Ilona's World

The Wild Cats of Piran: Chronicle One is the first part of a series of children's books by Scott Alexander Young , who is also known as the creator of the TV series Max's Midnight Movies . The book includes charming illustrations by Moreno Christe and it is about the adventures of a group of wild cats and their clever, beautiful, and somewhat mysterious leader, Queen Felicia . Her best friends, Dragan and Magyar, all have very different personalities and these cats are able to use magic on certain occasions. They live in a nice seaside town in Slovenia, which is a great place for them, except for when they meet some of their enemies, including local rats and certain local humans. The book is also enjoyable for adults because of the story, the humour and because it is also beautifully written . Unfortunately, the story ends too early and the other parts in the series have not been published yet. The Wild Cats of Piran is highly recommended for cat lovers everywhere.

Transfer (2010) is an exciting, romantic and thought-provoking German sci-fi drama , directed by Damir Lukacevic . The story reminds you of Freejack at the beginning, but it is different in many ways. In this story, t he mysterious Menzana Corporation offers the possibility for old rich people to transfer their personalities into the bodies of young and beautiful Africans who need the money to support their families and who accept that they can only use their own bodies for four hours each night . A German couple in their 70s, Anna and Hermann , have doubts about the procedure at first, but after Anna becomes terminally ill, they end up taking this path. The young Africans whose bodies they get, Apolain and Sarah, both accept their fate at the beginning, but the first pregnancy gradually changes the situation and both couples want the baby for themselves. In addition to this, Anna starts to suffer from the feeling of guilt for ruining these young people's lives. The acting is gr...

Title: The White Death and Other Ghastly Ghost Stories Author: Debbie Kuhn Genre(s) / Subgenre(s):  speculative fiction / dark fantasy, horror Copyright: October 17, 2012 Formats: electronic: Kindle edition Rating: 10 URL: at Amazon Those who like good horror fiction should certainly become familiar with Debbie Kuhn 's work, even though she writes in several genres. The White Death is a collection which includes ten dark tales and it is definitely worth reading. Whether they are humans or ghosts, the main characters are all motivated by basic human fears and desires , and this makes it very easy for the reader to care about them. No matter how scary the story is, you will want to know what is going to happen to them. The ghosts are not always the evil, vengeful ghosts of the typical B movies either. Some just want company, others warn you of imminent danger, and one simply just stays until she can finish her memoirs that she writes using other people's bodies. Al...

Title: Seriously...I'm Kidding Author:  Ellen Degeneres Category: Humor Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (Hachette Book Group) Copyright: June 2011 Formats: paperback, hardcover, electronic, audio Rating: 7 Seriously...I'm Kidding is the latest book by the much loved stand-up comedian and talk show host, Ellen Degeneres. This book is a collection of random thoughts and ideas and it includes stories both from everyday life and from the life of a celebrity. There are a lot of really quotable lines in it about success, beauty, marriage, manners , politiness, and some even about gift-giving. The author also keeps giving advice to the readers on all these issues. It seems she has become both a great comedian and a fine motivational speaker. However, at places I felt that the text was far too simplistic for my liking . I suppose this is because the book was written for a talk show audience. English-learners might find this a great advantage. This book is reco...

Title: Slights Author: Kaaron Warren Genre / Subgenre: Horror/ psychological Publisher: Angry Robot Copyright: July 1, 2009 Formats: paperback , electronic (Kindle Edition) Rating: 9 Slights is a very strong debut novel by Australian writer, Kaaron Warren . It is a creepy, highly distubing and excellent horror novel which was awarded the Ditmar Award and the Shadows Award for Best Fiction. The main character, a young girl called Stevie, has a near-death experience, and when she comes back she remembers that she was in a dark room full of people. Everyone she ever pissed off was there and these people were torturing her. Later her main goal becomes finding out if this is really the place where everyone must go one day. The girl who had a troubled childhood gradually becomes obsessed with death, becomes suicidal, then starts to kill others in order to find the answers . The book is a very well-written piece, it really manages to draw the reader in , but it is too gloomy, too depre...

Blind Faith (2007) is a dsytopian novel and it is also dealing with a great variety of issues that are of interest to today’s reader. The book was written by the brilliant comedy writer and stand up comedian, Ben Elton, who is also the author of The Thin Blue Line and Black Adder . In this didactic but very well-written book he is sharing his views with us on consumer society, trends in the media, in the world of community websites etc , while also telling a great story set in a near future England. Elton has always been a very good observer of the typical, the suprising, and the alaming and presented his observations in a funny and thought-provoking way. Blind Faith is definitly one of his most serious works. In this book, he describes a world where it is compulsory to share all details of your life online, even the smallest and the most intimate details have to be shown on photos and videos. Citizens of this state live their lives in front of webcams and are obliged to show...

  Title: Casting Shadows Author: J. Kelley Anderson Genre(s) / Subgenre(s):  Fantasy/ Urban Fantasy Publisher: World Castle Publishing (January 31, 2012) Formats: paperback (232 pages) or electronic (Kindle Edition) I’ve always liked stories that are a bit different from the average. Casting Shadows by J. Kelley Anderson is definitely a book that tells a story like that. At the beginning, the main character Edward performs a magic ritual in a cemetery to summon an undead servant. He only does this because he is under a spell and a demon is trying to influence his deeds. However, the new servant, Vincent  will not be the merciless evil being that one could expect. He will be more like a friend, who always has Edward’s best interests at heart, but he also has his own will and his own views about things. He does his best to protect him from himself and from the evil forces that are at work in the ususally quiet little town of Hurst, Ohio.  A very powerful ...

Title: Cinderella's Secret Diary (Book 1: Lost) Author: Ron Vitale Genre(s) / Subgenre(s): speculative fiction / dark fantasy/ YA Copyright: August, 2011 Formats: ebook (Kindle Edition), Paperback Ron Vitale's novel about Cinderella is a young adult gothic version of the well-known fairy-tale. At the beginning of the story the main character is a typical naive young girl , to such an extent that she is also a bit irritating at times, but soon she has to learn a bit more about life. Her marriage with the prince is not a very good one, and the queen is a frightening mother-in-law. The kingdom, which turns out to be England during the Napoleonic wars, is in great danger. Cinderella has lessons to learn about people, politics and love, while dark forces are also at work. As she gradually becomes a stronger, more mature and a much more independent woman , the story is also becoming darker and darker. This is a novel about growing up, and also about magic, adventures, wi...

Hyperion Books (October, 2010) Whoopi Goldberg had a lead role in some of the best comedies of the 80s and the early 90s, so when I came across her book Is It Just Me? Or Is It Nuts Out There? I immediately decided to get a copy . This is a book of observations about the lack of respect that you can witness every day, with some humor added. She basically wrote a guidebook on what is acceptable behaviour and what is not at a lot of different places. The list includes for expl. cinemas, theatres, buses, trains, airports, airplanes, hotels, restaurants and workplaces. The book is a bit didactic, sometimes overly didactic, but at times it is also a bit like watching stand up comedy. She is talking mainly about the US, but most of the thoughtless behaviours that she mentions are a part of everyday life at other parts of the world, too. She notices that sometimes people just simply do not think that their behaviour can be irritating to others , even though there are many who ...

Title: Transformation Author: Rab Swannock Fulton Genre(s) / Subgenre(s): speculative fiction / a love/ghost story Here is what I wrote when I first reviewed Rab Fulton's book, Transformation, back in 2006 . "When I started to read Transformation , I only knew that it's a ghost story. I did not know what to expect, as there are so many types of ghost stories. Later, I realized this story is very different from those I've read before. The main character is a young man called Donnacha who moves to Galway after leaving school, and starts to work as a dishwasher. Transformation by Scottish writer Rab Swannock Fulton is the story of a young man's coming of age, getting to know love and perfection then gradually realizing his life is turning into a nightmare. The story is set in today's Ireland, which is still not entirely different from the Ireland of the legends, the one with beautiful landscapes, and where one can bump into a ghost any time ...

Some years ago, I reviewed Dark Highway , a truly entertaining zombie novel , for Novelspot. It seems to me that zombies are more fashionable nowadays than ever, so it was just the right time for the Kindle edition to come out. Read my review of this book here . Publisher: Black Death Books (March 28, 2011) Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Do you like books that include loveable characters, heroism, grandeur, humor and crime? Dead Even , the latest book in Frank Zafiro's fascinating River City series is now available from Gray Dog Press. This time it's a short story collection, not a novel. I reviewed the first novel, Under A Raging Moon some years ago for Novelspot. (Those of you who do not know the series, can read my review of it here .)

I dedided to revive this blog. There will be new blog posts here on books, sf, movies , and sometimes even on tv series and comedy.