Front Lines by Michael Grant

Published: January 2016

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Pages: 576

Copy Provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

1942. World War II. The most terrible war in human history. Millions are dead; millions more are still to die. The Nazis rampage across Europe and eye far-off America.

The green, untested American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled—the armed forces of Nazi Germany.

But something has changed. A court decision makes females subject to the draft and eligible for service. So in this World War II, women and girls fight, too.

As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering. Not one expects to see actual combat. Not one expects to be on the front lines.

Rio, Frangie, and Rainy will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. They will fear and they will rage; they will suffer and they will inflict suffering; they will hate and they will love. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.

Review:

The last time I read a Michael Grant title, it was part of the Gone series. I think I made it to his 4th book in the series before I lost interest.  Don't get me wrong though. It was a GREAT series! But often I can only follow a series for so long before I start to forget the story after waiting a year for the next installment.  I remembered how much I enjoyed his writing though so I wanted to give Front Lines a try.  

This was a different type of novel than what I have been reading over the past year or so.  What if history were to play out a little bit differently and World War II allowed women to enter into service? I loved how many different factors Mr Grant explored in this novel - race, segregation, sexual harassment, gender inequality, etc.  I also like how this book opens up history to a younger generation of readers.  I personally feel that our education system does not discuss the importance of WWII history (and it's impact on the world today as we know it) as much as it should.  I would never want it to become a forgotten war.  

Overall, this was an excellent start to a new series and I already have the second title lined up and ready to read.  It was lengthy was oh so interesting.  Michael Grant did a great job of interpreting each character's point of view and I enjoyed how they all began on different paths but came together towards the end of the book.  It wasn't pretty and there are some very realistic, gruesome scenes but that is war.  It isn't to be sugar coated and the themes that were identified within the novel, really made me think about how different things may have been if both men AND women had been allowed to contribute equally to the war efforts.   If you are doing an ISU, this would be an EXCELLENT book to review.  Maybe a little but lengthy but all the more to explore!

Plague by Michael Grant

Published: April 2011

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (Harper Collins)

Pages: 497

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

They've survived hunger. They've survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.


But enemies in the FAYZ don't just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they'll escape - or even survive - life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?


Plague is the fourth installment in Michael Grant's Gone series. Is it as good as the others?  Absolutely!  Once again we meet Sam, Drake, Astrid, Dekka, Caine, Orc, Edillio, and all the many other fascinating characters that populate the world of the FAYZ. 

This time around things are even more gruesome than the last, if that is even possible.  Just when you think things can't get any worse ...... Well I can't tell you what happens, but you will be surprised at Grant's ingenuity.  One thing for sure, this story is not for the faint of heart.  It is gory, bloody and quite disgusting in some parts - at one point I had visions of the movie version of Starship Troopers in my head, what does that tell you?

But the thing that really amazes me about this book is the depth of human character. The way Grant illustrates the breakdown of society and character.  How he shows so clearly the true nature of human beings and how society, and people, break down under the weight of stress and hardship.

 '"So I guess the island's looking even better now, huh?" Sanjit asked. "You were right, it's one big open-air asylum."
Virtue nodded solemnly and glanced back at the church. "Yeah, but there's a couple of saints mixed in with the crazies." (p473)

Grant manages to cover the good, the bad, and the extremely ugly within his characters and yet in the end still manages to surprise.  The 'X-men' factor of the story adds yet another dimension to the horrors, and the whole package is just amazing. I am loving this series, partly because I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen next. As I mentioned, the content is quite gruesome and frightening, but there is little or no language, and only a hint of sexual content.  If you like your supernormal/paranatural with a twist of humanly horror, Plague is definitely for you.

I couldn't find any information on a 5th volume,  but I'm really hoping there will be one - ok, with this ending, there has to be one - and we probably won't see it until 2012.  Just let me know where I can pre-order please.

Revision - check out the comments below.  Straight from the horse's mouth so to speak, there will definitely be a fifth volume 'Fear' and a sixth 'Light', but it seems my pleas couldn't speed the process up at all.  Thank you so much Mr Grant for letting us know.

Lies by Michael Grant

Released: May 2010

Publisher: Harper Collins

# Pages: 447

Copy provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

It happens in one night: a girl who died now walks among the living, Zil and the Human Crew set fire to Perdido Beach, and amid the flames and smoke, Sam sees the figure of the boy he fears the most - Drake. But Sam and Caine defeated him along with the Darkness - or so they thought. As Perdido Beach burns, battles rage: Astrid against the Town Council; the Human Crew versus the mutants; and Sam against Drake. And the prophetess Orsay and her companion, Nerezza, are preaching that death will set them all free. As life in the FAYZ becomes more desperate, no one knows who they can trust.

'Lies' is the third book in Michael Grant's 'Gone' series. Hands up if you've read the first 2, 'Gone' and 'Hunger'. Hands up again if you liked them. Yep that's what I thought. Great, weren't they? Well this one is even better. All of your favourite characters are back, Sam, Astrid, Edilio, Lana, Mary, etc and your not so favourite characters Caine, Diana, Drake, Zil etc, oops, did I say Drake, forget I mentioned him, He died in the last book - right? Well of course he did - right? But you have to remember that these kids are in the FAYZ, and just about anything can happen in the FAYZ, and does!

Mr Grant has managed to give his characters even more depth in this novel. These are 14 yr old kids, struggling in a world that is completely unlike anything they would normally expect and after so many months the strain is really beginning to tell. Sam is questioning his leadership skills, Astrid is pushing for a council and laws, Mary is falling apart in the daycare, and there is no end in sight.

" The strange thing was how it no longer seemed strange to Astrid. A nine year-old dressed in rags, sharing a bottle of Scotch with an eleven year-old with a shaved head and a cape made out of an olive green bed sheet. Kids with sunken eyes. Kids with open sores, untreated, barely noticed."

These novels are not for the faint-hearted. Bad things happen. Nasty, horrible things happen and they are described in a way that sends chills up your back and makes you wish you'd left the overhead light on. A light, fluffy novel this is not, so be prepared

"....he was all she had.

The two of them. Sick puppies. Twisted, arrogant, cruel and cold, both of them. How could she love someone like that? How could he? Process of elimination? Neither of them could find anyone else?

Even the nastiest, ugliest species found mates. Flies found mates. Worms, well, who knew? Probably. The point being ..." (Diana and Caine)

The book is gritty, hard, compelling, frightening, horrific and many other adjectives I can't think of right now. If you love dystopian fiction with a twist this is the book for you. Sorry, I should say series, because this one definitely has to be read in order. Too much goes on in the first two books for the third to make any sense if you haven't read them, but boy, they are well worth reading. A classic tale of good vs evil - but which one wins? Read it and find out!