A Long Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan YP FIC SHEEHAN

Rosalinda Fitzroy is woken from a 62 year slumber by a kiss, but the world she knew is completely changed.  She missed the Dark Times that killed millions and is a world completely changed by technology and aliens walk amongst us.  Maybe the greatest change is that her parents are dead and her inheritance includes control over an interplanetary empire making her the most powerful person on the planet, but Rose just wants to finish high school.  All this is becomes even more difficult when a plastic robot assassin comes to kill her, forcing her to face her past once and for all.

This is a crazy blend of fairy tale, post-dystopia (because the future Rose wakes up in is AFTER the dystopia), and family drama.  What’s crazier is that it all mixes really well.  Rose is beaten down, defeated, self loathing, and terrified.  This makes it hard to like her or want to follow her tale, but if you stick with her you won’t regret it.  As the story progresses and we learn her past, her character makes a lot more sense and becomes a lot more sympathetic. What works best is that Sheehan has built a very interesting future world with danger, romance, and amazing technology, but it’s the human relationships that end up being the most interesting. This is a very promising first novel and I’d love to see what other stories Sheehan has in her.

7 Billion Needles Volume 1 by Nobuaki Tadano YP FIC TADANO

Hikaru isn’t much of a social butterfly.  She prefers to hide behind her headphones and drown the world out, but there’s a new voice she can’t ignore.  It’s inside her and it says that if she doesn’t help find an alien called Maelstrom hiding in one of her schoolmates than the entire world will be destroyed.  Hikaru isn’t sure what’s worse: annihilation of all life on Earth or having to talk to her classmates!

This is a really clever idea and Tadano nails the execution.  This is a stand out from the crowded “normal teen gets super powers and fights evil reluctantly” crowd.  It works because Hikaru is such a believable teen and her reluctance is more believable. Almost any high schooler knows the sheer terror of having to talk to certain classmates.  It’s way freakier than fighting an alien!  Except this alien, it’s way freakier.  This book does the ‘enemy amongst us’ idea very well.  Maelstrom is seriously and legitimately creepy.  The drive to find him before he kills again and again and again makes this a very suspenseful read.  Top that off with top notch art and some great action sequences and you have a manga must read!  Last and certainly not least I am very happy that this is a four volume series.  I love when authors can resist the urge to tell never ending stories (I am staring so hard at you right now Naruto!).  So check it out, even if you hate it there isn’t that much of it to read!

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali by Denny O’Neil Illustrated by Neal Adams TP FIC ONEILL

Have you ever wondered who would win in a fight between Superman and boxing legend Muhammad Ali? Of course you haven’t! That is a preposterous notion that no sane person would consider! No one except, of course, for the fine creators of the comic Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. Aliens have a super armada of space ships waiting to rain fiery death on all humankind if Earth’s greatest champion doesn’t defeat their greatest champion…in a boxing match. Makes sense, kind of like Space Jam (J DVD SPAVE) is a reasonable premise for a film! So Superman and Muhammad Ali have to box it out for the right to box an alien. However the fight is under a Red Sun which (of course) robs Superman of his powers, so any one can win! Who will be Earth’s greatest Heavyweight Intergalactic boxing champion and will Earth prevail?

This is an AWESOMELY fun comic. It has an insane (but fun) premise, art by comic book master Neal Adams, seriously great boxing action, and Muhammad Ali! It is definitely a product or its era. It is so 70s it will turn your pants into bell bottoms just by reading it! I was truly impressed by how well they captured the verbal style and attitude of Ali in comic book form. I think they accurately describe how Ali would act when confronted with boxing aliens. If you are at all a fan of superhero comics or a boxing fan, then this is a weird and wonderful gem that you need to give a shot.

I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore YP FIC LORE

"Three are Dead. I am Number Four."

With that awesome tag line starts the story of nine hidden aliens with extraordinary powers living hidden amongst us. Don’t worry though, they’re the good guys. However, they are the last line of defense against a SERIOUSLY evil alien race called the Mogadorians. The Mogadorians want all Lorians dead so they can more easily conquer the whole universe. The catch is that each Lorian is immortal unless killed in a certain order. Since One, Two, and Three are now dead Four is next on the chopping block. Thus the adventure begins.

This is a very fun and fast paced Sci-Fi action read. The characters are pretty shallow and there are no great hidden truths or deep life lessons to uncover, but there is loads of awesome alien fighting. It’s got a good suspense feeling too, because Number Four (with the hilariously weak alias ‘John Smith’) has to blend in and be constantly vigilant to hide from his evil alien pursuers. A great popcorn read for fans of books like the Maximum Ride series (YP FIC PATTERSON) or Darren Shan’s books (YP FIC SHAN). This is the start of a series so there is plenty of alien adventure ahead.

Living Hell by Catherine Jinks YP FIC JINKS

Cheyney has never seen the Earth. He has lived all of his 17 years aboard the completely self sustaining ship the Plexus. Everything he knows and believes changes after the ship is hit by a strange radiation wave. The ship changes into a biological life-form and the now alive ship sees the crew as foreign invaders in its body. The Plexus uses the technology that used to nurture them to try and kill the crew. Cheyney and his friends must band together and find a way to survive and escape this Living Hell.

With The Enemy and now this we are going to have a seriously scary summer. Jinks is an accomplished writer with several hits like Evil Genius and The Reformed Vampire Support Group and excels at writing action and crafting characters the reader will be drawn to. Living Hell does not disappoint. It is a scary and suspenseful as the movies that obviously helped inspire it (Aliens, Event Horizon,etc.). This is definitely a read for people that aren't too squeamish because it has some pretty icky scenes. If you're looking for a fast paced action/sci-fi/horror book then you won't do much better than Living Hell.