Discount Armageddon

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuireDiscount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
InCryptid # 1
Publisher: DAW
Number of pages: 352
My copy: paperback, ordered from Book Depository

Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night… The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity-and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she’d rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren’t for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family’s old enemies, the Covenant of St. George. When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone’s spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city…

* * *

I’m a fan of Mira Grant, but I have never read any of her other novels that she wrote as Seanan McGuire. Or, rather, I liked Seanan McGuire’s books that she wrote as Mira Grant. But anyway, I haven’t read the October Daye series only because there are already a lot of books in the series and I kind of felt that if I started it and I liked it, I would have that compulsion to complete it, too. So when I heard that she had a new series coming out, I set my sights on it and eventually ordered it from Book Depository.

Verity Price comes from a long line of cryptozoologists, someone who studies and protects various kinds of ghouls, monsters and beasts (aka cryptids) from humanity and protect humanity from them. But all Verity wanted to do was dance. Given her interesting family history, however, she had to make a compromise — she stays in Manhattan to do her job as a Price, and she gets to dance under a completely different persona. It was a good enough deal, until she runs into one of her family’s enemies, a member of the Covenant of St. George. What’s more, local cryptids are starting to disappear, and there’s news of a dragon sleeping somewhere…how will Verity ever dance, now?

From the first page of Discount Armageddon, I knew I was going to have fun. There’s a lot of wit in the books reminiscent of what I read in the Newsflesh universe, but also a bit leveled-up because Verity seems to drip sarcasm all the time. I loved the banter between her and her family, her and her work mates, her and the cryptids in Manhattan and especially with the Covenant boy. I loved the quotes that start off each chapter, because it gives the story more depth and it makes me want to get to know their entire family history, too. Verity is the kind of heroine you’d definitely want to be on your side, and I like how loyal she is to her family and to her causes. She doesn’t have much issues, save for her need to dance, and that makes me like her just as much as I liked Kate Daniels.

The universe is also well-written. I loved all the cryptids that appeared in the book, and how each has their own personalities. It was a little confusing keeping track of them, but since this is the start of a series, it is pretty forgivable. There was just a time when I felt that the story was dragging too long, like the action should have been here but it happened a few pages later. The climax was action-packed and fun. I kind of predicted how things will unfold, but even so, I liked how things were wrapped up.

Discount Armageddon is a fun book, and urban fantasy lovers will get a kick out of this new universe. I’m not quite entirely sure if I want to read the rest of the series just yet, because that means I would have to wait a while to read the next ones. So maybe I should wait. Except that I heard that there’s a manananggal in the second book. Eee.

Oh, and I want my own Aeslin mice. HAIL!

Rating: [rating=3]

Other reviews:
Whimsical.nu
Specfic Romantic

2012 Books I Can’t Wait to Get My Hands On

So hello, it’s 2012. I will be all cliche and stuff and say that I can’t believe we’re at a new year all over again. Didn’t 2011 just start yesterday?

Happy 2012!

And now I’m done being cliche, I will not stop blathering on and share some of the reasons why I’m looking forward to this year (even if the Mayans think the world will end by December) — good books for another year, they’re things to be excited about, yes?

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green (January 10). You know this isn’t even a question, really. Anyone who’s a fan of contemporary YA novels should be looking forward to this, especially because: (1) It’s by John Green and (2) All pre-ordered copies were signed by the author himself. You still have time to pre-order this if you haven’t — go and do it now!

Blackout by Mira Grant

Blackout by Mira Grant (June 7). If you’ve been a regular reader of this blog or my friend in real life, you would know how much I love the Newsflesh trilogy. So much that I’ve given away so many copies of Feed and Deadline already. Now the end is near, the end of this amazing trilogy is also near. I’m so excited for this that I already pre-ordered it on Kindle. :D

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers (June 19). And more zombies! I haven’t read all of Courtney Summers’ stuff, but I liked Some Girls Are and the news of her releasing a zombie novel just tickled me pink. :) Or maybe that wasn’t the right term to use. But anyway, with a creepy cover like this, who wouldn’t be excited?

The Return of the Shandar

The Last Dragonslayer # 3: The Return of the Shandar by Jasper Fforde (November 2012). This is also really no question. I love Jasper Fforde, and I loved The Last Dragonslayer. I’ve yet to read The Song of the Quarkbeast, but since I’m a completist for Jasper Fforde, I must have this. :)

Thursday Next # 7: Dark Reading Matter by Jasper Fforde (July 12). And here’s another Fforde! I love that he has two-books-a-year release deal, so now we get to know more about what happens next to Thursday next sooner rather than later. Awesomeness.

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand (January 17). I’ve read and loved Unearthly last year, and I’ve also already read and loved the next book. It’s probably high time I get myself a print copy of both books. I hope this one is as shiny and pretty as Unearthly. :)

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund (June 12). I loved Rampant, even if I have never read the next book, I still think Diana Peterfreund is someone to look out for. And then, she comes out with a new book. That is dystopian. And is based on Jane Austen’s Persuasion which I also loved. How. Freaking. Awesome.

Discount Armageddon by Seannan McGuire

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire (March 6). I haven’t read any Seanan McGuire books…oh wait, she’s also the same person as Mira Grant. One more time. I’ve never read any October Daye books and I plan to, one day. But I can’t deny being excited over Seanan’s new series. This sounds so interesting, and knowing the author, I’m sure it’s going to be great, too.

Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. While I didn’t really like Lola and the Boy Next Door as much as I liked Anna and the French Kiss, I can’t deny that I’m a fan of whatever Stephanie Perkins writes. I know that Isla brings us back to one of Anna’s friends in the first book, Josh, and it has that romantic feel of “I like this guy but he has no idea that I exist“. Aw. </3

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews (August 2012). A spin-off in Kate Daniels universe — how exciting is this!!!!! (Yes, the exclamation points should express my excitement even if it’s not enough :D)

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore (May 1). It’s been a long, long time (okay, fine, two years) since I read Fire and Graceling, and I’ve waited for so long to get my hands on this. Finally, the wait is about to end! :)

Interim Goddess of Love by Mina V. Esguerra. And finally, I can’t ignore a local book coming out, yes? One of my favorite local authors is coming out with a YA book! We were talking on Twitter about this one time and I told her that I want to put her book in my list, and that would make her focus. So..here it is. Yay for more Filipino YA! :)

I’m pretty sure there are more books to look forward to in the coming year, but let’s be surprised at that, yes? I hope 2012 becomes a good reading year for everyone! What books are you looking forward to in 2012?

Newsflesh: Feed and Deadline Trailer

It’s no secret that I love zombies and I am a big fan of Mira Grant‘s zombie novels. If you’ve been a reader of my blog for a while, you know how many times I’ve raved about Feed, the first book of the Newsflesh trilogy, and how much I am waiting for Deadline, the next book. I love my zombies, and I think Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) does it best.

I’m about 2/3 done with Deadline (I would have finished earlier but I decided to reread Feed to refresh myself), and I honestly don’t want the book to end yet. I’m at that point where I know anything can happen, and I can’t help but hold my breath and wait for everything to just explode in my face. So far this book has broken my heart twice, and I bet there’s more coming. But I will reserve that for a proper review after I’m done and finished processing the book.

On the upside, someone made a really cool trailer for Feed and Deadline:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUXWlXK985U[/youtube]

It’s not exactly how I thought Shaun’s voice sounded like, but the tone is definitely his. Very far from what a Defective Product Attorney would sound like, I think. No spoilers on the trailer, but I think it’s enough to make people curious about the series. And look, the cover of Blackout, the third book, is shown at the end!

I love this series. And I’m kind of sad that I’m almost at the end of the book because it’s going to take another whole year before the next one comes out. Ah, the wait! :o

So if you haven’t read this series, I urge you: read it. It’s not just a zombie novel, I promise. Rise up while you can.