Waiting on Wednesday
This week our picks are about a mysterious boy, a kidnapped girl and an assassin searching for his apprentice--and this is all in one book! Our second choice is not one but two upcoming volumes in a long-running and highly anticipated manga series about vampires, and the third is a tale of two girls set in two different worlds at different times and the lure of history. Without any more fanfare, here are our choices:
The Fallen Blade (The Vampire Assassin Trilogy, Book One) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
The Fallen Blade (The Vampire Assassin Trilogy, Book One) by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Publisher: Orbit (1/27/2011)
Summary: In the depths of night, customs officers board a galley in a harbor and overpower its guards. In the hold they find oil and silver, and a naked boy chained to the bulkhead. Stunningly beautiful but half-starved, the boy has no name. The officers break the boy’s chains to rescue him, but he escapes…
Venice is at the height of its power. In theory Duke Marco commands. But Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. They command the seas, tax the colonies, and, like those in power before them, fear assassins better than their own…
In a side chapel, Marco’s fifteen-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. It is her bad fortune to be there when Mamluk pirates break in to steal a chalice, but it is the Mamluks’ good luck – they kidnap her…
In the gardens beside the chapel, Atilo, the Duke’s chief assassin, prepares to kill his latest victim. Having cut the man’s throat, he turns back, having heard a noise, and finds a boy crouched over the dying man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a wall stuns Atilo. And the assassin knows he has to find the boy…
Not to kill him, but because he’s finally found what he thought he would never find. Someone fit to be his apprentice…
Venice is at the height of its power. In theory Duke Marco commands. But Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. They command the seas, tax the colonies, and, like those in power before them, fear assassins better than their own…
In a side chapel, Marco’s fifteen-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. It is her bad fortune to be there when Mamluk pirates break in to steal a chalice, but it is the Mamluks’ good luck – they kidnap her…
In the gardens beside the chapel, Atilo, the Duke’s chief assassin, prepares to kill his latest victim. Having cut the man’s throat, he turns back, having heard a noise, and finds a boy crouched over the dying man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a wall stuns Atilo. And the assassin knows he has to find the boy…
Not to kill him, but because he’s finally found what he thought he would never find. Someone fit to be his apprentice…
This book sounds incredibly intriguing and the cover is fantastic!
Publisher: Viz Media (June and December 2010)
Summary: Cross Adademy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy's dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!
(In Volume 10) Rido is gone, but the battle rages on at Cross Academy. The Night Class is still under attack, and Headmaster Cross has joined the war to protect his students. Zero, however, has vowed to get rid of all the Purebloods--including Yuki!
(In Volume 11) The Night Class at Cross Academy has been abolished. Zero still attends the Day Class while carrying out his duties as a vampire hunter. Yuki now lives hidden away at the Kuran residence with Kaname, but can she embrace the life of a pureblood vampire?
We are hooked on this series and grow impatient while we wait for the English versions to hit our shores. Can we just say how much we miss Shojo Beat magazine? So many wonderful manga stories in one monthly magazine! At least we discovered Yen Press' monthly, but we are still fond of Shojo's serialized stories too. Hino's drawings are gorgeous and the story has become riveting!
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (9/28/2010)
Summary: BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break.
PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want--and couldn’t escape.
Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages--until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
After seeing and hearing Ms. Donnelly talk about this book last week at the Millbrook Book Festival, we want to read this YA book when it is released in the fall.
Waiting on Wednesday was started by breaking the spine.
The Fallen Blade sounds great. I can't resist a book with assassins in it!
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