Defenders

Title: Defenders
Author: Will McIntosh
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2014
Rating: 9/10

Review: About a year and a half ago I read Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh and absolutely loved it. So when Defenders came out with some raving reviews I bought the book... and proceeded not to read it. I recently found it on my Kindle and enjoyed it a whole lot while wondering what took me so long to actually get to it.

Defenders is a science fiction set in the near future. An alien race of mind-readers called Luytens is attacking humanity and humanity is losing the war. After all, how do you fight the enemy who knows what you are going to do before you even do it yourself?

In a last ditch effort to defeat the Luytens, humans develop a genetic engineering program where they design a new race of beings called the Defenders. The Defenders are made to fight and their brains don't contain serotonin, which prevents the Luytens from reading their minds. Very soon after they are created, the Defenders gain an upper hand in the combat against Luytens and the aliens surrender. However, this is not quite the end of humanity's trouble...

I thought Defenders was brilliantly plotted. You can see the gears turning and one set of problems replacing another. I also enjoyed the characters, Oliver, Lila, and Kai are all quite interesting in their own way and best of all are transformed through the events of the book.

The book is really brutal in many parts. There's blood, gore, and atrocity aplenty. There are also more subtle psychological horrors forced upon the characters. I thought it was very effectively done. There's also love, kindness, humor, which make the book not as grim as it could have been.

There are some small issues with the plotting of the book. For example, the fact that everyone speaks a different language is ignored -- the world is magically united against Luytens with perfect understanding of one another. I also found the Defenders program rather short-sighted. It seems so obvious to think of what would happen next, but no one seems to.

All in all, Defenders is fast-paced, thought-provoking and visceral. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I am looking forward to reading more Will McIntosh.

Ancillary Sword

Title: Ancillary Sword
Author: Ann Leckie
Series: Imperial Radch, book 2
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2014
Rating: 9/10

Review: This is the continuation of the story in Ancillary Justice; Ancillary Sword follows Breq to Athoek station. There Breq is seeking to make contact with Basnaaid, sister of Leutenant Awn in order to make reparations for Awn's death. However, since Anaander Mianaai appointed Breq as a Fleet Commander, she almost immediately ends up involved in the station's politics.

I really enjoyed the character development in this story. In particular, the way Breq relates to all the personnel on her ship and her evolving relationship with Lieutenant Tisarwat. It's a pleasure to watch Breq put it all together.

There are lots of socio-political themes in the book as well. Racial exploitation, segregation, political activism are all woven into the story. There are multiple races in a complex relationship with each other and the author masterfully puts it all together without bogging down in backstory or long info dumps.

In fact, the plot itself was pretty straightforward and moved at a good pace. There's a really good balance between action and exposition and the book is nicely tied up at the end. All-in-all, I thought this was even better than the first in the series and I am looking forward to Ancillary Mercy coming out in October.

Gone Girl

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Genre: Mystery
Published: 2012
Rating: 9/10

Review: I've seen many mentions of Gone Girl in the media in the past year and since the movie is supposed to come out this year, I finally decided to pick up the novel. I read the first quarter of the novel on a plane and it certainly made the time pass faster.

The first part of the book is told from Nick Dunne's perspective. He comes home on the day of his 5th anniversary to find his living room overturned and his wife gone. What follows is the investigation by the police as they search for Amy Dunne. However, the husband is acting weird, he has no alibi, he is hiding things from the police. There are alternating viewpoints from Amy inserted in the form of her diary entries.

About half way through the book, it takes quite a bit of a turn. I actually expected this particular twist, but the tension is masterfully built up, so that just guessing the twist doesn't spoil the book in any way. I stayed up till 5am finishing the novel, which resembles horror more than mystery at certain points. The ending is very interesting and fitting, though not what I expected it to be.

I hope they do a good job of the movie -- I think it'll make an excellent psychological thriller if they pull it off. It's hard to imagine how they will adapt all the inner monologues by Nick to the screenplay, but I guess it can be done. Looks like there's a pretty good cast too.

There are two reasons I think the book was top notch: the first one is a great suspense build-up in the second half of the novel. The second reason is that the book really gets into your head. The characters are so clearly expressed and relatable -- the types of people with the sort of thinking that you would meet all the time. Except everything tends to turn around and show up under a different lens at some point and I think this transformation was very well executed, believable, and horrifying.

The book is an exploration on theme of how well do you know the people around you. Can you really tell what they think, how they feel, what they would do? There are many really interesting relationships -- especially between Nick and his family. Nick's lovable mother contrasted with his hateful father, and his mind-reading twin, Go. They all come alive, and they have their stories to tell. I thought it was very well done. Definitely recommended.

Love Minus Eighty

Title: Love Minus Eighty
Author: Will McIntosh
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2013
Rating: 9/10

Review: I've  been hearing a lot of buzz about Love Minus Eighty ever since it came out last year. I really ought to have read it sooner since the buzz was very well deserved in this case.

In the future, medical technology has taken its course and cryogenics is a big market. Not only have we learned how to store and freeze people when they die, we've learned to repair their bodies and revive them -- if they can afford it, that is.

A new type of dating arises, where wealthy men can temporarily revive extremely attractive women to "speed date" them and then decide whether they want to shell out the cash to fully restore them to life as their wives.

Rob, after a bad break-up, hits a jogger on the way back home. When he discovers that she has been placed into a dating center, he scrapes up some money to visit her and apologize; however, he finds more than just forgiveness in the dating center.

That's just one of the story lines in the book. There are a number of other central characters. Veronica is a shy single dating coach who spends her time at a bridge hoping to save a jumper from death and pining after her handsome colleague, Nathan. Lycan is an introverted, awkward, high-IQ scientist who comes to visit the longest-frozen woman in the center, whose name is Mira. All their lives intertwine in surprising ways, tying different love stories together.

The plot is very well executed. The plot rotates between the various primary characters, describing the events in third person. I generally found the different plot lines equally interesting, so this didn't end up being the type of novel where I wanted to skip chapters by looking at the name alone. The writing is very accessible and flows easily. The book is not particularly short, but I finished it really quickly since I was very much enjoying it.

On the surface, it's a simple story dealing with a number of different problematic relationships. However, the author has an underlying message spinning just beneath the surface of the words and sometimes he just illustrates things so insightfully that I can't help but admire it. There is a moment, towards the end of the book, where Rob's father Lorne is telling him about his relationship with Rob's deceased mother that I thought was just perfect.

The book is a little bit too romantic-sweet at times, but most of the time it's relatable situations with relatable characters. I liked the way the author extrapolated current technology into the future, though I was a little bit skeptical of the characters being able to maintain multiple conversations at once with the fluency they did. But other aspects of technology seemed quite believable. Altogether, it was a very enjoyable read and one I would readily recommend to pretty much anyone.

This is a Story of a Happy Marriage

Title: This is a Story of a Happy Marriage
Author: Ann Patchett
Genre: Essays
Published: 2013
Rating: 9/10

Review: I came across a review of this book on Book Riot (by the way, they are awesome and I've been enjoying that site a lot since I've discovered it). This is the first book of essays I've read in a really long time. I pick up essays extremely rarely, not because I hate essays, but rather because I rarely hear about essays worth reading. The title on this book caught my attention though and the review was so positive that I bought the book.

I have to say I was totally and completely in love with the author by essay number four. I was slightly less interested in her essays about writing craft, but all her essays dealing with life stories and her relationships were simply phenomenal. They were honest and insightful and generally quite entertaining. My favorite one is definitely The Wall, in which Ann, age 30, decides to train and then takes the entrance exam into the LA police academy. It's funny, it's touching, it's full of neat cultural observations. The titular story This is the Story of a Happy Marriage is also great, telling the story of how Ann meets her future husband and why she finally agrees to marry him after 11 years of dating.

One of the things I enjoyed throughout is Ann's distinctive voice and clear, concise, striking writing style. You can hear her in every one of the essays and you can tell she's choosing her words carefully when she writes. I am now pretty curious to pick up one of her novels, though I barely know anything about them, just based on the quality of writing. And I would definitely recommend this compilation to anyone who would enjoy a very well written glimpse into another human being's life. 

Blackout and All Clear

Title: Blackout and All Clear
Author: Connie Willis
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2010
Rating: 9/10

Review: I bought these two books second-hand off of a co-worker and was very glad I bought them together because they turned out to be just one story published in two-book format.

I gotta make an aside to rant about the whole split into two books publishing trick. I despise that they have decided that it's acceptable to stop a story mid-word and then publish the rest of it in a separate tome 6 months later. Fortunately I had access to both books and could just read them one after another, but if I had finished the first book and didn't have access to the second, I would have been majorly angry. I am happy to pay twice the cost for a single tome, just don't separate what logically belongs together.

Having gotten that out of the way, I have to say that I enjoyed these books immensely. I have really liked all Willis' books dealing with time-traveling historians and this one has not been an exception. In Blackout, three historians travel to WWII. Eileen is there to observe evacuated children in the countryside, Polly is there for the start of the Blitz, and Mike Davis wants to see the evacuation from Dunkirk. All is well until the historians realize that they cannot get back to the future -- their drops won't open. They find each other and start looking for a way to survive in WWII and find their way back to their own time.

I think the best part about these books are the characters. The main trio is slowly introduced and we get to know them really well by their actions and by the way they interact with others. They are admirable -- maybe a little bit too much so, but they are not without flaws and I really liked all three of them. They are a mix of heroic and mundane, which I thought worked really well. Eileen ends up going above and beyond caring for orphaned children, but she is deathly scared of the war. Polly drives an ambulance around the city and saves lives during the raids, but ends up "doing her bit for the war" as an entertainer who shows her knickers to the soldiers in the audience. Mike is travels to the past to study heroes, but ends up a hero himself, and somewhere along the way realizes that regular people make better heroes than the ones he intended to observe. The book is a study in contrasts and I really enjoyed that.

The supporting cast is pretty colorful too. A troupe that befriends Polly has brilliant characters and Eileen's orphans are indomitable hooligans, who still manage to elicit sympathy. Altogether the characters are what makes this story so compelling.

The other part I really enjoyed is the World War II setting. It's been thematically close to some of the other books I read this year and I really like how Blackout/All Clear shows the war in different contexts and tells more about the lives of people during the war. The book has clearly been researched a lot and I liked filling out my gaps in knowledge. I also enjoyed various humorous bits -- for example the orphans pain blackout stripes on the cows in their neighborhood.

I'd definitely recommend these books to pretty much anyone who likes character-driven stories.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Author: Neil Gaiman
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2013
Rating: 9/10

Review: I have recently got to hear Neil Gaiman read an excerpt from the first chapter of The Ocean at the End of the Lane; he has a great reading voice and after that I couldn't wait to read the whole novel. At under 200 pages, it didn't take long to finish and I rather wish it had lasted.

The main protagonist of the book is a 7-year old boy who is happier reading books than playing with other children and whose life gets a lot more strange after meeting Lettie Hempstock, an 11-year old who lives down the lane and who shows him her ocean.

The novel is a combination of a children's book plot where the evil is fought and vanquished and a more subtle narrative about childhood, perception, and friendship. I enjoyed immersing myself into the descriptive language and the quirkiness of the novel. Everyone is not quite who they seem, and I love the dialog:

"How old are you, really?" I asked.
"Eleven."
I thought for a bit. Then I asked, "How long have you been eleven for?"
She smiled at me.

I generally have found myself enjoying Gaiman's "children" books more than the adult ones. And this one is probably one of my favorites on par with The Graveyard Book. There are a few bits in the book that make it a questionable choice for children, but in general I think readers of all ages could and should enjoy it.

Effective C++

Title: Effective C++ Third Edition
Author: Scott Meyers
Genre: Non-fiction
Published: 2005
Rating: 9/10

Review: It's been a couple month since I last posted here. I am sad to admit that in all this time, I have read exactly one book -- Effective C++. I generally tend to be a slow reader when it comes to non-fiction, but apparently programming books go even slower for me.

I knew that if I let myself read other books simultaneously, this one would just never get finished, so I concentrated all my reading time on this. However, reading something to learn just requires much more dedication than reading a novel for fun, therefore there were fewer occasions before bedtime when I felt up to picking up the book and turning my brain back on to read this.

Getting back to the actual book, notwithstanding my slowness in reading it, I did find it quite interesting. I am new to C++ as a whole, having only done C in college but this book worked really well for me. I found the writing and explanations really engaging and accessible. There's a wide variety of topics covered and many important ideas introduced. I would recommend it both to novice and intermediate C++ users looking for some basic overview of techniques and syntax.

The book is split up into 9 chapters covering topics from good coding practices to good design choices to basics of template programming and various miscellany. Some things I learned about C++ just blew my mind. For example, function call parameters are not guaranteed to be evaluated in any particular order! Coming from languages like Java and Python that just amazes me. Or the fact that creating a new polymorphic method in a subclass hides all the superclass variants. Shocking! But really good to know.

All-in-all, a book well worth reading for those not already up on their C++ use. Well chosen topics and well-explained. I really liked it!

Among Others

Title: Among Others
Author: Jo Walton
Genre: Fantasy
Published: 2011

Recommendation: Absolutely worth reading.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Mori is a Welsh 15-year old girl who gets to meet her father for the first time and is immediately sent off to an upper-English boarding school by her aunts. Coping with the death of her twin sister, Mori reads an inordinate amount of science fiction.

Reactions: I ended up with mixed feelings regarding Among Others. It's certainly not a typical fantasy book. The reason I even call it fantasy is because the primary fantastic element of the book is that Mori can see and communicate with the fairies. It makes for a really interesting twist, but was really somewhat secondary to the character development that happens during the book.

First, I need to get off my chest the two reasons that this book doesn't rate 10 for me. The first is the literary technique used by the author to continually mention Mori's traumatic past without providing the comprehensive picture of what happened. I understand why it's done, but found it somewhat irritating to get the information doled out in tiny pieces and yet continually touched upon. As a reader you can figure out just enough of what happened but without getting that feeling of closure and knowing.

Which brings me to the second problem I had with the book. The book moves along on a very stately pace, in the form of Mori's almost daily diary entries. However, when it comes to the ending, we get a rather rushed and to me a somewhat baffling resolution. I was very happy with the book until the very end and then I was just left gaping and feeling the story didn't sufficiently build up towards the ending.

Other than the two gripes above, I thought Among Others was absolutely wonderful. It's told from 1st POV presented as Mori's diary and her voice is both sympathetic and believable. I could really identify with her and thought that the author captured a smart but lonely and bookish teen down to the roots of her hair. I don't think you have to have been one yourself to really like Mori's courage and good sense. At the same time, she is not at all perfect and comes off very realistic in her coming-of-age story.

There are some really good quotes in the book too:

"Bibliotropic," Hugh said. "Like sunflowers are heliotropic, they naturally turn towards the sun. We naturally turn towards the bookshop."

I don't know about you, but that generally describes my shopping patterns pretty well indeed!

The other enjoyable part of the book is that there are lots and lots of references to classic science fiction novels and Mori's musings on them. The book is set in 1979-1980 and I haven't read a number of classics that they mention (though now I have lots of notes on which ones to take a look at). But some of the classics have a place in my heart like Zelazny's Amber series and it's very gratifying to see Mori pick them up, enjoy, and dissect them. Though only the first three books of the series are yet published at the time. (I checked the dates and the first five are all published by 1980, but I guess not in England yet).

All in all, it's a very well written, whimsical tale of a girl's coming of age story that I wholeheartedly recommend. I don't believe it's a series, but if it was, I would be happy to go back for more.

To Say Nothing of the Dog

Title: To Say Nothing of the Dog
Author: Connie Willis
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 1998

Recommendation: Funny, delightful, and fast paced. Recommended for those who like to read about time travel and laugh.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Ned Henry is a historian in 2057 who is travelling back in time in search of the bishop's bird stump lost in an air raid on the Conventry Cathedral in 1940. Having been at it for awhile, he is sent back and rerouted to Victorian England to rest and fix a small incongruity introduced by another historian who brings a cat over to the future. Needless to say, rest is difficult to find in peaceful Victorian England.

Reactions: I don't remember where I first heard of this book. However, it's been sitting in my amazon wish list for a long time until someone at a New Year's party mentioned it to me again, praising the book. I promptly downloaded it to my Kindle and started following the adventures of Ned Henry.

If I had to use on word to describe the novel it would be delightful. It's such a fun, whimsical book with a strong sense of irony that it just keeps tickling the funny bone and I may have not stopped smiling the whole way through.

The story is told from the first person narration of Ned Henry who just keeps getting into one scrape or another in Oxford of 1888 in hopes of repairing a mistake that may change history. The plot moves along a lively pace and kept me reading late at night rooting for the characters to make things right.

The cast of the book is a pretty varied bunch whom Ned meets in the vicinity of Oxford. There's Terence St. Trewes, an Oxford student who invites Ned to share his boat going down the Thames; Cyril the bulldog who accompanies them; Princess Arjumand the cat who is changing history; exceedingly silly owners of the above-mentioned kitty and many others. I enjoyed them all, each one is a foil for common Victorian characters, but at the same time with plenty of individuality to spare.

"God is in the details" is the motto of Ned's employer in 2057 who is doing a cathedral restoration project. And I would say this applies to the book itself that has so many fine touches in it, that I couldn't help, but love it. There are old-fashioned chapter starters that tell you what will happen in the chapter without actually revealing anything. There are numerous references to historical events, figures, literature and quotations that add to the atmosphere and make this time-travelling romp much more fun than others I have read.

It probably helps to know something about the book Three Men In a Boat, to Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome as there are numerous references to it. But I haven't read it myself, though I rather want to as the aftermath of reading this book. There are also lots of references to Agatha Christie mysteries and a number of other books, so I think everyone will find something they recognize and relate to.

All-in-all, this science fiction comedy seriously exceeded my expectations by being funny, charismatic, having a quick moving plot and plenty of literary references. I would recommend it to anyone with a sense of humor in a heartbeat.

1Q84

Title: 1Q84
Author: Haruki Murakami
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2011

Recommendation: A fiction immersion experience for those who like the weird and lots of character development.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Aomame is a fitness instructor in 1984 Tokyo. She takes a taxi to get to an appointment, but the traffic on the highway is blocked. The taxi driver suggests she take an emergency staircase off the highway and she does, ending up in an alternative world on 1Q84. Tengo is a math teacher who spends his spare time writing a novel. He is approached to rewrite a story by a 17-year old and becomes embroiled in the magic of the Air Chrysalis.

Reactions: I bought 1Q84 because of several reviews I've seen of it, extolling its virtues as the best book of the year. I have never read anything by this author before, so I have decided to see for myself what's the story about.

I realized rather quickly that this wasn't going to be a fast-moving story. The story switches between the two main characters each chapter and takes its time to show us the connection between the two stories. The narrative weaves and ducks and detours, but the patterns do emerge throughout the book. And despite 1Q84 not being an action-oriented book, I found myself quite engrossed in the story.

I enjoyed the fact that the book builds a certain atmosphere and immerses the reader into it. We learn everything there is to know about each character, what they think, how they live, how they grew up, and what motivates them. They are not necessarily the most sympathetic characters, but Murakami does make them feel real and quite unique as well. The supporting characters are also amazingly developed, varied and plausible. My favorite was Tamaru, but overall I felt all the characters were quite outstanding.

A lot of strange things happen in 1Q84 world. Worst fears come true. There are two moons in the sky. History changes itself and Little People inhabit the world. When introduced, many of the phenomena don't make sense, but as a book progresses, they tie more and more into a more cohesive whole and get connected in unexpected ways. Of course, not everything is explained and a lot of the events are symbolic -- but they have this special rhythm that makes the book come together.

On one hand, the book felt somewhat slow, but on the other, I enjoyed a number of the detours it takes and took even more detours myself to investigate the references it makes. For example, the book mentions Sinfonietta by Janacek and I ended up listening to the piece to understand the reference better. George Orwell's 1984, Anton Chekhov, and Proust also get more than one mention.

As I was finishing the book, I learned that 1Q84 was nominated for the Bad Sex in Fiction Award. I can see where the nominators are coming from. This is not a book that would get your aroused. But somehow the style in which sex is described fits perfectly with the rest of the narrative. There's a lot of atmosphere and symbolism in it and not a whole lot of fun.

It's not always serious though, I think my favorite excerpt from the book would be the following quote:

There is no other choice -- a perfect example of the process of elimination. So perfect an example, it makes me want to print it up in a pamphlet and hand it out to people on the street. Hi, how are you? Check out the process of elimination.

Some of the passages can be tongue-in-cheek. Certain characters more so than others.

Altogether, it was one of the most interesting books I've read this year and I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for an interesting and unique read.

The Prestige

Title: The Prestige

Author: Christopher Priest

Genre: Fantasy

Published: 1995

Recommendation: An engrossing read for fantasy fans and non-genre readers alike.

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Two magicians, Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier are magicians in London at the end of the 19th century. Their lives become intertwined through a continuous feud over each other's secrets and the feud will take them further than they have ever imagined.

Reactions: I came across this book browsing the bookstore shelves and bought it without any particular knowledge about the contents or the author. The jacket proclaimed it to be the winner of the World Fantasy Award and the unusual description intrigued me.

Having finished the book, I am very glad to have stumbled across this particular gem. The Prestige is a superbly written account and masterful in a variety of ways. The most obvious one is the narration of the novel. The story is presented in roughly three parts: one part follows a meeting between the descendants of the two magicians, the second part is presented through Alfred Borden's diary, and the third part is the presentation of the same events through Rupert Angier's diary. All three are masterfully connected together through a set of mysteries that slowly become revealed to the reader.

It's a fairly unusual type of fantasy novel in that for the large part of the book there's almost nothing mystical or fantastical about it. Only about 2/3rds into the novel something unusual occurs and it's almost in the realm of science fiction or alternative history. Yet, the twist is very important to the story and brings the whole narrative together to a good ending. There's also an amazing sense of the plot being tied together and I can only applaud the author at how well he intertwines the lives of the two magicians and echoes their respective lives across the narratives.

On top of all this, we get a pretty authentic feel for the stage arts of the 19th century magicians and get a feel for a solid cast of characters who are well-drawn, realistic, and very distinct from anything a fantasy reader would associate with the term "magician".

So if you have lived under a rock like me and have never heard of this book before, I highly recommend it. Apparently there is even a movie based on the book directed by Christopher Nolan that came out in 2006 and has good ratings. Yes, I clearly live under a very remote and mossy rock for I missed the movie as well. Time to go check Netflix....

The Local News

Title: The Local News

Author: Miriam Gershow

Genre: Fiction

Published: 2009

Recommendation: A character driven novel about loss and coping. Slow and impossible to put down at the same time. Two thumbs up.

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Lydia Pasternak's older brother goes missing. Her parents become distant and uncaring, withdrawing into their loss. Smart, but not popular, Lydia suddenly becomes the center of attention at school. Dealing with all the changes is not easy given her strained relationships with parents, brother, closest friends, and everybody else around her.

Reactions: The Local News is not the type of fiction I typically read. But it came highly recommended and a gift at that, so I started on the book almost immediately. The first book that came to my mind as I started reading The Local News is The Lovely Bones which deals with a similar subject matter of a kidnapped child. There are a few interesting parallels between the two stories, such as the reactions of the families to the tragedy, but The Local News is told from a very different perspective than The Lovely Bones.

At the center of the story is Lydia, who is smart and bookish, but not particularly popular. She is very observant, but rather closed off and introverted. The story progresses with her family, detectives, and everyone in the town searching for her brother who was a popular jock at the same high school prior to his disappearance. Now his friends are suddenly nice to Lydia and her struggle to deal with the new situation and people to whom she was invisible before really strike the mark.

We follow Lydia into the dark recesses of her brain as she spirals down trying to deal with being alienated and the loss of her brother. It's not an action-packed story at all, but I was very much fascinated by Lydia's world and read late into the night unwilling to put the book down.

The supporting cast of the story is very well drawn. From Lydia's best friend David who surprises her by making advances to her brother-adoring Lola, there is a variety to characters and motivations. The relationships grow and change, interactions are nuanced, feelings are hurt and truces are made. This is a story about relationships down to its core.

All in all, a very enjoyable read and one I would recommend heartily. It's dark without being depressing and entertaining without being fast-paced. Only towards the end did I feel my incredulity a bit strained at some of Lydia's reactions. Overall though it's a well written story that is definitely worth reading.

Naamah's Blessing

Title: Naamah's Blessing

Author: Jacqueline Carey

Series: Kushiel's Legacy, book 3

Genre: Fantasy

Published: 2011

Recommendation: A fitting ending for Moirin's adventures.

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Moirin returns to Terre d'Ange with Bao to find King Daniel depressed and unable to rule while Jehanne's daughter becomes neglected. Moirin becomes the daughter's oath-sworn protector -- not a popular political move. And more challenges are yet on the way, including a trip to the recently discovered Terra Nova.

Reactions: I pre-ordered the book last year, knowing that I will want to finish reading the series as soon as I can get my hands on the book. It was a pleasant surprise that the book was released a couple weeks earlier than the originally posted publication date and got delivered to me at the end of last week. Without much adieu, I submerged myself in this final installment of Kushiel's Legacy over the weekend and finished it.

There's really something magical about Carey's writing that grabs attention and submerges the reader into the story. The plot moves along at a lively pace and doesn't slow down for anything. If I could have read the book in one sitting, I certainly would have. It's really hard to put down Moirin's adventures.

It's not that the story itself pushes the envelope. In a sense there's not much suspense in the book since the victory of the "good guys" is almost assured. But at the same time, the lyrical language, description of the tribes they encounter, characters they meet and travel with all make for a wonderful reading experience. I was satisfied with the book's ending and with how the story lines were concluded. Overall, a very fun and well-written series. Recommended.

Ship Breaker

Title: Ship Breaker

Author: Paolo Bacigalupi

Genre: YA, Science Fiction

Published: 2010

Recommendation: Top notch dystopian science fiction with a great protagonist.

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Nailer works on the light crew, which means he gets to climb through ducts in an old oil tanker and collect the unused wiring. It's hard work, but he is better off than many others living on the shore and struggling to survive. However, one large coastal storm will change Nailer's life.

Reactions: I have heard many good things about Ship Breaker and was looking forward to the book since I enjoyed The Windup Girl a whole lot. There are some similarities between the two. One is the dystopian future with large corporations taking control, widespread poverty, and climate change. Also there are some rather grim scenes in Ship Breaker. But at the same time, this is not a depressing book, there's hope in it, and that makes the reading it enjoyable.

Nailer is a teenage boy and the main protagonist who gets the readers' sympathies early in the book. He is resourceful, lucky, and surprisingly very upstanding for his environment. Nailer's struggles in the book are easy to relate to and his mix of naivete and shrewdness makes him a very layered hero.

The book itself kept pace very well, there's plenty of action, but enough exposition to bring out the world and the characters as well. The language in the book is intended for younger audience, but the writing doesn't compromise -- it's well-written and readable. Few authors are able to hit the balance so well. One element I found surprising was that the book ended much faster than I expected. On e-book the progress in the book is less obvious and I was actually a bit surprised when the book ended. I really wish it had been longer.

All in all, Ship Breaker really lived up to its hype and I will be eagerly awaiting more books by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Anne of Green Gables

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Series: Anne of Green Gables, book 1
Genre: Children Lit
Published: 1908

Recommendation: An excellent nostalgic read for children or adults.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Anne Shirley is a red-headed orphan who comes to live on Prince Edward Island, adopted by a brother and a sister Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert. The book tells the story of Anne's childhood, her life in quiet Avonlea and her endless endearing mischief.

Reactions: This is not my first time reading this book. I have read it as a teen and enjoyed the adventures of Anne Shirley very much. Despite knowing the plot of the book quite well, I found this re-read to be touching and highly enjoyable as well.

In the center of the book is Anne who is a smart, funny, compelling character that one can't help but fall In love with. She is sassy, full of imagination, and is getting into scrapes all the time, but at the same time she is good-natured and touching in her affection for others.

The beginning of century rural Canada is a compelling setting with beautiful and peaceful scenery, small-town politics, and simple views. The descriptions of the place make me want to book my vacation there. The book is sappy in places and is clearly missing people with malice or bad intentions. The worst people get up to is telling gossip; but this dream world weaves a net and it's fun to get caught in it.

This is as fun as it gets. Absolutely recommended.

The Windup Girl

Title: The Windup Girl
Author: Paolo Bacigalupi
Genre: Science Fiction
Published: 2009

Recommendation: An apocalypse novel of great strength.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Oil has been all used up and a series of plagues left the world grasping for every possibility of growing food and looking for energy resources. After the Contraction and ethnic purges, economy is looking to expand once more. In the Kingdom of Thailand a group of people may change the country's course.

Reactions: I have seen many positive reviews of The Windup Girl prior to picking up the book. The novel has definitely lived up to it's hype. The Windup Girl places the reader in a very atmospheric post-apocalytpic world of Thailand and introduces you to a wonderfully real and diverse cast of characters.

The characters in this book are probably my favourite aspect of it. We first meet Anderson Lake who is an American "calorie-man". He lives in Thailand undercover as a factory owner, but in reality he is searching for a way to access Thai's innovations in plague-resistant food production. From the very first pages his behaviour showcases that he is not a nice man, but as the book goes on, he actually becomes the anti-hero against a backdrop of characters who do some very questionable things.

The title of the novel refers to a genetically engineered human girl. Her kind is despised and feared in Thailand, while being cultivated in Japan. She has been abandoned in Thailand by her Japanese master and is now kept as a novelty in a brothel.

There are several other rather unique characters whose lives end up connected throughout the book. The plot involves political upheaval as well as personal struggles by many of the characters. The book is very well paced and kept my attention very well despite its considerable length.

The world that Bacigalupi draws feels surprisingly real and possible. There's depth to the narrative and twist of the story. The mood of the story is grim and there are many rather gritty scenes in the book, not to mention adult content. However, none of it is gratuitous and together it presents a powerful message. Definitely a book with a punch behind it.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Title: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Author: Stieg Larsson
Series: Millennium Trilogy, book 1
Genre: Mystery
Published: 2005 (Sweden) 2008 (US)

Recommendation: Gripping. Suspenseful. Two thumbs up.
Rating: 9/10

Summary: Mikael Blomkvist, an investigative journalist, is hired by an aging billionaire Henrik Vanger to look into the mysterious disappearance of his niece 40 years ago. She was on an island with a number of relatives when she disappeared and the crime has never been solved. Lisbeth Salander is a private investigator with an unusual personality and mysterious history. Together they may be able to shed light on some of the Vanger family mysteries.

Reactions: The title of this book has caught my attention a while back, but I never gotten to looking into the book until I read a very positive review on one of the blogs I follow. Then I decided to give this Swedish mystery a try myself. It turned out that I enjoyed the book a lot.

Part of the appeal of the book to me was the elaborate story. The family history for the Vagner family is described in rich, intricate details. The characters are very well drawn out -- the good guys have serious flaws and the bad guys can be likable. Some of the characters are very difficult to peg into any category for a long time and the book just keeps revealing more about them throughout.

Overall, the plot moves quite well. I've stayed up late at night reading, completely unable to stop because I kept getting hooked on the action. However, there is a strange flow to the plot because even though the main mystery gets solved about 5/6th of the way into the book, there are still a 100 or so pages at the end dedicated to resolving other story lines. That felt a little strange, but at the end I was very satisfied how everything was wrapped up.

The story also ended up being darker than I expected at first. There are several rather graphic scenes in the book, some of them very violent. But at the same time, the tone is not depressing. There are obstacles to overcome and each character deals with their own problems in their own ways without getting bogged down in sentimentality.

To sum it up, this was a top notch read and if you get a chance, pick up the books. I have already started reading the second book in the series, The Girl Who Played With Fire.

Santa Olivia

Title: Santa Olivia

Author: Jacqueline Carey

Genre: Fantasy

Published: 2009

Recommendation: A touching coming of age story that won't let go. Read it!

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Loup Garron is born in an isolated military zone between U.S. and Mexico. Her father is a genetically-engineered soldier who passed by the town and Loup's life is tied to her half-brother Tommy until their mother dies and she is taken care of by the church where she makes friends and her adventures begin.

Reactions: Santa Olivia is one of those atmospheric books that you can just plunge into and get caught up in the events of the story without ever wanting to put the book down. The main heroine, Loup is very sympathetic, an underdog in a sense, and has the reader rooting for her throughout.

I had some qualms about calling this book fantasy. In fact it's more of an alternative history/post-apocalyptic type novel that may be put into a number of genres. As anyone may expect with Jacqueline Carey there are romance undercurrents in the novel, and as expected the love story is far from traditional. Nor does it dominate the plot, which to me is one of the best traits in Carey's work. Overall, I felt this was a fantasy based on the strong idealistic and heroic streak running throughout the story. In some ways the spirit of it reminds me of some David Gemmell works.

There is emphasis on relationships and the story is very much character driven. I like the character cast and their interaction is certainly catching. I hung on to every word until the very end and I certainly hope there will be a sequel. While there is a logical ending to the story, enough is left to speculate on what would happen next. And in fact, Jacqueline Carey announced that a sequel Santitos at Large will be published sometime in 2011. Looking forward to that.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Title: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Author: Susanna Clarke

Genre: Fantasy

Published: 2004

Recommendation: A must read for those who enjoy Gothic atmosphere, magic, and history.

Rating: 9/10

Summary: Mr. Norrell is the first magician in ages to actually do practical magic in an age where only theoretical magicians are left. He demonstrates his magic in Yorkshire and then moves to London to start the revival of English magic.

Jonathan Strange becomes a magician in a very different fashion, but then comes to apprentice himself to Mr. Norrell. These two different magicians will then shape the history of English magic.

Reactions: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell is a very unusual work of fantasy. The format of the novel is surprisingly riddled with footnotes. The footnotes refer to books mentioned within the story, real-life references, and even tell back stories on their own. I found the format to work quite well, except for the size of the text which gets tiring on the eyes. The footnotes worked well with the tone of the book and were often a pretty interesting diversion from the main story line.

Speaking of the story line, this is not a book I would recommend to those who enjoy fast-paced, action-packed books. While the story is interesting, it tends to weave and wave and move around. There are times when I felt things were moving rather slowly and then they would pick up and I would be unable to put the book away. The pacing is a little strange and it took me quite a bit of time to get through all 1000 pages of the paperback edition, but at no point was I considering giving it up.

The story is very character driven, we learn the history of the two magicians, how their characters and their relationship with each other develops and many of their actions make sense to us because of that. Jonathan Strange is a much more sympathetic character than Mr. Norrell, but I also very much enjoyed reading about the supporting characters. There is Stephen Black, a servant of Sir Walter Pole, whose destiny is to become a King. There is also Lady Pole, who was brought back to life just to spend half of it in the faerie kingdom. We get to spend time with Lord Wellington and see the Battle of Waterloo as well as meet Lord Byron. Interesting characters crop up throughout the book and Clarke takes her time exploring them and their relationships to each other.

The scope of the book is rather epic. There is an amazing amount of research clearly put into the book as well as magical history woven very skillfully into the story. Everything from dates of birth to names of residences of older magicians may get mentioned and we get a logical extrapolation of early 19th century England as if the magic was always there.

Overall, I was extremely impressed with the novel. It conveyed the tone, mood, and sentiment of 19th century England very well and managed to mix in magic, action, adventure in the right proportions to make this a very fascinating read. The story is stand-alone and the ending is satisfying though clearly with a possibility of return to the same world. I would definitely recommend this as an excellent read.