Finally got the March update for the main site posted, archiving and cross-linking the previous ten reviews. (I've been having internet issues all day...)
Enjoy!
Friday, March 31, 2017
Monday, March 27, 2017
Caliban's War (James S. A. Corey)
Caliban's War
(The Expanse series, Book 2)
James S. A. Corey
Orbit
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: A year ago, a team of scientists discovered humans were not alone in the universe - and attempted to exploit the protomolecule, the virus-like creation of an unknown species, for profit, an effort that nearly led to the obliteration of life on Earth. Now, it has taken over uninhabited Venus, running through its inscrutable "program" while baffled humans observe. With the outfit behind the outbreak dismantled and every known sample beyond Venus destroyed, everyone thought that the threat was as good as contained... but everyone thought wrong.
Martian space marine Roberta "Bobbie" Draper was stationed on Ganymede, the "breadbasket" of the outer colonies, when an impossible monster attacks, leaving her the only surviving witness to a strike with all the earmarks of the protomolecule. She becomes a pawn in a political game played by her Martian superiors and the United Nations of Earth and Luna, but what she really wants is to avenge her fallen friends, no matter the cost.
Praxidike Meng, a botanist on Ganymede, thought the greatest tragedy of the attacks was the loss of his experimental crops - until he learns that his young daughter Mei was abducted by her doctor, along with several other children, mere hours before the trouble began. His desperate search leads him to a most unlikely knight: Captain James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante, who are either thieves, heroes, terrorists, or traitors, depending upon whom one asks. All Prax knows, or cares, is that when he needed help, they were there... but the search for Mei becomes part of a much greater conspiracy.
Undersecretary Chrisjen Avasarala has been a vital cog in the government machine, not to mention a shrewd player in the game, for decades, but never in her career has she faced anything like this. As the fallout of the Ganymede incident again tilts the delicate balance of power toward open interplanetary war, alliances crumble and enemies turn up in the most unexpected places. For the first time. Avasalara may have been outmaneuvered - and if she loses the game, countless people may lose their lives.
REVIEW: Like the first book, Caliban's War presents a well-paced tale of space travel, political intrigue, grit, and wonder, not to mention a good deal of explosions and gunfights. The characters aren't always the deepest, but they do grow and change. Holden has been scarred by his experiences in the first book, and must work to rediscover himself even as he finds himself once more plunged into danger. (If the other crewmembers of the Rocinante are somewhat less scarred, they didn't personally experience what Holden did - plus, they're more of a supporting cast than stars, even if their personalities and backgrounds expand here.) The new characters each bring strengths and weaknesses to the table, not without some personality and agenda clashes. They also, like the first book, represent a nice swath of diversity in a genre that sometimes still leans a little white and male. It's not a deep or profound read, with some of the writing still clunking a bit now and again, but it nevertheless entertains. This book also ends on a hook (not a true cliffhanger) that makes me glad I have Book 3 already on hand, even if it might have to wait a bit before I pick it up. So far, I'm enjoying this series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Star Rigger's Way (Jeffrey A. Carver) - My Review
Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke) - My Review
A Fire Upon the Deep (Vernor Vinge) - My Review
(The Expanse series, Book 2)
James S. A. Corey
Orbit
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: A year ago, a team of scientists discovered humans were not alone in the universe - and attempted to exploit the protomolecule, the virus-like creation of an unknown species, for profit, an effort that nearly led to the obliteration of life on Earth. Now, it has taken over uninhabited Venus, running through its inscrutable "program" while baffled humans observe. With the outfit behind the outbreak dismantled and every known sample beyond Venus destroyed, everyone thought that the threat was as good as contained... but everyone thought wrong.
Martian space marine Roberta "Bobbie" Draper was stationed on Ganymede, the "breadbasket" of the outer colonies, when an impossible monster attacks, leaving her the only surviving witness to a strike with all the earmarks of the protomolecule. She becomes a pawn in a political game played by her Martian superiors and the United Nations of Earth and Luna, but what she really wants is to avenge her fallen friends, no matter the cost.
Praxidike Meng, a botanist on Ganymede, thought the greatest tragedy of the attacks was the loss of his experimental crops - until he learns that his young daughter Mei was abducted by her doctor, along with several other children, mere hours before the trouble began. His desperate search leads him to a most unlikely knight: Captain James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante, who are either thieves, heroes, terrorists, or traitors, depending upon whom one asks. All Prax knows, or cares, is that when he needed help, they were there... but the search for Mei becomes part of a much greater conspiracy.
Undersecretary Chrisjen Avasarala has been a vital cog in the government machine, not to mention a shrewd player in the game, for decades, but never in her career has she faced anything like this. As the fallout of the Ganymede incident again tilts the delicate balance of power toward open interplanetary war, alliances crumble and enemies turn up in the most unexpected places. For the first time. Avasalara may have been outmaneuvered - and if she loses the game, countless people may lose their lives.
REVIEW: Like the first book, Caliban's War presents a well-paced tale of space travel, political intrigue, grit, and wonder, not to mention a good deal of explosions and gunfights. The characters aren't always the deepest, but they do grow and change. Holden has been scarred by his experiences in the first book, and must work to rediscover himself even as he finds himself once more plunged into danger. (If the other crewmembers of the Rocinante are somewhat less scarred, they didn't personally experience what Holden did - plus, they're more of a supporting cast than stars, even if their personalities and backgrounds expand here.) The new characters each bring strengths and weaknesses to the table, not without some personality and agenda clashes. They also, like the first book, represent a nice swath of diversity in a genre that sometimes still leans a little white and male. It's not a deep or profound read, with some of the writing still clunking a bit now and again, but it nevertheless entertains. This book also ends on a hook (not a true cliffhanger) that makes me glad I have Book 3 already on hand, even if it might have to wait a bit before I pick it up. So far, I'm enjoying this series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Star Rigger's Way (Jeffrey A. Carver) - My Review
Childhood's End (Arthur C. Clarke) - My Review
A Fire Upon the Deep (Vernor Vinge) - My Review
Friday, March 24, 2017
Romancing Miss Right (Lizzie Shane)
Romancing Miss Right
(The Reality Romance series, Book 2)
Lizzie Shane
CreateSpace/Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Romance
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Romance novelist Marcy Hendrickson may write happily-ever-afters, but has never had the courage to pursue one herself; being rejected by the lead man on the reality show Marrying Mister Perfect last season was more a relief than a disappointment (and would've been even if she hadn't seen the man was already in love with someone else before the cameras rolled.) But the stint has been good for book sales, and being the star of this season's Romancing Miss Right should boost her even more. Marcy holds no delusions about actually finding love on reality TV, not even with thirty gorgeous bachelors (each hand-picked by a team of experts) vying for her hand, but she'd be a fool to turn down the opportunity.
Radio personality Craig Callow's bad boy persona makes him a hot property, but the big money's in television, and the exposure from a show like Romancing Miss Right will go a long way toward getting him out from behind a microphone and in front of the cameras full-time. Those shows love a villain to stir things up and boost ratings, and playing the heart-breaker is second nature. He doesn't even need to go the distance to the final round - which is just as well, as his beloved mother has made no secret of what she thinks of this year's bachelorette, the "Ice Princess" Marcy. Craig will turn on the charm, create a little chaos, then walk away. Nothing to it.
Neither Marcy nor Craig actually expect to find love - but their hearts have their own scripts...
REVIEW: After a couple of breakneck middle-grade fantasy titles, I figured I could use a lightweight escape, and romances are usually a decent choice for that. You generally know what you're getting with them. This one delivered on multiple levels, with well-drawn characters that balance each other nicely and a decent plot to make it more than just an overlong and unnecessarily convoluted seduction (as some romance titles I've read became.) Marcy and Craig may seem like opposites, but both have problems coping with their own emotions; Marcy earned the nickname Ice Princess during her previous reality show stint for her refusal to break into emotional hysterics (which audiences and reality show producers prefer), while Craig has cultivated his bad-boy persona after watching man after man break his single mother's heart. Their relationship comes across as earned and balanced, both complicated and strengthened by their respective flaws and the obstacles they face. A subplot involves executive producer Miranda, whose struggle to balance her high-intensity career with a personal life drives many decisions related to the show, her own attitudes about the feasibility of love coming into play at key points as the show unfolds; unlike many side characters (not just in romances), she, too, is a well-drawn character, not just a plot-shaped cog snapped in to facilitate events. The end result may hit familiar notes, but does so in a way that feels authentic, driven by the characters and their choices, not genre expectations. That sense of authenticity, plus its ability to keep drawing me back for "one more chapter" until close to midnight, earned it an extra half-star in the ratings.
As a closing note, I have no idea why Book 2 of this series was offered for a discount rather than Book 1 - not that it matters so much in romances, where series titles tend to be loosely-linked standalones, but still...
You Might Also Enjoy:
Wicked Games (Jessica Clare and Jill Myles) - My Review
When Lightning Strikes (Brenda Novak) - My Review
Bidding On Brooks (Katy Regnery) - My Review
(The Reality Romance series, Book 2)
Lizzie Shane
CreateSpace/Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Romance
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Romance novelist Marcy Hendrickson may write happily-ever-afters, but has never had the courage to pursue one herself; being rejected by the lead man on the reality show Marrying Mister Perfect last season was more a relief than a disappointment (and would've been even if she hadn't seen the man was already in love with someone else before the cameras rolled.) But the stint has been good for book sales, and being the star of this season's Romancing Miss Right should boost her even more. Marcy holds no delusions about actually finding love on reality TV, not even with thirty gorgeous bachelors (each hand-picked by a team of experts) vying for her hand, but she'd be a fool to turn down the opportunity.
Radio personality Craig Callow's bad boy persona makes him a hot property, but the big money's in television, and the exposure from a show like Romancing Miss Right will go a long way toward getting him out from behind a microphone and in front of the cameras full-time. Those shows love a villain to stir things up and boost ratings, and playing the heart-breaker is second nature. He doesn't even need to go the distance to the final round - which is just as well, as his beloved mother has made no secret of what she thinks of this year's bachelorette, the "Ice Princess" Marcy. Craig will turn on the charm, create a little chaos, then walk away. Nothing to it.
Neither Marcy nor Craig actually expect to find love - but their hearts have their own scripts...
REVIEW: After a couple of breakneck middle-grade fantasy titles, I figured I could use a lightweight escape, and romances are usually a decent choice for that. You generally know what you're getting with them. This one delivered on multiple levels, with well-drawn characters that balance each other nicely and a decent plot to make it more than just an overlong and unnecessarily convoluted seduction (as some romance titles I've read became.) Marcy and Craig may seem like opposites, but both have problems coping with their own emotions; Marcy earned the nickname Ice Princess during her previous reality show stint for her refusal to break into emotional hysterics (which audiences and reality show producers prefer), while Craig has cultivated his bad-boy persona after watching man after man break his single mother's heart. Their relationship comes across as earned and balanced, both complicated and strengthened by their respective flaws and the obstacles they face. A subplot involves executive producer Miranda, whose struggle to balance her high-intensity career with a personal life drives many decisions related to the show, her own attitudes about the feasibility of love coming into play at key points as the show unfolds; unlike many side characters (not just in romances), she, too, is a well-drawn character, not just a plot-shaped cog snapped in to facilitate events. The end result may hit familiar notes, but does so in a way that feels authentic, driven by the characters and their choices, not genre expectations. That sense of authenticity, plus its ability to keep drawing me back for "one more chapter" until close to midnight, earned it an extra half-star in the ratings.
As a closing note, I have no idea why Book 2 of this series was offered for a discount rather than Book 1 - not that it matters so much in romances, where series titles tend to be loosely-linked standalones, but still...
You Might Also Enjoy:
Wicked Games (Jessica Clare and Jill Myles) - My Review
When Lightning Strikes (Brenda Novak) - My Review
Bidding On Brooks (Katy Regnery) - My Review
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Witchvine (Justin Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan)
Witchvine
(The Rhyme of the Willow series, Book 3)
Justin Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan
3DAL, LLC
Fiction, YA Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Since coming to the Garden, Axton and Aniva Rhyme have changed in ways they couldn't have imagined. Both have become Wilds, humans altered by the strange and dangerous plants of this world... and both have been part of the turmoil sweeping the Lighthavens, where untainted humans live fearing and hating Wilds. After the disaster in Fire Grove that left much of the council dead, Axton and Aniva have been separated. Axton, tainted by the Green Witch and her "gift" of Witchvines, heads back to Linnea, his first friend and guardian in the Garden. Aniva, meanwhile, returns to the Crows, who are planning a fresh assault on the humans and their Lighthavens; as both a Crow and a Blood Demon, she's become a valuable weapon, but every mindless killing frenzy makes her feel more like a monster. Meanwhile, the Green Witch is up to something, teasing Axton with glimpses of Ivan Rhyme, the siblings' long-lost father. Everything is heading for a cataclysmic event, one that may shake the Garden to its roots. Will the Rhymes survive, or is it already too late?
REVIEW: The final installment of the imaginative Rhyme of the Willow trilogy starts as if it weren't a separate book... and this is a bit of a problem. There's no chance to catch up or even let the reader catch their breath as it plunges ahead into the growing chaos and tension sweeping the Garden. This wouldn't be an issue if there had been no gap between reading the previous two installments and this one - but there was, and I never shook the feeling that I was just reading a part of a larger story, that I was missing significant connections that had dimmed with the passage of time. The breakneck pace and many characters worked against me, here.
That said, it does move decently, finally bringing the Rhyme parents into the picture. Aniva and Axton have both changed, not simply physically, during their adventures. It builds up to a tense finale... but then things start falling apart, with some side-stepping, a bit of an eye-rolling revelation, and a solution that, given the trauma and bloodshed and death endured during the trilogy, felt far too clean and quick, not to mention a trifle forced. This feeling, plus the sense that the trilogy itself was unnaturally presented (it really felt like one story roughly cropped into three installments), ultimately lost it the fourth star in the ratings.
All in all, the Rhyme of the Willow trilogy gets points for imagination and intensity, worth exploring if you want a portal fantasy with some threat and substance, if one with a bit of an abrupt end.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Divide (Elizabeth Kay) - My Review
Shadowbloom (Justin Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan) - My Review
Birthright Volume 1: Homecoming (Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan) - My Review
(The Rhyme of the Willow series, Book 3)
Justin Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan
3DAL, LLC
Fiction, YA Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Since coming to the Garden, Axton and Aniva Rhyme have changed in ways they couldn't have imagined. Both have become Wilds, humans altered by the strange and dangerous plants of this world... and both have been part of the turmoil sweeping the Lighthavens, where untainted humans live fearing and hating Wilds. After the disaster in Fire Grove that left much of the council dead, Axton and Aniva have been separated. Axton, tainted by the Green Witch and her "gift" of Witchvines, heads back to Linnea, his first friend and guardian in the Garden. Aniva, meanwhile, returns to the Crows, who are planning a fresh assault on the humans and their Lighthavens; as both a Crow and a Blood Demon, she's become a valuable weapon, but every mindless killing frenzy makes her feel more like a monster. Meanwhile, the Green Witch is up to something, teasing Axton with glimpses of Ivan Rhyme, the siblings' long-lost father. Everything is heading for a cataclysmic event, one that may shake the Garden to its roots. Will the Rhymes survive, or is it already too late?
REVIEW: The final installment of the imaginative Rhyme of the Willow trilogy starts as if it weren't a separate book... and this is a bit of a problem. There's no chance to catch up or even let the reader catch their breath as it plunges ahead into the growing chaos and tension sweeping the Garden. This wouldn't be an issue if there had been no gap between reading the previous two installments and this one - but there was, and I never shook the feeling that I was just reading a part of a larger story, that I was missing significant connections that had dimmed with the passage of time. The breakneck pace and many characters worked against me, here.
That said, it does move decently, finally bringing the Rhyme parents into the picture. Aniva and Axton have both changed, not simply physically, during their adventures. It builds up to a tense finale... but then things start falling apart, with some side-stepping, a bit of an eye-rolling revelation, and a solution that, given the trauma and bloodshed and death endured during the trilogy, felt far too clean and quick, not to mention a trifle forced. This feeling, plus the sense that the trilogy itself was unnaturally presented (it really felt like one story roughly cropped into three installments), ultimately lost it the fourth star in the ratings.
All in all, the Rhyme of the Willow trilogy gets points for imagination and intensity, worth exploring if you want a portal fantasy with some threat and substance, if one with a bit of an abrupt end.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Divide (Elizabeth Kay) - My Review
Shadowbloom (Justin Sullivan and Samuel Sullivan) - My Review
Birthright Volume 1: Homecoming (Joshua Williamson and Andrei Bressan) - My Review
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
The Red Pyramid (Rick Riordan)
The Red Pyramid
(The Kane Chronicles, Book 1)
Rick Riordan
Disney-Hyperion Books
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Young Carter Kane has a life many middle-schoolers would envy, traveling around the world with his famed archaeologist father Julius. In reality, it's tough living out of a suitcase, never staying anywhere long enough to make friends... and only visiting his sister Sadie in England a couple times a year, if that. Sure, she's a pain in the neck, but she's still family. Sadie, meanwhile, does everything she can to rebel against her stodgy grandparents, jealous of how Carter gets to spend all his time with their father, to whom she seems little more than an afterthought at best or a painful reminder of her dead mother at worst. When Julius turns up in London for a Christmas Eve visit, neither kid is surprised (or particularly excited) when his big holiday surprise is a visit to the British Museum... but this night will change their lives forever. Julius starts meddling with the Rosetta Stone - and chaos literally erupts, as long-imprisoned gods are released. Now Carter and Sadie are on the run, learning things about the Kane lineage neither parent ever told them, such as their connection to the ancient pharaohs and the magic in their veins... not to mention their ties to the long-exiled gods. With the god Set quickly building an army of demons to retake the world and a secret society of magicians ready to execute the kids as a danger to creation, the Kane children must master their untested powers fast if they want to survive.
REVIEW: Riordan's Percy Jackson series took ancient Greek myths and made them fresh and relevant for modern young audiences. Here, he does something similar with Egyptian tales, exploring the roots and ongoing influence of one of history's most powerful civilizations. At first, I wasn't quite sure if he was pulling it off. The pace is relentless, with very little down time to process events, making me a bit numb and overwhelmed and making the parts look a little pre-packaged (the estranged siblings, the parents hiding Big Secrets from kids, the dead mother, the secret society of magicians, etc.) As the story unfolds, though, it comes into its own. Carter Kane deals with a peculiar upbringing and, more than once, with being a black kid in a white-skewed world - and with having a lighter-skinned sister who doesn't understand why he has to be much more careful with his appearance and demeanor. Sadie grows during the tale, too, with her own demons and troubles. Being a middle-grade title, there's an occasional dip into silliness, though nothing crass. Like the Percy Jackson series, Riordan doesn't stick with the pop-culture veneer of Egyptian mythos, but delves deeper into more obscure layers, even offering an explanation for how relationships between gods seem to shift through different stories while repeating the same patterns. Overall, it's a decent story of magic and adventure and sacrifice, and if it's a little breakneck, well, it is written for a younger, generally more impatient audience.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fablehaven (Brandon Mull) - My Review
The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan) - My Review
The Mummy (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
- Amazon DVD link
(The Kane Chronicles, Book 1)
Rick Riordan
Disney-Hyperion Books
Fiction, YA Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Young Carter Kane has a life many middle-schoolers would envy, traveling around the world with his famed archaeologist father Julius. In reality, it's tough living out of a suitcase, never staying anywhere long enough to make friends... and only visiting his sister Sadie in England a couple times a year, if that. Sure, she's a pain in the neck, but she's still family. Sadie, meanwhile, does everything she can to rebel against her stodgy grandparents, jealous of how Carter gets to spend all his time with their father, to whom she seems little more than an afterthought at best or a painful reminder of her dead mother at worst. When Julius turns up in London for a Christmas Eve visit, neither kid is surprised (or particularly excited) when his big holiday surprise is a visit to the British Museum... but this night will change their lives forever. Julius starts meddling with the Rosetta Stone - and chaos literally erupts, as long-imprisoned gods are released. Now Carter and Sadie are on the run, learning things about the Kane lineage neither parent ever told them, such as their connection to the ancient pharaohs and the magic in their veins... not to mention their ties to the long-exiled gods. With the god Set quickly building an army of demons to retake the world and a secret society of magicians ready to execute the kids as a danger to creation, the Kane children must master their untested powers fast if they want to survive.
REVIEW: Riordan's Percy Jackson series took ancient Greek myths and made them fresh and relevant for modern young audiences. Here, he does something similar with Egyptian tales, exploring the roots and ongoing influence of one of history's most powerful civilizations. At first, I wasn't quite sure if he was pulling it off. The pace is relentless, with very little down time to process events, making me a bit numb and overwhelmed and making the parts look a little pre-packaged (the estranged siblings, the parents hiding Big Secrets from kids, the dead mother, the secret society of magicians, etc.) As the story unfolds, though, it comes into its own. Carter Kane deals with a peculiar upbringing and, more than once, with being a black kid in a white-skewed world - and with having a lighter-skinned sister who doesn't understand why he has to be much more careful with his appearance and demeanor. Sadie grows during the tale, too, with her own demons and troubles. Being a middle-grade title, there's an occasional dip into silliness, though nothing crass. Like the Percy Jackson series, Riordan doesn't stick with the pop-culture veneer of Egyptian mythos, but delves deeper into more obscure layers, even offering an explanation for how relationships between gods seem to shift through different stories while repeating the same patterns. Overall, it's a decent story of magic and adventure and sacrifice, and if it's a little breakneck, well, it is written for a younger, generally more impatient audience.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fablehaven (Brandon Mull) - My Review
The Lightning Thief (Rick Riordan) - My Review
The Mummy (Widescreen Collector's Edition)
- Amazon DVD link
Thursday, March 16, 2017
Pax (Sara Pennypacker)
Pax
Sara Pennypacker
Balzer + Bray
Fiction, YA General Fiction
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Young Peter and Pax, the fox he raised from an orphaned kit, are inseparable... until Peter's dad leaves to fight in the war, and forces the boy to abandon the fox on a remote roadside. But Peter can't stop thinking about his friend. Certain the fox will die without him, he runs away from home.
Pax can't understand what happened; one moment, he was playing with his human Peter, and the next the boy disappeared. Surely he'll be back soon... but, in the meantime, the fox must figure out how to survive. He never even learned to hunt or seek water on his own, and meeting other foxes - who resent the stink of human on his fur - only makes him feel more a stranger... but something about the wild calls to him.
Meanwhile, the war creeps ever closer, a faceless force that may destroy the boy, the fox, and their innocent world forever...
With illustrations by Jon Klassen.
REVIEW: Set in a nebulous yesteryear in the shadow of an unspecified war, Pax has the feel of a classic children's novel, a seemingly-simple tale full of heart, pain, truth, and depth. Peter struggles with memories of a violent, painful past, worried about how much of his sometimes-abusive father he already sees in himself, and the things - like abandoning Pax - that he's already done. Pax, meanwhile, must learn what it means to be a fox and an animal, even as he reconciles his love for Peter with the cruelty all humans, even his beloved boy, are capable of rendering. The anthropomorphism is kept to a minimum; animals "talk" not so much in words but postures, scents, and shared "images" of memories. Both boy and fox must do their own growing up, figuring out their own places in a world that's often fickle and cruel, but in which they each have more power than they realize to make their own lives. Pennypacker never tries too hard to make her points, letting the story make them for her. I can certainly see this book becoming a classic, one well remembered by children of today that they will happily share with the children of tomorrow.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate) - My Review
The Wild Robot (Peter Brown) - My Review
The Hunt for Elsewhere (Beatrice Vine) - My Review
Sara Pennypacker
Balzer + Bray
Fiction, YA General Fiction
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Young Peter and Pax, the fox he raised from an orphaned kit, are inseparable... until Peter's dad leaves to fight in the war, and forces the boy to abandon the fox on a remote roadside. But Peter can't stop thinking about his friend. Certain the fox will die without him, he runs away from home.
Pax can't understand what happened; one moment, he was playing with his human Peter, and the next the boy disappeared. Surely he'll be back soon... but, in the meantime, the fox must figure out how to survive. He never even learned to hunt or seek water on his own, and meeting other foxes - who resent the stink of human on his fur - only makes him feel more a stranger... but something about the wild calls to him.
Meanwhile, the war creeps ever closer, a faceless force that may destroy the boy, the fox, and their innocent world forever...
With illustrations by Jon Klassen.
REVIEW: Set in a nebulous yesteryear in the shadow of an unspecified war, Pax has the feel of a classic children's novel, a seemingly-simple tale full of heart, pain, truth, and depth. Peter struggles with memories of a violent, painful past, worried about how much of his sometimes-abusive father he already sees in himself, and the things - like abandoning Pax - that he's already done. Pax, meanwhile, must learn what it means to be a fox and an animal, even as he reconciles his love for Peter with the cruelty all humans, even his beloved boy, are capable of rendering. The anthropomorphism is kept to a minimum; animals "talk" not so much in words but postures, scents, and shared "images" of memories. Both boy and fox must do their own growing up, figuring out their own places in a world that's often fickle and cruel, but in which they each have more power than they realize to make their own lives. Pennypacker never tries too hard to make her points, letting the story make them for her. I can certainly see this book becoming a classic, one well remembered by children of today that they will happily share with the children of tomorrow.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The One and Only Ivan (Katherine Applegate) - My Review
The Wild Robot (Peter Brown) - My Review
The Hunt for Elsewhere (Beatrice Vine) - My Review
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Girl Waits With Gun (Amy Stewart)
Girl Waits With Gun
(A Kopp Sisters novel, Book 1)
Amy Stewart
Mariner Books
Fiction, Historical Fiction/Mystery
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The three Kopp sisters - eldest Constance, dour Norma, and energetic young Fleurette - live by themselves on a small New Jersey farm, a status that worries their married brother Francis no end; don't girls need a man to mind their affairs and protect them? But the Kopps are no ordinary girls, raised by an immigrant mother to be self-reliant, almost to the point of paranoia, and never trust anyone... especially not the police. But one evening in 1914, their isolation is shattered when a motor car crashes into their horse buggy. All Constance wanted from the man was the fifty dollars needed for repairs, but Mr. Kaufman and his goons aren't used to being held accountable for their actions, especially by women. What began as a simple accident escalates to threats and violence. Fleurette finds the whole affair terribly exciting, like something from a serial. Norma warns that they should just walk away and mind their own business, and maybe Kaufman will leave them alone. But Constance finds herself drawn deeper, especially as Kaufman's other crimes remind her of an incident in her family's own past.
REVIEW: Author Amy Stewart mostly writes nonfiction titles, and based this book off real people and actual events, if with some creative liberties taken in details and personalities. The early 1900's were moving toward modern times, but with many relics of the past hanging on; labor rights were nonexistent, with factory owners running personal kingdoms and keeping employees in conditions just shy of outright slavery, while women's rights were spotty at best. The idea of a lady acting as her own master, let alone becoming a detective (as Constance essentially does to see that justice is done), was virtually unheard of in America, particularly when she's a woman of modest means and her opponent belongs to a family of wealthy factory magnates. Constance doesn't set out to challenge society's norms, save so far as staying on the farm with her sisters despite being an unmarried mid-thirties "spinster," but her sense of justice leads her far outside her comfort zone to find a place where she unexpectedly belongs. She and the other characters come to life in many little details. The story moves decently, with only a few lulls now and again and an ending that feels just slightly overlong. If it reads like the pilot episode to a period mystery series... well, in some ways, that's what it is. I found it entertaining, and expect I'll read the next volume in the adventures of the Kopp sisters.
You Might Also Enjoy:
A Study in Scarlet (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) - My Review
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective (Catherine Louisa Pirkis) - My Review
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith) - My Review
(A Kopp Sisters novel, Book 1)
Amy Stewart
Mariner Books
Fiction, Historical Fiction/Mystery
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: The three Kopp sisters - eldest Constance, dour Norma, and energetic young Fleurette - live by themselves on a small New Jersey farm, a status that worries their married brother Francis no end; don't girls need a man to mind their affairs and protect them? But the Kopps are no ordinary girls, raised by an immigrant mother to be self-reliant, almost to the point of paranoia, and never trust anyone... especially not the police. But one evening in 1914, their isolation is shattered when a motor car crashes into their horse buggy. All Constance wanted from the man was the fifty dollars needed for repairs, but Mr. Kaufman and his goons aren't used to being held accountable for their actions, especially by women. What began as a simple accident escalates to threats and violence. Fleurette finds the whole affair terribly exciting, like something from a serial. Norma warns that they should just walk away and mind their own business, and maybe Kaufman will leave them alone. But Constance finds herself drawn deeper, especially as Kaufman's other crimes remind her of an incident in her family's own past.
REVIEW: Author Amy Stewart mostly writes nonfiction titles, and based this book off real people and actual events, if with some creative liberties taken in details and personalities. The early 1900's were moving toward modern times, but with many relics of the past hanging on; labor rights were nonexistent, with factory owners running personal kingdoms and keeping employees in conditions just shy of outright slavery, while women's rights were spotty at best. The idea of a lady acting as her own master, let alone becoming a detective (as Constance essentially does to see that justice is done), was virtually unheard of in America, particularly when she's a woman of modest means and her opponent belongs to a family of wealthy factory magnates. Constance doesn't set out to challenge society's norms, save so far as staying on the farm with her sisters despite being an unmarried mid-thirties "spinster," but her sense of justice leads her far outside her comfort zone to find a place where she unexpectedly belongs. She and the other characters come to life in many little details. The story moves decently, with only a few lulls now and again and an ending that feels just slightly overlong. If it reads like the pilot episode to a period mystery series... well, in some ways, that's what it is. I found it entertaining, and expect I'll read the next volume in the adventures of the Kopp sisters.
You Might Also Enjoy:
A Study in Scarlet (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) - My Review
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective (Catherine Louisa Pirkis) - My Review
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith) - My Review
Friday, March 10, 2017
Princeless: Make Yourself, Part 1 (Jeremy Whitley)
Princeless: Make Yourself, Part 1
(The Princeless series, Volume 5, part 1)
Jeremy Whitley, illustrations by Emily Martin, Brett Grunig, and Alex Smith
Action Lab Entertainment
Fiction, YA Comics/Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Princess Adrienne's quest to rescue the rest of her sisters takes her to the frozen mountains of the dwarves... an awkward homecoming for her sidekick, the half-dwarf girl Belinda. As Adrienne prepares for another fight, this time for the twins (locked up in twin towers in the mountains), she still struggles to find her own freedom, old attitudes and insecurities gnawing at her. Meanwhile, Belinda learns that her human mother, who ran out on the family after one too many drunken blows from her father, has not only visited the dwarves, but taken a job with the nearby monster farm - where Sparky the dragon was raised and trained.
Elsewhere in the land, young Prince Devin and his reluctant wolf-girl companion Kira have a fateful run-in with the escaped Prince Wilcome and his elven sort-of-friend/fellow escapee Tempest. While hereditary enemies Kira and Tempest spar, the foursome join forces to track down the missing queen - but something very much wants to keep them from succeeding...
REVIEW: This volume lost a half-star on two counts - one for stretching, another for advertisements. The latter I can't blame on the story itself, though I found it very distracting to have multiple full-page ads tripping me up between segments. (Eleven ads, in one grueling stretch. I appreciate that advertising is necessary, and the comic/graphic novel industry is no exception, but really - eleven in a row? They couldn't have been broken up a bit?) The former issue of stretching, however, definitely infringed on my enjoyment. Some introspection by Adrienne is inevitable, as her journey helps her grow up, but at some point her tangents and conversations on the matter cross a line from relevant and intriguing to plot filler and outright stalling. Likewise, Belinda's subplot - dealing with anger over her runaway mother - clutters the pages... as do her many dwarven relatives, who were often hard to tell apart. Sparky's quest to find her roots inches forward, but all the padding knocks a reunion and revelation into Part 2... like Adrienne's rescue mission. (Cut a few of the ads, and maybe it wouldn't have needed a second volume to finish... but I digress.)
As for Prince Devin's story, I wasn't fond of Prince Wilcome in his last adventure (part of the Princeless short story compilation volume, reviewed previously), and I'm not much more interested in him now that he's been added as a regular; he comes across as too shallow and one-dimensional compared to the rest of the cast. I'm also not sure about Tempest. The whole quest to rescue the queen itself feels like plot stretching; any reader paying any bit of attention knows what happened, if not details of why, and the longer it drags out, the more tedious it grows.
The cast and storylines feel bloated, dragging out for the sake of dragging out, or maybe for ad sales given the concentration. (Eleven in a row... still can't get over that. I counted twice to be sure.) I expect I'll read the second part for some closure, but if the tale keeps distracting itself and meandering into tangents of minimal progression, I might call it a wrap on this series. It's still fun, but not as fun as it used to be.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
Princeless: Save Yourself (Jeremy Whitley) - My Review
(The Princeless series, Volume 5, part 1)
Jeremy Whitley, illustrations by Emily Martin, Brett Grunig, and Alex Smith
Action Lab Entertainment
Fiction, YA Comics/Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Princess Adrienne's quest to rescue the rest of her sisters takes her to the frozen mountains of the dwarves... an awkward homecoming for her sidekick, the half-dwarf girl Belinda. As Adrienne prepares for another fight, this time for the twins (locked up in twin towers in the mountains), she still struggles to find her own freedom, old attitudes and insecurities gnawing at her. Meanwhile, Belinda learns that her human mother, who ran out on the family after one too many drunken blows from her father, has not only visited the dwarves, but taken a job with the nearby monster farm - where Sparky the dragon was raised and trained.
Elsewhere in the land, young Prince Devin and his reluctant wolf-girl companion Kira have a fateful run-in with the escaped Prince Wilcome and his elven sort-of-friend/fellow escapee Tempest. While hereditary enemies Kira and Tempest spar, the foursome join forces to track down the missing queen - but something very much wants to keep them from succeeding...
REVIEW: This volume lost a half-star on two counts - one for stretching, another for advertisements. The latter I can't blame on the story itself, though I found it very distracting to have multiple full-page ads tripping me up between segments. (Eleven ads, in one grueling stretch. I appreciate that advertising is necessary, and the comic/graphic novel industry is no exception, but really - eleven in a row? They couldn't have been broken up a bit?) The former issue of stretching, however, definitely infringed on my enjoyment. Some introspection by Adrienne is inevitable, as her journey helps her grow up, but at some point her tangents and conversations on the matter cross a line from relevant and intriguing to plot filler and outright stalling. Likewise, Belinda's subplot - dealing with anger over her runaway mother - clutters the pages... as do her many dwarven relatives, who were often hard to tell apart. Sparky's quest to find her roots inches forward, but all the padding knocks a reunion and revelation into Part 2... like Adrienne's rescue mission. (Cut a few of the ads, and maybe it wouldn't have needed a second volume to finish... but I digress.)
As for Prince Devin's story, I wasn't fond of Prince Wilcome in his last adventure (part of the Princeless short story compilation volume, reviewed previously), and I'm not much more interested in him now that he's been added as a regular; he comes across as too shallow and one-dimensional compared to the rest of the cast. I'm also not sure about Tempest. The whole quest to rescue the queen itself feels like plot stretching; any reader paying any bit of attention knows what happened, if not details of why, and the longer it drags out, the more tedious it grows.
The cast and storylines feel bloated, dragging out for the sake of dragging out, or maybe for ad sales given the concentration. (Eleven in a row... still can't get over that. I counted twice to be sure.) I expect I'll read the second part for some closure, but if the tale keeps distracting itself and meandering into tangents of minimal progression, I might call it a wrap on this series. It's still fun, but not as fun as it used to be.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Paper Bag Princess (Robert Munsch) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
Princeless: Save Yourself (Jeremy Whitley) - My Review
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Leviathan Wakes (James S. A. Corey)
Leviathan Wakes
(The Expanse series, Book 1)
James S. A. Corey
Orbit
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Humanity's spread through the solar system may ride on ingenuity and persistence, but brings with it other human traits, such as greed, selfishness, and tribalism. Mars bickers with Earth, while both worlds view the Belters - people of the asteroid belt and beyond, changed by generations of low gravity and artificial atmospheres - as something subtly less than human. Various factions, particularly the vocal (and occasionally violent) Outer Planets Alliance, rally for rights and independence, but so far mutual need keeps the guns (mostly) silent on all sides.
The balance is about to change...
When the worn-out ice freighter Canterbury picks up a distress call, Jim Holden is among the small shuttle crew sent to seek survivors - or salvage. Instead, he finds a trap set by a new foe, one with advanced technology and an unknown agenda. He and his crewmates struggle to survive, dodging lies and gunfire, as they try to navigate forces beyond their control.
On Ceres station in the Belt, Detective Miller's barely-functional career as a Star Helix law enforcement officer gets a minor boost when his boss selects him for an off-the-books investigation, tracking down the wayward daughter of an Earth business magnate. The deeper Miller digs into the life and disappearance of Julie Mao, the more he realizes he's onto something much bigger than a runaway case.
Both Holden and Miller have become part of a system-shaking conspiracy with ties to a mysterious discovery from deep space, one that might lift humans to the stars - or exterminate them utterly.
REVIEW: I came at this book a little backwards, having watched Season 1 of SyFy's series based on this book. The story arc's mostly the same, though several elements were tweaked for television... often, I must say, for the better. The book's still rather good, though, a space opera set in the early days of interplanetary expansion. It's a lived-in world, with dirt in the corners and grease under the fingernails, where the gap between poverty and privilege is enhanced by the vacuum of space; air and water, the latter mined from comets and places like the rings of Saturn, become more precious than gold, and failure to make ends meet takes on a new dimension when it's not just clothing and shelter at stake, but the very technology that enables one to breathe. Religion also follows us beyond the atmosphere; a subplot involves the Mormons contracting the first generational ship to leave the solar system. The characters could be a little flat at times, and the dialog occasionally clunked, but the action's mostly brisk enough to overlook such flaws, and it culminates in a fine finale. It kept drawing me back to read just a chapter or two more, which definitely means it did something right. I look forward to Book 2... not to mention watching the second season of the TV show when it comes to Amazon Prime.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Trading in Danger (Elizabeth Moon) - My Review
Old Man's War (John Scalzi) - My Review
(The Expanse series, Book 1)
James S. A. Corey
Orbit
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Humanity's spread through the solar system may ride on ingenuity and persistence, but brings with it other human traits, such as greed, selfishness, and tribalism. Mars bickers with Earth, while both worlds view the Belters - people of the asteroid belt and beyond, changed by generations of low gravity and artificial atmospheres - as something subtly less than human. Various factions, particularly the vocal (and occasionally violent) Outer Planets Alliance, rally for rights and independence, but so far mutual need keeps the guns (mostly) silent on all sides.
The balance is about to change...
When the worn-out ice freighter Canterbury picks up a distress call, Jim Holden is among the small shuttle crew sent to seek survivors - or salvage. Instead, he finds a trap set by a new foe, one with advanced technology and an unknown agenda. He and his crewmates struggle to survive, dodging lies and gunfire, as they try to navigate forces beyond their control.
On Ceres station in the Belt, Detective Miller's barely-functional career as a Star Helix law enforcement officer gets a minor boost when his boss selects him for an off-the-books investigation, tracking down the wayward daughter of an Earth business magnate. The deeper Miller digs into the life and disappearance of Julie Mao, the more he realizes he's onto something much bigger than a runaway case.
Both Holden and Miller have become part of a system-shaking conspiracy with ties to a mysterious discovery from deep space, one that might lift humans to the stars - or exterminate them utterly.
REVIEW: I came at this book a little backwards, having watched Season 1 of SyFy's series based on this book. The story arc's mostly the same, though several elements were tweaked for television... often, I must say, for the better. The book's still rather good, though, a space opera set in the early days of interplanetary expansion. It's a lived-in world, with dirt in the corners and grease under the fingernails, where the gap between poverty and privilege is enhanced by the vacuum of space; air and water, the latter mined from comets and places like the rings of Saturn, become more precious than gold, and failure to make ends meet takes on a new dimension when it's not just clothing and shelter at stake, but the very technology that enables one to breathe. Religion also follows us beyond the atmosphere; a subplot involves the Mormons contracting the first generational ship to leave the solar system. The characters could be a little flat at times, and the dialog occasionally clunked, but the action's mostly brisk enough to overlook such flaws, and it culminates in a fine finale. It kept drawing me back to read just a chapter or two more, which definitely means it did something right. I look forward to Book 2... not to mention watching the second season of the TV show when it comes to Amazon Prime.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Trading in Danger (Elizabeth Moon) - My Review
Old Man's War (John Scalzi) - My Review
Saturday, March 4, 2017
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (John Joseph Adams, editor)
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
John Joseph Adams, editor
Night Shade Books
Fiction, Anthology/Horror/Mystery/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: A family's curse takes the form of a white fox... an inventor's experiments with gravity lead to his suspicious demise... a famous author witnesses lights in the sky... Literature's most popular detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful chronicler and sidekick John Watson return in new tales penned by prominent authors, several of which blur the boundaries between improbable and impossible.
REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes is one of the most invoked names in fiction, for good or ill. For the most part, the authors collected here do well by the name, though the stories themselves are a mixed bag; once again, novelists don't always make the best short story authors. Some tales wandered, but only a few seemed ultimately pointless, with two reading more like fanfic exercises and one an outright clunker so out of character (and out of sync with the other entries) that it seems like an insult than an homage. As for the "improbable" label, I found it misleading. While some stories did indeed incorporate supernatural or sci-fi elements, most had perfectly mundane explanations, which my improbable-loving self found a trifle disappointing. On the whole, it's not a bad collection, adding some interesting new adventures to the great detective's archives.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) - My Review
Carnacki the Ghost-Finder (William Hope Hodgson) - My Review
John Joseph Adams, editor
Night Shade Books
Fiction, Anthology/Horror/Mystery/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: A family's curse takes the form of a white fox... an inventor's experiments with gravity lead to his suspicious demise... a famous author witnesses lights in the sky... Literature's most popular detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful chronicler and sidekick John Watson return in new tales penned by prominent authors, several of which blur the boundaries between improbable and impossible.
REVIEW: Sherlock Holmes is one of the most invoked names in fiction, for good or ill. For the most part, the authors collected here do well by the name, though the stories themselves are a mixed bag; once again, novelists don't always make the best short story authors. Some tales wandered, but only a few seemed ultimately pointless, with two reading more like fanfic exercises and one an outright clunker so out of character (and out of sync with the other entries) that it seems like an insult than an homage. As for the "improbable" label, I found it misleading. While some stories did indeed incorporate supernatural or sci-fi elements, most had perfectly mundane explanations, which my improbable-loving self found a trifle disappointing. On the whole, it's not a bad collection, adding some interesting new adventures to the great detective's archives.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) - My Review
Carnacki the Ghost-Finder (William Hope Hodgson) - My Review
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Holy Cow (David Duchovny)
Holy Cow
David Duchovny
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Fiction, General Fiction/Humor
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Elsie Bovary is fairly content on the small dairy farm where she lives... and might have stayed that way had she not snuck out of the stable one night and seen the Box God, the talking screen the humans worship, and its horrific scenes of something called a "slaughterhouse." Suddenly, she knows what happened to the mother who disappeared one day - and what will eventually happen to her friends, and to her. But even as it shows her visions of damnation, the Box God offers salvation when it tells her of a land where cattle are treated like gods: India. Along with the pig Jerry (a recent convert to Judaism, who prefers to be called Shalom) and turkey Tom (who is looking for a way to permanently avoid the Thanksgiving cull, and who is remarkably adept at using a cell phone), Elsie sets out on the journey of a lifetime.
REVIEW: Holy Cow has a fun, original concept and distinctive, if often overexaggerated and flat, characters but seems a little unsure of what it wants to do with itself. In the meantime, it dithers around with amusing (more or less) tangents and asides from the narrator Elsie, whose worldview is remarkably human most of the time; she even drops hints about which actress she'd want to play her should the book become a movie. Even a silly story - and this is indeed a silly, often slapstick story, despite the odd attempt at depth and profundity - requires some suspension of disbelief to enjoy, but it kept tripping me up, if not with Elsie's too-human voice than with other characters also being too human to be animals, or with plain physical improbabilities, like Elsie being a milking cow despite not having been bred or given birth. An afterword by the author tries to paper over these issues, but two problems mar this effort. First, by the time I reach the afterword, I've already read the book. Second, if technicalities are preventing me from enjoying an otherwise lighthearted, clearly unrealistic tale, then something else must be wrong. I regularly suspend disbelief for far more improbable things, such as sound traveling through space or giant winged reptiles breathing fire (or vast alien conspiracies behind the government.) But I just couldn't maintain that suspension here. The book was just too much puff and style with too little substance and action, not helped by the ending (no spoilers, though it seemed to render much of the journey moot... or, should I say, mooo-t.) I laughed here and there, but overall it felt like it was trying too hard, and thus wound up accomplishing too little of what it set out to do.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams) - My Review
Chomp (Carl Hiaasen) - My Review
Three Bags Full (Leonie Swann) - My Review
David Duchovny
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Fiction, General Fiction/Humor
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Elsie Bovary is fairly content on the small dairy farm where she lives... and might have stayed that way had she not snuck out of the stable one night and seen the Box God, the talking screen the humans worship, and its horrific scenes of something called a "slaughterhouse." Suddenly, she knows what happened to the mother who disappeared one day - and what will eventually happen to her friends, and to her. But even as it shows her visions of damnation, the Box God offers salvation when it tells her of a land where cattle are treated like gods: India. Along with the pig Jerry (a recent convert to Judaism, who prefers to be called Shalom) and turkey Tom (who is looking for a way to permanently avoid the Thanksgiving cull, and who is remarkably adept at using a cell phone), Elsie sets out on the journey of a lifetime.
REVIEW: Holy Cow has a fun, original concept and distinctive, if often overexaggerated and flat, characters but seems a little unsure of what it wants to do with itself. In the meantime, it dithers around with amusing (more or less) tangents and asides from the narrator Elsie, whose worldview is remarkably human most of the time; she even drops hints about which actress she'd want to play her should the book become a movie. Even a silly story - and this is indeed a silly, often slapstick story, despite the odd attempt at depth and profundity - requires some suspension of disbelief to enjoy, but it kept tripping me up, if not with Elsie's too-human voice than with other characters also being too human to be animals, or with plain physical improbabilities, like Elsie being a milking cow despite not having been bred or given birth. An afterword by the author tries to paper over these issues, but two problems mar this effort. First, by the time I reach the afterword, I've already read the book. Second, if technicalities are preventing me from enjoying an otherwise lighthearted, clearly unrealistic tale, then something else must be wrong. I regularly suspend disbelief for far more improbable things, such as sound traveling through space or giant winged reptiles breathing fire (or vast alien conspiracies behind the government.) But I just couldn't maintain that suspension here. The book was just too much puff and style with too little substance and action, not helped by the ending (no spoilers, though it seemed to render much of the journey moot... or, should I say, mooo-t.) I laughed here and there, but overall it felt like it was trying too hard, and thus wound up accomplishing too little of what it set out to do.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide (Douglas Adams) - My Review
Chomp (Carl Hiaasen) - My Review
Three Bags Full (Leonie Swann) - My Review
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