Pilgrim by Terrence Atwood

24 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Science Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: 5th March 2015Goodreads badge
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 146
Format: ebook
Genre: Science Fiction
★   ★  – 2 Stars

An exploratory probe is launched into space on a mission to investigate the possibility of extraterrestrial life. However, a cabal of military forces have covertly converted the probe into a weapon of mass destruction – arming it with a nuclear payload. 

When the launch of the craft goes awry, the probe crashes back on Earth and begins carrying out its mission – eradicating all life. It’s up to Catherine Tennison, an intrepid NASA scientist, and Army Colonel Walt Macken to capture and disarm the probe before it brings about Armageddon. 

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

This is quite a short novel, and one that captures a single event and moment in time, focusing on the action and outcome rather than offer too much background detail and depth of characters and environment. It is also written in present tense which took a while to adjust to. Whether the approach was to make it feel more in the moment I’m not sure, but while I got used to it, it never felt right.

The narrative is told and presented in snippets and in paragraphs rather than a flowing narration. It jumps from scene to scene quickly, a bit like a movie cutting from one place to another, without connection sentence or any clear indication where it will go. This wasn’t a real problem overall but it did feel a bit like we were jumping all over the place with random moments put together rather than a steady story.

From a promising beginning that seemed as if it would develop and grow, it falters soon after. It remains flat even when there is danger and peril to characters, never quite creating the excitement of tension needed. The story itself is a bit hard to believe as well, even for science fiction, but if you suspend your belief and take the story as is the events aren’t the main concern.

The main issues I found were the lack of depth in the characters and surprisingly the lack of concern I had for them when this probe was hunting them all down. I couldn’t connect with them, and honestly did not care what happened to them. This was my feeling for most of the novel. I was not interested in the outcome and I found myself picking apart things than getting into the story.

Even aside from these character issues, the story needs further editing. There are jarring dialogue and bad grammar throughout, and punctuation needs improving. The sentences don’t quite flow and the language and description is a bit lacking.

But there were some good bits. I did like how Atwood has worked in the probe movements and actions, fitting them pertinently in between other scenes. Stepping back you can see what Atwood has tried to achieve, a quick action/Armageddon story of a wayward machine wiping out humanity, but it just hasn’t worked. The words are there, and scenes in the right places, but the feeling or the anticipation isn’t, and when you don’t care about the characters you can’t worry for them when they’re killed.

Overall the concept was ok but the execution was not that great or enjoyable to read. With some editing it may improve but as it is now, I’m glad it was as short as it was because it couldn’t have kept me interested for much longer.

You can purchase Pilgrim via the following

Amazon

Everflame by Dylan Lee Peters

15 Jun 2015 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Fantasy Tags: , , ,

Published: 29th July 2012Goodreads badge
Publisher: Self-published
Pages: 260
Format: Ebook
Genre: Fantasy
★   ★  – 2.5 Stars

Long ago, when the earth was young. . . Four ancient beings created man to be the bastion of the earth and its creatures. But when The Great Tyrant came and chased The Ancients away, the world was transformed into a place of fear and isolation. Over time humans lost the connection they had with a world they had been created to protect. Now, deep in the forests that surround Gray Mountain, two bears find a small child that is abandoned and left for dead. They name him Evercloud, and raise him as a member of their kingdom. Teaching him the secrets of the elders, they tell him of the ancient beings that created man and the rumors of their return. Evercloud must now go on a quest to return The Ancients to power. However, in another corner of the land, a man known only as The Messenger travels the land under a white hood, on a mission to prevent the return of The Ancients. We follow the paths each of these men take until their stories collide in an epic battle of good versus evil.

Note: I was provided with a copy of this book from the author for review.

The story begins with an opening paragraph that grabs your attention about a bear who is a king, raising a human child as his son. From there it becomes a story about ancient legends, fantasy, mysticism and faith, and trying to bring peace between the bears and the human world.

The plot is not confusing so much as complicated, with many different elements quite substantially introduced early on. Back stories and pieces of information are given with long and detailed side stories before the main narrative kicks off, and throughout there are clear and obvious moments of exposition that are more tell than show.

These are not boring exactly, but they are long and excessive, and often added questions than answered them, especially concerning the bear society and the bear themselves. A lot of information is given about the Kingdom but key elements like how bears can both act like bears but also have a human-like society with commerce, construction, writing etc is left unexplained.

Characters are slightly flat, but they have enough history and depth as the story needs them to have, and some have much more than others. And even though you can grasp a bit of their personality based on interaction and dialogue, I never really connected with them, or cared much about them.

The bears have raised Evercloud well; he is smart, determined, doesn’t seem to have any Tarzan-like issues about fitting in with a society of bears. There isn’t even much of a “discovering my own species” part of the story. Evercloud manages quite fine when he meets humans for the first time which seemed strange, and while astonished at first, he adjusts quickly, not even perplexed by the women, just the usual cliché infatuation with a pretty girl. Understandably, men look like variations of himself, but having been raised by bears who have no real differences, he has no apparent issue or confusion with the other sex.

There is a bit of violence, human and animal alike, which when it first appears comes as a blunt shock having read through so many chapters of pleasantries and life with the bears. To be thrust into another side story with sudden and brutal violence is a shock, and in a way it does move the story on, but the sudden switch was a surprise, and one that immediately changes the age range possibilities. The violence continues sporadically through the remainder of the novel, not as detailed or brutal as before, but there all the same.

There are also a lot of coincidences that help move the story along, whether cliché or deus ex machina, which help out Evercloud and the others. But by the time they come along you just expect it, that’s the kind of story it is, everything goes along well with one a few bumps and troubles on the way that instantly have a solution.

It wasn’t all mediocre, the information was interesting, Peters has good timing in revealing new snippets and twists, even small ones, and the structure was good, just a bit heavy with the exposition. A good idea poorly executed. There is a cliff hanger of sorts, Peters finishes the novel nicely in that it adds a new element of surprise and revelations, and also concludes the current story before tempting your interest to get into the second.

Overall the story is likeable and the idea is sound, but there are a fair few things that stand out as you read that make it hard to immerse yourself fully. The problems lay in the construction and execution with grammatical issues, characters you can’t really connect with or care much about, and a story that is curious at best, but not really pulling you through the pages with interest. If you ignore the holes, the few implausible and far-fetched aspects, and the writing doesn’t bother you, it is a nice little fantasy.

You can purchase Everflame via the following

Kindle
Nook
iBooks
Paperback
Hardcover

Legacy Lost (#0.5)

10 May 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, Of Poseidon, Young Adult Tags: , , , ,

Published: 22nd May 2012
Goodreads badgePublisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Pages: 32
Format: Ebook
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
★   ★  – 2 Stars

Legacy Lost is a prequel story to Anna Banks’ debut novel, Of Poseidon.
He is a mer-prince, she is the mermaid princess that his family orders him to marry so that their kingdoms unite. Grom dreads this arrangement, until he meets Nalia — both beautiful and smart, she’s everything he ever wanted. But just when their connection grows deeper, tragedy strikes.

I thought since I mentioned it we need to add in the review. It is short, mainly because the prequel was short, but there isn’t much I want to say about it, partly for spoilers, and partly because it was annoying. Oh my was it annoying. I don’t think my eyes have rolled that much in a story until I read this story. Like most prequels, this is one that really should be read before the main first book because it makes you read it very differently when you know the future, even if you miss out on a lot of information given in the book. It is supposed to be an extension on the backstory of events mentioned in Of Poseidon.

The main players are Grom, who we see in Of Poseidon, and his intended mate Nalia. This is a story of the past so Grom is younger than in the book, and the story revolves around the events leading to the union of the pair. By the end of this story it does become something pretty reasonable, but for the most part it was very weak. Grom is a complainer for the first part of the story and after awhile it gets a bit annoying, but then he changes it to being this forward, clichéd and failing to be romantic guy and it makes you wish he was complaining again. There is a scene between Nalia and Grom reuniting after a period of time and it is eye rolling at best. It is stilted and corny and there is a line in there that reminded me of Princess Bride – you know the one, that one, but I think that was my mind trying to think of anything except the story.

Grom’s intentions for his actions are clumsily revealed as the story progresses and they are quite petty with rather childish reasoning behind them, all as consequence for a prophecy and agreement, something that was always known so it was no surprise to anyone. As a character Grom is quite unappealing, in Of Poseidon he seems stronger and tolerable. I know that is set in the future where he would be grown but it is hard coming from the book to this short story prequel and accepting he is the same person. My mind also wandered and certain bits reminded me a lot of Disney’s Little Mermaid which was interesting. As its own story it was poor, and even as a prequel I think it was just ok, but something I think, since this was done so badly, the storyline could have been introduced into the second book in a better way. Perhaps if it was a bit longer Banks could have made it flow a bit better and make the interactions more convincing.

You can purchase Legacy Lost via the following

Amazon

Amazon Aust

Or you can read it here.

Hating Alison Ashley by Robin Klein

20 Mar 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, General, Junior Fiction Tags: , , ,

Published: October 1st 1985
Goodreads badgePublisher: Puffin Books
Pages: 192
Format: Book
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★  – 2 Stars

‘Utter loathing and hatred ‘ I said. ‘I wouldn’t even be on the same bus as you… If I could have caught a virus in time.’ Erica Yurken knew she was destined for great things. Never in any doubt about her own genius she felt superior to everyone at notorious Barringa East… that is until Alison Ashley turned up.

Hating Alison Ashley is about a new girl arriving at school and Erica Yurkan instantly hating her because she looks out of place and a better class of person. That’s it. So we sit through Erica assuming the worst, convinced Alison is out to get her and finding more things to hate no matter how small and shallow.

The first thought when I started reading this was that we finally got a story from someone other than the middle class. Granted it was less eloquent in my mind but that isn’t important. This book was so surprising and a very odd read. It was interesting to see Erica’s family and social point of view but by golly she was an annoying child. You forget she’s only supposed to be 12 years old or something if she’s only in year six. And the stories she comes up with were so unrealistic they just became annoying as every time she opened her mouth it was a lie. And not even a decent one.

There is a great line in this book that was put in there at just the right moment when my patience of putting up with Erica was getting thin. It is a great observation – “Erica Yurkan you have an exaggerated sense of your own importance”. This is so true and for someone coming from her family she is the most judgmental and snobbish person.

Even if you try and justify it, because of her family life etc etc she acts out etc etc. But she doesn’t even act out properly. What she does is she thinks she is superior to everyone when she isn’t, she hates those different than her and looks down on those she thinks are stupid and less deserving, she isn’t shy about openly criticising everyone and she can’t accept any one else might be having their own issues. She really is a horrible person, but again, we can justify it and say well look at what she comes from and how she is hiding up her shame, but that is no excuse.

By the end there is hope for Erica as she starts to realise that she isn’t fooling anyone, and that perhaps her life isn’t so bad after all. But you do have to put up with a lot to get her to that point. Again she is only supposed to be 12 years old so it is just weird most of the time. I guess it is supposed to shows you can’t judge anyone cause you don’t know their life but I think this took it too far. Erica’s family wasn’t what shocked me the most, that I could easily picture, it was this 12 year old hating someone so much and letting it consume her life just because she was ashamed or jealous or some stupid reason like that. Luckily she attempted some form of redemption in the end because Erica is a lot of personality to deal with in one book.

This was turned into a movie starring singer Delta Goodrem, they had changed the story a bit as per usual, but some of the plot was close to the book. I wasn’t a fan of the movie myself but that may just be me, so if you liked this book you may enjoy watching the movie.

The End (#13) by Lemony Snicket

28 Feb 2013 Leave a comment

by Amy in 2 Stars, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Junior Fiction Tags: , , , ,

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Published: 13 October 2006
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 337
Format: Hardback
Genre: Junior Fiction
★   ★  – 2 Stars

Dear Reader,

You are presumably looking at the back of this book, or the end of The End. The end of The End is the best place to begin The End, because if you read The End from the beginning of the beginning of The End to the end of the end of The End, you will arrive at the end of the end of your rope.

 This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous twelve volumes, you probably can’t stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents.

 It has been my solemn occupation to complete the history of the Baudelaire orphans, and at last I am finished. You likely have some other occupation, so if I were you I would drop this book at once, so The End does not finish you.

With all due respect,

 Lemony Snicket

Oh Mr Snicket, you’ve done a C.S Lewis on me. How could you! As I finish this final book dubbed “The End” I give you a two. This is a very generous two mind you. You had been building me up for so long, promised me excitement and intrigue, you were making up for the dull start and then…then as book twelve ended you added confusion. Then as Book 13 began you kept me confused, and you took me to a place that made no sense and seemed out of place after all we’d been through. Let’s just quote myself from two book reviews ago shall we? “The ending is certainly being set up to be very exciting and after the hints, clues, and build up Snicket has done, then it should not be a let down.” Oh how wrong I was.

You were grasping at things to tie up your loose ends and some worked, some didn’t. You gave a lot of credit to the readers to piece things together, you seemed to have ignored everything mentioned in the past books aside from names and recapping. Your tangents filled up oh so many unneeded pages, had you run out of story? Had the plot failed you? Why had so much more unnecessariness been added when this was supposed to be the book that made us sit in bed, in our chairs, at the table with a wiggle and a squirm as we saw the pieces come together magnificently and we all went ‘it’s all so clear!’ You hinted, you offered a small amount but nothing like what was expected.

There was a moment, as we refer again back to the dear Mr Lewis who crushed us after being faithful (oh the irony!) for so long, I felt you became a little religious more than once, not as bleeding obvious as Mr Lewis, but golly, there was symbolism and messages by the pageful. And if this was not intended, then what the heck was all that about. I liked these past 12 books, I put up with your failings and odd narrative and writing style and this is how you repay us? I hope there was some religious thing I missed completely otherwise this made no sense whatsoever and it failed magnificently as a conclusion to this great story you has been creating.

I won’t say I liked it and I did not hate it. You balance precariously between the two and if it wasn’t for a few minor things you’d be joining Mr Lewis in his final failings as well. The things you made us sit through these past 12 books as you brushed over them – the murder, the arson, the villainy – all in fun and seen light heartedly. I take nothing of your ‘Unfortunate Events’ philosophy this time and won’t accept it. You changed tones so much in this final book it became depressing, annoying and a little bit mean (we are of course just gonna ignore the amount of unbelievableness in there towards the end no matter how touching it was supposed to be. I’ve been pretty accepting with you before but this was something else).

Your characters were as peculiar as the previous books but when what we knew, what people we knew, what we had accepted and expected changed so much, and in such a strange and confusing way, and seemingly without reason, it just felt wrong. After what these kids have been through and seen and that’s how we’re supposed to believe it went down. I know you tried to imply they changed, but wow. Ambiguity does not work well as a final book Mr Snicket, it’s even worse that you tried to make it concluding. A VERY generous two.

Of course if you wish to continue reading more of Snicket’s books Jess from Bookish informed me that the elusive Snicket has a new book out called Who Could That Be At This Hour? I do remember hearing of this when it was coming out, it is now a New York bestseller it seems. Bookish have posted an excerpt of an interview with him on their site here. I have to say though that like Lewis, Snicket’s last book has made it very hard for me to want to read another of his books for awhile, but please feel free to expand from this series yourselves. I however will need a long time to find the desire to read his work again. I’m sorry Mr Snicket, you elusive strange man, but that is how I feel.

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