Best YA
Speculative Fiction
No plot summary for fear of spoiling the first two, but
Hill's vampire story, following the descendants of characters from Dracula,
continues to be superb - and with Gallagher Girls, Wereworld and GONE all
finishing this year, this is almost certainly my favourite ongoing series,
having been neck and neck with those three for the last two years. I'm hugely
excited about the release of book 4 in 2014! Hill writes epic tales with extremely
strong characters and great twists and turns in the plot. This is a series
everyone should be reading.
Again, I can't plot summarize - apart from anything else
there's so many deaths in the first five that even naming characters still left
alive is probably a spoiler for the earlier ones! This has been an incredibly
strong series - at least for people who have stomachs strong enough to cope
with it. An excellent cast of characters and a stunning conclusion which gives
a satisfying ending to some wonderful character arcs make this one to savour.
Oh, look, you can forget about plot summaries, alright? This
is the first in the series - it will be followed very soon by Shadowplay
(spoiler: I've read it and it's also great!) but I'm avoiding saying too much
due to the big twist. That's possibly me being overcautious - the 'twist'
actually gets revealed relatively early on, I spotted it even sooner, and Laura
herself is hardly particularly secretive about it - but I'd rather do that than
give too much away. I can probably say that this is a truly unique fantasy in
the sense that it deals brilliantly with gender issues in a way extremely few
books manage, while it also has a compelling plot and great characters.
EDIT: Shadowplay is apparently already out and I'm getting my release dates confused!
All Meg wanted to do
was go out and create a real work of graffiti art. Then she sees a dying fox
transform into a man, and pass onto her a mysterious gem, and all of a sudden
she's inherited a whole new world of problems. Skulk sees its heroine plunged into
a secret London, where raggedy groups of people transform into animals. The
shapechangers have never got on with each other, but with a mysterious stranger
trying to claim the strange gemstone Meg's forced to try to unite this ragtag
bunch.
So thrilled to have got to one I can do a plot summary for! I
love the way that Meg's character arc here ties in so brilliantly to her
problems with her family, and this has superb world-building and strong
character. I can't wait for book 2!
ANOTHER six-book series comes to an end with a stunning
conclusion here. Jobling's character development has always been exceptional
and that's still the case. Plus, there's just one or two loose ends left -
surely we can get a couple more books out of this? Please?
Best MC (Male)
Archie, along with his interior and exterior monologues, is
even more hilarious here than he is in the first in this series. Who could fail
to love a hero who does Live Action Role-Playing?
This seemed to be a really strong year for main characters
in books for slightly younger readers, and Dakkar is one of my very favourites.
Setting out to rescue his mentor after a kidnapping, he's forced to use his
wits and I love his relationship with the girl he meets here.
Jobling has created a huge amount of compelling characters
in this series. I find that in some cases, that means the lead can actually get
overshadowed - but Drew, heir to the throne and trying to bring peace to the
kingdom of Lyssia, is so fantastically well-portrayed that this is never a concern
here. A leader, a fighter, a loyal friend and a lover, Drew is amazing.
I read both of the 'Gift' books this year and am on
tenterhooks waiting for book 3. Teenage Ross, trying to control his powers but
struggling with his anger towards the villains and his frustration with his
allies is a stunning lead.
Another fantastic MG main character, Julian 'Twerp' Twerski
- writing the story of getting suspended from school in 1960's New York while
trying to avoid telling his English teacher what REALLY happened - has a
stunning voice. So good, I read this twice in a matter of days.
Department 19 has got better and better with each book and Zero Hour is definitely one of my most highly anticipated books for 2014 - it promises to be absolutely epic!
ReplyDeleteIf I had to choose a winner, however, there's no way I can't say Light. My expectations going into it were incredibly high but Michael Grant somehow managed to pull off a hugely satisfying conclusion to one of my very favourite series of all time! It was glorious!