Weekly Gossip

Here's your news from the past week.

First up, Walker have revealed the cover for Wild Boy by Rob Lloyd Jones.

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Review: Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead, Adapted by Leigh Dragoon, Illustrated by Emma Vieceli (review copy) - This wonderfully tempting graphic novel perfectly brings to life all of the forbidden pleasures of Richelle Mead's phenomenal Vampire Academy series. Overseen by Richelle Mead, adapted by Leigh Dragoon and illustrated by acclaimed British illustrator Emma Vieceli, this beautiful new format will be loved by fans old and new.

St Vladimir's Academy isn't just any boarding school - hidden away, it's a place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them.

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They've been on the run, but now they're being dragged back to St Vladimir's where the girls must survive a world of forbidden romances, a ruthless social scene and terrifying night time rituals. But most of all, they must stay alive. From Amazon UK

I aboslutely love the Vampire Academy series, and found the Vampire Academy, the first book in the series so engrossing! So when I heard it was going to be made into a graphic novel, I was intrigued. I've never read a graphic novel before, I've always thought I'd prefer the images in my head, but as it's one of my favourite books, I thought I would give it a go.

I have to say I was quite impressed at how well the novel was adapted for the graphic novel. I'm not the fastest reader, so the novel would take me about two to three days to read. The graphic novel took me an hour to read, if that, yet still has the whole story. All the major events of the story are there, but I did miss the detail that comes with the novel - what Rose is thinking in depth, the emotion, the explainations that come with the magic. I wasn't as emotionally involved in the graphic novel as I was in the full length novel.

Although the illustrations are fantastic, I'm not the biggest fan of the manga style. And I found the facial expressions of the characters a little difficult to read, especially for those where there was no text or speech, when there was supposed to be a tense silence. I had to try and remember that part of the novel to remember what's gong on. This might just be because I'm not used to graphic novels, and something I would learn to pick up more on as I read more.

There was a certain scene in this book I was a little worried about. I'm not going to spoil it, in case there are those who have yet to read the novel, but I'm sure those who've read the book will know which I'm on about. I was intrigued but also worried about how a certain scene would be handled with illustartions - Vampire Academy is a young adult story, after all. I was actually quite impressed, yet again. It wasn't dragged out, it wasn't over the top, but it didn't hide away the fact that that scene happens. It was really good.

I don't think the graphic novel would have done it for me if I hadn't previously read the novel, I just don't think there was enough for me, but as a different way of experiencing the story, I think it worked really well. I would say I'd recommend it only if you've read the book, but I know there are those who only read graphic novels, in which case I think it's perfect for those readers. Hopefully they will enjoy it enough to pick up the full length novel.

Read my review of the full length novel of Vampire Academy.


Published: 23rd August 2011
Publisher: Razorbill UK
Buy on Amazon US
Richelle Mead's Website

Continue reading Review: Vampire Academy: A Graphic Novel by Richelle Mead

Bookish News!

Here's the news from over the past week.

Firstly some great news regarding the Vampire Academy spin off series by Richelle Mead. You may have heard about this already, but I hadn't, so here's the news! As Richelle says on her blog:

"Bloodlines is the spin-off series to Vampire Academy (it's the name of the first book and of the series). It's set in the VA world but will be about different characters: Sydney (our narrator), Jill, Eddie, and one of the love interests from VA. I'm not saying who that last guy is, but it's mostly to protect those who haven't read Last Sacrifice. If you have read it, then it should be pretty obvious who the other character is."

I am pretty happy with this! I liked Jill and Eddie, and the love interest that's in it... LOVE! And Sydney was pretty great too! I really can't wait until it's released, on 23rd August! And there's a countdown website for it, too!

ETA: I have just found the US cover for Bloodlines, too! Here it is:



Gorgeous, huh? Also on 23rd August, Vampire Academy will be available as a graphic novel! Have a lookie at this:



Awesome, huh?

And I have a final bit of news about this favourite author of mine, that's more personal to her. Also in August, Richelle Mead will become a mother. Yes, she's pregnant! How amazing is that? Congrats to her and her husband!


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Book club announcement from Orion:

Fierce Fiction is proud to announce our new online book club and review programme!

Once a month we will host one of our titles – new, old but always fierce and offer a dedicated comment space for you all to discuss your thoughts with the rest of the FF family! We will also be planning to offer exclusive content, swag and even the odd author involvement throughout the year.

But that’s not all! As a special opt in you can also send us your reviews, which can be as short or long as you like, of the chosen book within one month to be automatically entered into a prize draw to win the following book club choice! Cool huh?

If you are 14 years or older then get ready to join the revolution. After all Fierce Fiction would be nothing without its Fierce Fiction fans!

Our Featured Title this Month is Mia James’ By Midnight

Forget everything you thought you knew about vampire lore and delve into the sinister world of Ravenwood.

A prestigious academy for gifted students - the school April Dunne’s whole life has been uprooted for – and frankly, she is not impressed. For most it couldn’t get any worse – but for April it’s about to – because there’s more going on at Ravenwood than meets the eye...

Look out for a special giveaway to celebrate the Fierce Fiction Book Club, exclusive teasers from the book (and the upcoming sequel Darkness Falls), a Q&A with the author, and much more!

And if you have already read the book what are you waiting for? Head over to our dedicated tab and get chatting – all bookish topics are welcome!


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Trailers:


The trailer for 0.4 by Mike Lancaster:



The trailer for Lily Alone by Jacqueline Wilson:




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Publisher Aquisitions:

Egmont Press is delighted to announce las week the acquisition of two books by Siobhan Curham: Dear Dylan and Finding Cherokee Brown, both aimed at girls aged 10 – 15 years old.

Curham self-published Dear Dylan in March 2010 with a print run of just five hundred copies, and immediately won the prestigious Young Minds Award. The book is already receiving rave reviews on Amazon.

Egmont snapped up the books in an intense auction and plans to publish Dear Dylan in July 2011 and Finding Cherokee Brown the year after.

Dear Dylan tells the story of fourteen-year old Georgie Harris who is struggling to cope with her bully of a step-dad and her increasingly fragile mum. Sick of feeling like the outsider at home and at school, she starts emailing the one person she thinks might understand: Dylan Curtland, soap star and teen heart-throb. When Dylan starts emailing back, Georgie feels a tiny spark of hope. But in the faceless world of email all is not as it seems...


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Books to check out:

In the Sea there are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda - released 7th July 2011 - One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah’s mother tells him three things: don’t use drugs, don’t use weapons, don’t steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn’t there. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself.

In a book that takes a true story and shapes it into a beautiful piece of fiction, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah’s remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum aged fifteen. His ordeal took him through Iran, Turkey and Greece, working on building sites in order to pay people-traffickers, and enduring the physical misery of dangerous border crossings squeezed into the false bottoms of lorries or trekking across inhospitable mountains. A series of almost implausible strokes of fortune enabled him to get to Turin, find help from an Italian family and meet Fabio Geda, with whom he became friends.

The result of their friendship is this unique book in which Enaiatollah’s engaging, moving voice is brilliantly captured by Geda’s subtly simple storytelling. In Geda’s hands, Enaiatollah’s journey becomes a universal story of stoicism in the face of fear, and the search for a place where life is liveable. From Amazon UK

You can check out an extract from the book here.


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From a press release about the Scottish protest against cuts to libraries:

Authors and illustrators from Scotland gathered at The Scottish Parliament on 5th Feb 2011 to protest against proposed cuts to the library service. Led by award-winning author, Theresa Breslin, the protest saw around 200 people gather including Gruffalo author, Julia Donaldson, on the day proclaimed National Save our Libraries Day.

Theresa Breslin, a former librarian, launched the campaign through a protest statement which, in the space of three days, gathered over 700 supporters including some of the most influential authors and illustrators living in Scotland.

Julia Donaldson, multi-award-winning author of The Gruffalo, attended the day and read out the protest statement and then delivered it to the Scottish Parliament. Theresa Breslin spoke about the importance of libraries for young people and families everywhere.

To find out more, and to add your name to the list of protesters, please visit Therea Breslin's website.

Continue reading Bookish News!

News: Regarding Buying Vampire Academy Series with Red Covers

Since I posted a few weeks back about all the new red UK covers for the whole Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead, I have had a few people come to me asking where they can get them. Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing; either online or in actual shops, they could only find either Frostbite or Last Sacrifice with the new covers.

I emailed my contact at Puffin about this and found out some information. It turns out that the novels with the new covers will become available once the novels with the old covers sell out, and a reprint is needed. Then the new covers will be available to buy. Last Sacrifice has only been released with this one cover, and Frostbite has been reprinted, hence the red cover. The other novels in the series are yet to need reprinting, which is why we can't find them anywhere. Apparently, it could take a couple of months before we see the new red covers on our bookshops' shelves or on online stores. It's just a case of waiting, I'm afraid. Hope this helps some of you!

Continue reading News: Regarding Buying Vampire Academy Series with Red Covers

News: The New UK Covers for the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

Here are the full set of new UK covers for the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I think they're pretty cool mysel! What do you think?





EDIT: If you can't see the above images, try looking at this post in Firefox. For some reason, I can't see them in IE, but I can in Firefox.

And in comparison to the last lot...





Are they better? Worse? Are you indifferent?

Continue reading News: The New UK Covers for the Vampire Academy Series by Richelle Mead

News: Penguin Australia Launches Spirit Bound Teaser Campaign & More

I received a great email from Penguin Australia today about their Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead teaser campaign!

This campaign will preview seven important quotes that feature in Spirit Bound, and a new video clip with another quote will be released every three days! How awesome, huh? Here is the first clip:



Anyone have an inkling as to what it might mean? (If some of you haven't read the whole series so far, don't read the comments! You might get spoiled by people's guesses!) Check back on the youtube channel for Penguin Australia in three days time for the next quote!

Penguin Australia now has a Facebook group, Penguin Paranormal, of which the Vampire Academy series will be a big feature. It looks pretty damn nifty to me, check it out!

Continue reading News: Penguin Australia Launches Spirit Bound Teaser Campaign & More

Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - This book is so complicated, I'm not sure I could give a summary without spoiling it, so the following is the book's blurb.

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with an unbreakable bond to the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest and most dangrous vampires - the ones who never die.

The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir; she is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making her one of them.

After two years of illicit freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vlandimir's Academy, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. Rose will continue her Dhampir education. Lissa will go back to being Queen of the elite Moroi social scene. And both girls will resume breaking hearts.

Fear made Lissa and Rose run away from St. Vlandimir's - but their world is fraught with danger both inside and out of the Academy's iron gates. Here, the cutthroat ranks of the Moroi perform unspeakable rituals and their secretive nature and love of the night creates an enigmatic world full of social complexities. Rose and Lissa must navigate through the dangerous world, confront the temptation of forbidden romance, and never once let their guard down, lest the Strigoi make Lissa one of them forever...

Not that long ago, I read Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast, and there are some similarities between these novels; they're set in vampire schools, and vampire students can specialise in elemental magic. But there the similarites end. Anyone who may dismiss Vampire Academy of being another Marked - like I believed it would be - should stop now. I liked Marked, but I loved Vampire Academy!

The plot and structure of this book are just outstanding! It's told from Rose's point of view, and a fair few times, the past is mentioned in conversation without an explanation, but the flash backs come a little later - and the plot is so complicated that the smallest detail, either something in the past or smething said in conversation, can end up becoming a big puzzle piece later on down the line. Nothing in this novel is there by chance. I was copletelyblown away byhow everytingfit together!

I love the mythology in the novel of the mortal vampires, Morai, and the immortal vampires, Stigoi, who are evil incarnate, afeed from Morai to be at their strongest. Even the Dhmpure are cool, the guardians who protect the Morai from the Strigoi. It's fascinting!

It was awesome having Rose narrates the story too, as she is extremely tough and loyal, with a wicked sense of humour. It was unexpected, as, generally, vamps tend to be the strongest; I was thinking Lissa would have all the action and Rose would be "watching fom the sidelines"so to speak, we wouldn't get it first hand. But Rose was always right in there. And the action was just awesome, it definitely gets the adrenalin rushing.

Lissa is such a lovely girl, and wouldn't hurt a fly, but as nice as she is, the girl has issues, so with Rose narrating, it wasn't as heavy, or fluffy, as it could have been. We get some brilliant literary-candy in this book, too. If Dimitri, guardian and Rose's mentor, dosen't get the heart pumping, I'll be amazed! He is just amazing!

I so can't wait to read the next in the series, Frostbite! It's going to be awesome, I just know it! Go read Vampire Academy, now!

Published: 2007
Publisher: Razor Bill
Buy on Amazon UK
Buy on Amazon US
Richelle Mead's website

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Continue reading Review: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead