Book Review: Earth Girl / Author: Janet Edwards / Publisher: Harper Voyage / Release Date: August 16th

Earth Girl is the debut novel from English science fiction/fantasy author Janet Edwards, aimed at young adults. It’s 2788 and Earth is unrecognisable. Cities of skyscrapers, homes and offices are left abandoned in ruins. Earth is no longer a thriving hub of life, only the ‘apes’, the ill and the archaeologists are left. Now that so many other planets are accessible through teleports and provide work, safety, stability and reliable weather patterns, why would anyone stay?

Well for some it’s not a choice. Neans (more offensively known as ‘apes’) don’t have a choice in the matter as they are unable to survive in any other environment apart from Earth’s. Even if they are born on another planet, a nean will suffer from asphyxiation immediately and die within minutes unless portalled to Earth immediately.

Eighteen your old Jarra is one of these ‘handicapped’ children. Like many she was abandoned at birth and handed over to the state of Earth, where she was homed with nine other neans of a similar age. As they all turn eighteen and are regarded as adults, they have to decide their next steps. Jarra decides to apply to an off Earth University to do history. Every first year history course is run on Earth due to the archaeological value of the abandoned terrain, none of the other students will have a clue she’s a nean. In her head she plans unveiling her secret at the end of the year, forcing the students to realise ‘ape’ is a hugely offensive term and that she is just as capable, if not more so, as they are. On her first day she expects all the other students to be idiots she will despise and tire of quickly. Little does she realise how special these people are and how much she had judged them as much as they may judge her.

This is an excellent young adults science fiction read. The strong female lead in Jarra is feisty and brave but a bit of a suck up in her lessons. But that is understandable due to her constant striving to be better than everyone else, to prove her deep seated doubt that she’s a second class citizen wrong. With a dash of action, sprinkling of romance, some teenage angst and a couple of collapsing skyscrapers, this novel contains everything you could possibly want to grab a teenage reader and keep them utterly enthralled.

Book Review: Champions of Mars / Author: Guy Haley / Publisher: Solaris / Release Date: Out Now

When one thinks of sci-fi stories featuring Mars, it’s usually one of two types of story; either it’s a John Carter style romp, set in a world of wild fantasy with mystic priests and almost magical technology, or it’s a gritty tale of men and women surviving in incredibly harsh conditions, typically with international politics and pseudo-scientific weirdness causing interesting things to happen.

Guy Haley’s Champion of Mars squares this circle by choosing to do both; the story is set both in the far, far future and near future, the tale swings between these two periods in order to give us a clearer view of the world Haley has created for us.

The distant future portion of the tale features the superhuman Yoechakanon and his eternal lover and spirit companion Kaibeli. The hero is appropriately square jawed and cunning, and some of the fight scenes are fantastic in every sense of the word. The pair of them set off on a quest to save the dying world of Mars, and discover the deeper secrets within.

Meanwhile, back in the near future, Dr. Holland has come to a research station on Mars to investigate newly discovered Martian live forms, as well as to recover from crippling post-traumatic stress caused by his tragic past. This segment of the book also introduced me to the word “Frankenphobe”, meaning the irrational hatred of artificial intelligence. It also happens to be a nice way of summing up an entire sociological shift in one word, which is pretty nifty.

Haley weaves the two tales into a tight and compelling narrative; at no point does the flip between eras feel forced, instead the reader is drawn to each element of the world as this epic adventure is told. Champion of Mars is not just a tale of two eras though; it’s also a thriller, an unnatural mystery and a strange sort of love story. Highly entertaining and original, and well worth a look.

Book Review: The Primarchs / Author: Christian Dunn/ Publisher: The Black Library / Release Date: May 24^th

The Primarchs is the most recent release in the seemingly endless Horus Heresy series, and as the name suggests, focuses on the exploits of the god-like leaders of the armies of the man. The Primarchs is an anthology of four novella length stories, each by a different author.

It opens with Graham McNeil’s The Reflection Crack’d, a uniquely dark twist on the Portrait of Dorian Grey. Previously in the series, we saw the Primarch Fulgrim in some pretty dire straits, with some pretty important questions left unanswered. McNeil returns to form here, and proceeds to unveil all sorts of secrets about Fulgrim and his closest generals. This is not a tale for the squeamish, and very much about the character progression; this contains elements of an origin story the fans have been waiting for, as well as a scene that will make fans of the series applaud.

The character progression continues in Nick Kyme’s Feat of Iron, a tale about Ferrus Manus, the cybernetic Primarch. The Horus Heresy has a huge cast of characters, and Manus is perhaps the most underused; he doesn’t get much time centre stage for a variety of reasons, so it’s nice to see him showcased this way. Feat of Iron puts Manus and his legion in a series of near impossible challenges, both physical and spiritual. It’s a good Horus Heresy story, though Kyme has written much stronger (and similar) tales in the past.

One of the hidden jewels of the Black Library’s dark crown is Gav Thorpe. He consistently provides firm tales told in a riveting sort of way, and has gone from strength to strength in recent years. His contribution to the anthology is The Lion, and features the leader of that most mysterious of legions, The Dark Angels. It’s a bit of a curates egg of a novella; fans will love it, those not as familiar with the setting may miss some of the finer notes. It’s always a pleasure to read Thorpe’s work, and this is him combining his growing writing skill with his love for very geeky things.

Finally, we have Rob Sanders tale, The Serpent Beneath is a cinematic thrill ride, showcasing some of the more memorable aspects of the setting. Not only does it feature the special-ops like Alpha Legion, it also features the hive-like cities, people with earthquake generating psychic powers, remote outposts with secret projects, double-dealing and bold strategies. Sander’s delivers a fast paced end to the anthology, and it’s certainly a page turner. He captures the various elements of the setting perfectly, it’s exciting, epic and also very, very grim.

Though one should not judge a book by its cover, special mention should be made of the artwork on the front of The Primarchs; the covers on these books are usually pretty special, but artist Neil Roberts has outdone himself, creating a powerful image that sets the anthology up perfectly. This is not a book for those looking to get into the series; either start at the beginning or try Dan Abnett’s Legion, but it is a good example as to why it continues to be so popular.

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Book Review: Bitterblue / Author: Kristen Cashore/ Publisher: Gollancz / Release Date: Out Now

Bitterblue is intended to bookend the
Kristin Cashore’s two previous novels, Graceling and Fire,
and explores one of the big unasked
questions of fantasy novels; what happens after the wicked king is deposed? Bitterblue is set in your standard world of magic and fantasy. In this world,
magic powers are in the hands of anyone with differently coloured eyes, and
it’s pretty much your standard medieval setting beyond that.

This is very much a young adult
fiction book aimed at those interested in teen adventure and romance. The crux
of the plot focuses on young Queen Bitterblue, her father an evil king who was
defeated and deposed in previous books. Rather than an epic fantasy adventure
filled in a world of adventure and excitement, what we have here is a powerful
story of a young woman finding her place in the world and healing from an
abusive past.

It doesn’t help that the main
characters aren’t terribly likeable, either being overly simplistic or more often,
plain and unsympathetic. That said, Bitterblue herself does mature as the story
continues, though I have to admit that towards the end, I didn’t really care.
The main themes felt forced rather tragic, but if I was a lot less jaded, I’d
have lapped it up.

This is a book filled with dark
secrets, shocking revelations, cyphers, secrecy and many, many lies. It’s also
long, slow and filled with a lot of emotional trauma, and could really do with
being a bit shorter. Cashore is a skilled writer and the story is compelling,
but this novel is simply too long and quite draining; those expecting the
energy and froth from previous books should look elsewhere. This is a novel
pitched at the sort of young person who likes their music sad and their
romances tragic. If you need a dose of fantasy-inspired misery, this is for
you.

Book Review: Seraphina / Author: Rachel Hartman/ Publisher: Doubleday Childrens / Release Date: July 19^th

Unlike myself, the people of Goredd aren’t enamoured with dragons. Despite the war with the great beasts ending 40 years ago, the treaty remains tenuous; suspicion abounds although the two live alongside each other (dragons can take human form, you see), and when a member of the human royal family is murdered, it’s easy to suspect dragon-kind of the crime. Mixed up in all this intrigue is our heroine, Seraphina. She’s not an investigator, merely assistant to the court composer. Yet, she’s a young woman who hides a dark secret…

Of course she is – what’s a young adult fantasy novel going to be like with a normal narrator? – and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what makes Seraphina different from everyone else, unique amongst humans and dragons.

Yet, Rachel Hartman’s debut isn’t just about the insecurities of her protagonist. There’s a plot afoot that affects everyone in the world she’s created, one that is deftly woven throughout the novel. There are genuine surprises as the plot develops, and while I found some twists predictable, the younger readers the novel is aimed at will likely find them equally shocking as others.

Despite being aimed at young adults, there are highly mature aspects to the story. Seraphina, struggling with the terms of her existence, has created a ‘mind-garden’ where avatars of her personality roam, and must be ‘put to bed’ before she herself can sleep. Of course, there’s more to it than that, but to go any further would be to spoil the plot.

Seraphina is a quick-paced read, and while the story does pause at times for introspection, it never stalls or grinds to a halt. It’s populated with quirky and interesting characters, none of whom are there just to make up the numbers. My personal favourites, the old knights who used to battle dragons, aren’t in the book as long as I’d have liked, but they’re a fascinating insight into how dragons would have to be fought.

It’s a tale well told, the author’s writing hitting a real high whenever music is involved. Here, her prose verges on the poetic; beautiful, often haunting, descriptions abound. It’s no criticism, but it’s a pity the rest of the novel isn’t so well-written. The writing isn’t bad – far from it – but it’s clear to see that when the author is passionate about something like this, she puts her all into it, and it’s a shame not to see such skill used throughout.

That’s possibly an unfair statement, given that I’m twenty years past the target reader demographic. What is true, is that Seraphina is witty and charming enough to keep even an old cynic like me turning the pages. The inevitable romance never feels tiresome, nor does it interfere with the story; in fact, it helps to power the later stages.

In Seraphina, Rachel Hartman has created a likeable, gutsy heroine, one who isn’t flawless or afraid to make mistakes. No doubt is left that there will be a sequel, and the final stages of the novel set up the next instalment nicely. A good start to what should be an interesting series.

Book Review: The Art of Daniel Clowes – Modern Cartoonist / Author: Alvin Buenaventura / Publisher: Abrams ComicArts / Release Date: Out Now

Best known to the general public for his graphic novel Ghost World and its film adaptation starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansonn, Daniel Clowes has won Harvey, Eisner and Ignatz awards for his comics as well as an Academy Award nomination for his screenplays.

One of the world’s foremost alternative comic creators, Clowes eclectic body of work is characterised by social ennui, angst and alienation. The Art of Daniel Clowes: Modern Cartoonist has been collated by Alvin Buenaventura, comprised of essays, interviews and samples of work from across Clowes’ life and career to date. The lavish, oversized photographs and reproductions of Clowes’ original artwork must surely represent a treasure trove to dedicated fans of the man, because even though my interest in his work could best be described as casual I found myself poring over page after page uncollected strips and cover images.

The essays dissect Clowes’ work in great detail, analysing his working methods, influences and recurring motifs. The book, of course, treats Clowes and his work reverentially, but this is to be expected from an expensive art book contributed to by scholars, art curators and peers that all hold him in high esteem. Luckily none choose to sugar-coat their personal descriptions of the man, so while the picture that they paint is biased it nonetheless gives the impression of containing truthful accounts of his interactions with other artists and the world at large.

For my own reading I seem to prefer the generation influenced by Clowes to Daniel Clowes himself, but reading this fascinating book gave me a strong urge to revisit his graphic novels and seek out the ones that I haven’t yet read. To immerse myself so fully in his psyche and come away wanting more must surely speak volumes not just for the quality of his comics but for the love and diligent research put into this book. Clearly the market for a luxury dissection of Daniel Clowes’ life in art must be limited, but if the idea appeals to you I can’t imagine any possible way that this book will disappoint.

Book Review: The Peculiars / Author: Maureen Doyle McQuerry / Format: Hardcover / Publisher: Amulet / Release Date: Out Now

Eighteen-year-old Lena Mattacascar has outlandishly large, spidery hands and feet. Worried that these, plus a stubborn, rebellious streak in her nature, are signs of an undesirable condition known as “goblinism”, she treks north in search of her long-lost father. Is he a goblin, or just a misfit? To find out the answer, she needs to penetrate into the remote northern wilderness of Scree, home of the Peculiars, people with abnormal traits shunned by society.

 

The early stages of this novel are entirely engrossing as Lena journeys to the salty, decaying seaside town of Knob Knoster and meets the inventor Mr. Beasley, a hairless egghead with painted-on eyebrows, who owns a wonderful library boasting such curiosities as Pygmy blow darts and a spear belonging to Genghis Khan. The setting is an alternative late 19th century, and McQuerry mixes real and faux period detail to magical effect. Lena herself is an attractive heroine, clever, resourceful, outwardly prim and proper but tormented by a sense of her own difference. McQuerry’s prose matches the central character in sharpness and refinement.

 

Unfortunately, the story peters out once Lena reaches Scree, which actually seems more heavily populated, and rather less magical, than Lena’s previous ports of call. Perhaps McQuerry is keeping her powder dry for a sequel, but the result in a lopsided book which delivers less than the considerable promise of its opening chapters would suggest.

 

Book Review: Evil Dark / Author: Justin Gustainis / Format: Paperback  / Publisher: Angry Robot / Release Date: Out Now

Urban Fantasy, which is a term that publishers use to describe stories that feature fantastic creatures in modern day situations, have been around long enough to develop common but distinctive patterns and styles. The two most common types are supernatural romance and gritty, film-noir style detective stories. Evil Dark, by Justin Gustainis, thankfully follows the latter of these models, and follows a path well trodden by the likes of Mike Mignola and Jim Butcher.

Evil Dark continues the adventures of Police Detective Stan Markowski (previously seen in Hard Spell, the first book in this series). This time round however, the copper is hunting down a sadistic murderer who is making snuff movies featuring the grisly deaths of supernatural creatures. Crucifix in one hand and badge in the other, the not-so-good detective takes on all the strangeness in the world in order to crack the case. If you haven’t read Hard Spell don’t worry, it works fine as a standalone story, though the previous book is also worth a look.

Fans of this sort of thing will find this an incredibly easy read; Gustainis writes in an easy, relaxed style that’s hard to put down. The author’s style is a witty, well observed one that suits both supernatural drama and police procedural stories to a tee. This is a book that features meth-addicted goblins. If that doesn’t make you chuckle and wince at the same time, you might want to look up what goblins are. Fans of TV shows like Supernatural and Grimm will find this worth a read, and it’s a lovely mix of real world nightmare and fantastic horror.

Book Review: Young Sherlock Holmes – Fire Storm / Author: Andrew Lane / Format: Paperback  / Publisher: Galaxy / Release Date: May 5^th

As with the characters of Shakespeare, each generation tends to remake Sherlock Holmes in its own image. In the Fifties we had Technicolor Holmes, in the Seventies Holmes on the psychiatrist’s couch, in the Eighties heritage Holmes. Right now, we have the uber-geek of the BBC TV series, and Andrew Lane’s young Sherlock, a politically correct friend-to-all vexed by ongoing family issues.

The fourth book in the Young Sherlock Holmes series, Fire Storm finds our teen sleuth encamped with an unsympathetic uncle and aunt in a dull little market town. There’s an evil housekeeper to outwit, a blackmailer to foil, and a tannery-cum-baddie-HQ to run riot in. Then the story broadens its scope – Sherlock’s mentor, American bounty hunter Amyus Crowe, suddenly flees from a mysterious threat, and it’s off to Scotland for hijinks in the heather and an encounter with a nasty clan of kilt-clad malefactors.

It’s all presented by Lane in an easy, breezy style that’s not so easy and breezy that it jars with the Victorian setting. The dialogue is well-managed, making gestures towards the period without being slavish to it. (With only the occasional glaring anachronism, as when Holmes utters that popular 19^th century rejoinder, “Dream on.”) The milieu, too, has a pleasing solidity. Lane is good on the layouts of houses and the regimes of their inhabitants, and there’s chatty sidekick Matty to provide dollops of extra info, usually appended with, “You ought to get out more, Sherlock,” by way of justification for our young hero’s ignorance.

Where Lane is less successful is in infusing all this with the distinctive Holmesian atmosphere – that blend of the cerebral and the darkly mysterious. It doesn’t help that the first half of the novel is set in small town Surrey (there’s plenty to be said for the Home Counties, but they don’t exactly ooze menace, not like foggy London or the brooding expanses of Dartmoor.) Even when the scene shifts to Scotland, though, the chills don’t race down the spine. Part of the problem is Lane’s lukewarm, no-nonsense, matter-of-fact style, which works against the story in moments of what should be mounting tension.

Then there’s the pacing. The action sequences are lively enough, but between come huge lulls as Sherlock debates what it all means and puzzles in leisurely fashion over various riddles. This riddle-solving business – in theory, Sherlock’s shtick – is a particular bore. Conan Doyle’s puzzles are also mysteries – an eeriness attaches to them, even after they are solved. Lane’s, by contrast, provoke an irritated scratching of the head and an impulse to skip forward to the solution.

And what of young Sherlock? Despite hints of manic depression in the family, he comes across as a nice, approachable, outward-going type, rather high principled, and with progressive social views: “It occurred to him that the British system of working class, middle class and upper class people was not only pointless and archaic, but damaging to the very fabric of society.” Holmes as the champion of the lower classes – it would be news to Mrs. Hudson.

There’s a reason why he’s a bit, well, normal. The whole Young Sherlock Holmes series is predicated on the notion of the boy becoming the great detective through a succession of adventures which influence his character and teach him important lessons in sleuthing (in the next installment, Snake Bite, he’s off to China to learn martial arts.) Although this could well make good sense in publishing terms, it diminishes Holmes and undermines his appealing eccentricity. You can see why Lane wouldn’t want to give the impression that his young Sherlock was born with a Meerschaum in his mouth, but, with rather more emphasis on what makes Holmes unique and rather less on what makes him like everyone else, Fire Storm might have had more of the flavour of Conan Doyle’s celebrated originals.

Book Review: The Doctor Who Fan Club Volume 1 – The Pertwee Years / Author: Keith Miller / Format: Paperback  / Publisher: Self Published / Release Date: Out Now

In 1972, Keith Miller inadvertently created a monster. The 13 year-old Edinburgh schoolboy had written to the BBC enquiring about the existence of a Doctor Who fan club and within weeks found himself taking over a long-forgotten club which had been in existence since 1969. With the full co-operation of the Doctor Who production office – specifically then-producer Barry Letts’ secretary Sarah Newman – Keith set about organising a Doctor Who fan club along the lines of Marvel Comics’ Merry Marvel Marching Society – complete with newsletter, badges and assorted paraphernalia. The great beast known as Doctor Who fandom was born…

Keith’s self-published large-format book, The Official Doctor Who Fan Club Volume 1 is a fascinating and charming exercise in unashamed nostalgia for Doctor Who fans of a certain vintage. The book largely takes the form of one-sided correspondence – Newman to Miller – chronicling the beginnings and the development of Keith’s Fan Club. Newman’s letters are incredibly informal as she offers Keith personal advice and encouragement and makes the resources of the BBC available to him for the production and distribution of his lively, primitive newsletter. Keith was even encouraged to make reverse-charge calls to the BBC so he could speak directly to the production office whenever he wanted (imagine the furore if the Daily Mail got hold of that one…). In his monthly newsletters Keith collated news and reviews of episodes, wrote original stories and made the first real attempt to detail the history of the series by way of vaguely-accurate descriptions of the show’s earliest episodes (until then-Doctor Jon Pertwee put his foot down and demanded that the newsletter concentrated on his stories).

There’s a treasure trove of hitherto untold anecdotes here as Keith clashes with other Doctor Who fans jostling for BBC recognition (including, incredibly, acclaimed Thick Of it/Doctor Who/Torchwood TV star Peter Capaldi who, as a young Doctor Who fan, was clearly a huge thorn in Keith’s side – and not to mention an irritant to the BBC too). Keith’s vivid descriptions of his numerous set visits during the Pertwee years paint glorious pictures of the BBC at the height of its creative powers and Newman’s correspondence to Keith is often beautifully indiscreet and there are moments of huge poignancy, such as Keith’s letter from Master actor Roger Delgado explaining that he was planning to make only one more appearance in Doctor Who before being phased out, a letter (later stolen by another Doctor Who fan) written not long before the actor was tragically killed in a traffic accident in Turkey.

Keith also has the distinction of being the first Doctor Who fan to be professionally published – his uncredited Pertwee story The House That Jack Built (for which he was paid the princely sum of £9) appeared in the 1975 Doctor Who Annual and is reprinted in the book. From such little acorns today would grow a future showrunner.

Keith’s book is a diary of different, much more innocent times. For anyone with any interest in Doctor Who at all, especially its early days and the origins of the monolithic monster that is now the show’s fandom, this is an essential purchase. It might not have the slick design and lay-out of new series publications, but it effortlessly exudes the same innocent enthusiasm of the Fan Club it celebrates. I am beyond excited at the prospect of Volume 2 and Keith’s experiences during the early years of Tom Baker. Bring it on.