February 21, 2014

The Ending Series Fantasy Cast: CHRIS and MR. GRAYSON

We're pleased to announce that we have two more "cast members" to add to the Ending Series fantasy cast.

Thought the race for who should play Chris was close at first, it's swayed overwhelmingly in one direction. The candidates were:
Kate Winslet
Katee Sackhoff
Anna Torv
And the winner is...
Katee Sackhoff

Chris Johnson is an essential supporting character throughout The Ending Series, as well as one of Dani's closest friends. She's a blonde, blue-eyed Army Ranger with plenty of attitude and a heart of gold.
"Chris stood and stalked across the living room, pausing when she reached the beautiful, imposing man. She was surprisingly menacing for such a motherly woman." 
(One of Dani's first impressions of Chris, from chapter 5 of After The Ending) 
The winner of the race for who should play Mr. Grayson, on the other hand, was pretty clear from the beginning. The candidates were:
Option 1: Kevin Kline
Option 2: Daniel Day-Lewis
Option 3: Jeff Bridges
And the winner is...

Kevin Kline
Daniel Grayson, also known as Mr. Grayson or Mr. G to his form students, is a supporting character throughout The Ending Series. He's a middle-aged former history teacher and a natural leader whose newly grown "mountain man" beard lends him some post-apocalyptic street cred.
“Miss Cartwright?” asked an older man. 
Recognizing his sharp eyes as he drew closer, I realized it was Mr. Grayson. What the hell is he doing here? “Mr. G?” I pointed to his impressive mountain man beard. “I like the new look.” I leaned in to hug him, receiving an uncomfortable side hug in return.

“Oh, yes, well we haven’t had much time…traveling, you know,” he explained, moderately embarrassed.
 
“Oh, yes, well we haven’t had much time…traveling, you know,” he explained, moderately embarrassed.
(Zoe's surprised interaction with Mr. Grayson, chapter 49 of After The Ending)

The races for who should play Chris and Mr. Grayson are over, but The Ending Series fantasy casting call is only just beginning! Make sure your voice is heard. :D

Currently casting: Clara Reynolds

Want to be kept up to date as we reveal each nominee? Like The Ending Series on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or check back to this blog page daily.

February 11, 2014

The Ending Series Fantasy Cast: CARLOS

If you've been following us on Facebook, then you've probably seen our posts about the fantasy casting call we're doing for The Ending Series. We posted pics of 4 different actors who we thought might have what it would take to play Carlos Hernandez and listened to what YOU thought. Here are the nominees:

Option 1: teenage JD Pardo

Option 2: teenage Jay Hernandez

Option 3: Alex Meraz

Option 4: Tyler Posey

Based on your feedback, THE WINNER IS:

teenage Jay Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the star of The Ending Beginnings: Carlos and a member of Dani's brigade in After The Ending and Into The Fire. He's a 16-year-old with way too much life experience thanks to the virus and Mandy's "Prophets of the New World."
"Under all that blood, he truly was adorable. He'd probably been a heartbreaker at his high school before the world went to hell."  
(Dani's first impression of Carlos, from chapter 44 of After The Ending)

It may be too late to weigh in on the race for who should play Carlos, but The Ending Series fantasy casting call is only just beginning! Make sure your voice is heard. :D

Currently casting: Chris Johnson

Want to be kept up to date as we reveal each nominee? Like The Ending Series on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or check back to this blog page daily.

February 8, 2014

Book Review: Angelfall by Susan Ee


Review by: Lindsey Fairleigh


11500217Title: Angelfall
Series: Penryn & the End of Days (book 1)
Author: Susan Ee
Genre(s): Post-apocalyptic, Dystopian, YA/NA, Romance, Paranormal, Angels
Main Character(s): Penryn Young, Raffe, Paige, Obadiah West
Rating: 5/5 stars

Goodreads
Amazon
Susan Ee's website




PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION:
It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

Recommended for ages 16 and up.

My Review:
So. Freaking. Good.

This book is such a beautiful blend of the post-apocalyptic, paranormal, romance, horror, and YA genres. And honestly, other than the fact that there was a romantic thread weaved throughout and that the protagonist was a 17-year-old girl, it didn't feel YA to me--not in the way that books like The Iron King or Vampire Diaries felt YA. To reiterate this, I'll add that I've been off YA for a while now, favoring New Adult and Adult books for their tone, themes, and complexity, and still, I inhaled Angelfall.

I loved the premise, the idea that the biblical (and I mean that in a very loose Judeo-Christian sense) end of days will be filled with humans fighting back against the celestial beings carrying out armageddon is so unexpectedly awesome. I was impressed with Susan Ee's willingness to cross lines I'm hesitant to cross in my own writing. And in a way, I was inspired. So what are these lines she crossed?

Insanity. Honest, no-nonsense Paranoid Schitzophrenia. Penryn's mom suffers from it, and Penryn's experience dealing with and taking care of her is both harrowing and endearing.

Religion. She went there. There's an agnostic angel, good people fighting back against the angels just to survive, and speciesist angels who call humans "monkeys" and do experiments on humans that dwarf those done by the Nazis during WWII.

Mass-murder and systematic mutilation of children. These kids...it's like child Frankenstein meets The Ring. I mean...ack! And eeek! I'm a visual scaredy-cat, but not usually a mind's-eye one, and there was a portion of this book near the end where I couldn't go to sleep until Penryn had moved out of a certain area because a certain horrifying scene was seared into my mind. Nicely done, Ee, nicely, horrifyingly done, indeed.

*THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IS SPOILERY*

And then there's Penryn and Raffe, and the things Raffe says when he thinks she's dead. Tear my heart out, why don't you? And after that kiss? *frustrated sigh*  I just hope he's not an eternally repressive, sexually frustrated angel, if you catch my drift... ;) 

*END SPOILERINESS*

This book isn't long, but it's packed full of so much awesomeness that it's well worth a read. Oh, and the covers are gorgeous. Maybe you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but these babies totally fit. Angelfall. Read it.

Book 2 (which I'm reading now because, really, how could I wait?) is World After. So far, so damn good.

5/5 stars