TL;DR – shoe string sci-fi horror about the crew of the starship Nightflyer seeking to explore the furthest regions of known space in search of an alien race.

Summary

Karoly d’Branin assembles a crew of scholars and experts on a journey to locate the Volcryn, an alien race with interstellar technology that surpasses every other race. The Volcryn’s purpose is a mystery. They pass through regions and events always moving outwards towards the fringes of known space, and they do so without any apparent desire to interact with anyone or anything. Karoly, determined to unlock this mystery, sets out on a transport ship called the Nightflyer. The starship is piloted by Royd Eris who locks himself in part of the ship where no one else can access. This results in most of the other crew wanting to find out who their enigmatic and secretive captain is and why he will not reveal himself.

When one of the scholars suddenly dies in horrific fashion, the stress of the journey, combined with the claustrophobic confines of the ship and a captain who is always watching them remotely, causes the rest of the crew to unravel. Karoly is determined to continue on and find the Volcryn, but will he ever achieve his quest or will external forces conspire against him?

Review

George R. R. Martin wrote Nightflyers prior to his critically acclaimed Game of Thrones series. In his early career, he wrote primarily sci-fi and combined them with horror elements, and Nightflyers is one of those efforts. Being a novella, Martin demonstrates he is as capable of writing epic length fantasy as he is in writing short stories. His ability to convey suspense and horror in concise, evocative language to maintain word length is exemplary.

In saying that, the story in Nightflyers won’t shock avid readers or movie watchers of the hybrid sci-fi horror genre. Books like Solaris by Stanislaw Lem or Blindsight by Peter Watts along with films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Event Horizon have themes and elements similar that run through Nightflyers.

Still, it is written in a way that will have you turning the pages even if you can see where it all leads. The reason for this is the colourful collection of crew that rides the Nightflyer starship.

Karoly d’Branin is the astrophysicist and leader of the group, who is obsessed in finding the Volcryn and study them.

Royd Eris is captain of the ship and never leaves his quarters. He communicates to the rest of the crew through speakers or a ghostly hologram.

Melantha Jhirl, a genetically engineering woman, is considered the epitome of the human species in terms of physical strength.

Lommie Thorne (cyberneticist), Alys Northwind (xenotech), Rojan Christopheris (xenobiologist), Dannel (male linguist), Lindran (female linguist), Agatha Marij-Black (psipsych) and Thale Lasamer (a frail young telepath) make up the rest of the crew.

All of the characters, except arguably Melantha, are flawed in some way (or multiple ways). By all appearances, Karoly chose his team solely on their expertise in their particular field and not on whether they can actually get along. Even Dannel and Lindran (the two linguists), who are in a romantic relationship, belittle and argue with each other all the time. It leads to conflicts on many fronts.

You will read this story because you will want to know who comes out of it alive., and in this way, the book is effective. An atmospheric novella more about the characters than the plot.

3 out of 5.

TL;DR – Tony Chu is turning the corner and things are finally looking up. Work has become tolerable thanks to his partner returning to duty, and he’s found love in food critic, Amelia Mintz. But when you work for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), you always have a target on your back and Tony finds himself in the cross-hairs of many enemies.

Summary

Go to my book reviews page to see what has happened in previous volumes of this award winning graphic novel series. Volume Three begins with Tony and Amelia infiltrating an elite diners club where the richest dine on the rarest and most endangered plants and animals. The ensuing bust leading to the full blossoming of their relationship.

Tony then goes on assignment undercover and retrieves the death-dealing rooster known as Poyo back into law enforcement hands. Meanwhile, Mason Savoy (ex-FDA agent, wanted murderer, and the man responsible for ripping off Tony’s right ear in Volume One) has been doing his own investigations into Ray Jack Montero who Savoy discovers knew about the ‘avian-flu’ that wiped out millions of people before it occurred.

Montero’s company is seeking to introduce a new artificial meat that tastes like chicken called fricken. Montero falls on Tony’s radar when he tastes the artificial meat and discovers it is actual meat albeit a genetically modified one (i.e. Montero’s scientists have altered frog DNA to now combine frogs and chickens into one). Tony and his team go in and bust Monetro’s operations, but in doing so unwittingly blows another FDA’s assignment (an agent by the name of Ceasar Valenzano, who has ties with Mason Savoy).

This leads to John Colby, Tony’s partner, encountering Savoy at an estate owned by Montero. Savoy is there in burglar gear rifling through Montero’s confidential files but is caught in the act by Colby resulting in the pair facing off against each other.

Review

Mason Savoy returns after his absence in Volume Two, and we see he still surveys a chess board that Tony Chu is but one of the opposing pieces (as opposed to a main player). Savoy’s motives are not fully revealed, but it is clear he has kept tabs on his former FDA partner and knows Tony is a threat. As with my reviews of Volumes One and Two, Savoy is one of my favourite characters and it’s clear he’s playing for the long game.

Along with Savoy, the connection between Tony and Amelia finally bears fruit, and it’s great to see their relationship evolve.

Colby, after getting a cleaver to the head in Volume One and being transformed into a half-cyborg, gets put through the wringer again when he fights a desperate Savoy.

All the elements that make this series engaging – great storytelling, killer art, distinct characters – returns in Volume Three and the ante is upped.

But what drives this volume to another level are the final chapters where we get a glimpse of Tony’s past and the introduction of Tony’s family.

The past is in the form of former fiance, Min Tso, who was so obsessed with Tony that she severed her own toe to give to him when he proposed to her. Safe to say, the relationship did not last. It’s a flashback that makes me wonder if Min might make an appearance in later volumes.

And then we finally meet the Chu clan at Thanksgiving. There’s Toni Chu (Tony’s fraternal twin sister), Chow Chu (already introduced in Volume 1, the older brother chef), Harold Chu (Tony’s cross-dressing younger brother), Sage Chu (moody younger sister), Bao Chu (mother), Bok Chu (deceased father), Ong Chu (grandfather), Charlie Chu (distant cousin), Rosemary Chu-Shen (older sister), Tang Shen (brother-in-law), Chip Chu-Shen (nephew) and Bree Chu-Shen (niece).

And then there’s Olive Chu… Tony’s daughter. First time we see her and you know immediately that their relationship is strained. Olive doesn’t have much to do with her father, and it seems Tony doesn’t know how to communicate to his daughter.

Prior to Thanksgiving, there’s a brilliant sequence of panels where we see Savoy having dinner and the last course is Tony’s ear (the one he ripped off violently in Volume One). Being a Cibopath like Tony, he starts getting images of all the people in Tony’s life and he eventually hones in one person, which you know he has targeted. Yes, you guessed it, Olive.

The flashback of Min, Savoy’s unsavoury dining experience, and the introduction to Tony’s family brings much expectation for the next volume.

Volume Three ends with a strange phenomenon as the Chu family are interrupted by the sound of a car accident. As they rush outside, they see that the cause of the accident is a series of alien fire writing that has appeared suddenly in the sky. The alien writing didn’t register until I went back to Volume One and realised they showed hints of this already. An alien planet named Altilis-738, the focus of the Gardner-Kvashennaya international telescope based in the arctic (and where Tony and Savoy ventures to as part of their investigation), receives the same fire writing in the sky before the alien planet is obliterated.

It’s clear things are about to get weird.

5 out of 5.

TL;DR – a South Korean woman who experiences terrible dreams about animal slaughter decides to stop eating meat. This decision leads to a descent into madness and examines the impacts on those around her.

Summary

Yeong-hye has been the dutiful wife to Mr. Cheong and living a life that is routine. This all changes when she decides to abstain from consuming meat after a series of graphic dreams involving killing animals. Her abstinence slowly transforms into the belief that she is actually a tree and soon refuses to eat anything entirely. The degradation of her well-being causes ramifications to those closest to her.

The book is told in three parts. The first part is told from the perspective of Mr. Cheong. The second part is told from Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law (his name never revealed). And the final part is told from Yeong-hye’s sister, In-hye.

Review (warning: spoilers)

The winner of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize is a difficult read. Not because of the translation from Korean to English (Deborah Smith does an astounding job) but because I didn’t encounter anything that I liked.

All my book reviews are rated on enjoyment, and that enjoyment comes from a multitude of factors including character development, writing style, plot and themes. I do not exclude books on genre, nor will I rate a book poorly because of its genre. As with all readers, I do have preferences. I’m drawn more to fantasy/sci-fi and crime/mystery than I am to other genres like sick lit or horror.

The Vegetarian falls into literary fiction and Asian culture genres. The exploration into one particular Korean family, the way they live, and how it all falls apart is insightful and, at times, both horrifying and fascinating. However, it is not so much a story, as it is an indictment on how Asian families fail to support each other when one of them suffers from mental illness. I have read in other reviews that this was not necessarily Han Kang’s intention and that she was thinking more about universal questions surrounding innocence, beauty and violence. However, the story presents a picture that shows clearly the failings of a particular culture and the fault lines that can occur in family units.

None of this means that the book cannot be enjoyable. In fact, the story is effective in evoking images that will stay with you long after you’ve read the last page. The characters are vivid, the extremes in behaviour haunting, and the three perspectives showing different facets of personalities and the choices they make are initially intriguing. All of this lends toward a piece of work that deserves the awards it has won.

The problem for me is that effective does not always equate to enjoyable.

Take Mr. Cheong, Yeong-hye’s husband, who lives an existence that is nothing short of plain. This is how he wants it. A life without troubles or exuberance. A life of staying in one’s lane and never wanting to experience anything (uplifting or otherwise) in another lane. He chose to marry Yeong-hye on the basis that he thought she would make a wife that would not cause trouble and would allow him to maintain his existence of ordinariness. So, you can imagine the upheaval that is caused to his life style when Yeong-hye stops eating and begins to think she is a tree. He has no sympathy for his wife’s plight (or I didn’t buy into any attempts of sympathy, if anything he wants to be pitied for his wife’s behaviour). He makes one feeble attempt at an intervention by inviting Yeong-hye’s family over, who then proceed to force Yeong-hye to eat, which leads to violent and destructive results. Yeong-hye is hospitalised and Mr. Cheong, now widely taken away from his own lane, decides to leave her and serves her with divorce papers. Real nice… not. I found him to be a despicable character with no redeeming values whatsoever.

Then we have Yeong-hye’s brother-in-law. He is a video artist who becomes obsessed with the mentally ill, Yeong-hye, and imagines creating an art video involving two people making love with their bodies covered in painted flowers. He convinces Yeong-hye to participate because she likes the idea of flowers being painted on her naked body (remember she thinks she’s a tree). The brother-in-law hires another artist who agrees to have his body painted in flowers for the video, but the artist leaves when he’s asked to have actual intercourse with Yeong-hye. This leads to the brother-in-law having flowers painted on himself and filming a sexually explicit video with Yeong-hye. It’s essentially rape of a mentally ill woman. Again, another character that has no redeeming values even though, from his perspective, he tries to convince you his actions are reasonable. Reality check, it’s not. Not even close.

This leads to In-hye, the sister, who discovers the video and calls the authorities to arrest her husband. In the process, Yeong-hye is placed in a mental hospital. In-hye is the only character of redeeming value. She is also the only family member that seeks to help Yeong-hye (none of the other family, not even the parents, visit her in hospital). In-hye is the suffering character, she is now a single mother, trying to take care of her son as well as her mentally ill sister. She experiences her own mental breakdown and the story ends with no resolution.

The no resolution ending is probably what you would expect from this type of story. Along with the first two parts told from the two male antagonists, I also struggled with the fact that at no time do we go deeper into Yeong-hye’s mind or view any events from her perspective. The mystery of her horrific dreams, the reasons she believes she is a tree, and her descent into mental illness are never told from her view. The mental illness is merely the trigger to how other characters unravel.

The Vegetarian is evocative, effective and elusive, but is it enjoyable? For me, no.

1.5 out of 5.

TL;DR – After a car accident causes the death of his parents, Alex returns home to New Zealand and embarks on a road trip with his twin sister, Amy, to seek reconciliation and ultimately redemption.

Summary

Alex and Amy’s parents are not exactly nurturing. Absorbed in their own careers, they often leave their children to fend for themselves, giving them a freedom that their friends are envious of but they view as empty and unloving. Alex hangs around for as long as he can stand; he has a passion for music and a good friend who keeps him company when his parents are not around. His twin sister, trying to be more positive, seizes her freedom to do what she wants and holds parties while their parents are away.

In the end, an incident occurs that has nothing to do with their parents, which drives Alex to pack his bags and move overseas to Dubai (as far away as possible from his home country, New Zealand). Three years later, he finds himself rushing home after receiving the news that his parents have died in a car crash. He’s in a daze, filled with regrets, haunting memories and attends a funeral that is mainly a blur. He can’t face returning home and having to deal with all the stuff left behind, so his sister convinces him to hop in the car and they go on a road trip along State Highway One, starting from the north of New Zealand going all the way down to the south.

Review

Sam Coley’s debut novel is a well-deserved winner of the 2017 Mitchell Prize for Emerging Writers. It’s a sweeping tale that showcases the beauty of New Zealand and the fragility of life through the strained connection between Alex and Amy and their estranged relationship with their parents. Coley captures the guilt and angst of Alex through every thought, speech and action he has with his sister and does so with words that make you feel like you’re in the car with them, watching them smoke, drink, argue over the music playlist, and the glimpses of need amongst all the anger and reckless driving.

The story moves between past and present as the puzzle pieces of Alex’s life comes together to burn deep in the reader’s mind. State Highway One was recommended to me because I enjoyed The Wife and Widow by Christian White. As a result, I confess I was keeping an eye out for a specific device that Coley uses in his story. When I identified it, the story seemed to drag a bit, and I felt a desire to jump to the end because I knew the reveal.

As with most creative works, especially stories, it is best to go in without any preconceived ideas. You’ll enjoy it all the more I promise you. Instead, I found the repeated desire of Alex to stop the road trip because his sister was driving him nuts and wanting to buy a ticket back to Dubai wears thin after about the halfway mark. Each time he contemplates this action, Amy reminds him that he promised to take her all the way south, to the end of State Highway One. The signs are there if you know where to look and once you do, you’ll know where it is all heading.

Still, it’s a poignant tale, if a little long-winded for me. A journey of self-discovery through all the stages of grief and self-destruction amongst the amazing scenery of New Zealand before finally reaching a destination that is so insignificant in time and place to anyone else, but means everything to Alex as he keeps his promise to his sister.

3 out of 5.

TL;DR – Tony Chu, government agent and resident Cibopath (i.e. he gets psychic impressions of whatever he eats), finds himself journeying to a strange, tropical island where there is a fruit that tastes like chicken.

Summary

Chew (Volume One) book review provides introduction and background to the world of Chew. Volume Two follows agent Tony Chu to the island of Yamapalu where he hunts down clues in relation to a fruit called gallsaberry that looks like a cross between a pineapple and an octopus and tastes exactly like chicken when cooked. In the process he crosses paths with a covert operative named Lin Sae Woo who is hunting down an international mass murderer; uncovers a gambling ring involving cockfighting and a rooster named Poyo; stumbles into a business turf war over chicken substitutes between a rich Texan named Ray Jack Montero who is looking to scientifically modify frogs to taste even more like chicken and the Yamapalu governor seeking to sell gallasberry to the world and put his island on the map; and saves his brother chef Chow Chu and journalist Amelia Mintz who get caught in the crossfire.

Review

So much goes on in this graphic novel, both from the story written by John Layman and the art drawn by Rob Guillory that readers will enjoy going over Chew more than once. It’s always a sign of a great graphic novel when I revisit its pages and take in more details that I missed on previous readings.

As with the first volume, multiple threads develop. Some get tied off, while others are slowly being interwoven. The underlying mysteries indicating that the scope spans further than the boundaries of Earth.

What further draws me into the world of Chew are the individuals that exhibit culinary powers beyond the senses of smell and taste.

There are the three Cibopaths, individuals that receive images of the origins of what they eat. The first is our by-the-book and main character, Tony Chu, who finds himself having to bite into all manner of unsavoury things.

Next is the man of rhetoric and preamble, Mason Savoy, who has become Tony’s enemy. Sadly, Savoy does not make an appearance in Volume Two.

And lastly, the mysterious Serbian who pretends to be a vampire but is really a serial killer and targets other individuals that have culinary powers to try and absorb them through cannibalism.

Next there are Saboscrivners, individuals who can write down what they eat with such realism that whoever reads their words can taste the food also. Love interest, Amelia Mintz, is a Saboscrivner and is thrown into harm’s way in Volume Two much to Tony’s distress.

And then there’s Cibolocutors who can communicate written works (such as Shakespeare) and their own speech through food. The Great Fantanyeros is a Cibolocutor who becomes a target of the Vampire.

After reading Volume Two, I cannot help think that the reasons these people exist is tied to the mystery behind the ‘avian flu’ that wiped out millions of people and resulted in the global poultry prohibition. I’m eager to find out in future volumes if this is true.

Do yourself a favour, and take a bite into this fabulous graphic novel creation. I’m rating this half a point lower than Volume One only because my favourite character, Mason Savoy, is absent. He’s a terrific antagonist and was sorely missed. However, I’ve seen the cover for Volume Three and it’s clear that Savoy comes back!

4 out of 5.

TL;DR – it is often said that behind every great man there is a great woman… and then there’s Abraham Lincoln.

Summary

A biography of Abraham Lincoln written by Dale Carnegie, who pulls back the curtains on a man who experienced almost unending darkness to achieve change during a time when blood, sweat and tears soaked American soil.

Review

Clementine Churchill was married to Winston Churchill for 56 years. Coretta Scott King was married to Martin Luther King Jr for 15 years before her husband’s assassination in 1968. Both women created lives that were filled with numerous accomplishments while being steadfast, supportive wives to their husbands. They are a couple of examples that fit the “behind every great man there is a great woman”.

Then came Mary Todd Lincoln who broke the mold. At least, that is how Carnegie portrays her and what you will walk away with if you read this biography.

I don’t normally read non-fiction, but when a friend of mine recommended me Lincoln the Unknown, I thought I would give it a go. While there have been many books written about arguably the greatest president in American history, I discovered that Carnegie’s biography of the man captures far more than Lincoln’s political accomplishments and chronicles a life that was profound with suffering and an almost unheard of strength of will to strive for what he believed in.

Though debated by historians, Carnegie states in no uncertain terms that Abraham’s first and true love was Ann Rutledge, who died of typhoid at the age of 22. The many events that follow leading up to his marriage to Mary Todd Lincoln will leave you gobsmacked.

By all indications, she was a manipulative, power-hungry, jealous, angry, and mentally unstable woman who made Abraham’s life a living hell. Carnegie does not mince his words and makes it clear in no uncertain terms that she was considered a devil woman with many of Abraham’s closest friends urging him not to marry her. The fact that he did through Todd’s manipulation and his own honour as a man demonstrates he operated in a time that no longer exists today.

How Abraham Lincoln went on to achieve everything he did is beyond me. From his first inaugural address to the Emancipation Proclamation to the Gettysburg Address and reunifying a nation torn by civil war, Lincoln lived a life that any other person would have looked at and said, “Yeah, that’s not for me.” Imagine the stress, anxiety, pressure, worry and insomnia he experienced as a result of being president during a civil war with an economy going down the tube and then throw in a marriage that left nothing but heartache and pain.

One could argue whether Lincoln would have achieved such immortal greatness if he was happily married. That being driven out of his home by a vindictive, jealous wife forced him to focus on his life’s work rather than the idea of life’s love.

We will never know.

4 out of 5.

TL;DR – In a world where disease and death has been mostly conquered, over population becomes an issue. Enter the Scythedom, an organisation that is responsible for the selection of those chosen to be gleaned (killed) in order to maintain a population level that can be sustained. They provide a necessary service… or is it really necessary?

Summary

Humanity has created an artificial intelligence known as the Thunderhead. It has evolved to the point where it creates a near-Utopian society. Everyone has a link to the Thunderhead, a relationship that allows the AI to serve and protect them from sickness, disease, violence and even self harm. People now have the ability to live forever. This leads to the problem of over population.

The Scythedom came into being as a means to cull numbers, and it was decided that this could only be performed by humans. It also is the only organisation that the Thunderhead has no jurisdiction over. Along with a licence to kill, scythes are also given a ring that allows them to grant immunity for a period to the family members of those that they glean/kill; this immunity means that those family members cannot be gleaned themselves for a year.

With this as the backdrop, the story follows Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch, two teenagers that are chosen by Scythe Faraday to be his apprentices. Both grab his attention for demonstrating a level of moral fiber that he believes is a requirement to become a scythe. He explains to them that the Scythedom meet three times a year at a great assembly known as conclave to discuss the business of gleaning and whether more scythes are needed. He has been given one ring to take on an apprentice. He decides to take on two and whoever succeeds in being anointed a scythe, the other will return back to their normal life.

But this gets turned on its head when Scythe Goddard (a rival scythe whose methods of gleaning, Faraday disagrees with) manipulates vernal conclave and obtains a ruling that whoever of Faraday’s apprentices gets ordained as a scythe, he or she must then glean the other apprentice. Thus sets the stage for book 1 of the Arch of a Scythe series.

Review

Neal Shusterman has written an astounding young adult novel that is both fascinating and gripping. A world where living forever creates a whole different set of problems (not just overpopulation but stagnation in individuals living a life of meaning and purpose) and a system is established through the introduction of scythes to stem the tide of population growth, Shusterman achieves enough dystopian realism that you believe that if such a world existed, the world of Scythe would be it.

Both Citra and Rowan are immensely likeable, their personalities and motives for accepting their apprenticeship distinct. Scythe Faraday is the perfect foil for both of them until events tear the apprentices away from their master. This inciting incident leads to them going down very different paths before meeting up again at winter conclave where it will be decided who will be ordained the next scythe and in turn also end the life of the other.

I enjoyed the ending of book 1, and it sets the stage for a larger scale story in book 2. You sense there is far more to be told than the two lives of Citra and Rowan. Hints toward a much more complex tale between Scythedom and the Thunderhead. Yes, the Thunderhead intrigued me to no end. And that is what you want in a trilogy. For each book to have a satisfactory end yet tying together a bigger picture. Remarkable effort.

4.5 out of 5.

TL;DR – a dystopian world where there is a prohibition on poultry and individuals exhibit powers that revolve around tasting food. There’s conspiracy, intrigue and cannibalism… all you need in this award-winning graphic novel.

Summary

Tony Chu is a detective and Cibopathic. He can bite a piece of fruit and get psychic impressions of where the fruit was grown, what pesticides were used, and when it was harvested. Or he can take a bite out of a steak and get a much more violent psychic impression as to how the beef came to be served on his plate… the only food that does not trigger this ability are beets.

Together with his partner, John Colby, they work for the Philly P.D. busting illegal poultry distribution. Yes, you read correctly, it is illegal to sell, buy, or eat poultry meats. Why? Because years ago an ‘avian flu’ pandemic struck the world and wiped out millions of people. Subsequently, the governments outlawed the consumption of birds. This has led to conspiracy theories, protests, and plenty of underground racketeering in the area of poultry.

Volume one introduces us to this strange world where Tony’s unique ability allows him to solve many acts of culinary violence. Not that his boss treats him in any way other than a freak. Things take a more bizarre turn when he is recruited by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), the most powerful law enforcement agency on the planet, and is thrown into a series of cases that hint to a far greater conspiracy than he could imagine.

Review

John Layman and Rob Guillory have created a story that is fascinating and gross in equal measure. This is a good thing for it provides a distinct feel, flavour and theme to the world of Chew. The story grabs you like a culinary delight filled with all manner of surprises, not all of them pleasant, but propelling you along to the next course with a curiosity that you can’t resist. The characters are all colorful and distinct, and artist Guillory has a style that is incredibly appealing. A combination of influences from other famous artists such as Steve Ditko, Dave Crosland, Rumiko Takahashi and Chuck Jones.

We’re introduced to Tony and John on a stakeout to bust an underground restaurant that serves chicken dishes. What they encounter is a sous-chef serial killer that has been kidnapping people and eating them (why eat chicken when you can eat human?)

Things quickly turn for the worse as they bust into the kitchen only for John to get a cleaver to the head. Tony captures the serial killer but not before he commits suicide by slitting his own throat (thinking he’ll take all his cannibalistic secrets to the grave). Tony, seeking to bring closure to the families of the murdered girls, proceeds to take bites out out of the killer to obtain the memories of the atrocities that have been committed. Tony closes all thirteen murder cases and captures the eye of Mason Savoy who recruits him to the special crimes unit of the FDA. And that’s all in chapter one…

Mason Savoy is a particularly fabulous character, a giant of a man, who talks with eloquence and a joy for rhetoric. He also happens to be a Cibopath and together they proceed to investigate a series of events including:

• a missing health inspector
• the Yakuza
• a food critic named Amelia Mintz (who is a Saboscrivner; every dish she writes about is so real that people who read her words can taste the dish)
• E.G.G (a terrorist organisation that believes the government has lied to the public about the avian flu)
• and a bunch of astronomers working in a lab at the arctic circle.

There’s much to absorb in the first volume of this magnificent series. Every panel should be examined carefully as it provides hints as to what is to come. Chew will have you chomping at the bit for the future volumes. Enjoy the feast.

4.5 out of 5.

TL;DR – Crime mystery novel that has been lauded for its realism in depicting a town devastated by tragedy and drought. The story is solid but I struggled to finish it (see full review below for reasons). In the end a passable read.

Summary

On a blistering, hot morning in Riversend, much-respected priest, Byron Swift, is getting ready for Sunday service. Wearing his casual clothes, he greets early arrivals and engages in friendly small talk. When Craig Landers, owner of Riversend’s convenience store, arrives with some of his mates from out of town, Byron shakes his hand, smiles, and they talk for a few minutes. When they finish Byron excuses himself and heads into the church to prepare for service. A few minutes later, the priest re-emerges wearing his robes, a crucifix reflects the sunlight and in his hands he holds a high powered rifle with a scope and proceeds to fire calmly and methodically on his parishioners. Five people are killed before the local constable arrives on the scene and shoots Byron dead.

Twelves months later, Martin Scarsden, a journalist, visits the drought-stricken town of Riversend to do a story on the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting. The story is only meant to focus on how the community is recovering, but it becomes evident that it has never recovered because the full truth is still yet to be told.

Review

The debut novel by Chris Hammer has a lot going for it, even if readers will see striking similarities with The Dry by Jane Harper. He captures outback Australia and a small country town dying from drought in a manner that will make your throat feel parched. A former journalist himself, Hammer is able to throw the reader into his main character, Martin Scarsden, and capture what it is like to be a journo and the methodical mind that is required for the profession. Scarsden also has his own mental and emotional issues, and this allows for a layered character that readers should find intriguing.

There is also care in creating a believable setting. A lovely map of this fictional town is provided at the beginning of the book and its description as Scarsden explores his surroundings comes to life off the pages. Outside of town, the scrublands is a place that is desolate and vast and will make you feel like it can swallow you whole without anyone ever noticing. When a bushfire comes screaming through the scrublands, Hammer describes the series of events as the townspeople rush to stop the devastation with such wonderful detail that you’ll be wanting to check the smoke alarms in your own home.

The plot is also intricate and should keep you guessing until the end. The mystery of why Byron Swift goes on his violent rampage and the many secrets each of the townsfolk are hiding allows the story to continue ticking over and suitably the pages as well. The many sub-plots almost seek to undo the ending, but Hammer is able to tie everything together in a way that is believable if fantastic in some areas.

All the above are strong reasons why Scrublands has done so well and Hammer awarded the 2019 John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger by the UK Crime Writers’ Assocation.

Where I feel it came undone was in how Hammer describes his female characters. His depiction of male characters is strong. Scarsden, Swift, Robbie Haus-Jones (the constable), Codger Harris and Harley Snouch are portrayed with depth. But the female characters didn’t grab me at all. The main female character, Mandalay Blonde (the name itself not doing me any favours) is portrayed as having “Hollywood” good looks. She has some level of complexity in that she’s a single mother and her own mum was allegedly raped. Unfortunately, she’s a “damsel-in-distress” type character and every time Scarsden sees her he’s amazed at how beautiful she is. In fact, in one paragraph of the book, Hammer describes Mandalay from the perspective of Scarsden as beautiful twice. He doesn’t even bother using a different adjective.

And, of course, Scarsden ends up sleeping with her. This was enough to take me out of the story on numerous occasions. Blonde plays a pivotal role in the story but she’s portrayed as helpless, in need of saving, and I found it annoying how Scarsden interacts with her. Her depth felt artificial as much as the description of how she looks.

If you can overlook how Hammer writes his female cast (to be honest, there aren’t many and that’s probably because he’s just not good at it) then the rest of the story can carry you through.

2.5 out of 5.

TL;DR – two magicians, who can conjure actual magic, compete against each other using their proteges.

Summary

Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair are selected by two rival magicians to compete in a deadly contest where the night circus is the stage. The two proteges conjure ever more intricate and complex spells in the night circus without understanding the rules of the contest or why the contest exists. Through each encounter, both in the real and magical world, Celia and Marco begin to connect on a level much deeper than mere competitors. And it is only revealed much later by their cold-hearted, immutable magician masters that the only way the contest will end is if one of them dies.

Review

Erin Morgenstern’s tale of wonder and woe is sumptuously filled with evocative passages that seek to tantalise all the reader’s senses – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. It’s an ambitious undertaking but she achieves it through her incredible imagination of the night circus; a magical venue that opens only between sunset and sunrise and transports itself around the world in a blink of an eye.

A key pre-requisite to the reader is not to ask why. If you want to understand why the contest exists between powerful magicians – Prospero the Enchanter and Mr. A. H. (aka ‘the man in the gray suit’) – then you will be sorely disappointed. If you ask, why do these two compete through proxy instead of duking it out themselves? You won’t get an answer.

Prospero and A.H. may have once been of this world, but from what I can gather they have reached a level of god-like power where they now use us as pawns in a chess game. They are aloof, stoic and lack empathy toward any other human being. This is demonstrated when Prospero is willing to use his own child as one of the contestants in their deadly game. Why? Don’t ask. I imagine the pair as two bored all-mighty beings who decided to use mortals in a game of life or death just for kicks.

Then there’s this little nugget that may drive readers to put this book in the bin or at least, back on the shelf:

“I’m not certain I understand the rules,” Marco says.

“You don’t need to understand the rules. You need to follow them. As I said, your work has been sufficient.”

Mr. A. H’s response is nothing short of him viewing Marco as a bug that needs to know how insignificant it is. The master magicians are perfect foils for making the reader care about Celia and Marco. And when the story focuses in on the young pair, the world opens to so much more.

What follows is an adventure that is spell-binding. A feast for fantasy readers. The supporting cast are integral in making the night circus come alive with more than the astounding magical feats of Celia and Marco.

Chandresh Lefevre (a theatre producer), Tsukiko (a contortionist), Friedrick Thiessen (a clock maker), Widget and Poppet (two children born on opening night of the night circus), Bailey Clarke (a young boy obsessed with the circus) and Isobel Martin (a clairvoyant and fortune-teller) are but some of the other characters and all have an important role in the the fate of the night circus and Celia and Marco’s lives.

I especially enjoyed Isobel Martin. Prior to meeting Celia, Marco and Isobel meet and fall in love. She is a tragic figure in the story because once Marco meets Celia he starts drifting away from her. But she plays a pivotal role in the circus. Her emotional conflict drew me in completely to the love triangle that confronts her, and actions that she takes are painful and genuine.

A welcome read that I have no hesitation in recommending to those who enjoy the fantasy genre.

Step right up, step right up, come one, come all and enter the night circus.

4.5 out of 5.