H.I.V.E: Dreadnaught

H.I.V.E: Dreadnaught
Mark Walden
9/10

The first time i read H.I.V.E was in year 8, when the first book came out. I thought it was great, it was funny, witty, with the coolest characters and a concept that was able to go ANYWHERE. Put quite simply, the "Higher Institute of Villainous Education" is a school for super genius kids who are taught how to become the future of evil empires around the world.

This one has brand new concepts, a betrayal at the highest level, and the return of our favorite characters plus the addition of a few new ones. As the hacker skills of our hero, Otto, increase and the wall of secrecy around the evil geniuses of the world begin to collapse the book becomes AWESOME.

So I really liked it and I think that its totally worth reading. I'd say that it was like a bazillion times better than "The Secret River," but...a bazillion times zero is still...like, zero.

So, order the book, get it delivered and then enjoy reading it between your studies of evil at your volcano base. But remember, its only worth a detention for us normal people, a detention at H.I.V.E. involves...pain...lots of pain.

The Left Hand Of God

The Left Hand Of God
Paul Hoffman
8/10

Well here we go, the review for Thesaurus (its actually for a worker at Thesaurus, but its not a big distinction and easier to say) i was asked to do it, and i must say, i am glad i was. This is a great book, paul is one of those writers thats able to tell a story in a way that makes it seem real, interesting and leaves you wanting more. I often say that the characters are original etc but this time i'm not kidding, the protagonist of our story is a complex, enthralling and, although eccentric, strangely loveable.
The small boy, Thomas Cale, is brought up in the worst possible environment, he grows up and is taught by a collection of extremist monks who believe strongly in using physical pain to atone for sins that all are born with. All that the boys who grow up in the remote monastery with these priests are taught to fear god, behave perfectly and to fight in time of war. Cale is a particularly good fighter, and one of the highest ranked monks talks a special interest in his education. this means harder lessons, and harsher punishments.

When Cale accidentally walks in on an atrocity during an errand, he sets in motion a series of events that lead him, and two of his friends, to run away from the monastery and become important factors in a coming war between the order of monks they ran from, and the large city of a powerful warrior race that they ran to.

The book is not without faults, however. There are numerous references to locations, travel, landscapes of various terrain, and a number of landmarks. There is no map in the book so picturing the world from vague descriptions is hard, and often frustrating. Hoffman has also used numerous real life names for people races of people, this forces us to think of stereotypes and saves the writer from having to describe them to us, it seems lazy and it is confusing. As a final irksome detail is that a few times in the book the writer takes on a storyteller sort of tone, this shocked me because there was no indication it just, at the end of a chapter, the narrator started dropping hits of things to come. We never receive warning of it and before i had time to work out what was happening, it was gone and the book moved back into the normal flow. It was a good use of writing, but I found that the change in tone stopped the book dead. For all you history buffs, the climax of the book, an all out war between the two forces is really an almost move by move copy of a battle from history,i wont say which one, however. Again this seemed like a lazy part of the book. A disappointment, being able to guess what will happens.

All of those put together may make it seem like it has a lot of cons but in reality, its a very small part of the book that is at fault, the rest of the 400+ pages are literature gold and well worth reading. A BIG thank you to Thesaurus for asking me to do this book, i'm very glad i got it and some more recommendations would be much appreciated. I think that the book is worth a detention, but if your monk oppressors catch you, then expect a thorough beating :P

Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days

Skulduggery Pleasant
Derek Landy
8/10

Well we all know about the tried and true Skulduggery Pleasant books, all of the characters have a certain quality about them they, all have points that mean you cant help but love them, the devotion of Valkyrie our hero, the perseverance and deadliness of Tanith, the cute lovability of Kenspeckle, the blatant stupidity of some of the bad guys and, of course, the sharp wit, dry humour and sheer awesomeness of the walking talking skeleton, Skulduggery. This variance and individuality between characters shows the comittment of a truly gifted writer.

The difference is that this book starts off with no Skulduggery, hes gone, missing presumed dead. As Valkyrie joureys to rescue him we recieve news of a new collection of criminals bent on revenge, as well as a prophecy concerning an appocalypse in the near future. Not really the best time to lose one of the most freaking aweosome heroes that I know to exist in literature.

The story progresses at an excellent pace and keeps up the beautiful description that the books are famous for, with an edge of your seat pace you cant help but but get sucked in. The only criticims i can find is that, in comparison to previous books in the series, its not as heavy on the comedy and action that I loved in the first couple, there seems to be a bit more of an emphisis on the story, and though this makes the book seem deeper, its unfortunately at the loss of an element that was always a highlight of the other books. Dont let this put you off though, far from it, this series is certainately a must read and if you havent then do so.

Its not a hrad to book to pick up, short as far as pages go, and with a large friendly font. The easy humor makes it easily accessible and the simple take on magic is one of the best i've ever seen. Whenever a writer has to redo a basic item in a book there is always a chance that it will be to different and not liked, magic in SP is simple and makes sense. The idea of an elemental magician verses an adept who can have any sort of magic power is an awesome concept and easy for anyone to understand.

Overall a fantastic book, and totally worth a detention, I have to thank my chemistry teacher, who helped me greatly to read this book by not showing up to classes. This goes out to you Mr. Harris :D
Try your best to read this book, but if you cant dont lose your head:P