In 2009, I have resolved to keep this page up-to-date, to review more non fiction books, and also keep a list of all my re-reads.
Fiction
The Temporal Void, by Peter Hamilton. Four stars
Peter Hamilton is close to my favourite science fiction writer, but this isn’t his best book. It assumes too much knowledge – both of the previous book in this series, and of his previous ideas. I’ve got most of that, but I felt as if I needed to go and re-read lots of his book to get the best out of this one. Interestingly, according to Amazon, this hasn’t been released in the US yet (not until March). It’s rare I read a book this early in its release, which shows how much I love this author.
Without warning, by John Birmingham, Four stars
Another alternative history from John Birmingham. Also not yet released in the US – I’m on a roll! Imagines what would have happened to the world if almost all the people in the continental US had been killed by a phenomenen called “The Wave” in early 2003. Really interesting, even if I didn’t entirely agree with the scenario (but them I’m probably one of the Australians in the book he complains about who is generally overly optimistic about human nature).
Doors Open, by Ian Rankin. Three and a half stars
With the exit of Rebus, Ian Rankin has written a stand alone crime novel based in Edinburgh. Enjoyable, but if this had been the first Ian Rankin I’d ever read, I’m not sure if I would have searched out any more. Or maybe he’s just set too high a standard for himself.
Anathem, by Neal Stephenson, Four and a half stars
Neal Stephenson is one of my favourite SF authors, but he often (now he’s become enormously successful) needs an editor. Cryptomnicom, for example, had far too much explanation of cryptography (not necessary for plot) for my taste. But in this case, although there is a lot of digression into various scientific theories, and ways of thinking, it is better integrated into the plot, and (for me) more interesting. Loved it, even if it took me two weeks to get started because it looked too dauntingly thick there on the bedside table.
The Steel Remains, by Richard Morgan, Three and a half stars
Not really my taste, but interesting. Richard Morgan is a cyberpunk author who is branching out with this novel into fantasy. It’s too serious and grim for my taste. While I do like a fantasy with strong interesting characters (and the main three are real people, with flaws and heroisms), if I’m spending a lot of time with them I need to like them as well. And in this case, they were too broken, for me. An interesting premise (two of the three main characters were gay, in a society that approved even less than our current society does, but they still managed to be heroes by dint of superb soldiering/fighting skills) but the characters were too bitter, and the prognosis of the society as a whole seemed pretty grim. Very well done, though.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer, Four and a half stars
This book is very sweet, but with a core of real life. An epistolary novel (not sure if I’ve ever used that word in a sentence before!) it describes a jaded Londoner, just after the end of World War II getting drawn into the lives of a group of Guernsey people who kept (mostly) sane during the German occupation of Guernsey by reading books and talking about them. My grandmother is from Guernsey, so I’m always drawn to stories about it (even though I’ve barely been there). Although the story seems cute, there is an underlying reality as glimpses of the horror that the war had been show through.
H.I.V.E. The Higher Institute of Villanous Education, by Mark Walden, Four stars
I’m not sure how to rank this one. Chatterboy insisted I read it, as he has just inhaled it (and the two next ones in the series). Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it – very well written and a plot that draws you in. The unlikely story of a secret school (high school age) to train villains in all the latest in villainy, following four children in the Alpha stream (the ones who are expected to become the next James Bond villains). Although they are being trained in villainy, in all the stories, they end up foiling really evil people, by general cleverness and great team work. It’s nice that the four children are two boys and two girls, each of whom have their own strengths that are all needed.
I’ve also read The Overlord Protocol and Escape Velocity in the same series – interestingly Escape Velocity is only available in the UK. I should have realised from the way there is no mention of the US in any of the books (the first one set entirely on a Pacific Island and parts of Asia, and then they later go to the UK and Europe) that it was written in the UK!
Before they are Hanged, the Blade Itself, and The Last Argument of Kings, by Joe Abercrombie. Mr Penguin and I read this series on our holiday. Mainly chosen because we would both find it OK, but be happy to throw it out once finished. We both enjoyed it more than we expected. Most of the characters in the fantasy are fairly unpleasant, but Abercrombie makes you empathise with all of them. Interestingly, the character who seems the most sympathetic at the beginning ends up (in my view) being the most irredeemably bad. It definitely grew on me, and was higher quality than the average holiday read.
Non fiction
Outliers: the story of success, by Malcolm Gladwell. Four stars
As is usual with Malcolm Gladwell, a fascinating very readable book, that doesn’t quite hang together. But I didn’t mind that as I was reading, because each individual story was so interesting. I really think his New Yorker essays are his best work.
