James Dasher: The Maze Runner

One Word Summary: Build a better mouse trap

Review: Did I like this book? In a word, Yes. The monster is a fascinating mixture of disgusting and frightening. It's an Edward Scissor Hands Rolly Polly Ooze Insect. Maybe now I should read Lord of the Flies. It'd be fun to compare the two. Anyhow, the ending is a bit of a tease. I'll have to read the next books to find out what is really going on. It's intriguing.

Synopsis: "Everything is about to change." That's the message the girl brings to the boys living in 'the glade', a warehouse style encampment surrounded by stone doors which lead to a maze with an exit no one can find. When the girl wakes up from her coma it becomes apparent that the glade residents must find a way out soon, or die. But who put them in the impossible maze? for what reason? and why can no one remember anything about their life before?

Rate: 3 scourges

Other Books:
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Random House 2009

Tanith Lee: Wolf Star (Claidi Journals Series #2)

One Word Summary: Eerie
More Words: Fabulous. I can still picture the world Tanith Lee created with words. Claidi, her intrepid hero, is an endearing blend of self-doubt and spunk.
Synopsis: Claidi is kidnapped on her wedding day. Her captors abandon her in a crumbling palace with moving rooms and mechanical servants in the middle of a jungle on the other side of an ocean with an unsociable guardian who looks a lot like her fiance. But Claidi doesn't just accept her fate, she masters it.
Rate: 2 dolls

Megan Whalen Turner: A Conspiracy of Kings (Queen's Thief Series #4)

One Word Summary: Sophos
More Words: I love this series. I like the way MWT writes intrigue- she doesn't make my head spin and she's never annoying. Reading one of her stories is like being on a ride at Disney Land. You can just sit back, enjoy, look around, take pictures. Everything is going according to plan. Gen's convoluted plan; but he always lands on his feet. He's like a cat.

Dedication: To Diana Wynne Jones, thank you for the stories and for the leg up.
Synopsis: Sophos believes he's a poet and not a king. When his Uncle, Sounis, dies and leaves the country in turmoil Sophos races to his friend for help. Only Gen is now Eugenides, the king of Attolia. Their once easy friendship is encumbered by politics. Can Sophos man up and save his country from civil war and the Mede invasion? Will the paltry army Gen has spared to him help?
Rate: 3 pockets

Harper Collins 2010