Book Review: World War Z by Max Brooks

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Hardcover List Price:  $24.95  Page Count: 352
ISBN: 978-0307346605 
Publisher:  Crown Pub Date: September 12, 2006

Description:  An unnatural plague breaks out in China, a disease capable of reanimating the dead.  Soon the virus spreads beyond China’s borders, becoming a global epidemic.  World War Z is the story of the survivors, who lived through the horror of the Zombie War.

My Thoughts:  It took me a little while to get into the book.  The format is difficult at first, being a collection of interviews from survivors living across the globe instead of a linear narrative.  Characters from all walks of life are represented, be they civilians, soldiers, politicians, etc.  Some tell brave stories of survival while others confess to having turned a profit out of the madness.  It was interesting, but I wasn’t hooked…or at least that’s what I thought.  

However, the book had very large impact on me in fact, as it has sparked OVER A WEEK of Zombie nightmares! For a while, I felt like I’d never get a decent night’s sleep again.    

Beyond that though, the book grew on me in time.  I loved all the pop-culture references which helped to date some of the characters.   There were a ton of them, which endeared me to those characters who were my age.  While the interviews were no more than a few pages, the author really made you feel for each person during the crisis.  

I don’t usually reach for the Zombie stories.  I’ve never really read a Zombie novel that wasn’t cheesy or cliche.  There is no new take on Zombies in World War Z, except if you consider the Quislings enough, but it doesn’t matter.  The Zombies aren’t the point of the story, the human struggle is.  This book was a surprising pleasure to read.

Book Review: Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN:  978-0809572564
Paperback List Price: $6.99  Pages: 304
Publisher:  Juno Books

As I mentioned earlier, I finished Clockwork Heart last weekend while out in the PA wilderness. Just being out in the woods made the book even better, I think.  The highly industrialized culture of Pagliassotti’s steampunk fantasy was even more real to me since there was little resembeling a high tech society for miles.  Even though the culture is advanced, the setting maintains the rusty, gritty feeling of a fallen age that is often invoked in steampunk fiction.

The two main male and female characters were great although Chris won out as my favorite of the two.  There were so many wonderful little details worked into his character that made him endearing even if he was “very rarely sweet” in conversation.  My favorite of which, was the fact that he wore glasses.  You don’t often see heroes sporting those.  It made him so human, always having to wipe them clean whenever they would fog up -wink wink-.  

There was a romantic conflict woven into the plot, but it was done just right.  There was never a time when I felt that the romance distracted from the main plot focus.  It enhanced the story and the level of tension in it.

I had only one silly, little complaint.  I say silly because this sort of thing doesn’t seem to bother most people.  There were five blank sheets at the back of the book, that’s ten pages!  That’s almost a whole signature! Couldn’t something have been done?  An interview?  An afterword?  A sample?  An ad?  There was room for an extra scene somewhere!  Maybe another moment of those cute kids driving Chris up the wall?  It is frustrating when you enjoy a book so much, and then there are a pile of blank pages just sort of left there at the end to taunt you.  It’s like they are laughing at you saying; “No more for you, but there could have been! Haha!” But then again, I might just be crazy. ^_^

Book Review: Lirael by Garth Nix

Lirael by Garth Nix
ISBN:  978-0060005429  Genre: YA Fantasy
Pb List Price: $7.99  Page Count: 720
Available for the Kindle?: No.
Available for the Sony E-Reader?: No. 

I finished the second installment of Nix’s Abhorsen Trilogy just as I left on vacation.  It was an enjoyable sequel to Sabriel.  I’m glad though that it wasn’t told in Sabriel’s or Touchstone’s PoV.  I feel their story was very complete and satisfying; I really don’t need much more.  

Lirael is less of the adventure novel that Sabriel was and serves more as a set up to the final book.  A part of that set up is the very classic coming-of-age story that is present.  Lirael and Sam are both on a journey to find a sense of belonging and their own paths.  In a way both are rebelling against the expectations of their family, which is a very common dilemma for many teens.  Lirael longs to be just one of the other Clayr, while Sam would do anything to escape his duty as the Abhorsen-in-waiting and the expectations of his family.  

The best parts of the book were the scenes in the Clayr Library.  You can tell that Garth Nix has a lot of fun writing.  I loved that his librarians were armed since in this world, they are not only the protectors of knowledge, but from it.  It is great that there are things hidden away in the stacks that can bite back.  He also thought up some nifty (and just plain cute) equipment for the Clayr librarians.  I want a wind-up mouse to carry messages for me.  How cool is that?  Why can’t all libraries be that cool!

Book Review: Artemis Fowl ~ The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl ~ The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
ISBN:  978-1423103998
Paperback List Price: 5.99  Page Count: 528
Publisher: Miramax
Available for the Amazon Kindle?:  No
Available for the Sony E-Reader?:  No

Summary:  Rival genius Opal  Kaboli is back and set on revenge only this time around, Artemis is not the boy genius he once was.  Still under the fog of Foaly’s mind wipe, Artemis remembers little about the People.  His path crosses that of his old friend, Holly Short and together they work to thwart Opal’s plans.  Opal has her sights set on much more than the defeat of her old enemies.  Her goal this time is the destruction of all fairy kind.

My Thoughts:  I enjoyed the fourth installment of the Artemis series.  There was less action than there usually is and less bickering between the humans and fae (which I always find amusing).  It made sense; however, seeing as Artemis was without his memories for most of the story and he wouldn’t know these people well enough to poke at them for entertainments sake.  The Artemis in this book was a lot different than the old one, slightly muted and less tenatious.  Again though, that too is for good reason.  The fourth book provided a good set up for the future adventures of Artemis and Holly.

Review: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse

All right, I finished the series this morning.  I am so ready for the release of Breaking Dawn this week.  Anyway as promised, here are my thoughts on the series.  I might post again to explain in detail about why I don’t like Bella, but I am debating.  The last little chapter of Eclipse gave me some hope for her. Whether or not she’s able to reverse my opinions in BD remains to be seen, but I feel moved enough to reserve judgment until this is all over.

Twilight:  I wasn’t even halfway through before I knew I was addicted.  Meyer’s control of the first person was flawless, and I was completely pulled in by the writing.  I felt like I was with Bella, being forced into exile up in Forks.  Forks is so much like any small town that it was easy to be drawn into the setting.  At the same time, the dark landscape was Meyer’s own, and very appropriate both as a plot device and for conveying the mood of the unfolding love story. 

Despite the fact that I didn’t like the main character, there was so much else to like about the book.  I love the Cullens.  All of them.  They have such a wonderful family dynamic between them, even if they are predators at their core.  I also appreciate that Meyer pushed beyond the a-typical vampire stereotype.  Whether you are a fan of the sparkles or not, you have to admit that it is different.  Personally, the image I have of Edward beneath the sunlight for the very first time in the meadow is breathtaking.  That was actually my favorite scene in the first book.

New Moon:  Okay, while the writing was still fantastic, the book just wasn’t for me.  Much like Bella, it became a hollow experience once the Cullens left.  Bella annoyed me at every turn.  Jacob annoyed me, at almost every turn.  Edward annoyed me for leaving in the first place, and blargh.

I will say that there is a design aspect in New Moon that was absolutely amazing.  The effect of leaving those 4 pages with only the words October, November, December, and January written across each was incredibly powerful.  There was no better way to communicate just how empty Bella was during those first four months of Edward’s absence.   Brava!

Eclipse:  Oh Alice, you make me so happy. I wish I could be your sister.  With the Cullen’s back I was happy a lark.  I thoroughly enjoyed the third book.  Twilight was only marginally better than Eclipse.  There were a ton of surprises and a lot of very satisfying back-story.  Jacob was still annoying, but I do feel an intense amount of pity for the werewolves as a whole.  That existence would be hard to bear.  The soap opera is excruciating.  

Book Review ~ Black Powder War by Naomi Novik

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
Paperback List Price: $7.99
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 400 ISBN: 978-0345481306
Available for the Kindle?: Yes ($5.59)
Available for the Sony E-Reader?: Yes ($6.64)

 

Description: While making ready to depart China, Laurence and Temeraire receive an urgent mission from Admiral Lenton ordering them to Turkey at once. England has negotiated a deal with Turkey for three dragon eggs one of which being a prized fire-breather. Time is of the essence as the Kazilik egg is due to hatch very soon. To complicate matters, Napoleon’s armies are pushing towards Russian and Lien has disappeared from China set on revenge.

My Thoughts: Another fantastic installment in the saga of Temeraire. Throne of Jade was good, but I think Black Powder War was an improvement. The pace was much faster once Temeraire and company finally left China. I feel like things moved soooooo slowly while they were over there.

I will be happy to be back in merry ol’England soon. I miss Maximus and Volly terribly, although the recent additions to England’s Aerial Corps provided ample entertainment in Black Powder War. It was also interesting to see a ground battle for once though dragons do not seem at all suited for it.

Novik does a great job when she writes combat. The action is just so vivid and well organized that the reader always gets a clear image of the battlefield even when it has degenerated into total chaos. The times when the Temeraire and the flight crew are just sitting around in other countries held down by diplomatic red-tape are when I get a little bored. Perhaps those cultures are not as well researched as the rest, but the cultures and settings fall a little flat for me.

Now dragon culture, that’s another story.  I’m so happy that we are learning more about feral dragons.  Before, they were just this great mystery being locked away in the English breeding grounds and all.  

Anyway, I can’t wait to read Empire of Ivory!

Book Review: Sabriel ~ by Garth Nix

Sabriel by Garth Nix
Paperback List Price: $7.99
Pages: 496  ISBN: 978-0064471831
Publisher: Eos
Available for the Kindle?: Yes ($4.76)
Available for the Sony E-Reader?:  Yes ($5.65) 

Amazon Description:  After receiving a cryptic message from her father, Abhorsen, a necromancer trapped in Death, 18-year-old Sabriel sets off into the Old Kingdom. Fraught with peril and deadly trickery, her journey takes her to a world filled with parasitical spirits, Mordicants, and Shadow Hands. Unlike other necromancers, who raise the dead, Abhorsen lays the disturbed dead back to rest. This obliges him–and now Sabriel, who has taken on her father’s title and duties–to slip over the border into the icy river of Death, sometimes battling the evil forces that lurk there, waiting for an opportunity to escape into the realm of the living. Desperate to find her father, and grimly determined to help save the Old Kingdom from destruction by the horrible forces of the evil undead, Sabriel endures almost impossible exhaustion, violent confrontations, and terrifying challenges to her supernatural abilities–and her destiny.

My Thoughts:  I finally got around to picking up Sabriel, which has sat on my shelf for three years now.  I’ve always loved the covers of these first printings.  For their time they were unique, being so simple and sparse in design (particularly for YA titles).  The Twilight covers capture that same sleekness that I find just wonderful. 

I don’t have much to say about the book.  It was a quick read, a very quick read, but good none-the-less.  I instantly raced over to my shelves to pick up Lirael as soon as I turned the last page of Sabriel.  I felt the book was a good opening for a trilogy.  I liked too that Sabriel and Touchstone weren’t overly blessed with extraordinary powers.  That their blood binds the Greater Charters together seems simply an accident by right of being born into their families.  It does not endow them with any super-human reserves to conveniently draw upon in “the most desperate hour”.  They were both very real, and it was clear that the success of their mission was only accomplished by the sacrifices of the supporting secondary characters.  There was no any one hero at the end of the day. 

I can’t convey how excited I am that the second book delves deeper into the Clayr. 

I realize that this series is probably old news to most of you, but humor me will you?  ^_^