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    Talker 25
    Unavailable
    Talker 25
    Unavailable
    Talker 25
    Ebook355 pages4 hours

    Talker 25

    By Joshua McCune

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Debut author Joshua McCune's gritty and heart-pounding novel is a masterful reimagining of popular dragon fantasy set in a militant future reminiscent of Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker and Ann Aguirre's Outpost. The Horn Book called it "absolutely gripping and absolutely horrifying."

    It's a high-school prank gone horribly wrong—sneaking onto the rez to pose next to a sleeping dragon—and now senior Melissa Callahan has become an unsuspecting pawn in a war between Man and Monster, between family and friends and the dragons she has despised her whole life. Chilling, epic, and wholly original, this debut novel imagines a North America where dragons are kept on reservations, where strict blackout rules are obeyed no matter the cost, where the highly weaponized military operates in secret, and where a gruesome television show called Kissing Dragons unites the population. Joshua McCune's debut novel offers action, adventure, fantasy, and a reimagining of popular dragon lore. "The story packs significant punch."—Publishers Weekly

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateApr 22, 2014
    ISBN9780062121929
    Unavailable
    Talker 25
    Author

    Joshua McCune

    Joshua McCune was born on a navy base in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He grew up in London and Washington, D.C., went to college in Texas, and got married in New Zealand. He worked as a telemarketer, an SAT instructor, and a robotics engineer before becoming an author. He currently lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his family, writing stories of people and places just beyond the reach of planes, trains, and automobiles (but not dragons).

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    Reviews for Talker 25

    3/5

    16 ratings5 reviews

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    • 2/5
      I won a copy of the sequel to this book from Epic Reads and figured I should read this one first; however, having gotten through it, I am second guessing whether I want to continue the series.I was really excited about this series because I thought, "hey...dragons", and also, "female lead with mystical abilities". Sounds like a recipe for a good time. The first chunk started off well enough. I liked the premise of the story and the main character, Melissa, was tolerable. But as I continued through this beast of a book, the narration dragged on and on and Melissa got more annoying by the page. She was hard to relate to and her lack of horror and empathy for the violence she witnessed was intolerable.Also, at some points the book just felt like page after page of descriptions of dragon torture or violent massacres. The amount of violence was not balanced out by Melissa's actions and I spent the second half of the book completely hopeless that anything was going to end up decently. I really did not want to finish this book. The descriptions of dying dragons made me sick and what was worse was Melissa's reaction, or lack of reaction, to the majority of the torture. I am glad I stuck around despite the cliff hanger ending, but I'm still not sure if I care enough to read the sequel.Also, growing up as an American female, I don't think I ever used the word "whore" as casually as Melissa and the other characters do. The amount of slut-shaming in this book is ridiculous. Doing absolutely anything as a female in the book earns you the title "whore". When I read a book with a female lead, I want one who's active and actually uses her brain, not someone who just bops around insulting other women and making assumptions about their sexuality, while countless acts of violence are being committed around her to which she responds with mild anger.The writing was descent and I stand by that the premise of the book was good. I would have liked more backstory, but there was enough of a starting point to launch from. I have seen a few reviews compare this book to The Hunger Games. There are similar elements from The Hunger Games (government conspiracy, female pawn, media lenses, forced love/relationships), but the violence in this book came off as more random and unnecessary instead of important aspects of the plot.
    • 5/5
      I couldn't put this book down! In the future, the Earth has been invaded by dragons. In the initial invasion, 80 million died. The Earth forces mobilized and now, fifteen years later, have the upper hand. They have learned a lot about the dragons including that they can't see black. Melissa Callahan lives in a military base on the outskirts of a reservation of blue dragons. Her father is a high ranking military officer who does research on the dragons. Her mother was killed in Arlington in a dragon attack. Melissa hates dragons but finds herself one evening riding shotgun when her best friend's date takes them to the reservation to take a picture with dragons.Melissa is frightened and even more frightened when the dragon seems to talk to her. When the dragons break out of the reservation and attack the base, Melissa is surprised to be rescued by one of the boys from the date who is riding a dragon. There is a group of humans, many of them able to talk to the dragons, who are opposed to the government's goal of wiping out all dragons. Melissa meets some of these people and learns that her mother was a member of this insurgency. She also learns that she can talk to dragons and meets a baby silver dragon. She and the baby dragon are captured by the military. Melissa is fitted with a crown that keeps her from communicating with dragons, lets the military read her thoughts, and is able to send electric shocks to punish her if she doesn't follow directions. She is taken to a secret base in Antarctica where the military is experimenting on the dragons they catch. They are also using the talkers to locate hidden dragons and control dragons who are being used to keep the war alive and further the military's agenda.There aren't any good guys in this one. The military isn't willing to admit that all dragons are not evil and they are doing evil things - including torturing and brainwashing minor US citizens - to further their own agenda.The things that happened in this story sometimes made it hard to read. Sometimes they even made me feel sick. I felt so sorry for Melissa and for the dragon she called Baby.
    • 2/5
      Well, that was fucking depressing. Writing was decent and it makes some excellent points about war and terrorism, but my god was it depressing. Why would you even market this to teens? Afraid they aren't depressed enough just trying to get throufh life?
    • 3/5
      Thanks to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for allowing me access to this.

      I felt this book came in two different parts. I was really liking it at first. I loved the set up and the idea of dragons just appearing and how we may deal with them. And then it took a different turn. I didn't like the second half as well. The government conspiracy and the brainwashing stuff had a completely different feel to it than the first section, and while it was still good, I didn't like it as well. I also didn't feel the profanity fit in most cases. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

      Overall, I know there are many who will like this, but I will have to be more careful about who I can give it to than I was originally thinking.
    • 3/5
      Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Pulse-racing and action-filled, Talker 25 is an enjoyable read for a fantasy lover. For me, I was just so-so on the novel, but there were definitely great things about this book.Opening Sentence: When Trish called me and begged me to go dragon hunting, I should have trusted my instinct.The Review:Talker 25 is the story of Melissa, who is living in an age that is full of dragons. The government has decided that all dragons must die long, horrible deaths, but the insurgents, or people like Melissa’s mother, don’t agree. When Melissa is unwillingly drawn into a rebellion, she soon finds herself and 24 others the victim of a secret agency tricking dragons to their deaths.This book used short, simple sentences that packed a lot of meaning into them. The style of writing was unique, but if you are the kind of reader to skim through fast and miss a few sentences here and there, you’ll easily be confused. Things happen very fast in some instances, and very slow in others, so I had trouble with the pacing, but the writing style is easily compared to Shannon Hale’s (author of The Goose Girl and more). Altogether, I knew the large plot and could identify what was happening, but some of the ideas introduced in this book didn’t latch on. I will say that it is never boring. Though sometimes, it does slow down, you always face more action and excitement around the next corner.I didn’t feel any connection with the boy character that Melissa supposedly is interested in. He’s not as likeable as other characters, such as Maxon (Kiera Cass’ The Selection) or Alex (Delirium). I oftentimes felt myself becoming annoyed with how endearing everyone thought he was, and when Melissa was trying to get over him it cheered me up more than it should have. Other characters were better, for example Talker 21, whom I actually loved. She has childlike qualities (she is young, after all) but you can tell she isn’t the least bit naive after being treated as she has been. And as for the main character, Melissa, for the most part I enjoyed her point of view.I was iffy on this book. On one hand, it was a good novel and I enjoyed reading it. On another, I sometimes was confused and the characters irritated me. It might have been that I am one of those readers that sometimes goes too fast to catch everything. I’m not sure. Nevertheless, I would read the sequel should it be offered to me without complaint. I’m positive that a lot of people will love this series, and I enjoyed myself reading it, but it really depends on your style. Three stars is in the “I liked the book but wouldn’t necessarily reread” range for me . . . Try it out and let me know your thoughts!Notable Scene:“No, Mel. You don’t talk to me.” He raises his fist, gives me one last glare, and storms from the room.“Wait! What about Dad? Sam?”The slam of the door is the only answer I get.“I’m done.” I say. “Take me back to my hole.”Simon shakes his head. “Patience, Ms. Callahan. Just one more, and you’ll be finished.Finished? All that’s left of this puppet show is Dad. He wouldn’t believe their lies. He’d trust me, believe me . . . love me.No matter what?FTC Advisory: Greenwillow/HarperCollins provided me with a copy of Talker 25. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.