“That was effing brilliant! (Only I don’t say ‘effing’, do I?)”

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

Okay, so I was tempted just to fill this review with the above and be done with it, but whilst it would be accurate, this book (and indeed the series) deserves just a little bit more. Even if it has taken me two weeks distance to be able to put my thoughts in to some coherent sense.

For those who don’t know, Monsters of Men is the third and last book in Patrick Ness’ Chaos Walking trilogy.

Following on again, from yet again jaw-dropping cliff-hanger in the previous book, we’re immediately thrown in to the action, and Todd and Viola attempt to stop a war and curtail the machinations of the two opposing leaders, before the new settlers arrive.

If you haven’t read the series yet a bit of advice:

“If you’re of a nervous disposition, then take appropriate steps before you start reading. If you are not of a nervous disposition. You soon will be…”

This book was one of the most ‘painful’ reading experiences of my life, every turn of the page was accompanied by a flinch, because there was always the risk that something really bad was about to happen, to characters I had grown to love.

To put into context I was more scared going into this book for the survival of Todd and Viola, than I ever was for Harry, Ron or Hermione in Deathly Hallows, and I didn’t trust JKR to let any of them survive…

I’m not going to tell you in this review, whether my fears were justified – I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you What I will say though, it was most definitely worth it…

Monsters of Men is an absolutely perfect ending to the series. One which does the series and everything Todd and Viola have been through in the previous two books, justice.

Want to know more? Then check out my reviews of the first two books in the Chaos Walking Trilogy!

• The Knife of Never Letting Go
• The Ask and the Answer

Other Reviews to Consider:

• Things Mean a Lot

Related posts:

1. Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
2. Review: The Young Merlin Trilogy by Jane Yolen
3. Review: Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel

– Publishers Blurb

There are many ways we come across new books to read, friends, browsing your local bookshop, fellow blogger’s (hello Nymeth!) reviews in your newspaper of choice… This one was a little different though.

In an earlier internet life I hung around the Harry Potter fanfiction community, even wrote one or two myself for a bit. I’m not as involved these days, although I still stop by to read the odd fic.

At some point last year, I came across a particular fic, where Harry comes across a bar called Callahan’s. The fic’s author wove in some of the characters that appear in this book, none the least of which is the Saloon itself. I just knew it was a place I wanted to visit for real, so I managed to track a copy down via Bookmooch.

You see Callahan’s is a special place, where all are welcome, but you’re only likely find out about the place if you actually need to visit it. But if you do, you’ll find a welcome and an absolution. As long as you accept whatever responsibility is due.

The stories that first contained in the book first started to appear in Analog magazine in February 1973, and whilst they’re humorous and packed with puns and the odd weird , there are some  thought-provoking points to be made.

Will I be visiting Callahan’s again? I’m really not sure. I did enjoy my visit but I didn’t love it, quite as much as I was hoping to, but then again perhaps I just need to stay a little while longer…

No related posts.

Ankle deep in water, Liam O’Connor is trying to make passageway the passageway is clear of passengers, when he comes across Foster. The man gives him a choice to stay and die, or to leave and live. Moments after Liam takes the man’s hand, the ship breaks in half, and the Titanic begins it’s slide to the ocean bed.

When he next wakes Liam finds he’s not the only one saved moments before death. Foster has recruited two others, an older girl Maddie claims to be from 2010 and a younger girl, Sal, from 2026, over the next few days the trio learn that they have been recruited as TimeRiders a secret organisation set up as some point in the future, to police the timestream, and fix broken history.

You can tell that Scarrow has a background in the creation of video games, and it’s very easy to imagine a game based around this book. Whether that is a good thing or not depends on your perspective I suppose, however it is perfect for the young teenage boys this is aimed at.

That’s not to say it has been dumbed down at all, the alternative history Scarrow creates, is pretty intelligently handled and works on the premise that, the change wrought in the timestream means Hitler focus’ his attentions on the western front and not Russia. This (and admittedly access to more advanced weapons than he should really have access to) leads to a far different outcome to the war, and a military push all the way to the USA.

Liam and his new friends find themselves thrown into action, far earlier than they were expecting, Liam must travel into the past to discover what went wrong and when, while Foster, Maddie and Sal must battle though the changes the future, just to be able to bring Liam back.

Sounds exciting, yes? and for the most part it is. But this (for me at least) is one of those occasions where a lot of things happen, and yet not a lot happens either. The two separate adventures (Liam’s and the team’s) are nicely handled, and edge of your seat stuff, but a few more sub-plots and twists intermingled amongst the action could have elevated this one to a really great read.

Buy: TimeRiders by Alex Scarrow from The Book Depository.

Other Reviews to Consider

• The BookZone for Boys

Have you read this one? What did you think? If you’ve reviewed it then leave a link in the comments and I’ll add it to the post.

Related posts:

1. Special Agents: Deep End and Final Shot by Sam Hutton
2. Review: Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
3. Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

And if a moving story is the purpose of the book it does so brilliantly. But, and it’s a smallish, but. I’m not entirely sure what story the book is trying to tell, and that’s because it is essentially a non-linier collection of short stories.

James is a quiet lonely young boy, who befriends an elderly physicist, Mr Woodford, who works in the nearby Lab 17. Mr Woodford has been shunted off to Lab 17 by his bosses to quietly work out his retirement tinkering with his inventions, one of which, turns out to be a time machine.

One night, James enters the lab only to find Mr Woodford has died, at his desk, not sure what to do, he grabs a device of the work-station and escapes.

Intermingled, within James’ tales of adventures in time, are a number of other short stories about other people, a little boy who scratches pictures of aeroplanes in the dust, and a girl who gets caught up in a wartime bomb are among them. Some obviously linked to James, others appear to have no connection at all.

Some guidance as to what is going on is given when a book called ‘Unfinished Tales’ is referenced. This book of seemingly unconnected tales, who’s stories are often left dangling with no explanation as to what is going on, is obviously a nod to Marsden’s own work.

All the stories are well written and moving in their own way, but there’s no doubt this is a challenging novel that would really need a confident teen reader to make the most of it, as it is a book that doesn’t hand out easy answers, only the reader can decide what they are.

An odd but affecting little book, which I spent some time after closing the back cover, just flipping the book around in my hands, and thinking about it.

Related posts:

1. Incurable by John Marsden ~ Narrated by Mikaela Martin
2. Tomorrow, When the War Began – John Marsden
3. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden [Narrated by Suzi Dougherty]

One of the things I’ve already learned about his writing, is that the story he telling you, isn’t necessarily the one you think you are reading. It’s only when you’ve finished the book (and sometimes even later than that) can you see the bigger story. I’m not saying he relies on tricks and twists – although you do get them – but they are so well constructed, understanding can only come with the last page.

This one is no different. The book opens Jared a ghost, and a friend of the main characters who a year previously died of leukemia. Soon after, we meet Karen, the titular girlfriend and her boyfriend Richard. in December 1979 they have sex for the first-time, before moving on to a party, where Karen collapses and falls into a coma. A coma she spends the next 17 years in.

What happens next? Well that would be telling! And it’s really best that you discover everything for yourself. But we can talk about the books themes – just not how we explore them! . Losing two close friends in such close succession, affect the friends for the most of the next two decades. Drifting into alienation, incapable of connecting in any meaningful way with the world and those around them.

While I don’t think it gels quite as well as it could do, but that might be more to do with me leaving the book at work over Christmas, therefore splitting my reading of it. I can’t say enough about just how good the prose is, brilliant imagery, and profound language fill the pages.

Hamilton and I were the ones without goals. “Imagine you’re a forty-year-old, Richard,” Hamilton said to me around this time, while working as a salesman at a Radio Shack in Lynn Valley, “and suddenly somebody comes up to you saying, ‘Hi, I’d like you to meet Kevin. Kevin is eighteen and will be making all of your career decisions for you.’ I’d be flipped out. Wouldn’t you? But that’s what life is all about – some eighteen-year-old kid making your big decisions for you that stick for a lifetime.” He shuddered.

At what point in our lives do we stop blurring? When do we become crisp individuals? What must we do in order to end these fuzzy identities – to clarify just who it is we really are?

If you’re not spending every waking moment of your life radically rethinking the nature of the world – if you’re not plotting every moment boiling the carcass of the old order – then you’re wasting your day.

On my experiences with this one and Hey Nostradamus! I can’t wait to read my next one. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait too long, as I am doing a buddy read/review with Kailana at the end of the month, when we are reading, All Families are Psychotic.

Other Reviews to Consider

• Lost in a Good Story
• Things Mean a Lot

One last thing, once you’ve read the book, it’s well worth your time flipping back the start and reading the chapter titles in order. Doesn’t really make a sentence or anything, but it’s quite powerful in it’s own way.

Buy: Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland from The Book Depository.

Related posts:

1. Review: Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
2. Review: One Day by David Nicholls
3. Review: My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

“That was an effing brilliant read.  Only I don’t say ‘effing’ do I?”

Sorry you’re not going to get a synopsis with this one, no way, no how. The only way to go into this one is blind, folks. So I’m just going to talk about the experience of reading it.

…Not that I could sum up the plot anyway!

The book starts right from the cliff-hanger ending of the previous novel, with Todd and Viola in the clutches of the former Mayor of Prentisstown (now calling himself the President of New World)

The pace is less frantic than in The Knife of Never Letting Go, but that does not mean less happens. If anything the plot is even more frantic in this one with even more twists and turns. If reading TKONLG was akin to riding a rollercoaster. Then, The Ask and the Answer is like riding the same rollercoaster, at a slower speed, backwards, blindfolded with all the harnesses removed. All you can do is cling on and hope.

It grabs hold, screws with every emotion you have, chews you up, guts out your insides, and spits you out the other end. Leaving you an empty gibbering husk of a reader. And you know what? You eagerly go back for more!

Reading this book is a harrowing experience, you don’t want to put the thing down, but when you do (and there are many times you have to, just so you don’t sling it against the wall!) there is a fear about picking it back up again, and what you might find.

It is far more frightening a book than any horror book you’ll ever read. There is true evil at work here, evil that is not simple black and white, nor even just a singular evil. Characters you love are forced to do horrible, horrible things. Things that are both easy and impossible to see yourself doing if you were ever forced into a similar position. Characters you hate with a passion, you are forced to reassess and identify (if not agree) with their motives.

The wars you’ve seen happen, the more you are aware of what goes on “on the ground” in war time, the war crimes, the things people will do and suffer through just to survive, the more you can hear phrases, such as, “If not us, then who? At least we will do it with some level of humanity…” and only be shocked at what is being done, not that someone had to say it,  then the more harrowing this book gets.

And I’m telling you this not because I want to scare you off from reading it, which is what it might look like, but because you really need to read it. This is one of those books (inc the first one) you can shove at people that demean books as something lesser than TV, film or computer games.

This does everything that a book should do, grip you, burn itself into your imagination and effect you for days after reading it.

I really thought that, Terry Pratchett’s Nation, could not be topped as my favourite read this year, it’s held on for nigh on ten months, despite challenges from addictiveness of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and the shear joy of My Most Excellent Year, to name but a few, but now, I’m really not sure, it’s going to be a bloody close thing.

Sheer brilliance.

[rating:5/5]

Buy, The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness from The Book Depository

Other Reviews to Consider

Things Mean a Lot, Karin’s Book Nook, Guys Lit Wire, Jenny’s Books, Persnickety Snark, Kids Lit, YA Reads, Becky’s Book Reviews, My Fluttering Heart, Urban Bachelorette, The Book Smugglers.

Further Info

The final book in the Chao Walking trilogy, Monsters of Men is due out in 2010 (and I can’t wait!)

Patrick Ness has also written a short prequel to the series, following Viola as she and her family head to the New World, you can find it on line at the booktrust website.

Related posts:

1. Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
2. Review: Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel
3. Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

After winning the Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen might have hoped for a quieter life, but you don’t defy the Capitol never mind as publicly as she and Peeta Mellark did and get away with it.

At first she thinks she might just have to do as she is told, but when Katniss learns of possible rebellions around the various districts, she knows that the Captiol will exact their revenge.

Being forced to go on a Victory Tour around the districts and convincing the world that she and Peeta are still madly in love with each other is only the start.

Even then, success still might not be enough to avoid the horrifying revenge President Snow has in store for them.

And that paraphrasing of the book’s synopsis is all the story information you are getting from me! You are going to have to read this one to know more.

Is it as good as The Hunger Games? Well…

My Thoughts

I. Want. Book Three. Now.

[rating:5/5]

Other Reviews to Consider

• Karin’s Book Nook
• In Bed With Books
• Devourer of Books
• Maw Books Blog
• My Friend Amy
• Booking Mama
• Melissa’s Bookshelf
• Presenting Lenore
• Not enough bookshelves
• Linus’s Blanket
• Stephanie’s Written Word
• Regular Rumination

Buy, Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins from The Book Depository.

Related posts:

1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
2. Review: The Silver Kiss by Annette Curtis Klause
3. Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

By plucking her petals you do not gather the beauty of the flower. – Rabindranath Tagore, “Stray Birds”

About the Book

“Special Circumstances”

The words have sent chills down Tally’s spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor — frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally’s never been ordinary.

And now she’s been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it’s easy to tune that out — until Tally’s offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she’s programmed to complete. Either way, Tally’s world will never be the same.

My Thoughts

A fitting finale to the Uglies trilogy (yes I know that there is a forth book, but more on that later!) It’s everything the first two books were, a fast paced page turner, with an excellent lead character in Tally Youngblood. Once again, she has been changed into something she does not want to be, by the city authorities. This time with her memories intact.

She has a choice to make, only this time it’s even more difficult than last time, even though she has her memories, they just don’t seem as ‘special’ as she is now. What choice does she make, and where does it lead her?

I don’t suppose the choice will come as a surprise to most people,but the effects it has and the journey it starts Tally on, does keep the interest going, and it was one I enjoyed.

Much like the other books, I really did enjoy the book, but for me it just missed out on “loved it” status, and personally I’m enjoying the Midnighters series, just that little bit more.

There is another book in the series “Extras”, but for now I’m undecided as to whether to read it or not, I thought Tally’s journey ended in the right place, and while I realise Extra’s focuses mainly on a new character, I think I’m happy to leave things here.

[rating:3.5/5]

Other Reviews to Consider

• Moonsoar
• At Home With Books
• Regular Rumination
• Ticket to Anywhere
• Bookworm Burrow
• Devourer of Books

Related posts:

1. Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
2. Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
3. Touching Darkness [Midnighters #2] by Scott Westerfeld

Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless.
- John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, I

About the Book

Tally has finally become ‘pretty’. Her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are cool, her boyfriend’s gorgeous, and she’s completely popular.

It’s everything she’s ever wanted. But beneath all the fun – the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom – is a nagging feeling that something’s wrong.

Something important.

And sure enough, when a message from Tally’s ‘ugly’ past arrives, the fun stops cold.

Now Tally has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life…

My Thoughts

You can read what I thought about book one in the series, Uglies, by clicking the link. Read on to see what I thought about this one!

Thankfully I started reading this one, just as soon as I had finished book one, so the worry for Tally with the cliff-hanger ending was soon abated, of course the calm didn’t last long, and it’s clear, things are not quite as simple as David’s mum and Tally had planned.

Tally is a great character, who despite life constantly being just tantalisingly out of her control really battles against all that is thrown at her, and indeed becomes one of the most important things about her, if you haven’t read the books I won’t spoil it for you, but the effects that strength have is one of the most satisfying things about the book.

Again the imagery and ‘toys’ are excellent, one of the highlights being the tattoos that spin according to your heart rate!

Minor niggles, are once again the “pretty-speak” which is lets face it, annoying, it’s meant to be shallow and everything of course, and works perfectly at what it is meant to do, so I can forgive the frustrations it gives me as a reader. Anyway, as the book moves on, the characters start to subvert the useage, which is a nice twist, and I can’t see it going away, so I’ll shut up about it!

And, despite the circumstances and reasons being different, Westerfeld pulls essentially the same trick with the ending, it is of course another cliff-hanger, and Tally is about to head back into New Pretty Town.

Didn’t mean, however. I didn’t immediately pick up book three though! And you can look forward to a review of Specials, before the weekend.

[rating:3.5/5]

Other Reviews to Consider

• Devourer of Books
• Teen Lit Review
• At Home With Books
• Book Nut
• Regular Rumination
• The Novel World
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Melissa’s Bookshelf

Related posts:

1. Review: Specials by Scott Westerfeld
2. Review: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
3. Review: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Is it not good to make society full of beautiful people? – Yang Yuan, quoted in The New York Times

About the Book

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. Not for her license — for turning pretty. In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to be pretty. She’d rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world — and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My Thoughts

This book has been on my radar for a while, almost since I started book blogging, but something has always held me back from reading the series, even when I discovered what a great writer Westerfeld is, I still wasn’t tempted. I think it’s because I had visions of a preachy “you don’t need to be beautiful…” kinda book. One of those horrible young adult novels I remember from school.

But when he posted about a free download of the ebook of Uglies to celebrate the launch of his next series, I just knew I had to give it a try.

I really should have known better, Westerfeld is not that sort of writer, Uglies, is set in a a great science fiction world, with brilliant characters and exciting action sequences, and much deeper philosophy, than you’d think going in.

Set an undisclosed amount of time in the future, the Uglies world is both recognisable and very strange, and with a level of control and spying on its inhabitants that would do any big brother government proud. Even so, Tally gets to play with some fantastic ‘toys’!

“Of course, a hoverboard. What is it about those things and miscreants?” -Dr. Cable, Uglies

I should talk about the ‘Pretty’ speak that Tally and her friends either use or aspire to, it’s perfectly realised, so much so, in fact that it is damn annoying at times (it is meant to be), and I suspect my less than perfect tolerance for it, has more to do with my age than anything else

I’ll be honest, while I really enjoyed the book, I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as The Midnighters or Peeps. Even so I still called in at my library to grab the rest of the series, before, I was even half-way through this one. A good job too, considering the cliff-hanger ending!

I’m already on the last book of the series, so keep your eyes open for a review of Pretties, the second book in the series over the next few days.

[rating:3.5/5]

Other Reviews to Consider

• Medieval Bookworm
• Devourer of Books
• Presenting Lenore
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Regular Rumination
• And many, many more!

Before I sign off, I must give special mention to the opening line, one of the best I’ve come across this year!

The early summer sky was the colour of cat vomit.

Over to you, have you read the book? What did you think about it?

Related posts:

1. Review: Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
2. Review: Specials by Scott Westerfeld
3. Review: Blue Noon [Midnighters #3] by Scott Westerfeld