A life of Adventure.

Foundling, book one of the Monster Blood Tattoo Trilogy by D.M.Cornish.

"Beware the monsters, me boy! Ye've been safe in here all yer life, but out there..."

Rossamünd Bookchild, a foundling from the city of Boschenburg, has lived his entire life at Madam Opera's Estimable Marine Society For Foundling Boys And Girls. He is often bullied for his girlish name and his small size and if it weren't for his dormitory masters Fransitart and Craumpalin, and Verline, a parlour-maid he would be having a horrible time.

Rossamünd dreams of heroism on the vinegar seas, of great battles with slavering sea monsters, of becoming a vinegaroon in the Empire's service. So when he is summoned to begin life as a lamplighter by a leer named Sebastipole he is shocked and disappointed.

A Lamplighters life is a life of adventure he is told, "a life of land-locked boredom" he thinks as he sets out on one of the most dangerous, interesting and certainly exciting journeys of his life.

Foundling contains the beginning of a marvellous world where mechanics are replaced by bio-mechanics and alchemy mystery and monsters abound. Fun and easy to read, I like it.

A World of light.

The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau.

"There it sat, unnoticed, year after year until its time arrived, and the lock clicked quietly open."

The Food shortages are spawning corruption. The coughing sickness is coming in waves, killing many. The generator breaks down often plunging the city into chaos. Worst of all the light bulbs are almost gone.

Darkness is choking the city of light.

Lina sees none of this. She continues her day to day life looking after her little sister Poppy and her slightly senile grandmother and running messages across the city for young and old.
But even she dreams of a taller city, a newer city, a brighter world.

Doon sees it all. He sees the shabby generations old clothing, the food deficit and the general shortness of things. He desperately wants to help Ember and even takes a job in the paperworks to try and help repair the centuries old generator. Sadly he cannot even understand how it works.

Poppy mostly sees things to chew on, but when she finds and chews on some very tough paper (how satisfying) she changes the lives of Lina and Doon and the destiny of Ember itself.

This is an engaging Post-Apocalyptic novel about a city filled with lights but surrounded by darkness. A good read for anyone of high school age or under with a truly imaginative theme.

Concorde.

Wings, the third book of the Nomes by Terry Pratchett.

"you re not suggesting we steal a plane!" " Well it can't be harder than stealing a truck,"


This is the story of Those who went away, Maskilin, Angalo, Gurder and "The Thing".
After their enormous (for Nomes) adventure in truckers Maskilin, Angalo and Gurder leave the quarry.

Gurder is leaving to find "Grandson Richard Arnold, 39" living deity and grandson of his God "Arnold Bros (est 1905)" in the hope that he will refresh his faith and explain the world in terms he can understand.

Angalo is leaving to find "Grandson Richard Arnold, 39" human and grandson of one of the arnold brothers who built the store in 1905, mainly to prove Gurder wrong but also to write his masterpeace "A Scientific Encyclopedia for the Enquiring Young Nome".

Maskilin is leaving because the thing told him to. He is to travel to Florida wherever that is and find a satellite so The Thing can find the ship to take them HOME.

This a good solid book with real people and situations but sadly it is for children, its plot line is a bit to simple for anyone over about 8 years old. However it is a very good bedtime book for the younger ones.