Artwork: “Twilight Robbery”/“Fly Trap” by Frances Hardinge (Macmillan/HarperCollins)

Here’s a UK-vs.-US artwork post. Personally, I am firmly on the side of the UK artwork, which I think is stunning – the US one is… meh. Which do you prefer?

I haven’t read the novel, or the first in the series (“Fly By Night”), but I spotted the cover when browsing Macmillan’s website (for Adrian Tchaikovsky’s new covers, in case you’re interested…). Here’s the novel’s synopsis:

As dusk approaches, the good people of Toll-by-day slam shut their doors and tremble. New openings appear in the shadows, a black carriage rumbles through the streets and a wicked underworld emerges. It is time to discover Toll-by-Night – and it’s a very different place.

Black-eyed orphan Mosca Mye and conman Eponymous Clent are down on their luck. Again. So when they find themselves embroiled in a daring kidnap plot, the whiff of money is too tempting to resist. Before she knows it, Mosca is trapped in Toll’s deadly night city on a mission to rescue a girl she can't stand with only a midwife, a murderous goose and a war-crazed dandy knight to help her…

“Fair Coin” by E.C. Myers (Pyr)

A great new voice in YA Sci-Fi

Ephraim is horrified when he comes home from school one day to find his mother unconscious at the kitchen table, clutching a bottle of pills. Even more disturbing than her suicide attempt is the reason for it: the dead boy she identified at the hospital that afternoon — a boy who looks exactly like him.

While examining his dead double’s belongings, Ephraim discovers a strange coin that makes his wishes come true each time he flips it. Before long, he’s wished his alcoholic mother into a model parent, and the girl he’s liked since second grade suddenly notices him.

But Ephraim soon realizes that the coin comes with consequences — several wishes go disastrously wrong, his best friend Nathan becomes obsessed with the coin, and the world begins to change in unexpected ways.

As Ephraim learns the coin’s secrets and how to control its power, he must find a way to keep it from Nathan and return to the world he remembers.

Fair Coin was a most pleasant surprise. Only the third YA novel I’ve read, I managed to blitz through it very quickly – not because it was simplistic or anything of that sort, but because it hooked me from the start and didn’t let go. It’s not perfect, but it is an awful lot of fun. Myers is definitely an author to watch.

Introducing: E.C. MYERS

I first heard of Eugene Myers through Twitter, when someone I followed mentioned his upcoming YA novel, Fair Coin. With his novel’s publication imminent (next week), I thought it would be a perfect time to discover some more about the book and his thoughts on writing.

Editor Amanda Rutter talks Strange Chemistry

Earlier this year, Angry Robot Books announced their new Young Adult fiction imprint, Strange Chemistry (they have also announced a new crime fiction imprint). To find out a little more about the new imprint, I got in touch with Amanda Rutter, Strange Chemistry editor and former blogger on Floor to Ceiling Books.

“Goliath” by Scott Westerfeld (Simon & Schuster)

Reviewed by Alyssa

The exciting conclusion to the Leviathan Trilogy

Alek and Deryn are aboard the Leviathan when the ship is ordered to pick up an unusual passenger. This brilliant/maniacal inventor claims to have a weapon called Goliath that can end the war. But whose side is he really on?

While on their top-secret mission, Alek finally discovers Deryn’s deeply kept secret. Two, actually. Not only is Deryn a girl disguised as a guy... she has feelings for Alek.

The crown, true love with a commoner, and the destruction of a great city all hang on Alek’s next-and final-move.

I am a big fan of Scott Westerfeld, and have particularly enjoyed the Leviathan Trilogy (see my review of Behemoth, the second book in the trilogy, here). Goliath delivers on all of the promise of the first two books. It is a fast-paced adventure that takes us around the globe, filled with fantastic creatures and machines. The rest of the review will contain minor spoilers for the first two books, so if you haven’t already started this series, stop reading now, track down Leviathan and start there – the Leviathan Trilogy is well worth your time.

“Blood Ninja”, by Nick Lake (Corvus)

Feudal Japan. Ninjas. Vampires. Cool.

Japan, 1565. Taro has been brought up as a fisherman’s son. He will become a ninja, a silent assassin trained in the arts of death.

He will face samurai, warriors as sharply honed as the blade at their side. He will battle warlords for the title of Shogun.

But he will live in darkness, for no Blood Ninja can face the light of day.

Blood Ninja is an original take on the vampire mythology, in a setting that is all-too overlooked in Western fiction, and with a pretty awesome premise. The novel is not perfect, but the strength of the premise and the different setting make is an intriguing and entertaining read, and a great vampire novel for younger readers.