I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

This was a selection for bookclub that I found myself thinking, ok, I’d never have picked it up myself, but I’ll give it a go. Generally speaking, vampire books don’t excite me and I’d seen the most recent movie so I wasn’t over enthusiastic about reading the book.

However, I’ve now learned that whoever made the movie must have read the blurb on the back of the book, thought ‘Great premise, I’m going to make a movie now’ and gone and written something completely different and called it the same title as the book. Unfair to the book if you ask me. As far as adaptations go, the film is appalling. Sure, it’s watchable if you’re in the mood for putting up with Will Smith basking in his ‘Will Smith-ness’ for much of it, but the book is an entirely different experience.

Robert Neville lives alone, trying to survive the nightly attacks from a seemingly endless supply of vampires. Could he be the last living human on the planet? Routine stifles despair, but loneliness is unceasing.

For a book that in effect has one character, I Am Legend is mightily engaging. It knows when to use an action sequence to draw you in, or develop the emotional story to make you feel more. It knows when to skip forward or back in time so weeks, months, years, don’t feel at all tedious. And the ending (which I will not spoil for you) is fascinating and makes you think about all you’ve read and what you would feel in the same situation. Don’t believe the movie version; it’s ridiculous Hollywood slop compared to what (I think) Matheson was trying to say with his book.

If you like anything vaguely apocalyptical then you'll like this one. It’s an enjoyable read that might make you think too. Nice choice for bookclub, particularly if like us, you watch the film adaptations afterwards to discuss further. 

Pan's Whisper by Sue Lawson

For starters, I’d like to preface this review by saying that I don’t go out of my way to read realism. It’s not really my genre of choice, but every now and then I’ll read something that makes me think: If it’s all this good, I really should be reading more of this stuff!

Pan’s Whisper is the first book by Sue Lawson that I’ve read, even though she has written nearly 20. Once again, trust me to discover someone brilliant who has a huge backlist that now I feel compelled to add to my already overloaded reading pile. She is a Victorian who’s writing voice is convincingly Australian without coming close to being overbearingly so.

Back to the book at hand: Pan’s Whisper.

I’m sitting here, staring at the book, trying to think of what to write and all that’s going through my head is: Oooo I loved this book!

So, I will try to do better than that.

Pan (short for Pandora) is being put into a foster home. (I’m not spoiling anything here; it’s on the back of the book and on the first page…) The trouble is, she doesn’t want to be in foster care, which contributes to her being obnoxious and defiant. She has very particular memories of her childhood and can’t work out why she should be there. She feels betrayed by her sister and misses her mother, as difficult as her mother could be.

Enter Hunter, a boy who couldn’t possibly know what she’s going through. Could he?

The thing about this book that really made it work for me (other than the brilliant writing) was the format. We experience life with Pan, who has buried memories she doesn’t want to uncover. Early on, her foster mother suggests writing to her sister and supplies paper, envelopes and stamps so she can post them herself. The book then unfolds like this: Pan lives her life in foster care, attending a new school; she sees or experiences something that causes a fractured flashback; she then writes to her sister (letter format) describing the memory from the point of view of her younger self; then we are shown that same experience from Pan’s sister’s perspective which, bit by bit, reveals the lengths the she went to in order to protect Pan from what was actually happening. It is these memories from the sister’s perspective that become increasingly heart wrenching.

My goodness this book is fantastic! I’m getting shivers just writing about it!

If you like realism, then it’s for you. If you’re not so partial, then I suggest you give it a go anyhow. Each time I see the cover or hear ‘Pan’s Whisper’ I think: that book was GOOD! I’m sure you will too.

The Chapter Sampler is HERE

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

The world is there to be consumed, right? If I can use it, I’ll take it and make it mine.

This is the basic idea behind the world of Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines. Well, as I see it anyway. Reeve has taken the idea of the rich and powerful taking and consuming what they want, from whoever they want, and labelled it ‘Municipal Darwinism’. This ‘delightful’ idea is set in a post apocalyptic/dystopian world where engineers have placed their cities on wheels and which now roam the planet eating smaller towns and villages in order to make use of their consumables.

“It’s a town eat town world out there.”

A staggering idea, perfectly executed.

You can see it all happening, right before you on the page, right before us in the future. A world where city life means never setting a foot on the filthy, muddy earth like the savages in the few static towns and cities.

Throw into this world an adventure that involves a number of teenagers, murder, conspiracy, pirates, the fate of thousands of people, and a whole lot of ideological conflict and you’ve got one hell of a story!

I kept picturing the whole thing as if it was a Studio Ghibli animation, and that suited me just fine! I have seen that it’s on IMDB but I’m sure it’s not Studio Ghibli and it’s only “in development” so who knows when it will be turned into a movie, and what that will be like.

In any event, this is a brilliant book! And I can’t wait to read the rest of the series (when I find the time! There’s now 7 books all up!)

The Flaxfield Quartet, Volume 2: Fireborn by Toby Forward

Ok, so anyone who has read my older posts, or that I’ve spoken to any time in the last few months, should have an idea how much I LOVED Dragonborn by Toby Forward. I think even Toby himself has an idea as he honoured me by commenting on my blog post. I must admit I was cuffed! But what can I say, I needed to tell the world that loved it!

So much so, I even squeezed in a re-read of it before reading Book 2 in The Flaxfield Quartet: Fireborn. I had other book-industry friends look at me in surprise and say “How did you manage to re-read a book? I wish I had the time…”

Where did I find the time? I made it. I set aside a whole day and read Dragonborn from cover to cover. Nothing else was achieved, which was perfect; I had nothing else I wanted to do. It was even better through the 2^nd time, but that’s a story for another day. This post should be about Fireborn.

Fireborn takes us back to before the events of Dragonborn and we get a detailed description of what happened to bring about the wild magic and set things on an unpredictable and dangerous path. Stories told in book 1 that appeared to be myths or legends to teach a moral turn out to be truth. I don’t want to say too much, in case I give something away. This is a series that any self respecting fantasy fan (or fiction fan in general) should be rushing out the door to get their hands on. And now! Before you start being told by too many people how good it is. Be one of the first, the originals, who tell their friends to read it and can say they were there at the beginning.

Fireborn holds its own against Dragonborn. I think neither outshines the other; both are exceptionally crafted.

On a personal note, one thing I noticed reading book 2 (and thinking back to book 1) was how brilliantly Toby Forward uses unanswered questions. As in many real life conversations, people ask questions that sometimes will prompt a change in topic by the other person to avoid answering. Or an allusive answer is given. This happens regularly throughout both books and, for me, it made it more real, and so much more compulsive!

Fireborn has confirmed what I suspected after I read Dragonborn: Toby Forward deserves a place on my shelf (on your shelf too) next to Usula K. Le Guin, J.R.R. Tolkin, Patrick Ness, Phillip Pullman, and the other great writers of fantasy. As an aspiring author myself, I found myself taking mental note of various writing techniques that Toby Forward has used that inspire me endlessly. I have been caught a few times smiling wistfully to myself by my partner, and when asked ‘what are you thinking?’ I confess sheepishly that I had been thinking about The Flaxfield Quartet.

Thank you again Toby. Now the final two instalments in this series will be very significant events on my calendar. 

Missed the first one? Read my review HERE

Life: An Exploded Diagram by Mal Peet

Wow! I have heard some glowing reviews about Mal Peet’s writing in general but had never had the time to read any of his books. Until now… and I’m left amazed!

Peet’s prose is a smorgasbord for those who love the English language and what it’s capable of. Full of rich and original descriptions and subtleties that state plainly what going on in the story, but allude to so much more. If there is one thing he has achieved in this brilliant book, it is a perfect illustration of Life as an exploded diagram.  No piece of the story is too small or too large to be left out. Each little detail all fits perfectly into the picture. Peet has superbly realised with this novel what his narrator has with his art: “I’ve made my living these past thirty years painting and drawing things exactly and intensely as they are and letting them speak for themselves.”

The story itself centres on two teenagers who are trying to make sense of life and love in the English countryside in the shadow of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The missile crisis is explained in detail as it will affect both of them more than they could have ever imagined.

This is for the reader who wants more. More of everything. More of life. It is not simply another teenage love story. Quoting the book: “Lord knows, bookshop shelves already creak under the weight of Misery Memoirs and Teen Novels that might as well all be called My School Hell. I have no desire to add my small pebble to that avalanche of unhappiness.” 

Do not be fooled by this being shelved in Young Adult fiction sections of bookshops. While it is a great read for the teen who wants something meatier, something better, it is just as much for adults. Those that lived through the missile crisis, those that have only heard about it, those that haven’t but have had a run-in with teenage love, and those that are simply fascinated by life and how everything fits together. In all honesty, I have no interest in politics, but there was no point in this book that I didn’t want to keep reading. Such astounding writing has left me invigorated. I strongly suggest you read this book.

Now I’ve got all of Mal Peet’s other novels to look forward to. As a friend said to me recently “I’m jealous that you’ll get to read them for the first time.” There is a magic in that first reading. There certainly was in this one.

Blink & Caution by Tim Wynne-Jones

There’s something striking about Tim Wynne-Jones’ writing that I find intriguing. He writes subject matter that I would normally have no interest in whatsoever, but somehow his prose is so elegant and atmospheric that I’m engaged from beginning to end.

Admittedly, I’ve only read one other of his books: The Uninvited, which I really quite liked, so it was no surprise when I thoroughly enjoyed Blink & Caution.

It tells the story of two teens who have run away from home (separately, they don’t know each other at the beginning of the story) and have been living on the streets for a number of months.

‘Blink’, as he has named himself, goes into a hotel to scavenge food left out in the hallways, leftover room service, and witnesses something that will lead him into more trouble than he would have imagined.

‘Caution’, as she has named herself, sees her life on the streets as an extended death sentence for the horrible thing that she did.

There seems to be no hope for either of them until they meet each other and decide to work together to get to the bottom of the mystery that’s in the newspapers across the country, the mystery that Blink has witnessed a key part of.

I wish I had been marking the quotes I like throughout this book (like I usually do) because some of his similes and metaphors were surprising and beautiful. If there’s one thing I get sick of in books, it’s clichéd descriptions.

So if you’re after an absorbing crime thriller, that doesn't get too heavy but is full-on enough to keep it interesting, I can recommend Blink & Caution.

And I know I’ll be hanging out for Tim Wynne-Jones’ next book and (when I have time!) looking into his others as well.

The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart

As most reviews on my blog are for children’s or Young Adult books, I think I should start by saying that this one is for a book with ‘content’ and so some discussion of that ‘content’ might come through.

Then, to begin my review, I think I need to say I am reading this book 40 years after it was published, and therefore feel like it didn’t have the same effect on me that it seems to have had when it was released.

But, having said that, a book is a book no matter when it is read and this one left me weary and disenchanted. Not with life, as the back of the book claims (“It’s not often that a book changes your life. This one will”) but with the book itself. And I found myself thinking “Why did I read that?” Well the short answer for that is “bookclub”. And so in that spirit, I’m not bagging out the choice (I’m sure not everyone liked my choice) but the book, which I’m entitled to do.

It took me nearly two and a half weeks to get through it. It was laborious and painful and full of a ridiculous philosophy and misogynistic, chauvinistic ideas. And above all, it was as if he was trying to shock for shock’s sake. That is why I said earlier that I was reading it 40 years after it happened, at times I wondered whether I had been desensitized to so much of what he was saying by movies and TV shows today. When ‘rape and murder’ are the two worst things he could come up with (which, don’t get me wrong, are both horrible!) they somehow don’t compare to all the appalling ‘torture porn’ that seems to be so popular these days. I just wasn’t shocked. But I was put off by the character’s (and author’s) delight in them.

Early on there is a scene where the main character decides that if a die (that is hidden beneath a playing card) is showing a 1 when he unveils it, he will go down stairs and rape his best friends wife. It is and he does. But before we get to that point in the story, we’ve already been told that they’ve both been tempted to cheat before so when she only offers minor resistance, then agrees, then enjoys it more than he does, the shock value just isn’t there. But again, there was that disturbed feeling that he felt it was worth writing about.

Later, when he is taking orders from the dice and doing the most ridiculous things, all of which I found boring and/or simply attention seeking, he decides that he needs to experience sex with a man. Despite the many colourful descriptions of his sex with women, this only gets a one line chapter: “My ass is going to hurt tomorrow.” For a book that is supposed to be about breaking down the personality and removing all inhibitions, and one that is written in a way that is supposed to shock the audience to pay attention, I found it incredibly disappointing that the author could not shock himself and describe this scene in the same detail. I did not necessarily want to read it, but its omission seemed at odds with the rest of the book.

Then, after making a case for ‘dicelife’ and establishing that nothing matters, not even dicelife, he describes some ‘successful’ cases where it has helped as a form of therapy for certain people. The fact that many of these people are dead because the dice told them to kill themselves or their families is mentioned in an off-hand way and not actually included in his list of side effects.

I agree with him on one point: dicelife doesn’t matter. And neither does this book. It’s not what the reviews say about it. All the quotes about how important it is and how it will ‘change your life’ are rubbish. It is the manifesto of a pretentious psychologist who is bored with life and wishes to inflict that boredom on the rest of the world.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

This week, I listened to Northanger Abbey on audio book while driving around for work. I was able to knock the whole thing over in a day. It’s days like that that I’m a) thankful for audio books and b) glad to put all that driving time to use.

This is only the second Jane Austen I’ve ‘read’ (I actually did read Pride and Prejudice). And I just love them! I should say, that I was listening to a version put out by Penguin Audio and it doesn’t say anywhere on the case if it is an abridged version or not, all I know is it runs for just over 3 hours. So perhaps someone might be able to tell me if I heard the whole thing or not. I will be reading it again in the future however, because I am a collector of quotes from books and this one is ripe to bursting with them! And being on audio, and me needing to keep my hands on the wheel, I was unable to record any of them.

The narrator (who I’m not certain of their name because I have returned the CDs to my friend without taking note and can’t find the information online, is either Joanna David or Jill Balcon) read it with the perfect affected accent you would expect of a Jane Austen novel which only added to my enjoyment.

The storyline of this one was a bit more straight forward: Girl goes on holiday, sees a man she takes a fancy to, pines over him while he’s not there, spends time with him, falls in love, there are numerous misunderstandings she’s turned out of their home, then everything gets resolved. But it was great fun!

It seemed that Jane Austen was also using this book to critique the contemporary opinion of novels as there was much discussion about the types of people who read novels, and their supposed embarrassment in being caught reading ‘just a novel’. Then, to the author’s defence come the Hero of the story, claiming that men read ‘nearly as many as women’ and that he has read ‘hundreds and hundreds of novels’.

Then, I had to hunt down this quote because I loved it so much, I laughed out loud when I heard it:

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.”

I feel like framing that and hanging it on my wall!

All I can say now is: I’m very excited to get around to the rest of Jane Austen’s books!

If you’ve never read any of them, you’re missing out!

The Book of Lost Things - John Connolly

From the opening pages, Connolly's writing had me enthralled. As the book unfolds, the subject matter is handled tenderly and professionally so that the good humoured compassion of a supportive relationship is delightfully established despite the declining health of David's Mother.

It has been a while since I have been so thoroughly impressed with both the content, and writing style of a book that every line on every page is a delight to read. I must admit that anything that involves fairy or folk tales is entirely up my alley. But that said, this would be an interesting read for those with even a passing acquaintance with these stories. While intertextuality plays a major role within this book, Connolly has expertly created a world on his own which is just waiting to be consumed by any reader's imagination.

I picked up this book because I liked the cover. I read it, not knowing anything about it. And I was so impressed and pleased at what was within I'm trying now not to give anything away to those who haven't read it.

The Book of Lost Things captures the pure joy, the lurking fear, the endured trials and deserved triumphs which are contained in books and imaginations all over the world. I fully recommend this book to anyone with a love of stories, a love of reading.

The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor

I thought I'd kick off my blog with a short review I wrote of a book I read recently... I must admit that the book was a little underwhelming.

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor:

A good idea... forced through the mold of Carroll's book like play-dough. This was enjoyable in parts, but I found Beddor's writing kept throwing me out of the book. In particular the onomatopoeic words were very clumsy and distracting. The desperate attempt to adapt many of the smaller details left me feeling like it was exactly that... an adaptation, desperate to be an adaptation rather than wanting to stand on it's own merit. I very much wanted to love this, as I love adaptations and love Alice in Wonderland... but this one didn't live up to my expectations which are established by writers like Donna Jo Napoli and Gregory Maguire.

I think that this book spent too much time trying to accomplish complex fight scenes with heavy handed descriptions of bloody corpses without fine tuning the writing elsewhere, particularly in light of how difficult to read some of the fight scenes were.

One day, when I have the time, I will read the sequal. Hopefully it is more polished than this first volume.