The Scorch Trials by James Dasner

I listened to the first book, The Maze Runner on audiobook. Actually, it was my first book ever that I bought on audiobook and listened to it when I worked at Rite Aid. In a way, I will always look at that book series with fondness, even though I've heard better books since then.

Josh got me this book from the library, and in order to meet the deadline to return the book, I put aside another book to get started on this one.

It's a quick read for an adult, considering it's a YA novel. It's about a group of boys who are unwilling participants in some kind of government experiment in order to save the world. The first book ended with Thomas, Newt, Minho, along with a girl named Theresa, who activated the ending of the Maze, being "rescued." They are transported in a bus to a new location, fed, showered and shown their rooms.

However, not all is well for the group, and Theresa is whisked away during the night and replaced with a boy named Aris. Oh, Theresa, Aris and Thomas are telepathic, and can speak to each other. Aris reveals that there was a Group B, just of girls, and Aris was the activator to ending the Maze. Thomas assumes that Theresa and Aris were switched, though they aren't sure why.

A man arrives and informs them their task: to go to the surface and go North past the mountains. They are all infected with The Flare, a disease that has overtaken Earth. They all have it, but if they make it to the "Safe Haven," they will be given the cure.

This book is definitely a step up from the Maze Runner. There are more characters, and this time, there are girls, instead of just Theresa. It is centered around Thomas, who's best friends with Minho and Newt, but there women to identify with this time around.

To be honest, this book is also a bit scarier than the first book. So, Thomas and the other male gladers arrive to a run down city where the current government disposes people who are infected by the Flare, which makes people act insane. Thomas is separated from the rest of the gladers after an explosion but he's with a new girl by the name of Brenda. She knows the city and she takes Thomas under the tunnels to try and get out of the city to meet up with everyone else.

Well, since they are in the dark tunnels, of course people with the Flare, or "Cranks," track them down and want to kill them. It was terrifying, especially the part where Thomas and Brenda were hiding from them in a small cubbie.

It helped this time that I read the book instead of listening to it. I was able to read as fast as I wanted, and I was able to get through the book in a few days, instead of a few weeks.

Josh and I are going to watch The Maze Runner and Scorch Trials this weekend, so "Which is Better?" posts are coming up!

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Well, with the movie and the TV show, it was bound to happen. It seems I always am behind the trends of YA, but I do end up reading some of them.

But man, Cassandra Clare is infamous. Like, Anne Rice infamous. Though, instead of declaring the Lestat series are finished and she would write exclusively Christian themed novels, Clare is rumored to be a plagiarist during her time as a fan fiction writer, as well as parts of her books to be taken from other works.

Now that I've read her books... I don't think she really hides the fact that she definitely uses folk tales, myths, legends and other public fantasy ideas in her works. I mean, come on, "All the stories are true..." is a running theme throughout the books, and she doesn't make it a secret that she uses everything from vampires, to Norse mythology, to fairy tales, even Star Wars (finding out they were siblings?! Come on.), so I don't think any authors who accuse her of stealing her work really has a leg to stand on, because even though she basically uses everything under the sun in her books, it seems it's a work completely her own.Clare creates an imaginative world where she packs everything she can, all the folklore and urban fantasy into almost an unlimited book series.

Man, again, I have to put Clare in with "people whose careers I wish I stole" because she doesn't pretend to think up all of this stuff on her own. She takes it all and her theme is, "all the stores are true." Brilliant. I would take the haters any day of the week.

I do give her mad props for her extensive world building, which led her to numerous books. How many books does she have out now with different series stemming from The Mortal Instruments? 20? She definitely put time and effort using all she can and she's made a career out of it.

The real question is... is it any good? I'm not sure if I'm qualified yet to answer that question, because I feel like I stumbled into a real Hannibal situation, where I am so saturated with the TV show and the movies, that when it came to reading the books, there was nothing new. The books were almost like the movies, and the TV show added much more to the books. The first book, the City of Bones, definitely follows the movie of finding the Mortal cup, though I'm still confused about the big round blue portal in the movie.

However, her downfall are the characters in the books. She creates a very extensive world with alternative realities and universes, and the "rules" of the universe are practically nonexistent, that she leaves barely any room to introduce any real characters. I was deeply confused when it was revealed that Valentine was also Jace's father. Just to move plot along and create conflict between Clary and Jace, Jace, who was deemed a quick thinker, smart and almost wise beyond his years, absolutely took Valentine, who was deemed a psychopath, at his word, and was immediately obedient to him.

What also didn't work for the book was the snappy dialogue between the characters. It had a very Joss Whedon flair to it, which is admirable, but... since I didn't feel a connection to any of the characters, I thought the dialogue fell flat. I also don't buy that 15 year olds talk like that at all. I taught 15 year olds... they are way dumber. Apparently her writing improves greatly, which I'm looking forward too.

Was it riveting? No. Now that I've seen the terrible movie, and I am watching the TV show on free form which leaves me feeling more confused (I still don't know what's happening and I've read the book now) everytime I watch it. Overall, it took me a bit to get through. I found it boring and I also realized that not much happened (which is an awful realization when you are holding a monster of a book). However, I'm reserving my judgement about this book series with the second book because I definitely watched the TV show and the movie before the book.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer

I was right. I didn't really need to read The Eternity Code between The Artic Incident and The Opal Deception. Conveniently, Artemis' mind was wiped from the events that occurred in the 3rd book and one of the plot points was remembering what happened during that adventure. It appears that each Artemis Fowl book operates as a stand alone book, which is just smart marketing in case readers like me can't be bothered to obtain the books in order.

The backstory for this book is just like the other one: it was 1 dollar from the book fair. The next book fair is in September, I think, and BAE and I are already talking about it. I wonder what prizes I will find! Will books by my girl PG be there? Who knows? Ok, back to Artemis Fowl.

I think if I had started reading this books when I was 10 or 11, I would have totally dug them and maybe even fashioned myself an evil genius (that eventually turns good) just like Artemis Fowl. His name is even cool. Sure, Jordan is mythological (excuse me, biblical) and androgynous but Artemis is so badass. Jordan is just a name of a river. Although famous (pretty heavy hitters were baptized in the Jordan River), it is also apparently a dirty river. Artemis is named after a fierce huntress!

Ok, back to the actual story. As it is, I read them while I'm in my late 20s. I keep in mind that they were written for kids much younger than me (and actually I'll probably be teaching the appropriate age group this fall). It's a unique concept and it celebrates the idea of a boy using his intellect to solve problems. What is also powerful about this book is that Artemis actually thinks. He brainstorms more than one plan and then after analyzing them, chooses the one that will be the most successful. Artemis Fowl takes his time, and knows that intelligence doesn't actually mean quickness. Being super smart doesn't necessarily mean that one gets the right answer immediately.

It's a powerful concept to learn and more students, especially those who struggle with academics, could stand to read about someone like Artemis Fowl. Sure, it's science fiction, but what is great about science fiction is that it's often much more based in the human condition than fiction is. Science Fiction dreams up powerful high technology and different species, but ultimately goes back to how the human race reacts to these themes.

Artemis Fowl is an optimistic focal point of the human race. Eoin Colfer shows intense character development with Fowl. He starts off the series as the books' anti-hero. He faces off with The People in order to obtain some fairy gold. Then in the next book and sequential books, he develops a relationship with Holly Short and becomes the series protagonist. After doing some research on the Fowl books, he actually goes back in time to deal with his younger, more evil half in order to save his mother. He's actually going back in time to right the wrongs he committed when he was an angry, lost boy.

Development. Stephanie Myers could stand to learn something. I kid, but not really.

I even like the series' villain, Opal Kobai. There are a lot of geniuses in this book series, and all of them work extremely hard and are extremely ambitious, in their own way, in order to be the greatest.

Now onto the book itself. I realized that because it's a YA book, and maybe even a bit younger than YA, it's not geared towards me. The book takes me a bit to get into. I found myself only wanting to read a few pages a night, which is a sign that I am not into what I'm reading. Thank goodness for this blog, my leaning tower book stack and my moving, right? Who knows when I would have been done this book?

I'm not interested in fantastical high technology and heist narrative but unfortunately, most of this book was centered on side quests before getting to the real thing, which is defeating Opal. I love Holly and Artemis' banter, which was lacking until Fowl regained his memories.

Many characters made a reappearance, including Butler and Mulch. Julius Root unfortunately sails off into the night, and I commend Colfer in dealing with death with such a "young crowd." Characters also cease to develop without major changes in their lives, including death.

Overall, a solid read. I wish I found these books when I was younger, but I'll settle for 1 dollar at used book fairs.

Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer

I missed the Artemis Fowl YA books when I was growing up, but my best friend Capella, loved them. My mother mostly brought me series books like The Babysitters Club, The Boxcar Kids and Goosebumps. I also read the Animorphs series too. Though now that I think about it, I guess Artemis Fowl is a bit older than those series.

Anyway, I didn't read them. However, when I was looking for a book to read several years ago, the first Artemis Fowl book was on sale in the Sony E-reader store (RIP). So I bought it and liked it. I didn't LOVE it, maybe it was because it's a bit younger than YA, but I liked it.

Like I do, I found a few Artemis Fowl books at the Baltimore Book Fair (seriously, they should pay me with all the advertising I do for that fair) after failing to find any Octavia Butler books. I had no idea if they were in sequence or not, (I mean, it's YA, I'm sure I could figure out) but luck would have it, Arctic Incident is the second book in the series.

The idea is that Artemis Fowl is a young evil genius with lots of money at his disposal. There is also a fairy universe that hates him. He has a bodyguard and his arch nemesis is a fairy named Holly Short who is a fairy cop. The first book is all about Artemis Fowl obtaining fairy gold. Holly Short and the entire Fairy universe (I really want to write underverse a la Riddick style) are trying to stop him. He ends up getting the fairy gold fair and square.

The scenario for the second book is that Artemis Fowl is looking for his father, who went missing in action. Artemis procures the help of Holly Short and company, and go on this search to find him. Oh, there is also a fairy villain, but I don't remember this name or who he works with. There is lots of technology and adventure. There is also the Russian Mob and Goblins.

By far, the most interesting character in the book is Fowl's manservant, Butler. A killing machine with a shady past that has an undying devotion towards his charge. He is unstoppable. In my mind, he changes from a tough bald headed hottie to a dark haired mysterious type. He puts Fowl in his place, which the kid clearly needs. Artemis Fowl is way to smart for his own good and desperately needs some boundaries. I mean, really, why hasn't his super rich school call CPS? How has his mother been able to keep custody of him?

Yes, that is what I took away from Artemis Fowl: where the heck are his parents?

So overall, it's a decent book for young adults ages 10-13. I have another book that I acquired from the book fair, but I don't think it's the next book in series (but who cares).