Malice (1)

While I have never read a book by Chris Wooding before the cover of this one caught my attention when I was at the bookstore (I bought it through Amazon). I must say that I was not expecting a book where the main characters get caught in a comic book would have me as entertained as this one did.The story follows Seth as he enters the world of Malice to look for his lost friend. Along the way you find yourself cheering him on as he fights through the secrets of the clockwork beasts that inhabit Malice. The comic scenes add geat vision to the story all ready in your mind and always seem to be the major action scenes in the book. Without giving to much away I must say that there were several parts that completely caught me off guard from what I expected to happen. I like books where you think you know what will occur then BAM!! you get something very different.At the end I must say I am eagerly awaiting part two titled Havoc.

What a disappointment. Having had read the summary of the book I immediately knew, or at least thought I knew, this would be an amazing book.The premise was brilliant. The delivery turned out being a lazily put together unoriginal story gathering plot ideas from several films (the matrix and jumanji to name a few, which would be amazing if well executed, but floppily fails to deliver.The characters are underdeveloped and two dimensional and the story follows a single (and simple) journey which never gets anywhere.The book ends setting up its sequel which i'm just not interested in reading!After having had read the Ketty Jay series and absolutely loving it, I picked up this book hoping it to being the next great adventure series I got hooked on.However, I feel like this was written with the hopes of it being picked up for the next YA movie.

I should start out with a disclaimer: I haven't read this book. I bought this for my reluctant reader based on the premise and other Amazon reviews. I was a voracious reader at his age, and I have hoped to instill a love of books in him as well, but... it's hard to compete with the Wii, the X-box, Cartoon Network and UB Funkeys. Any book he's ever read he was out of necessity for school. Most nights I come home from work and practically have to pry the boy off the computer. Imagine my surprise and delight to come home and find him reading. READING! An actual book! I just about clicked my heels with glee, people. I couldn't believe it. Not only has this book trumped his interest in video games, the internet, and TV, the only thing that distracts him is wanting to talk about the story in great detail. Ok, so 10-yr olds don't edit, and he rambles on & on. I don't care. He's so enthusiastic it's a pleasure to listen to him describe the story. If it took standing on my head and playing the banjo to get him to read, I would've done it; instead, it just took the right book. As far as reading levels go, this book seems perfect for tweens and maybe young teens. I like that the vocabulary has challenged him; he has come to me twice, to ask me how to say "menagerie" and "oubliette." We got to find out together that oubliette is a medieval word for dungeon. How cool is that! I'm hoping I can remember some of the books I loved at his age; two that come to mind are The Witches of Worm and The Lion's Paw. Any other suggestions are welcome and much appreciated! As far as my rating for Malice? Any book that compels a 10-yr old boy to read deserves 10 stars.

Good read for the age group it targets and manages to keep the story line moving at a pace to keep the reader locked in

This was a gift for my teen grandson and he was very pleased with it.

Fast and friendly.

Excellent read.

Great book

Malice is the first in a new series of young adult fantasy by Chris Wooding. In Malice, a mysterious gentleman named Tall Jack is kidnapping children by means of a comic book series (called, of course, "Malice"). If you read the comic book and then perform a simple ritual, Tall Jack will take you away.Like all "urban myths", the book and the ritual are mysteriously known to every child (proving that Facebook still has a long way to go before it can match the adolescent rumor mill), but only a few have the means and the chutzpah to try it.Amongst those that try are Seth and Kady, both of whom, for various reasons, are a bit bored with their pedestrian, middle-England lives.Seth goes in first - only to discover that the land of Malice isn't just real, it is utterly horrific. Children are chased around by clockwork beasties, six legged albino crocodiles and weird fleshy-lump-things that defy description. The clever, brave and lucky can find a train ticket to escape. The rest? Trapped forever (at least, until they're eaten).While Seth goes romping around within Malice, Kady is having her own adventures back in the "real world". Her hunt for her a copy of the comic book earns her a nasty chase scenes of her own.Malice is an enthusiastic example of world-building, with adventurous, likeable protagonists that are more than happy to go plunging from one place to another to satisfy the reader's need for excitement. This isn't Alice in Wonderland (or even Abarat), but it is an entertaining "hidden world" adventure that kept me excited from start to finish. Plus, I've a soft spot for stories about evil books.The enthusiasm that permeates Malice is evident in the design as well. The cover, with its raised graphic of Tall Jack, is brilliant (although booksellers must be having fits trying to cram them onto a shelf). The mixed comic book/written word format, however, still needs some work. It ties in cleverly with the larger premise (the creators of the "Malice" comic have no control over what/when they see to draw the pages), but isn't spectacularly well-done. I suspect that having all the giant gooey "big bads" in the comic book pages saved on Lovecraftian adjectives, but, without sounding bitchy, it needed better artwork. The half-manga style resulted in Seth, Kady and Justin all looking vaguely interchangeable.My primary complaint is that Malice built to a sequel, rather than a conclusion, which I found frustrating. It worked - I'll pick up Havoc when it is released, but I'm a little resentful that the first volume didn't conclude in any sort of meaningful way. A few unresolved plot-lines are ok, but what happened to the good old days when the first volume of a trilogy was also a self-contained story? (It was always the second book that had the cliff-hangers)A quick, entertaining read - just be prepared to buy the sequel as well.

The only niggle - slight - is that this book is the first half of the story. Fortunately, Kindle means I could download the second book straight away and carry on reading. Otherwise, as always, an excellent novel with great characters and a fast paced storyline.

well where to startmy cousin advised me get the book i was doubtfull but good job i didthe secand i picked up the book i loved it espacily the fact that it set in the middlands where I live, the is a constant need to know whats going to happen so the book cannot be put down. the constant changing between comic and actuall book is a lovely effect that chris wooding does amazingly. to me I enjoyed this book more than the harry potter books. A must read for any reader.

Bought to get my 12 year old reading. The mix of graphic novel and text made this the perfect choice. The story is good and gripping, he went on to read Havoc.

Thanks, very satisfy