TRAILER TUESDAY #5

The purpose of my weekly trailer teasers is to highlight some fab books (and/or their related movies). Here are this weeks trailer:

Ketchup Clouds by  Annabel Pitcher was published by Orion Books on 8th November 2012. (The kindle edition will be published on 27th December 2012.) Not only is Ketchup Clouds written by a British author, but this story sounds so unique and gripping. Plus I love the reddish, pink colours of the book cover and trailer!

I've done something wrong.
Not a little bit wrong or even quite a lot wrong.
What I've done is awful.
And do you want to know the worst thing?
I got away with it.

Fifteen-year-old Zoe is keeping a secret that she can't tell anyone. Stuart Harris is locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. 
Or lies. Or murder. Full of heartache and humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can – in letters to the man in prison in America.

Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal . . .

You can read an extract from Ketchup Clouds here.

*****

The Host by Stephanie Myers was published back in 2009 by Little Brown. It took me a little while to get into this book as it was quite intense and had strong science fiction and dystopian feels to it, but I started I couldn't stop. I loved this book, and so I'm really excited that it has been filmed and will be in cinemas in Spring 2013. I beg you, whether you love or hate Twilight, give this book a read if you like sci-fi dystopians.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

What do you think? Do the trailers make you want to read the books?

THE GATHERING DARK BOOK EVENT & TRAILER

Earlier this week I had the great privilege of meeting Leigh Bardugo as part of her tour for her first YA fantasy The Gathering Dark (aka Shadow and Bone). Not only is Leigh an amazingly lovely person, but as Leigh described how she came up with the idea for her debut book, I literally got goosebumps...

Previously Leigh worked as a makeup artist. And as Halloween was always a time when everyone wanted spooky makeup done for free, Leigh decided to go out of town and escape from work. Her getaway with friends included a Halloween party for which she kindly offered to give the hosts a makeover as a goodwill gesture. Unfortunately they offered the entire party a free makeover courtesy of Leigh. So after several hours of slaving away at the party, Leigh wasn't best pleased. As a show of her feelings, the next night she decided to stay in and read when everyone else went out partying. But after falling asleep, she awoke in the strange country house to pitch blackness. As she panicked trying to find the light switch, she started thinking about a place where the dark was permanent and couldn't be turned off by the flick of a switch. This is turn made Leigh think about where this dark place would be and who might create such a terrible place. And thus, with some research which included Russian post-war stories, Shadow and Bone was born.

Having read the book, I can truly say it is beautifully written and enchanting. I loved the Russian elements, and now having heard of Leigh's background some of the characters and their roles in the book make perfect sense. In case you are intrigued, here is the blurb for the book:

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free? 

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.
But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him?

There seems to have been a spate of YA books being bought recently for film, and The Gathering Dark is no different. Dreamworks have picked up Leigh's book for future film production and I can't wait to see who is cast for it. A few months back before this news was known, Casey at Dark Readers also saw the book's potential and decided we needed to make a trailer for the book.

So here is the video trailer the fab Casey and Amina put together for The Gathering Dark.

You can check out Leigh and The Gathering Dark here:

Amazon
Twitter
Goodreads

REVIEW: THE GATHERING DARK

Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: Yes, #1
UK Publisher: Orion
UK Release date: June 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.
Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?
The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfil her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him. But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him? (Goodreads)

Fantasy is one of my favourite favourite genres, but sometimes when I read fantasy books I can get completely overwhelmed by the setting and world building and the history of the story. But The Gathering Dark wasn't like that at all. The concept of magic wielding Grisha living in Ravka was set up beautifully, so that it completely captured my imagination and was easy to read and get into. With the menacing Shadow Fold splitting Ravka in two, there was a sense of foreboding underlying and driving the plot. As Alina discovered some hidden powers, she was thrown into a completely new world which tested her, amazed but also surprised her.

I loved the idea that Grisha had hierarchies based on their gifts and area of expertise, whether that was healers or Fabirkators. From the outside, Grisha seemed magical, perfect and beautiful - a life of splendor. But on the inside there was actually jealousy, prejudice and fighting. With the Darkling at the top of that hierarchy, everyone deferred to him and fought for his attention. It was these psychological complexities that added so much intrigue as I tried to understand each of the characters and whether they could be trusted or not.

The Darkling was the most mysterious character of all; he was aloof, secretive and powerful. He would often disappear for weeks, coming and going as he pleased. As leader of the Grisha, he had this appeal and attraction surrounding him that people in positions of power often have, and like Alina I could feel myself drawn to him. Despite this, there was also something about him that felt a little dangerous and exciting but I couldn't put my finger on it and figure out what that was. But I liked the fact that he oozed mystery because it kept me guessing.

Alina was the kind of protagonist that I like, as she started off weak and vulnerable and to be honest a little snappy. But as she developed her gifts she became much more positive and happy. I liked the fact throughout the story she still kept her own sense of personality and didn't submit to everyone else's wishes.

Mal and Alina have had this close connection since childhood when they met in an orphanage. They've been best friends for years, but Alina can't help but feel something more for him. But he doesn't seem to notice her, which made me want to shake him senseless. To start with we didn't really see much of Mal, but later into the story he really came into his own and I have to admit I started falling for him a little. His protectiveness and caring side balanced really well against his manly, rugged, independent side making him the perfect hero to any story.

The Dark Gathering was a thrilling and enchanting fantasy; easy to read and hard to put down.

Rating: 5*

GOLLANCZ'S SF GATEWAY

If you haven't yet come across the SF Gateaway, then why on this galaxy not?!

The SF Gateway is an initiative of the Orion Publishing Group, home to the UK's oldest science fiction publisher, Gollancz. It was launched this autumn with more than a thousand titles and will build to 3,000 titles by the end of 2012, and 5,000 or more by 2014.

As a website, SF Gateway is part catalogue site, highlighting and promoting the thousands of eBooks the imprint publishes; it is part gateway to the online retailers from whom these eBooks can be bought; part social network for readers who wish to discuss and recommend authors and books with their fellow enthusiasts; and part commentary/blog site.

The site will allow fans of Science fiction and fantasy to find classic titles that they might not have come across before. I think this is a great tool and having already had a nosy round the site have come across so many books I'd never even heard of - I can't wait to find my next read on there!