Loved it!
Having never read Neil Gaiman before I was apprehensive, with good reason I suppose, as the sci-fi section of bookshops always seem so dark and frightening, mostly because I'm afraid I look rather stupid looking around there, having no idea what I'm looking for. The last sci-fi book I read was Hitch-Hikers Guide, which I know isn't that cool. But to all you other people out there who can't bare the trip into the dark depths of sci-fi and fantasy, brave it for this book.
It was beautifully written, wonderfully frightening, compelling and the characters were fantastically drawn. Mostly, I just loved the idea of a London Above and London Below. I shall be checking all stations for secret London Below people and all walls that appear to have no doors. The magical element to this novel was never surprising, which may seem rather odd, but Gaiman made it all seem so natural. I could happily of kept on reading, Door and her fellow London Belowers were wonderful and colourful.
I do wish to beg for more London Below stories. I, like Richard, feel strange in London Above I need my London Below. So I am giving out a little plea for more stories of Door and Richard, the Marquis and all the other strange and wonderful stories Gaiman can think of. I enjoyed this book so much I picked up Stardust the other day and now am no longer the crazy girl who wanders aimlessly around the sci-fi section. I go straight to Neil Gaiman and debate on which one to buy. If anyone out there has any great novelists like Gaiman to suggest, please do so.
Honestly, read this book if you haven't yet! It is truly amazing.
(Just so you know, I did not want to give away any bits of the story, but it is about a man named Richard who saves a girl's life one night and whose life is never the same again. Or at least that's one way of looking at it.)
Fallen and Torment by Lauren Kate
Okay, so I am writing about these two books together, because I read them very quickly and they are the first two instalments in the Fallen quartet (next book out in Summer 2011). 'Fallen' was quite interesting, after the whole Twilight thing I was expecting something more along that vein and it did deliver, but I like the angel thing. I like the whole twisting and turning of biblical and general history and a challenge to our minds about who to trust and our inability to see what people truly are from the beginning, both good or bad.
Luce, the female protagonist, is being sent to a reform school called Sword & Cross because she was involved in the death of a student from her last school and cannot seem to remember what happened. She remembers being about to kiss Todd and then there were flames and fire and maybe a few Announcers swept down as well, but she wasn't telling either her parents or the police about them. Her whole life Luce could see these weird shadows that seemed to follow her, appearing sometimes out of the blue and they terrify her.
Now, Luce is at Sword & Cross and it is horrible. I really dislike this school, but I love the colourful characters that litter this book, Arriane is my favourite. Anyway, this is really a story about obsessive love, a love Luce discovers she has for Daniel and they are star-crossed lovers really. Well, they have been for the past couple centuries at least, thou Luce doesn't remember this.
Okay, I'm stopping now, because it will ruin the ending, but 'Torment' continues the story and I actually like it more then 'Fallen'. Miles is super sweet and part of me does want Luce to throw in the towel on the whole Daniel thing, he's a little bit too Edward intense. The characters are great here too and the change of scenery is pretty and different, but most of all I love the idea of the Announcers, its inspired. Also the ending is fantastic, very different, very good and really can we handle another sappy female protagonist, well I can't, at least with Luce I can see a little bit why all these guys love her so much.
Anyway, if your a teenager buy it, if you like Twilight buy it, basically if you have an interest and mental age of 15 buy it. I enjoyed it and am now really annoyed that I have to wait until the Summer for my next little fix. Also the covers are beautiful!!!
Luce, the female protagonist, is being sent to a reform school called Sword & Cross because she was involved in the death of a student from her last school and cannot seem to remember what happened. She remembers being about to kiss Todd and then there were flames and fire and maybe a few Announcers swept down as well, but she wasn't telling either her parents or the police about them. Her whole life Luce could see these weird shadows that seemed to follow her, appearing sometimes out of the blue and they terrify her.
Now, Luce is at Sword & Cross and it is horrible. I really dislike this school, but I love the colourful characters that litter this book, Arriane is my favourite. Anyway, this is really a story about obsessive love, a love Luce discovers she has for Daniel and they are star-crossed lovers really. Well, they have been for the past couple centuries at least, thou Luce doesn't remember this.
Okay, I'm stopping now, because it will ruin the ending, but 'Torment' continues the story and I actually like it more then 'Fallen'. Miles is super sweet and part of me does want Luce to throw in the towel on the whole Daniel thing, he's a little bit too Edward intense. The characters are great here too and the change of scenery is pretty and different, but most of all I love the idea of the Announcers, its inspired. Also the ending is fantastic, very different, very good and really can we handle another sappy female protagonist, well I can't, at least with Luce I can see a little bit why all these guys love her so much.
Anyway, if your a teenager buy it, if you like Twilight buy it, basically if you have an interest and mental age of 15 buy it. I enjoyed it and am now really annoyed that I have to wait until the Summer for my next little fix. Also the covers are beautiful!!!
PopCo by Scarlett Thomas
The book is about Alice Butler, code cracker, toy designer, key to a fantastic mystery and someone who is a very nice person to be stuck inside their head for a few weeks. Her thoughts, opinions, experiences all spoke to something within me. She is on her way to a company retreat where employees from all over get together and have to listen to all the corporate stuff people do on such retreats. If I could transport myself I would want to be Alice at the very beginning of the book, standing there at a deserted station with my old fashioned suitcase and old fashion clothes. I really cannot get over how amazing that first chapter was, I could eat it or live it or breathe it in all over again.
However, and this is where I have to say what I really think, which sucks because this book was truly amazing for such a long time, it got too preachy! There I've said it and I really wish I didn't have to, but by the end I really lost all respect for Alice, I couldn't care less whether she ate meat or diary, or her homeopathy treatments. Going into detail about code breaking is cool, but trying to force people into being vegetarians or vegan is just not. While I agree that meat doesn't have to be on every plate in the world and that being vegan, if that's what you want, is great, but I don't need a novel trying to change me. Also, the ending was implausible. Why were they all so clever and yet, boring. By the end I wanted Alice to go back before this 'change' to become her old self. She was much more interesting in the first 3/4 of the book and by the end it just seemed like she had gone all complacent, when I think Scarlett Thomas wanted it to seem like she was more sure of herself.
Now, I am done ranting and will oddly now tell you all to go out and buy this book. Read it cover to cover, enjoy the first 3/4 get over excited and then read the end. While the last part is disappointing it won't colour your whole experience, because I could happily sit down now and read the first chapter again, if my copy wasn't in a friends hands being devoured.
Also, an this is a little silly, the blue cover and blue edged pages are just beautiful. It is a very aesthetically pleasing book. Looks great on the bookshelves.
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