Who & what do you read? Questions I get asked as a book blogger (Pt II) Michael J Richardson

Well we've covered the classics, horror and apocalyptic (see 03/10 post), so what's left?

I don't really read crime or thrillers as the few I have read over the years seemed rather formulaic, and I don't read much Sci-fi (although what I have read has mostly been entertaining) but I do read Literary Fiction, authors like Ishiguro, McEwan (Enduring Love being a firm favourite) Cormac McCarthy's sublime No Country for Old Men, Ali & Zadie Smith and Jesmyn Ward to name but a few and although short in length, most have left lasting impressions.
Y/A (Young Adult), books like, Since You've been Gone, Thirteen Reasons Why, We Were Liars, Emma Cline's, The Girls, All The Bright Places, The Hate U Give, After the Fire and of course, John Green's back catalogue (Looking For Alaska being my favourite), have also entertained beyond maybe what I thought they would and are well worth checking out - most of what I write is in the Y/A genre so maybe I'm being slightly biased there - but I often find books in that category have far more substance than their initial subject matter might imply.
Book series then, like Justin Cronin's The Passage, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (I'll blog about that one soon, after another reread), Ben Aaronovitch with his witty magical Rivers of London novels, Stephen King's Dark Tower, the aforementioned Harry Potters series and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's (yes him again), stunning Cemetery of Forgotten Books collective are some of my all-time favourites, so much so that I have read most of them more than once and some of them too many times to actually remember, and will no doubt do them all again one day.
I also love history and so, Robert Harris and his superb back catalogue is one I can whole heartedly recommend, The Office and the Spy probably being my all-time favourite of his but it's not all fiction. James Holland's Fortress Malta and The Battle of Britain, rate alongside Antony Beevor's Stalingrad and Max Hastings' All Hell Let Lose, as some of the most horrific five star books I have ever had the pleasure (if you can call it that), of reading and are books I'll never hesitate to recommend.
So where does that leave us?
Anywhere I suppose. Which is where I recommend you let your mind wander the next time you're in a bookshop (physical of virtual). Bypass the shelf you think you want, mix it up a bit, pick the book next to the one you thought you wanted, the one in the plain brown wrapping that some shops now sell, and see where it takes you, and if you've got a birthday coming up and someone asks you what they can get you, ask them to surprise you because, if it's any of the above and you've not read them yet, you're in for one hell of a ride.

Happy reading.

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books to see if I have read them and if I haven't, why not message me with your recommendations.

Who & what do you read? Questions I get asked as a book blogger (Pt I) Michael J Richardson

For those of you who don't know me, I've been reading and writing since I was a teenager (properly reading that is, not force fed books I had no interest in at school, which excludes Stig of the Dump of course, which was my first serial reading experience), so that's a good thirty years under my belt, but what floats my boat, gets me going back for more?

Well, why don't we start with the classics. But wait, what is a classic? A book written over a hundred years ago? Over fifty? Harry Potter will be defined as a classic in the future if not already, so do I include them? Maybe it's Austin, Bronte or Dickens (of which I've liked but not loved - except A Christmas Carol, that will always be a 5 star book in my opinion), or Du Maurier, whose My Cousin Rachel is one of my all-time favourites. Looking further afield we have Jules Verne, not bad, Platonov, weird and Kafka - seriously, I think something got lost in translation like: plot and anything that actually makes sense - and I've never really enjoyed American classics either with Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, The Catcher in the Rye and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest all being a bit lacklustre - although I did like, The Great Gatsby and I am Legend is a masterpiece.

How about horror then? But again, what is horror? I recently read Roxane Gay's superb, An Untamed State, one of the most horrific books I've read recently but you'll only find it in the fiction section, as with Khaled Hosseini, who writes about the horrors of war torn Afghanistan in a way that pulls at your heart. I've also read The Girl with all the Gifts and its prequel (zombie apocalypse for those who don't know), but they're no more horrific than Stephen King epics' like The Stand and It, which are simply undefinable in genre. Then there are horror classics like Dracula (superb) Frankenstein (okay) and The Exorcist (seriously creepy) to consider, all having such great characters and depth that to simply call them 'Horror' would do them a great injustice.

I have always loved apocalyptic stories, too, from the short and punchy like, The War of the Worlds, I am Legend and The Day or the Triffids, to huge tomes like The Passage series and of course, the best of the best, The Stand - all fourteen hundred plus pages of it, and how the whole experience of reading books like these leaves you feeling lonely and apprehensive but with a fierce determination that if it were ever to happen to you, you'd be the good guy/girl, be on the right side and survive.

So where does that leave us? Well, this subject is far too long for one post so I'll blog part II in a few days' time and talk it through a bit more with you then. See you soon.

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them, why not message me with your recommendations.

The Second Sleep, book review. (Robert Harris)

Well I do love a Robert Harris book and this one was no exception.

Having read the blurb - this was a present but I would have purchased it anyway - I was a little unsure: medieval settings aren't really my thing (I've read a few books set this far in the past, Ishiguro's The Buried Giant and E. L. Johnson's Wolf's Blood, being the most memorable) but I normally prefer my books more modern - 1900s onwards is fine - so what a shock when I got three or four chapters in.

I won't spoil the surprise (like normal, you'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about) but there's a very clever twist to this book that I knew nothing about when I starting reading, and it had me speeding through the narrative far quicker than I first thought the subject matter would.

The writing here is, as usual, very good and the characters believable, although I did feel Father Fairfax fell out of love with his church and turned heretic a bit too quickly, but maybe that's just me.

There's been a death in the small Wessex village of Addicott St George, where their priest, Father Lacy has taken a tumble; or was he pushed? And so, send by the local and rather fanatical Bishop from Exeter, Christopher Fairfax arrives in order to wrap up his predecessors affairs but, on arrival he discovers that not all is as it should be.

There has been a theft, what appears to be a woman cohabiting with the deceased - whose vow of chastity now looks in doubt - there are strange artefacts littering the dead man's home, the church is in disarray, as if unused, and there's the stranger who turned up at Father Lacy's funeral, the very same stranger who was seen talking to the priest just before his untimely death.

In a world where God's word is sacrosanct, the church holds power, sows fear and is attended by all, Father Lacy's life, if exposed, could cause shockwaves for the church, so Fairfax must do all he can to smooth things over and find out what the devil's been going on.

The stranger is soon tracked down and saved from incarceration, but his health is poor, so time is of the essence. Along with Fairfax, two local landowner, and a group of labourers, they head for the local landmark, The Devil's Chair, where Father Lacy fell to his death and they soon discover human remains.

The Second Sleep is first and foremost a mystery, but with a good supporting cast Fairfax soon finds himself torn between what might be the discovery of the century, and the truth about the world hidden by his faith and there's intrigue, fear, passion skulduggery and a good dose of humour here too - has anyone ever looked at the Apple symbol and thought of Adam and Eve and original sin? I hadn't, but now, having read The Second Sleep I see it everywhere I look and it makes me chuckle.

Well written, fast paced, intriguing and with a good plot twist (if you're going in blind like I did) this book earns itself a solid four stars and comes recommended.

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them yet why not message me with your recommendations.

Bird Box, book review. (Josh Malerman)

Although there is no big reveal at the end of this book, which might disappoint some, I felt it conveyed the helplessness of a post-apocalyptic world with a subtlety that other novels in this genre sometimes lack, and like it for that.

The bulk of the book is in flashback, told whilst Malorie and two children make their way down a river, blindfolded, to where they hope to find lasting sanctuary.

Losing her sister at the beginning of the story, to whatever is killing off the human race, and finding the courage to make her way across town in answer to an advert proposing a safe haven, Malorie found herself in a house full of strangers for four years.

The characters in the house are a mixed bunch with varying views: from what the enemy is, to how much longer their food stocks will last, from the merits of letting any more newcomers in due to the real possibility of starvation, to whose turn it is to cook and clean. So, as Malorie continues her journey downriver, we gradually find out more about the ex-housemates and why she had to leave.

When her baby is born - along with another housemate's, Jessica - there's a sense of mild panic in the house, as there is in the boat whenever they hit an obstacle or hear birds and animals on the banks, for the real threat has always been outside. Blocked from view when she lived in the house, by painted and boarded-up window, blindfolds and helmets when they did venture outside to empty the slop buckets, retrieve freshwater or go in search of something better, she’d felt a certain sort of safety, but exposed on the river in the boat, Malorie is always on high alert, which eventually takes its toll.

I particularly liked the sense of abandonment in this book, especially when Malorie's favourite housemate, Tom, leaves to find supplies and is gone for a week rather than a day. The sense of loss and solitude created here reminded me of Matheson's, I am Legend and Wyndham's, The Day of the Triffids, which is praise indeed but well deserved. I also liked that Malorie simply calls the children, girl and boy, as if giving them names would make her more attached to them. I thought this added depth to her as a person and gave the reader a greater sense of what trauma she may have endured in the past, who she may have lost during those four long years, and added to the feeling of hopelessness. Why get attached to a child if all it was going to do is die?

So to sum up, Bird Box makes you feel cold and alone, it is sad and upsetting, horrific even, so why am I recommending it? Because it is all of those things, and like the above-mentioned classics that have that same edge of despair, Bird Box really is very good.

Four stars for this one then and a chill down the spine.

The Dark Tower, (PtVI), Wizard and Glass, book review. (Stephen King)

WOW, wow and er . . . okay then!

In this, the fourth part of Roland's quest for the dark tower, we are treated to possibly the longest flashback in any book I've ever read, and it is here that the wows are aimed. The rest of the book doesn't really move the story on that much hence the er, but it does deal with Blane the Mono from book three - rather poorly in my opinion - as if the author ran out of really tough riddles to fool the Mono and had to result to stupidity. Then there's the Wizard of Oz style ending where our quintet tackle the Emerald City and get back on the beam, but you can ignore all that really because the bones of this book are in the six hundred plus pages of flashback, in Mejis, when Roland was a child and fell in love and . . .

There are gun-toting cowboys guarding oil derricks and tankers full of the black stuff hauled by oxen. There is the witch, Rhea of the Coos, who is bewitched by the wizard's glass and sees all. There is Roland and his ka-tet, Cuthbert, and Alain, who have been sent to the outer reaches of Mid-World on the pretence of counting anything that can be counted, when really they have been sent away to protect them from trouble back home. Then there is Susan Delgado, the most beautiful maiden in all of Mid-World and it doesn't take long for her and Roland to become entwined in a love affair, an affair that will bring death and dishonour to many and haunt Roland for the rest of his days.

As Blood Moon gives way to the Kissing Moon and the world spins, Roland and his ka-tet begin counting, but it isn't long before the suspicions of the sheriff and his lawmen are raised. There is a standoff, which goes in the ka-tet's favour, Rhea sees Susan losing something that had been promised to the Mayor, and there is a suspicious amount of activity in the woods where the crude oil still flows.

Asides from the beginning, where Eddie beats Blane with a riddle that isn't a riddle, you just fall into the narrative and can't wait to get to the Reaping fair. There are a lot of characters in this book but they all differ in ways that keeps the reader entertained and never confused. There is death, dishonour, love, fear, and pain, but the writing is some of the author’s very best so as you speed through the near nine hundred pages, you too fall in love with Susan, fear for Roland, wonder at Alain and Cuthbert's abilities, all whilst wondering how they will ever get the better of the sheriff and his men and survive.

If a book can have you on the edge of your seat, this one can. If a book can have you gasping, biting your nails in anticipation and leave you feeling completely empty, this one can and if it wasn't for the lacklustre beginning and okay ending, it would have been another five star Stephen King classic, as it is though I'll give this one four and a half stars.

The City of Mirrors, book review. (Justin Cronin)

How do you review the third book in the trilogy of what is one of the greatest stories ever told? With great difficulty!
It is six months since Homeland was liberated and The Twelve destroyed (Carter being the only survivor). Amy - the new Amy - lives with him in the hull of a long forgotten ship and Alicia is pregnant, but her baby won't survive.
Twenty years on and the people have left the old fortress city and repopulated the surrounding areas. Farms have popped up, townships are thriving, life is far from back to before virus but the threat has gone - or so they think.
ZERO. Fanning. The first to be infected in the jungle and brought back to Greer's lab and tested, mutated, angry. For the last hundred years he has waited at Grand Central station for the return of his beloved Liz who, we discover by flashback, died way before the virus hit.
ZERO. Ready to finish what The Twelve could not. The extinction of the human race.
The build-up in this book is excellent, the flashbacks informative, (albeit a tad too long), but then we're back in the year 122 A.V (after virus) and Zero's army is coming, forged from the unfortunate people who moved to the outlining townships. Michael (Circuit) has spent the last twenty years rebuilding a ship he’s hoping to escape on, but will it be ready? The virals are massing, the gates to the Homestead are closed once again, Carter has woken and Amy walks amongst the people once more, but then . . . all hell lets loose.
The ground rumbles, the virals break through and panic ensues, and it is here, as the narrative flicks from one character's peril to another, that the book takes off, and as the pages pass in a blur, the tension builds, characters we have known since the beginning fall, Carter's army clashes with Zero's, Amy tries to save Alicia, and the rest of the human race fight their way to Michael's ship, that you realise that this story really is one of the very best you've ever read.
With only a few hundred souls on board the ship sets sail and Amy, Peter, Michael and Alicia take their leave, going in search of Zero, and compared to the frenzied battle that raged in Texas, New York is spookily quiet, but not for long.
So, a big fat five stars for the conclusion of this epic trilogy then? Er, no, not quite.
The ending, the very ending, was completely unnecessary. I won't give anything away here but having such a climatic conclusion and then continuing was never really going to work, so if you do read these books, and I thoroughly recommend that you do, skip the epilogue on this one and you'll be more than satisfied.
Four and a half stars then for, The City of Mirrors, but The Passage got five and that is all you really need to know to start reading.

Ready Player One, book review. (Ernest Cline)

Is sci-fi your thing? No.

How about something apocalyptic, geeky '80's retro? Four hundred pages about gaming?
No! Still not on board?
Well, you’re gonna miss out on one hell of a good book then because, Ready Player One is fantastic.
It is 2044, we’ve used all the oil, there's widespread famine and poverty, but hidden in the OASIS, (a computer generated universe consisting of thousands of worlds), there's hundreds of billions of dollars waiting to be won. All you have to do is solve the riddles set out by its deceased creator, Halliday, find the keys to the three gates and it’s yours. Some seek the fortune for good, to prosper, not only themselves but others, but the IOI Corporation wants it for itself and will stop at nothing it seems to get it, including murder.
Living at the top of a twenty story stack of mobile homes with limited aspirations, other than to win the fortune, Wade Watts, aka, Parzival spends all his spare time logged into Oasis, trying to solve the riddles.
When he stumbles upon the first of the three gate keys, he becomes instantly famous, a target, once he's made it through the first gate, he's on borrowed time. His aunt and the trailer where they lived, are blown to pieces, there's coercion, a feigned suicide, proposed kidnappings and more.

As riddles get solved, an epic game of Pacman is played, tempers fray and trust issues arise, you forget you’re in a fictional world within a fictional world and get pulled along for the ride, and all the while the characters in the book are, for the most part, avatars in a computer game.
Parzival is super geeky, but he's educated himself through the OASIS school system, his fellow gunters, (people who spend their time in OASIS looking to solve Halliday's riddles, but who haven't sold out to the corporation of IOI), all bring something different to the narrative, some more than others, of which we find out at the end of the book!
The author’s love of the 1980's was right up my street and some of the games, the computers, and most of the films he makes reference to - Parzival flies around in a DeLorean for goodness sake's - had me reminiscing, and there's always a sense that something's not quite right, that one of the gunters might not be telling the whole truth. With that in mind, the sixers (derogatory name for those who spend their days trying to crack the riddles in OASIS for IOI), gradually close in on Parzival and his friends but, can they beat them to Halliday's Egg and win the prize - Ownership of the entire virtual word, the Oasis?.

There is a huge amount of info-dump throughout this book, which gets a bit annoying but with the epic battle at the end, the tense week that preceded it, the journey through the various challenges, great characters and (for me anyway), the books effortless mix of nostalgia with a possible future and superb researching and originality, it easily earns four stars.

I just hope the film doesn’t let it down.

Don't forget to search my blog for your favourite authors and books and if I haven't read them, message me with your recommendations

The Dark Tower, (PtIII), The Waste Lands, book review. (Stephen King)

So, book three in the series, and this one feels a little disjointed, like a play of three acts: a beginning, a middle and an end, all good, but the intervals, the bathroom breaks if you like, are a bit lacking.

Let me explain.

Act one is about a giant cyborg bear that guards the beam, (one of twelve beams that lead to the Dark Tower), and when I say giant, I mean absolutely massive. The pace, the near death experience of Eddie and Susannah, (Susannah finally becoming a gunslinger), all has you on the edge of your seat, as does act two.

Act two is where Jake is rescued from New York again, and the connection he has with Roland and his ka-tet in Mid-World, is inescapable. As Jake edges his way through the city, getting ever closer to where he thinks he needs to be, Roland, Eddie and Susannah get ready for his arrival, and it's here that things get a bit slow; or is it just that when Jake enters a derelict house, and Susannah enters a stone circle in Mid-World - letting the Demon that resides there possess her - that the writing is sooooooo crazy good, that everything else seems dull?

Possibly!

Act three, the end of the book, where our five travellers - Jake's made it through from New York and has found a friend in a Billy Bumbler, (small furry raccoon like animal with limited vocabulary) - find themselves at Lud, a city not to dissimilar to New York, but one that has suffered from hundreds, maybe thousands of years of neglect.

Act three is good, not quite the best bit in my opinion, that's Jake in the derelict house, but I think the reason for this is found on the back cover: 'Set in a world of extraordinary circumstance', it reads, and at times, even though I know I'm reading a book of fiction, it feels like some parts are just there to plug the gaps rather than enhance the story. I suppose you could level this criticism at a lot of Stephen King novels, it can almost be a part of why we enjoy reading them so much, but here, it felt contrived.

The ending of course, isn't really an ending, because this is only book three in the series, but their run through Lud and their escape from the city on Blain the Mono, is fast paced and action packed enough to make you jump straight into book four.

Overall then, not as good as book two, but with moments of pure genius, three and half stars.

The Twelve, book review. (Justin Cronin)

So, The Twelve, Justin Cronin's sequel to his amazing The Passage (see blog post 30/11/17)

We're back at the beginning with this book, back at year zero, where we find a number of characters making their way in the world, a world that is falling apart.

There's Grey: ex caretaker of The Twelve, who, in 97 A.V (after virus) becomes Guilder's source of blood, food for his army of red eyes (oppressive guards that control the population of the city at the centre of this book) and there's Lila, Wolgast's ex-wife (Agent Wolgast, FBI, who took Amy to the mountains in The Passage) who is able to control the virals (vampire like creatures that have decimated the world’s population) and bend them to her will.

There's Guilder, who ran things in year zero and runs things again 97 years later, and has a plan, a plan that involves The Twelve and how, when they come, they will unite under him, start a new world order.

We don't lose touch with Sara, Hollis, Michael, Alicia, Greer, Peter and of course the girl from nowhere, Amy, either (all characters from the first book) and Alicia and Amy's stories develop a lot here, but will they switch sides as they both become less human? Will they see their old friends as food?

This book isn't as good as its prequel but then, The Passage did receive a five star review, which is a tough act to follow, so it's by no means a bad book, in fact it’s quite the opposite, it’s a great book, just not exceptional.

It has pace, it has intrigue, it has the supernatural and the damned right scary, as Peter and Alicia decent into the cave home of one of The Twelve, as virals spring for hard boxes (places for humans to hide if they get caught out in the open after dark) and decimate the populace in the field. We have the calm of Danny driving his school bus around a deserted town before driving hundreds and hundreds of miles further than originally planned, the serenity of Lila's deluded mind as she continues to shop for paint in a DIY store whilst the rest of the world is dying, and we have the ending, the huge big punch of an ending, and as usual, I won't spoil things here but as Amy becomes something new, something altogether different, Lila comes to her senses (only a hundred year too late) and Guilder gets what's coming to him, it is well worth the five hundred or so pages it takes to get there.

Four big fat juicy stars then for The Twelve and now, on to The City of Mirrors, the final instalment.

The Girl with all the Gifts, book review. (M.R.Carey)

Post-apocalyptic horror books come in all different shapes and sizes, from the true epics like, The Stand, to thin slivers of excellence like, I am Legend, but most of them fit into just a few categories: The Virus, The War or the Invasion; this book however, is harder to categorise.

There is a virus of sorts, but we only know that it turns people into 'hungries', zombie like creatures that feast on non-infected people, but, and it's a big but, there are the infected children, like Melanie, the girl with all the gifts: super intelligent, nice, articulate and more, who has the virus, but has no desire to feast on humans - or does she?

The book is told predominantly from Melanie's point of view, and it's all the better for it. She is kind and thoughtful, sad when her fellow classmates go and don't come back, but after the facility she has been kept, (imprisoned in), gets overrun by hungries, driven and herded by non-infected humans that eke out an existence in the wild, she and her teacher, the lovely Miss Justineau, have to leave, and leave quickly.

Together, with two soldiers and the doctor who was about to cut her up, they must travel across mile upon mile of unfamiliar, untamed territory, to London, and this part, for me, was of particular interest, because they are heading south through Hertfordshire, (which is where I live), Barnet, and then through north London, which I know well.

As the story develops, Melanie earns her freedoms: first, her handcuffs are removed, then, she's aloud to remove her face mask and find food, feast, but we don't see that, we don't need to, because we know how hungries feed!

There's something else, too. Some of the hungries have died and sprouted what look like organic tentacles! Could this be part two of the virus? After all these years, could it be mutating into something else?

With food and water shortages, Melanie's need to feed, Sergeant Parks trying to get the power back on and fix up an abandoned armoured vehicle, along with doctor Caldwell still readying herself to kill Melanie, things look bleak, but then, then the kids come and . . .

No; no spoilers here, you'll have to read it to find out how it all ends, but suffice to say, this book has pace, intrigue, and is quite different to anything else I've read. I love the characters, even doctor Caldwell, who you dislike intensely, and the tension, the constant threat that the author builds, the feeling that someone, or something, is always watching, that our band of survivors are just one wrong turn from death - or worse, zombiehood - is profound and creepy.

This book was not what I was expecting, it's not a save the world, 'The Passage trilogy', kind of thing, it's more, I am Legend, creepy, which was a nice surprise, and so, with the hairs on the back of my neck still prickling, a thoroughly well-deserved four stars for, The Girl with all the Gifts.

The Dark Tower, (PtII), The Drawing of the Three, book review. (Stephen King)

So, the gunslinger, Roland Deschain, has survived the desert and parlayed with the Man in Black, but seeing the birth of the universe has taken its toll. (Book 1: The Gunslinger. Blog post: 22/10/17).

He lies on a beach, exhausted; days, weeks, years, millennia might have passed, he doesn't know, but when ancient lobster like creatures come with the tide and take his figures, he knows it's bad, and as their poison creeps slowly through his body, he knows it could be the end.

In desperation, he crawls along the deserted beach, and on encountering his first door, he steps across that threshold and becomes: Eddie Dean - drug addict, petty criminal, bad seed - flying back to America with thousands of dollars of Class-A drugs strapped to his body. After Eddie is acquired by the FBI, released and then picked up by the mob, (the drugs having mysteriously disappeared), there's a fantastic shootout with the drug boss and his goons, which for me, is one of the highlight of the book, but, all is not well, Eddie needs a fix. No longer being in New York, (he is in Roland's world now), his drugs are somewhat harder to come by, but what lengths will he go to, to get them?

Door two, and a disabled schizophrenic. Odetta and Detta Holmes, have occupied the same space for years, each with little idea that the other exists, and what a ride. 1960's New York, thief, wheelchair bound, (she was pushed beneath a train by the man who killed Jake in book one), and with serious attitude, and, as soon as she's in Roland's world, she's of murderous intent.

Behind the third and final door, Roland becomes the man who pushed Jake and Odetta to their fates, but with Roland at the helm, Jake survives, which is really weird.

They enter a gun shop to replenish Roland's stocks, and then a pharmacy for the drugs that Roland hopes will cure the lobstrosity infection, and again, this part of the book is exceptional, but has he done enough? Will the drugs work? Or will Odetta/Detta and Eddie kill him first?

All in all, this book is about a journey along a beach, but what Roland encounters as he crawls and walks, the issues the author puts in his way, a disabled schizophrenic being just the tip of the iceberg, makes for a thoroughly entertaining journey.

In isolation, I'd say this is very nearly a five star book, but, as it is part of a series, I'm going with four and a half stars for the time being.
Book three, The Waste Lands, awaits.

The Passage, book review. (Justin Cronin)

With the release of book three, The City of Mirrors, I figured it was time to go back to the beginning of the story and remind myself what I'd forgotten.

It begins in the world we all recognise. There are cars and shops and people going about their daily business, there's Amy, a girl of six, who spends her nights sleeping in motel bathtubs whilst her mother earns what she can; there's Carter, a death-row prisoner, and there's agent Wolgast, FBI, who's been collecting death-row prisoners for experimentation, Carter being his twelfth.

The beginning of this book is excellent. I like the contrast between the calm peaceful life of the nuns who look after Amy, against the pain, death and horror of The Twelve, incarcerated deep underground. I like the back story of the tourists in the jungle, the spookiness of the day Amy goes to the Zoo, how Wolgast's actions turn him into a criminal. I love the pandemonium when The Twelve escape and infect the world, and the isolation that follows Wolgast and Amy as they flee to the mountains.

Then, nearly a hundred years later, a small colony, humans living behind high walls, but the batteries that keep the lights on, the lights that keep the virals (blood thirsty vampire like creatures) away, are failing. They have a year, two at most. Something has to be done.

When some of the inhabitants go mad and let the virals in, a small group make a run for it; grabbing what weapons they can. They hole up in a fortified garage, find an underground bunker chock full of weapons, get rescued from an ambush in Las Vegas (which is a superb scene) and get taken to an ex-prison colony (The Haven) which is super strange because there are no virals there!

The human sacrifices that keep Babcock (one of The Twelve) and his hordes away, is soon revealed, and is followed by an epic chase across mile upon mile of open countryside on a fortified train, and it's the juxtaposition between heart in the mouth all hell is breaking lose, shit we've just lost another main character and the peaceful backdrop of snow covers mountains, where Theo and Maus have their baby and Peter and Amy find Sister Lacey with eleven vials of anti-virus, that makes this book so riveting.

There is so much going on here, that you might think you'd get lost, but with such diverse characters and such superb writing, you don’t, it just all makes sense. Coupled with a convincing setting, both in the present, past and possible future (the University of New South Wales are still reading from Sara's diary in the year 1003 AV [after virus]) I'm betting you’ll jump straight into book two, The Twelve, as soon as you’ve turned the last page.
An easy and highly recommended five star read.

The Dark Tower, (Pt1), The Gunslinger, book review. (Stephen King)

So, the beginning – the beginning of the longest story I am ever likely to read!

As Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger, follows the man in black: death, preacher, shaman, et-al, across unyielding desert, for a purpose we don’t yet know, he meets a corn farmer and we learn about Roland's escape from Tull, (the last town before the world turns to dust). Thirty-nine dead and hardly a scratch!

Then, he meets Jake at a Way Station, and as the desert morphs into mountains and Jake becomes companion, we learn that the man in black killed Jake in modern day New York, brought him here: to use him, weaken the Gunslinger’s hand, give Roland something to care about, something to lose.

On entering the mountains, Roland must face the Oracle, an ancient malevolent force that will not give something for nothing, but the Gunslinger needs answers, he needs all the help he can get, and like the gunfight in Tull, I particularly liked this part. It is slightly surreal, which is the point, and feels like one of the older parts of the book; more honest, less polished maybe.

Before finally settling Ka with the man in black, Roland must let Jake go (for the good of the quest for the Tower), but will he let the boy die a second time? Will he let the slow mutants take him? Does he have a choice?

There are elements to this book that are classic King, but there are parts that feel alien, as if they were written by another author, which is somewhat explained in the introduction and forward of this revised edition. The author was only nineteen when he first started to garnish the idea for this novel, some thirty year before this edition was published.

A short novel then, (it is only a beginning after all) and a slightly surreal one, but with the battle in Tull, the Oracle in the mountain, the slow mutants and the almost biblical showdown with the man in black, a rather good introduction to the quest for The Dark Tower.

Four stars.