Extracurricular Review: Alpha & Omega Series by Patricia Briggs

  

Cry Wolf • Published July 29, 2008 by Ace • Buy at Amazon • Kindle

Hunting Ground • Published Aug 25, 2009 by Ace • Buy at Amazon • Kindle

Fair Game • Published March 6, 2012 by Ace • Buy at Amazon • Kindle

Reviewed by Maggie: March 4, 2013, ie one day before the release of FROST BURNED

• • •

Do you have a younger sibling? If so, you know the feeling of euphoria that comes from hearing, "Of course you can go," followed by the deflation from, "...as long as you take your brother with you." Why, parents, why? I resented my brother so much for being my skinny, little ball and chain. I hated feeling handcuffed to him and having to be a package deal if my friends invited me over. Likewise, I typically loathe spinoff series, especially if they poach a favorite character or involve a storyline that affects the original series. I hate feeling like I HAVE to read/watch this other series for the sake of the original. When Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice did their crossover episodes, I had a flashback to as long as you take your brother with you and post-traumatically deleted Grey's from my DVR. Even in the recent Lizzie Bennet Diaries when Lizzie talks about going back and watching all of Lydia's videos, I was like, "I know what you're doing. YOU CAN'T TRICK ME."

So it's with this pleasant mindset that I went into the Alpha & Omega series, Patricia Briggs' spinoff of the Mercy Thompson series, my one urban fantasy love.

Surprisingly, I liked it. Unsurprisingly, not nearly as much as Mercy. Still, I marathoned these books over four days, much like I did with the Mercy books.

Cry Wolf is the first in the series and the weakest. It felt like one sidelong glance after another. Does he like me? Does she like me? Mind you, this is after Charles Cornick and Anna Latham are the werewolf equivalent of engaged so yes, you do like each other. Get over it. There wasn't a love triangle, but a lot of the book felt like two people going around in circles when an honest conversation would've cleared the air. If it hadn't been for Noelle's hints of BIG THINGS TO COME, I probably would've dropped the series and waited impatiently for the next Mercy.

Hunting Ground reminded me of the birds in Finding Nemo.

Charles to Anna: Mine! Anna to Charles: Mine! Bran to wolves: Mine! Also, werewolves and vampires loose in Seattle? We've been there, done that.

Fair Game, aka Criminal Fae Minds! Charles and Anna are their own were-BAU. And yes, it's as awesome as it sounds. A serial killer targeting supernatural victims is loose in Boston. Bran sends Charles and Anna to assist in the investigation. This is a nice change for both because Charles the emo wolf has been super emo lately. Due to his role as Bran's enforcer, he's had to carry out harsh punishments that he doesn't agree with. (He's kind of like Katsa in Graceling actually.) Boston is the territory of local alpha, Isaac. What I liked about this book that wasn't in the previous two books is how established the world is. In Cry Wolf, Anna is new to town and she and Charles spend most of their time in Charles's house and then the mountains. In Hunting Ground, they end up traveling to Seattle to oversee a werewolf summit with wolves from all over the world. Aside from a few local wolves, everyone is an out of town guest and it feels like that in the book setting as well. In Fair Game, the characters from Isaac to FBI Special Agent Leslie Fisher are fully drawn supporting characters. I actually wouldn't mind if Charles and Anna stayed in Boston and Isaac and Leslie became regular cast members instead of guest stars. Aside from Bran and Asil, there haven't been many consistent characters throughout the series. One of my favorite aspects of the Mercy books are the wonderful supporting characters like Warren, Kyle, Stefan, etc.

There are BIG THINGS in Fair Game, but after reading the chapter sampler for Frost Burned on Patricia Briggs' website, it seems like you can get away with not reading the Alpha & Omega series. However, after a shaky start, I think I'm going to stick with the series. I really liked the direction of Fair Game and Patricia Briggs' writing is so addicting. I want to see what new reason Charles will have for being morose.

If you haven't read either series, I'd definitely recommend starting with Moon Called. If you are a Mercy fan already, Alpha & Omega will help you pass the time til the next Mercy book (2 more hours!!) but thankfully, it's not a forced package deal.

Rating:
Cry Wolf: 3/5 stars
Hunting Ground: 3/5 stars
Fair Game: 4/5 stars

Lunch Table Rankings

Everyone knows the biggest honor you can bestow on someone is an invite to your lunch table, but an invite doesn't get passed around to just ANYONE....

Bookmark Binge: February 24, 2013

In case you haven't gotten enough of...

The Reece Malcolm List?.
Amy Spalding has a bunch of bonus features on her site including an official playlist, a location/scene map and spoilery FAQ.
Read Amy's interview with Nova Ren Suma and Amy's interview with her agent at kt literary.
And of course you can go down YAA memory lane by checking out the cover reveal and Maggie's recap of the launch party.

Life in Outer Space?
Read interviews with Melissa Keil over at My Best Friends Are Books and YAtopia and Book Probe Reviews.
Melissa Keil is the first author signed by The Ampersand Project.  Read more at their site.

Leviathan?
Leviathan has one of the most awesome book trailers I've ever seen. And what about all those wonderful illustrations in the trailer (and book)? Scott Westerfeld discusses working with an illustrator in this video.
You can also actually buy prints of some of the illustrations in the book too!
If you are into audiobooks, Alan freaking Cumming does the narration for this series! Just listen to the sample first chapter.  Love him.
And Scott Westerfeld's blog is a treasure trove of fun Leviathan things in general, including different countries' cover art for Leviathan (China is a fave), fan art, cosplays and more.

(Hypothetically) Upcoming Reviews:
Noelle:
 

Maggie:
 

Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Leviathan #1
Reviewed by Noelle: February 20, 2013
Published by Simon & Schuster on October 1, 2009
Goodreads • Buy at Amazon • Kindle • Book Depository


Blisters, I'm rusty at reviewing! Good thing Leviathan is going to make it pretty easy for me:  I mean, any time you can give me action and adventure--most of which takes place in the belly of an airborne whale? Just show me where to sign at the dotted line.

Leviathan has one of the more interesting steampunk set ups I've encountered in my forays into the genre.  Usually I've found that Steampunk worlds are split up into us and them--the people gung-ho about the new steam-related technological advances and the people who want nothing to do with the new-fangled inventions (which I understand fear of the unknown but as someone who is still waiting for a robot to do my laundry, I don't have much patience for.)  In Leviathan's world basically everyone is on board with the technological advances, they just can't agree on the best way to go about it.

In one corner you have the Clankers, which are the more traditional steampunk pioneers who focus their advances on mechanical based innovation such as machines, walkers, weapons etc. In the other corner you have the Darwinists who use genetically modified hybrid animals--hydrogen whale airships, messenger lizards and other beasties--for their advancements.  Leviathan starts with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and veers into it's alternate steampunky history from there.  The Clankers and Darwinists find themselves on opposite sides of the impending World War.

That brings me to another thing that made Leviathan so easy for me to love: it has three of my favorite tropes.  Now, tropes can get a bad rap but they are tropes for a reason--they are classics! And when used correctly (which Westerfeld does) result in a reading experience enjoyment that clicks into place like clockwork (steampunk pun!)

Trope Fave #1: Uptight sheltered prince who gets dumped into the real world and has to survive by his previously unused bootstraps.

Trope Fave #2: That plucky middle class rough around the edges steamship crew member is actually a girl!  (The girl disguised as boy thing not as much as the girl who's crew member of a steamship and could mop the floor with your Clanker boots thing.)

Throw them together and you get one of my fave tropes of all time (I may have mentioned it once or twice): Buddy Cops of Convenience.  Two wildly different personalities/upbringings/cultures who would NEVER work together usually but get stuck together in order to complete a common goal.  Banter, reluctant teamwork and mutual respect ensue and I am pretty much guaranteed to love every moment of it.

Add in adventure, intrigue and expertly written action scenes and you get a book that is practically tailor-made for me to love.  I can't wait to see where the series takes me next.  Rating: 4/5 stars.

This book was chosen by me by Heidi for my 13 in 2013 Book Resolution so thanks for Heidi for such a fun choice!  Only 12 more to go.

ALSO why don't more books have illustrations?  It was wonderful flipping the pages to see an illustrated scene.  Then again I'd make every novel have them if it were my choice.

Podcast: Our YAA Monthly Meeting

Welcome to our Monthly Meeting for fellow YA addicts, now in podcast form!  Take a listen below and let us know in the comments what you did to indulge your YA habit this week.

You can also download it here: Mediafire

Visual aids for this podcast:

Thanks for listening! How about you? Any hypothetical literary tattoos you'd like to share with the class?

Our Bookstagram Life: February 15th, 2013

Follow us on instagram: ya_anonymous

Now online: http://instagram.com/ya_anonymous

Launch Party: The Reece Malcolm List

We have three words for you, Amy Spalding: Launch. Yo. Self.

I usually find out about book events in LA after I read about them in Rachel's recaps on The Reader's Den, but I had the book launch of The Reece Malcolm List circled on my calendar ever since we took part in the cover reveal.

Date: Saturday, February 9, 2013
Time: 5pm
Place: Skylight Books

Book Mani (optional): Zoya Mitzi matte nail polish with Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Recap: I love Skylight Books but parking is a nightmare. I once circled for 45 minutes and still couldn't find parking, so my friend and I made sure to leave early on Saturday. We ended up an hour early for the event, which if you know me, NEVER happens. I was late to see MELINA MARCHETTA for crying out loud. Anyway, we scoped out the place and made sure to get seats in the middle/back. Because apparently we're still in high school. 

By the time Amy descended the stairs -- without any intro music unfortunately -- the place was packed and all the seats taken. She read three passages from the book while we munched on amazing espresso bourbon cupcakes.

After the reading, she opened it up for a Q&A. Some of the people asking questions also have books coming out this year, like Robin Benway (Also Known As, February 26), Sarah Skilton (Bruised, March 5), and Brandy Colbert (A Point So Delicate). I always forget that not all YA authors hail from Australia and some even live in LA. One of Amy's friends j'accused her of stealing Sai's ethnicity from her own Indian-Chinese-white makeup, and we all laughed and stoned her.* There was a ton of great Q&A that I didn't write down because of cupcake hands. 

I ended up buying 3 extra copies to send to Estelle from Rather Be Reading, Chachic from Chachic's Book Nook, and Mandee from Vegan YA Nerds. Estelle was reading Reece that morning and ended up loving it (her review). Chachic is coming to LA in a few weeks and I thought the LA setting of this book would be the perfect accompaniment. Mandee and I do regular swaps of all that is YA, and after all the great books set in Australia she's sent me, I'm glad I could finally send her something set in LA.

This was a great event by Amy Spalding and Skylight Books. Tom Haverford and Jean Ralphio would be jealous proud.

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*No one was harmed during the launch of The Reece Malcolm List.