A Quick Reading Recommendation

This isn't a book review, exactly, as technically, it's just been released a few minutes ago, but I wanted to take the time to recommend The Demon's Lexicon, 25 year-old Sarah Rees Brennan's debut novel. Yes, as I've said, I haven't read it, so you may be wondering why I'd recommend something by an author without any other published works--isn't that risky?

In short, no. Not in this case. I have been able to read the first chapter of the book (they're relatively short chapters), as well as a few random scenes from throughout the novel. I have also had the pleasure of reading a short story she's published, and her blog (which, sadly, was hacked last week. Thanks to the help of other fans, it's slowly being rebuilt, which is quite a task, as there were nine (!) years worth of posts to recover). Sarah's been around the internet for a while (as a "big name fan"), and she's been writing since she was a wee child, growing up in Ireland. She has a mastery of the language, and an amazing command of her characters, making them believable and very well rounded and deep. She has a decent fan following online, as she began writing Harry Potter fan fiction years ago, and though she no longer does that (and has since removed those stories from any online access), she does still give in and write occasional movie parodies (see her website for those. They are unbelievably worth it). Hers was the first fan fiction I'd experienced that didn't border on dreadful--it was amazing--heart-wrenching at times, hysterical at others).

The Demon's Lexicon is the first in a planned trilogy, being put out by Simon & Schuster. She's currently working on editing the second in the series (The Demon's Covenant). Now that I've gone on about how you should read it, I suppose you'd like to know what on earth the story is ABOUT, hm? I'll let the description from Simon & Schuster's site do the explaining (this is from the US version. The UK version--and all the other languages--are a little different in what they reveal):

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.

Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.

So, there you go. It's marketed as Young Adult Urban Fantasy, but hey, so was Harry Potter, so there certainly isn't an upper age limit. And yes, I will be reviewing the book myself once I get my hot little hands on a copy (this will probably happen in August).