Before There was a Legend

June and Day couldn't be more opposite in the Legend series by Marie Lu. From two different worlds, they might as well have been born on different planets, but that doesn't mean they haven't both experienced struggles and won't both choose to do great things in their future. 

Day escaped the Republic's testings after failing his trial, but that doesn't mean they haven't forgotten about him. On the run and in hiding, he tries to keep a low profile, but that sometimes means going hungry. When a girl catches him trying to steal food from her father's shipment, she chooses not to hold that against him. In doing so, she gives him more courage than he could have wished for. 

June was admitted to the University at an unheard of age of twelve. She might be a prodigy, but that doesn't mean bigger, less intelligent people want her there overshadowing their own meager accomplishments. Being a prodigy means a lot of attention, and not all of it is good, but June refuses to be beaten when she can find a way to defend herself. 

These were two fun little prequels, but they are definitely short. I liked seeing a glimpse into Day and June's lives before Legend because it really gets you to love that they can overcome such differences to come together and do what they do. I would suggest these itty bitty stories to any fan of the series!

Floating and Desperate

It has been a long time since the fabulous Forest of Hands and Teeth series ended, but that doesn't mean we don't miss it. While we spent a lot of time in the world after the zombie plague ravaged civilization, what happened to the people who survived those first few weeks? Carrie Ryan gives us a snapshot of two such guys. 

Together, alone, floating on the ocean. He wished Nancy, his crush, had made it onto the boat, but all he got was Jeremy. They know they should try for land, but they can't bring themselves to leave the cruise ship they abandoned. That cruise ship holds their friends, no matter what state they might be in. To make things even worse, Jeremy is hiding a bite. 

This was a super short little story- maybe 20 pages or so, but it was fun. I really liked this story, and haven't seen much from Carrie Ryan since its conclusion. I wish she would come back and add more companion novels set in that world. She had such a knack for a really beautiful zombie stories, if there is such a thing! 

An Order to Kill

Before there was a maze, there was a world torn apart by wars and environmental disaster. The world fell apart with a bang, but a few lone souls tried to cling to the people they found and loved thanks to circumstance. In The Kill Order, James Dashner told us the tale of life before the maze.

Mark and Trina were lucky enough to be in the subway when the flares began. Uncontrollable and completely devastating flares tore through the world, destroying everything unlucky enough to be in their wake. They know something is happening, but aren't sure what to do. When attacked by a group of homeless men, they have the incredible luck of being found by Alec, an ex-military survivalist who knows what is happening and how to survive it. But if they don't listen to him quickly, they too will be swept away and drowned by the incoming flash flooding and tsunami caused by the immediate destruction of the ice caps. But there are worse things out there than the sun and the water. Worse by far. 

It isn't easy, but the group survives getting out of the city... most of the group anyway. While life isn't easy, it is survivable. They even have some semblance of life in their ramshackle civilization. But they were naive to think they could survive undisturbed. Out in the world are terrors far beyond anything Trina, Mark, and Alec have seen so far, they just didn't think they would be battling those terrors so soon and all at once. Together they hope they can fight through the onslaught, but there are far more dangerous things out there than they expected. And those dangers are around every single corner.

The thing to know about this prequel is that it really doesn't ever tell the early story of Thomas and Theresa. This story goes way back to tell how the world got so desperate, and it does a pretty good job of that! The problem here is that as a prequel, some people would choose to start the series here. Earliest chronologically must be the first read, right? Wrong! Don't do it! The Maze Runner is so amazing it, and the two subsequent books, should be read first. If you were to read this prequel first, you would lose the desperation of the world years later as well as find yourself totally lost by the time you get to The Maze Runner.

I did think this story was interesting, but it wasn't completely necessary. I would rather have had more of the story of Thomas and Theresa instead of little snippets from the prologue and epilogue, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. It almost seemed like this story should have been its own series that ends with the start of the maze because there is a huge gap between the end of this story and the beginning of the maze. I think this might have been an afterthought from Dashner, but it worked. I would give this prequel to a student who read the rest of the series, but I wouldn't give it to anyone as a stand-alone even though it is so disjointed from the original series. There is, of course, a decent amount of terror and violence, but nothing more so than the original series. Still, I would love to see the gap between the two parts of the series closed with more of the story!

The World Ends Times Three!

The end of the world can come in so many ways you will make yourself crazy trying to think about all of them! So when you get three different stories who share nothing in common but the end of the world, it might you into a paranoia tailspin where you end up digging a bunker in your backyard! But with 'Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa, Ann Aguirre, and Karen Duvall, you will welcome the end of the world... in the pages of the book anyway! 

Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa
Red Lung has decimated the population. Kylie survived an earlier form of the virus, so she has taken that as a sign she was meant to help people. Even as young as she is, she is one of the last still working in a slipshod clinic trying to make people comfortable in their final days. But when a mysterious stranger arrives with a torn-up friend, she can't figure out what happened to them. Ben Archer won't tell her how his friend got hurt, but she knows there is more to the story than just an animal attack. What she doesn't expect is the new virus that turns humans into animals... or where the virus came from.

Thistle and Thorne by Ann Aguirre
The world is a chemical wasteland, but money still separates the haves and the have nots. Mari is trying to take care of her younger brother and sister, but gang overlords don't make that easy. When she is forced into a job for a gang leader, she quickly realizes the job wasn't as easy as she made it out to be. She almost doesn't make it out of the walled city, created to protect the uber-wealthy from having to deal with the starving peasants outside, but Thorne, a former member of the gang, saves her. When she learns the true nature of her mission, she and Thorne, the most unlikely of duos, combine to fight back.

Sun Storm by Karen Duvall
The sun's instability has created solar flares and sun sparks that can kill a person. The earth is scorched and dry, and water and food are a luxury. But something else has happened. For some people, the sun has changed them, made them into Kinetics. There are many different kinds of Kinetics, but they can all do something supernatural. Sarah has the ability to predict the deadly sun storms, and she takes the responsibility of such a gift very seriously. When she happens upon Ian, a Kinetic who can control the weather, she realizes their combined powers have the ability to amplify. But, as if the world weren't dangerous enough, a crazy former government agent is now rounding up Kinetics like a slave trader, and he is hunting Ian. But together, Sarah and Ian are more powerful than anyone could have predicted... or did they?

This was a fun trio of novellas that I really enjoyed. Kagawa's story is a prequel to The Immortal Rules, which was brilliant, by the way, and this prequel gave so much insight into the fall of humanity before that series started. I also really liked Duvall's novella, and I hope she runs with this and continues the story of the Kinetics. It was so fascinating, and the story can easily continue into a series! The one story that wasn't my favorite was Ann Aguirre's. This was surprising, because I have been following her Enclave series since it was first released. I am not fully sure why this was my least favorite story, but it might have been the characters. Mari and Thorne just didn't seem to have a connection, so it made it hard for me to imagine the huge sacrifices they were making. Still, it wasn't a bad story, just not my favorite out of this trio.

The last two stories are clean and good for a wide range of students, but the Kagawa story has a decently graphic sex scene in it. Honestly, I don't think it was anything too graphic, but some might object to giving it to a student who isn't old enough. Basically, if they have read Immortal Rules they shouldn't have a problem with the short story. Otherwise, this collection is a fun group of novellas that might be good for a kid who has trouble with full-length novels, but would like shorter stories to go with their attention span. I know they were perfect for me during a busy work week! 

How the Guardians Came to Be

In the Nightshade series, Andrea Cremer gave us the Guardians, humans with wolf spirits who can shift into wolf form to protect against unnatural evil beings. But how were the Guardians created? If you ever asked yourself that question, I think you are going to like this new prequel series that starts with Rift. 

Ember is being collected to pay a debt that was owed for her very life to begin. In order to save her and her mother, her father made a deal for a special healer to send his daughter for service to a secretive sect of the church. When they come to collect, her father is distraught (having better plans to marry her off for his own political influence), but Ember is actually excited to leave the future life of a wife and a mother. She knows there is more out there for her. When she arrives, she is shocked to learn just how much is out there... but not surprised enough to leave.

After the initiation where Ember chooses her path as a hunter, it is the prey that changes her life. Horrible supernatural creatures threaten innocent people, and they are responsible for keeping innocents safe. When her mentor is chosen, she is first nervous then excited to learn it is to be Barrow, a man whose mere presence leaves her longing. But it is his expertise and strength on the battlefield that has her excited to train with him. What none of them expected, however, is the horrible evil that is brewing right under their noses. And the worst part of that evil is its ability to corrupt good hunters with warped ideas of how the means can justify the ends. Now the hunters who refuse to ever side with evil may be hunted themselves, by the very people they trust the most.

This was a phenomenal prequel, and I have to say I think it was even better than the first series! I always loved the pack dynamic and how the wolf side played into everyone's lives, but this connection to the Knights Templar and the hunting of so many kinds of evil is just too interesting! I think it adds this additional layer of intrigue that makes me appreciate the original series even more. I know there is a second book out there to this prequel series, but I hope Cremer will keep going with it! It reminds me of Sarwat Chadda's Devil's Kiss, especially with the strong female hunter role who struggles to balance being a woman, being a hunter, and how that job is societally unacceptable for women. It makes for one heck of a leading lady!

Having read about this history behind the Guardians, the Searchers, and the Keepers, I now wonder how I read that original series without knowing this information. It seems so vital to the story! In fact, I think I would suggest someone to read this series before Nightshade if they haven't already read those books. I think this story is really exciting and will help your understanding of the Guardians even more. Although, maybe it will reveal TOO much from the original series? I guess it is your call! But whatever you do, don't skip any of Cremer's books!

When an Assassin Goes Under

Celaena has defied Arobynn, her master, once already and suffered the consequences, but she survived. In fact, she has come out on top. In The Assassin and the Underworld by Sarah J. Maas, Celaena learns the truth about her master, and the truth about herself.

After returning from the Red Desert and being trained by the Silent Master himself, Celaena returns to Rifthold in an entirely different position than how she left. The Silent Master gave her enough gold to buy her contract back from her own master, and she no longer has to live under his thumb (or beneath his fist). When he gives her a new job that pays well to assassinate a slave trader trying to establish a foothold in Rifthold, she assumes he is trying to make amends for what he has done to her and Sam. But something is wrong, very, very wrong, and Celaena doesn't figure it out until it is too late.

Yet another fabulous novella from the Throne of Glass series. These four prequel novellas are truly enlightening little morsels to be gobbled up either before or after you read the first novel in the series. I love this evolution of Celaena and how she becomes a dependent young woman to an independent assassin who follows her own morals, even if it means risking her own life. And Maas is a brilliant writer. I thought that at the end of Throne of Glass, but these novellas have solidified that opinion!

In the Little Never Realm

Before Perry came across a girl from the domes, he was just a boy with a complicated family in a tribe that can barely feed itself. In Roar and Liv, and Under the Never Sky story by Veronica Rossi, we get the sense that life isn't easy for anyone... especially those whose lives can be traded.

Roar loves Liv. She is his life. Now that his grandmother is gone, Liv and her brother Perry are the only family he has, and he would do anything to protect them. But their brother, Vale, is the Blood Lord of the tribe, and when he decides the tribe's well-being is more important than what his sister wants, Roar will do anything to prevent her from being sent away. But how much will he risk? His life? Her life? The lives of everyone in the tribe?

This was a really interesting prequel because you really get an idea of how Perry came to see the world as he does. He knows the duty his brother carries on his shoulder, but he also knows what is right and wrong. It was quite an illuminating little story as you think about Under the Never Sky. How could you not be bitter and cynical when your brother has to sell his sister to feed his tribe? Especially knowing how life in the dome is!

Partial Terror

In Dan Wells' Partials, the war raging between humans and Partials (humanoid machines) isn't much of a war at all considering the humans are barely surviving and their inability to reproduce leaves them with a bleak end. But did you ever wonder how the world came to be in the grip of the Partials?

Heron is a newly created Partial soldier; her specialty is espionage. Built to be a spy, Heron was created without an empathy chip. What they didn't think to include was a "lack of self-preservation" chip. In the course of Heron's training and her big job, she realizes the humans who created her think of her as nothing more than a machine. While they may have created her, Heron is more than just nuts and bolts. And her decisions won't always make her creators happy.

I really enjoyed seeing the world from the Partials' side of things, especially because in the first full-length novel, it was clear there was more to this dystopia that was created. And the worst part of this is how easy it is to imagine these humans doing such horrible things with and to the Partials. This short story isn't vital to the continuation of the story, but it is certainly central to the theme of the series. You will want to check this one out if you plan to continue with Wells' series!

Brilliant Short Prequel

When you read a story, sometimes there are characters who are important, but not enough to take center stage. They lack in development in order to keep the pace of the story, but are certainly the focus of intrigue. This is how I felt about Alodia, the crowned princess in Rae Carson's Girl of Fire and Thorns, and what made me so interested in this short prequel story, The Shadow Cats.

Alodia may be the crowned princess, the one who will run her kingdom someday, but her sister, her ineffectual, frumpy sister Elisa is the one everyone talks about because of her Godstone (given to her by God and will lead her to greatness). Alodia resents the undeserved attention Elisa is afforded, but that doesn't make her shirk her duties. When she travels to a distant province within her kingdom, she finds a town suffering a curse that leaves the ground unable to sustain a harvest and people on the verge of starvation. When the conde tells her a mystical jaguar is the carrier of the curse, Alodia has no time for rumors and superstition. She is a princess who isn't afraid to put away her skirts and travel into the thick jungle to save her people. Elisa might be chosen by God for greatness, but Alodia makes her own choices and she chooses greatness.

This was a phenomenal prequel story that really gave us a glimpse into the life of Alodia. I always wondered about this sister of Elisa, since Girl of Fire and Thorns was all about Elisa. Alodia bore the whole responsibility of her people, but Elisa was just handed the glory, she never earned anything. I think Carson did a good job by releasing this story to not only keep us biding our time for the next book in the series, but also to give us another perspective and more insight into the relationship between these two sisters. And although the story is about Alodia, the presence of Elisa makes you understand the girl and her Godstone even better! This is a must for anyone who started reading this series!

A Unicorn Hunter History

Well, I see there is a new pattern emerging. YA authors have been releasing novellas that tie into their currently running and recently finished series. I love this idea, but they seemed to be doing it exclusively by ebook, which I think is a shame because it excludes a significant population who don't have e-readers. Hopefully these short stories will be published as well, but for now at least I can enjoy them on my Kindle. Diana Peterfruend's Errant is a prequel of her Killer Unicorns series that gives another view of the life of the Unicorn Hunters in the Order of the Lioness.

Gitta is a nun with the Order of the Lioness- a unicorn hunter. Sadly, her duties have been dwindled, along with the unicorn population, to putting on slayings for ceremonies of their beloved zhi- trained, tiny unicorns that are devoted to hunters. She has had three zhi slain for these absurd ceremonies and weddings, and now she lose another. When she gets to the estate, she finds the bride to be, Elise, ready to perform her ritual slaying duties before she weds. Unfortunately, she isn't prepared for what she feels for Enyo, the little zhi.

At first Elise is annoyed by both the unicorn and the hunter, but she realizes her hunter magic is calling to her, brought out by her proximity to the unicorn. She knows her life will not be happy in her arranged marriage, but it will be better than dealing with her murderous cousin who would stop at nothing to get her money and land. When Elise realizes she can no longer deny the hunter inside of her, and cannot imagine killing the little unicorn, she and Gitta decide to take matters into their own hands. But will they be able to survive the schemes and plots all around them?

This was a fun little novella, but I don't think it would make much sense to someone who hadn't already read the rest of the series. It can stand alone, but it would make more sense (especially the background on the unicorns and the hunters) if someone had already read the other books. It is, though, a really great little insight into the world just before unicorns went "extinct".

Short Story from Forest of Hands and Teeth

Hare Moon by Carrie Ryan is a small novella that is part of the Forest of Hands and Teeth series. It takes place before the first book, giving fans of the series a little insight into one of the supporting characters, Sister Tabitha. In the previous book, Sister Tabitha was a stern woman who tried to stifle Mary's desire to live outside the small village surrounded by fences and the Unconsecrated (zombies). Now we know why she was so hard on Mary.

Tabitha didn't marry, so she was sent o spend her life with the sisters in Sanctuary, taking over the responsibility of running the village and keeping everyone safe. She doesn't mind because she spends her days dreaming of life outside the fences. She starts slipping out the first gate and wandering into the fenced paths when the daydreams are no longer enough. After a few excursions, she finds a second gate a ways down the path. At the gate, she hears someone call to her and meets Patrick, a man from another village. Tabitha, like the rest of her village, has been brought up believing there were no other villages, so Patrick is a surprise, to say the least.

Patrick and Tabitha meet once a month on the path. Slowly they begin to fall in love. When Patrick doesn't meet her on the designated day, she worries something is wrong. The whole next month she spends exploring the Sanctuary until she finds a hidden tunnel in the basement. It leads her to a room and a book. The book gives her the history of the village, and it shows why the village decided to cut themselves off from the rest of the world- to protect themselves from infect refugees, raiders, and a host of other problems. When Tabitha goes back to meet Patrick, she is surprised when he shows up with his little brother claiming his village fell to the infection. Now she must decide between her true love and protecting the village. Which is more important? Life or living?

This was a really interesting little story that explains so much about Sister Tabitha. It won't make much sense to someone who hasn't read the other stories, as it doesn't spend a lot of time on background knowledge, but it would be good for someone who loved the trilogy. My biggest concern is that it is only available as an ebook. I don't like this trend. I have a Kindle, which I love, but some people I share YA books with don't, and that makes it hard to share this story with them. While I understand the reason so many authors publish electronically these days, I wish authors with previously paper published books would also publish this type of thing with paper and binding. Still, if you have and e-reader, you will enjoy this little tale!

I was Dying to Read this One!

There is nothing more terrifying than every adult turning into a flesh-eating zombie-like creature who likes to munch on kids, right?! With his first book, The Enemy, Charlie Higson told the story of kids trying to survive a year after a plague ripped through England and left all adults gross, hungry beasts. Now, with the prequel The Dead, he has gone back to the beginning of the plague and told the story of another group of boys making their way to London.

When a YouTube video shows a boy terrified and filming a bunch of adults attacking and eating a kid in the streets, everyone thinks it is a joke. But a couple of weeks later, it becomes clear that was the first recorded outbreak of the virus that turns anyone 16 or older into zombies (sort of). They can still think in a way, and aren't technically dead, but they are creepy and want to eat little kids. A group of boys had been holed up in their prep school dorm, but when the adults threaten their stronghold, they know they must leave the school. Along the way, they pick up more kids, lose some kids, and eventually, just before a group of teen zombies wipes them out, they are saved by a man driving a bus. Greg and his son Liam have survived the plague so far, and Greg keeps driving, trying to find a safe place and saving kids on the way. What they don't know is the virus is slowing breaking Greg down until he becomes one of them.

Alex and Ed are the closest thing to leaders the motley crew of kids has, and they are reluctant to assume the roles. Ed can't bring himself to kill the adults, even when they are trying to rip his friends apart, and Alex just wants to go home. The boys finally arrive at the Imperial War Museum, but it is already being held by a group of boys who has no intention of giving up their stash. They agree to let the group stay, but only if they forage for their own food. In the meantime, a blazing fire is working its way up the south end of London, straight to the museum. The boys know they need to leave the only safe place they have found in weeks, but they are reluctant to do it, until they find the fire and a swarm of adults rushing towards them. Now it is a race against time, an inferno, and flesh eating zombies to get across the river. Can they make it?

This was an awesome prequel. Even though the first book did a good job with explanation, this book clears up some confusion, especially about the state of the virus and what it does to people. There are some chapters where the zombies are actually thinking/talking/planning, and you get to see how the virus affects them and creates the flesh eating monsters. It made the clear distinction clear between a traditional zombie and the virus that changed these people. While the story had the chance to be very bloody and gory, it really isn't. Of course their is violence, but it is tame compared to what it could have been.

Instead the focus of the book is primarily on character development. You see certain types of kids, like the dumb (but sweet and heroic) jock, the nerd, the brain they nickname Wiki, the natural leaders, and the power hungry bullies. The stereotypes are certainly there, but the characters don't really fit into these preordained molds. They tend to surprise you time and time again, giving real life to the kids in the book. This book, like the first, had a certain Lord of the Flies quality to it that is hard to miss. The language is very tame, but the content can be a little serious in terms of death and violence. I would say this book is good for most middle school through high school students. It might not be for the more delicate souls, but a feisty kid who needs a thrill-filled book would love this one! I think you can understand the story in either order, since this is a prequel, so don't be afraid to try this one even if you haven't read The Enemy. And remember... don't let the zombies bite!