Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, by Joss Whedon

When Buffy the Vampire Slayer ended it's television run in 2003 creator Joss Whedon still had stories to tell, so he relaunched the show as a comic book.  This has been so successful that other cancelled tv shows (Pushing Daisies, Charmed) have followed suit.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 picks up sometime after Sunnydale's destruction at the end of the show's seven season run.  There are now hundreds of slayers worldwide with more than enough trouble to keep them all busy.  Buffy has evolved into a General of sorts, overseeing squads of slayers across the globe. 

The series maintains the feel of the show with consistent characters and villains old and new.  I've been enjoying getting my fix of kick-ass women and sarcastic quips, but I've found the plotlines jump around a little.  It may just be that reading comics is faster than watching tv shows, so everything seems to go by at double speed.  There is less narrative time to reflect and observe character development.  Also, with the comic starting a year or so after the show ended, there are gaps in continuity.  This break allowed characters to grow up a little in the time gone by, but as a reader it left me feeling behind on the action.

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour, by Bryan Lee O'Malley

Scott Pilgrim continues to obliviously sleepwalk through most of his life, but is a fine fighter when necessary.  I appreciated Ramona taking up arms alongside him this time around.  I also found myself relieved to see that she could be equally oblivious and thoughtless as it makes their romance seem far more plausible and deserved.

A consistent conclusion for this surreal, slacker comic series.

Unwind, by Neal Shusterman

Unwind is another dystopian adventure.  The premise: the United States had a second civil war over the abortion issue.  The war eventually resolved with an agreement that from conception to age 13, no child could be harmed.  However, when children are between 13 and 18 years old their parents can choose to unwind them.  This involves harvesting every part of their body for transplantation.  They are not considered to be dead as every part of them will be alive.  I don't need to go into how impossibly silly this all is.

The three protagonists are runaway teenagers trying to remain whole until their 18th birthdays when they can no longer become unwound.  Relying on themselves and each other, they learn about friendship, love, regret, anger, forgiveness, and despair.  Once you get over the premise, it's a pretty nice story about growing up and accepting yourself. A straight-forward adventure story with some likeable characters.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is far better than I expected a zombie survival story to be.  Also, far more romantic.

Mary lives in a small village surrounded by a tall fence.  Outside that fence is the Forest of Hands and Teeth, a no man's land inhabited by their undead neighbours.  Inside, the villagers believe that they are the last bastion of humanity in a world overtaken by the unconsecrated.  They live simple lives, farming, patrolling the fences, and building up the human race, as they are instructed to do by their religious leaders. Mary dreams of a life beyond the fences, but it is only after a series of tragedies that she seriously considers leaving all that she knows.

Typical to this dystopian adventure genre, Mary uncovers hints that all is not as it seems, and that their leaders may not be entirely benevolent.  Complicating matters is her love for Travis who is betrothed to her best friend Cassandra while she herself is betrothed to Travis' brother Harry who may be in love with either her or Cassandra or both.  It's all quite dramatic, but social customs keep everyone frustratingly impotent until the unconsecrated attack and everyone goes into survival mode.

While the romantic angst dragged on a little too much for my sensibilities, this book is perfect for readers who have finished Twilight but like a little surreality in their love stories.  Besides, it's better written, the protagonist is stronger and smarter, and there are sequels for the story addicts.

Lips Touch: Three Times, by Laini Taylor

A trio of short stories/novellas involving the supernatural and some life-changing kisses.  Each section begins with a series of lush illustrations that sets the scene for the tale to come.  The stories are sensual and teasingly dark, drawing the reader in to each of three very different worlds.

I liked this book far more than I expected to.  I feared that it would be heavy on the romance, but it's very gentle, like reading fables.  It deserves all the accolades it's received.  Well done.

Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher

This may be one of the next big things in teen lit.  At the very least it will attract readers of other popular series like the Hunger Games and Uglies.   The New Yorker recently discussed these and other teen novels representing the recent trend of  dystopian speculative fiction. I've been working my way through the books they mention.

Incarceron is an enormous self-sufficient prison in which it's residents have been trapped for generations.  Only its warden knows the location or extent of the place.  In the outside world Incarceron is believed to be a paradise, but those inside know it to be a hell. The setting in the outside world offers a twist on the semi-historical court motif.  The society has technology far in advance of our own, but lives as though it is the 17th century due to laws established by a paranoid monarchy seeking to avoid rebellion.  The premise is flawed, but at least it's creative.

The plot elements are familiar.  The warden's daughter wishes to escape an arranged marriage, and to solve the mystery of Incarceron while a band of prisoners attempts to escape the place.  All are intelligent and resourceful, but no one knows the true story of Incarceron except for the scheming warden. 

I enjoyed the book as a fun read, but wasn't particularly inspired by it.  However, I know a number of my local teen readers will eat it up, so I'll be sure to display it prominently.

Dragon's Heart, by Jane Yolen

I may not have known  it, but I've been waiting for this book since I was ten or twelve years old.  Dragon's Heart concludes Yolen's Pit Dragon Chronicles, a fantastic series that had been left with a somewhat weak conclusion.  This book answers lingering questions, wraps up some very loose ends, and gives readers a glimpse of the repercussions of the dramatic events that took place in the second and third books of the series.

Jakkin and Akki return from their exile in the mountains to find society altered, and their place therein uncertain.  They carry with them a secret that could mean the end of the dragons of Austar IV if they aren't careful with the information.  While tormented with this uncertainty and fear they are once again dragged into political machinations and unforseen consequences. 

Fans of the original trilogy will be satisfied that the characters, plot, setting, and overall narrative feel right, true to the series despite the twenty-two year break between the third and fourth novels.  New readers should be able to enjoy this book with help from the introduction, but would do better to find the earlier books first.