The Runaway King

The Runaway King

by Jennifer Nielsen

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Juvenile Fiction, Adventure

Synopsis:  A kingdom teetering on the brink of destruction.  A king gone missing.  Who will survive?

Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation.  Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls, and Jaron feels the pressure quietly mounting within Carthya.  Soon, it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it.

As his adventures lead him into dangerous new territory, Jaron must learn to tell his friends from his enemies and decide who he can trust-if he can trust anyone at all.  But the further Jaron is forced to run from his identity, the more he wonders if it is possible to go too far.  Will he ever be able to return home again?  Or will he have to sacrifice his own life in order to save his kingdom.

From the book jacket

Review:  The second book of this trilogy was certainly full of adventure!  This book was less about the development of characters and more about what Jaron could do to save his kingdom.  Jaron certainly was a brave king and a quick thinker.  At times his way of getting out of sticky situations seemed implausible.  I think the book was well written and it kept my attention but it became more adventure-y than I normally read.  But I think this would be a great read for younger readers just like the first book.  I will read the third book as the author ended this book with a set up for the third book.

Rating:  3 1/2 stars

To see my review of The False Prince, click here.

The Martian

The Martian

Andy Weir

Genre: Science Fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):  Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, brilliantly ingenious man-vs-nature survival thriller, set on the surface of Mars.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first man to die there.

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he's stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive--and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to get him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills--and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit--he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

Review:  As I was reading this book, I forgot that it was fictional!  It seemed like an accounting of an event that actually happened, which appealed to me much more than science fiction that's too out there. Mark Watney is a resourceful engineer who gets stranded on Mars and has to figure out how to survive until a rescue mission can be launched.  He's obviously a clever guy, but it's his slightly snarky attitude towards the whole adventure that really made me love him.  The scientific details around space, engineering and chemistry were way over my head, but they seemed like they could be realistic.  The book is fast-paced, dramatic and completely believable; all-in-all, a really fun read. 

This is the first book I've reviewed that Ben has read, and he enjoyed it, too.  Becky, I was going to tell you to recommend this book to Brian, but I see from Goodreads that he's already read it.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Cinnamon and Gunpowder

Cinnamon and Gunpowder

Eli Brown

Genre: Adventure

Summary (from Goodreads):  A gripping adventure, a seaborne romance, and a twist on the tale of Scheherazade—with the best food ever served aboard a pirate’s ship

The year is 1819, and the renowned chef Owen Wedgwood has been kidnapped by the ruthless pirate Mad Hannah Mabbot. He will be spared, she tells him, as long as he puts exquisite food in front of her every Sunday without fail.

To appease the red-haired captain, Wedgwood gets cracking with the meager supplies on board. His first triumph at sea is actual bread, made from a sourdough starter that he leavens in a tin under his shirt throughout a roaring battle, as men are cutlassed all around him. Soon he’s making tea-smoked eel and brewing pineapple-banana cider.

But Mabbot—who exerts a curious draw on the chef—is under siege. Hunted by a deadly privateer and plagued by a saboteur hidden on her ship, she pushes her crew past exhaustion in her search for the notorious Brass Fox. As Wedgwood begins to sense a method to Mabbot’s madness, he must rely on the bizarre crewmembers he once feared: Mr. Apples, the fearsome giant who loves to knit; Feng and Bai, martial arts masters sworn to defend their captain; and Joshua, the deaf cabin boy who becomes the son Wedgwood never had.
 
Cinnamon and Gunpowder is a swashbuckling epicure’s adventure simmered over a surprisingly touching love story—with a dash of the strangest, most delightful cookbook never written. Eli Brown has crafted a uniquely entertaining novel full of adventure: the Scheherazade story turned on its head, at sea, with food.

Review:  This was a really quirky book that can best be described as Pirates of the Caribbean  meets the Food Network show Chopped.  Which sounds bizarre, doesn't it?  The story got bogged down a little with the opium/tea trade situation between England and China, and the battle scenes tended to be a little gory for my liking.  But overall, I was intrigued to learn a little about the life of a pirate at that time in history, and profoundly grateful not to have been one!  The characters were certainly picturesque, but my main complaint is that Wedgwood was pretty whiny, and stood by his old employer for far longer than he should.  This is not a book I would recommend to everyone, but I think those who like bizarre stories will find this entertaining.

Rating: 4 stars