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Book Review: Assassin’s Creed: Heresy by Christie Golden (Dueling Reviews)

Two for the price of one, today: Aaron Fletcher and I both reviewed Assassin’s Creed: Heresy. Read on to see what we thought!


Assassin’s Creed: Heresy by Christie Golden

Ubisoft Publishing, 2016

ISBN:  978-1-945-21002-0

Available:  Hardback, paperback, ebook (Kindle, Nook)

Review #1

Assassin’s Creed: Heresy is set in the universe of the Assassin’s Creed  action-adventure video game franchise produced by Ubisoft, and has been published recently, in order to take advantage of the soon-to-be-released Assassin’s Creed movie (note, this story is not a novelization of the movie but an original novel). The game takes advantage of real-world historical events and individuals, and sets up two opposing organizations, the Assassins and the Templars, who influence these events and people, and attempt to collect unique objects called Pieces of Eden. The Assassins fight for peace with free will, and the Templars fight with peace with control. I haven’t played the game, and read the book without knowing this, but it is my understanding that typically, players see what’s going on from the Assassins’ point of view.

Assassin’s Creed: Heresy is written from a Templar’s point of view. The Templars are able to send a person back in time to view history through an ancestor’s eyes. Simon Hathaway, the new head of Abstergo Industries’ historical research division and a recent initiate into the Templars’ inner circle, has an ancestor who knew Joan of Arc, who was the last person to wield the legendary sword Piece of Eden 25. When he requests time to show that a wider exploration of the time period will be more successful than the current approach, he is given one week to learn what happened to the lost sword and how to reactivate it.

This is where the book gets really interesting– Simon travels back to observe his ancestor’s interactions with Joan, and we get to experience his interactions with her, and the events around her.We get the impressions of both Simon’s ancestor, a French peasant boy who was her steadfast friend, and Simon the Templar historian, which means we get background and commentary while also immersed in the interactions with historical characters and events in the life of Joan of Arc. Christie Golden manages this without ever making it seem intrusive, and it’s like getting history without the slow parts. The present-day storyline wasn’t terribly interesting– the characters seemed flat, and I felt like I had been dropped into the middle of an ongoing tangle of intrigues that weren’t well-explained– but Golden’s handling of the historical sequences was very well done.  Despite having never played the game, I got into the book. With a little more background, this could have worked well as a stand alone novel  for a wider variety of readers. Assassin’s Creed: The Essential Guide (not reviewed here) was released at the same time as this book, and together, I am sure they make for a much more complete experience. With or without the additional background, though, both new and old fans and players of  Assassin’s Creed should enjoy this book. Recommended.

Contains: violence

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Review #2

Joan of Arc is rumored to have possessed a sword that made her invincible: one of the legendary Swords of Eden, Piece of Eden 25.  Imbued with unique properties, little is known of its history.  Templars and Assassins alike have owned it over time, as they fought over control of mankind.  Now it is safely ensconced in the office of Alan Rikkin, CEO of Abstergo Industries, but its incredible powers of invincibility no longer function. Somehow, before Rikkin acquired it, it was damaged, and now it is just a sword.  Rikkin wants to make it whole again, for the Templars.

Simon Hathaway, the new head of Abstergo Industries’ historical research division, is determined to prove to his boss that his new approach is better than past techniques.  The Templars have a technique available that allows them to travel back in history at different points in the life of one of their ancestors, in order to track the location of Pieces of Eden. Instead of fast-forwarding through the life of Joan of Arc to the historically important parts, Simon will live alongside her as much as possible to get the maximum experience he can.  He follows Joan and finds out how she got the sword, what happened to it, and how to get it working again.  For history, for the Templars, and for mankind.

This is a very enjoyable story: a fun action-adventure with a historical setting that tied in perfectly with the video game franchise.  The plot and pacing were fast and kept me turning pages.  The descriptions were well done. I felt like I was right there with the characters! Christie Golden gives readers enough to keep them in the world, but still guessing what will happen next.  The suspense built very well, and I especially liked the ending.  I was pulled in from the first page and did not emerge until the last word.   I look forward to reading more from this series and this author.  I have not read any of this series or this author’s work in the past, though I have played a few of the video games this was based on. Highly recommended.

 Reviewed By:  Aaron Fletcher

 


 

Posted on December 17, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: Scary School #3: The Northern Frights by Derek the Ghost, illustrated by Scott M. Fisher

Scary School #3: The Northern Frights by Derek the Ghost, illustrated by Scott M. Fischer

HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2013

ISBN-13: 978-0061960987

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

There are several books in the Scary School series, and Monster Librarian has reviewed others, but this is the first one I have read myself, and it is a gem. The books are set in a school for children who are a little out of the ordinary: zombies, vampires, werewolves, and other creatures. Jason Boorhees wears a hockey mask and carries a chainsaw; Fred Kroger seems to think he is always in a dream. The teachers are pretty scary, too: King Khufu spends his lunch hour in a sarcophagus, a hydra monitors the hallways, and Mr. Acidbath creates frightening concoctions in the classroom.  Scary School also has its fair share of ordinary humans, like Charles Nukid, the main character of this book. In The Northern Frights, six human students from Scary School, including Jason, Fred, and Charles, are chosen as exchange students at the even scarier Scream Academy, located in the freezing north. Can they survive and succeed where so many other humans have failed?

The Northern Frights is not great literature. It’s sketchy in its world-building and, with a few exceptions, characters are pretty one-dimensional. It’s narrated by Derek the Ghost, a student who died during a disastrous science experiment and now haunts the school. However, I frequently forgot that the book was supposed to be written in first person, because except for occasional asides it reads like it’s written in third person. None of that really matters, though, because it’s funny, punny, fast-paced, and smart.  This is a book that parents and kids can both enjoy, reading independently or together (I hope most kids in the target age group don’t watch slasher films, but the Jason and Fred characters’ behaviors give those of us who do know the movies that something extra to appreciate).  It’s also extensively illustrated, with both full-page and in-text illustrations that complement the story. If you have a reluctant reader on your hands, or are looking for a fun read-aloud with your middle-grader, this is a perfect choice. Highly recommended for children’s collections and elementary school library media centers.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Previously reviewed:

 Scary School #1 by Derek the Ghost

 Scary School #2 : Monsters on the March by Derek the Ghost

 

Posted on June 5, 2016 by , Reply

Book Review: The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa Sheinmel

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl by Paige McKenzie and Alyssa Sheinmel

Weinstein Books, 2015

ISBN-10: 1602862729

ISBN-13: 978-1602862722

 

Sunshine and her mother have left the comfort and warmth of Texas for the damp and chilly world of Washington State, a beautiful if isolated place.  She and her mom have a tight relationship, with little of the typical YA angst. Their relationship is tested and strained when the house turns out to be haunted, and only Sunshine can sense the ghost.

At first, Sunshine is intrigued by the laughter in the attic, but soon things become problematic. The ghost’s mood swings and temper tantrums start to worry Sunshine. Then the ghost sets its sights on her mother. Darkness seeps in, souring everything, and threatening the life of Sunshine’s mother,  who shows increasingly erratic and violent behavior.

The requisite love interest shows up, but in a satisfying twist, has a dark side which may cause Sunshine and her mom more harm than good.

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl originates from an ongoing YouTube webseries created by Paige McKenzie and hosted by The Haunting of Sunshine Girl Network, which has over 200,000 subscribers. With this novel, McKenzie, a teen prodigy, has entered publishing with a platform other authors would kill to have, with the assistance of Alyssa Sheinmel’s adept ghostwriting skills to guide her. The incredible success of the series means that fans already have expectations, and the book has to satisfy both fans of the show and readers who love supernatural fiction who know nothing about it: a difficult challenge. Rather than merely rehashing the plot of the show, McKenzie and Sheinmel’s approach meets the challenge, honing in on the story between the pages, and Sheinmel polishes the book into a slick, enjoyable read.

While this isn’t the most original tale, it is done very well. While common tropes appear frequently, they are twisted and turned in fresh ways. In addition, it’s interesting to see how the transmedia element was pushed front and center, with emphasis on the web series. While the idea is not new anymore, it’s fascinating to see how experiments in multiplatform technology in children’s and YA fiction is are playing out.  This book appears to be the start of a series, and, even without the emphasis on other media, is gripping enough to send readers unfamiliar with the web series on to looking for the next book. 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on December 15, 2015 by , Reply
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