THE COMING END When Skye Rogers and her twin brother Red move to Manhattan, rumours of a coming global apocalypse are building. But this does not stop the young elite of New York from partying without a care. CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET? And then suddenly Skye is invited to join an exclusive gang known as the Secret Runners of New York. But this is no ordinary clique – they have access to an underground portal that can transport them into the future. And what Skye discovers in the future is horrifying: the rumours about the coming apocalypse are true . . . RUN! AS FAST AS YOU CAN! As society crumbles and Skye and Red race to figure out how to use their knowledge to survive the impending annihilation, they soon discover that the chaotic end of the world is a fine time for revenge . . . Hurrah! This week I get to review a book in my favourite sub-genre of fiction – apocalypse fiction. Hold onto your hats, folks, because once again it’s the end of the world. The unique hook for this cataclysmic tale? It’s only those pesky teenagers and their angst-ridden high school lives versus…

Leon and his younger sister Grace have just moved to London from New York when news of an unidentified plague begins to fill the news. Within a week the virus hits London. People in the streets turn to liquid before their eyes, and what follows is a frantic hunt for a safety which may no longer exist. For the Alex Scarrow fans amongst you, a quick internet search reveals that Plague Land was previously published under the title ReMade. Just thought you should know before you decide if you want to read any further. Leon and Grace are in a difficult place in their lives. They’ve moved from one side of the planet to the other after their parents’divorce. A new country and a new beginning is going to be hard whatever age you are, but especially so if you are still a teen. Everything is just so different from what both of them are used to. Britain isn’t America, and Leon is finding it particularly hard to adjust. Any chance of starting again disappears with a frantic transatlantic phone call from their father. Leon and Grace are at either end of the teenage spectrum. Leon is nearly, but not…

Nineteen years ago, a brain disease known as the Great Madness killed most of the world’s population. The survivors all had something different about their minds. Now, at the start of adolescence, their children enter a trance-like state known as the Changeland and either emerge with special mental powers or as cannibalistic Ferals. In the great forest of south-western Australia, thirteen year-old Arika and her twin brother Narrah go through the Changeland. They encounter an enemy known as the Anteater who feeds on human life. He exists both in the Changeland and in the outside world, and he wants the twins dead. After their Changings, the twins have powers that let them fight their enemy and face their destiny on a long journey to an abandoned American military base on the north-west coast of Australia. If they can reach it before time runs out. Regular readers of The Eloquent Page will be well aware that I have a special place in my heart for the end of the world. If I’m honest, I can’t ever let the opportunity of a new literary apocalypse pass me by. The latest title I’ll be adding to my ever growing list of world ending…

Please note Ruins is a direct sequel to Sentinel and if you have read book one in this series it is entirely possible that this review might contain the odd spoiler or two. Don’t say you haven’t been warned. In his desperate search for answers about the Sentinels, an ancient society of demon hunters that his parents belonged to, fifteen-year-old Nicholas Hallow is tipped into a fresh nightmare of terrifying monsters – and even more sinister humans – which threaten to send the world spiralling into chaos. Can Nicholas track down the mysterious girl who holds the key to their fate?  Ruins picks up events not long after the end of book one. Nicholas Hallow is starting to settle into his life as part of the Sentinels. He is beginning to accept his place as part of a secret society tasked with protecting all humanity. Nicholas still has lots to learn however and so some on the job training is required. Working as Sam Wilkins assistant is the best way to learn, the old man has a knack for locating evil in all its many forms. I was glad to see Sam appear again, he was probably my favourite character from…

They are the world’s best-kept secret – an underground society whose eternal cause is to protect the world against the dark creatures and evil forces that inhabit the night. Now Sentinels are being targeted, murdered and turned as the fury of an ancient evil is unleashed once more. And when 15-year-old Nicholas Hallow’s parents are killed in a train crash, the teenager is drawn into a desperate struggle against malevolent powers. I’m sure that everyone has had daydreams of living a different life; of waking up one morning and discovering your regular life is changed so dramatically that everything is new and exciting. It’s great to dream but for Nicholas Hallow the dream becomes a nightmare when a family tragedy unlocks a new life that he could never have expected. The Sentinels are the de-facto guardians of humanity. This secret society are the chosen few, just slightly out of step with normal existence. They suffer and fight for us so that we can live on in blissful ignorance. I’ve always liked that idea, the premise that groups like this could exist side by side with the rest of us, hidden in plain sight. Nicholas is an engaging lead, and it…

Fifty years ago, the world was almost destroyed by a chemical war. Now the world is divided: the mutants and the pure, the broken and the privileged, the damaged and the perfect. Thirteen years ago, a covert government experimental facility was shut down and its residents killed. The secrets it held died with them. But five extraordinary kids survived. Today four teenagers are about to discover that their mutant blood brings with it special powers. Rush and three brothers and sisters he can’t remember. Two rival factions are chasing them. One by one, they face the enemy. Together, they might just stay alive . . . At first glance, the inhabitants of City Four all appear perfect. Science has helped to make them that way. All disease, sickness and the genetic differences that exist in humans have been removed. Parents can choose exactly what their children will look like, everything down to the colour of their eyes and their hair. Nothing is left to chance. The only fly in the ointment of this, otherwise perfect, existence is the groups of individuals who live outside the city walls. The other survivors of the last war, the mutants (mutes) exist in the slums…

Kit is proud to be a Blackhart, now she’s living with her unorthodox cousins and sharing their strange lives. Especially since their home-schooling includes spells, fighting enemy fae and using ancient weapons. But it’s not until she rescues a rather handsome fae prince, fighting for his life on the edge of Blackhart Manor, that her training really kicks in. With her family away on various missions, Kit must protect Prince Thorn, rely on new friends and use her own unfamiliar magic to stay ahead of Thorn’s enemies. As things go from bad to apocalyptic, fae battle fae in a war that threatens to spill into the human world. Then Kit pits herself against the Elder Gods themselves – it’s that or lose everyone she’s learnt to love. The world of the Blackhart’s is a mysterious one. Monsters, mythology and magic all exist, and it’s up to the members of an extraordinary family to keep us all safe from them. When we first meet Katherine ‘Kit’ Blackhart, she is still a bit of newbie when it comes to her inheritance. Her grandmother has kept her in the dark about her ancestry up until now and she has lots to learn about the family…

Brian and his friends are not part of the cool crowd. They’re the misfits, the troublemakers — the ones who jump their High School’s electrified fence to skip school regularly. So when the virus breaks out, they’re the only ones with a chance of surviving. The virus turns Brian’s classmates and teachers into bloodthirsty attackers who don’t die easily. In other words: Zombies. The whole school goes on lockdown and the military surrounds the fence, and Brian and his best friend Chad are safe (and stuck) in the theater department — far from Brian’s sister, Kenzie and his ex-girlfriend with a panic attack problem, Laura. Brian and Chad, along with some of the theater kids who he’d never given the time of day before, decide to find the girls and bring them to the safety of the theater. But it won’t be easy and it will test everything they thought they knew about themselves and their classmates. In a world turned upside down, who exactly are the real monsters? Zombies are one of my favourite monsters. There is just something so deliciously creepy about them, they properly freak me out. The best way I have found to combat this particular fear?…

Cast of Wonders, a young adult audio fiction podcast, invites you to the magical world of Camp Myth, where centaurs, kitsune, dryads, cyclops, mermaids and other mythical youngsters spend their summers adventuring and earning merit badges. Starting September 25th, Cast of Wonders will debut Phoenix Watching, the first Camp Myth novel by Chris Lewis Carter. This longer story unfolds over fifteen chapters, and will air one chapter a week every Wednesday. This is in addition to the weekly stories and Little Wonders every Sundays. Even better, Phoenix Watching will be a full cast production, featuring the voice talents of Kate Baker, Adam Black, Tina Connolly, Christiana Ellis, Alethea Kontis, Alasdair Stuart, Ian Stuart, and the Cast of Wonders creative team of Graeme Dunlop, Barry J. Northern and Marguerite Kenner. The project will have a special page on the Cast of Wonders website where fans can see artwork from Phoenix Watching, and find links to all the episodes after they air as well as links to purchase their own copy of Phoenix Watching or the Camp Myth roleplaying game. There might even be a few surprises that crop up as the story progresses, so be sure to check back for the…

It’s about high time we had a guest review so here’s one right now. Something a bit different today though, Mr Sam Strong has pricked up his ears and has taken a listen to an audio book. A killer is on the loose . . . Joel is fascinated by the art of Rithmatics – with its lines of power and ability to bring chalk drawings to life – but only a few have the gift and he is not one of them. When Rithmatic students from Joel’s school start disappearing, he is keen to investigate. Since he’s not a Rithmatist, Joel seems to be safe – but others are dying. Can he find the killer before the killer realizes just what a threat Joel really is? The Rithmatist is Brandon Sanderson’s first foray into the world of YA fiction. Perhaps best known for his Mistborn series, Sanderson is a bit of a machine, regularly churning out epic fantasy novels that tend to have incredibly detailed magic systems. I’m a big fan of the Mistborn series (except for that bit at the end where Sanderson’s personal beliefs are thrust upon the unsuspecting reader) so when Sir Cheesecake offered me the chance…

Control is the direct sequel to Shift. If you haven’t read that first then it is possible, in this reality, that there may be minor spoilers ahead in this review.  Scott Tyler is not like other teenagers. With a single thought he can alter reality around him. And he can stop anyone else from doing the same. That’s why he’s so important to ARES, the secret government agency that regulates other kids like him: Shifters. They’ve sent him on a mission. To track down the enigmatic Frank Anderson. An ex-Shifter who runs a project for unusual kids – as if the ability to change your every decision wasn’t unusual enough. But Anderson and the kids have a dark secret. One that Scott is determined to discover. As his obsession with discovering the truth takes him further away from anyone he cares about, his grip on reality starts to weaken. Scott realises if he can’t control his choices, they’ll control him. When Scott Tyler discovers he has the power to undo any decision he’s ever made he thinks it’s going to be really cool. But as his world starts to unravel he realises it’s going to get him killed. In a world that…

R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass – remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone – are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimeras is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide. Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada. I’ve spent some time thinking about the best way to describe this novel. The best I can come up with is that Pantomime is the literary equivalent of a matryoshka doll. There is a secret waiting to be discovered at it’s heart and the reader gets to unlock each new layer of the story in order to uncover it. Dont’ panic, I wouldn’t even dream of…

On Roanoke Island, the legend of the 114 people who mysteriously vanished from the Lost Colony hundreds of years ago is just an outdoor drama for the tourists, a story people tell. But when the island faces the sudden disappearance of 114 people now, an unlikely pair of 17-year-olds may be the only hope of bringing them back. Miranda, a misfit girl from the island’s most infamous family, and Phillips, an exiled teen criminal who hears the voices of the dead, must dodge everyone from federal agents to long-dead alchemists as they work to uncover the secrets of the new Lost Colony. The one thing they can’t dodge is each other. Bond’s writing perfectly captures the uncertainty in Miranda’s character. Due to the Blackwood family curse, she has been ostracised by many of the townsfolk, young and old alike. They all consider her bad luck and not worthy of their time. Rather than give in to this, Miranda has developed a determined streak that keeps her driven to uncover the truth. The other main character is Philips Rawlings. He has spent a long time away from Roanoke trying to escape powers that he doesn’t fully understand. His return to the island…