The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney deserves a five star rating.

The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney deserves a five star rating. True, a couple of the books, namely Slither fell short of the hype; however, the long awaited battle with the Fiend made up for it in book 13. I still have some questions after reading this book. Plot questions not answered will wait for the new series already perfectly lined up with previous books like Slither and Grimalkin. As far as simplistic writing goes, I think folks should keep in mind these books are filed under children's literature. And for myself, I loved the writing. My summer reading often includes books that are not filed under children's literature and reading a kid's series was refreshing. Plus, I enjoyed reading this series with my daughter, who is not a kid, and also has reading that is far from simplistic. The Last Apprentice series is story telling at its best. The twists, scary monsters, heroes and character development is fan-freaking-tastic. I highly recommend this series!

5 Stars for The Golden Compass

 

The Golden Compass (book 1) by Phillip Pullman is a modern classic that ranks with stories like The Chronicles of Narnia, A Wrinkle in Time and The Lord of the Rings books. This is an impressive book for a number of reasons:

Concept

Plot

Lying for Love, not the romantic kind

Clever protagonist

Brave protagonist

Heart

World-Building

Soul, the high concept kind and the feeling kind

Human da'emons, although I don't know if I'm spelling that correctly for this book. In any case, this book shines an interesting pondering light questioning the reader's own demons - it makes you think.

With this in mind, I want to reflect on Pullman's own words a little, "As a passionate believer in the democracy of reading, I don't think it's the task of the author of a book to tell the reader what it means."

After reading a number of reviews on this story, I found this democracy to vary from one extreme interpretation to another extreme interpretation. For example, as a reader I did not see the main character, Lyra as Christ nor the Anti-Christ. I simple saw her as a young girl willing to do anything to save the people she loved even if it meant wicked lying. If anything she was only caught in the center of the polarities of good and evil. This idea stemming from Genesis, the original sin, "from dust you are to dust you will return". The idea of dust as good or bad is questionable. Dust almost seems like fairy dust giving flight to the birth of consciousness. In this way, it should be good because it makes us aware of good and evil and without knowing one we cannot know the other. This is where C.S. Lewis quotes like this come from, "Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having.”

― C.S. Lewis. My interpretation of dust in this is that free will. Of course, that is only my democratic input along with a huge shout out: Read this book!

5 Stars for Double Threat by F. Paul Wilson

 Double Threat by F. Paul Wilson is about a young woman named Daley who finds an alien has resided inside her head. The plot moves from there with a "Stranger than Fiction" vibe. The humorous tone of the story changes with the emergence of a cult truly David Berg worthy. At this point, I'm reminded of Wilson's Repairman Jack series where Jack constantly averts danger to himself and loved ones. However, this book is not a Repairman Jack book. In fact, its enjoyment doesn't come from page turning danger. This is a slow burn ripe with fantastic dialogue between Daley and her alien, Daley's dynamic character change from extreme selfishness to to extrema empathy, and last Daley's paradoxical toxic relationship choices. Oh, and there's the cult based on mind bending science fiction. Wilson does a nice job of blending thriller and science fiction. Mostly, he's a natural with dialogue and immediately I am drawn into unique voices I want to root for. This book is well deserving of the applause and as much as I enjoyed the Repairman Jack books, Double Threat is better written. I suppose that comes from Wilson's dedication to perfecting his craft. I hope to see more of Daley soon. 

5 Stars for The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

 

This is my second Simone St. James book, and again I am not disappointed. St. James has a style that feels like walking into a Francisco Goya painting while listening to David Bowie's Under Pressure in the background. Fiona, the main character, is constantly struggling with a need for truth and as the premise indicates - she wants to know the truth behind her sister's murder. Fiona is a journalist, independent, self-motivated, subject to the powers of love, and somewhat under the shadow of a father who is bigger than life. That alone got me interested in this story, but as with all the St. James book there is more than one story line. The second story line dates back 64 years and centers around the death of other girls - no more word of that because I might give too much away. The second story is equally intriguing and the broken girls in that story vein are incredibly clever and strong because of their hardships. I enjoyed the different well-fleshed out personalities of each of them. I definitely leaned towards Katie the most. St. James books deliver well-thought out plots that tie up every loose end at the end, but style aside - I like her characters! I also like the spooky gothic atmosphere she plays up in her stories. It reminds me of my Stephen King favorites like Salem's Lot with extra mystery embellished in every corner. A reader cannot go wrong with books like that. I highly recommend Simone St. James's The Broken Girls.