Walking Through a Literal Valley with Death Himself

~The Company of Death~
The Immortal Journey
Book 1
By Elisa Hansen
Amazon ~ Powell's

The zombie apocalypse was just the beginning of vampire hunter Emily’s problems. Now she must team up with Death himself in this thrilling apocalyptic adventure series!

It’s been two years since the zombie uprising devoured 99% of the world’s population—and the vampires have come out of the shadows to claim the spoils. It’s Emily Campbell’s job to destroy vampire communes and rescue their human herds, but when a mission goes wrong, and she faces certain undeath, she would rather die than ever let them transform her. The problem is that when she makes a desperate suicide attempt, not only does the Grim Reaper fail to take her life—he also somehow loses all his powers in the process.

Now neither alive nor dead, Emily is stranded in the California desert with Death himself. She has heard the remnants of human civilization are developing a cure that could make her alive again in New York—all the way on the other side of the vampire- and zombie-swarmed continent. Only with Death’s help does she have a chance to complete the journey.

But without his powers, Death is mired in a crisis of his own. And he is not used to having company.


Having been a member of her Vampire Book Club for most of the year, you'd think I'd have already read her book, right? Well, now that I have a Kindle Unlimited trial, I'm jumping on one of the (many) books I've been meaning to read. Besides, I've already covered the other big Halloween themes this month: Demons, Superheroes, Vampires, and Werewolves. So a book about zombies (and more vampires) and Death incarnate sounded like a great way to finish off my month's proverbial bingo card.

The Fowl Family Deny All Charges

SPOILER ALERT
This review is for those who have read or are familiar with the previous books in the Artemis Fowl series, specifically The Fowl Twins, or don't mind knowing spoilers for them.
SPOILER ALERT

The Fowl Twins
~Deny All Charges~
Book 2
By Eoin Colfer
Amazon ~ Powell's

The second Fowl Twins adventure starts with a bang – literally.

Artemis's little brothers Myles and Beckett borrow the Fowl jet without permission, and it ends up as a fireball over Florida. The twins plus their fairy minder, the pixie-elf hybrid Lazuli Heitz, are lucky to escape with their lives.

The Fowl parents and fairy police force decide that enough is enough and the twins are placed under house arrest. But Myles has questions, like: who was tracking the Fowl jet? Why would someone want to blow them out of the sky? These questions must infuriate someone, because Myles is abducted and spirited away from his twin.

Now Beckett and Lazuli must collaborate to find Myles and rescue him – not easy when it was Myles who was the brains of the operation. Their chase will take them across continents, deep underground, and into subaquatic super villain lairs. They will be shot at, covered in spit, and at the receiving end of some quite nasty dwarf sarcasm. But will Beckett be able to come up with a genius plan without a genius on hand…?


Since Eoin Colfer remains to be one of my favorite authors (possibly my favorite male author, period), I will continue to seek out each and every one of his books. And since this is the latest entry in one of my favorite series, I had no choice but to grab it as soon as was feasible and hope it would be every bit as enjoyable as previous entries. But really, was there ever any doubt?

The Case of the Fowl Twins’ First Magical Adventure

~The Fowl Twins~
Book 1
By Eoin Colfer
Amazon ~ Powell's

One week after their eleventh birthday, the Fowl twins--scientist Myles, and Beckett, the force of nature--are left in the care of house security (NANNI) for a single night. In that time they befriend a troll who has clawed his way through the earth's crust to the surface. Unfortunately for the troll, he is being chased by a nefarious nobleman and an interrogating nun, who both need the magical creature for their own gain, as well as a fairy-in-training who has been assigned to protect him. The boys and their new troll best friend escape and go on the run. Along the way they get shot at, kidnapped, buried, arrested, threatened, killed (temporarily), and discover that the strongest bond in the world is not the one forged by covalent electrons in adjacent atoms, but the one that exists between a pair of twins.

It seems I haven't yet reviewed most of Colfer's books on here yet, despite having read (nearly all of) and loved (most of) them. Seems I'll need to rectify that someday...

Picking up a few years after our last foray with the Fowl family, the more things change the more they stay the same. The Fowls are still involved with their own hobbies, operating mostly within the law but finding it best to ask forgiveness than permission. Artemis has turned his attention to space, and is actually on his way to Mars at the moment. But Myles and Beckett are about to discover that the bedtime stories he told them weren't as fictional as they assumed.

All Roads Lead to Chrysalis

~Chrysaliss~
Project Nemesis
Book 3
By Brendan Reichs
Amazon ~ Powell's

The 64 members of Fire Lake's sophomore class have managed to survive the first two phases of the Program--and each other. Now, they alone have emerged into the dawn of a new era on Earth, into a Fire Lake valley that's full of otherworldly dangers and challenges.

Although staying alive in this broken world should force Min, Noah, Tack, and the others to form new alliances, old feuds die hard, and the brutality of the earlier Program phases cannot be forgotten. But being a team isn't easy for the sophomores, and when they discover that they may not be alone on the planet after all, they'll have to decide if they're going to work together . . . or die together.


This book has so many twists and turns that it's very, VERY hard not to spoil anything. But I'll do my best...

Continue Not To Panic!

Phew, there's one more series down the hatch. Took me a little longer than I had originally expected, but here it is.

~And Another Thing...~
Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy
Part Six of Three
By Eoin Colfer
Amazon ~ Powell's

As you may remember in my review of the whole series written by Douglas Adams, don't ask me to explain how there are now six parts in a trilogy. Inquiries on that matter should be addressed to Adams himself, though you shouldn't expect a reply any time soon. Baring, of course, the approaching Zombie Apocalypse (Do YOU have your Zombie Plan?).

But back to business.

A New Book By A New Author

Before I really dig in to the nitty-gritty, I want to take a moment or two to remind/inform people exactly why Eoin Colfer wrote this book.

At the end of Mostly Harmless, you have what is undeniably the worst ending that could ever happen. You've spent time with these characters, laughed with them, cried with them, invested a good portion of your day/week with them, and what do you get?

Don't Panic!

Well, I've gone and done it. I've finished all five books of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Yes, 5 books in a 3-part series. I didn't design it, I just read it.

I'd been meaning to read this series for some time now. I inherited the first two books from my father (well, glommed onto them after discovering them in a box or something) and have had them sitting on my bookshelves for around 5 years.

It wasn't until Eoin Colfer gave a speech at our local bookstore about the Hitchhiker books (leading into the fact that he'd just finished a 6th one, and oh, would you like your copy signed?) that I decided I had waited long enough. Surely, I had waited long enough to fully realize the significance of 42, and I shouldn't wait another minute!

I ordered the remaining 3 paperbacks (since I am a paperback snob, I declined from purchasing Colfer's hardbound publication and am awaiting its proper format to be released) and got the audiobook for Hitchhiker from the library.

The books all sat on my shelf for another few months.

When Hitchhiker was nominated for our book club in...March, I decided the time had finally come. I dusted it off, pulled up the audiobook on my laptop, and started in...and got as far as the first 3 chapters.

Some of you may remember my posting a couple weeks ago about trying to figure out which book(s) to read next. I posted a poll here, and to my Facebook friends, and also my DeviantArt buddies, all asking for advice. I even got a reply from Diane Duane, author of one of the choices I had to choose from. Though I decided against her advice (she sided with her own books, and was outvoted), I was still thrilled at the post.

The Hitchhiker's series won the most votes, so I plugged in my headphones, cleared my nightly schedule, and was whisked across the galaxy.

~The Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy~
Book 1
By Douglas Adams
Amazon ~ Powell's

This book is possibly the most random, hilarious, and delightful book I've ever read. If you're looking for something chronological, that follows a straight and completely unwavering line, you should drop this book immediately. If you completely dislike humor or wit of any kind, you should try Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. And, lastly, if you are a Vogon, I'd like to know why you seem to be showing any interest in what my opinion is.