Summer Reading - 2013 Edition (3)

Among my friends, I'm known as the book person. As a result, whenever someone is looking for a book recommendation they come to me. This time of the year, this happens a lot since summer is fast approaching and a lot of my friends are typically seasonal readers--as in they read when they have time to do so and that time is often summer. Like I did last year, I thought I would post these recommendations--by genre--here on the blog as well. Up this week, some fantasy and science fiction recommendations.

- The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - If you haven't heard of Cinder and Scarlet, you are seriously missing out. The Lunar Chronicles are fairytale retellings set in a futuristic world where humans, cyborgs and androids co-exist. Believe me, it's just as awesome as it sounds. Cinderella is Cinder, a cyborg and Little Red Riding Hood is Scarlet, a girl who runs a farm with her grandmother. With the Lunar Chronicles, be prepared to rethink a lot of what you know about fairytales and that's what makes them so awesome.

- Unremembered by Jessica Brody - When I read it, Unremembered wasn't exactly what I thought it would be. But it turned out to be quite the sci-fi read. If you choose to read Unremembered, be prepared to be surprised because for much of the book it doesn't feel like you're reading a sci-fi story. So if you're looking to read some sci-fi that doesn't feel too much like a sci-fi story, then Unremembered is a good option. The only downside is that it's the first in a trilogy and the two sequels aren't out just yet.

- Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes - Even if you aren't a particularly big fan of fantasy, you should still read Morgan Rhodes' Falling Kingdoms. I can't really say whether or not this is a valid comparison or not, but this book has been compared to Game of Thrones. Though I can say that it is a truly fantastic story (no pun intended). Falling Kingdoms is the kind of book that will grab your attention right from the beginning. Though a word of warning, characters have a tendency to die…especially the ones you get attached to.

- The Gypsy King by Maureen Fergus - Again, even if you aren't that into fantasy, The Gyspy King by Maureen Fergus is s story that will grab your attention right away, or at least it did for me. The story was very different from what I thought it would be and from other fantasy stories I've read (not that I've read all that many). And if you still need some convincing that The Gypsy King is a book to pick up, the sequel is coming out this fall, so you won't have to wait that long to find out what happens next. Though if you are outside of Canada, it might be a little trickier to get a copy of this book.

- Witchlanders by Lena Coakley - Witchlanders was one of my summer reading recommendations last year and I still stand behind that recommendation. The story in this book felt incredibly real despite the clear high fantasy elements and the characters were memorable. And for a nice change in YA, the two main characters are boys. Even though Witchlanders is not quite as recent as some of the other recommendations on this list, it's still a great fantasy read if that's what you are in the mood for.

So these are just a few fantasy and sci-fi recommendations and is not an extensive list. If sci-fi/fantasy isn't what you are looking for you can always check out my contemporary and paranormal recommendations or come back next week for some post-apocalyptic and dystopian recommendations.

Witchlanders Blog Tour: Interview with Ryder

As part of the blog tour for Witchlanders by Lena Coakley, I have the pleasure of having Ryder, one of the characters from the book, here on the blog answering a few questions. Be sure to also check out the giveaway for a chance to win a Kindle 3. But without further adieu, here is what Ryder had to say!

Where does your hatred of witches and what they believe in come from?

I don’t know that I hate witches. After all, I have a lot of relatives up there in the covens. By all accounts my grandfather, who was a witch, was a good man. But it just irks me the way everyone in our village bows down to coven dwellers as if they have the ear of the goddess herself. And they don’t do any work for it! Since my father died, my sister and I have had the running of our farm, and I can tell you, growing hicca in this rocky soil isn’t easy. And then the witches come along and take one quarter of it for their tithe—one quarter! If they could really tell the future as they claimed—if they could really protect us from our enemies—then maybe I’d think they deserved it. But you have to understand, until recently I’d never seen anything to make me believe magic really existed in the world. I thought that some witches might have convinced themselves they could see the future when they threw the bones, but the others? I thought they were just liars.

Why did you choose to believe in what your mother predicted despite how you feel about witches and what they do?

I didn’t know what to think about my mother’s prophecies. At first I worried she had taken too much maiden’s woe. Some people think that flower helps you to see the future, but really it just drives you mad. Later, it seemed as if my mother’s prophecies had come true somehow. I’m beginning to realize that there are a lot of things I don’t know about the world. But if magic really exists, I’m going to have to rethink everything.

At one point it looked like you were going to kill Falpian. What made you change your mind about him?

Goddess take me if I ever figure it out. He’s a spoiled, rich blackhair and I should have killed him on sight. All my life I’ve been taught to hate his people, the Baen. Twenty years ago they came with their black ships and attacked our two port cities, Barbiza and Tandrass. They killed a lot of Witchlanders, my grandfather included.

But I just had a feeling that Falpian wasn’t as bad as all that. First of all, he had a chance to kill me and he didn’t take it. Maybe he’s just a coward, but who knows, maybe there’s some good in everyone, even blackhairs.

Did you always feel the strong need to protect your younger sisters or did you take up that role after your Fa's death?

Fa seemed so ordinary when he was alive, but everything held together then. We were poor but I never wondered where our next meal was coming from. Fa took all that worry on himself. I never gave a moment’s thought to what a heavy load that was for him, and of course that was how he wanted it. When he died, yes, I guess I tried to do what he’d done, tried to take all the worry of our farm on myself so that my two sisters could have a childhood. I just don’t think I succeeded very well. My mother was no help, I can tell you that.

You say that if your father hadn't died you would have left and gone to sea. Did you want to leave because of the witches or were there other reasons?

No, it wasn’t because of the witches. I always knew I wasn’t meant to be a farmer. I suppose a lot of people have a feeling like they’re meant for something more than their lot. And I suppose that feeling often comes to nothing and they end up doing exactly what their father and their grandfather did. I didn’t want to be like that, though. I wanted to get away and see the world. Now that I think back on it, I think it was magic I was really wishing for.

When you first met him, did you ever think you would have the relationship you have with Falpian?

I still don’t believe it now! Honestly, I still have an irrepressible urge to push him into a lake sometimes. Maybe someday I will.

What did it feel like to find out everything you had ever known and believed in was a lie, especially concerning Aata and Aayse?

To be honest, the history of dead witches never meant much to me, so finding out that Aata and Aayse, the witch prophets, weren’t exactly who everyone thought they were? I didn’t care so much at first. In a way, I admire Aata and Aayse more now that I know who they really were. I’m descended from their followers—possibly from Aata or Aayse herself!—and for the first time I’m starting to wonder what that really means. I think my witch heritage is going to be harder to get away from than I thought.

Thank you so much Ryder for answering my questions. It's always nice to know what is going through somebody else's mind, especially when that person went through what we're talking about.

About Lena Coakley

Website - Facebook - Twitter

About Witchlanders

Goodreads - Amazon - B&N - Indie Bound

GIVEAWAY!

Answer the video question below in the comments, and you are entered in the Kindle3 Giveaway. Gather up to 15 entries by commenting on each Tour Stop. Open US/Canada.

Be sure to also check out the rest of the blog tour!

Monday, August 22nd -The Page Turners

Tuesday, August 23rd- The Unread Reader

BONUS post! Tuesday, August, 23rd - The Zealous Reader

Wednesday, August 24th - Books Complete Me

BONUS post! Wednesday, August 24th - Rayment's Reading Rants and Rambles

Thursday, August 25th - We Fancy Books

Friday, August 26th - Read.Breathe.Relax

Monday, August 29th - Emilieís Book World

Tuesday, August 30th - The Mundie Momís

Wednesday, August 31st - The Enchanted Inkpot

Thursday, September 1st- Well Read Wife

Friday,September 2nd - A Journey of Books

Monday, September 5th- The Story Siren

Tuesday, September 6th - One A Day Y.A.

Wednesday, September 7th - Reading Angel

Thursday, September 8th - Soul Unsung

Friday, September 9th - Alice Marvelís

Tuesday, September 13th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Lena's Site!

Witchlanders by Lena Coakley

Title: Witchlanders

Author: Lena Coakley

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Release Date: August 30, 2011

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.

But it’s all fake.

At least that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes--one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?

But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must confront the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic, and himself will change when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned...are about him.

Until I received a copy of Witchlanders by Lena Coakley for review, I hadn’t really heard anything about it. The premise sounded really interesting and once I started reading the book, I found out that it was a lot more than I originally expected. It was a truly fantastic read.

All of his life Ryder has lived and worked on his family's farm in the Witchlander mountains. In the life he knows, everyone is afraid of the witches and gives them a portion of their crops after the harvest. The only thing is, Ryder has never liked that the witches hold so much power over them. The one thing Ryder believes in, are his mother's predictions, especially when one of them turnes out to be true. Now Ryder starts to doubt everything he has ever been told, especially when it comes to the Baen. Ryder sets out to find answers to all his questions and in the process will find out more truths than he ever thought possible.

I knew next to nothing about Whitchlanders when I first started reading the book. The story is high fantasy, which is something I don't find myself reading very often. So at first I was a little unsure about the story and I couldn't really figure out where it was going. There are two story lines in the book, and until they intersected, I didn't really enjoy the story. But once they two stories came together, I was completely hooked.As someone who doesn't tend to enjoy high fantasy, I found myself to be pleasantly surprised by Witchlanders. The story took me on a crazy adventure and the characters that were in it with me were just as great. I didn't see anything coming and discovered a fantastic new writer in Lena Coakley.

When I first started the book, Ryder and his attitude towards everything kind of annoyed me but at the same time I could see and understand where he was coming from. But as the story moved forward, I liked how Ryder evolved and liked the person he ended up becoming. What I especially liked about the story was seeing the relationship between Ryder and Falpian develop. It wasn't a romantic relationship by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still a really interesting one to see. If only because Ryder and Falpian are complete opposites but so similar at the same time and that made the idea of the relationship between them that much more appealing to me. Falpian himself was also very interesting, mostly because it too me a while to understand who he was and exactly how he fit into the story. But once I had that all figured out, I really liked him. As for the rest of the characters, the majority of them were a bit of a mystery to me, but many of them still played an important part in the story.

Witchlanders was most definitely not what I expected but in a very good way. It took me completely by surprise and I absolutely loved reading the book. Lena Coakley is a fantastic new writer and I look forward to reading whatever comes next from her.