Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews, Fantasy books
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaimon is an entertaining novel picked up from the 9-12 shelves in the children’s section. It tells of the childhood of Nobody Owens, Bod for short, a boy raised by ghosts in a graveyard. When he is a toddler, Nobody’s family are murdered by the man Jack. By chance, he gets out of the house and takes refuge in the graveyard, where the ghosts who inhabit it decide to shelter him. The book follows various key events in his life as Bod grows up in the graveyard.
Several of the early chapters almost stand on their own. Bod has various little adventures, facing ghouls and witches, trying to go to school or experiencing ancient traditions. Yet, all the way through the book, there’s the mystery of the man Jack and why he still wants Bod dead.
What I liked about this book was the sense of depth. I got the feeling of this world of ghosts and magic was rich and developed. There were glimpses of old traditions, allusions to other groups of people and such things that give an impression that this is a huge world, seen through the narrow view of a young boy. There are some questions which are never really answered. The backstory of Bod’s guardian Silas, described as being neither living nor dead, is never really explained. In many ways, this is a strength of the book because it does provide the impression that the world is so much bigger than this one book.
The style of the stories is quite light-hearted. Though the book, unsurprisingly, deals with the serious subject of death, it does so in a relatively cheerful way. There are some entertaining off-hand moments that provide entertainment through a story that could be otherwise quite dark.
The book is populated by an interesting mix of characters. Because they’re mostly ghosts, the characters are from different periods of history, with different backgrounds, which makes for very interesting interactions.
Overall, this is an amusing book. It’s a fun, easy read, suitable for older kids and younger teens.
Tags: adventure, books, children, fantasy, Neil Gaiman, review
Review: The Radleys by Matt Haig
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews, Fantasy books
I was recommended The Radleys by someone on an online book community. When I found it in the bookshop, I spotted a sticker on the front declaring that it was a choice of a TV book club. Obviously, some people think this is a great book, well worth reading. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.
The book is written about the Radley family. Peter and Helen live in a quiet English village with their teenage children Rowan and Clara. At first glance, they appear like a perfectly ordinary family. However, they have a secret.
One of my biggest problems with the book was the fact that I’d worked out what the secret was by reading the blurb on the back cover. It was very frustrating to have to work through about eighty pages of the narrative skirting around the massive topic, while dropping clues that were about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the skull. In the book’s favour, it picked up considerably once the secret was out in the open. Then we got to see the emotion and tension caused by this fact – which I won’t reveal, just in case you want to read the book want to figure it out for yourselves.
But it wasn’t the only secret. One family member had another secret, hidden from the other characters. Again, I guessed this secret as soon as it was alluded to, which meant pages of frustration as the topic was hinted at but not addressed. This time, it took over a hundred pages before the secret was discovered and then we got the interesting emotions the characters were feeling about the truth.
Another thing that I struggled with while reading this book was the perspective. Everyone was a point of view character. You got sections from the perspective of the four Radleys, Peter’s brother Will, the next door neighbours, the kids in school, police officers, parents of the kids in school, people in a club in Manchester, and on and on. It got to the point when I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a chapter from the perspective of the neighbour’s dog.
I could have lived with that. What really got me was when the perspective jumped. There would be, for example, a scene with Helen and Will talking in the kitchen. We’d start off seeing the conversation from Helen’s perspective. Then there’d be a glimpse of what’s going on in Will’s head. Then Rowan walks into the kitchen and there are a couple of paragraphs from his view point. Then we’re back inside Helen’s thoughts. This head-hopping happened so many times in the book and each time it was confusing and jarring, throwing me out of the story. This annoyed me probably more than the handling of the big family secrets.
The story was built on a really strong idea, approaching issues of family strife and fitting in from an unusual angle. I just struggled so much with the execution of the idea that I really can’t recommend this novel.
Review: Death Cloud by Andrew Lane
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Adventure books, Book Reviews
Death Cloud by Andrew Lane is written with the permission of the Conan Doyle Estate Ltd and tells of the early life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character, Sherlock Holmes. This novel is the first of a series telling of Sherlock’s teenage years and how he came to develop the keen mind and detective skills which are demonstrated in the original stories. This book is a fast-paced adventure aimed at teenagers and needs no background knowledge of Sherlock Holmes to be enjoyed. Andrew Lane has tackled the challenging task of creating a series which is consistent enough to the original to appeal to fans, while remaining accessible to those who haven’t read the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I can’t speak yet for the other books in his series, but this one certainly meets that goal.
In Death Cloud, young Sherlock is told that he can’t go home from boarding school for the summer holidays but must go stay with an aunt and uncle. While there, he befriends the independent Matty Arnatt, who recently saw a strange black cloud that was somehow connected with a death. Sherlock is informed that he is to have a tutor, Amyus Crowe, a cheerful man determined to teach Sherlock how to think. When they find a second dead body, Sherlock’s curiosity is peaked and he is determined to unravel the mystery behind the two deaths and the strange, black cloud.
Together with Matty, Crowe and Crowe’s daughter Virginia, Sherlock begins to uncover the facts and come to face with the man behind the deaths, whose plot could spell disaster for Britain. The story is written much more in the style of an adventure or thriller than a standard murder mystery. The tension is kept throughout not so much to find out who was behind the deaths but how, why and, more importantly, how to stop him. The mystery, combined with a sense of danger, keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next. There were a couple of not quite believable escapes, but that’s all part of a fun adventure.
Altogether, the book is an action-packed tale that gives a bit of insight into a beloved fictional character. The supporting characters are interesting and believable. The mystery is very cleverly constructed and the adventure is maintained throughout. I would recommend this book, regardless of whether you know anything about Sherlock Holmes. I’ll certainly be looking out for the other books in this series to see how young Sherlock continues with his second mystery.
Tags: adventure, Andrew Lane, books, review, Sherlock Holmes
Review: Mind the Gap by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews, Fantasy books
Mind the Gap by Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon is a modern day fantasy novel set in London. It tells the story of Jazz, a girl raised by her mother and constantly watched over by men known as the Uncles, who were never entirely trusted. One day, Jazz returns home from school to find her mother murdered by the Uncles. Her last act was to write a warning in her own blood, telling Jazz to hide forever. Jazz flees and finds herself in a maze of old shelters and disused lines in the London Underground. She meets a group of runaway kids who call themselves the United Kingdom, protected by a man named Harry Fowler. But there’s something else down in the dark, the spirit of London manifesting itself as ghosts in the old tunnels. And sometimes, the spirits scream.
The story is an adventure that grips from start to finish, luring you in with the mystery of Jazz’s life. It quickly becomes apparent that more coincidence brought Jazz to Harry and the pieces come together in an intricate plot.
The characters are excellent, from the mysterious Harry, to the suave Terrance, to the amusing Hattie, whose main care is the hat collection for which she’s nicknamed. Every character has their own motives, which feed together into the main plot. The all feel real and plausible in a way which supports the fantastic plot.
The magic element of the story is layered in subtly. Although I found this book in the SF&F section of the bookshop, it’s not immediately obvious that it’s a fantasy story. The existence of the ghosts in the Underground are a key part of the plot but they are brought in in such a way that you can almost believe that there’s something mysterious down in the tunnels.
There was one thing that jarred me as unbelievable. The members of the United Kingdom get to and from their hideouts from Tube platforms. On more than one occasion, there’s mention of characters waiting until the platform is clear and then heading along the tracks. On some of the business stations in the London Underground. In the middle of the day. There’s always someone on those platforms; either they just missed the previous train, or they’re waiting for one that was less like a sardine can, or they’re trying to figure out where they should go to cross to another line. I’m quite happy to believe there are spirits of old London floating around the Underground tunnels but the idea of finding an empty platform at Piccadilly Circus during peak times is too unbelievable.
Other than that, it was an excellent book, with interesting characters drawing you into a cleverly thought out plot. Definitely recommended.
Tags: adventure, books, Christopher Lebbon, Mind the Gap, review, Tim Lebbon
Review: The Recruit by Robert Muchamore
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Adventure books, Book Reviews
The Recruit by Robert Muchamore is the first book in the
CHERUB series, which is written about an organisation of children who act as
spies and secret agents. This story tells about how James, after his mother’s
death, is approached by CHERUB and offered the chance to join them. Given that
his other choice is to live in a children’s home with kids who’ve already got
him arrested, he agrees. Much of the book regards how he came to be in CHERUB
and the training he had to go through, while about the last third of the book
covers his first mission.
The concept behind this story resembles that behind the Alex
Rider series (I’m not sure which came first) but this book feels much older.
Despite the main character being 11, the book touches on some tough issues and
covers some topics that parents might not be keen on seeing young children read
about. For example, in the first chapter, James attacks a girl in his class and
she ends up needing stiches in her face. On another occasion, he goes to the
birthday party of an older friend and the others at the party think it’s fun to
get him drunk. The copy of the book that I read had a warning on the front that
it wasn’t for younger readers and I would agree. James isn’t exactly an ideal
role model for young kids: he constantly gets into fights, he steals and he
gets drunk.
Another thing that makes me feel that the book is for a much
older readership than the Alex Rider books is the nature of the bad guys. The
bad guys in The Recruit feel solid and complex as characters. When James
interacts with them, you get a feel for real people doing things they think are
right and necessary. James makes a comment at one point that it seems like
everyone is, to some extent, the bad guy in the scenario, which makes him doubt
whether what he did was right. This complexity and the morally grey nature of
the conflict makes the book feel more real, despite the unbelievable nature of
the central concept.
This book was quite an easy read and kept me turning the
pages to find out what happened next. Muchamore kept the tension throughout the
story. The only real drawback to the story is the fact that James is not a particularly
likeable character. Still, Muachamore did a great job of making his actions
understandable and sympathetic. The story was told from his perspective in such
a way that I could accept his motives for his actions, even when I didn’t like
his actions.
Overall, this was an interesting book and I’d consider
reading the others in the series, but James as a central character is a bit
off-putting. I also wouldn’t recommend it as a book for young readers. For
teenagers wanting to read about kids having adventures, it could be a good
choice.
Tags: adventure, books, CHERUB, novels, review, young adult
Review: Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews, Fantasy books, Uncategorized
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is one of those books I can come back to again and again. I recently bought a new copy and this edition includes introductions written by both authors. One includes a comment about Good Omens being the most repaired book they see because people read it so much it falls apart. There’s a mention that when they see a new copy, it’s usually because the owner’s gone and bought it again because they lent it to a friend and never got it back. This made me laugh; guess why I’d had to buy a new copy?
Good Omens is the story of the apocalypse, drawing on a lot of Biblical material. Crowley is a demon. Not just any demon, he was the serpent in the garden of Eden. Now he lives on Earth, messes around with humanity and generally has a good time. His opposite number is an angel called Aziraphale. The two of them have reached an understanding, allowing them to divide up England comfortably (both of them claiming credit for Milton Keynes). They’re not exactly friends, but they’re able to meet amiably despite the fact that one reports to heaven, the other to hell.
All seems to be going great until Crowley is given a child to place with a human family. This child is the antichrist, which means that the end of the world is imminent. Crowley and Aziraphale agree to team up in order to prevent the apocalypse. Unfortunately for them, due to incompetence, the child is misplaced and grows up away from the influence of either heaven or hell. Meanwhile, Anathema Device is using the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Angus Nutter, the only entirely accurate book of prophecies in existence, to try and pinpoint the antichrist.
As the end of the world nears, the unknowing antichrist’s powers start to manifest, causing chaos around the world.
As well as the main characters, there’s an interesting mixture of supporting characters, including: Shadwell, a witchfinder obsessed with how many nipples people have; Newton Pulsifer, a witchfinder who’d really love to work with computers; the Them, a gang of kids who follow the antichrist; Madam Tracy, part-time painted jezebel and medium; the four bikers of the apocalypse; and the four other bikers of the apocalypse, who didn’t make it into the book of Revelations.
The whole story is a light-hearted adventure full of bizarre situations and amusing occurrences. But, at the same time, it touches on some interesting issues of free will, religion and destiny.
I would strongly recommend this book. Maybe you’ll end up with a much-repaired copy because you’ve read it too many times.
Tags: adventure, books, fantasy, novels, pratchett, review
Review: Wild Swans by Jung Chang
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews
Wild Swans is a book that’s frequently horrifying yet so fascinating I struggled to put it down. It’s the story of three generations of Chinese women living through the twentieth century. The author, Jung Chang, writes about the lives of her grandmother, her mother and herself. The book starts with author’s grandmother essentially being sold as a concubine during a time when women had virtually no rights. It proceeds through the grandmother’s life, through the birth of the author’s mother. It describes life under Japanese occupation and her mother’s work for the Communist movement. It then describes the author’s own childhood, growing up under the cult of Mao and through the Cultural Revolution.
It’s a very personal story of the struggles and suffering of these three women, but Jung Chang delicately weaves in information about the politics of the time to give some context. She gives a bit of background around the decisions that were being made by Mao and others, and then describing the impact on their lives in detail, as well as her interpretations of the situation at the time. There are a lot of points where she talks about facts that she only found out later. As I’m someone who knew pretty much nothing about the politics of China over the past century, this was enormously helpful for me to understand. It also helps this book to be more than just a story and to become a way of appreciating the effects of the political situation on the people in the country.
A book of this nature runs the risk of being bogged down in the politics, but Jung Chang manages to keep the focus on a very personal and emotional struggle. I remember one piece in particular, where she is describing waking up to the sound of a bullet breaking a window in her apartment when she was a teenager. She simply writes, “After the horrors I had been through, bullets had lost their effect.”
I described the book as horrifying and I don’t use the word lightly. Jung Chang talks about the suffering that was experienced by ordinary people, through the famine of 1959 to 1961, through the brutality of the Cultural Revolution and the torture of her parents, for no reason except that another official didn’t like them. The events described are horrible but I think that only serves to increase the value of this book. To know what someone else has gone through puts our own lives into perspective.
The book is a considerable length, unsurprising given the weight of its contents, but I still read it relatively quickly because I was enthralled by the story it told and Jung Chang’s clear manner of describing her turmoil.
I would strongly recommend Wild Swans to anyone who has the slightest interest in Chinese history and culture, feminism, communism, politics, autobiographies, idealism, or people overcoming the struggles around them. I could probably continue that list considerably more, so suffice it to say that I strongly recommend Wild Swans.
Tags: biography, books, China, review
Review: Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews, Fantasy books
In a fantasy section filled with Tolkien rip-offs and teen vampire romance, Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind is a refreshing taste of originality. It is a sword and sorcery adventure which includes many traditional elements of a fantasy story, but approaching them with novelty and imagination. I first became aware of this story when I watched the TV series Legend of the Seeker, which is based on the Sword of Truth series of books, starting with Wizard’s First Rule. The word “based” is used in the loosest possible sense. The main characters in the TV series have the same names and some of the same characteristics as the characters in the books, but the plotline is drastically different. This meant that despite knowing the plot of the TV series, I could read the book without knowing where the story was going. I could enjoy it as I would any other novel.
Wizard’s First Rule is the story of Richard Cypher, a simple wood’s guide living in the Westlands. He’s out in the woods, looking for clues as to his father’s recent murder, when he sees a beautiful young woman being chased by armed men. He saves her and learns that her name is Kahlan. She has travelled across the boundary, a lethal barrier that separates parts of the world, from the Midlands, looking for a great wizard. A man named Darken Rahl is waging war on the Midlands and he’s invoked a form of magic that could potentially destroy the world. Richard promises to help Kahlan but gets more than he bargained for when they identify the wizard and he presents Richard with a magical weapon: the Sword of Truth.
There are some familiar elements in this story to anyone who’s read much fantasy: wizards, dragons and magical swords. But Goodkind’s approach to both the story and the setting is original. There are various kingdoms and countries mentioned in this book and in its sequel, with unique and interesting cultures. The different lands have their own ways of doing things, from the Mud People who eat the flesh of their enemies, to the people of the Midlands where rank is demonstrated by the length of a woman’s hair. Goodkind has done a great job of making sure that the different lands each have their own sense of identity, without falling prey to the clichés which litter fantasy novels.
In terms of plot, the story is exciting, with plenty of action and mystery. The only criticism I have about the book is that there were a couple of points when it was a little slow. Did it need to take so long for them to cross the boundary? Did Kahlan and Richard have to spend so long with the Mud People? But given the length of the book, which is a couple of inches thick at least, the surprisingly thing is that this only happens a couple of times. Through the rest of the book, I was eagerly turning pages to see what happened next as the plot ploughed forwards.
I liked the characterisation. Something Goodkind does really well is emphasising that even the bad guys think they’re right. It’s less evident in this book than some of the later ones but it’s still noticeable. You get to see characters who are truly evil and horrible, but you can see through their eyes and understand how they can justify it to themselves. That’s something which is very rare in fantasy books.
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. I’m already into the third in the series, which is probably the best praise I can give for this one.
Tags: adventure, books, fantasy, novels, review, Terry Goodkind
Wannabe a Writer We’ve Heard Of by Jane Wenham-Jones
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews
Wannabe a writer we’ve heard of? is an indispensible guide for any new author wanting to be sure that their great work is read by more than just their mum and next door neighbours. Jane Wenham-Jones is a romance author who describes herself as a media tart, getting on TV and radio, into newspapers, in front of audiences and anything else that will help promote her books. This book is therefore packed full of her own experiences explaining what has worked for her, as well as what she’s seen work for others. There’s a wealth of good information in here, a lot of which I wish I’d read a couple of years ago. A lot of things she explains around preparing for your book’s launch are things I’ve either had to figure out for myself or wish I’d known back when my novel was a looming publication date.
Don’t be put off by the genre of her novels if you write something different; the vast majority of the advice she provides can apply equally well to all genres of fiction as well as non-fiction books.
This book covers a range of topics, from book launch parties to press releases, networking to WI talks, radio to TV. All of these subjects are treated in the same light-hearted manner, making it an enjoyable read as well as extremely informative. There are plenty of anecdotes to make you chuckle, and some examples of the worst that might happen. If you live in fear of arranging a book signing and having no one show it, it’s comforting to read quotes from a famous author describing how exactly that happened in their early days.
In a lot of ways, for someone working hard at book promotion, this book is worth its cost just for the comfort of knowing that everyone else has to work at it too. I would heartily recommend this book, particularly if you are in the process of having a first book published.
Tags: advice, books, marketing, writing
Review: Room by Emma Donaghue
Posted by childofthehive | Filed under Book Reviews
Room by Emma Donaghue seemed to be getting a lot of good reviews and comments so, when I saw it on special offer in Waterstones, I decided to give it a try. It’s the story of a boy called Jack, who lives in a single, locked room with his Ma. The book opens as Jack turns five and his Ma starts to explain that there’s a whole world outside Room and that she wants to go back to it. They plot their escape and then Jack finds himself in a world that’s bigger and scarier than he could imagine.
The entire book is told from Jack’s perspective, which is probably what makes it so interesting. As readers, we have to piece a lot of things together based on fragments of conversation Jack hears between the adults in the book. This narrative style is interesting and lets us get right inside his head.
The book took a while to get going. As I read the first few dozen pages, I was wondering what all the fuss was about. Once Jack got out of Room, however, I was enthralled. We see a view of the world we know from the perspective of someone who’s been so cut off. This made the majority of the book fascinating. Having reached the end, I now feel that the long, slow opening was necessary. Donaghue had to establish the setting of Room and let us know Jack’s situation so that we could feel for him through the rest of it.
Here’s a boy who’s only ever interacted with his mother, suddenly having to deal with doctors, journalists, grandparents and random strangers. Here’s a boy having to struggle with stairs for the first time or learning that there are thousands of copies of his favourite book.
I would definitely recommend this book. Keep going through the scene setting because you will end up feeling a deep connection to this frightened little boy as the story develops.
Tags: books, characters, children, review
