I have been drawn toward tales and stories of the bizarre since childhood. As a reader, I look for works that will surprise me. The real world in general, I find very unsurprising (lord yes, I do!). When I read, when I enter the fictional world (my favorite!) I want to be inspired to read on. I have put down many a book through boredom. I am not a plough. If I am uninterested, I stop. These books have inspired me in my own craft. Currently writing my sixth novel of the unpredictable, I feel I have experienced enough to forward on some irregular reads of the pure and the awesome.
A wildly imaginative tale from the wildly underrated writer, Oisin McGann. A lot of the ideas here stem from his fantastic artwork. (So impressed was I with the read, I Googled his webpage!)
The Wildenstern family is a power-hungry lot, set in a slightly removed, Steampunk/Dystopian idea of a long-ago Ireland. Competitive cousins, Gerald and Nate Wildenstern are wonderful characters, and Nate’s sister-in-law, Daisy, is quite the uppity aristocrat (you can’t help but like!).
There are wild animal-like machines, a lot of deaths, twisted family values, and mystery to be had within this book. Very much a page-turner. I am rereading again – and the rest of the series as well!
Nate Wildenstern's brother has been killed, and the finger is pointed at him . . .
After nearly two years, eighteen-year-old Nate returns home to the family empire ruled by his father - the ruthless Wildenstern Patriarch. But Nate's life is soon shattered by his brother's death, and the Rules of Ascension, allowing the assassination of one male family member by another, means he's being blamed. He knows that he is not the murderer, but who is?
With the aid of his troublesome sister-in-law, Daisy, and his cousin Gerald, he means to find out. But when the victims of the…
How can one not love a book about moving Traction Cities? In a magnificently imagined world where these Traction Cities fight for what is left of a destroyed future earth (left behind by us humans – from a stupid massive war to end all wars – go figure eh!).
Tom Natsworthy is aboard the traction city of London. London needs to feed and hunt for smaller cities to feed into its mighty jaws. Tom soon learns that London’s sinister hierarchy of scientists are building their own bomb – MEDUSA. Tom is thrown from London when he befriends a physically and emotionally scarred stow-away slave girl, Hester.
The journey back to the ever-moving London to try and stop – MEDUSA is an amazing one – I must say. So well written, brilliant actually.
"A breathtaking work of imagination, Hester Shaw is a heroine for the ages. The moment we finished reading this book we knew we wanted to make it into a movie." -- Producer Peter Jackson
* "Reeve's [Mortal Engines] remains a landmark of visionary imagination." -- School Library Journal, starred review
窶銀�窶起ow a major motion picture produced by Peter Jackson!
London is hunting again. Emerging from its hiding place in the hills, the great Traction City is chasing a terrified little town across the wastelands. Soon London will feed.
In the attack, Tom Natsworthy is flung from the speeding city with…
This was my very first read in the Steampunk genre.
What a great book and series this is.
As a baby, Modo is purchased from a travelling gypsy by a well-to-do aristocrat, the mysterious Mr. Socrates. Modo is hideously ugly. Mr. Socrates raises and educates Modo in proper English and manners and fight craft. He lives his life tucked away in a manor, hiding his face from society.
One day, on a rare carriage ride through London, a grown Modo is abandoned in the streets by Mr. Socrates and has to fend for himself. He becomes a detective, yet he can never show his real face to anyone – he meets the beautiful Octavia Milkweed – she finds him curious and befriends him. The evil Clockwork Guild is causing chaos throughout London and Modo must get to the bottom of it. Then find a way to stop it. The adventure begins. A must-read.
A gripping new series combines Steampunk, spying, and a fantastic Victorian London.
The mysterious Mr. Socrates rescues Modo, a child in a traveling freak show. Modo is a hunchback with an amazing ability to transform his appearance, and Mr. Socrates raises him in isolation as an agent for the Permanent Association, a spy agency behind Brittania’s efforts to rule the empire. At 14, Modo is left on the streets of London to fend for himself. When he encounters Octavia Milkweed, another Association agent, the two uncover a plot by the Clockword Guild behind the murders of important men. Furthermore, a…
Ransom Riggs has created quite the extraordinary book here. It also reads like a graphic novel of sorts as there are a lot of odd photos to accompany the text. It crosses genres rather seamlessly as well, between Urban YA to Fantasy to Horror to a Speculative fictional realm where Miss Peregrines' home resides. It is a rare read with well-developed characters and plot. The children are all quite odd, though strangely likable. If you want different, this is as different as it gets. Gave me chills of the good and ill-feeling variety. That’s what you want, yes? I do.
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. And a strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here - one of whom was his own grandfather…
This book won a few awards and it is easy to see why. It has a brilliantly written plot of old-world small country European nostalgia of the Dickensian spirit. It twists and turns and is told from different perspectives. Deliciously sinister and greedy and secretive. Wonderful to read by the fireplace. The story creeps and flows to a heart drumming climax and Ludlow is a wonderful character. You have to love a book about an awful broker type that trades in people’s secrets!
Highly recommended – hard to believe it was a debut novel by the author as well – but it was!
I’m fascinated by the mind-body-spirit’s impact on our human experience. Especially the aspect of mind, because deep within us resides the shadow-self described by Carl Jung. Most of us spend our lives hiding this part, but it’s there, waiting to pounce. These are the stories I tell, and with my background in Health and Wellness and in Creative Writing, I write paranormal, supernatural, and horror stories containing the simple truths about our human experience. All are designed to bring out the shadow lurking within and expose it to the light. As a counterpoint to these dark tales, I write evocative poetry, uplifting children’s stories, and some educational books with my writing partner, Derek R. King.
A hair-raising, side-splitting supernatural adventure!
In the idyllic town of Pine Port, Kelsey was on the cusp of realizing her dreams. In weeks, she'd clasp her high school diploma and beauty license. Or so she thought, until her life took a supernatural detour, far removed from the ordinary path she'd envisioned before she stumbled upon her extraordinary ability—she could hear and see the deceased as if they were still living.
This wasn’t what she had hoped for and certainly not the kind of beauty treatment she had in mind. Juggling the intricacies of the living was already a challenge, and…
A hair-raising, side-splitting supernatural adventure!In the idyllic town of Pine Port, Kelsey was on the cusp of realizing her dreams. In weeks, she'd clasp her high school diploma and beauty license. Or so she thought, until her life took a supernatural detour, far removed from the ordinary path she'd envisioned before she stumbled upon her extraordinary ability—she could hear and see the deceased as if they were still living.
This wasn’t what she had hoped for and certainly not the kind of beauty treatment she had in mind. Juggling the intricacies of the living was already a challenge, and now…
An otherworldly tale ... of dreaming in the world of Sombre and of the mysterious Dave Bi-Plane.
Jasper Reeves is 15. He skates. Has music. Everything he needs. No clutter. There’s no room for clutter. Only room for Dave Bi-Plane. The airman's adventures in Sombre give Jasper a balance like nothing else can. He welcomes sleep. When he sleeps his troubles fall away. Dave Bi-Plane has his own trouble. Dave is being hunted. A squadron of Spitfires, known as The Red Winged Death Command, want something from Dave, something he is unwilling to give, something he can't give. They won't stop until they have it. An ultimate battle looms for Dave in the Nightmare world - a battle that seems impossible to win.
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