, “What She Said…” was born. On Wednesday, Ana reads one of my suggestions, Jasmyn by Alex Bell (which I loved and immediately thought Ana would adore too)…

and then I get to read The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brenan (which Ana loved and immediately told me to buy).

On Thursday, Ana reviews A Duke of Her Own by Eloisa James and Thea reviews Succubus Heat by Richelle Mead.

Friday, we give you a joint review of a book we’ve both been waiting to read for a long time, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn: The Final Empire (book 1 of the Mistborn trilogy).

Woohoo! (Love the new cover, by the way)

On Our Smuggler Radar: (Or, Books Thea Really Really Wants)

Part two of the literary sci-fi thriller follows a boy and a girl who are caught in a warring town where thoughts can be heard — and secrets are never safe.

Reaching the end of their tense and desperate flight in THE KNIFE OF NEVER LETTING GO, Todd and Viola did not find healing and hope in Haven. They found instead their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss, waiting to welcome them to New Prentisstown. There they are forced into separate lives: Todd to prison, and Viola to a house of healing where her wounds are treated. Soon Viola is swept into the ruthless activities of the Answer, aimed at overthrowing the tyrannical government. Todd, meanwhile, faces impossible choices when forced to join the mayor’s oppressive new regime. In alternating narratives — Todd’s gritty and volatile; Viola’s calmer but equally stubborn — the two struggle to reconcile their own dubious actions with their deepest beliefs. Torn by confusion and compromise, suspicion and betrayal, can their trust in each other possibly survive?

It happened quickly. Overnight, the greater Los Angeles area found itself in the horrifying grasp of a werewolf epidemic. Twenty eight days of the month they are no different than you or me–the High Bloods, who managed to go unaffected. But every full moon, they are the most ravenous creatures man has ever seen.

A new law-enforcement agency has been created to keep tabs on the those whose blood runs Lycan. Rawson is an agent for Lycan Control, and his job is to make sure all the afflicted are found, monitored, and kept at bay the night they change. But the Lycans in Hollywood have risen to cultlike proportions, and Rawson’s job is getting tougher.

One night, a woman changes right in front of Rawson. And it’s not a full moon. Someone deep in the annals of Hollywood has managed to trip the logic of the werewolves’ being. Battling a rising tide of Lycan rights activists and a growing population of those who are choosing to be Lycan over High Blood, Rawson must carve a path to the top of the Lycan chain before all hell breaks loose.

No one wanted Ai Ling. And deep down she is relieved—despite the dishonor she has brought upon her family—to be unbetrothed and free, not some stranger’s subservient bride banished to the inner quarters.

But now, something is after her. Something terrifying—a force she cannot comprehend. And as pieces of the puzzle start to fit together, Ai Ling begins to understand that her journey to the Palace of Fragrant Dreams isn’t only a quest to find her beloved father but a venture with stakes larger than she could have imagined.
Bravery, intelligence, the will to fight and fight hard . . . she will need all of these things. Just as she will need the new and mysterious power growing within her. She will also need help.

It is Chen Yong who finds her partly submerged and barely breathing at the edge of a deep lake. There is something of unspeakable evil trying to drag her under. On a quest of his own, Chen Yong offers that help . . . and perhaps more.

Indigo Springs is a sleepy town where things seem pretty normal . . . until Astrid’s father dies and she moves into his house. She discovers that for many years her father had been accessing the magic that flowed, literally, in a blue stream beneath the earth, leaking into his house. When she starts to use the liquid “vitagua” to enchant everyday items, the results seem innocent enough: a “’chanted” watch becomes a charm that means you’re always in the right place at the right time; a “’chanted” pendant enables the wearer to convince anyone of anything . . .

But as events in Indigo Springs unfold and the true potential of vitagua is revealed, Astrid and her friends unwittingly embark on a journey fraught with power, change, and a future too devastating to contemplate. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends as Astrid discovers secrets from her shrouded childhood that will lead her to a destiny stranger than she could have imagined . . .

Elfland is an intimate, sensual novel of people—both human and Aetherial—caught between duty and desire. It’s a story of families, and of Rose Fox, a woman born to magic but tormented by her place in her adopted world.

Led by Auberon Fox, a group of Aetherials—call them the Fair Folk, if you will—live among us, indistinguishable from humans. Every seven years, on the Night of the Summer Stars, Lawrence Wilder, the Gatekeeper, throws open all gates to the Other World. But this time, something has gone wrong. Wilder has sealed the gates, warning of a great danger lurking in the realm beyond them. The Aetherial community is outraged. What will become of them, deprived of the home realm from which their essential life force flows?

Rose Fox and Sam Wilder are drawn to the lands beyond the gates, even as their families feud over Lawrence’s refusal to do his duty. Struggling with their own too-human urges, they discover hidden truths that draw them together in a forbidden alliance. Only by breaching the dreaded gates and daring the danger beyond can they confront that which they fear most— their otherness—and claim their birthright.

That’s about it for now folks! Hope you enjoy the week ahead.

~ Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Smugglers

So, summer is just about over (though at 90-plus degree weather here in LA, it sure as crap doesn’t feel like it). It’s always a little sad, but hey! We’ve got some sweet movies and fall tv shows on the horizon. Today we take a look at a few movies that we Book Smugglers are looking forward to…

Movies, Movies, Movies!
(For the months of September and October)

GAMER

Release Date: September 4

Gamer is basically The Running Man rebooted – in a future dystopian world, people compete in grandiose online gaming settings – but it’s all real. Players control human avatars (who are condemned prisoners, of course) who fight to the death.

Substitute this:

for this:

It doesn’t look particularly good or groundbreaking…but it’s got MICHAEL C. HALL in it. I mean, he’s freaking Dexter! Of course I’m watching it. (Plus, Gerard Butler and Alison Lohman aren’t too shabby either)

CARRIERS

Release Date: September 4

This film has been in release purgatory for a while, but riding on the coattails of Chris Pine’s success as a fabulous Kirk in the Star Trek reboot has given Carriers the boost to make it to theaters. Hopefully. A viral outbreak is seizing the country, and four young friends are driving away for salvation, before they can be infected. Tough decisions and other shenanigans ensue.

I’ve had a huge crush on Chris Pine since Star Trek so, it’s a safe bet that I’ll be watching this one in theaters.

9

Release Date: September 11

Ahhh, 9. Finally! A Tim Burton animated feature about the ruins of our world after The Great Machine has turned all humanity’s mechanized inventions against it, and nine loyal stitchpunk creatures must safeguard the future. I think the preview speaks for itself. It’s steampunk meets post-apocalypse. What’s not to love!? (Plus, the nine are so damn cute. They’re like the sack guys in Little Big Planet)

Jennifer’s Body

Release Date: September 18

Yes, I know it’s the horrid, vapid, acting-challenged, ‘If-I-Ever-Saw-You-On-The-Street-I’d-Sucker-Punch-You-In-Your-Stupid-Mouth’ Megan Fox. But, it’s Megan Fox basically playing herself, and it’s also the excellent Amanda Seyfried (aka the chick from Mama Mia and Mean Girls). AND it’s a screenplay written by Juno mastermind, Diablo Cody. For that alone, it deserves a watch.

Surrogates

Release Date: September 25

Bruce Willis’ ridiculous surrogate hair aside, I can’t help but be suckered in to watching these scifi dystopian films. In a future where people live vicariously through their robotic surrogates, someone begins killing the humans that are plugged in. A little bit Matrix, a little bit Neuromancer and Skinned, this looks like a fun movie watch. (I’m ignoring the inherent silliness in creating robot bodies for people who are alive and plugged into what could be described as a cyberpunky virtual reality simulator. Why would they need physical bodies at all? So long as they are plugged in, they can interact with others who are plugged in and do even more that their automaton counterparts. But…whatever.)

Pandorum

Release Date: September 25

I freaking LOVE this poster. It’s a fall for scifi/dystopian/cyberpunk, isn’t it? Pandorum (from the folks behind Resident Evil) stars the seriously underrated, sick character actor Ben Foster (remember him from teenybopper film Get Over It – yeah, with SISQO? How he’s grown! 3:10 to Yuma is a far cry from those days)

and Dennis Quaid (who seems to be in EVERYTHING these days. You can’t get away from him. G.I. Joe, Pandorum, Legion…even on freaking HBO, The Express is always on and BOOM! There’s Dennis Quaid again). In an homage to one of my favorite films, Event Horizon, Pandorum is a film about two astronauts that wake up in a space ship without any memory of who they are or what they are doing…and they aren’t alone. The trailer looks awesome.

Zombieland

Release Date: October 9

YES. YES. YES! Is it October yet? Zombie decimation with a touch of irreverent Woody Harrelson humor? A few survivors are making their way through the zombie apocalypse and decide to stop in an amusement park because they think it will be safe *giggles incessantly* Because THAT is a great plan. I cannot wait. (Bonus: Bill Murray makes a cameo. As a freaking ZOMBIE. YES!)

The Road

Release Date: October16

Cormac McCarthy’s dreary and incredibly bleak Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the end of the world and a father and son that make their way across the country for safety is in movie form, starring Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron. Given the Academy’s massive hardon for Mr. McCarthy, Mr. Mortensen and Ms. Theron, I’m pretty sure this film has OSCAR written all over it. (Guy Pierce is in it too…which can only mean good things)

Where the Wild Things Are

Release Date: October 16

First, how about the soundtrack!? The film is completely scored by Carter Burwell and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and with songs by Arcade Fire. And this is Spike Jonze doing his thing – taking a ten-lined beloved children’s book, and turning into what looks like a beautiful full length film. I cannot wait. I get goosebumps and teary-eyed with that trailer.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant

Release Date: October 23

Based on the young adult novels Cirque du Freak: The Saga of Darren Sahn, a teenage boy unknowingly breaks an ancient truce between vampire clans, and must fulfill his destiny. Starring the likes of John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek, this could be a gooder. (And Salma Hayek is a Lady with a Beard. Yes, you read that correctly!)

Ong Bak 2

Release Date: October 23 – in LA and NY

OMG. OMG. SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! If you haven’t seen the magical wonder that is Tony Jaa in Ong Bak, you are missing a vital part of your life and you don’t even know it. One of the finest martial arts films to come out in years, Ong Bak gives Muay Thai its much deserved respect. I cannot freaking wait for the sequel.

And while you’re out there renting Ong Bak, make sure to pick up The Protector (which is basically Ong Bak with elephants) and then get Chocolate while you’re at it. Starring a little girl who can kickass just as hard as the boys in the biz, it’s a wonderful homage to not only Tony Jaa, but to Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, etc. The story is awful. The fighting is wonderful.

Antichrist

Release Date: October 23 – in LA/NY

There’s a shitstorm of controversy around this film – after the death of their child, a distraught couple heads to the woods…but then bad, scary things happen. Directed by controversial Lars von Trier, Antichrist garnered a harsh response after its showing at Cannes this year for its sexual violence and misogyny. Roger Ebert says:

[...]It’s important to note that “Antichrist” is not a bad film. It is a powerfully-made film that contains material many audiences will find repulsive or unbearable. The performances by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are heroic and fearless. Von Trier’s visual command is striking. The use of music is evocative; no score, but operatic and liturgical arias. And if you can think beyond what he shows to what he implies, its depth are frightening.

I cannot resist.

And those are our top flicks! What movies are you looking forward to?

A couple of months ago read, or at least, try to read, Night’s Rose by Annaliese Evans and it ended up being the first ever book that neither of us were able to finish. The result was a conversational style review in which we examined the reasons why we did not finish the book. The review sparked a pretty good discussion on reader’s expectation based on blurb and cover and about publishers’ marketing strategies. You can read all about it here.

We also had a giveaway with that review and we offered the winner, Danielle (who was chosen randomly), the option to write up a review of the book, agreeing or disagreeing with us – and she accepted it. Here is what she has to say.

Title: Night’s Rose

Author: Annaliese Evans

Genre: Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Tor
Publishing Date: March 31, 2009
Paperback: 384 pages

Stand Alone or series: first in a series

Summary: Beauty was not awakened by a kiss.

With the help of her handsome allies, Rose may yet find it

Danielle’s Review: ***BEWARE SPOILERS!!!***

(more…)

Title: Skinned

Author: Robin Wasserman

Genre: Speculative Fiction, Dystopian, Young Adult

Publisher: Simon Pulse (US) / Simon & Schuster Children’s (UK)
Publication Date: September 2008 (US) / August 2009 (UK)
Paperback: 384 pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in a planned Skinned Trilogy.

Why did I read this book: Post-Apocalypse Dystopian YA title? Check. Searing questions of humanity? Check. Machines versus people? Check. Seriously…how could I refuse? The question, rather, should be – what took me so long to read this book?

Summary: (from amazon.com)
Lia Kahn was perfect: rich, beautiful, popular — until the accident that nearly killed her. Now she has been downloaded into a new body that only looks human. Lia will never feel pain again, she will never age, and she can’t ever truly die. But she is also rejected by her friends, betrayed by her boyfriend, and alienated from her old life.
Forced to the fringes of society, Lia joins others like her. But they are looked at as freaks. They are hated…and feared. They are everything but human, and according to most people, this is the ultimate crime — for which they must pay the ultimate price.

Review:

Lia Kahn is dead.
I am Lia Kahn.
Therefore — because this is a logic problem even a dimwitted child could solve — I am dead.
Except here’s the thing: I’m not.

Lia Kahn had the world. She was beautiful, driven and smart. Born blonde and blue-eyed from a gene depository hand-tailored by her parents, Lia was the kind of girl that the world revolved around – apple of her parents’ eye, darling of her high school, a sister, a friend, and a girlfriend. But then one day when she reluctantly agrees to cover for her underachieving sister Zoie at her job, Lia is in a freak car accident. In a series of improbable, unfortunate events, her car’s self-driving mechanism crashes headlong into a truck and Lia is horribly injured and burned alive.

Then, she wakes up.

Lia knows that she has died. She can think but she cannot move her body or open her eyes or speak. Gradually functions return to her body and she’s able to communicate by blinking her eyes, and then by a machine hooked up to her brain. She sees the extent of her injuries, and the face in the mirror looking back at her is not her own. Lia has become a skinner, a mech, an automaton programmed to think it is human with Lia Kahn’s memories. The new Lia feels and acts as herself, her downloaded silicone brain a perfect replica of Lia’s organic one. When her family, friends, and boyfriend turn away from this new Lia skinner, she must come to terms with what has happened to her, and what she is. Is she human or machine? Is she even Lia anymore?

Robin Wasserman’s Skinned will draw obligatory comparisons to Mary E. Pearson’s outstanding novel The Adoration of Jenna Fox as they are very similar in concept, though they differ wildly in their execution. Though Skinned isn’t as polished, stylistically beautiful or lyrically haunting as Ms. Pearson’s take, Ms. Wasserman’s novel is more overt and forceful – which is both good and bad. Skinned, narrated in the first person by Lia, is a tale of self-discovery at its heart. Dead and reborn, Lia struggles with big concepts – what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be Lia? She has all of her memories and thinks with Lia’s brain, but her engineered body of wires and gadgets do not resemble her old form in any way. Of course, there’s the anti-skinner sentiment from friends, family and strangers which is to be expected and about as subtle as a hammer over the head in its execution (there’s even a religious fanatic element, violently opposed to these mechanical aberrations). This storyline lacks finesse, broadly retreading very familiar sci-fi territory.

But, there are a few interesting questions that the novel quietly raises (unconsciously, perhaps): humans in Lia’s rich and privileged world have test-tube babies, with genomes hand selected with traits they desire (boy/girl, hair/eye/skin color, intelligence, beauty, a family physical trait, emotional empathy, etc). There’s a degree of uncertainty with some of the non-physical traits, but children are made to order in this dystopian vision of the future. Too, at one point Lia argues with her track coach about those on the team with robotic body parts who are not discriminated against as Lia is. So, the question (that is never asked but implied) isn’t just ‘what is human?’ but rather ‘what is the defining limit of human?’ There’s also a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it touch on race in this dystopian view of the future when discussing the skinners other than Lia – those who were experimented on to become the first mechanized creatures. Unfortunately, Ms. Wasserman doesn’t explore these issues very much at all in Skinned, though I’m hopeful these are topics that will be touched on in the second book.

Far more interesting than the tired and somewhat ham-handed discrimination angle is the storyline of Lia’s inner struggle. As a character, Lia is a spoiled princess brat. She’s pretty and rich and popular, and as those traits are wont to breed, Lia is a shallow bitch. When she finds herself displaced from her position atop the social totem pole at school, however, Lia learns that there is more to life than setting fashion trends and going to parties, and she begins to tap her own unexplored emotional depth. Though it’s hard to sympathize with Lia initially, I have to applaud the author for creating a normal, self-obsessed teenage girl. Like the brats on The Hills or other insipid MTV or CW shows, Lia resonated as real because she was infinitely believable as a self-entitled snob. For all Lia’s faults, she isn’t a too good to be true heroine – she simply is who she is, and she felt like a genuine character because of that. As Lia discovers that her old “friends” want nothing to do with her, and she forms a new friendship with outcast Auden, Lia grows and changes. She questions whether or not she should try to be human or join the team of other skinners, embracing her differentness. Lia questions herself, her role in life, and most especially, her role in her family.

Which brings me to my favorite part of Skinned – the volatile, rocky relationship between Lia and her younger sister Zo. When Lia returns from the hospital, she finds that her unmotivated and unpopular younger sister has usurped her throne of teen royalty at school. Zoie sets trends, she steals Lia’s friends, and Zo rubs it in Lia’s face at every turn. Zoie’s motivations are layered and though it seems like she’s simply being a bitch, I relished in the confrontation the two sisters finally have in the novel. Of all the characters in this book, Lia and Zo are the two standouts.

I should also mention that Skinned is a dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel set in a version of the future where nuclear war has decimated the Middle East, and radiation and disease has claimed all of the major cities of the United States (and presumably the world). The atmosphere is destroyed as the world is covered by constant gray clouds and plunged into cold. A select few – those rich and influential enough – have escaped the cities and live out cushy lives in a futuristic version of suburbs; but the rest of the population scrounges in the ruins, mutated, hungry and without energy. This vision of the future is a bleak one, and especially effective since it’s told through the perspective of a rich kid who doesn’t know – nor does she care – much about the outside world. It’s a cold, cruel hierarchy and one that I desperately hope is covered more in depth in the next book. We get a few tantalizing glimpses at the ruinous cities, a taste of how those who grew up there have had to live, but I want so much more.

Finally, what’s a YA speculative fiction novel without its Obligatory Romance? Yes, Skinned has one of these – heck, it’s even a triangle of sorts. But, it’s a bit of a twist. Auden, the geeky outcast boy from Lia’s school, befriends her instantly and crushes on her (of course). Lia, however, wants nothing to do with Auden romantically. Then, there’s Jude, the original skinner who leads a group of mechs just like Lia, helping them embrace the new creatures that they are – not human, but not machine either. The usual yawn-inducing romantic shenanigans ensue. BUT – unlike other paranormal teen romances, however, these are very flawed characters, playing out some bitter roles. I like that Skinned doesn’t end happy for anyone involved – especially Auden and Lia, and I give Ms. Wasserman major kudos for that.

It wasn’t a perfect book and walks on well-trod ground, but Skinned is a worthy read in its own right. And I am eager to see what happens in the next novel, Crashed.

Notable Quotes/Thoughts:

“So, what’s it like?” Walker asked, crossing the room. To the bed—to me. He sat down on the edge, leaving a space between us. “Can you, like, feel stuff?”

“Yeah. Of course.” If it counted as feeling, the way the whole world seemed hidden behind a scrim. Fire was warm. Ice was cool. Everything was mild. Nothing was right.

I held out a hand, palm up. “Do you want to . . . ? You can see what it feels like. To touch it. If you want.”

He lifted his arm, extended a finger, hesitated over my exposed wrist, trembling.

He touched it. Me.

Shuddered, snatched his hand away.

Then touched me again. Palm to palm. He curled his fingers around the hand. Around my hand.

“You can really feel that?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“So what’s it feel like?”

“Like it always does.” A lie. Artificial nerves, artificial conduits, artificial receptors, registering the fact of a touch. Reporting back to a central processor the fact of a hand, five fingers, flesh bearing down. Measuring the temperature, the pressure per square inch, the duration, and all of it translated, somehow, into something resembling a sensation. “It feels good.”

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: Skinned isn’t the first book or work of science fiction to explore the question of humanity, and though it’s a good book it’s not the first I would recommend to those looking for a good futuristic read that questions the definitions of “human.” I’d encourage readers to try Mary E. Pearson’s poignant (not to mention beautifully written) The Adoration of Jenna Fox first, or to give M.T. Anderson’s Feed a try.

That said, I really did enjoy Skinned and look forward to the second book in the trilogy, Crashed. Check it out:

No one to trust… everything to lose.

Before the accident, Lia Kahn was happy.
Before the accident, Lia Kahn was loved.
Before, Lia was a lot of things: Normal. Alive. Human.

Lia no longer lives in before. Six months after the crash that killed her, six months after being reborn, Lia has finally accepted her new reality. She is a machine, a mech, and she belongs with her own kind. It’s a wild, carefree life, without rules and without fear. Because there’s nothing to fear when you have nothing left to lose.

But when a voice from her past cries out for revenge, everything changes. Lia is forced to choose: between her old life and her new one. Between humans and mechs. Between sacrificing the girl she used to be and saving the boy she used to love.

Even if it means he’ll hate her forever.

Check out the book trailer for both books below:

You can catch an excerpt of Crashed online HERE. Crashed hits stores in the US on September 8, 2009 from Simon Pulse.

Also, there’s a new movie coming out that you may or may not have seen posters and trailers for – and it’s very Skinned in theme. (Actually, it’s very similar to a short story I read last Halloween in The Beast Within anthology, “SQ 389? by David W. Hill) (Actually the second, it’s based on a graphic novel titled The Surrogates)

Check it out (click images for full size):

(I love that both of the models for the billboards look like Angelina Jolie and David Beckham – there’s one that looks kinda like Heidi Klum too)

My only qualm with the preview? Bruce Willis’ HAIR! GAAH!

Rating: 7 Very Good – but there’s room for improvement. I eagerly await Crashed!

Reading Next: The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan

Today we have something different: a while back we received a review copy of a Fantasy novel called Avilion by Robert Holdstock – we fell in love with the cover and with the blurb and after doing a bit of research we found out that the novel was a sequel to what many consider a classic in the genre, Mythago Wood, published 25 years ago. We both wanted to read it but given our YA Month schedule, we realised we wouldn’t be able to, at least not so soon. As it is against our credo to leave books gathering dust in our shelves if it can be avoided, we conferred and decided to invite our buddy Gav to read the book and review it for us. Gav runs a really good Speculative Fiction blog called NextRead (which recently went through a makeover by the way, and looks FAB) and we thought he would be a perfect fit – for the book and for our blog. Gav, not only said yes but went beyond the call of duty by reading the first book as well!

We welcome Gav to the Book Smugglers – here is what he has to say:

Title: Mythago Wood and Avilion

Author: Robert Holdstock

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Orion Books
Publishing Date: 1984 (first edition); 09 July 2009 (new edition) – 15 July 2009

Stand alone or series: The original and its sequel after 25 years

Summary:
Mythago Wood: Deep within the wildwood lies a place of myth and mystery, from which few return, and none remain unchanged. Ryhope Wood may look like a three-mile-square fenced-in wood in rural Herefordshire on the outside, but inside, it is a primeval, intricate labyrinth of trees, impossibly huge, unforgettable . . . and stronger than time itself.

Stephen Huxley has already lost his father to the mysteries of Ryhope Wood. On his return from the Second World War, he finds his brother, Christopher, is also in thrall to the mysterious wood, wherein lies a realm where mythic archetypes grow flesh and blood, where love and beauty haunt your dreams, and in promises of freedom lies the sanctuary of insanity . . .

Avilion: At the heart of Ryhope Wood, Steven and the mythago Guiwenneth live in the ruins of a Roman villa close to a haunted fortress from the Iron Age, from which Guiwenneth’s myth arose. She is comfortable here, almost tied to the place, and Steven has long since abandoned all thought of returning to his own world. They have animals, protection and crops.

They also have two children, a combination of human and mythago. Jack is like his father, an active boy keen to know all about `the outer world’; Yssobel takes after her mother, even to her long auburn hair.
But this idyll cannot last. The hunters who protected Guiwenneth as a child have come to warn her she is in danger. Yssobel is dreaming increasingly of her Uncle Christian, Steven’s brother, who disappeared into Lavondyss, and Jack wants to see ‘the outer world’ more than anything. Events are about to overtake them.

Gav’s Review:

Thanks for letting me guest post. This is a first for me. It’s also my first dual review. I was offered the chance to review Avilion but I always want to start at the beginning when possible so I thought I’d review both Mythago Wood, that’s considered a classic and its sequel that comes after a twenty-five year wait. The question is was it worth it? And I’d have to say yes it was.

Avilion isn’t a direct sequel to Mythago Wood but it does pick up the story after Mythago Wood ends and then heads off in a different direction. Mythago Wood starts when Stephen Huxley returns to the family home after the events of the Second World War to find his brother Christopher obsessed like their father with Ryhope Wood which may only be three-miles square but in its borders it contains boundless worlds created in part from the imagination of those who enter or are effected by it.

Their fathers obsession with the myth-imagined wood and its various creatures and inhabitants leads him further and further away from his family until he is lost with in the woods himself. And it’s this obsession that infects Christopher and leads to his transformation.

If I had to sum up Mythago Wood I’d say it was a love story mixed with an exploration of the power of story, of myth and story in our lives. And how we may not actually control our actions. That we might be just characters in a story. And Holdstock gives life to those stories and shows are they are connected in their reshaping and retelling.
There is a story of a woman who as a baby was stolen before being rescued. That same woman, or a version of that woman is who Christopher falls in love with before losing her like his father. But he knows the nature of her story and tries to call her back. Though she doesn’t come back the same. She is changed in the retelling. And it’s another version of her Stephen falls in love with. It’s this conflict between loss and story and their reshaping that drives Mythago Wood.

This isn’t a story you can read if you’re not paying attention as Holdstock weaves layer upon layer of meaning into the places, events, people, and tales that they all echo and enhance each other and that’s what makes Mythago Wood a classic. It really is.

I was sceptical at first of this love triangle. I thought that Holdstock might linger too much on the sweetness of a new relationship through the eyes of Stephen make Christopher’s loss too bitter.

But no, he manages to tell a moving and magical tale that is both meaningful, haunting and one that needs rereading to peel more layers from it and explore both the Wood and its characters some more.
And that’s what he does with Avilion. There is no real happy ever after. Though there was for a time resulting in Jack and Yssobel, both green, from Mythago, and red, from human. This time Holdstock takes a different path and a different journey. This time he explores deeper into the wood and those imaginings that could be present there but less directly the myths that go into shaping them. Though you’ll spot plenty of references they aren’t signposted nearly as strongly.

Mythago Wood is strongly driven by one story. But Avillion is about unfinished business and the haunting effects of a story that has been told. But no story really ends. Jack who is more red than green wants to go to the edge of the wood into the ‘real world’ but his sister wants to explore deeper into the woods to Avilion itself.

Though its genesis is the story of Stephen and the woman who was stolen whom he rescued and loved. It’s definitely Jack and Yssobel’s book. Holdstock takes us through the woods from the other side through the point of view of insiders. And nothing is made but clearer than before. The Mythago is a world or worlds each shaped by those that exist there or at least within those worlds that are created for them. So we again only see shades but through more windows.

I felt less emotion reading Avilion than Mythago Wood but that’s the nature of the tales. The first is a love story with all the powerful emotions that go with that. Avilion is about journeys and finding peace or at least not resting until you’ve answered the call.

Holdstock has made a sequel that doesn’t interfere with the power of the original. Avilion though is based strongly in its foundations. It would lose a lot of its power unless you understand what happen to Stephen, Christopher and the stolen woman. And why the stolen woman fears Christopher and why Stephen is powerless to rescue her again.

Verdict:
Mythago Wood is a classic and wonderful example of the power of imagination and what fantasy can actually be when it’s rethought and reworked from its origins rather than rehashing a bunch of stereotypes. It’s a book that demands a reread to understand all the bits you liked but didn’t understand the first time.

Avilion is a worthy successor though not as powerful as the original. The tone and the story does that those echoes and retelling that made the original so fascinating and powerful. Though it does build up the story in a way that makes it interesting and worth reading if you want to know more about the Ryhope Wood and what became of Stephen and Christopher.

Rating: I don’t usually give ratings but seeing as I’m a guest I’ll following the house rules.

Mythago Wood 9
Avilion 7.5/8

Additional Thoughts: Robert Holdstock wrote an interesting article about the 25 year gap between the two books, the world he created and his relationship with it. Check it out.

And a big thank you to Gav – great job, mate!

This is a Powerpuff Girls review: Ana, AKA Bubbles, reviews the book here. Her friend Katie, AKA Blossom reviews at her place. Meanwhile Thea, AKA Buttercup is still AWOL.

Title: Surrender of a Siren

Author: Tessa Dare

Genre: Romance (Historical)

On the cover: Tessa Dare scored with the Cover Gods for this entire series. I love it.

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publishing Date: August 25, 2009
Paperback: 400 Pages

Stand Alone or series: book 2 in a planned trilogy but I had no problem reading this without having read the first book. Book one Goddess of the Hunt was released last month and book three, A Lady of Persuasion will be released in September. (I plan to read book one ASAP now.)

Summary: Desperate to escape a loveless marriage and society’s constraints, pampered heiress Sophia Hathaway jilts her groom, packs up her paints and sketchbook, and assumes a new identity, posing as a governess to secure passage on the Aphrodite. She wants a life of her own: unsheltered, unconventional, uninhibited. But it’s one thing to sketch her most wanton fantasies, and quite another to face the dangerously handsome libertine who would steal both her virtue and her gold.

To any well-bred lady, Benedict “Gray” Grayson is trouble in snug-fitting boots. A conscienceless scoundrel who sails the seas for pleasure and profit, Gray lives for conquest–until Sophia’s perception and artistry stir his heart. Suddenly he’ll brave sharks, fire, storm, and sea just to keep her at his side. She’s beautiful, refined, and ripe for seduction. Could this counterfeit governess be a rogue’s redemption? Or will the runaway heiress’s secrets destroy their only chance at love?

Review:

Ah. It is with a most satisfied heart that I start this review. Surrender of a Siren was the first romance book I read after a whole month reading nothing but YA and it was, I am glad to report, a most lovely read, perfect to ease me back into reading Romance.

“In fleeing the society wedding of the year, Sophia Hathaway knew she would be embracing infamy.”

And lo and behold: Infamy goes by the name of Mr Grayson, or Gray. The owner of the ship Aphrodite where Sophia embarks as a paying passenger under the guise of a governess in route to Central America. She hides behind a new name, Miss Turner, concealing her past, her history, all in search of a new future. She runs from nothing extraordinarily dark but the prospect of a comfortable life and a passionless marriage which for Sophia were but a beautiful cage. Sophia dreams of passion, of love, of adventure and being an heiress provides her with enough courage to ruin her own reputation in exchange for all that.

And Gray would be the perfect man to give what she needs except for the small fact that Gray has a past of his own. A former Privateer (NOT a pirate!) with a most dreadful reputation as a man without word and without roots, Gray is trying to be respectful and not for himself, but for his family. Promises have been made to his half brother and sister, promises that he CAN NOT break. It is very important to him to correct the course of his life, to right the wrongs he did as the legitimate first son who made bad choices that soured his relationship with his siblings. He cannot, should not do anything to jeopardise his shipping line right now, and he cannot, should not surrender to the call of the siren that is his only paying passenger.

Oh, the amount of FUN to be had when one watches his struggle – be still my heart. Nothing melts my heart faster than a man who can’t think when around a woman or who thinks only protective thoughts without even realising what he is thinking and feeling. Sophia is a true siren in which everything that she is calls to him: the way she talks, the way she thinks, the way she reacts to his presence. But it all goes so above and beyond the physical aspect: because Gray and Sophia are stuck inside a ship for weeks, they talk a lot, they exchange opinions, they listen to each other. Sophia is a painter and she starts drawing the sailors one after the other and the way Gray reacts to what he sees and to her skills is nothing but great because he SEES her effort and her talent but also he reads her paintings. I like this passage:

“he saw her charcoal sketch of young Davy Linnet. The perception in it, the attention to detail. And suddenly, Gray formed a vision of himself through those all seeing, artist’s eyes. He saw an unshaven brigand, inches away from plundering an innocent governess who was far from home and full in her cups. A man poised to break his word to his only brother, again— as though it were an easy habit. A fraud in foppish boots, trying to buy his way into the graces of his sister and society because he lacked the merit to earn their respect. In that fraction of a second, Gray glimpsed his own portrait, and he did not like what he saw. He might never be the picture of respectability, but he’d be damned if the world would remember him like this.”

And so he takes a step back because he really does want to change. But there is no stopping true love and even though there is nothing really unique in the premise above, Tessa Dare has such a lovely prose and such a humorous tone and ideas (the Goat Boat? Genius) which coupled with a marvellous execution of the storyline – both the romance and the secondary adventures on board- turned this into a very pleasant read indeed.

My one grippe is that the Conflict, when it came, felt very contrived. Things were developing so organically, so beautifully between the two of them, they were truly sharing their true selves and then there comes the wrench (the first one at least) and it didn’t feel RIGHT. It was like an act of treason against the characters – but thinking back, maybe it meant that although Gray had already arrived to a place that Sophia wasn’t yet ready to reach. Sort of inverted positions in which the man reforms first and the woman needs time to create courage to open up – because she might THINK that she is ready to embrace life at its fullest but maybe, just maybe she isn’t. Having said that, once past this point, their relationship felt back in track and I even liked the over- the- top-yet-delicious ending.

Everybody knows that a HEA is a given when it comes to romance novels, but those of us in the know understand that the end is not really what matters. It’s how you get there. To me, it is very important to see, to understand how and why a couple falls in love. By the end of Surrender of a Siren I knew with a certainty that they loved each other and why they did so; that Gray had found the redemption he sought, that Sophia found the freedom she wanted and that both found the acceptance they needed. I couldn’t ask for much more than that.

Notable Quote/ Parts: I love GOOD, romantic first kisses scenes:
He was

“Not learning how to kiss, but learning why to kiss. Not in persuasion, not as a prelude to further liberties. Simply to discover the taste of her, delicate and fresh and exquisitely sweet. To tell her things he didn’t dare express in words. To tell her things he had no words to express. He kissed her for no greater pleasure than to kiss, because at that moment, kissing her felt like the greatest pleasure imaginable.”

Awwww.

Additional Thoughts: Don’t forget to check KB’s Review

And you can read an excerpt at the author’s website: here

Verdict: I have one word for this book: Lovely. From the prose to the characters, Tessa Dare presented me with a lovely book.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading next: The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Title: The Corinthian

Author: Georgette Heyer

Genre Romance: Regency

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publishing Date: June 1 2009
Paperback: 272 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Summary: Walking home at dawn, quite drunk, Sir Richard Wyndham encounters heiress Penelope Creed climbing out her window. She is running away from a dreaded marriage to her fish-lipped cousin, while Sir Richard himself is contemplating a loveless marriage with a woman his friends have compared to a cold poultice. Sir Richard can’t allow her to careen about the countryside unchaperoned, even in the guise of a boy, so he pretends to be her tutor and takes her on a fine adventure. When their stagecoach overturns, they find themselves embroiled with thieves, at the center of a murder investigation, and finally, in love.

Why did I read the book: I was offered a copy by the lovely people at Sourcebooks Casablanca.

Review:

Sir Richard Wyndham, is a 29 year old Corinthian – a bon vivant – but according to his family it is about time he left this self-serving life behind and settled down with a wife. All the hopes are that he would marry a family friend. The thing about Richard is that he may be a rake but he actually believes in true love and the prospect of marrying the cold and unloving girl makes him depressed. Still, he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do but not before getting totally drunk.

On his way home after his last night of freedom, he stumbles upon a surprising scene: a young lad coming down from a window. He helps the little person and then realises the boy is a girl who is attempting to escape a fate not unlike his own. She too has a family who wishes she would marry someone she finds unsuitable. Miss Pen Creed is fleeing so that she can marry her own childhood sweetheart. Richard, even drunk as he is, realises he can’t let the 17 year old girl go traipsing around the country on her own and decides to join her and their adventure begins.

She masquerades as a boy, they take a coach to Kent and in the three ensuing days, end up involved in a robbery, a murder, a star-crossed romance between two youngsters and their own hearts get inevitably connected.

I am at a loss on how to approach this book. I understand that Georgette Heyer writes regency romances but plot- wise, this reads more like a cross-dressing- road- trip- adventure-romp. In that vein, I cannot fault the story. It is fun and entertaining and Georgette Heyer’s clever writing shines through.

Things get more complicated when we get to talk about the romance: it is obvious that Richard and Pen are meant to fall in love. But the romance is very, very subtle , so subtle one needs to be really attentive as to not miss the whole falling in love part of the romance. One moment they are having funny conversations, then Richard is looking at Pen and thinking. WHAT he is thinking, we do not know exactly but we are meant to understand that his gazing at her means he is falling in love. I don’t mind subtle romance but I can’t help but to feel there is something missing here – something more emotional , a deeper connection between the characters and therefore between the book and the reader. Maybe I am spoilt by romance novels written now where wonderful character-driven plots abound.

Plus, Pen is SO young. And it is not simply a matter of age difference as I can appreciate May-December romances. It is just a matter of behaviour. She behaves like a child for most of the book and he behaves like an uncle. It is all for propriety of course, but I can’t get over the fact that she spent the book calling him “sir” and he spent the book calling her “child” or “brat” .

The Corinthian is just so…uneven – there were parts that were immensely fun, like the repartee between the Richard and Pen or Pen’s antics and approach to life. I could keep reading those non-stop. Other parts, like the secondary mystery plotline with the murder, the stolen necklace and whatnots drove me out. Of.My.Mind. with boredom.

This is my third Georgette Heyer and it is not a bad book as the writing is good, the subtle romance is sweet, the adventure is fun. To me, it falls somewhere in between Frederica, which I really did like (perhaps because the heroine was older and much more mature) and recommend as a starter if you wish to read this author’s work and The Convenient Marriage which was a DNF for me (the heroine was so very immature) . Overall, I liked the experience of reading these classic regencies but I think it is time to acknowledge that perhaps these are really not for me and move on.

Notable Quotes/ parts: an example of the clever writing

‘That settles it,’ said Sir Richard. ‘ I will not set you a foot on your way until I have the whole story from you. It’s my belief you are a dangerous criminal.’
‘I am not!’ said the fugitive indignantly.’ Anyone with the veriest speck of sensibility would feel for my plight! I am escaping from the most odious persecution.’
‘Fortunate child!,’ said Sir Richard, taking her bundle from her.’I wish I might do the same. Let us remove from this neighbourhood. I have seldom seen a street that depressed me more. I can’t think how I came here. Do you feel that our agreeable encounter would be improved by an exchange of names, or are you travelling incognita?’

Verdict: Old-time Adventure and Romance in one. Not exactly to my liking but this is far from being a bad book. It is just not a Book For Ana.

Rating: 5 – meh

Reading Next: Surrender of a Siren by Tessa Dare

Welcome to another Guest Dare – the August edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone.

This month we invited Angie (from Angieville),  one of our favorite bloggers and book pimps. When we asked what sort of genre was outside her comfort zone she answered “Romance” and Ana jumped at the opportunity to introduce someone else to one of her own favourites: Loretta Chase. What we did not know was that Angie had never EVER read a romance before. Here is what she has to say about her experience.

Title: Mr Impossible

Author: Loretta Chase

Genre: Romance (Historical)

Publisher: Berkley
Publishing Date: March 1 2005
Paperback: 320 pages

Stand Alone or series: Part of the Carsington Brothers series but can be read as a stand alone.

Summary: Blame it on the Egyptian sun or the desert heat, but as tensions flare between a reckless rogue and beautiful scholar en route to foil a kidnapping, so does love, in the most uninhibited and impossibly delightful ways.

Angie’s Review:

Thanks for accepting the dare Angie. I hope you will try other romance novels – maybe give Julia Quinn’s What Happens in London a go next?

Next month on the Guest Dare: Lusty Reader accepts our dare to read the Graphic Novel Fables, Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham.

Until next month!