A Touch of Sci-Fi, a Touch of Fantasy

First, I have a novel by one of my favorite authors of all time, Melina Marchetta: Finnikin of the Rock.


I love Melina Marchetta. She is fabulous. She is made of awesome. Her writing makes me swoon.

Finnikin is told that he must sacrifice a pound of his flesh to save his kingdom. He and his two friends, Prince Balthazar and Lucian mix their blood to keep their homeland safe.

But their safeguard fails. During five unspeakable days, the king, queen, and their children are murdered. The throne is seized, the land cursed, and the few who manage to escape wander homeless, dying by the thousand of illness.

Ten years pass.

Finnikin is called to another rock, this time to meet with Evanjalin, a novice who insists that Prince Balthazar lives. She urges Finnikin and his master, Sr Topher, to come with her to find the prince.

Even with all the epic fantasy awesomeness this book has, I must now throw in that Finnikin of the Rock is not for fantasy lovers only. Marchetta's writing will blow you away, even if you thrive on chick lit or, dare I say, vampire books. Try to read the first chapter and put it down.

I dare you.

Leaving fantasy behind, I steer you to science fiction--Living Hell by Catherine Jinks.


With Earth long since destroyed, Cheney and her family live on what we sci-fi buffs would call a "generation ship"--a vessel created to take a huge population of people(be it colonists, refugees, etc.) from one planet to another.

Their ship, Plexus, has nurtured them for years. At least until the radiation wave.

Now Plexus is trying to kill them. Cheney and his friends must find a way to fight the ship before their home ends their lives.

Think Aliens but with no alien, just the ship. And death, lots of death.

Second, I have some graphic novels.

Camilla d'Errico's Burn


Burn was once human, now he's mixture of both man and machine, blended physically with the horrible machine Shoftiel, one of the many robots made to serve humanity that waged war on their creators, tearing through Burn's home and leaving it destroyed. When Burn and Shoftiel emerge from the wreck, they discover they have merged, and now must battle internally for control over their shared body.

For Burn, this means escaping Shoftiel's genocidal programming, staying strong enough to remain as close to human as he can. Each drawing manages to capture the depth of emotion d'Errico explores. Beautifully done.

And because I like Buffy so very much, No Future for You, volume 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight.


In this offering, Faith makes an entrance, called on by Giles to stop one of the thousands of new Slayers, one who has decided she likes killing more than just vampires.

Oh, and have I mentioned before that the only reason I get out of bed on Thursdays is that I know Fringe will be on in the evening? Because it's true.


So when I heard J.J. Abrams had made us a Fringe graphic novel, I couldn't resist. Especially because it shows us how Walter Bishop and William Bell began their work...