Skip to main content

Best Young-Adult of 2014


Best Young-Adult of 2014

The Young Adult genre has always been a genre to my liking. When I was young I never had the chance to read such books. Being from the Netherlands it's quite a different style of books for the younger readers, though there is shift now. I like fantasy and this is what I missed in my younger years. The best thing about many of the English Young Adult books is that they are also very well suited for an older audience. The books that feature on this list all reflect this in a certain way. ANd as you can see from this list, there are many influences in Young Adult fiction, from the dystopian Metawars: Freedom Frontier by Jeff Norton (whish is sadly the conclusion to the series) or Red Rising, Pierce Brown's debut, to the Epic Fantasy of Joe Abercrombie's Half a King, or Django Wexler's excellent The Forbidden Library and finally a completely different take on superhero fiction in Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart

------------------------------

- MetaWars: Freedom Frontier by Jeff Norton, Orchard Books

MetaWars: Freedom Frontier is the perfect conclusion to this outstanding young-adult series. What initially started with a plan when the Icelandic ash cloud shut down air traffic, now has shown in full colors that it really payed off to chase your idea's. I was hooked from the first book and Jeff Norton has never let me down in his stories, I had some thoughts as to how this story might finished but he really threw me a cruveball right there and then. It's these last minute changes that really get me fired up about reading books. They make the story. From the idea with escaping reality and who controls who down to the world and the characters that live in it, this book is just perfect. People... get to reading this series, it will not let you down!

read the full review here

- The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler, Doubleday Childrens

Django Wexler ends his book on a interesting promise that will get you readily excited for the sequel, though unfortunately I can't find an release that yet, I do hope it comes soon! The Forbidden Library is an exciting addition to the growing children's fiction list. It has already been compared to pretty big names such as Harry Potter and Inkheart and I feel that I do have to say that I second those opinions. There are also some beautiful illustrations in the book that only further bolster the magical feeling that The Forbidden Library breathes and I am already keeping my fingers crossed to see this book be made into either a tv-series or movie. I know a lot of young kids will enjoy to see the adventures of Alice! Furthermore Django Wexler shows that he is an author to watch out for, having written a stellar debut in the flintlock fantasy with The Thousand Names and now an outstanding children's book with The Forbidden Library, he is definitely on my must read list. 

Read the full review here

- Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, Delacorte/Gollancz

This all combined make Steelheart just one awesome read. I read most of Brandon Sanderson earlier books and with Steelheart he continues his winning streak. Whether you are an adult of a teenager looking for a fast paced, action packed superhero story, shown from a new perspective, Steelheart is a must read for you. I really liked that Brandon Sanderson showed a different perspective with his story, normally you always have the good superheroes but what if they weren't so nice and forced the innocents into working for them? I recently got the copy of a short story in the Reckoners series, Mitosis, looking forward to reading it. Firefight the sequel to Steelheart will be out early January. 2015 is going to start of pretty heated I reckon!


Read the full review here

- Half a King by Joe Abercrombie, HaperVoyager

Joe Abercrombie shows that he is one author that you have to have on your to read list. With his First Law series he proved to be on big asset and now that he has changed to a different mind set in Half a King only further bolsters that he is an great author. Even though Half a King is termed young adult it is a book that everyone will enjoy, it is not written in a childish manner but aimed at the more adult than young. Joe Abercrombie also isn't afraid to let the darker tones of his writing take over occasionally. Half a King is a terrific start to the Shattered Sea series. If you are still looking for you next read, be sure to add this one to your list. 

Read the full review here

- Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Hodderscape

 As you can make up from the above words, I really enjoyed reading Red Rising, I am not that familiar yet with young adult dystopian and haven't read neither Ender's Game nor The Hunger Games, so I can't make an comparison. What I can say however is that Pierce Brown wrote a powerful first entry in an exciting and fresh new series. What makes Red Rising even better is that this is Pierce Brown's debut, if he can put down such a story already I am eager to see where he will take his story as the series progresses. Pierce Brown has set a high bar for himself, but I have full confidence he will be able to raise it higher with Golden Prince. Red Rising has a set of great characters, and interesting world and features some very cool idea's, I haven't broached the subject of the science fiction influence with the gadgets and all but I can guarantee that this is also top notch. Make sure you get a copy of on the most talked about books of this moment, you wont be disappointed!

Read the full review here

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Author Interview with Christopher Fowler

Author interview with Christopher Fowler. Author bio:  Christopher Fowler is an English novelist living in London, his books contain elements of black comedy, anxiety and social satire. As well as novels, he writes short stories, scripts, press articles and reviews. He lives in King's Cross, on the Battlebridge Basin, and chooses London as the backdrop of many of his stories because any one of the events in its two thousand year history can provide inspiration In 1998 he was the recipient of the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year, for 'Wageslaves'. Then, in 2004, 'The Water Room' was nominated for the CWA People's Choice Award, 'Full Dark House' won the BFS August Derleth Novel of The Year Award 2004 and 'American Waitress' won the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year 2004. The novella 'Breathe' won BFS Best Novella 2005. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Christopher, welcome over to The Bo

Short Fiction Friday: Selfies

Selfies by Lavie Tidhar "Selfies", by Lavie Tidhar, is a creepy little horror tale about the fate of a young woman who makes the mistake of a lifetime when she buys a new phone in the local mall. It is only a few weeks back that I read a different but very interesting short story of Lavie Tidhar, Dragonkin . I found this story directly to my liking, the synopsis and build up of the story was unique and got me excited by it's less is more writing style. In the end this story for me had so much going on that I hope to see Lavie Tidhar exploring it even further. That aside, now its time for Selfies . I think I can now safely say that Lavie Tidhar is an author to watch out for, his stories will get you thinking and will scare you twice over.  I have been thinking a lot of the current situation with always being connected on social media and the likes. It's unavoidable. One thing that is connected with all of this is of course your smartphone, yes no longer a cell

Guest Blog: Alien Invasion Stories from Armada to Grunt Traitor

Guest Blog: Alien Invasion Stories from Armada to Grunt Traitor  By Weston Ochse © 2015   There’s something at once terrifying and romantic about an invasion. One wrong move could mean the destruction of everything you know and love, but in the heat of battle, there are crystalline moments in which true humanity shines. Like many military authors, I often look to history for guidance on how to write the future. I’ve always looked at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift as the perfect sort of battle to represent an alien invasion. One hundred and fifty British soldiers in a remote outpost are beset by four thousand Zulu warriors. The odds seemed impossible, yet in the end the British won the day. The early Michael Cain movie Zulu retells this story and stands as one of my favorite military movies of all time. There are moments in the film that resonate. In the face of overwhelming attack, the sergeant major lowly commanding his men to take it easy. Right when everything seems los