Review: The Runaway King

Book Two of the Ascendance Trilogy
By Jennifer A. Nielsen
Available now from Scholastic Press
Review copy

Warning: THE FALSE PRINCE has a bit of a twist, and I'll try to avoid it, but  be wary of reading this review if you haven't read the first book.

Jaron is now the king of Carthya.  War is imminent.  There are few people that he can trust - even fewer in positions of power.  He must marry Amarinda, but he neither knows nor loves her.  She's not very excited about it either considering the fact she cared for his deceased older brother.  When the pirates threaten Jaron, his regents decide he must go into hiding.  Jaron decides to go into hiding with the pirates themselves to take them apart from the inside.

THE RUNAWAY KING has more action than THE FALSE PRINCE.  THE FALSE PRINCE had quite the finale, but most of the book was a tense build-up to the climax.  The structure of THE RUNAWAY KING is entirely different.  Most of the familiar characters are back, though many of them are far less important than they were in the first book.  This, the middle book in the trilogy, is really Jaron's show.  He's making his bid for power and he'll only keep the crown if he can pull it off.  Also, it's his show because he's too dumb to trust his real friends.  (Luckily, they trust him.)

My favorite part of the novel was when Jaron fell in with an Avenian thieves' camp.  Jennifer A. Nielsen did a wonderful job of developing Carthya in the first book and she used the second book to give a glimpse of the Avenian perspective.  It's not very nuanced since this is a middle grade series, but I appreciated that not all of the Avenians were terrible, irredeemable people.

I think fans of THE FALSE PRINCE will be very satisfied with THE RUNAWAY KING and eager to read the third and final book in the Ascendance Trilogy.  Nielsen keeps the pages turning.  THE RUNAWAY KING is full of danger, Jaron staying alive through a combination of his cleverness and his more physical abilities.  And just when it seems like he'll be triumphant, things boil over.

Nielsen's classic style of fantasy appeals to me now just as much as it would have when I was younger.  The Ascendance trilogy is perfect for fans of Megan Whalen Turner (though it does skew a little younger).  It has derring-do, suspense, epic battles, and a touch of romance and friendship.  It's full of action, but it's action driven by the memorable characters.

Movie Monday: John Dies at the End

I can't wait to see John Dies at the End, although at this point I'll probably have to rent it.  I was late writing this post because I was too busy reading THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS, the sequel.  Both books are by David Wong, of Cracked, real name Jason Pargin.  The movie adaptation is directed by Don Coscarelli, the guy who directed cult favorite Bubba Ho-Tep.  It's been getting decent reviews, and I like the book.  It's a messily structured novel about eldritch horrors and two guys who like their penis jokes.

Strands of Bronze and Gold on Polyvore

I told ya'll a little last week about Random Buzzers.  I did mention the author visits, didn't I?  Jane Nickerson, author of STRANDS OF BRONZE AND GOLD, will be visiting March 11-15th.  You can submit questions to her forum thread for a chance to win an ARC!  You have through next Sunday to ask her a question and win.  (You can ask a question after that, but you won't be able to win a copy of the book, and you know you want a copy.)

This week I whipped up a set on Polyvore to represent STRANDS OF BRONZE AND GOLD.  I discovered that I don't spend enough time on Polyvore to be very good at it.  We've all got different talents, right?

See it on pinterest!

I got a few dresses for the more modern girl in there, but they both have the plunging décolletage Monsieur Bernard prefers.  The bronze Docs clearly represent practical shoes for wandering around the nearby woods.  Obviously.  There's a swan boat, a braided bracelet, holy men, and an abbey in the novel.  I don't know why I put a fancy shoe there.  Does one need a reason for fancy shoes?

Are you intrigued?

Guest Blog: Teen Writing Conference Goes Virtual

You shouldn’t judge a book by the age of its author. After all, one of the most well-known pieces of literature was written by a 13-year-old girl barely out of grammar school. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl has been published in nearly seventy languages and has sold tens of millions of copies.

I’ve been writing for twenty years. Longer than that if you count my 7th grade research paper on the Lochness monster—which you really should because it was an EXCELLENT report. Regardless, when I see at what level some teens write, I feel intimidated. Teenagers are phenomenal writers. Their creativity and drive is amazing.

This has become even more obvious to me ever since I became involved with the Teen Author Boot Camp, one of the largest teen writing conferences nationwide. For the last three years, this Utah-based conference gathers some of the smartest teenagers and most talented published authors together. This year will be even better because the conference is going virtual.

The Live Broadcast of Teen Author Boot Camp will allow teens all over the world as well as teachers, librarians, and writers of any age to attend the conference. The cost for the TABC Live Broadcast is less than $5 for the entire day.

The keynote address by Newbery Winning Author Shannon Hale will be free for anyone to watch. It will be on March, 16th, 2013 at 9 a.m. MST. A subscription to the Live Broadcast costs $4.99 and includes the following:

9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.—Writers Cubed: Welcome

9:15 a.m. to 9:55 a.m.—Keynote by Newbery Award winner Shannon Hale (Princess Academy)

10 a.m to 10:45 a.m.—Tyler Whitesides (Janitors) Class: Imagine and Create.

10:55 a.m. to 11:40 a.m.—Janette Rallison (My Fair Godmother) Class: Bad dialogue can kill a story.

12:50 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.—NYT bestseller Kiersten White (Paranormalcy) Class: Plot Like a Villain.

1:45 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.—J. Scott Savage (Farworld) Class: Finding Your Voice.

2:50 p.m. to 3:25 p.m.—Journey to Publication Panel: Agent Amy Jameson & authors Chad Morris, Tess Hilmo, J. Scott Savage, Cindy Bennett

3:35 p.m. to 4:20 p.m.—NYT bestseller Aprilynne Pike (Wings) Class: World-building is the invisible foundation to your book.

 4:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.—Writers Cubed: Winner of the First Chapter Contest and closing remarks.

If you just can’t get enough of TABC, there is also an All Pass Subscription to the rest of the conference (including more than fifteen awesome presentations, including mine--haha). That only costs $9.99 and, as if it wasn’t a sweet enough deal already, you can watch the whole conference whenever you want for an entire year.

To register to watch Shannon Hale’s Keynote for free, visit www.teenauthorbootcamp.com and click on Livestream. It only takes a minute. While you’re there, check out the other presenters who will be teaching at the conference under the tab "Drill Sergeants."

Stay tuned for details on how to win a subscription to the TABC Live Broadcast for FREE on this blog.

Lois D. Brown is a co-founder of Writers Cubed, a group of Utah writing activists who created the Teen Author Boot Camp in 2010. She is also the author of CYCLES, a top five finalist of The Kindle Book Review 2012. Please visit her website at www.writerscubed.com.

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I have one subscription to the TABC Live Broadcast (ARV $4.99) to give away.  If the winner would prefer the All-Pass subscription, they will receive a $5 coupon instead. Contest is open internationally to anyone 13 years of age or older.

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Review: When Love Comes to Town

By Tom Lennon
Introduction by James Klise
Available now from Albert Whitman Teen
Review copy

This is the twentieth-anniversary edition of  WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN, first published in Ireland in 1993.  It's dated in some ways, particularly in protagonist Neil Byrne's love of Sinead O'Connor.  But it's a book and a story that still has a lot to offer.

Neil knows that he's gay.  He's afraid of what that means for his future, but he's starting to explore what it means for himself.  He tells his best friend, he tells his sister, and he starts to secretly visit a local gay bar.  His actions lead to encounters with a variety of people, from drag queens to an older admirer to gay bashers.

The appeal of WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN is not limited to gay teens or those interested in the history of gay literature.  Neil's ill-fated romance with a self-absorbed jerk reminds me of several friend's early college relationships.  There's always that guy, looking for someone not experienced enough to recognize his tricks, and Neil is not the first person fictional or real to fall for his charm.  People are less afraid of AIDS and medicine has improved, but it's certainly a concern for anyone whose sexually active.  And even if more of the world is accepting, coming out still isn't easy or always safe.  Reading WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN, it's easy to see how far we've come and notice how far we've yet to go.

This is a very dramatic novel and I was often afraid it was going to end up horribly depressing, but I feel that it ended with a note of hope.  Neil not only comes to terms with himself, but also manages to make most of his friends and family come to terms with his identity.  He's the poetic, introspective type and kind of pessimistic, despite his sporty credentials, but that doesn't make him a delicate flower.  He grows into himself quite well.

I hope a new generation will enjoy WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN.  I enjoyed it and I certainly have no nostalgia about it.  (It came out when I was four.  I'm not that old.)  It will probably appeal to fans of contemporary as well as historical fiction, since it was contemporary when it was written.  And honestly, 1990 wasn't that long ago.  (My birthday is approaching so sometimes I feel like I am that old.)

The introduction by James Klise (LOVE DRUGGED) is informative and adds helpful context to WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN.