The Four Legendary Kingdoms by Mathew Reilly

The Four Legendary Kingdoms
Matthew Reilly
2016, kindle ebook
Unnumbered

Jack West Jr. again has to save the world. Oh wait no, this time he has to save the universe. Something something Hercules something Sikorsky.

Enjoyable as always. Reilly writes really fun books.

Still without compute so reviews will be shorter than normal/littered with spelling errors.

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

The  Windup Girl
Paolo Bacigalupi
2009, Orbit, London
97803500539
505p.

Set in the future where genetic engineering of food and animals has gone wrong, The Windup Girl tells the story of Emiko. Emiko is a windup, a genetically engineered human bred with the trait of subservience and designed to be a sexual slave. She is discovered by Anderson, a food company representative, who becomes enthralled by her and tries to help free her from her masters. This is all told within a story of political and military happenings, against the back drop of an environmentally ravaged South east Asia.

The settings in this novel were fantastically conceived - I really could feel like I was in South east Asia. It is a rather slow, meandering read, which allows the reader to become engrossed in the characters, their interactions, and the political intrigue.

Relative Dementias by Mark Michalowski

Relative Dementias
Mark Michalowski
2002, BBC Worldwide Ltd, London
0563538449
277p.

This is a Doctor Who novel featuring the Seventh Doctor and Ace. They receive a distress call in the shape of a postcard from an old UNIT member whose mother is receiving treatment for Alzheimer's in a mysterious clinic. Their investigation gets them into a spot of mischief, as per normal.

Haven't been reading a lot lately, but I've been able to read this at quite a steady pace. It was an interesting storyline, and shows a bit of the dark side of the Seventh Doctor. The time travel confusion was particularly interesting.

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Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon

Wonder Boys
Michael Chabon
1995, 1996, Fourth Estate, London
1857024052
368p.

Author and university lecturer, Grady Tripp, is a womaniser and pot-head. He impregnates his Chancellor, neglects to finish the novel owed to his publisher, steals Marilyn Monroe's jacket, kills his parents-in-law's snake, and a host of other misadventures.

Tripp is such a prick. But a readable prick. He's the asshole you just can't hate because he's also an adorable doofus. I enjoy Chabon's writing style, it is engrossing and humorous.

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Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorpe

Nothing Lasts Forever
Roderick Thorpe
2011, Amazon Kindle ebook
no isbn
240p.

The novel the movie Die Hard is based on.  A group of terrorists take over a building on Christmas ... you know what, you've seen Die Hard, and if you haven't, get off my blog and go see Die Hard.

That said, it does vary a little from the movie in that the main character is the father not the husband, and the terrorists' motivations are different.  Also, different people die, but I won't give it away.  Needless to say, being a huge huge fan of the movie I was shocked when it happened!

This is a very 'boy's own' book.  Lots of action scenes and macho emotional stuff.  Yes, macho emotional is a thing.  I just made it a thing.  The characters are well rounded; because the main character in the book is not the main character from the movie, I thought I may have trouble accepting him, but he is written really well.

Overall, I found this novel to be a little underwhelming - it's ok, but lacks the humour of the movie.  I guess it's just a different style.

The Snow People by Marie Herbert

The Snow People
Marie Herbert
1973, 1974, Book Club Associates, London
unknown isbn
253p.

The author, her husband, and their baby spend over a year living with Greenland Eskimos to document their lives through film.  This book is her account of what they experienced during their time there.

Now I want to go to Greenland!  The conditions are so harsh (although, this book was written in the 1970s so perhaps things have changed a little), but quite enticing.  The story was a little rambly, and could have done with some editing to make the narrative flow more smoothly (I'm talking end-paragraphs here, just basic stuff).  However, the adventures they had were amazing - the fact that they took their baby along even more so.  

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Summerland by Michael Chabon

Summerland
Michael Chabon
2002, HarperCollins, London
000712712X
500p.

American fairytale of Ethan Feld, an 11-year-old baseball player, who is recruited by a group of mythical creatures to complete a quest to save the multiverse.  He meets werefolk, giants, faeries, sasquatch, and goblins along the way.

This is an enjoyable fantasy for young people and adults.  It has a few dark themes, but is still appropriate for children.  It feels like the author has added every mythical creature he could think of!  There are a lot of baseball references in the book, which I didn't understand; it does not distract from the story.  As well as being a work of fantasy, there are sci-fi elements to the story, such as multiple universes, physics, and a rather cute Saab-Zeppelin.

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PartnerShip by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball

PartnerShip
Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball
1992, Baen Publishing, Riverdale
0671721097
323p.

Sequel to The Ship Who Sang, this is set in the same universe but with different characters.  Nancia is a Brainship - human-brain controlled spaceship (those humans who would not have survived much beyond birth)  - on her first mission out of Laboratory School.  She is to transport high-family young people to their first assignments and overhears some of their horrifying plans.

I really like this universe - imagine being a space ship!  The characters are really three-dimensional and I enjoyed the exploration of their motivations.  There could have been a little more science for my taste, but it was a good entry in the soft science fiction genre.

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A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the Second: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book the Second: The Reptile Room
Lemony Snicket
1999, HarperCollins, New York
0064407675
190p.

The second instalment of the Series of Unfortunate Events.  The Baudelaire orphans go to live with their herpetologist uncle, but the evil Count Olaf is still after their fortune.

Some of the literary devices which made the first book so awesome get a little repetitive in this one, but I am not the target audience, so perhaps children would be more forgiving. 

Pox by Richard Reinking

Pox
Richard Reinking
2011, Amazon Kindle
9781463547219
unnumbered

 A group of terrorists infect themselves with a strain of the small pox virus and then go on to spread it in four major cities of America.

This was a quick read - a solid medical thriller.  I am fascinated by the small pox virus and I thought this was a fairly credible telling of how it could be potentially used as a bioterrorist attack and how the virus would react in modern society.  Yes it was full of clichés but heck, that makes it easier to read and sometimes I'm after something a little silly.

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown
2003, Corgi, London
0552149519
593p.

Robert Langdon is a historian specialising in religious iconography.  When the curator of the Louvre is murdered, Langdon gets dragged into a mystery involving a secret society and the search for the holy grail.

I am an admitted book snob, so when I came to read this, I didn't have high expectations.  It was a nice surprise - I actually enjoyed it!  Sure, towards the middle/end, it did get a little slow and repetitive, but overall it was a solid story.

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The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld

The Interpretation of Murder
Jed Rubenfeld
2006, Headline, London
9780755331420
522p

Factional novel of murder in New York at the time Freud was visiting and psychoanalysis was an emerging science.  A young socialite is found murdered in her apartment and then another rich young girl is attacked in her own home.

This was an interesting enough read but I found the writing style to be inconsistent to the point of irritation.  The voice switches between first person and third person without warning, and sometimes we see the main narrator from the third person, but for no apparent reason.  Some of the sentence structure is also a little awkward at times.  And the rants on Shakespeare are tedious.

I did enjoy the book though - I don't read 522 pages of a book I'm not enjoying.  Perhaps a heavier handed editor would have made this an amazing book instead of an ok one.  There's no reason why it couldn't have been written entirely in the third person.

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Stigma
Philip Hawley Jr.
2006, 2007, Harper, New York
9780060887445
482p.

Part medical-thriller, part boys-own-adventure, Stigma is the story of Dr. Luke McKenna, a pediatric physician and ex-Navy Seal who is thrust into an intrigue of a strange illness in the remote parts of Guatemala and links to his past.

The author is very good at painting a picture with words, and it was easy to get lost in the descriptions. I thought it could have done with a little more medical and a little less boys-own, but that's just probably my own tastes coming through. It's just that the illness he comes up with is terrifying and intriguing, I would have liked to have seen more of a focus on that. Still, it was a satisfying read.

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Parkland by Victor Kelleher

Parkland
Victor Kelleher
1994, Puffin, Ringwood
0140378928
256p.

Cassie, Ralph and Boxer are best friends who live in Parkland, a zoo-like enclosure for humans and other apes. After some type of cataclysmic event in the past, humans and apes are now bred in captivity and live out their lives inside Parkland.

This was a little slow to start, but once I got into the story, I really enjoyed it. I like how the characters were flawed, even the heroes of the story - it made the book more three-dimensional.

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Perchance to Dream: Star Trek: The Next Generation by Howard Weinstein

Perchance to Dream: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Howard Weinstein
1991, Pocket Books, New York
0671708376
239p.

Data, Troi and Wesley are on their way back from a surveying mission when their shuttle is captured by another ship and then disappears in a cloud of colourful energy.

This was an ok story but a little lack-luster.  I liked the idea of the energy creatures and could see this as an actual episode of Trek, albeit a forgettable one.

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The Destiny Makers by George Turner

The Destiny Makers
George Turner
1993, Avon, New York
0380718871
321p.

Set in the future when Earth is over-populated by humans, The Destiny Makers takes a socio-political view at what could be done to solve the over-population issue.

This book made me uncomfortable a number of times - the racism (which is an essential part of the story) is so casual and so seemingly logical that it's just tough to read.  I found it to be very realistic and enjoyed the thought games played out.  It's also great to read some dystopia set in Australia. :)

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Various Pets Alive and Dead by Marina Lewycka

Various Pets Alive and Dead
Marina Lewycka
2012, Kindle e-book
978-1905490912
384p.

Serge is working in stocks in London making lots of money but has to hide his occupation from his ex-commune hippy parents.  This story goes back to those commune days and the present day insanity of his life, and those of his sisters and parents.

The characters in this book are all delightfully insane.  I loved reading about the 1960s commune and how they live in the present day.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess
1962, Penguin, Kindle Edition
9780141908328
154p.

Alex is a young delinquent in charge of a gang who beat people up, steal, rape and generally terrorise the populace. When he kills an old lady, he is caught and sent to jail where he is subject to cruel punishment.

This is a little hard to read because of the made-up slang language it is written in, however, it doesn't take long to get used to it and it definitely adds to the story. I thought the story itself was a little lacking in depth, but I can appreciate it for what it is trying to say.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

The Omnivore's Dilemma
Michael Pollan
2006, Kindle Edition
9781594200823
un-numbered

This is the first book I read on my Kindle. Michael Pollan decides to eat three meals from three very different ways of procuring food: the factory farm; the sustainable organic farm; and hunting and gathering.

I read this because it was recommended to me by a vegan so I thought it would be a little more powerful in the anti-meat department, but on the contrary, it gave some very logical reasons why humans should eat meat. He's a very good story teller and I enjoyed the parts of the book where he's discovering how to locate and prepare his own meals from their original sources.

Ironside by Holly Black

Ironside
Holly Black
2007, Simon and Schuster, London
9781847380630
323p.

Third in the Modern Faerie Tale series. This brings characters from the first two together into one story. Kaye is sent on a quest in order to become Roiben's consort, an impossible quest to find a faerie who can tell a lie.

I enjoyed this more than the last book - the characters are a lot more mature. And the story is interesting. I like these faeries, the darkness of the story is offset by the humanness and emotionality of the characters.