The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t read The 5^th Wave, the first book in the series, stop reading this blog posting and instead read that book first.

The Infinite Sea begins after the 4^th wave. With winter fast approaching, Cassie Sullivan, her younger brother, Sam, Teacup, Dumbo, Poundcake, Ringer (Marika) and Ben know that they can’t survive in the hotel they currently inhabit. Their goal is to get to the caverns where they stand a chance of being warm enough to endure the harsh winter.  If they stay above ground, their fires to ward off the cold will draw The Silencers to them.

Cassie doesn’t want to leave the rat infested hotel.  She is still waiting for Evan Walker’s return.  So boldly Ringer and Teacup start the walk (about 20 miles) to see if the Other’s might be setting a trap for them at the Caverns or whether this will become their winter hideout.

Ringer and Teacup are captured.  Ringer knows that Vosch will use Teacup’s life to force Ringer to comply with his devious plans to exterminate all life on earth.

“I’m dizzy; the room won’t stay still. Bluffs inside bluffs, feints within counter feints, I’m in a game in which I don’t know the rules or even the object.  This is the bind.  This is the trap. This is where the road of impossible promises dead-ends.”

This book The Infinite Sea and The 5^th Wave are recommended for mature readers.  The plots are very complicated and some of the plot twists and turns could cause nightmares.  Be warned!  This title is not for everyone.  Fans of The 5^th Wave should love it.  A final book will finish the series.

 

Graduation Day by Joelle Charbonneau

Sometimes series don’t end the way we would like. For me, this is one of those series which I hoped would end another way.

Cia Vale and Tomas have been assigned different university placements following their success with The Testing. Cia had wanted Mechanical Engineering but those in charge of her placement, Dr. Barnes and Professor Holt, have decided she will be in City Government while Tomas receives the placement of his choice, Biological Engineering.

Not only has Cia received this placement but she will be interning with the President, President Collinder.  When the President explains that Cia’s assignment will be to help bring down (kill) those in charge of The Testing, Cia is shocked but very pleased as The Testing has led to many deaths for those who don’t succeed.

The problem for Cia becomes, who can she trust?  There is a rebel group hoping to overthrow the government which   has infiltrated members into the University hoping to revolt.

Feeling secure that tracking devices have been removed, Cia begins to work on the problem (murders) of the key personnel in charge of The Testing. Who will truly be trustworthy?

What type of Graduation Day will Cia and her fellow students face?

 

Independent Study by Joelle Charbonneau

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t first read The Testing,   stop reading this blog posting and do that first.

Malencia “Cia” Vale along with her best friend Tomas from Five Lakes Colony have successfully passed The Testing. Their memories have been wiped out yet for Cia she has recurring nightmares and flashbacks.

They find themselves now at University in Tosu City where other students from Tosu City have been selected to also join those who have survived The Testing.

Cia wants to be in Mechanical Engineering, but the officials decide she should be in Government.  Tomas is placed in Biological Engineering.

The brutal induction challenges by final year students into these schools cost some participants their lives.

Nothing is as it should be! Cia and Tomas both realize that. They don’t know who to trust.

“And while the only way to beat them (the officials at the University) is to do as Ian says and excel at my classes, I cannot help but worry.  If they expect me to fail, how will they react when I do not? Will scoring top marks keep me safe or will it prompt anger and punishment?”

This is a fast, engaging read. It leaves you hanging as Graduation Day is its sequel.

 

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Mackenzie Bishop at age 16 has a lot to contend with in her life.  Her younger brother Ben was killed crossing the street by a hit and run driver.  Her mom’s way of dealing with 10-year-old Ben’s death is to be constantly in a whirlwind of doing things--moving the family to a rundown former hotel called The Coronado to open up a coffee shop, painting, cleaning, ordering, etc. –anything to keep the pain of losing Ben at such a young age at bay. Mackenzie’s dad avoids his grief by downing coffee after coffee and losing himself in reading.

Imagine dealing with all this plus being one of the youngest keepers ever.  Mackenzie’s maternal grandfather, affectionately named Da, realizes Mackenzie’s high potential for becoming a Keeper in their society. This highly secretive position is quite dangerous.  It involves keeping Histories-- people’s spirits who have passed--in check.  When a History escapes into the Narrows, the Archive sends Mackenzie a message with the person’s name and age.  It is her job to find an entry into the Narrows using the Keeper Key that Da gave her before he died.

Once in the Narrows, Mackenzie must find the wandering person and get them through a door for Returns.  The fights that ensue when some don’t know where they are or are filled with rage lead to many bruises and scars which are hard to explain to her parents.

When Mackenzie meets Wes Ayers, another Keeper, she finally has some help in dealing with the out of control Narrows below the Coronada.

This is a fast paced, well written, part mystery and part dystopian novel.  Mature readers will love it!

 

Book #2, Unbound has already been released!

The Haven

 

Shiloh and her group of friends at Haven Hospital and Halls are known as Terminals. Their lives are highly regulated. They drink the “tonic” they are given before bedtime as they are told to do.  The music begins and within minutes all are magically deeply asleep.

The “tonic” is placed beside their bed when they awaken to another piece of music. Everything about their lives is regulated.

They have been taught to never touch each other. Touching could spread contagion. Yet, despite all these rules, at least two Terminals per month are removed due to what they are told is disease.

When Dr. King and Principal Harrison come through the lunch room doors, everyone is silent. All know someone will be removed.  Upon their return, it is obvious operations have always been needed to contain the disease in the students who have been removed. Some of a lung removed, others need to have an arm or a leg amputated to contain the disease. Despite witnessing this event, students believe “We are lucky to live here. Haven Hospital and Halls is the finest Treatment Center available.”

But is Haven Hospital and Halls the safe place it claims to be?

Shiloh begins to doubt when Gideon her friend starts to question: “No more! There has to be a promise. This is wrong. It doesn’t have to be this way.  We all know we’re Terminals, but what we don’t know is why. Why us?”

Shiloh begins to wonder--could Terminals be cured? While others feel Gideon had a mental malfunction, Shiloh and another boy Daniel feel he is making perfect sense.

Is rebellion possible?  Read The Haven to find out!

The Park Service by Ryan Winfield

How would you feel if at the age of 15 you discover that everything you have been led to believe is a lie?

Fifteen-year-old Aubrey VanHouten has only known life with his father in Level 3 of the Holocene II. Holocene II is a society built underground in what is presently North America nine hundred years in the future.

All fifteen year olds in Holocene II take a test to determine where they will work and live as they mature to adults. The highest level is Level 1 and the lowest is Level 6. The miners reside in Level 6. No one from Level 3 has ever been to Level 1. Retirement occurs in this society at age 35 when you are transported to Eden.

The eight-hour long computer-generated test ends abruptly for Aubrey when he makes a random guess on the question regarding what should be done if plague strikes. Aubrey’s computer screen shuts down and the message, “You will report to Level 1” is revealed. Everyone in Level 3 celebrates Audrey’s good fortune!

Parting from the only home he has known underground is bittersweet for Aubrey and his father. But since Aubrey’s dad is soon turning 35 and destined to go to Eden anyway, they are accepting of this fate.

When the magnetically powered train taking Aubrey to Level 1 crashes due to an avalanche of rock debris, Aubrey realizes that the mountain scenes he has been seeing outside the train’s window are not a virtually created movie. Instead, they are the surface of the earth! Everyone residing in Holocene II has been told that an ice sheet covers the surface.

Aubrey is filled with questions: What in the world happened? Why have we been lied to? Who lives up here? How will I survive?

I loved the first book in The Park Service trilogy! Fans of The Hunger Games and the Divergent series will be able to escape to another dystopian world!

Partials: Book 1 in the Partial Sequence by Dan Wells

“Newborn #485GA18M died on June 30, 2076, at 6:07 in the morning. She was three days old. The average lifespan of a human child, in the time since the Break, was fifty-six hours.” (Page 1)

 

It has been eleven years since 2065 when The Break occurred. Few people remain. The RM virus was released by the Partials- a group of engineered beings which resemble humans. Only those humans immune to the virus are alive.

Kira is 16 years old. She has been in training as a medic on the maternity ward in the hospital. Every baby being born since The Break has died from the virus within days of its birth. At this rate Kira realizes the human race will be extinct if a cure isn’t found.

The group of people living on what was Long Island includes Kira, her boyfriend, Marcus, friends Jayden and his sister Madison as well as others. The Senate of the East Meadow community where they live has declared the Hope Act. This act is about to lower the mandatory age at which one must become pregnant to hopefully increase the likelihood of having a baby who might survive.

An opposing faction known as The Voice is rising up to fight the current government order. 

Kira hatches a plan to venture into what was Manhattan to capture one of the engineered beings known as Partials to see if something in their DNA might provide a cure for the RM virus. Her plan is filled with danger but seems like the only possible way to possibly save humanity.

Will she and her friends succeed? Read Partials to find out.

 

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

Malencia Vale lives with her mother and father and four brothers in Five Lakes Colony. There have been seven wars fought which have destroyed much of civilization and laid waste to the land. 

Malencia’s father has been lucky enough to have a university education and is developing new ways in which to grow crops and rejuvenate the drinking water and the soil.

At Malencia’s graduation, there is much hope that some members of her class will be chosen to participate in the grueling process known as The Testing to see if any will have the chance for an education at the university.

When Cia (Malencia’s nickname) is chosen along with three others from Five Lakes Colony, her father gives her strict advice- “TRUST NO ONE!” Her father should know as he survived The Testing himself.

The four are transported to Tosu City to begin The Testing.

Will Cia follow her father’s advice? Surely she must be able to trust Tomas her childhood friend! Will any of the four from Five Lakes Colony survive the ordeal?

Read this chilling dystopian thriller to find out.

In the After by Demitria Lunetta

What an intriguing debut novel In the After by Demitria Lunetta is! Set in the future, this dystopian piece is not to be missed. The plot is fast paced. Fans of similar titles such as The Hunger Games, Ship Breaker, and Divergent will surely enjoy this new title.

Amy Harris has survived what she believes is an alien attack. Everything that has taken place before the attack is referred to as Before whereas her existence after the attack is The After. The aliens are extremely gross looking, incredibly fast, and completely unstoppable. The only way to survive is to not draw their attention. If they catch you, their only thought is to consume you. Yes, they survive by eating humans! So how do you avoid being noticed by them? You are completely silent! You never talk! You avoid the daylight when they roam for their human prey.

It helps immensely that Amy’s house has an electrified fence around it. It also helps that Amy is very smart. She observes the behavior of the aliens and learns how to survive. In one of her roaming missions to find canned food, she comes across a baby in what was a supermarket. Amy has no idea how the toddler has been able to survive on her own, but she is more than delighted to have a human with whom to interact and learn to love.

Have others also survived the aliens? If they have, where are they? How can Amy and Baby find them? Is there any hope for existence or is this the end of the world?

Warning: these creatures are merciless! They are described in detail. Some may find this too graphic.

 

Son by Lois Lowry

It's been nearly 20 years since Lois Lowry's The Giver left its mark on a generation of readers. If you have read The Giver, you've been left wondering what became of Jonas. As readers remember, Jonas's assignment was passed over as all the other year twelve children received theirs. It wasn't until later that he was told he would be the society's next receiver of memory. But The Giver leaves the reader hanging. Son reconnects us with Jonas and the child who was left in his care--Gabriel.

Son begins with the story of Claire. At her year twelve celebration, she is given the role of birthmother. Claire knew her poor ability at school had contributed to this less than desirable position in the society. Along with the other newly deemed birthmothers, she will be a vessel for the community. Her product (her son) will be taken from her and raised in the nurturing center until his first year when he will be given to the couple who will raise him.

Claire's body isn't really designed for childbirth so after her son is born and assigned the number 36, she is classified as defective as a birthmother and reassigned to the fish hatchery.

Somehow during this change, Claire was never told to take the pills that all others must take. Since she doesn't take them, she can feel emotions that others can't. Her emotional tie to her son is very strong and she finds ways to watch him in the nurturing center. There she finds he isn't able to sleep well. When he turns one, he isn't assigned parents. Rather, a nurturer takes him home in the evenings to play with his son and daughter. The nurturer's son just happens to be Jonas!

Read this final book in The Giver series to see what happens!

The Roar by Emma Clayton

Science fiction at its most imaginative!  Emma Clayton’s first book, The Roar is set in the far distant future after an animal plague where it was necessary to kill off all animals and vegetation on the poisoned earth and retain the population behind The Wall.  England is vastly different from the England we know today.  There are foul areas which are overpopulated.  Food is being totally engineered and is not anything like we enjoy.

Twelve year old Mika and his mum and dad- -Asha and David-- live in a fold-down cramped apartment.  His twin sister Ellie is presumed dead.  Mika senses she is still alive but being held captive for some evil purpose.  When all twelve-year olds are forced to drink Fit and Mix at school and forced to participate in Fit For Life, Mika knows there is an evil purpose behind this new campaign.  When an arcade tournament is held with fabulous prizes promised to the winners and a chance to escape the deplorable living conditions promised to their families, Mika see his chance at perhaps finding his twin Ellie become a possibility.

All the elements of good science fiction are here.  Animal bots, pod fighters, evil characters such as Mal Gorman, the roar of thousands of repressed peoples rising against their oppressors…..

 

Vera and Will are very close as siblings. Will being the older of the two is protective of his sister. The future world in which they live exists after The Great War. Water has become the most valued possession—even more valuable than gold. Their mother is very ill—the consequence of having drunk the only water made available to them in the country of Illinowa.

Vera befriends a blonde, handsome young boy named Kai. Kai doesn’t attend school; instead, he lives a highly protected, secretive life. When Vera and Will discover the body of Kai’s chauffeur and bodyguard, they know Kai and his father have been kidnapped. Thus begins their quest to find Kai. By remembering conversations she’s had with Kai, Vera believes she knows where he has been taken.

Will the pirate gang led by the pirate king Ulysses help them or imprison them? Will Vera and Will ever see their deathly ill mother or father after everything goes horribly awry? Read The Water Wars by Cameron Stracher to find out!

Starters

Lissa Price has created a unique plot in her new title Starters. Callie is 16 years old and now solely responsible for her younger, very sickly brother. Forced to evacuate their family home by authorities, Callie, her brother and her best friend roam from deserted building to deserted building in the hopes of escaping capture.

Their world has been turned topsy-turvy and upside down. Callie’s parents are both dead—killed as all middle aged people from a spore war. The government wrongly assumed that only the very young and the very old needed to receive inoculations to protect them. Surely the middle aged people would be able to survive! But the government was wrong.

The society now consists of the very old and the very young. When young ones have no surviving family member to care for them, they must find their own way in the world.

Callie becomes desperate for money to purchase medicine for her younger brother. She decides to visit Prime Destinations—a business that pays “Starters”—young people—to allow “Enders”—the very old-- to rent their physical bodies for short periods of time. The Enders want to ski and dance, party and enjoy life that their older bodies no longer give them the pleasure to do.

Is the implanting of the neurochip in the heads of Starters so Enders can use their bodies safe? Will Callie really be paid by Prime Destinations as they promise? Can anything go disastrously wrong when someone else controls your physical body? Could an Ender have you commit a crime? Read Lissa Price’s dystopian title to find out!

Under the Never Sky

Veronica Rossi’s first book in her trilogy is entitled Under the Never Sun. Some type of cataclysmic ecological disaster has occurred which has destroyed what was called the Unity. Groups exist in many different variations and locations. Some groups are highly civilized and technologically advanced whereas others are primitive—trying to eke out an existence from the parched earth.

Aria and her mother live in the Pod called Reverie. Everyone in the Reverie has a Smarteye connected to his/her left eye. The Smarteye functions much as our computers do today. Through the Smarteye Aria enters various virtual environments called Realms. Because the citizens of Reverie are so limited in their activities, they “travel” to these virtual areas and live vicariously through them.

Aria spends her days in this totally enclosed Pod safe from bad air that exists outside the Pod and safe from the savages who roam the wastelands. When her mother is sent to Bliss, another Pod, to help the people there, Aria and a group of her friends venture into a greenhouse area where one of her friends starts a fire. Fire is catastrophic to the Pod. Even though Aria didn’t start the fire, she is banished from the Pod.

How will she survive outside? She has been taught from a very young age that to breathe the air outside the Pod is sure to bring death.

In a culture clash of massive portions, Aria is thrown together with Perry (Peregrine). Perry hails from the Tides, part of the Wasteland. To Aria, Perry is a wild savage. To Perry, Aria is the worst type of Dweller—totally unable to survive on her own.

How will these two survive in each other’s company. How will they get shelter from the Aether storms, the violent electrical storms that burn everything? Read this dystopian title to find out.

Pandemonium

Fans of Delirium, the first book in this dystopian trilogy written by Lauren Oliver, will be easily swept into this sequel entitled Pandemonium.

Lena is alive--but just barely. Alex was the one who knew how to survive in the Wilds, but he didn’t make it into the Wilds with her. They caught him at the fence. Alex is lost to her. Lena is lost to her grief at having lost the love of her life.

Rebirth is how Lena describes how Raven rescues her. The Old Lena is dead. The new Lena is now learning survival from a band of Invalids living in the remains of a bombed out development.

The Homestead is unlike anything Lena has ever seen. Life is so primitive—lived on the edge. Nothing is wasted. Food is scarce. The snaring of a rabbit is the most welcome food Lena has had in days. Being free from the repressive society from which she has run isn’t exactly how she imagined it would be.

Life lived in the Wilds is a very hard life--a life without the luxuries of running water, clean clothing, or electricity. With winter setting in, the settlement will need to travel south to warmer quarters. Raven hopes they will all survive the journey. Without proper shelter along the way, without medicine and food supplies, the going will be very tough.

There is no going back for Lena. She is part of the resistance. She is an Invalid.

This story is told in alternating chapters--Lena's adjustment to the Wilds, Lena's life in Manhattan as part of the resistance trying desperately to stop the lowering of the age at which the cure for deliria is administered.

There is a lot of action in this book compared to Delirium. There are many twists and turns to the plot. Fans will be anxiously awaiting the third book in the trilogy!

Variant

Benson Fisher has lived in too many foster homes and placements to keep track any more. In his last foster placement his foster father had him working so many hours for the family that he couldn’t do any activities at school. He is sick and tired of this kind of life where no one really wants him. When an opportunity occurs for him to apply for a scholarship at Maxfield Academy, Benson readily seizes it. This could be the ticket out of the foster system he so detests.

Amazingly he is granted the scholarship. Things aren’t always what they seem, however.  Maxfield Academy is surrounded by razor-wire fence and is more like a prison than any school Benson has ever attended. When he realizes that there are no adults at the school, that all his actions are watched by video cameras, and gangs of students rule the school, his only thought is to escape. However, there appears to be no way to successfully runaway.

The school is ruled by three gangs of students. The “society” gang doesn’t appeal to Benson; he is convinced the “variants” would be the best group to join.

Why don’t any of the students currently at Maxfield know any of the movie titles that Benson talks about? Why is everyone recruited to the school in the same predicament that Benson is—without any family that will miss them if they never return? Can he trust anyone at Maxfield? Is it true that anyone caught trying to escape receives the punishment of death? Is it possible that Maxfield is an experiment?

Fans of dystopian fiction will love this fast paced novel written by Robison Wells.



Crossed

This sequel to Matched by Ally Condie is sure to please fans of Cassia--the main character from the first book. Originally matched to spend the rest of her life with her long time friend Ky, Cassia's match is suddenly switched to be with Xander.

This sequel takes place after Ky has been sent by the Society to the Outer Provinces where the Society will work him to death.

Cassia follows a trail left by Ky after he and another boy escape. The trail leads them through the Carvings where Cassia learns of the Uprising. She has been given red pills. Should she trust using them or are they given by the Society for evil purposes.

Read this sequel toMatched to find out if Cassia will join the Uprising, be reunited with Ky or will Xander reappear in search of Cassia?

Blood Red Road

Moira Young's first novel entitled Blood Red Road is a stark novel. Set in the distant future, lawlessness rules the land.

Saba and her twin brother Lugh were born 18 years ago on the longest day of the year--midsummer. When four men wearing long black cloaks appear in SilverLake where she and Lugh, their Pa, and their much younger sister Emmi live, the men on horseback bring a cloud of thick red dust with them. When they leave, Pa is dead, the neighbor Proctor John is killed and Lugh has been kidnapped by the men.

Saba vows to find Lugh and save him. Because they have only lived with their Pa and their Ma until she died giving birth to Emmi, Saba is uneducated and very socially unaware. In order to find Lugh, Saba must learn to trust others. With her very smart pet crow Nero as a guide, she and Emmi set out on the adventure of their lives.

Filled with action and great characters, this title is sure to thrill fans of The Hunger Games.

Divergent

Fans of dystopian fiction will certainly want to read this title by Veronica Roth! In this futuristic society when Beatrice turns sixteen, she has to undergo an evaluation which will determine which faction of society she is best suited to become a part of. Being raised in Abnegation (selfless) faction has been the only life she has ever known.

When her results are not conclusive, she is told to never reveal them to anyone. The word divergent is used to describe what Beatrice is. Not understanding what this means and the severe danger she would be in if she were to reveal her true appraisal, Beatrice keeps the information even from her beloved parents.

Dauntless (the brave) faction is what Beatrice chooses. Her initiation into Dauntless is grueling—filled with life threatening experiences. Did she make the right choice by leaving Abnegation? Did her brother Caleb choose well in his choice of Erudite (the intelligent) faction? Can either Beatrice or Caleb trust the changes that they are being forced to endure?

Read this thrilling, yet chilling novel to find out!

Ship Breaker

Hulks of freighters, cargo ships, and tankers from our present day line the Gulf Coast near New Orleans in this futuristic adventure story. Nailer Lopez is fifteen and due to his small size, he is working "light crew". His job is to crawl through these rusted hulks to find valuable copper wiring and other metals which can be scavenged. It is a very rough and tumble life the scavenge crews live--always in danger from leaking chemicals, oil, and other treacherous things which could happen while they are trying desperately to meet their daily quotas for their crew bosses.

Nailer's father, Richard Lopez, is the devil we all love to hate. Drug addicted, he beats Nailer with little or no provocation.

When a "city killer" (hurricane) threatens the coastal area where Nailer and the other crews live, a luxurious clipper ship wrecks(think of our most modern yachts with sleek design features which make them ultra fast), Nailer and Prima decide to scavenge it with the hopes of making enough money to escape their brutal lives. Can they keep their find of fancy silver plates and some gold from the other crew members? Can they keep their secret from Nailer's father? What do they decide to do with the "swank" (wealthy) girl who has survived the wreck of the clipper ship? Can they trust what the "swank" named Nita tells them regarding a reward from her wealthy father?

I thoroughly was involved in this book! I can see why it won the Prinz award and was a National Book Finalist. I am amazed that this is Paolo Bacigalupi's first novel! It is very well written. There are violent parts (no more brutal or violent than The Hunger Games). Fans of dystopian fiction will love this title!