Scifi

It's been a while since I tackled any ‘hard' science fiction and boy, was this hard - aggressive, violent, bleak, depressing, biased. I ploughed on but ultimately gave up as I found I didn't care what happened to Carl Marsalis.

To be fair to the author, the book isn't hard to read, but the style and content didn't work for me. I want my fiction to entertain, amuse, educate and expand my views, and this didn't. Perhaps if I were of different age or gender, it might be different - I got the impression the anticipated readership would be younger and probably male .....

This book takes the flooding disaster plot and widens it to impact on a global scale. The central characters are hostages at the start of the book, but then their fates are linked with the businessman who rescues them. The story is divided into episodes, over several decades, each separated by several years as the flood worsens and plans have to change. The backdrop changes from London, to America, the Andes and the Himalayas and elsewhere as they seek increasingly crowded sanctuaries.

How important is it to act with compassion? Can a maths brain tester save your life? And what hope does a small-town, assistant bank manager with no ambition have against an all powerful, ruthless, military dictator? These are just some of the questions that Stephen, Mark and Hannah have to grapple with when they unwittingly stumble into the beautiful but troubled world of Eldarn.

This is a second book of a three part trilogy. Although separated into three books, this is one continuous story divided only by three different front covers. It is definitely worth making sure that you can access them in quick succession.

This is the last book in the Eldarn sequence. The evil that inhabited Nerak has got possession of Mark Jenkins. Mark is now a prisoner in his own mind forced to carry out unspeakable evil. His ensuing rampant and violent campaign soon has Eldarn under Mark's thumb. Only our ramshackle and much diminished group of friends stand between Mark and the evil he is about to release from the fold. Destroying Mark may be the only way to prevent the annihilation of Eldarn but can Steven Taylor really kill his best friend and house-mate, even for the greater good?

This story follows three men during the course of a battle between the clans of the North and the army of the Union. The three main characters are: Bremer dan Gorst (supposedly the Kings observer in the Union army), Prince Calder (son of the former northern king) and Curnden Craw (leader of a band of northern warriors). It is no surprise that there are no real heroes here. Despite his orders, Bremer seeks out action in vain attempts to regain his self-worth. Calder has few friends or allies and is desparate to improve his position without getting killed in the process. ..read more

I read Viola's story on my Kindle whilst waiting in an outpatient clinic. I think I must have whacked through this whole story in 20 minutes because next I knew I was being called to go and see my consultant!

It is how she and her parents came to be travelling to The New World. I found it utterly absorbing and couldn't wait to start reading The Knife of Never Letting Go of which this is a prequel.

I highly recommend it as it gives a good background on who Viola is and what makes her the kind of companion that Todd  would eventually fall in love with. Brilliant.

How does a literary critic get to be so good?! I found Patrick Ness' book The Knife of Never Letting Go quite brilliant and very unusual. Men hear each others thoughts and Noise but the women died from it - or did they?

Ness' use of unsual spellings of words and sometimes the graphics hightened the drama of the story of why Todd and his dog Manchee had to run as far as they could from Prentisstown and all the dark secrets it held.

This latest novel from Robert Rankin purports to be a sequel to the War of the Worlds, is set in 1895 and follows the British Empire's successful victory over Mars. The main character, George Fox, first appears as the young assistant of a showman, Professor Coffin, helping display the pickled remains of a Martian. They sell all to fund a round the world trip on the Empress of Mars luxury airship in search of the Japanese Devilfish Girl - potentially the Greatest Ever Attraction.

It took me a long time to pick up this book and read it - but the wait was worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed Gene Wolfe's style of writing which I found easy to read. Everything flowed and I found myself turning the pages rather rapidly to find out what happened next with Severian.