Review Category: Books

Emma O’Donovan is a fun-loving teenage girl, spending weekends partying with her friends and looking forward to when she can leave the small town of her childhood and make her own way in the world. At a party she is horrifically assaulted by several young men while passed out drunk and pictures of the ordeal are posted to Facebook, resulting in her being endlessly mocked for what was done to her. After the story jumps forward a year she has become an empty shell of what she once was, an insular shadow reduced to “pink flesh” and “splayed legs”, harassed daily for her claim of rape, her mother in denial and her father ashamed, and her identity eroded to be solely defined by that one incident, while the trial of those accused of the crime draws near.

Emma is initially reluctant to make the claim of being raped, believing on some level that if she avoids using the word it means that wasn’t what happened, and knowing full well that ours is a world where victim blaming and slut shaming runs rampant, and queries over what the girl was wearing, how much she had drunk or how many previous partners she had are somehow accepted as contributing aspects to the actions of sex offenders. “There are certain words I can lip-read now, I know them so well,” she tells us, with “slut… liar… skank… bitch… whore…” constantly echoing in her mind like some damnation mantra.

The situation is rendered even more egregious by the fact that not only are the actions of the rapists not even in dispute, they aren’t even brought up. Despite there being photos documenting in sickening detail the deplorable things they did to her (thanks to the age of ubiquitous social media where spite can be immortalised with the click of a mouse and the law is woefully inadequate in keeping up with the swift advancement of technology), their behaviour is apparently a non-issue. No, what’s significant is what Emma supposedly allowed these “good boys, from good families” to do (despite being so comatose with drink and drugs at the time she doesn’t even remember it happening) and what kind of girl would let that be done to her? All the focus of the insular town’s gossiping and the larger media free-for-all is on Emma and how she’s a selfish liar who is RUINING THEIR LIVES all for the sake of some attention. It’s enough to make you homicidal with contempt.

Asking For It is an exceptionally important book that everyone should read. It’s not a book you will enjoy reading, nor is it a book that will entertain you while doing so, and it will make you frustrated, upset, angry and disgusted. And that is precisely the point. Emma’s tale is a reflection of things that are happening right now in the real world and will continue to happen with an unacceptable frequency until it is recognised that rapists are the sole reason rape exists and those we entrust to ensure an adequately functioning legal system recognise the problem for what it is and do something about it. The story might be fiction, but every word of it is true.

 

Have you ever wondered where that missing sock has disappeared to when doing your laundry? Or why you sometimes can’t find your keys when you know you’ve put them in their usual spot? How about swallowing sour milk by mistake or eating mouldy bread when the day before it was fresh? If you’ve experienced one, or all, of these things then you’ve got goblins. But there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Brian Froud’s Goblins 10 1/2 Anniversary Edition will guide you through your goblin infestation. The bad news is that once you have goblins you can’t get rid of them.

Renowned artist Brian Froud is perhaps best known for designing the creatures of Jim Henson’s cult classic movies Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, and this light-hearted tome is a fine addition to Froud’s other published works. Along with author Ari Berk, Froud has updated the much-loved Goblins with this 10 1/2 Anniversary Edition. Among its pages are new letters of apologies and disclaimers complete with new art; a list of Gargle’s new titles, grants, entitlements and responsibilities, and much more! Also included is an envelope containing a new talisman that is guaranteed to ward off goblins.

Froud’s art is simply exquisite and it would have been so easy for him to simply ‘sketch’ the goblins to replicate a field guide, but each drawing is a detailed and evocative study of the goblin world and its myriad denizens. Berk’s humorous, clever and literate prose is the perfect accompaniment to Froud’s art. What they have created is more than just a biographical guide with portraits and principal characteristics to these devious creatures; it’s an in-depth look at their culture, their social hierarchy, holidays, games and personal relationships. They also include a partial transcription of the ancient Codex Goblinensis and how to recognize the signs of a goblin infestation.

It’s difficult to know for whom this completely mad, gorgeously illustrated and delightfully written book is aimed at. It’s not quite a children’s book and yet some adults might find the humor coarse and childish. Perhaps it’s the best of both worlds in that it’s a book that appeals to the child in us.

BRIAN FROUD’S GOBLINS 10 1/2 ANNIVERSARY EDITION / AUTHOR: ARI BERK / ARTIST: BRIAN FROUD / PUBLISHER: HARRY N. ABRAMS INC. / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Promised the greatest mission he’s ever faced, assassin Peter Caswell finds himself sent through a wormhole and transported to a planet that appears to be a less technologically advanced copy of Earth. There he must hunt down a missing scientist using her futuristic knowledge to play god with the world before any damage her actions cause becomes irreparable.

Part espionage mystery and part action thriller, with a sci-fi twist Zero World emulates what James Bond originally was, before the formula became obsolete in the information age world and post-Bourne cinematic landscape. Caswell even picks up a glamorous partner in the form of Melni, a spy gathering intelligence on the scientist he is targeting, and soon proves to be more than capable of handling herself alongside him.

The intricacies of the differences and similarities to Earth play a large part in the story, least of all why everyone speaks a slight variant of English, and far from merely being a setting gimmick, this is a world with its own distinct history and separate identity, just one that, seemingly inexplicably, happens to look exactly like our own.

As a mercenary with technological enhancements, Caswell has a certain similarity to Richard Morgan’s antihero enforcer Takeshi Kovacs, but he becomes an intriguing character once we see his reaction to killing. Since his mind is wiped after each mission he has no recollection of the lives he has taken, and so his reaction to being required to kill is that of someone who never has. As his guilt and self-loathing increases with every death, you begin to wonder if the memory wipe is a standard procedure or if it’s something only Caswell requires, allowing him to remain sane in the face of what he hates to do while at the same time being all he knows how to do.

Although Caswell’s augmentations and access to advanced weaponry would make him an almost unstoppable opponent in what is to him a technologically backward world, this is balanced by slow deterioration from being unable to eat any of its food, while suspense comes from the countdown constantly ticking before his memory is reverted, meaning that unless he completes his mission he will be stranded on a distant planet with no knowledge of where he is or what’s even happening.

About three quarters of the way through the book suddenly lurches off into a new and unexpected direction, but far from being a jarring departure from everything that came previously it actually serves to streamline the story, providing a single explanation for everything that previously occurred. It’s a bold move, and one that leaves things open to develop further.

ZERO WORLD / AUTHOR: JASON M. HOUGH / PUBLISHER: TITAN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Amber is not having a good day. First: she’s just found out that her parents are demons, and so is she. Second: they and their friends are going to kill and devour her to absorb her demonic energy as they have been doing with all their previous children over the last century. To escape she goes on the run aided by mysterious driver Milo, who may or may not be the manifestation of an urban legend, and Glen, a talkative and slightly annoying young Irishman doomed by a death curse. Together they travel the Demon Road, a metaphysical highway linking the supernatural underworld that hides in plain sight throughout the dark heart of America.

Derek Landy is best known for the Skulduggery Pleasant series of YA novels, and although Demon Road similarly has a protagonist of a supernaturally-tainted teenage girl trying to hold back her literal dark side, Amber is a world away from the supremely confident Valkyrie Cain. Overweight, introverted and friendless outside of internet message boards, her insecurity is something many girls will be able to relate to, and she remains believable as someone perpetually on the edge of survival despite having a powerful demon form into which she can transform at will.

Although the large absence of Amber’s parents from the action relegates them to a somewhat nebulous threat, they nevertheless remain a foreboding one, and since they will be relentless in their pursuit of their daughter it’s only a matter of time before they catch up with her. In their bid to escape, the central trio travel through a number of cursed settings such as a town still haunted by the murder spree of a killer straight out a slasher movie and another populated almost entirely by vampires, to major cities where subterranean bars house all manner of nightmarish monsters and forests wherein stalk unnameable horrors. The settings of each stop are well thought out and distinctly constructed nightmares, the slasher town in particular providing a plausible vision of what such a place might become after visitation from a supernatural killer, along with a suggestion of the kind of woman a Final Girl might end up as thirty years down the line.

Despite Demon Road’s hefty length it’s an easy read, and the road trip structure lends itself to an ever-flowing narrative that always has reason progress to a new location and the wild and weird dangers that await. The book is structured almost like a TV series, the scene setting and barrage of exposition in the early chapters functioning as the pilot, while the adventures in each town would take place over one or two episodes before events build to a climax in the finale, where the story ends on a resolution but is nevertheless left open to continue further.

DEMON ROAD / AUTHOR: DEREK LANDY / PUBLISHER: HARPER COLLINS / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 27TH

 

From The Big Bang to Big Bang Generation – with a regeneration in between. This latest trilogy of novels concerns itself with the hunt for the Glamour, dangerously powerful technology first mentioned in the Tenth Doctor New Series Adventure Ghosts of India and expanded upon in his next incarnation’s The Glamour Chase. Older readers may well delight in the return of a certain archaeologist companion of the first of the darker-edged Scottish Doctors, too! Oh, and a humanoid hamster called Keri. See Legacy & Happy Endings from the Seventh Doctor’s Virgin New Adventures series for more on that.

If you know not of Professor Bernice Summerfield, all the more reason to get cracking on them – a vital lifeline for the man the Doctor was six selves on from his current Caledonian body post-Survival. Indeed, reference is made to her first meeting with the man in the pullover with mention of the events of Love And War… during which she ran across the master of the rrolled ‘rrr’ and Ace on the planet Heaven…….

Which, of course, turns out to be anything but. Nevertheless, we digress. Though it is probably worth pointing out that Paul Cornell, who introduced her into that expanded universe, also penned Human Nature (recently reprinted as part of a History Collection) – later adapted for television with David Tennant in a sense stepping into the shoes of Sylvester McCoy. Which is almost exactly what Gary Russell has Peter Capaldi doing here!

And if you enjoyed Time Heist, which had him leading a specially selected gang into the Bank of Karabraxos, there are plenty of similarities. Feel free to tick them off as we go. Motley crew united to pull off an ambitious job? Box ticked. Potential consequences for all involved? You bet. Now add in the mysterious Ancients of the Universe and their very dangerous time portal. Just as with that first heist, a mysterious summons is the key to the mystery…. with the Time Lord ahead of the game as ever.

Oo err. From running around robbin’ banks all whacked out on TARDIS snacks (yes, the venerable police box does have such a vending machine – it’s there in both The Daleks and The Edge of Destruction) with thanks to Doctor Hu-ey Morgan and his Fun Lovin Criminals for the literary device, to stopping the Pyramid Eternia from cacking things up well beyond the financial sector.

So, Time Heist and a hint of Indiana Jones. If you’ve enjoyed the Twelfth Doctor’s first outings on the small screen, there’s plenty to like. If, however, you found Doctor Who‘s attempt at out-hustling Hustle a bit dry, this probably won’t be first on your list. The aforementioned New Adventures are probably a far better stopping off point on your reading list – from the opening salvo of the Timewyrm trilogy to Benny and beyond.

But does a New Adventure-type format work in a New-Who context? The jury remains out, and somewhere the tea is getting cold…………..

DOCTOR WHO: BIG BANG GENERATION / AUTHOR: GARY RUSSELL / PUBLISHER: BBC BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 10TH

 

Stories that span entire galaxies, cross-reference multiple civilisations, and do a bit of general world-building on a J.R.R. Tolkien scale rarely have such a homely, compact atmosphere. Becky Chambers’ debut novel does just that. The fact that this novel was initially funded through Kickstarter, where novels are notoriously unsexy, is an appetising enough hint as to how gosh darn lovely this book is.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet tells the snapshot, anthology-esque story of Rosemary Harper, who joins the space-tunnelling crew of the Wayfarer as their new admin girl. Hoping to start afresh with her life, her efforts in leaving a troubled past behind become all the more real when the crew bag an immensely dangerous tunnelling job involving faraway worlds, villainous species, and deep secrets that are in fear of running amok within the cramped, battered confines of the Wayfarer.

Reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet feels less like taking part in an epic space saga and more like snuggling up with a well-worn diary that has that sensuous, old book smell. Throughout, Chambers commands a gentle, near-perfect sense of pace that favours dipping in and out of Rosemary and the other characters’ exploits than telling a full-blown story. Granted, the basic plot of the Wayfarer crew tunnelling through space in order to reach a seemingly dangerous world anchors the novel, but the joy here is the sweetly compelling nature of the characters, the worlds, and their exploits that Chambers conjures.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is brimming with quiet hooks, a sharp, witty attitude and a waltz-like rhythm that almost never loses interest. Chambers paints a gorgeous tale of personal struggles and companionship, making The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet a novel to warm your very soul.

THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET / AUTHOR: BECKY CHAMBERS / PUBLISHER: HODDER PAPERBACKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (HARDCOVER), DECEMBER 31ST (PAPERBACK)

 

Trouble is afoot on the streets of London, and this time it’s come on stilts… The Return of the Discontinued Man sees Burton and Swinburne once again come face-to-face with the perilous Spring Heeled Jack, and this time he’s brought company. Several of them, in fact!

As an unusual red snow covers the streets of London, a rather strange and insane creature is on the loose, hell bent and looking for one man in particular. Spring Heeled Jack returns as he’s on the hunt for Sir Richard Frances Burton and this time he’s not entirely sure why, but he knows that it has something to do with Burton, Queen Victoria and the prime minister.

As an army of bewildered and insane Spring Heeled Jacks descend upon London, Burton and Swinburne find themselves facing their greatest foe yet, as the course of not just Burton and Swinburne’s history, but the entire future of the empire is drastically altered, bringing the somewhat maddening Spring Heeled Jack’s along for the journey.

If the confusing army of increasingly maddening Spring Heeled Jack’s wasn’t bad enough, Burton finds himself hallucinating his past and present timelines, as parallel realities and the future history face a greater threat than ever, and it’s up to Burton, Swinburne and their cohorts at The Cannibal Club to help save the day and the future.

The Return of the Discontinued Man goes beyond the whimsical Victorian world of steampunk into a grand sci-fi adventure as Burton and Swinburne travel through time itself to find and eliminate the source of the dreaded Spring Heeled Jacks, taking them on an unimaginable journey, far beyond the comfort of Victorian London.

A thoroughly entertaining read, making for one hell of a journey through time itself that thankfully won’t involve leaving your sofa!

THE RETURN OF THE DISCONTINUED MAN: THE BURTON & SWINBURNE ADVENTURES / AUTHOR: MARK HODDER / PUBLISHER: DEL REY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Robin Hobb’s latest series of stories about FitzChivalry Farseer and his beloved friend The Fool began last year with Fool’s Assassin. The book kicked up a bit of a hornet’s nest for both the characters and the fans of Hobb’s work, as not only did it drag Fitz out of his well-deserved domestic bliss it also introduced a new character, Fitz’s strange daughter, Bee. Fool’s Quest is the keenly anticipated sequel, and it’s just as shocking, addictive and gripping as the first book.

With our heroes now thoroughly torn out of their comfort zones, Hobb takes us on a complex and involved emotional journey. Make no mistake, all the elements of a fantasy novel are present, but they are secondary to the character development and growth of main characters. Fans of Fitz and The Fool will be pleased to know that the compelling bond they share continues to delight and fascinate. Bee’s perspective is also incredibly well handled, providing a crucial and different view to Fitz’s sardonic and miserable outlook.

Fool’s Quest is better paced than the previous book, and there’s certainly more action. Fitz’s sense of duty makes these scenes all the more fascinating. There’s also a lot more world building. Those familiar with the Liveship Trader novels will recognise some key elements as Hobb brings her world closer together. As always, there is a strong humanitarian overtone throughout the work; every life has a value, every person part of this world’s rich tapestry.  It’s impossible not to become completely immersed in these people’s lives. 

Overall, Fool’s Quest is further proof that Hobb is a modern master of fantasy. If you haven’t had the pleasure as yet, prepare to clear a shelf and start reading from the beginning; Quest is the latest in a long series. It is well worth the journey, especially if you’re looking for something different and unique. Those of us who already know about these books will be pleased to discover that it’s still an amazing series and one that is well worth your time.

FOOL’S QUEST / AUTHOR: ROBIN HOBB / PUBLISHER: HARPER COLLINS / RELEASE DATE: OUT

 

After a devastating pandemic sweeps the globe, millions of people worldwide are afflicted with lock in, a condition that leaves the mind completely aware within a paralysed body. Locked in people are able to interact with the everyday world by their consciousness being remotely connected to specialised androids, which have a common nickname of ‘threep’ in reference to exactly what you think it is. Integrators, meanwhile, are people whose brains are wired to receive another person’s consciousness and allow them control, essentially renting out their body (no, not like that) so locked in people can temporarily re-experience what it feels like to be human.

All of these significant details are introduced in the first few chapters, gradually dropped in at regular intervals without resorting to any kind of plot dump, letting us know about how Lock In’s  world works at a measured and natural pace. They are also not mere background details; nearly every aspect of the presented scenario at some point has relevance to the plot, meaning early concentration soon pays off as we are swept into the ever-expanding mystery understanding no more or less than the characters.

Chris Shane, a rookie FBI agent and the locked in son of a celebrity business magnate, tells the story while also figuring out exactly what the hell he’s doing as he is embroiled in a huge case on his second day, while his experienced partner Vann is a cynical former Integrator, drinking, smoking and screwing whenever she gets the chance amidst dispensing glowering wisdom. Together they investigate a series of deaths involving the technology used to assist locked in people, and despite the plot’s reliance on its high concept ideas, it never once falters in its plausibility, requiring neither technobabble nor some mechanical deus ex machina to make everything fit together in the required way.

A host of distinctive supporting characters, from smarmy lawyers and corporate bigshots to officious law enforcement of varying degrees of competence and locked in people from all walks of life populate the richly realised world, a future we certainly hope never comes to pass but nevertheless one we can easily imagine playing out in much the same way if it ever did.

Engagingly merging sci-fi with police procedural is a neat idea with nigh on limitless potential (let us have a moment of silence for the prematurely-cancelled Almost Human), and while Lock In never veers towards outright comedy, Scalzi’s talent for balancing tone prevents the story from ever becoming too serious, and thus consistently remains an absorbing read.

LOCK IN / AUTHOR: JOHN SCALZI / PUBLISHER: GOLLANCZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

The metropolis of New Cairo is a domed city built within a massive crater and lit by an artificial sun. It’s also a high-tech powder keg teetering on the brink of all-out chaos. As a virus sweeps the city that targets the artificial limbs and organs almost everyone needs to survive, the poorer areas are the ones hit hardest. And when extreme inequality pushes people beyond breaking point, their response can be equally intense.

For all its wealth of near-future technological advancements, The Hive Construct is a story about people, taking real world events like the Arab Spring for inspiration. The story switches between three viewpoint characters, each attempting to deal with the virus and the subsequent quarantines it made necessary. Zala, a young hacker returning to the city after years in exile due to fabricated murder charges; Alice, a mother whose husband was a terrorist leader and joins the dissidents to keep her children safe; and Ryan, a rare breed of optimistic councilman who not only believes in what he’s doing but also that it can make a demonstrable difference.

Each of them in their own way forms part of a cross-section of the woefully unbalanced society, and through their perspectives we learn of the extent of the disparity between the city’s social classes that existed long before the virus suddenly appeared, lending some unspoken justification to the methods the terrorists employ as the attempt to effect the lifting of the quarantine by a war of attrition. Given the intended moral ambiguity, it’s a shame that the Security Forces of the city’s corporate oligarchs are little more than an army of anonymous mooks, shooting harmless protestors or splitting the skulls of innocent passers by as required.

There is a wonderfully cinematic feel to proceedings, right from the opening chapter of Zala striding out of the arid heat of the Sahara, possibly dooming herself by returning to the city that damned her, calling to mind Franco Nero’s Django emerging from the Badlands dragging a coffin behind him. The settings are described as though viewed as panoramic vistas, and action flows in such a manner that you can imagine the movements and cuts of the camera, viewing people with personal intimacy or airborne omniscience as necessary, while even textually heavy scenes such as those featuring Zala’s hacking have a visual sense of urgency.

The Northern African setting is an interesting deviation from the norm but largely uncapitalised upon, with only the largely unfamiliar names and almost complete absence of white people setting New Cairo apart from any comparable futuristic megacity of Europe or North America. The story is instead a universal one. Those in positions of power will always have a sense of superiority over those without it; those born into poverty will resent those who grow up in unappreciative privilege; and the human drive to survive is something predominant across our species. But who gets to decide who should live and who should or die, along with what give them the right to do so, is something the book asks us to decide for ourselves.

THE HIVE CONSTRUCT / AUTHOR: ALEXANDER MASKILL / PUBLISHER: CORGI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW