I just wanted to remind you all that tomorrow is the LAST day for my giveaway of Blindness and Far World: Water Keep. If you missed the original post, check it out here. You must leave a comment by tomorrow at midnight to be entered. FYI: These books will be mailed directly from the authors/publicists, so only those with mailing addresses in U.S. or Canada are eligible.

Here are two more giveaways that look interesting:

- The Literate Housewife is giving away a copy of The Witch's Trinity by Erika Mailman. All the info is here.

- Enter to win a copy of Losing Kei by Suzanne Kumata over at Diary of an Eccentric. Get the details here.

Good luck with all the drawings. Stay tuned this weekend for 2 reviews, the names of my giveaway winners, and another great giveaway. You won't want to miss it!

If you're frightened by tales of hungry wolves chasing little girls, gingerbread houses with kid-sized ovens, and pied pipers enslaving youngsters, you should probably stop reading now. Seriously. Lyn Gardner's twisted fairytale Into the Woods is not for you. If, however, you're brave enough to endure (or - gasp!- enjoy) these morbid little stories, read on - I think I just discovered the perfect Halloween read for you.

Into the Woods steals elements from a bunch of fairytales, weaving the pieces into a unique and creepy little story. Our heroines are three sisters - Storm, Aurora and Anything ("Any" for short) Eden. When their mother dies, their grief-stricken father deserts them, leaving the girls to fend for themselves. Besides an empty pantry and a debt to the milkman, their parents leave them nothing with which to make their way. Well, Storm's mother did entrust her with an old musical pipe, but that hardly counts. After all, it's just a useless old trinket. Obviously, her mother was delirious when she begged Storm to "look after it ... Whatever you do, don't let it fall into the wrong hands" (40). Storm thinks nothing more of it, until the sinister Dr. DeWilde comes knocking on her door. An exterminator by trade, the nasty man rules the countryside, due largely to the wolves that shadow his every move. As powerful as the villain is, there is one thing he needs: Storm's pipe. Although she can't fathom why Dr. DeWilde would want such an unremarkable toy, she knows she cannot give it to him. With slavering wolves hot on her trail, Storm grabs her sisters and flees into the woods. She knows she must protect the pipe that throbs with life against Storm's skin.

Knowing they can't go home, the trio creep through the forest until they arrive hungry and tired at a quaint gingerbread house. Aurora and Any never want to leave, but Storm knows her sister's glazed looks and constant desire for "granulated happiness" (369) mean there's something sour going on in the palace of sweets. Her shocking discovery throws her into frantic action. Not only must she rescue her sisters, but she must do everything in her power to keep the pipe from DeWilde's greedy hands.

When Any becomes a prisoner of the exterminator, Storm and Aurora know what they have to do - take the long, dangerous journey to Piper's Peak. The very idea of confronting DeWilde has them quaking in their boots, but they know it's the only way to save their baby sister and stop the evil piper. It's not an easy trek, of course. Along the way, they face ferocious wolves, a mad ogress, an eerie ghost town, a swirling blizzard and the pied piper himself. As magical as the pipe turns out to be, it's the girls' bravery and devotion to each other that sustains them. Although the trio vows to stay together "Forever and Always," Dr. DeWilde has very, very different plans for the sisters. Can Storm save her family? Can she defeat the wily piper? Or will her sisters become Dr. DeWilde's slaves for eternity? The fate of all lies in the hands of the reckless, quick-tempered Storm and her little tin pipe.

I can't quite capture the essence of this book. It's like a combination of Lord of the Rings and The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly with a bit of A Series of Unfortunate Events and a pinch of Coraline thrown in for good measure. Into the Woods just has those eerie, quirky qualities that make it different, creepy and fun. You probably shouldn't read it at night, and you definitely won't want to start it if you don't have time to finish it right away. Simply put, Into the Woods is a spooky, unputdownable delight.

Grade: B+

I know I'm not the only one who feels guilty about clearing my blog feeder without actually reading all the new posts it announces. Actually, I don't know how to clear mine with 1 click, so I just spent an hour going through them. I admit I skimmed most, but my feeder is now clear. Yay! One thing I noticed in my perusing is that there are TONS of giveaways going on right now. I'm going to list the ones I've seen. If I missed yours, leave me a comment. There are so many chances to win, you better get on your horse and enter:

- Of course, you should enter my drawings for Blindness by Jose Saramago and FarWorld by J. Scott Savage. All the info is here.

- You can also enter to win Blindness over at Bookroomreview's blog. Check it out here.

- Booking Mama is holding a drawing for Hannah's Dream by Diane Hammond. Enter here.

- Since it's BAFAB week, Chris is offering a book from a selection of 12, including The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimain! Check it out here.

- April is giving away a signed ARC of The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne DuPrau.

- Dewey is offering a free book (winner's choice), plus several more drawings of politically-themed books. Dewey also wants to spread the word about the upcoming 24-Hour Read-A-Thon. Get all the details here.

- 5MinutesforBooks is also giving away the politically-themed books here.

- 200 Books is holding a drawing for The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists by Gideon DeFoe. Get all the info here.

- Nymeth has A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle up for grabs.

Phew!

Watch out, world - there's a new superhero in town. He's got an exoskeleton to protect him from bad guys, a missile cycle for zooming around the Earth, a floating command center as big as a city, and enough toys to turn James Bond permanently green with envy. He is Strand - a man, but so much more.


We meet this new superhero in J.B.B. Winner's book, The Strand Prophecy, the first in a new sci fi series. Since two of the authors (J.B.B. stands for Jeff, Brittany and Brianna - a father and his 13-year-old twin daughters) are teenagers, the book has been marketed as young adult. I don't get that, really, since there's only one teenaged character, and she spends little time "on stage." AnyWAY, here's the rest of the story ...

Like most superheroes-to-be, Strand begins life as an ordinary man. Steve Cutter. An anthropologist/technologist, Steve becomes so engrossed in his work that he cuts himself off from family and friends. He's so obsessed with his own technology that he tries some of his technology on himself. Soon, he begins changing. He is a man, but more (trust me - if you read this book, you will come to detest this phrase). Steve's new powers complicate things, especially when he gets custody of his 16-year-old niece after the deaths of her parents. To keep Anna safe, he must hide his secret identity from her.

When Steve receives news of strange creatures sighted in Brazil, he knows he needs to investigate. He's been convinced for some time that Earth is entering an "accelerated evolutionary cycle" - the blood-thirsty, barely human species he finds in South America is proof that normal humans are in very real danger. Strand knows he needs to warn people, but the U.S. government buries the story, vehemently denying that anything dangerous is happening. Strand knows the future of humanity is in his hands. Ignoring the president's orders to stand down, he sends a warning to the world - stay out of direct sunlight/moonlight, watch for animals acting strangely, and wait for messages from Strand.

Meanwhile, back at the lab ... Veternarian Dr. E studies the adaptations in humans and animals, trying to figure out what is happening. All she knows is that things are changing - she, herself, is changing. All around her, things are evolving. Some of the evolution is good, some not so good. She knows she's an integral part of creating a new brand of superhero to combat the new, violent species that are being created every day. She also knows she must help Steve (she doesn't know about Strand) protect the innocent, including the unwary Anna, who seems to be walking right into the realm of crazed T-Rex crocodiles. Can she and Strand save Anna? More importantly, can they save the world?

As you can see, The Strand Prophecy follows a very traditional sci fi plot - man finds out he has powers, man must hide his identity to protect those he loves, man/superhero must save the world. It's not very original (although I don't know that I've ever met a superhero who rides missiles). Plot, however, is not this book's biggest flaw - that would be the flat characters, bland writing, and stiff, unnatural dialogue. Point of view is all over the place, dipping into the minds of every character, including a Howler monkey. A plethora of dry scientific facts also made my eyes glaze over. The other thing that really bugged me was the hero's infallibility - with his machines, he could do anything. Even superheroes need some weaknesses to make them sympathetic and interesting.

On the bright side, the story moves pretty quickly. It's a fast read, and YA readers will probably enjoy the ride. For me, I wanted more dynamic writing, characters with personality (if the cast didn't use each other's name in every sentence, I would not have been able to tell their voices apart), and some realistic dialogue. Without these things, I couldn't lose myself in this novel. I wanted to like it, but honestly, I wouldn't have finished it if I hadn't committed to reviewing it. Sorry J.B.B. Winner, The Strand Prophecy is just average ... nothing more.

(As occasionally happens, reviewers on Amazon and Barnes & Noble disagree with my assessment of this book. Check out their comments for a different perspective.)

Grade: C