Category: B+

amandine?

Posted on by Greig

Rosemary and Rue

Seanan McGuire

This is the first of a series of urban fantasy novels featuring the private investigator October Daye as the lead character.
Toby is a changeling – half Human and half Fae.
After an investigation goes wrong she’s trapped for fourteen years by a magical transformation. Since breaking free of the spell she’s done her best to run away from her past when she’s drawn back in by the dying curse of a pureblood friend and bound to find the murderer.
This is a really solid piece of urban fantasy with a lead character that’s satisfyingly flawed and world that has enough interesting threads to fill several more books.
Definitely recommended if you like a bit of urban fantasy.

Rating: B+

attic?

Posted on by Greig

Dave Gorman Vs the Rest of the World

Dave Gorman

What do you do when you get bored and have time to kill? Dave Gorman asked his followers on twitter if they fancied playing a game.
This book chronicles his travels all over the UK to play strangers, acquaintances and friends at various games from Monopoly to Darts with odd pub and board games thrown in.
Gorman has previous when it comes to taking on insane challenges – see Are You Dave Gorman? and Dave Gorman’s Googlewhack Adventure which are both very funny books (I’ve read them but they escaped being reviewed on the blog).
Gorman has a pleasing style and the book is genuinely funny but there’s just something tired and bored underlying the adventures.
Something screams “I want to stop doing crazy stuff and to settle down!”
Recommended if you liked his earlier books.

Rating: B+

nancy?

Posted on by Greig

Lemonade Mouth

Mark Peter Hughes

Lemonade MouthI came across the Lemonade Mouth film while looking for episodes of Phineas and Ferb (awesome kid’s cartoon) on the Disney channel. I gave it five minutes expecting to hate it and instead found it sweetly funny and filled with pleasant songs (well constructed teen pop, nothing revelatory).
So when I saw the book the film was based on for sale in the Kindle store on Amazon for a couple of quid I decided it was worth trying.
It differs from the film in that the characters less obviously photogenic and the music they play in the book sounds insanely off the wall, but most of the character’s themes and motivations are there.
In the book the story is told from the perspectives of the individual band members and some other people involved in the events related.
It’s a sweetly funny, very readable young adult book and I’m not surprised it translated so well into a tv film.
Recommended if you enjoyed the film or like charming young adult tales where misfits band together to become something greater. Personally I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.

Rating: B+

buttercup?

Posted on by Greig

Mockingjay

Suzanne Collins

MockingjayThe final volume of the trilogy puts Katniss and her loved ones through further horrors.
The onset of war burdens her with further guilt when she’s forced into unpalatable decisions from the resulting moral quandaries.
I raced through this book, desperate to find out how things turned out. While I’m happy with the ending, I felt that there were a lot things I would have liked to have known that were left out because we’re limited to only Katniss’ view of events.
Overall I think I’d recommend the series but I’m pretty sure that some readers will find a lot to annoy them about the books.

Rating: B+

jabberjaw?

Posted on by Greig

Catching Fire

Suzanne Collins

catching fireThe second book in Collin’s popular series deals with the repercussions that follow Katniss’ actions in The Hunger Games.
Another enjoyable read, however, it definitely feels like the middle book of a trilogy.
A lot of the ground covered feels familiar from the first book and the ending is just there to tee up the final volume.
The lead character remains compelling. A flawed, deeply damaged person attempting to survive a horrific world.
I’m pretty sure if you read the first of these books you’ll know whether you want to move on to this one.

Rating: B+

gunter?

Posted on by Greig

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline

ready player oneHeavily hyped in certain circles online this is a science fiction novel with nostalgia for the USA’s 80s nerd culture as it’s USP.
References to totems like the Atari 2600, D&D, Oingo Boingo and Family Ties pop up on nearly every page.
The plot is that it’s the 2040’s and the inventor of the globally pervasive OASIS system (like a VR combination of the internet and mmorpg worlds) died leaving his fortune and company to whomever can solve a series of puzzles he left behind, his easter egg if you will.
This is a world devastated by economic collapse and the search is frenzied initially. However, after a few years without progress only a dedicated few are still trying to crack the puzzle, one of which is a poor kid growing up in his aunt’s stack trailer. The pursuit of the easter egg is about to change his life.
This is a thoroughly entertaining read and I raced through it an a few hours.
Much of the rampant nostalgia lacks proper impact to someone who grew up with the UK version of 80’s nerddom but enough of it translates for you to understand what he’s trying to do.
I feel that it’s actually quite a slight story if you look past all the cultural signifiers but it certainly is fun.
I’d recommend it if you grew up in the 80s and fancy a quick read.

Rating: B+

licked?

Posted on by Greig

The Rook

Daniel O’Malley

the rookI first came across this book in a Big Idea piece on John Scalzi’s website.
If I had just seen it in a bookshop I would have dismissed it as mining the same territory as Charles Stross’ Laundry books but the author’s piece on the book made me intrigued enough to want to read it.
The key hook is that the lead character (the awesomely named Myfanwy Thomas) has been robbed of her memories and has to navigate her former life in the supernatural secret service and find out why her memories were taken using the notes left behind by her previous self.
It’s a really fun and quick read. It plays with the supernatural and mocks bureaucracy with equal verve.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the book I’d be a bit worried if sequels were to arrive as I can’t see how they could do anything other than bring diminishing returns.
Recommended if you’re looking for an entertaining romp.

Rating: B+

flout?

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Making Money

Terry Pratchett

The second Moist von Lipwig book is a very entertaining romp. Not as powerful or as moving as the very top echelon of Pratchett’s work can be, but very much worth a read.
Previously reviewed in 2007 and 2009. This re-read was prompted by a showing of the Sky production of Going Postal over xmas. It’s probably the best of all the Discworld adaptations so far, with the performance by Claire Foy as Adora Belle Dearheart a particular standout.

Rating: B+

unggue?

Posted on by Greig

Snuff

Terry Pratchett

The latest Discworld novel finds us once again in the company of Pratchett’s greatest character – Sam Vimes.
Snuff finds Vimes rather reluctantly on holiday with his wife and son at her country estate. Of course, being the true copper that he is, Sam finds himself in the middle of a mystery.
What makes Pratchett great, of course, is his ability to capture the complexities and messiness of being human and part of the greater animal that is society.
His clear eyed humanism is a treasure we should cherish.
Snuff starts slowly and doesn’t spark into life until Vimes relaxes into his inquiry and feels like he’s on familiar ground. The main body of the story is typical Pratchett, beautifully told and utterly involving. However the ending is weirdly muddled, with uneven pacing and too many things left off screen and just related to the reader.
As I always say when reviewing Sir Terry – if you haven’t read his stuff please do; they are more than worth your time.
This isn’t recommended as a place to start, though. Read a few more of the Vimes books, starting with the first perhaps (Guards! Guards!), and you’ll be ready to come back and enjoy this one.

Rating: B+

cupboard?

Posted on by Greig

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

J.K. Rowling

So I saw the final film installment of the Harry Potter saga the other week and it gave me the impetus to do something I’d been meaning to do for a while; to re-read all the books.
This is in part to experience the world as Rowling wrote it, shorn of the film maker’s interpretations and compromises. The other reason is that I’ve only read the last book once – and a very quick read it was. So there’s a lot of things that I can’t remember and I’m sure there’s a lot of nuance I missed throughout the entire series that I never picked up on.
The first book is a great kids book. It’s not terribly original but very well done with a consistency of tone and world building that would pay dividends as the series grew into a phenomenon.
It’s a quick, fun read within a recognizable tradition of boarding school (magic or otherwise) stories. The greatest pleasure of this re-read is identifying the number of things that are seeded here that come to fruition later in the series. Though it’s hard to tell what’s a deliberate plant – some things gain signifigance in an almost haphazard fashion.
Another enjoyable aspect of the book is getting to know characters again that aren’t terribly well served by the films. Ron and Hermione are richer and more interesting people in the books. In the celluloid version of the series I feel that they were reduced to comic foil and brain respectively.
One thing that I definitely noticed this time through are that there’s a lot of negatives in the depiction of fat people.
I like this book and it’s an enjoyable gateway to a series that is ultimately a very rewarding read.

Rating: B+