The New Policeman by Kate Thompson

This novel for young adults is a wonderful and highly original story. Set in the seaport village of Kinvara, Ireland, it revolves around the Liddy family who have been musicians for generations.  Fifteen-year-old J.J. is no different from the other members of his family, as his impressive fiddle skill make him a integral part of the family's regular ceili, i.e. musical gatherings and dances.

When a friend says that J.J.'s great-grandfather killed a local priest years ago, however, he begins to wonder what the true story of his family's history. To complicate matters farther, time seems to be moving at an every faster pace, causing the entire village to wonder what is going on. This dual search for the truth behind his ancestor, as well as to discover why time is moving faster, leads J.J. to Tir na n'Og, the land of eternal youth where fairies and leprechauns live. It is here where he finds the true story of his family, what this causing time to speed up in his village and the rest of the world, and also who the new policeman on the local force is, whose true identity is only revealed at the end of the book.

This charming novel won the Whitbreak Children's Book Award, the Guardian's Children's Fiction Prize, and the inaugural Irish BA Award for Children's Book. The awards are well-deserved, as author Kate Thompson has written a great story that immerses the reader in the beautiful world of Irish folk music. A fiddle player herself, Thompson includes a different piece of sheet music for an Irish folk tune at the send of each section. The result is that music is literally flowing from within the pages of this joyful story.

4 out of 5 stars

Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

This is the first book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, which takes place 6,000 years ago in the woods of pre-agricultural Europe. The story revolves around a 12-year-old boy named Torak, who grew up in the forest with his father, isolated from the various clans. Unbeknown to the young boy, he is a special child, as demonstrated by his ability to communicate with wolves.

At the beginning of the novel Torak's father is attacked by a bear possessed by a demon. Following a vicious fight, the mortally wounded father makes his young son swear that he will find the Mountain of the World Spirit, and ask it to kill the bear before it destroys all life in the forest. The subsequent death of his dad sets in motion an adventure that takes Torak through the forest and towards the magical mountain. In the process, he befriends a wolf who accompanies him on his journey, discovers the secret of who he is, comes into contact with other tribes, learns about an ancient prophecy and fights the demon bear.

This is an enjoyable adventure that will capture the imagination of children and adult alike. To properly describe the feeling of living in the woods during the Neolithic era, author Michelle Paver travelled in the forests of Finland, as well as going to a wolf reserve. This research is clearly evident in the interactions between Torak and his wolf "brother", as the scenes comes across as very realistic. While this book is not among the best children's novels that I have read, it is still quite good, and I plan to read the other volumes in the series.

3 1/2 stars out of 5

Wake by Robert J. Sawyer

This book is the first volume of the WWW trilogy by the excellent Canadian science fiction writer Robert J. Sawyer. (Note: If you are like me and sometimes read a book series out of order, then you can link here for my review of Wonder, which is the final installment in this series).

Like in his previous novels, this book is based on a fascinating set of ideas. At its core, this story asks the following question, "How does consciousness arise, and is it possible that such an awakening could occur within the World Wide Web?" To answer this question, the novel focuses on Caitlin Decter, a blind teenage girl who is originally from Austin, Texas, but whose family moves to Waterloo, Ontario after her father receives a job offer at the Perimeter Institute. After being contacted by a Japanese scientific researcher who wants to see if he can cure her blindness, she travels to Japan where she undergoes an experimental operation in which a signal processing device is inserted behind her left eyeball. This device, dubbed an "eyePod" by Caitlin, sends visual data back to a computer, which then reprocesses the images and transmits it back to the signalling device.

At first, the operation seems to have failed, until Caitlin is able to "see" images of the World Wide Web as a result of the interaction between her "eyePod" and the computer back in the Japanese lab. Following this breakthrough, she slowly gains her sight and begins to see the real world. This sense of awakening is a metaphor that is discussed in different ways throughout the book. Among the ideas that are mentioned are:

• The groundbreaking book by Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, which postulates that human consciousness changed about 3,000 years ago. In the this lengthy tome, Jaynes argues that the minds of ancient humans were split in two, i.e. a bicameral mind, that was divided into a speaking part and a listening part. This book theorizes that the bicameral mind disappeared about 1,000 B.C. when the two parts of the human mind merged, i.e. the breakdown of the bicameral mind. 

• The story of Helen Keller (1880-1968), a deaf-and-blind person who learned to communicate, eventually earning a Bachelor of Arts degree. Sawyer user her story to draw a contrast between the "phantom" Keller, i.e. the unconscious entity that existed before she was aware of the outside world and could communicate, and the awakened woman who became conscious of the world. This metaphor is used to describe the awakening of a conscious entity from within the world wide web.

• A chimpanzee-bonobo hybrid called Hobo, which is a character in the book and which begins to draw art and become self-aware.

All of these ideas set the stage for the main plot, which revolves around an entity that emerges within the world wide web, and whose interactions with Caitlin make it self-aware, eventually leading to consciousness.

Like other Sawyer books this novel is overfilling with ideas. While the writing is OK, (the ideas are much more important than narrative flow), the characters and pace were interesting enough to grab my attention through the entire novel. While Sawyer sometimes focuses his energy on the science part of science fiction, while paying less attention to the fiction part, this book is a good one from a literary perspective.

3 out of 5 stars

Carnival by Rawi Hage

This is a difficult book to review. If you are a reader who enjoys experimental literature, then this novel will likely appeal to you, if not seem right-down brilliant. For those who don't have patience for unconventional prose, however, and who are not impressed when an author foregoes a structured story, then chances are that you will find this work a waste of time. To use an analogy, this book is like abstract expressionism, i.e. fans can make a valid case for why it's high art, while detractors can make an equally strong case for why monkeys could make better art.

This novel does not have a plot per se, but rather a context with recurring characters. Set in an unspecified city in the Americas that has a carnival, the book revolves around a taxi driver named Fly.  Raised in a circus, (his mother was a trapeze artist and his father a "man from the East" whose piloted a flying carpet), Fly was raised by a bearded woman after his dad disappeared and his mother subsequently hung herself. After leaving the circus, he travelled to the Americas where he ended up working as a taxi driver, while reading a mountain of books during his spare time.

Fly drives around the city observing and interacting with an eclectic set of characters: Linda the prostitute and her tragic son Tammer; the attractive Zainab; the revolutionary Otto; the drug dealer Zee. Certain passages in the book are beautiful, with a masterful mix of poetry and first-rate prose. In fact, at its best, this novel produces a hypnotic, even hallucinatory feel that is captivating. Unfortunately, this literary "high" cannot be sustained throughout the entire book. In my view, too many parts of the novel seem forced, as if the author were striving to produce the perfect sentence and paragraph, but instead created pretentious passages. That said, as someone who likes experimental novels, I found that the positives far outweighed the negatives.

3 out of 5 stars

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

It's 1946 and the United Kingdom is recovering from the Second World War. While living in London, writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a man in Guernsey, an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy, which was captured by the Nazis during the war.

This letter sparks a series of written exchanges that reveal to Juliet a remarkable literary society that was formed on the small British dependency during the war. As she begins to receive letters from the inhabitants of Guernsey, she begins to learn the remarkable story of a rural, seaside community that would gather to discuss books, as they suffered through the horror of the German occupation. This discovery eventually leads her to travel to the small island where her life will be changed forever.

From a stylistic point of view this novel is truly remarkable. Rather than using a traditional literary narrative, the story is structured through a series of letters and occasional telegrams, by or to Juliet. Despite my initial doubts, this innovative writing technique did not negatively impact the narrative flow in any way. In fact, even though the entire story is written through letters and telegrams, the pace and character development flowed just as well as in the best novels.

The plot is also very original. Many people may not know (myself included before reading this book) that the Nazis occupied part of the English channel. Strictly speaking, Guernsey was a piece of England that was captured during the war. Recounting this history, while blending it with a story that celebrates literature, is a true joy to read.

That being said, one critique that I do have is the ending. While I found the plot, literary style and narrative flow to be outstanding, I got the sense by the end of the book that the co-authors had run out of ideas and were scrambling to finish the story. The unfortunate result is a Hollywood-like ending that feels forced and disjointed. This disappointed me, because overall I thought this was an extraordinary book, and I would have liked to have read an ending that was more worthy of its potential.

4 out of 5 stars

Finding Violet Park by Jenny Valentine

This delightful novel for young adults was a pleasure to read. Based on a highly original plot, the book revolves around a teenage boy named Lucas Swain, whose father has been missing for several years. Late one night while in a taxi shop waiting for a cab to take him home, he notices an urn inside the shop. Curious about this peculiar object, he soon discovers that it contains the ashes of an elderly woman called Violet Park.

The ensuing story focuses on Lucas' search to find out more about Ms. Park. As he begins to unravel the mystery of this accomplished woman, he discovers hidden truths about his parents, as well as his paternal grandparents. In the process, he interacts with his older sister Mercy and younger brother Jed, which allows him to see how his family is filling the devastating hole that was created by his father's disappearance.

This book combines a captivating plot with fairly profound insights by the teenage Lucas. I was so engrossed by this story that I read it nonstop, cover-to-cover, in a roughly four-hour period. I was therefore not surprised to find out that this work won the 2007 Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, as well as being considered for the Carnegie Medal in Literature, the Branford Boase Award and the Manchester Book Award.

I recently decided that I am going to build a library of children's and young adult books for my baby daughter, which she can read when she is older. As a a result, I have recently read several books aimed at a younger audience, with the aim of finding the best books to buy. This novel will certainly be on my list of novels to purchase for this collection.

4 out of 5 stars

Being by Kevin Brooks

Robert Smith, 16, was scheduled for a routine endoscopy at a local hospital. When doctors inserted the tube into his mouth, however, and lowered it into his gastrointestinal tract, they couldn't believe what they saw. This shock discovery sparks a mind-boggling series of events in which Robert escapes from the hospital, is falsely accused of murder, befriends a counterfeit artist, and in the process constantly asks himself if he is human at all.

This book has an intriguing premise and started with a lot of potential. While clearly meant for young adults, (large parts of the book are written in a style that is specifically geared towards teenagers), I was caught up in the story and was very intrigued during the first two-thirds.

Unfortunately, in the final-third of the novel, the story loses focus and the ending was a complete cop out. It's possible to imagine Kevin Brooks defending the end of the book by saying it's an unconventional finish to an unconventional novel. I would disagree. My take is that this book started with a great idea, but then lost its ability to work it out. Which is too bad, because I was quite excited about the book until the last 80-pages or so. My impression is that Brooks is a solid author who simply crashed into a creative wall while looking to finish this novel.

2 out of 5 stars

Trash by Andy Mulligan

Doomed to a life of crushing poverty, the "Trash" children climb through mountains of garbage in a city dump. Members of a lowly underclass, they scrounge through sickening waste as their friends, relatives and neighbours live in shacks that are scattered among the discarded refuse. Resigned to a miserable existence, the scavengers are convinced that they will never find anything important.

But when 14-year-old Raphael Fernandez makes a remarkable discovery, he unleashes a series of events that forever changes the lives of him and his two friends, Gardo and Rat. From the lowest caste in society, this heartbreaking trio embark on an adventure that will reveal political corruption at the highest level, and reveal to them heroic men who are trying to improve their country.

I discovered this book by chance while at the library. It was displayed in a prominent location near the entrance and on a whim I took it. I am very glad that I did. This teenage novel describes the tragic reality of countless thousands (or it is millions?) of people around the world who are so poor that they have to scrounge their lives lives through trash dumps. While revealing this injustice, however, the novel also provides a first-rate mystery tale that is very well written. It is therefore not a surprise that there are plans to turn this book into a movie.

English writer Andy Mulligan worked as a theatre director for many years before teaching English and drama in Britain, India, Brazil and the Philippines. His idea of writing a novel about a shanty town in the middle of a garbage dump was based on experiences he had in the Philippines. This experience has produced a very realistic portrayal of poverty, while his impressive storytelling skills make this book a page turner. A wonderful novel that contains tears, smiles and adventure, but most important hope.

4 out of 5 stars

Saturday by Ian McEwan

Is it obligatory for a reader to praise literary brilliance? This peculiar question arose in my mind after reading Saturday by renowned English novelist Ian McEwan. The book is set in London and takes place on a single day, Saturday, February 15, 2003, on the date of a massive anti-war demonstration against the planned 2003 invasion of Iraq. The novel follows Henry Perowne, a 48-year-old neurosurgeon, as he goes through his day. We see Henry watch a fiery plane in the sky through a home window as it makes an emergency landing at the airport; observe the massive anti-war protest after leaving his house; get into an argument with a troubled man following a car accident; play squash with a colleague; perform surgery; and prepare dinner for a family gathering with his two adult children, wife and father-in-law.

As his day progresses, Henry thinks about the impending war (he believes Saddam Hussein is a monster and is not convinced that the war would be a bad thing); reflects on the relationship with his children and wife; wonders how human consciousness arises out of the brain; questions the validity of literature; and asks difficult questions about forgiveness. The writing is ridiculously good (one could even use the word "genius"), the themes fascinating, and the narrative structure highly original.

So why did I shrug my shoulders when I finished the book? Probably for the same reason that I shrug when I hear opera. If you go to the opera, you can't help be appreciate the incredible skill required for each performance, the theatrical presentations, and the wide range of themes that can be presented. At times, I must confess that I have been swept away by certain operatic pieces, and moved by some storylines. However, when I look at opera in general, I can't help but conclude that this is a pompous artform that takes itself way to seriously. Is this a gauche opinion? Perhaps, but it's what I think.

I had a similar feeling with this book. During several passages, I was left with the sense that I was an audience member hearing a speech by a highly intelligent man, who had done meticulous research. As the speech progressed, however, I had the sense that the "orator" was more interested in making clear how smart they were, rather than  engaging with the crowd. My favourite books are those in which the author and reader form a partnership in the telling of a story. This novel, in contrast, seemed more like a lecture than a common journey through a fictional world.

I am sure that a lot of people would disagree with this point of view. For instance, a review in the English daily The Times stated that McEwan was potentially the best novelist in Britain. It is also true that an army of English PhD students could find countless things to analyze and discuss about this book. That is why it is unsurprising that this novel, in both hardcover and paperback format, sold hundred of thousands of copies. That being said, this book did not captivate me. So to answer the question at the beginning of this review, no, it's not mandatory to fall in love with literary brilliance. Just as there is nothing wrong with disliking opera, one can shrug their shoulders when reading high-class literature. As well, for what it's worth, I would recommend a novel like Everyman by Philip Roth, rather than Saturday, if you wanted to read a meditation on the human condition.

3 out of 5 stars (if you don't like "opera")
4 1/2 of 5 stars (if you are an "opera" lover)

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

When Jacob Portman was a little boy, his grandfather would tell him incredible stories about a magical orphanage on an island in Wales. Among the peculiar residents was a girl who could levitate, an invisible boy, and a child who was so powerful he could lift a boulder. When Jacob cast doubt on the truth of these tales, his grandfather produced a series of old photographs to prove that he lived there as an orphan.

However, after getting teased at school after retelling these stories, Jacob told his grandfather that he no longer believed him. In response, his granddad stopped recounting the tales of when he lived in the Welsh orphanage. Years later, when Jacob was 16, he received a panicky call from his grandfather, in which he yelled that the monsters had found him. After rushing to his granddad's house, he realized to this horror that his grandfather had been savagely attacked. As he lay dying in Jacob's arms, he told his grandson to "go to the island" where he could be safe.

The death of Grandpa Abe leads to a series of events that take Jacob to a mysterious island off the coast of Wales. On the island, he discovers the remains of the old orphanage that his grandfather told him about, where he discovers that the stories he heard as a child were true. During this fantastic journey he learns a truth that he could never have imagined.

This wonderful novel spent 63 weeks on The New York Times  best sellers list for children's chapter books. Between April 29 and May 20, 2012, it was #1 on the list (see source here). While listed in the children's category, this work is aimed at adolescents, although its great writing also makes it enjoyable for adults. A highly original book, this work combines writing with a collection of fascinating pictures. In fact, this mix of words and photos result in a wonderful work of art, with the first-half of the novel being absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately, the second-half of the story descends into a regular action packed thriller, which takes away from the originality of the book. If it weren't for the ending, I would call this novel outstanding. That being said, this is still an excellent work and I would recommend reading it.

4 stars out of 5

Gunpowder Empire by Harry Turtledove

The parents of Jeremy and Amanda Solters work for Crosstime Traffic, the groundbreaking company in the late-21st century that has discovered how to travel to different earths with alternate histories. From places where the Nazis won World War Two, to an alternate North America in which the United States was never created, to worlds where the planet was destroyed by nuclear war or in which humans never existed, Crosstime Traffic employees visit many numerous "earths".

For the Solters family, they have been assigned to travel to a world in which the Roman Empire never fell and which has survived for more than 2,000 years. In this earth, technological progress has been incredibly slow, although a primitive form of gunpowder and guns do exist. When their mother gets ill, their parents travel back to the home timeline for medical treatment, leaving the two teenage children behind in Polisso, a Roman city that is located in what we would call Romania.

After the parents leave, something goes wrong with the computer system hidden in the basement of their house that they use to communicate with the home timeline. To their horror, the Solters' children realize that the communication link has been cut-off, and that they have no way of getting in touch with their parents or anyone back home. The situation becomes grave when war breaks out and a neighbouring empire attacks Polisso. Will they be stuck in this alternate history forever? Will they ever see their parents again? And will the city fall to the invading army?

These questions form the basis of a fairly interesting plot. Unfortunately, this potential is squandered by robotic writing and one-dimensional characters. While I appreciated the alternate history, the story did not engage me very much.

This book is the first novel in the six-volume Crosstime Traffic series for young adults. Each part of the series, however, is a standalone story, so it is not necessary to read them in order. In fact, I previously read three other volumes (see reviews here, here and here). From what I have read up to this point, it is clear that this series is based on a formula: Crosstime Traffic employees travel to an earth with an alternate history; a female and male protagonist drive the story; the Crosstime employees return to their home timeline after making an impact in the alternate world.

Sometimes this formula works, as is the case when the characters tackle such themes as slavery, sexism, war, inhumane treatment of animals and resource extraction. However, the positives are often undermined by characters that are pure plot robots, i.e. wooden personalities without any interesting identities of their own, whose only purpose is to move a story along. In addition, the writing is often clunky. The latter makes sense given that Harry Turtledove is a prolific writer. This impressive output, however, means that the writing often seems rushed, as if output was more important that quality.

Of the four Crosstime Traffic books that I have read this is my least favourite. Part of my opinion comes from the fact that I am now familiar with the series formula, and that this technique is repetitive. Even though the setting is different from other novels, and the characters are not connected to the other books, this story feels like a clone of the others. Hopefully the other two books in the series that I have not read are better.

2 out of 5 stars

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood

In the late-1990s, John Wood was an executive in Microsoft when he decided to take a well-deserved vacation in the Himalayas. While travelling in Nepal, he visited a remote school, where he discovered that the students had almost no books in their school library. An avid reader who was blessed with a solid education, he decided to do something to help these children. This experience led to a life altering decision, in which he decided to quit his lucrative position in Microsoft and start Room to Read, a charity dedicated to building schools and libraries in third-word countries.

Today, Room to Read operates in 10 countries in Asia and Africa. In addition to helping build libraries and construct classrooms, the organization promotes gender equality in education by giving scholarships to young girls, promotes reading in youth by publishing local-language children's books, and trains educators. One of the key principles of the group is to co-invest with local populations whenever engaging in a project. This leads to a strong relationship in which locals help to build schools, deliver books and teach the young students, so they can acquire a sense of ownership.

This autobiography is an inspiring tale. At several points in the book I had to wipe away tears as I read about the immense impact that this charity has had. To illustrate how successful Room to Read has been, below is a chart that I took from their web site that indicates what they have done to date:

Schools	1,566
Libraries	14,627
Books Published	723
Books Distributed	12.1 million
Girls' Education Participants	19,622
Children Benefited	7.8 million

John Wood is a great role model who has inspired me to become more involved in charitable work. This wonderful story provides a practical example for how to make a difference in the world. An excellent, excellent book that is not only worth reading, but also acts as a catalyst for change.

5 out of 5 stars

Under The Skin by Michel Faber

For years, Isserley has driven in the Scottish Highlands in her red Toyota Corolla on the lookout for men. Searching for strong, muscular hitchhikers, she cruises the highways for males. (Females hitchers do not interest her). The men that get into her car include a wide range of personalities, such as: unemployed drifters; a frantic father desperate to get to the hospital to witness the birth of their child; the mentally disturbed; travellers; rapists; drunks; those running away from their lives; and adventurers. What brings all of the men together is the common threat of a horrific fate that they are completely unaware of.

Who Isserley is and what she is doing in the north of Scotland is something that the reader needs to discover for themselves. What can be revealed, however, is that this book is a brilliant – if not downright creepy – story that reveals a first-rate talent.

This highly original novel, which was shortlisted for the 2000 Whitbread Award, is difficult to pigeonhole. Combing elements of horror, science fiction and classic literature (the Guardian has compared Michel Faber to Joseph Conrad), this work is a wonderful debut of a fanstaic author. I must confess that in certain parts of the book I shivered with the creeps, as the captivating story overtook over my imagination. As I pushed myself to read further, however, I soon discovered a plot that was utterly fascinating and also tragic. This is a great read that will spook you, make you think and, perhaps most importantly, allow you to discover a fantastic writer with a incredible imagination and skill.

5 out of 5 stars

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This novel is a beautifully written story that contains a heartbreaking meditation on human mortality. Written in a straightforward yet utterly engaging style, this is a brilliant science fiction book that masquerades as a traditional fiction novel. For those who are not familiar with the plot, (and if you are not, I highly encourage that you not find out before reading this story in order to let the book fully work its magic), the tale begins like a classic literary novel. If you didn't know better, you could be mistaken for thinking this was a classic book of English literature set in contemporary times. As the story evolves, however, the brilliant plot and themes begin to reveal themselves,  leaving the reader mesmerized.

The book's narrator is a woman named Kathy H., who recalls her time as a student in a peculiar boarding school in the English countryside called Hailsham. Remembering her experience growing up with her friends Ruth and Tommy, Kathy begins to reveal the mystery of the school, and more importantly the tragic destinies of the school's students. When the reader finally discovers what the students are, and then near the end of the book what the teachers were trying to accomplish with the school, the reader can't help but be overwhelmed with emotion and thoughts on justice, ethics and ultimately mortality.

Never Let Me Go was shortlisted for the 2005 Man Booker Prize but lost out to John Banville's The Sea. In my opinion, the jury awarded the prize to the wrong author, as Kazuo Ishiguro's novel is, in my view, vastly superior to Banville's book. While The Sea is a well-written book, it did not capture my imagination, nor was the plot that captivating. (See my review here). By contrast, I found Never Let Me Go to be a fantastic novel with a highly original plot and wonderful writing.

5 out of 5 stars

The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove

Earlier this month I started reading the six-volume Crosstime Traffic series by Harry Turtledove. The first novel that I read I enjoyed, while the second one not so much. Fortunately, this story was more like the former than the latter.

Like all of the Crosstime Traffic books this tale takes place in an alternate earth with a different historical timeline. In this case, the story is set in a North America that is divided into numerous autonomous states, in which the United States never came to be. The book opens with Beckie Royer, a teenager from the independent territory of California, travelling to the country of Virginia with her grandmother who is visiting relatives. During their visit, a war breaks out between Virginia and Ohio, both of which are separate nations, and which sees Ohio use biological weapons by spreading a virus that was created in a laboratory.

The other main protagonist is Justin Monroe, a teenage boy and employee of Crosstime Traffic, the company in the "home" earth that has discovered the ability to travel between alternate worlds. As part of his assignment, he travels to Virginia where he meets Beckie, and then is stranded due to the Virginia-Ohio war. The resulting narrative is a captivating story that is pretty good.

This book is meant for young adults, and as such much of it's language is written in PG form. In the hands of a weak writer this could be a big problem. Fortunately, Turtledove is able to convey the idea of swearing without actually using the F-word or other cuss-terms. The result is a funny literary style that is fairly witty. However, while the language is PG, much of the content is not. Covering such themes as racism, oppression, the horror of war and the political history of the United States, this novel allows teenage readers to think about some fairly heavy subjects.

Out of the three books that I have read so far in this series this is the best. In total I have enjoyed two and given the thumbs-down to one. Hopefully the others will be as good as this one.

3 1/2 stars out of 5

Curious Notions by Harry Turtledove

This novel is the second book in the six-volume Crosstime Traffic science-fiction series for young adults. The premise of the series is quite interesting: Set in the 2090s, a company called Crosstime Traffic has discovered technology that allows company employees to travel to other earth-like worlds that have alternate histories.  Each book tells the story of a different set of characters, so the only overlapping element among each of the books is the common premise.

Earlier this month, I read The Gladiator, which is the fifth volume in the series. While that book was not spectacular, I enjoyed it enough to pick up another book in the collection. Unfortunately, Curious Notions is a pretty weaker novel. Set in San Francisco in a world in which Germany wins the First World War and then conquers the United States after bombing it with nuclear weapons, the story revolves around Paul and Lawrence Gomes, a father-and-son duo who run a store called Curious Notions. As employees of Crosstime Traffic, they sell gadgets from the "real" earth in order to buy produce from local farmers in order to meet agricultural shortages in the home timeline.

When the German authorities start to wonder where these strange gadgets come from, they shut down the store and arrest Paul's father. While trying to rescue his dad, Paul teams up with Lucy Woo, a teenage girl who works in a shoe factory. As the novel progresses, the mysterious Chinese Triads who operate in San Francisco's Chinatown put pressure on Lucy to find out who Paul is and where he really comes from.

In most contexts, this plot would produce a very good novel. In what is a big disappointment, however, this interesting storyline is converted into Disney-like mush. In order to make the tone appropriate for "young" adults – a big emphasis on the word young – the dialogue, content and plot twists are reduced into pretty bland stuff. It is one thing to write a book for teenagers, it's quite another to treat them like children. In too many parts of the book the narrative flow sounds like a children's film from Disney, rather than an interesting science fiction story for teens.

Now that I have read two books in the series I will like finish all six volumes. My hope, however, is that the other books are more like The Gladiator and less like Curious Notions.

2 out of 5 stars

The Gladiator by Harry Turtledove

Crosstime traffic is a six-volume series for young adults by science fiction writer Harry Turtledove. Set in the late 21st century, the premise revolves around a company called Crosstime Traffic, which has developed a technology that allows people to travel to different earth-like worlds that have alternate histories.

In The Gladiator, we are introduced to a place in which the Soviet Union has won the cold war, and communism has become the dominant global ideology. The title of the book refers to a game shop of the same name, in which capitalist-inspired board games from the "real" earth are sold. The aim of the shop is to subtly subvert the totalitarian control of the Marxist governments that rule the different countries in this alternate world.

Set in Milan, Italy, the story revolves around two teenagers called Gianfranco and Annarita whose family share the same apartment. Gianfranco is a regular at The Gladiator shop where he regularly plays a board game called Rails across Europe. However, when the authorities become suspicious of the game shop, they decided to shut it down, and in the process radicalize the two teenagers. Their desire for freedom becomes especially acute when they discover that there is another world in which capitalism has triumphed and in which people are free.

This book was a fun read. While the politics are pretty simplistic – the struggle between capitalism and communism is presented in an almost childlike fashion – the story is enjoyable. While this novel is no masterpiece, and the writing can be pretty wooden at times, it is entertaining. If you are looking for a serious discussion on political theory, then this book is not for you. However, if you want to be entertained with a light and quick read on a grey weekend afternoon, then this story may be what you are looking for.

3 out of 5 stars

The Sea by John Banville

Picture the following scene: You are having dinner with a brilliant, erudite and cosmopolitan person. Initially, your guest mesmerizes you with stories of travelling around the world and meeting famous people. However, as time passes by, the conversation begins to drag on, and what was once magical is now slightly annoying. By the time dessert arrives, you want dinner to end and your guest  to go on his way.

For me, reading John Banville's The Sea was like having dinner with the aforementioned fictitious guest. For many people this statement is likely outrageous, especially given that this novel won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. Banville is without a doubt a magnificent writer, and to say otherwise is bound to create criticism. However, if I were to be completely honest, I must confess that this book slowly started to wear on me. It's true that in the opening sections I was captivated by the writing. However, with each passing page, I become increasingly (dare I say it?) bored. The intriguing ending saved the novel for me, but not enough to make me rave about this book. Yes, I could write numerous English PhD theses on the book's different themes, while making varied commentaries about art, death and longing. Yet, to be perfectly frank, I have to say that I found some of the commentary on this book to be a tad pretentious.

This story tells the tale of Max Morden, a middle-aged Irishman who returns to the seaside town where he spent his holidays as a child. Dealing with the recent death of his wife, he recalls his time with the Grace's, a wealthy family in which he experienced love and death for the first time. On the surface this is an interesting premise, and I really enjoyed parts of the book. Nevertheless, by roughly the middle part of the story, I couldn't help but want the novel to end. I am glad that I read this book, and I do plan to read other literary works by Banville. That being said, I did not fall in love with this story.

3 out of 5 stars

Dragon Keeper by Carole Wilkinson

This book for young adults is listed in the collection, "1001 children's books you must read before you grow up". After finishing the novel I am not sure why it is considered a must read.

The story itself is interesting: A young orphan girl in the western mountains of the Han Empire is held captive by a cruel master. In a sudden moment of bravery, the girl frees a dragon named Danzi, who is also imprisoned by the master. Following their escape, they proceed on a journey across China towards the eastern sea, in which they come across kind peasants, cruel dragon hunters, the emperor and necromancers. Throughout the journey they protect a mysterious dragon stone.

As a fan of fantasy the story caught my interest, and I was definitely predisposed to enjoying this book. Unfortunately, I found the writing to be a bit stale, and by the end of the novel was not that particularly engaged. The characters sounded wooden, while the action seemed contrived, reminding me of a forgettable action movie filled with obligatory explosions and car chases. Although this is the first book in a series, I am not sure if I will read the other volumes.

2 out of 5 stars

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

I have wanted to read this book for a long time. A Canadian classic in the field of personal finance, I have heard for years about this groundbreaking work. Written as a novel, the book focuses on a character called Dave, a married father who requires financial advice. After asking where he can get such advice, he is told to go to visit Roy, the local barber who has become a millionaire by implementing a common-sense financial plan.

Thus begins a series of monthly lessons in which Roy offers his wisdom on such areas as insurance, RRSPs, saving 10 per cent of your income and whether to implement a personal budget – his answer to the latter may surprise you . Amazingly, even though the book was first published more than 20 years ago, it is still highly relevant to the contemporary reader.

Given the plethora of financial books available today, a lot of the tips in this book have since been repeated elsewhere. For instance, the "pay yourself first" mantra is a staple of many financial authors. What is really impressive about this book, however, is that it was providing groundbreaking advice more than two decades ago, years before many of today's popular financial planning authors. While I do not agree with all of the advice, (e.g. I found the section on funding the post-secondary education of children to be outdated), I found many of the tips incredibly useful.

In short, I think this is an excellent book that is worth the read. It's true that a lot of newer books say many of the same things, and that in certain areas you would be better served if you read more recent books. This is especially true if you want to know more about Registered Education Savings Plan. (Here is one suggestion to find out more about RESPs). However, if you want to become familiar with the basics of sound financial planning and want to do so by reading an easily accessible book, then this novel / financial planning guide provides an excellent start.

5 out of 5 stars