The Demons Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: The Demon's Lexicon

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan

Summary: Nick and his brother Alan are always on the run, along with their crazy mother, from the magicians and their demons that killed his father. Before they leave their latest home a girl and boy come to him with a problem. The girls brother has been marked by a demon and will be possessed without their help. Alan then gets marked also, so they set out to hunt down the magician responsible for unleashing the demon. Through this Nick begins to suspect his past isn't as everyone says.

Thoughts: I loved The Demon's Lexicon. The characters are brilliant. I liked Nick's narration, and his insistence that Alan was the good one, and how important Alan was to him. I also liked Alan who is the nice, bookish, older brother with quite a lot of secrets. Their relationship was so important to Nick that the revelations shocked him, even an obvious one, as he had just accepted Alan's word. This book was unusual in the magicians being cruel, and evil rather than the wonderful, and strange qualities usually associated with them. The book is quite twisty, there is one obvious revelation (about their mother), and a series that really surprised me. The pieces fit together perfectly and I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Cover: The cover is lovely, I would really have liked to see perhaps a figure of Alan in the background.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

PS: This is going to be a series, yay!

Terrior by Tamora Pierce

Title: Terrior

Author: Tamora Pierce

Series: The Legend of Beka Cooper / Provest's Dog

Summary: Going back 200 years before the Song of the Lioness series, we visit George Cooper's ancesstress, 16 year old Beka Cooper is a puppy (rookie) for the Provest's gaurd (sorta like a medieval cop). She manages to get into the slums of Tortall, where she grew up. Paired with two of the best Dogs and a group of rogue friends she sets out to uncover the two biggest serial killers preying on the people of the slums. Once she has a case in her teeth, she won't let it go, becoming the terrior among puppies.

Thoughts: The story was lovely. Set back in the realm of Tortall (we see some things that will be familiar to readers of the Lioness quartet). We get a look outside of the Knights, and nobility into the life of the commoners. This book also had really great dog or slum slang Incorporated into it. I really liked the characters; we get all the Pierce usuals, a tough but fair mentor, a rougish friend/love interest, and our brave heroine. All have their own unique traits especially Beka who takes a step away from the usual bluntness by being painfully shy. I actually really hate diary format, but it was handled really well, without getting in the way of telling the story at all. There are a few excerpts from others diaries at the beginning, which were fine except one which had spelling errors that were supposed to be in keeping with the characters education. 

Cover: I really like the cover. Its lovely, and has a great coppery tone to it. Beka also looks really strong.

Rating: 4.5 stars

PS: First of my Tamora Pierce challenge. I've finished five by now. The new book in the trilogy Bloodhound is coming out and Pierce will answer reader questions here so ask away. ^_^

Night World - Book 1 - Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, Spellbinder

Title: Volume 1 (Contains 3 short novels called : Secret Vampire, Daughters Of Darkness, Spellbinder)

Author: LJ Smith

Series: Night World 

Summary: 

In Secret Vampire - Poppy is dying. She will be gone by the end of the summer, unless James, her best friend and object of her affections will change her. James is a vampire and to change Poppy, a human, goes against the laws of the Night World. This could mean death for both of them.

In  Daughters of Darkness - 3 vampire sisters flee to live among humans. Their brother Ash is sent to bring them back, but unwittingly finds his soulmate, their beautiful human friend.

In Spellbinder a witch finds her human soulmate. To keep her from being executed her cousin decides he must go. Its a fight between Blaise and Thea with a soulmate between them.

Thoughts:

Secret Vampire - I loved all the characters, Poppy is magnificently brave, her brother magnificently stubborn and James was just magnificent. 

Daughters of Darkness - I liked the tie-in with characters in other Night World novels. I would like to see more of the 3 sisters in later stories. 

Spellbinder - I love the characters in this, the ending did fall a bit flat however for me, but my concerns are dealt with in later books.

Overall - I love the tie-in between groups of seemingly un-related characters. I also liked gaining a fresh set of main characters in each story. The main characters also are all excellent secondary characters for the others storeys. The logistics of the Night World are excellent. The plots that span all the stories are also excellent. 

Cover : I really like the cover, Poppy is our cover girl, and the image of her is striking. I also like the grey scale with hinds of colour. These also follow the trend of having at matte cover with certain bits glossy.

PS: The conclusion should come out sometime in the next year. The first nine books in the series are being re-published three to a book. Each group of three is about $6 at Costco.