Top Five Reads of 2009

I was hoping that I would have a greater selection to choose from this year. I was on target for 50 books read this year, but then I got a new job and 50 became 35. On the bright side that is 6 more books to choose from than last year.

Without further Ado...

#5 Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

While I do not think that this book is better than his First Law trilogy, 'Best Served Cold' is still an entertaining read. I had very high expectations of this book when it came out and I think that had affected my overall enjoyment of this book which is a shame. The advantage of 'Best Served Cold' is the fact that it is a stand alone book.

The book follows a woman called Monza Murcatto, a once loved and trusted general. However, her paranoid boss betrays her. He sets up a trap, kills her brother, stabs and throws her off a mountain. Yet she survived. While she is recovering from her grievous wounds she has had plenty of time to plan her revenge on the seven men who were involved in her betrayal. Once recovered, she gathers a motley crew: A master poisoner and his apprentice, a Northman (barbarian), an ex-general of the Thousand Swords (mercenaries), an ex-convict and an ex-inquisitor (government lackey). How will she exact revenge? Seven against the resources of a whole nation!

"You know your in for a comedy filled killing spree when Abercrombie is writing" - Sleeping With Books

#4 The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathon Stroud

I have read more young adult (YA) books this year than I have ever had, and time after time I am surprised at how much I enjoy them. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riodian, Candle Man by Glenn Dakin, The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin are just some amazing YA books I have read. However I felt that Stroud's Book 1 of the Bartimaeus Trilogy topped them all. It was funny, clever, fast paced and had that page turner quality you want from a book.

The book follows a young magicians apprentice called Nathaniel, who in his impatience summons a powerful 5000 year old Djinni, Bartimaeus. He charges Bartimaeus to steal the Amulet of Samarkand off a powerful Magician and soon things go terribly wrong for Nathaniel and his Djinni. One rule and really the only rule of being a magician is to never let someone know your 'true name' as your true name grants power over you. Well Nathaniel has slipped up.

Definitely a must read YA book. The chapters with Bartimaeus are written in the first person, while chapters with Nathaniel are written in the third person. This has also made reading a little more interesting because of the different perspectives.

"So refreshing to see a YA book that is different from the rest. Funny, Distinctive and a great read" - Sleeping With Books

#3 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick

I remember watching this film when I was 18...and hated it. If you don't know the film...well that is because the film was re-titled as Blade Runner. Yes, I know that the film was great blah blah, but I was 18 ok! I liked the explosions of the 90's and Blade Runner didn't have any!

So 9 years later I read the book and you know what? It made my top 5 reads of 2009.

It is the year 2019 and human replicants (clones) with artificial intelligence are a possibility. However, like pets, they need to be registered and owned by someone but there replicants who seek freedom and escape. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter whose job is to hunt down these renegades and retire them. Although the replicants have A.I. they lack one very human trait, the ability to be empathetic. This is the key to finding out replicants and real humans.

"'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' is not a simple science-fiction book, Phillip K. Dick delves much deeper, philosophically and psychologically" - Sleeping With Books

#2 Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin

While waiting for Martin to actually finish the 5th book of the Song of Ice and Fire series, I began reading more of this other works. Fevre Dream instantly hooked me in and I finished it within several days. The setting, the character depth and the storyline just draw you in. You can really start to appreciate Martin as an absolute genius and that he is not just a one series wonder.

Abner Marsh's dream of racing the Eclipse, the fastest Steamboat on the Mississippi River is destroyed when a storm sinks all but one of his ships. It wasn't long that a stranger named Joshua York meets him in St. Louis and offers him money for half his company. Marsh is an honest man, as honest as he is fat and ugly and refuses to cheat York out of his money. But when York offers to build Marsh a boat fast enough to compete with the Eclipse, Marsh is hooked. The Fevre Dream is built and Marsh could not be happier. However, when Joshua York refuses to come out during the day and makes unscheduled stops that takes up valuable delivering time, Marsh's crew are muttering among themselves and Marsh has questions of his own.

"Interview with a Vampire meets Buffy: The Vampire Slayer" - Sleeping With Books

#1 Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

I read this book in January and it was such a hard book to top and as this shows, nothing did this year. Mistborn is the first book of the trilogy with the same name. The subsequent books being 'The Well of Ascension' and 'The Hero of Ages'. The magic systems used in this world were so unique to me and I liked it very much. Sanderson has a lovely way of introducing characters and making you like them. From this book, one of my favourite ever characters in Sci-Fi or Fantasy was created.

The Lord Ruler has lived for a 1000 years and his empire is split into two factions. Those of nobility, are physically, mentally and financially superior to the Skaa and are a part of the Lord Ruler's upper class. The nobility get to have magnificent balls, trade, plot and generally be happy about their lives. The other faction, the Skaa are a slave race not too different from humans (the nobility) and are considered inferior in every way and are there to be used and abused by the nobility.

During these many years of rule. People have revolted against the Lord Ruler. People have tried to kill him, all of them have failed, but it isn't for a lack of trying. How do you kill a man...no a God, when beheading him is only a minor annoyance?

Kelsier is a Mistborn. A man with special talents, he can manipulate people's emotions, control metal with a thought and gain superhuman strength when called for. He is wants to overthrow the Lord Ruler, but being Mistborn isn't enough, because he is not unique.

I really can't give this book enough justice. It was such a great read and I am looking forward to the day that I reread this series. Brandon Sanderson is also the person the Jordan family selected to ghost write the last three books of 'The Wheel of Time' by Robert Jordan.

"Mistborn is character driven and has amazing plots. Sanderson has captured everything great about fantasy and put it into 3 very enjoyable books" - Sleeping With Books

Review: Candle Man

Three is the magic number. That is how many rooms Theo Saint has ever seen. Three is how many people he knows in his life. Three and Zero and are the amount of minutes he is allowed outside of his designated area per year. Theo has a deadly disease. He wears gloves constantly and is monitored day and night. He has to get treatment in the ‘Mercy Tube’ or the disease gets worse, but one day, someone kidnaps Theo!

I’ve been reading quite a few children/YA books lately and I think I’ve found a recurring theme. A good children/YA fantasy book contains the following: a young boy or girl, they have powers, it is set in a relatively modern world, it is fast paced and it has strange creatures. Candle Man by Glenn Dakin contains all of the above.

A couple of girls in my class said that the book was very good so I put it at the top of my TBR pile and was I in for a great treat. Theo for a boy who has been sheltered from the outside world for all of his life was never dull, never self loathing but took everything in his stride and everything was a great interest to him. This is a testament to Dakin himself. He wrote the story with a few subplots but never did they get in the way of the major story and in the end he tied it all up perfectly.

What I also liked about the story were the creatures that gave the book a fantasy feel to it. Gone are the usual dwarves, orcs and elves; they are replaced with smoglodytes, extinct creatures and the forgotten gargoyles (with a twist).

I can’t wait to see how much attention this book will get because it is right up there in terms of quality with books like Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.

Review: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief

A young school boy finds out that he is half god but being half god means you have enemies. What has Percy done to deserve enemies? Who are the enemies? And what is the purpose of being half god?

Rick Riordan does a very good job of intergrating the Greek gods into an urban setting. It reminded me very much of Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' but less mystery and more action. The Greek gods play a very important role in the story but the focus is really on Percy and the other half-bloods in the book. The storyline follows Percy Jackson who is framed for stealing a very important godly item. To accompany him is Annabeth the offspring of Athena, and Grover a Satyr who's job is to protect Percy on his quest.

There was a little bit of hype surrounding this book and I am glad that I wasn't let down. Nothing felt too cliche and the twists of all the minor gods and demons just made the book that much more interesting. The only problem I see is that a lot of greek names are introduced and it could be a little confusing for the younger readers. However, if you have a little inside knowledge you won't even notice the infinite names.

I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of the Percy Jackson series.

Review: Best Served Cold

*Started my new job a few weeks ago and have been flat out. Here is something I wrote a while back.*

Hell has no fury like a woman scorned. Monza Murcatto a once loved and trusted general was betrayed, stabbed and thrown off a mountain. However one thing the betrayer did not plan was for her to survive. Now Monza is planning her revenge on the seven men that had a hand in the betrayal.

Joe Abercrombie first made fame with the book The Blade Itself, book 1 of The First Law Trilogy. From this series Abercrombie has gained world wide fans for his witty humour, in depth characters with their monologues, and brutal piece by piece violence.

Best Served Cold unlike the previous series is a Stand Alone book.

For those that have never read Abercrombie, you will not lose any sleep over not having read the previous series because this book is completely self enclosed and requires no prior knowledge to be enjoyed. Best Served Cold employs humour, gore, torture and *cough* romance *cough* all to the extremes. Abercrombie will wow you with great in depth characters that you will fall in love with, wince at the torture scenes when bits of flesh are seared away and be absolutely shocked as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. The other great thing about this book (if you buy the UK version) is the beautiful cover (First Law covers are also beautiful).

For those of you that have read the First Law Trilogy, I think you should take this book with tredipidation. The good things about this book is that Abercrombie has worked on everything he was criticized on for the First Law. Maps have been inserted into the book. Instead of the usual ‘place at the front’ map, it is on the cover of the UK version of the book. The book is also divided into parts, each part is set in a different area. These areas are enlarged and placed before the start of each part (genius!). The creativeness of Abercrombie is also evident in how he rearranges old minor characters into this book. He almost secretly inserts these old characters into completely new characters with new roles; with new importance’s and that was a nice surprise. The other thing I also liked about this book was that it is a stand-alone novel. Too many books out there now are a part of a trilogy or 12 book series and it is refreshing to read a relatively new author produce a stand-alone novel.

The other good or bad thing about this book is besides the main story of vengeance, is that this book is just the First Law squished into 500 pages. The world is the same, the monologues are there, the rough sex, even the types of characters are the same; a barbarian from the north, a poisoner (torturer), a mass murderer, an inquisitor and people you just can’t rely on. The fact that they are all the same (practically) draws attention away from the fact that Abercrombie’s strength is character writing.

However a talented writer is a talented writer and in reality this is a good book. My expectations were just a little high. Go read some Abercrombie.

Review: Sir Charlie Stinky Socks and the Really BIG Adventure

I've gotten a whole lot of books from Egmont publishers recently. Some I will post here and some I will post over at bestfantasybooks.com

One of the books I received from the publishers was a children's picture book. I am a primary school teacher and just love picture books. They bring together many elements of writing and enjoyment that novels just cannot reproduce. They are very eye catching because they usually have great art, the story draws you in and the rhyming enraptures you. This one even has a fantasy feel to it!

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks goes on an adventure with his faithful cat and good grey mare where he meets creepy monsters, fire breathing dragons and a not so wicked witch. Each encounter he faces he is left abandoned by his companions but brave and clever Sir Charlie will know what to do.

Just when I started to wonder where the story was leading, a clever ploy was there to distract me. This book has fold out pages that flow with the story line! "As Charlie pushed open the big wooden door. Up the windy windy staircase marched Sir Charlie Stinky Socks."

Sir Charlie Stinky Socks by Kristina Stephenson does not disappoint at all, in fact, it probably goes a step beyond. It had great narrative, the art was fantastic and the pop out pages were very well thought out. Young kids should be drawn to this book like moths to a flame.

Review: Artemis Fowl

His intelligence is well beyond any mortal let alone for his age. For months Artemis has been on the trail to find a fairy (yes, fairies exists) because fairies have a magic book. Why would he want this book? Because he wants to exploit the fairies and get their gold. With a fairy’s magical book he will know all their secrets, how they operate, how they do things and most importantly,  how to make himself rich and doesn't care whether if there is war between Fairy and Man. 

Eoin (pronounced Owen) Colfer is the bestselling author of a series called Artemis Fowl which the first book is also named after. Eoin has created a world where Fairies, Trolls and Dwarves exist but humans know nothing of (well except the ones that do) and if they happen to mistakenly glimpse them, the fairies have magically imbued technology that allows them to make them forget.

 

Artemis Fowl is a story which details about a boy called Artemis Fowl whose mother is sick and his father has gone missing. He is taken care of by a family called the Butler’s who have looked after (both as nanny and bodyguard) the Fowl family for centuries. The Butlers’ loyalty to the Fowl’s is second to none and they are raised knowing they will be protecting the Fowl family, so when Artemis has an idea about capturing a fairy (which can lead to cross-species war) Butler follows along loyally no questions asked.

 

I found this book to be a very fast paced book. It had lots of planning and scandals and it won’t take you long to finish (because you don’t really want to put it down). Artemis is a very intelligent boy and is portrayed as a villain (because he tries to exploit another race to get gold) yet there is still a 12 year old boy yearning for his mother and father. This is probably where the skills of Eoin Colfer shine, as children can really relate with Artemis on this level. I have been brought up with certain images and understandings of Fairies and Dwarves and if you want to change them, those changes better be good. However, Colfer really changes the way they are in his book, they are definitely unique but the changes aren’t to my liking and I have a suspicion that he changed it for a greater ‘young male’ readership. Although with that said, this book can be enjoyable for ‘young female’ readers as well. One of the main characters in the book is a female fairy called Holly Short who is strong and vibrant which I am sure all girls want to be as well.

 

I will surely pick up the next book Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident as this book was such a lively read.  

Review: The Tombs of Atuan

‘The Tombs of Atuan’ is the follow up to A Wizard of Earthsea and the second book from the Earthsea series. In this story, we mainly follow a young girl who is taken away from her family at a very age and is made to be the High Priestess of the Nameless ones called Arha. She is taught many things and made to do many horrors in order to keep the order alive. Yet because this is all she knows, she fears escaping but when an intruder is found in the Tombs of Atuan, Arha is intrigued by the intruder and unknowingly changes her fate.

For those not in the know, the Earthsea Trilogy (now a quartet) is a series written by Ursula Le Guin often found in the children’s sections of the library and bookstores. It has a huge fan base in Japan perhaps even more so than in America. Anime, movies and toys have been made of Earthsea and it is this series that Ursula Le Guin is most famous for.

While Tombs of Atuan’s pace and setting is a lot different than A Wizard of Earthsea, I found that I enjoyed the book a lot more. Much like a good horror novel, it is suspense that drives this book forward. The Tombs of Atuan is a place where no light can be emitted because that would anger the Nameless Gods. So we follow Arha, blinded and feeling around with our hands and knees; one false turn, one misremembered turn and Arha is trapped with the Tombs forever, along with the corpses of slaves and the treasures hidden in a room below the Tombs of Atuan.

If you have read A Wizard of Earthsea before, be warned Ged is not the main character and really takes a backseat. I think this is very clever by Le Guin. Not only does it add an extra dimension to the overall story, stopping the book from being about powerful magics but is also self contained and can be read without reading A Wizard of Earthsea.

The most pleasing aspect of this book besides the suspense was the start and the ending. Right at the beginning you are thrust into action where a little girl is about to have her head chopped off. The end is a juicy cliffhanger. However, if there is something bad to say about this book, it is that it is too short. There could have been more depth in the character Arha and more about the order of The Nameless Ones. But that is probably my adult fantasy background talking.