Book Log 6/2010 - Karen Traviss: The Clone Wars - Booklog Backlog

I'm way behind with my usual booklog posts so I'm playing catch-up

Booklog 6)  - read 25/2/10
Karen Traviss: The Clone Wars

I felt obliged to read this because, though the animated movie was terrible, by mate Karen wrote the novelisation and she's a bloody good writer. Her Star Wars Republic Comando books are worth anyone's time whether you're a Star Wars fan or not, because she really gets under the skin of the common soldier.

Sadly she couldn't do much about the plot of The Clone Wars' which was Not Her Fault, but she did manage to inject some characterisation into it which the movie sadly lacked. Padawan Ahsoka is lovely – which makes me wonder what happened to her when Order 66 was given to kill all the Jedi in the Republic Commando book: 'Order 66'.The Republic cvommando books are running on a parallel (almost) timeline with this.

The one real smiler moment comes at the beginning of Chapter four when in all the little quotes at the beginning of chapters Karen includes an intelligence report by Komr'k N-6, one of the minor characters in her Republic Commando books. A little wink from the author to her regular readers.

Book Log 6/2010 - Karen Traviss: The Clone Wars - Booklog Backlog

I'm way behind with my usual booklog posts so I'm playing catch-up

Booklog 6)  - read 25/2/10
Karen Traviss: The Clone Wars

I felt obliged to read this because, though the animated movie was terrible, my mate Karen wrote the novelisation and she's a bloody good writer. Her Star Wars Republic Comando books are worth anyone's time whether you're a Star Wars fan or not, because she really gets under the skin of the common soldier.

Sadly she couldn't do much about the plot of The Clone Wars' which was Not Her Fault, but she did manage to inject some characterisation into it which the movie sadly lacked. Padawan Ahsoka is lovely – which makes me wonder what happened to her when Order 66 was given to kill all the Jedi in the Republic Commando book: 'Order 66'.The Republic cvommando books are running on a parallel (almost) timeline with this.

The one real smiler moment comes at the beginning of Chapter four when in all the little quotes at the beginning of chapters Karen includes an intelligence report by Komr'k N-6, one of the minor characters in her Republic Commando books. A little wink from the author to her regular readers.

Book Log 7/2010 - Stephen Cole: Doctor Who – The Art of Destruction - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 7) Read 2/3/10
Stephen Cole: Doctor Who – The Art of Destruction

These little Dr Who hardback books, aimed mostly at the children's market, are usually pretty undemanding and can be whizzed through in a couple of hours, satisfying a general lack of all things Doctor Who in the starvation year of no-proper-season-and-just-four-specials. Why, then, did this one take me weeks to finish? Stephen Cole is usually  a reliable writer, but this book just didn’t spark for me at all. Set in 22nd century Africa it involves some priceless alien artworks buried in a dormant (or not) volcano, another set of alien treasure hunters, a scientist who wants to create a food crop to save the world, and a revolution. The protagonists are the Tenth Doctor and Rose... but they didn’t jump off the page at me this time. Sorry.

Book Log 7/2010 - Stephen Cole: Doctor Who – The Art of Destruction - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 7) Read 2/3/10
Stephen Cole: Doctor Who – The Art of Destruction

These little Dr Who hardback books, aimed mostly at the children's market, are usually pretty undemanding and can be whizzed through in a couple of hours, satisfying a general lack of all things Doctor Who in the starvation year of no-proper-season-and-just-four-specials. Why, then, did this one take me weeks to finish? Stephen Cole is usually  a reliable writer, but this book just didn’t spark for me at all. Set in 22nd century Africa it involves some priceless alien artworks buried in a dormant (or not) volcano, another set of alien treasure hunters, a scientist who wants to create a food crop to save the world, and a revolution. The protagonists are the Tenth Doctor and Rose... but they didn’t jump off the page at me this time. Sorry.

Book Log 8/2010 - Di Toft: Wolven - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 8) Read 21/3/10
Di Toft: Wolven

Earelier this year in Waterstones I picked up a handful of children's books by authors I didn't already know, almost at random, just as an exercise in seeing what was currently on the shelves. This is about a boy called Nat Carver who is promised a puppy by his grandpa to give him an interest (Nat and his Mum are staying with grandparents because dad is on the run in Europe for financial troubles he got himself into by accident). The puppy is actually a full grown scruffy mutt called Woody who turns out to be a semi-telepathic wolven – a wolf shapechanger – who is on the run from a secret science project.

It's not earth-shattering, but it's an engaging  book where Nat has to overcome problems, think his way out of trouble and – realistically – know when to accept help. The adults come up trumps. The plump farmer's wife who the reader at first dismisses, turns out to be ex-military and she ends up doing her commando thing with Grandpa.

The local village bully gets his comeuppance and the nasty goings on at the secret project are stopped, so it's a happy ever after ending.

Book Log 8/2010 - Di Toft: Wolven - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 8) Read 21/3/10
Di Toft: Wolven

Earelier this year in Waterstones I picked up a handful of children's books by authors I didn't already know, almost at random, just as an exercise in seeing what was currently on the shelves. This is about a boy called Nat Carver who is promised a puppy by his grandpa to give him an interest (Nat and his Mum are staying with grandparents because dad is on the run in Europe for financial troubles he got himself into by accident). The puppy is actually a full grown scruffy mutt called Woody who turns out to be a semi-telepathic wolven – a wolf shapechanger – who is on the run from a secret science project.

It's not earth-shattering, but it's an engaging  book where Nat has to overcome problems, think his way out of trouble and – realistically – know when to accept help. The adults come up trumps. The plump farmer's wife who the reader at first dismisses, turns out to be ex-military and she ends up going commando with Grandpa.

The local village bully gets his comeuppance and the nasty goings on at the secret project are stopped, so it's a happy ever after ending.

Book Log 9/2010 - Rachel Caine: Cape Storm – Weather Warden #8 - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 9) Read: 01/4/10
Rachel Caine: Cape Storm – Weather Warden #8

Yes another outing for Joanne Baldwin, now married to David, leader of the New Djinn.  It's business as usual for Jo and friends as they end up on a ship-of-fools type adventure, literally on a hijacked luxury liner out at sea being chased by the mother and father of all hurricanes. Jo has to battle not only the weather but the evil forces behind it and also herself. This marks the return of Bad Bob, who way back in the first book cursed Jo with the demon mark that started all her troubles.

To be honest I feel as though this series has run its course. In fact it probably ran its course three books ago, and were it not for Ms Caine's habit of finishing each book on a cliffhanger I might have stopped reading  well before this. (Full marks for keeping me reading.) Luckily this book seems to have come to a decent full stop at the end – or at least an emphatic colon.

Having said that, her characters are fun and she does make you care.

Book Log 9/2010 - Rachel Caine: Cape Storm – Weather Warden #8 - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 9) Read: 01/4/10
Rachel Caine: Cape Storm – Weather Warden #8

Yes another outing for Joanne Baldwin, now married to David, leader of the New Djinn.  It's business as usual for Jo and friends as they end up on a ship-of-fools type adventure, literally on a hijacked luxury liner out at sea being chased by the mother and father of all hurricanes. Jo has to battle not only the weather but the evil forces behind it and also herself. This marks the return of Bad Bob, who way back in the first book cursed Jo with the demon mark that started all her troubles.

To be honest I feel as though this series has run its course. In fact it probably ran its course three books ago, and were it not for Ms Caine's habit of finishing each book on a cliffhanger I might have stopped reading  well before this. (Full marks for keeping me reading.) Luckily this book seems to have come to a decent full stop at the end – or at least an emphatic colon.

Having said that, her characters are fun and she does make you care.

Book Log 10/2010 - Kage Baker: In the Garden of Iden - The Company # 1 - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 10) Read:10/4/2010
Kage Baker: In the Garden of Iden - The Company # 1

To my shame I hadn't heard of Kage Baker until reading her obituary and now having read her work I can agree with her fans. She died way too young.

This is her first novel and also the first of her 'Company' novels. The Company – in Earth's far future' has cracked the secret of time travel and immortality-by-conversion-to-cyborg. It kidnaps potential agents out of time (as children) at the point (or just before) they are due to die. The humans are the immortalised (medically/surgically) and sent into the world – into their own time or close to it – to preserve precious artifacts long since thought lost. With the benefit of hindsight as to which hiding places will be safe for thousands of years, precious hoards are 'found' by the company's treasure hunters in the future, having been carefully hidden by agents in the past.

The protagonist, Mendoza, is saved as a child from the Spanish Inquisition, educated as a botanist and sent back on a mission to preserve important species of plants from the garden of Sir Walter Iden, English gentleman in the reign of Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary whose religious imperative is to restore the Catholic faith to England even if it means burning all the Protestants at the stake.

Mendoza's doing fine until she falls in love with Nicholas Harpole, a troubled and troublesome unrepentant Protestant simmering with enough religious zeal to light the fires under his own pyre.

Book Log 10/2010 - Kage Baker: In the Garden of Iden - The Company # 1 - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 10) Read:10/4/2010
Kage Baker: In the Garden of Iden - The Company # 1

To my shame I hadn't heard of Kage Baker until reading her obituary and now having read her work I can agree with her fans. She died way too young.

This is her first novel and also the first of her 'Company' novels. The Company – in Earth's far future' has cracked the secret of time travel and immortality-by-conversion-to-cyborg. It kidnaps potential agents out of time (as children) at the point (or just before) they are due to die. The humans are the immortalised (medically/surgically) and sent into the world – into their own time or close to it – to preserve precious artifacts long since thought lost. With the benefit of hindsight as to which hiding places will be safe for thousands of years, precious hoards are 'found' by the company's treasure hunters in the future, having been carefully hidden by agents in the past.

The protagonist, Mendoza, is saved as a child from the Spanish Inquisition, educated as a botanist and sent back on a mission to preserve important species of plants from the garden of Sir Walter Iden, English gentleman in the reign of Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary whose religious imperative is to restore the Catholic faith to England even if it means burning all the Protestants at the stake.

Mendoza's doing fine until she falls in love with Nicholas Harpole, a troubled and troublesome unrepentant Protestant simmering with enough religious zeal to light the fires under his own pyre.

Book Log 11/2010 - Patricia Briggs: Silver Borne - Mercy Thompson #5 - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 11) Read 14/4/2010
Patricia Briggs: Silver Borne

I love Patricia Briggs' writing and Mercy Thompson is my favourite of all her characters – a coyote shapechanger brought up by werewolves who is a mechanic by trade and after several other adventures with werewolves, vampires and fae, is now the mate of Adam, the Alpha werewolf of the local pack. Mercy's a trouble magnet despite all Adam's attempts to keep her safe.

In this book Adam's having trouble with disruptive elements in the pack who are trying to get rid of Mercy because she's not a real werewolf and Mercy is having trouble with the fae – or one specific and very powerful fae who will stop at nothing to get the 'silver borne' which Mercy is keeping safe for a friend.

Explosions, fights, danger, friendship and love. Good combination. And characters I can care about.

Book Log 11/2010 - Patricia Briggs: Silver Borne - Mercy Thompson #5 - Booklog Backlog

Booklog 11) Read 14/4/2010
Patricia Briggs: Silver Borne

I love Patricia Briggs' writing and Mercy Thompson is my favourite of all her characters – a coyote shapechanger brought up by werewolves who is a mechanic by trade and after several other adventures with werewolves, vampires and fae, is now the mate of Adam, the Alpha werewolf of the local pack. Mercy's a trouble magnet despite all Adam's attempts to keep her safe.

In this book Adam's having trouble with disruptive elements in the pack who are trying to get rid of Mercy because she's not a real werewolf and Mercy is having trouble with the fae – or one specific and very powerful fae who will stop at nothing to get the 'silver borne' which Mercy is keeping safe for a friend.

Explosions, fights, danger, friendship and love. Good combination. And characters I can care about.

Book Log 12/2010 - Charmian Hussey: The Valley of Secrets

Wheee....! I'm caught up with my booklogs now. i only finished reading this one a few hours ago.

Booklog 12) 18/4/2010
Charmian Hussey: The Valley of Secrets

According to the quotes on the cover the Sunday Telegraph considers this 'a masterpiece', The Guardian calls it a 'true children's classic; and Time Out sings its praises as 'a paean to the powers of storytelling'... but I'm not convinced. It's description-heavy (450 pages including bibliographies) and story light. In fact – it's not really a story, or at least, not much of one.

Spoilers ahead. there's so little actual story content I have to give it away if I'm going to have anything to say about this book at all...

Stephen (orphan who has just finished a college course in 'gardening') discovers he has inherited a strange old country estate in Cornwall from a great uncle he didn't know he had. Goes there, finds it all a bit weird – though necessarily not scary-weird (so forget the dramatic tension). Eventually pieces together the story of the former inhabitant, his great uncle – a recluse for 60 years – by getting to know his old friend. Cares for said old friend – learning how to look after the estate in the process and when old friend dies, takes over. And the secret? Not much of one really. Old friend was an illegal immigrant 60 years earlier – a child saved when his tribe of Amazonian Indians was wiped out. The dotty great uncle also brought back some new species of critter which have found a secret sanctuary and he wants Stephen to continue to keep them all safe and secret.

It's deeply didactic – imparting a lot of morality-lessons about the destruction of Amazon habitats and native peoples. In some places it reads like a botany text book. There are long passages quoted from the journal of Gt. Uncle's Amazonian trip, but if it was meant to involve the reader in two stories at the same time it doesn't really work. I only kept reading because there were long descriptive passages I could safely skim over because they didn't move the story along. (Actually very little moved the story along.) The protagonist – Stephen – doesn't actually interact with anyone except (briefly) a lawyer, a shopkeeper and a railway stationmaster for the first 300 pages or so and his interactions are limited to the old Amazon Indian for the last 100 pages.

I'm not saying it's not reasonably prettily written – but it's long-winded and I found it very uninvolving and I wonder what age of child will be transported by such a book. It may be one of those 'classics' designated by adults, not by its popularity with children. God forbid that it should be foisted on them to read in school. Most of them will be mind-numbingly bored.

Book Log 12/2010 - Charmian Hussey: The Valley of Secrets

Wheee....! I'm caught up with my booklogs now. i only finished reading this one a few hours ago.

Booklog 12) 18/4/2010
Charmian Hussey: The Valley of Secrets

According to the quotes on the cover the Sunday Telegraph considers this 'a masterpiece', The Guardian calls it a 'true children's classic; and Time Out sings its praises as 'a paean to the powers of storytelling'... but I'm not convinced. It's description-heavy (450 pages including bibliographies) and story light. In fact – it's not really a story, or at least, not much of one.

Spoilers ahead. there's so little actual story content I have to give it away if I'm going to have anything to say about this book at all...

Stephen (orphan who has just finished a college course in 'gardening') discovers he has inherited a strange old country estate in Cornwall from a great uncle he didn't know he had. Goes there, finds it all a bit weird – though necessarily not scary-weird (so forget the dramatic tension). Eventually pieces together the story of the former inhabitant, his great uncle – a recluse for 60 years – by getting to know his old friend. Cares for said old friend – learning how to look after the estate in the process and when old friend dies, takes over. And the secret? Not much of one really. Old friend was an illegal immigrant 60 years earlier – a child saved when his tribe of Amazonian Indians was wiped out. The dotty great uncle also brought back some new species of critter which have found a secret sanctuary and he wants Stephen to continue to keep them all safe and secret.

It's deeply didactic – imparting a lot of morality-lessons about the destruction of Amazon habitats and native peoples. In some places it reads like a botany text book. There are long passages quoted from the journal of Gt. Uncle's Amazonian trip, but if it was meant to involve the reader in two stories at the same time it doesn't really work. I only kept reading because there were long descriptive passages I could safely skim over because they didn't move the story along. (Actually very little moved the story along.) The protagonist – Stephen – doesn't actually interact with anyone except (briefly) a lawyer, a shopkeeper and a railway stationmaster for the first 300 pages or so and his interactions are limited to the old Amazon Indian for the last 100 pages.

I'm not saying it's not reasonably prettily written – but it's long-winded and I found it very uninvolving and I wonder what age of child will be transported by such a book. It may be one of those 'classics' designated by adults, not by its popularity with children. God forbid that it should be foisted on them to read in school. Most of them will be mind-numbingly bored.