For generations people have lived in the silo, the only look at the outside they get is on the screens. But the cameras are outsides, and over time they get dirty, the screens are obscured and blurry. But to go outside is to die. Those who are condemned to death, whether because of something they said or did, must clean the four cameras before they succumb to the poisonous and corrosive fumes.
Wool by Hugh Howey
I first came across Wool on Metafilter[1] and I am so glad that I bought it. It is a dytopian short story, which has “changed the course of self-published ebooks” or so the interwebs tell me.
Through flashbacks we are told about Holston’s life. How he and his wife won the lottery one year, but never got around to having their child. His wife, an IT specialist, was researching how to retrieve deleted data and stumbled across something.
As it is a short story so you can easily read it in one sitting, I read it over mu lunch break, and I think it works well if you read it like that, without too much speculation as to what his wife discovered, and then, once you find out, whether or not she was right.
I really liked this book, it is smart and engaging, and now I’m off to shell out for the other 4 stories in the series.
As a film critic Mark Kermode watches films. A lot of films. A whole lot of films, and he often doesn’t like what he sees. He describes how he started reviewing films as a child, not for anyone else to read or listen to, but simply to keep track of films he’d watches and how he felt about them. Of course since then he has become Britain most trusted film critic, with a whole 3% of the people asked voting for him.
I have to say I do like his attitude to films. It is one that I have often thought when writing about a film or a book, a lot of how you experience a film is based on what youbring to it yourself. And so, of course, opinions will change and develop over time.
But this book isn’t really about reviewing films. It is about the state of the film industry at the moment.
the good the bad and the multiplex - Mark Kermode
And the damage, as Kermode sees it, being done by the rise of the multiplex and the move from celluloid to digital. Personally I don’t agree with him as to the whole digital thing. In some ways it is similar to the argument over whether ebooks will replace hard copy ones, but at the same time isn’t, because the consumer of films isn’t really aware of the “magic” of celluloid. Personally I really don’t care whether the film is digital or celluloid once it looks like it is supposed to. I can totally understand his frustration at the lack of supervision that has resulted from the lack of a projectionist at work. My first viewing of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King had some dodgy aspect-ness going on that had to be complained about before it got sorted.
For the most part I really enjoyed this book. Kermode writes in a very entertaining fashion, and with a lot of humour.
If you are interested in films at all then I would recommend this book. You might not agree with it all, but you can’t accuse him of lacking passion or interest in his field. And he knows what he is talking about as well. Which is always a plus in a non-fiction book.
In the 1960s Stanley Milgram and his associates carried out a number of experiments on obedience. They were set-up a situation where people thought they were helping in a memory/learning experiment, and how it related to punishment. So they subjects were asked to administer electric shocks to learners every time they got their word pairs wrong. What they didn’t know was that it wasn’t the learners being studied, but the shockers, and the experiment was to see if people would continue to obey and shock the learners even over their protests. Many people were surprised by the results. In a majority of cases subjects continued to shock the learners even after they protested.
This was a fascinating read. Controversial when first published, but familiar to many people know. It really does show how easy it is for people to stand by and let “evil” happen.
Reading the book however, I was struck by just how dated the language was. The researchers themselves came across as so dismissive and condescending towards their subjects. Not through malice, but merely because they weren’t scientists. They were ordinary people.
And it is very very typical of what we today might think of as a typical 1950s society. People seemed to be aware of their “betters”, and at one point Milgram wants to show how ingrained deference and politeness is, and so he asks readers to imagine someone they have a lot of respect for. Preferably someone of an older generation, and someone they address by title. Straight away I was left wondering who on earth I address by their title. I don’t think I use titles at all. My boss at work is called by her first name. I don’t talk to priests, and I don’t know any gardaí that I might address in that fashion. But it was a different time back then.
Society has also changed of course. And we are more cynical and less trusting. This is something that some people point out to as flaws in modern culture. But I think that cynicism and wariness can be very valuable. I’d love to see results from a similar study done now. Would people still be as likely to follow orders? Given all that we know?
Mel is not having a good year at school. Her friends have turned on her, and her boyfriend one day stopped talking to her, became her ex over night and hasn’t spoken to her in weeks. But she does have Pug.
I don’t think I am going to say very much in this review. But just in case you don’t read any further can I just say quickly that I really really really loved this book.
The best thing - Margo Lanagan
This is one of those books that might be labelled “domestic fiction”, because it is about those small everyday things that happen in life. And Lanagan writes it so well that you’ll be wondering why more books aren’t like this. Highlighting the small things in life because they really are the most important things.
Mel is such a great character. At times I just wanted to shake her because she was being so silly. And yet, it made sense in her convoluted way of thinking. Nothing she said or did ever made me think a real person wouldn’t do/say that. It all seemed so real.
And I loved her relationship with her parents. Not that it was perfect, or even functional at all time, it was just so realistic and believable. And that is what I want in my books, real characters who mess up, who make mistakes, and who are sometimes, just plain stupid in their actions.
I could maybe argue that Mel should have been a bit more worried about money, and her future. I know I was thinking about that as I read the book. What was she going to do if she dropped out of high school. Was she going to get a job? But that was never really brought up, which is understandable in one way. And she is still a kid in many many ways.
And then there is Pug. He was just wonderful. He’s the nice guy who never seems to get to play the love interest in books/films any more. He was solid and dependable and just nice and lovely. And you could so see why Mel fell in love with him. I mean, in comparison to the likes of Edward in the Twilight series, well, there is no comparison. Edward is a stalker, and I really don’t understand why Bella falls in love with him. But Pug… ah, just read the book. You’ll find him adorable, I almost guarantee it!
Okay, I’ve never wanted kids. Never had any interest in becoming a mother. So when I tell you that reading this at one point I actually thought, hmmm having a baby sounds pretty cool will tell you just how well written this book is. Not that I thought that for long, I mean, nope. Still not interested :) But it is a perfect illustration of what good fiction does, it gives you an alternate viewpoint from your own.
At some point in the future a biological oil-eating weapon brings about the end of civilisation as we know it. But in the aftermath a new society emerges. In the US different cities states emerge. Each with their own rules, cultures and lifestyles. Tally lives in one such city. In Uglies, the first book in this series, we were introduced to Tally and to her city. Where once you turned sixteen you left behind your ugly self and were enhanced and became a pretty. Tally was the last of her group to turn 16, and while waiting for her operations she met a new friend, Shay, who told Tally about the Smoke, and how people lived there without becoming pretty
Since then a lot has happened. And I won’t go into it, because *spoilers*, but suffice to say that there was plenty of action and twists and turns along the way to this, the third book in the series.
Specials by Scott Westerfeld
I liked the first two books in this series. I wasn’t blown away by them, but I did enjoy them. This, I think, was the best of the bunch. It was much more of a page-turner than I remembered the first two, and it zipped along, with barely a moment to slow down. I certainly wasn’t bored reading it.
I’ve really come to like Tally through this series. And I liked that the love triangle aspect was played down a lot more in this book, it was all about Tally finding out who she really was. And yes, there was a bit of romance, but only as much as the reader wanted to put in, it wasn’t in your face when you were more interested in other aspects of the plot. It made sense. Which is a huge relief. Love triangles are just so boring to me at the moment.
This was more about tally and her friendship with Shay. They are both a lot different than they were in the first book, for a lot of reasons, but I liked the new them. And the new new them :)
Jan lives with his aunt and uncle. His parents died of the plague and he had to leave his home village and move to Vienna. At first he is, understandably withdrawn and upset, but after a few months his uncle suggests that he help out and become his apprentice. At once Jan begins to perk up, maybe he can become an alchemist doctor and help to cure people suffering from the plague.
The alchemist and the angel by Joanne Owen
I loved the design and layout of this book. The main story is interspersed with drawings and other tales which fill out the world Owen has created. The main plot itself, revolving around Jan, promised a lot more than it delivered. It felt thin and lacked the detail that would have brought it to life for me. It felt, in many ways, almost like an outline of what would happen. It is a huge pity, because this could have been a really great book.
It is, in many ways, a predictable story. You know from the outside who is going to turn out to be the *bad guy*. Actually, it was really unfortunate that that particular character was the black hat, because I found that particular character the most interesting of the bunch. And in the beginning I had quite a lot of empathy for them. I mean, you could really understand their frustration and annoyance at always being left to one side.
Still, even with those negative aspects, I did enjoy this book. I read it almost in one sitting, and there were some lovely little touches that really made me like the book. I’ll be certain to keep an eye out for more by this author in the future.
Other reviews: Chicklish ; If you have read & reviewed this let me know and I’ll add a link.< ?p>
The great thing about working in a library is that I find myself picking up books that I usually wouldn’t.
The terrible thing about working in a library is that I find myself picking up books that I usually wouldn’t.
I really have no explanation for why I brought this one home. I thought at first it was a what happens after Pride & Prejudice. It isn’t. It is an alternate version of events with added sex.
turth about mr darcy
This is exactly what you might think it is. So, if that is what you are interested in, then by all means pick this up, I’m not interested in it. And the only reason I finished it is that I started it on a train journey and so got through 90% of it because I had nothing else to read. And then, seeing as I’d gotten that far, well, I figured I may as well finish it off.
Anyway, as you can guess I’m not going to recommend this. I skimmed quite a lot of it. But what I did actually read was, well, a bit rubbish. None of the characters are in any way similar to Austen’s. And none of them behave as they should given the setting.
And, I couldn’t be bothered finding other reviews of it. Laziness, you understand.
In Zoo City, it's impolite to ask.
Morning light the sulpher colour of the mine dumps seeps across Johannesburg's skyline and sears through my window.
–Lauren Beukes - Zoo City - c.2010
Zinzi December finds lost things. That’s her shavi, the gift she received, along with her Sloth, for her crime. No one really knows where the animals come from, or what the Undertow is, but everyone knows that is what is waiting for the animalled. It will swallow you up and drag you down.
Zinzi has been living in Zoo City for quite some time, a recovering addict, she is still paying off her drug debts. And she will take any job she can. But when a client is murdered she gets pulled into a missing persons case. She doesn’t usually do those. No stolen goods, no missing persons, those are her rules.
Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
This is the perfect antidote to Gabriel’s Gate, in many ways it is the opposite of that book, whereas Gabriel’s Gate is all about the surface, Zoo City is about what is underneath. Beukes gives her readers enough credit to figure out what is going on in her book. She launches straight into the story and doesn’t bother with overlong descriptions of how things work. Sometimes that can really just fall flat and leave the reader confused and annoyed. In this case Beukes gives us just enough information to keep up.
And then of course there are all the things that this book talks about, racism, prejudice, all that important society stuff. Zinzi is on the outskirts of society, the animalled are the lowest of the low. Their crimes are made visible for all to see and to judge.
There is so much to enjoy about this book. It has great pacing, you certainly won’t be bored while reading it. And I certainly would be delighted to read more in this world. Actually, that is my one complaint, it ended, and I want to know more!
Lauren Beukes, author of hard-boiled SF thriller Zoo City, tells us about winning the 2011 Arthur C Clarke award and about South African science fiction. We talk to Michael Moorcock, who helped define science fiction back in the 1960s with his ground-breaking literary magazine New Worlds. And we also hear from hard SF author Alastair Reynolds and speculative fiction author Jeff Noon about their new projects, how they feel about being classed within the same genre, and writing on Twitter.
