Review Category: Books

WRITER: MELANIE SCOTT | PUBLISHER: DK | RELEASE DATE: APRIL 2ND

Dorling Kindersley have for the past several years been the go-to publishers for some incredibly detailed reference books about superhero characters, covering both DC and Marvel’s heavy hitters. And they’ve supplied us with some lavish year by year volumes and character guides too. One could wonder where, other than updating the existing volumes every couple of years (usually after a big universe-shattering event) where on Earth – or Earth 2 they could possibly go next. 

How about some of the characters not usually in the spotlight? Not ones so obscure that nobody knows who they are – but those intriguing secondary characters who’ve been around since the silver age. How about arguably Marvel’s most intriguing female character, the epitome of mystery and their ultimate villain turned hero – Natasha Romanoff, AKA the Black Widow, a firm favourite among fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and a character who’s been around since the U.S.S.R sent her to bedevil industrialist Tony Stark and Iron Man during the Cold War of the early sixties. 

Since then, she has abandoned her long dresses for a mask and a cape, mask and costume, been involved with Hawkeye, joined the Avengers, changed costume in the seventies and has retrospectively had her shady background as a spy filled in, making her one of their most three-dimensional characters. But with a lot of her past being revealed in more recent years, tracing her story isn’t as easy as you might think, and wouldn’t lend itself to DK’s usual format of a brief origin, followed by features about weaponry, allies, and crucial issues. It’s all so fragmented and confusing. 

For Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy, DK have wisely abandoned this format and have adopted a more straightforward approach in dealing with this character. Not as based on pictures as their previous volumes, but still lavishly illustrated all the same, this takes the form of an actual biography – a novel with graphics, not a graphic novel. All the key events of Romanoff’s tempestuous life are here, in their chronological order which helps us make sense of this unique superspy turned super hero. From her birth in 1928, we learn of her childhood as an orphan, becoming essentially the property of the State, her Red Room training, false memories implanted in her brain, what she did in the Cold War before being sent to the decadent West. 

Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a lightweight volume, this lady’s life rivals anything Ian Fleming created for Bond. It’s an essential volume in deciphering the past of this particular femme fatale.

THE FACELESS OLD WOMAN WHO SECRETLY LIVES IN YOUR HOME / AUTHOR: JOSEPTH FINK , JEFFREY CRANOR / PUBLISHER: ORBIT / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 26TH

And now, the weather… Welcome to Night Vale is the sensational podcast that documents the strange goings on of the even stranger residents of the small town, Night Vale. It’s spawned live shows, comics and crossovers with other podcasts such as The Thrilling Adventure Hour. It’s also spun-off into several tie-in novels from the show’s creators Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. This particular novel features (if you haven’t already guessed from the title!) the faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home, who is voiced by Mara Wilson on the podcast itself.

The Faceless Old Woman follows a duel narrative of the aforementioned character, providing a back story to one of the more mysterious characters in the series. The narrative follows how the Faceless Old Woman became who she is today, retelling the trials and tribulations of her life beginning in Europe in 1810. Concurrently, we are also introduced to Craig, who’s home in Night Vale the Faceless Old Woman is currently a visitor of, and her efforts to help Craig better himself. However, unbeknown to the both of them, the Faceless Old Woman’s past and present are about collide in a big way.

The best tell of a good tie-in book is if the book can be read as standalone without the need for background from the series that inspired it. In this instance, The Faceless Old Woman can be read without any prior knowledge of the series and it still be a great tale to read. It has the hallmarks of Night Vale throughout, the creepy imagery coupled with the random sense of humour. Meanwhile, you get a multilayered protagonist in the Faceless Old Woman who has experienced so much that you constantly root for them despite the voyeuristic nature of her personality throughout.

This book is a welcomed addition to the collection of Night Vale novels that already exist and is just as strong as previous releases.

LAST ONES LEFT ALIVE / AUTHOR: SARAH DAVIS-GOFF / PUBLISHER: TINDER PRESS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

A tale of survivors struggling against a voracious enemy in a ruined, post-apocalyptic Irish landscape might not sound like ideal bedtime reading in the current climate. Yet, if you can bear the discomfort and the growing suspicion that this might be a factual instruction manual rather than an imaginative work of fiction, then you’ll quickly be drawn into the bleak and brutal world. It’s startlingly brought to life by Sarah Davis-Goff in this haunting, often poetic debut novel, which is much more of a work of proper literature than a throwaway end-of-the-world horror story.

Some years after an unknown apocalypse, a young girl named Orpen leaves the only home she has ever known – a remote island off the mainland – in search of help when her sister Maeve is bitten by one of the ‘skrake’. These rotten, feral, cannibalistic creatures now roam the countryside. She carries the infected Maeve with her in a wheelbarrow, and she pins all her hopes on finding other people and the legendary ’Phoenix City’. As Orpen ventures further away from home, the world becomes ever more terrifying and dangerous. As her story unfolds, she recalls her earlier life with her sister and mother and how they taught her the fighting skills she now uses to protect herself against the horrors of a devastated world.

Last Ones Left Alive, despite its relentless darkness and nihilism, somehow rises above its story and themes to become an oddly uplifting experience. Davis-Goff’s writing – Orpen, her narrator, recounts her story in an Irish lilt that rolls off the page – is blunt and economical and yet powerful and punchy. Orpen herself is a new breed of hero, a young woman wary of human contact and yet desperate for it. Her journey through a crumbling world she never knew is haunting and troubling and yet shot through with a strange optimism born out of the resilience of the human spirit and the sense that, whatever catastrophes and crises humankind faces, there is always the capacity to come back stronger, wiser, better. Words to bear in mind at the moment, perhaps.

Orpen’s path eventually crosses with some fellow survivors, and it’s here that the stakes are raised, risks are taken, and in a genuinely-thrilling conclusion, she has to face the full terror of the skrakes. Then, when all seems lost, the book delivers a slightly ambiguous and yet hopeful ending that opens up avenues for any potential sequel (Orpen’s journey is far from over, and there’s much we still don’t know about this grim new world) and yet brings the story to a close in a wholly satisfying manner. Last Ones Left Alive is a tough and uncompromising read with a fiercely feminist perspective, dealing maturely and adroitly with ideas and concepts that could seem trite, exploitative and clichéd in less skilled hands. A hugely impressive and vital novel.

AUTHOR: ADAM SCOVELL | PUBLISHER: INFLUX PRESS | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

One day after her partner leaves to travel South America, Isabelle receives devastating news from home. Her father’s body was found hanging in Crystal Palace Park, having taken his own life. Rather than return home to her emotionally abusive mother and her new university job, Isabelle chooses to remain alone in Strasbourg, stalking the city and losing herself in its history. 

After coming upon an evocative old photograph at a market stall, she begins to obsess over stories of Strasbourg’s great artists, charting their lives through her own investigations and chance conversations with eccentric locals. She slowly submerges herself in the city’s past, succumbing to an “amnesia of history” that feels far more tangible than her current existence, plagued as she is by visions of her father’s body and the malevolent spirit of the Erl-King.

How Pale the Winter Has Made Us is a story of grief told through the meticulous mapping of a city. The narrative often blurs the line between the gothic genre and contemporary realism, as Isabelle is haunted by the Erl-King, following her every step and creeping into her bed at night, invading her and leaving marks on her body. Whether this figure is a supernatural being or a manifestation of her guilt and grief, or even an embodiment of her depression and self-harming, is a decision left to the reader.  

The novel’s structure and language are methodical and restrained, yet deeply evocative. What the first-person narrative tells us of Isabelle’s background is minimal, while other figures are painted with just a single stroke: her father a failure, her partner distant, her mother cruel. In contrast, the lives and accomplishments of Johannes Gutenberg, Goethe, Gustave Doré and Jean Arp are richly told and abundant with detail. As she unfolds their histories in the streets of Strasbourg, Isabelle increasingly struggles to block the personal thoughts and feelings intruding on her research. 

The storytelling grows more claustrophobic as Isabelle nears closer to her tipping point; whether that point will come as a mental break or an emotional release contributes to the intensifying tension. The winding, dense narrative will not be for everyone. It is above all a meditative journey and one with little plot nor drama, but those with the patience to follow the stream of histories and reveries to its satisfying end, will find the poignant tale of someone who was lost finding themselves again. 

STAR TREK: PICARD – THE LAST BEST HOPE / AUTHOR: UNA MCCORMACK / PUBLISHER: POCKET BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

We’ll say this straight off the bat – if you’re enjoying the new Star Trek: Picard show, then this prequel novel is well worth your time.

Set a few years before the Romulan sun went supernova, The Last Best Hope tells the full story of Jean-Luc Picard’s crucial role in the evacuation mission. We get backstories for the new characters in the show (including Picard’s colleague Raffi Musiker and cybernetics expert Dr Agnes Jurati) and we check in with Geordi La Forge and Bruce Maddox to see the creation of the synths, whose rebellion set the whole show in motion.

The new characters, such as popular politician Olivia Quest (who threatens secession from the Federation to provoke reform in the organisation) and a Romulan scientist who is forced by his government to disagree with his own findings even to the end, are all very believable with understandable motives and there are very few capital-b Bad guys. Like the characters, you feel very confused as to why the Romulans are actively making Starfleet’s mission harder. But I would argue that the real villain of the book is ‘the concept of leaving Romulans to die’.

Author Una McCormack proves why she was a good choice for this gig. She tells a compelling story, which does the impossible and convinces you that Picard can be successful in his mission, even when you know exactly how it turns out. Her treatment of Picard is pitch-perfect; he feels exactly like he did in the original TV show. His determination, even in the face of colossal setbacks, carries you along until it goes horribly wrong. Essentially, it’s a story of what happens when even the best plans don’t work out.

Some people have a problem with the way that Picard is treating the world of Star Trek, saying that it’s too dark, too action-focused and departs from Roddenberry’s vision. You may be one of those people. But if you read this, you’ll get a clearer sense of how the universe ended up the way it did.

CURSED: AN ANTHOLOGY / EDITORS MARIE O’REGAN, PAUL KANE / PUBLISHER: TITAN BOOKS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Editors Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane have gathered together eighteen short stories and two poems, all based around the theme of a curse. We may think we know what to expect – modern takes on the folk tales that have been with us for centuries, a new spin on the Brothers Grimm – but even when this is the case, the authors adapt the tropes for their own ends, to produce works of an incredibly high standard. Some of the stories create new monsters, which often prove too human for comfort; others have new styles of hex for the modern world, trouble for even the most mundane of people.

There isn’t a rotten apple in this crop, most of which are new to this collection, sitting alongside some old favourites from the likes of Neil Gaiman and Christopher Fowler. The same theme may run throughout, but there’s a wide range on offer that will have readers shocked, sad or even laughing. There isn’t always an obvious moral message, and the reader is often left with food for thought, maybe contemplating ‘what if?’ along with a sense of wonder and entertainment that begins right from the very first page and never fades. The standard is so high that it creates a need to keep reading; just when you think you’ve been able to pick a favourite, another comes along, bringing a feast of ideas.

The editors have assembled a fantastic collection here, one that offers an array of talent and is packed with stories that are all worthy of a return visit. Cursed is an anthology that certainly lives up to and surpasses expectations, with each tale creating its own unique atmosphere, treating the reader to unexpected developments and characters that will delight and thrill and ultimately satisfy. There is that sense of wanting more (as with all great fiction), but – as many of the stories will tell you – we have to be careful what we wish for.

THE CORPSE IN THE GARDEN OF PERFECT BRIGHTNESS / AUTHOR: MALCOLM PRYCE / PUBLISHER: BLOOMSBURY / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 19TH

As surreal and whimsical as it full of worldly common sense, this second stop on Pryce’s GWR noir franchise moves with exquisite lightness, and a music and authenticity all its own. The prose has all the charm of a slow train ride, but the quiet, creeping fear of the sense that one’s era is over makes this cosy historical crime very much more than the sum of its parts.

Like any good mystery, it’s the search for truth within the likeable but limited protagonist that wins our hearts as much as the quest he’s officially on. Set in the winter of 1948 after the nationalisation of the four great railway companies, Jack Wenlock is the last of the GWR’s railway detectives, newly married and newly unemployed. Having enjoyed a moral compass of absolute clarity, catching fare evaders and proud of the Great Western Railway that’s been his life since orphanhood, Jack is now pursued by a murderous organisation and heading for Singapore on the tip-off his mother is alive. But it’s Jack’s growing understanding and frequent bafflement at the new horizons his wife Jenny introduces that are the great adventure. His love is not in question, but his ability to get his brain and heart around the more complex moralities of the society in which they need to ensure their survival, including greater sexual equality and personal freedom, is a new world for which he’s not sure he’s brave enough.

The wisdom of Pryce’s observational humour and appreciation of everyday surreality counterpoint Wenlock’s well-meant naivety and give the character gentle space to grow; what the story needs us to learn about the Great Western Railway is expressed articulately by a convincingly passionate hero. There’s a good sense of the era, framing and supporting the story without ever overshadowing it, and a sense of grudging progress towards a better world. Wisdom and truths far beyond the subject reach of the story speak to this period and ours, making this historical fiction that speaks to us of who we are, can and should be; and encouraging us to be good-humoured on the journey.

THE MAN WITH SIX SENSES / AUTHOR: MURIEL JAEGER / PUBLISHER: BRITISH LIBRARY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Following the re-release of The Question Mark by the British Library, its Science Fiction Classics brand has now re-released a second novel from author Muriel Jaeger: The Man with Six Senses. Originally published in 1927, it was a book that weaved together science fiction and romance at a time when science fiction was not as established and revered as it is today.

The Man with Six Senses focuses around the relationship between Hilda and Michael. Michael is unlike any other man she has met as he has the ability to perceive the world’s energy unlike anyone else. However, the more she encourages this extrasensory gift, and how it may benefit the world, the more it slowly destroys Michael from within. Will Hilda make the right choice to help Michael or deprive the world of a gift that could change the course of history?

The Man with Six Senses is a standout piece in the context of sci-fi history. The primary narrative of this story is the relationship between Hilda and Michael; its development throughout the novel was unlike anything else at the time as the science fiction almost takes a backseat; it highlights the mundane and familiar between the character’s relationship within extraordinary circumstances which has become a regular trait amongst some sci-fi pieces. Also, similarly to her peer H.G. Wells, Jaegar offers jabs at the class-ridden world (which was 1920s Britain) and how it responds to a man who will always be more powerful than the elites despite having no money or influence.

However, with some potentially profound ideas to explore, it lets itself down by the use of a third-party narrator who is completely detached from the story between these two characters so it detaches from emotion and attachment that you may have for these characters.

The Man With Six Senses is worth exploring for the cross-genre plot that was very ahead of its time but the detachment in how the story is told can be frustrating for the reader.

GOLDILOCKS / AUTHOR: LAURA LAM / PUBLISHER: WILDFIRE / RELEASE DATE:  APRIL 30TH

When an exosolar planet capable of supporting life is discovered, a spaceship crewed by five female astronauts is launched in the desperate hope of saving humanity from its ravaged home. The only problem is that the ship is stolen, and hidden secrets might end up sabotaging the mission before the intrepid pioneers have even arrived.

Science fiction is often used as a mirror of society, reflecting back its issues in such a manner that makes them apparent while the fictional setting renders them palatable. In this very near future, climate change and overpopulation have destroyed the planet to the point that it has mere decades left, but many people refuse to believe the problem is real despite the mounting evidence, including billionaires with the resources to actually do something about it. Sound familiar?

The story is told by Naomi Lovelace, the ship’s botanist, who is also the foster daughter of its captain, Valerie Black, a wealthy industrialist with whom she has a periodically antagonistic history gradually revealed in flashback chapters set in the run-up to the mission’s launch and the years preceding it. These also serve to flesh out Naomi’s backstory as someone willing to risk quite literally everything on a dangerous gamble that, one way or another, will see an end to her current life, making the story more about its interpersonal dynamics than its nevertheless realistic and meticulously researched space flight.

That all might be enough for one story, but the book also incorporates commentary on the rights of women, in particular reproductive rights, which here have been gradually eroded until the entire gender is perceived as an inferior choice for any kind of work and of little use other than as incubators for children. It’s telling that there is no single huge event that suddenly results in a reversal of societal development, but is instead tacitly portrayed as something that was insidiously brought about over time after the ascension to power of MRA types until it was accepted as standard. How jarring you consider this extrapolation from real world circumstances will largely depend on your own experience and / or understanding of the everyday disregard women are forced to endure by misogynists. Thus, rather than making some kind of statement, the single gender crew is a significant plot point doubling down on why their theft of the starship cannot be allowed to stand, leading to the omnipresent danger of pursuit being launched in addition to the inherent dangers associated with actually making the journey in the first place.

Goldilocks is a terrifyingly contemporary variation on the Dying Earth sci-fi subgenre, a timely commentary on society’s treatment of women, a reiteration of the hope that the stars can save us, and a very human story where even the grandest of schemes can be brought low by human foibles. Best of all, it manages to be all these things at the same time and, like the planetary habitable zone its title references, it gets the balance just right.