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TWINMAKER BY SEAN WILLIAMS

30/7/2016

36 Comments

 
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Clair’s world has been destroyed – again. The only remaining hope of survival is for her and Q to enter the Yard, a simulation as detailed – and as real – as the home they have lost. But in the Yard there are two Clair Hills. The other Clair is headstrong, impulsive, suspicious – just like Clair herself used to be, and their very existence is causing cracks.


As Clair searches for a solution, a surprising new ally emerges from the ashes. Together they fight their way through the digital and political minefield in the hope of saving Jesse, her friends and the whole of humanity.


A stunning epic conclusion to a mind-blowing adventure about what it means to be human. - Abooktopia
Fall was a great wrap to the Twinmaker trilogy as it was action packed, taking on a new view point from not one, but multiple Clairs. I love how each Clair was slightly different and unique in their own ways due to their experiences, and past selves. Each character was amazingly complex with their own motivations, creating an intriguing conflict between them.

In this particular novel, Claire and her comrades are trying their best to undo all the worlds problems. Even though Clair has lost favour with those that surround her, after she destroyed the world, doing their best to makes things right. But this proved to be extremely difficult, yet they never deterred or gave up. There were times when I as the reader became confused as I couldn’t quite follow up on what was happening as it's quite a heavy science read.

Though the world was destroyed, there was still respite lives within a virtual world known as the Yard. The Yard was originally created by Wallace where he manufactured a new reality, bringing back the scans of dupes from the past. Friends and foes have been regenerated, and whispers that run through Clair’s head with shear warnings of a world outside cause quite the dilemma. But Clair is no longer stable. There are glitches in-between the rifts from her and her dupes. Copies of herself taken from scans shortly after the height of improvement.

Though there was a less world building in this novel than the previous two, it still provided to be fascinating. Twinmaker was truly an incredible, unique world filled with original ideas that questioned human morals and ethics. Overall, I would highly recommend reading these books in order as they are quite complex, and do require your undivided attention.
***I received a personalised signed ARC of this book in return***
***for an honest and unbiased review***
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#1 New York Times bestselling Sean Williams lives with his family in Adelaide, South Australia. He’s written some books--forty-two at last count--including the Philip K. Dick-nominated Saturn Returns, several Star Wars novels and the Troubletwister series with Garth Nix. Twinmaker is a YA SF series that takes his love affair with the matter transmitter to a whole new level. You can find some related short stories over at Lightspeed Magazine and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.


Twinmaker by Sean Williams:
BOOK 1: Twinmaker: Jump
BOOK 2: Crashland: Crash
BOOK 3: Hollowgirl: Fall
36 Comments

DESCENDANTS BY MELISSA WRIGHT

15/6/2016

48 Comments

 
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 Brianna can see her future, but it's the past that haunts her. Plans laid in place centuries ago are threatening not only her and her sister, but all of the Seven Lines. As the shadows plot their way to old rule, the visions shift again. Her power has led to some hard choices—and the occasional stab wound—but this set of futures holds nothing but darkness.

Unable to bear the idea of losing the footing they've so recently gained, she turns the soldiers of the Seven. But with shadows hidden among the ranks, can she overcome the path they've set in place, or is she blindly following their lead?

A nice ending to a fast-paced urban fantasy, that is perfect for a quick read. – Abooktopia
I adored how Reign of Shadows was written in third person rather than first, and how it transferred back between different characters in order to give us readers a better understanding of what was happening. Since the final novel was written in third person instead, it was much easier for readers to catch a better understanding of how Melissa’s world worked. Although I know a few readers found difficulties in understanding the prophecy, I am happy to say it was all cleared up, and loved how it was never truly revealed until the last book as it kept it mysterious and had you second-guessing which of the two sisters was actually ‘the chosen one’ as they both seemed to be at complete opposites in their abilities.


The world building was nicely improved as the author gave us some of the missing background story that helped cleared my confusion that had arisen earlier on in the trilogy. As for Logan and Brianna’s relationship… They totally swept me off my feet and cleared away any doubts I had between the two. Reign of Shadows was quick-paced and action packed, though I did wish it was slower at times and much longer as I did get a bit lost with what was happening on a couple of occasions.

***I received a signed copy of this book in return***
***for an honest and unbiased review***


Descendants by Melissa Wright:
BOOK 1: Bound by Prophecy
BOOK 2: Shifting Fate
BOOK 3: Reign of Shadows
48 Comments

TWINMAKER BY SEAN WILLIAMS

30/5/2016

56 Comments

 
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Where is Q?

Clair and Jesse have barely been reunited when the world is plunged into its biggest crisis since the Water Wars. The d-mat network is broken. The world has ground to a halt. People are trapped, injured, dying. It’s the end of the world as Clair knows it—and it’s partly her fault.

“The girl who killed d-mat” is enlisted to track down her missing friend Q—the rogue AI who repeatedly saved Clair’s life. Q is the key to fixing the system, but she isn’t responding to calls for help, and even if she did...can she be trusted?

Targeted by dupes, abandoned by her friends, caught in a web of lies that strike at the very essence of who she is, Clair finds powerful allies in RADICAL, secretive activists who are the polar opposite of anti-d-mat terrorist group WHOLE. However, if she helps them find Q, will she be inadvertently trapping her friend in a life of servitude—or worse, sending her to an early death by erasure?

Caught between pro- and anti-d-mat philosophies, in a world on the brink of all-out war, Clair must decide where she stands—and who she stands with, at the end.

Crashland is a fantastic tale that raises philosophical questions about right and wrong, and what is humane. - Abooktopia
Where is Q? What is she? And most importantly, where does she stand? That’s what everyone wants to know. A question, that Clair does not have an answer to. D-mat is broken, and society does not know how to survive without it. Unable to leave or travel, people are unable to access hospitals halfway across the world. The world is in turmoil, and it’s all Clair’s fault. Hailed as the girl who broke d-mat, her only hopes of fixing the world, is through Q. Yet somehow Q has managed to stay under the radar. She can’t be found unless she wants to be found. With dupes now after Clair, and society blaming her for the world’s chaos, Clair is desperate to survive and make it out through all of this.

Crashland: Crash, once again embodies the impacts and dependency of technology. Whilst at the same time bringing fourth questions battling against morals and beliefs. Right and wrong. Why should someone get to choose who lives and who dies? Why should someone have the authority to decide whom to bring back from the dead? This novel is filled with action along with cunning twists and turns that will keep you reading on.

The relationship between Clair and Jesse is once again very interesting and peculiar. Clair wants to restore d-mat, whilst Jesse wants the world to adapt to the abstainer lifestyle. Beliefs and morals battling against another.  Clair grew as character as she observed herself during her voyage to fix the world, and slowly began to lean from her mistakes.

The ending truly won me over with its cleverness, and well thought out ideas. I am exhilarated to begin Hollowgirl: Fall, and cannot wait to see where Clair will stand, and what will happen next. The characters overall were well developed and grew together as the storyline grew.
***I received a copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review***
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#1 New York Times bestselling Sean Williams lives with his family in Adelaide, South Australia. He’s written some books--forty-two at last count--including the Philip K. Dick-nominated Saturn Returns, several Star Wars novels and the Troubletwister series with Garth Nix. Twinmaker is a YA SF series that takes his love affair with the matter transmitter to a whole new level. You can find some related short stories over at Lightspeed Magazine and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.


Twinmaker by Sean Williams:
BOOK 1: Twinmaker: Jump
BOOK 2: Crashland: Crash
BOOK 3: Hollowgirl: Fall
56 Comments

DESCENDANTS BY MELISSA WRIGHT

30/4/2016

52 Comments

 
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According to prophecy, Brianna Drake was born to save the world. The trouble is, she doesn't have the slightest idea how. Her visions should have given her the answer, but they’re beginning to shift, making the danger too unpredictable, even for a prophet.

If she can just help her sister restore their hidden powers, she might be able to stop what’s coming. But an old enemy returns, and he’s got plans for Brianna and her visions.

What neither of them knows is that fate has given a stranger one chance to find her. He was trained to protect the chosen—but if he fails, the future will crumble.

Shifting Fate is a compelling and romantic sequel of urban fantasy that takes you away on a journey about lineage. – Abooktopia
Shifting Fate picks up right from where we left in Bound By Prophecy. Only this time it’s from Brianna’s point of view. I thoroughly enjoyed the switch in POV as last time we read from her sister, Emily’s perspective. I got a much better understanding of Brianna’s character in this sequel, as in the first novel she appeared to have been weak and frail, but that clearly was not the case in Shifting Fate. Instead she came off as a strong independent woman, as she shoved unwanted spotlight away from herself as she kept secretes hidden away from her twin sister, Emily, and the man she loved. Logan. The chemistry between Brianna and Logan was all the more hotter than Emily and Aern’s. Truth be told, I never expected to love someone more than Aern, until I actually fell in love with Logan, within three seconds flat. I loved the way Logan supported Brianna, even in the hardest of times. I found Brianna to be a much deeper character than I had first thought, as there was so much more to her story than the eye can see.

Shifting Fate was all the more intense, and action packed than the first novel. I loved how throughout the novel, we as readers watched as Brianna grew to believe in herself, despite her visions and powers altering. Knowing the outcome of what is coming, Brianna is desperate to change the course of the future.

Though I enjoyed this novel, I found Emily and Brianna’s heritage to be confusing at times as I got a bit lost when it came to Brianna researching about her linage and discovering how to fulfil the prophecy.  I’m sure that the last novel in the trilogy will clear things up, especially about who or what the seven lines and shadow are.

***I received a signed copy of this book in return***
***for an honest and unbiased review***


Descendants by Melissa Wright:
BOOK 1: Bound by Prophecy
BOOK 2: Shifting Fate
BOOK 3: Reign of Shadows
52 Comments

TWINMAKER BY SEAN WILLIAMS

30/12/2015

55 Comments

 
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Clair lives in a world revolutionised by d-mat, a global teleport system that allows people to transport themselves instantaneously around the world. When a coded note promises improvement – the chance to change your body any way you want, making it stronger, taller, more beautiful – Clair thinks it’s too good to be true, but her best friend, Libby, is determined to give it a try.

What starts as Libby’s dream turns into Clair’s nightmare when Libby falls foul of a deadly trap. With the help of Jesse, the school freak, and a mysterious online friend called Q, Clair’s attempt to protect Libby leads her to an unimagined world of conspiracies and cover-ups. Soon her own life is at risk, and Clair is chased across the world in a desperate race against time.

Twinmaker: Jump is a high action packed science fiction that will remind you that not everything is what it seems... – Abooktopia.
Clair lives in a world revolutionised by d-mat, a global teleport system that allows you to transport yourself anywhere across the world simultaneously. When a new meme known as improvement surfaces, the tables start to turn. You write a code on a piece of paper and list all the things you’d like to have changed, and take the note with you through d-mat, and supposedly it happens. You can make yourself prettier, smarter, taller, whatever. Do it enough times and you’ll be… Improved. Clair thinks it’s too good to be true, but her best friend Libby is more than determined to give it a try if it means that she can finally remove her hideous birthmark, that no one else seems notice but her. But something goes askew. Libby’s not herself. With the help of the mysterious Q, who contacts Clair through the Air (an advance technology based on the internet) and Jesse, a stainer who doesn’t trust d-mat, Clair must stop improvement from spreading worldwide, and save her best friend from losing herself. Soon Clair is chased around the world in a race against time.

Clair Larhonda Hill truly cares about her best friend Libby, and would do anything to save her from Improvement. I really enjoyed how Clair and Jesse’s friendship began to grow, as they combined their differences together. One of the main differences between both their characters is that Clair has always grown up to rely on d-mat, whilst Jesse has been taught to despise the system. Jesse’s lifestyle is very different from Clair’s. Where Clair can fabricate anything she wants, Jesse has to work hard to earn what he has.

For those of you who hate sappy romances that take over the entire plot, this is the perfect novel for you! Romance was realistically non-existent. The novel was reasonably slow paced, and an enjoyable read, whilst the subject matter was entertaining, and well thought out. The only downside was the lack of character development, which will hopefully improve in the next two installments.
***I received a copy of this book in return for an honest and unbiased review***
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#1 New York Times bestselling Sean Williams lives with his family in Adelaide, South Australia. He’s written some books--forty-two at last count--including the Philip K. Dick-nominated Saturn Returns, several Star Wars novels and the Troubletwister series with Garth Nix. Twinmaker is a YA SF series that takes his love affair with the matter transmitter to a whole new level. You can find some related short stories over at Lightspeed Magazine and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.


Twinmaker by Sean Williams:
BOOK 1: Twinmaker: Jump
BOOK 2: Crashland: Crash
BOOK 3: Hollowgirl: Fall
55 Comments

DESCENDANTS BY MELISSA WRIGHT

30/11/2015

50 Comments

 
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Twenty-two-year-old Aern is done watching his brother destroy the only thing that matters. He never wanted to take Morgan’s place among council, never wanted to rule their hidden world. But when the key to the prophecy is found, a young girl named Brianna whom Morgan will destroy, Aern knows he has to take action.

What he really wants, is for things to go back to normal. But now he’s kidnapped a girl, and his brother’s men are after him. His only hope is to join with the Division, but they have plans of their own, and it’s the last thing Aern is willing to do.
Emily just wants her sister back. She doesn't care about the prophecy, or realize what’s at stake. But when she goes after Aern, the truth of the matter uncoils, and Brianna isn't the only one who’s in danger.

Suddenly, they’re at the center of a secret war, and unless they can work together, they’ll both have a sacrifice too big to make.

Aern and his brother Morgan are descendants of a long and powerful line that have special abilities. With Morgan destined to rule and wreak havoc, Aern must stop his brother from fulfilling the prophecy. The only way to disrupt the prophecy is to stop Morgan from getting his hands on the prophecy girl, Brianna. What they don’t know is that she has a sister… A twin. And Emily will stop at nothing to find her sister.

When Emily rescues Aern from Morgan, she demands to know where her sister is. Reluctantly, together they travel as they escape from Morgan’s men, to the location where Brianna is held, the Division. With Emily now in the picture, Aern must now also protect her to prevent Morgan from using Emily as leverage to get to Brianna. But when Emily, and Aern discover a hidden truth, their plans soon change.  

I didn’t know what to expect of Emily at first, but as I continued to read and observe her character, I fell in love with her tough personality and determination. Emily was not only resourceful, but also brave. Aern was charming and protective with a loveable personality. He’s a Descendant that is part of a race with the abilities to ‘sway’ humans to their will. The problem is, Morgan not only can bend the will of humans, but the will his fellow Descendants. That is a dangerous power alone.

Bound By Prophecy was a fantastic and suspenseful read that captured me right from the start. I loved the romance, as it was slow and realistic, and only served as a backdrop without overtaking the entire plot. I cannot wait to get my hand on the second novel Shifting Fate in the Descendants series.
***I received a signed copy of this book in return***
***for an honest and unbiased review***


Descendants by Melissa Wright:
BOOK 1: Bound by Prophecy
BOOK 2: Shifting Fate
BOOK 3: Reign of Shadows
50 Comments

SHATTERED REALMS BY MELISSA WRIGHT

15/11/2015

42 Comments

 
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When flying monsters break through the veil into her world, Mackenzie Scott has nothing left to lose. Her brother has been taken, her future has vanished, and all that remains is a desperate need for revenge. After discovering the breach the creatures used as a gateway, Mackenzie devises a plan to stop them, whatever the cost.
When she finds an injured stranger in the street, he just might be the key she needs to succeed. What Mackenzie doesn't know is that this stranger isn't the helpless boy he appears to be. He's one of the monsters. And he's got plans of his own.
Thrown into a dying city in another realm, Mackenzie is powerless to get back. With the gateway closing, time is not on her side. But the stranger is, and if they can escape execution, this girl and her monster might be able to save both their worlds.

Flying monsters have broken through a veil in the sky. With people abandoning their homes, Mackenzie Scott and her brother must fend off for their lives. That is until a single scratch from one of the beasts marks Riley. To keep his sister safe, he leaves her in the middle of the night to go join the army. Now all alone, Mackenzie discovers the gateway used to join her world with that of the dying realm. With Hunter the stranger she saved from the raging monsters by her side, she begins her journey. But this stranger is no boy. He is the Sons of the sons. He is one of the monsters…

Mackenzie is a strong willed girl who has lost so much already, yet she is still willing to risk her life to save the life of an unknown stranger, from the very monsters she fears. That alone took great courage.  I loved her strong will to stop at nothing to get her brother back safe and sound.

Hunter’s character was mysterious. He’s a monster, but there’s a different quality to him that I can’t quite put my finger on. It made we want to know him, to understand him. I wanted to learn about his world, and how it works. I enjoyed how his position in the realm ran much deeper than I had anticipated, which made his character all the more interesting.

My only problem with this novel was the slight confusion at the start as I tried to understand about the dying realms, but I soon got over that as I slowly began to understand as the novel went on. I quite enjoyed Melissa Wright’s work and cannot wait to start her other series the Descendant straightway.
***I received a signed copy of this book in return***
***for an honest and unbiased review***


Shattered Realms by Melissa Wright:
BOOK 1: King of Ash and Bone
42 Comments

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