Best Young-Adult of 2014
The Young Adult genre has always been a genre to my liking. When I was young I never had the chance to read such books. Being from the Netherlands it's quite a different style of books for the younger readers, though there is shift now. I like fantasy and this is what I missed in my younger years. The best thing about many of the English Young Adult books is that they are also very well suited for an older audience. The books that feature on this list all reflect this in a certain way. ANd as you can see from this list, there are many influences in Young Adult fiction, from the dystopian Metawars: Freedom Frontier by Jeff Norton (whish is sadly the conclusion to the series) or Red Rising, Pierce Brown's debut, to the Epic Fantasy of Joe Abercrombie's Half a King, or Django Wexler's excellent The Forbidden Library and finally a completely different take on superhero fiction in Brandon Sanderson's Steelheart.
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- MetaWars: Freedom Frontier by Jeff Norton, Orchard Books
MetaWars: Freedom Frontier
is the perfect conclusion to this outstanding young-adult series. What
initially started with a plan when the Icelandic ash cloud shut down air
traffic, now has shown in full colors that it really payed off to chase
your idea's. I was hooked from the first book and Jeff Norton has never
let me down in his stories, I had some thoughts as to how this story
might finished but he really threw me a cruveball right there and then.
It's these last minute changes that really get me fired up about reading
books. They make the story. From the idea with escaping reality and who
controls who down to the world and the characters that live in it, this
book is just perfect. People... get to reading this series, it will not
let you down!read the full review here
- The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler, Doubleday Childrens
Django
Wexler ends his book on a interesting promise that will get you readily
excited for the sequel, though unfortunately I can't find an release
that yet, I do hope it comes soon! The Forbidden Library is an
exciting addition to the growing children's fiction list. It has already
been compared to pretty big names such as Harry Potter and Inkheart and
I feel that I do have to say that I second those opinions. There are
also some beautiful illustrations in the book that only further bolster
the magical feeling that The Forbidden Library breathes and I am already keeping my fingers crossed to see this book be made into either a tv-series or movie. I know
a lot of young kids will enjoy to see the adventures of Alice!
Furthermore Django Wexler shows that he is an author to watch out for,
having written a stellar debut in the flintlock fantasy with The Thousand Names and now an outstanding children's book with The Forbidden Library, he is definitely on my must read list. Read the full review here
- Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, Delacorte/Gollancz
This all combined make Steelheart just one awesome read. I read most of Brandon Sanderson earlier books and with Steelheart
he continues his winning streak. Whether you are an adult of a teenager
looking for a fast paced, action packed superhero story, shown from a
new perspective, Steelheart is a must read for you. I really
liked that Brandon Sanderson showed a different perspective with his
story, normally you always have the good superheroes but what if they
weren't so nice and forced the innocents into working for them? I
recently got the copy of a short story in the Reckoners series, Mitosis, looking forward to reading it. Firefight the sequel to Steelheart will be out early January. 2015 is going to start of pretty heated I reckon! Read the full review here
- Half a King by Joe Abercrombie, HaperVoyagerJoe Abercrombie shows that he is one author that you have to have on your to read list. With his First Law series he proved to be on big asset and now that he has changed to a different mind set in Half a King only further bolsters that he is an great author. Even though Half a King is termed young adult it is a book that everyone will enjoy, it is not written in a childish manner but aimed at the more adult than young. Joe Abercrombie also isn't afraid to let the darker tones of his writing take over occasionally. Half a King is a terrific start to the Shattered Sea series. If you are still looking for you next read, be sure to add this one to your list.
Read the full review here
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Hodderscape
As you can make up from the above words, I really enjoyed reading Red Rising,
I am not that familiar yet with young adult dystopian and haven't read
neither Ender's Game nor The Hunger Games, so I can't make an
comparison. What I can say however is that Pierce Brown wrote a powerful
first entry in an exciting and fresh new series. What makes Red Rising even
better is that this is Pierce Brown's debut, if he can put down such a
story already I am eager to see where he will take his story as the
series progresses. Pierce Brown has set a high bar for himself, but I
have full confidence he will be able to raise it higher with Golden Prince. Red Rising has
a set of great characters, and interesting world and features some very
cool idea's, I haven't broached the subject of the science fiction
influence with the gadgets and all but I can guarantee that this is also
top notch. Make sure you get a copy of on the most talked about books
of this moment, you wont be disappointed!Read the full review here
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