The Blood Red Road

Author: Moira Young

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I finished this book a little confused. Is it a western transported into a dystopian future? Is it Sci Fi but without the aliens and gadgets? Is it a love story? Of course breaking genre boundaries is no crime, indeed can win you the Pulitzer Prize (A Visit from the Goon Squad). The problem here is whether the final result works. The folk who awarded this the 2011 Costa Book Award liked it… I was less certain. 

In a bleak future (presumably America) technology has been reduced to medieval level. Evidence of “The Wreckers” (presumably modern Americans) is everywhere, but mostly as scrap. A small family ekes out an existence beside a drying lake. The older children, Lugh and Sada, are twins. On one disastrous day Lugh is kidnapped and Sada vows to rescue him from the riders who have claimed him for a mysterious purpose. Though she is only eighteen her fighting ability and determination will lead her on many strange adventures as part of this mission.

To make life even more difficult she is also responsible for a younger sister, who she cannot love as she blames her for their mother’s death. She also meets Jack along the way, and Jack she finds fascinating and dangerous in equal proportion. 

The story is told in the first person from Sada’s perspective, and she is given a sort of “western” American dialect. Strangely (for a world so far in the future) there are very few new words, simply contractions like “gonna”, “fer”, “outta” and “git”. It is quite easy to read but I feel the author missed on an opportunity to have a more creative look at our ever mutable language. The stuff in the book could easily come from any western novel. 

The book is not really “Sci Fi” in most senses. There is no new technology, no aliens, just a bleak reduction of the future into the past. I personally also found it rather odd in the way it flicks between the love story between Sada and Jack, and the often quite intense action and violence of the rest of the book. Many of the ideas reminded me of other novels: it is not wrong to borrow, but I expect a blend of new and generic at least. The wise crow? Try The Hobbit. The older sister sacrificing herself for the younger? Hunger Games. The cage fighting in Hopetown? Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Even the land yacht is not so far away from Mortal Engines. A population enslaved by drugs? A Scanner Darkly.

I read to the end, but I’m not convinced I’d read another volume (as the series seems destined to continue). Can one come up with truly new ideas in fantasy or “future” novels in an American setting? Certainly! Orson Scott Card does an amazing job in the Alvin the Maker series, and more recently N D Wilson created a fascinating American fantasy with The 100 Cupboards series. I suppose The Blood Red Road comes closest to something like Tomorrow When the War Began. While Hunger Games is possibly more horrifying in the pitting of innocent against innocent, it also has to my way of thinking a much stronger moral centre. 

Suitable for teens and up, with a note that there is a range of intense and fairly graphical scenes of fighting and its consequences. 

Andrew Lack
Head of the Odell Learning Resources Centre

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Author: Patrick Ness

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Interesting title, interesting concept, interesting typography... so why am I hesitant?

Todd is a thirteen year old boy... the youngest in his village, on a far planet. The village is in desperate straits, as a virus released by the alien inhabitants of the planet has killed all the women and left the men telepathic with unpleasant results. Tod is facing his coming-of-age ceremony with eagerness.

Everything changes when he stumbles on a "hole in the noise" in a trip to the nearby woods. The noise is the constant clamour of mental activity from other humans, even from animals and insects. He runs to tell his carers Ben and Cilian, and they react by telling him he has to flee the village immediately.

The story is well told. For instance, Todd has a dog, which is able to speak in one or two word sentences. The dog provides an amusing and sometimes poignant commentary on the drama that ensues. It quickly becomes clear that Ben is in danger from his own village, and that almost everything he has been told is a lie.

The "noise" is handled creatively with slabs of  rough "handwriting" text interposed to represent other's thoughts. This probably means the book will be a nightmare to turn into an eBook. The pace is frantic, and this is one of the problems I ultimately had. Despite the quirky ideas and competent writing, I thought there should be an ebb and flow in the pace. Instead, it is quite relentless seemingly from cover to cover.

The other problem I have is with the level of violence. Todd is pursued by Aaron, a semi crazed religious figure who seems unfazed by normal pain and damage (think Rasputin). We are presented with some fairly appalling descriptions of Aaron's increasingly hideous appearance and also a graphical depiction of a knife killing that Aaron becomes involved with.

Consequently a book that could have been a very imaginative and gripping read for younger students I am now inclined to put on the Senior Fiction shelves. The other problem is that I would rather this have been written as a book with its own natural arc and conclusion. Instead, the author has ended on a cliffhanger with the promise of a second (and no doubt a third) book. Some of the best sci-fi writers in the world manage book series without stooping to this device (for instance Ender's Game).

It is worth a read, but the creative ideas and style promise more than is, I think, ultimately delivered.

Andrew Lack

I Am Number Four

Author: Pittacus Lore

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I approached this teen novel with anticipation... "Now a major Motion Picture" proclaims the cover. Unfortunately I found myself getting rather terse with the author. There is a disconcerting unevenness and other faults.

The opening half of the book sets the scene... young John and his carer are one of only nine pairs of survivors of a planet destroyed by the hateful Mogadorians. Each pair consists of a younger person who will gradually develop special powers, and a mentor. They are hiding on Earth, but the Mogadorians are on the hunt, which means John has to shift towns constantly.

The first half is about John's arrival at a new town, a new school, and a new raft of emotions as he falls passionately in love with the prettiest girl in the school. The second part of the book reads like the script for the main action scene of a movie. It is breathlessly intense with constant cliff-edge moments.

The book overall has some interesting concepts, but before I got to the end I found I was struggling with annoyance at the writer, who seems to have watched too many TV shows to find out how to "do action". The classic trope is there: John is about to be blown away by a Mogadarian with a gun... hears a shot, looks up to see that his friend has arrived and shot the assailant.

The author can't seem to decide whether he is writing sci-fi or fantasy. There is some semi science explanations, but at other times the ideas especially of the Mogidarian powers (to do with "pulling the life force out of nearby trees") seems much more to do with magic.

There is swearing but it stays in the "minor" category. The book does espouse commendable themes of loyalty and friendship, but also has a good deal of detailed violence. The book is set up for lots of sequels. Disconcertingly key information emerges only when the plot requires it, rather than having been set up through the first half of the story. Suitable for Year Nine and above.

Andrew Lack

Chapter House Dune

Author: Frank Herbert

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This is the final book of the outstanding Dune series. There are other books authored by Herbert’s son after his death, but I have not been able to warm to these after the epic creation and fascinating writing of the originals.


The series has enormous scope in space and time. One of the problems when an author chooses to tell a story covering millennia is how to engage the reader with not one major character but a series of characters. Some of the “middle” books of the series start to loose momentum, though Herbert’s imagination never run dry. This book recaptured me and it seemed fitting that it ends with a whole series of unanswered questions. Herbert probably intended one more book but passed away in 1986.


For those unaware of Herbert’s writing, I’ll note that he creates a future universe complete with antagonistic philosophies (e.g. the Bene Gesserit, a secretive order who manipulate human breeding lines, and the reviled Tleilaxu who have mastered the manipulation of genetic material). There are quotes from philosophical and religious writings (created by the author) and dazzlingly complex machinations between power blocks and individuals.


In the first books Duke Leto has been manoeuvred into taking control of an arid world... a world that slowly reveals incredible secrets. In some ways the novels are ecological science fiction, but the themes Herbert touches on are very wide ranging, including ethics, eugenics, politics, warfare, leadership, honour and parenting. In this final, densebook, the terrifying “Honoured Matres” seem intent on enslaving the universe. A small group of Bene Gesserit seek to outwit them and preserve hope for the future of humans.

This is not for younger readers: it is full of political and personal reflection by different characters, and the Honoured Matres enslave males by using sophisticated but soulless sexual practices. These are not dwelt on salaciously but certainly earn the book an “Adult Themes” tag from me. “Dune” is the best book to read for those new to the series, but this is a book to look forward to.

Andrew Lack

Mortal Engines

Author: Philip Reeve

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“It was a dark, blustery afternoon... and the city of London was chasing a small mining town across the dried-out bed of the old North Sea.” Welcome to a rollicking adventure yarn where sensible citizens live in mobile cities, and where the rule of law has been replaced by “kill or be killed”. This book is aimed at younger teens, and the emphasis is on adventure rather than believable science. The genre is steam punk (see also my Leviathan review) and I suspect that a suspension of realistic hard science has been accepted as normal for this genre. He has the entire city of London moving over difficult terrain at 80 kilometres an hour on caterpillar tracks!


We meet Tom, an earnest young apprentice to the all powerful Engineers guild. Tom witnesses an attack on Valentine, the heroic Explorer by an apparently deranged girl Hester. All is not what it seems, and slowly the terrible truth about Valentine and the other rulers of London comes to light. Tom is thrown out of London, and has to survive in a wilderness criss-crossed by the gouges of the mobile cities. He meets other outcasts, and survives challenges to his life and freedom.


Don’t read this if you are looking for solid and mentally stimulating science fiction. It is ultimately an adventure story placed in an “alternative future”. Like the science, Tom’s adventures are rather far fetched. Still, I was interested to see how the book would finish and skimmed through to the dramatic conclusion.


I would see this as a read for younger teens keen for “adventure on the high seas” in SciFi form. Some of the fighting is gruesome, and there are scary characters and moments, so it would not be ideal for younger students.


Andrew Lack

Leviathan

Author Scott Westerfeld, illustrated Keith Thompson

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I am not a big fan of “alternative history” novels, but the energy and imagination behind this teen “steam punk” novel won me at least half over. We are taken back to the days just prior to World War One... but to an Austria that has developed giant fighting machines a little like the “walkers” in Star Wars, and a Britain that has learnt how to genetically alter creatures to turn them into huge transporters or attack weapons.


The fun is in the imagined technologies, but the focus is on the adventures of two young people each caught up in the fighting: two young people destined to meet in strange circumstances. The story rolls out at a cracking pace, and it is moodily and ably illustrated every second or third page.


This is not a delicately crafted tale... it is told as an adventure story and you simply have to be prepared to suspend belief that quite so many wild adventures (and escapes) would happen to any one (or two) individuals. There are mysteries, and a bit of background story to each of the young people featured. Not all the mysteries are fully explained by the end of the book, as there are two more books to go in the series.


This is a fun read for younger teens who like adventure, and a reasonable introduction to the steam punk genre. It does raise some interesting questions about genetic engineering as well.


Andrew Lack

Pattern Recognition

By William Gibson

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William Gibson actually created the now familiar word “Cyberspace”. His wrote a series of novels including Neuromancer and Count Zero that describe a dystopian future where hackers connect to that cyberspace with a cable to the brain, where corporations have overtaken states in terms of power and influence, and where artificial intelligences have sparked to life and start to influence human history. These books are not for children, containing significant levels of graphic violence and intimate sex scenes.

Gibson, in his last three books, seems to have abandoned this brooding universe and is now writing entrancing tales of the near future. Perhaps he has come to the view that the future is now jostling the present! I have read and re-read Pattern Recognition, and it is on my list of personal favourites. Gibson no longer feels the need to spice up his gripping and beautifully written tales with intense violence, sex and substance abuse. In this book we meet Cayce, whose very marketable ability is a deep sensitivity to brands and icons. She is asked to come to London to assess a proposed new logo. Her personal obsession, however, is “The Footage”... tiny fragments of perfectly realised and evocative video clips that are being slowly released via the internet. Like others she is fascinated by the mystery of who creates these, and what secrets are hidden within them.

This is almost not a Sci Fi read, though any William Gibson fan will not be disappointed. It is rich with ideas. Gibson constantly seems to trawl through the intellectual flotsam and jetsam of our world and to pick up fascinating concepts and predictions that others miss, then weaves them deep into his stories. He is a writer who can also produce heart catching metaphors and phrases.
This book would suit adults and older teens with some intellectual curiosity. It comes from a master story teller and in some will find it a less confronting read than his earlier novels.

The Hunger Games

by Suzanne Collins

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Before reading this book I had heard various things about it. Some staff from other schools thought it was wonderful, but a few people warned that it was confronting. It is certainly a very intense book but I thought the themes of self sacrifice and critique of a thoughtless pleasure seeking society justified the challenging theme.


Katniss is a fourteen year old girl who lives in District 12 in a future version of this world. Her district is controlled by a powerful central city. Following an ancient rebellion of the districts against the city, each year two teenagers are picked from each district and forced to participate in an “entertainment” for the big city rather like the ancient gladiator games. The teenagers are placed into a fenced wilderness and manipulated to ensure they have to fight each other for their survival.


Katniss’ sister Prim is chosen, and Katniss decides to go herself instead of her younger sister. In the arena she simply aims to survive by running away and hiding, but is confronted by other players who seek to trap and kill her.


Rather than blurring moral boundaries, this book brings them into absolutely clear prominence. The opening of the book starts with Katniss’ sacrificing herself for her sister, and later she has to decide how to care for and protect other players who reject the bloodthirsty premise of the “Hunger Games”. We are made to think about the nature of a society that is prepared to sacrifice individuals for its hunger for entertainment, as well as the consequences of violence, revenge and trauma.


The world and the characters are complex and the story simply engrossing. The close leaves options open for further books (and indeed there are two more in the series) as it seems Katniss’ defiance of the powerful City will not go unpunished!


I would recommend this for Senior School readers. It could be appropriate for older Middle School students with parent support but the strong violence themes need to be taken into account.

That Hideous Strength

That Hideous Strength

CS Lewis

You may wonder at a “new book” review of a book written in 1945. My excuse is that we have a new edition in the OLRC to replace a badly worn copy. My other excuse? This book is profoundly strange and a very telling critique of science divorced from ethics and religion. Set aside any memories you have of the Narnia stories, or even of the first two Sci Fi books in the series. The earlier books deal with trips to Mars and Venus, but the planet of concern to the universe is stranger than either of those two places... it is our own planet, the Earth. As angels watch and wonder, monstrous plans are hatched to re-awaken the head of an executed criminal, and to subvert every institution of civil society. Those who are called to face this obscenity are a seemingly ill equipped and ill fitting group of very ordinary souls.

This book defies classification. It is set in the “near future” relative to 1945, and concerns itself with politics and the philosophies of scientists. There is little effort to fill in the details of the science-run-amok, and if it is Science Fiction, why does it feature Merlin, returned in a way that shocks both sides in the conflict? The opening chapters give no warning of the increasingly bizarre events later in the book. We are introduced to Mark and Jane. Mark is an aspiring academic trying to find a way beyond the cloying culture of a small college. Jane, his wife, feels that their relationship has collapsed, and seeks help from an old friend.

This book would suit the younger philosopher (perhaps Year Nine onward), and is still in some ways a confronting book for older readers. Lewis insists that we deal with the question of what or who does direct “progress” if it is not God. If you have not met CS Lewis as a writer of fiction for adults you may be surprised at how gritty some sections are. This book does have a positive and hopeful message, and I have continued to re-read it and reflect on it for the last thirty years.