Post by DetectiveDupin on Apr 16, 2004 15:00:43 GMT -5
Book One: MARTYN PIG by Kevin Brooks
What They Say:
Like its eponymous hero, British author Brooks's self-assured debut manages to be at once hard-boiled, wide-eyed and despite its downright grisly subject matter laugh-aloud funny. When Martyn Pig accidentally kills his slovenly and abusive alcoholic father several days before Christmas, he decides not to call the authorities: he is afraid the police won't believe him and, besides, he doesn't want his aunt given custody of him. An avid reader of murder mysteries, he instead works with his next-door neighbor (and secret crush), the aspiring actress Alex, first to hide the death, then dispose of the body. As if the plot weren't already thick, Martyn soon discovers that his father recently inherited a handsome sum of money. Just when it seems that Martyn is coolly transforming himself into a junior version of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley, the story takes another hairpin turn. The crisp, perceptive storytelling, like the works of writers Martyn admires (Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie), indirectly but unmistakably raises moral questions. One minor frustration: although the novel is set in England, inconsistent editing has sprinkled the landscape with disorienting Americanizations (e.g., Martin scrounges up "a dollar here, fifty cents there" for bus fare and shops at a CVS drugstore). Happily, these discrepancies don't dim the substantial pleasures of this satisfying and oddly buoyant story. Ages 12-up.
What George Says: I got this book for my Birthday back in December, and didn't read it until last month (March) but it proved to be good, and Kevin Brooks is now one of my favourite authors. It's a really exicting murder mystery, with loads of twists that will seriously stop you putting it down. The only problem was the fact that I had to read it to my teacher for our book club thing at school, and it swears. Luckily, the bit I read didn't seem to have swears. And for a debut, it prooves to be a good career as an authors.
220pages. 9 Chapters.
Book Two LUCAS by Kevin Brooks
What They Say: Caitlin and her family don't quite fit in with island life. She is idealistic and quiet, and her father spends his time writing avant-garde teen novels that, to quote Caitlin, "don't make a lot of money." The only one who sort of fits in is her brother, who has spent most of his time home from college out of the house. Caitlin's summer life on the island promises to be a game of avoiding the town's scummy college-age self-proclaimed gift to women and trying to figure out what to do about her best friend, who is hanging out with people Caitlin finds unsavory.
The moment she sees Lucas, though, she knows things will be different. Lucas has no last name, no history, no friends, and no family --- but he is gentle and thoughtful, and Caitlin knows she can trust him. Not everyone on the island is as open-minded, however, and when Lucas is accused of a terrible crime, Caitlin is thrown into a kind of witch-hunt that will leave her changed forever.
If you have ever looked back on a sad event in your life and wished you could do it all over, this is the book for you. As Caitlin shows that the only way to make sense of tragic happenings is to sometimes look back, think about them and write them down, we as readers want to shake the ignorant island residents and cheer for Lucas and Caitlin's relationship. There is no pretentious language in this book, which is what makes it so great. The simple words, elegant descriptions, and an ending that is sad and hopeful at the same time stay with you long after the book is finished.
What George Says: Also in first person, this book is brilliant, and a lot different then Martyn Pig, showing that Mister Brooks can deal with different things altogether, which is a plus. Strangley set from the postiton of a fifteen year old girl was a big thing to take on, but he proved that he could do it. You get to know the characters really well in this book, and it introduces them all. The book desribes little things really well, and it really paints a picture, but doesn't drift you away. The way it descibes Caitlyn's feelings are amazing, and Kevin Brooks has here another un-putter-downable book.
360 pages
23 Chapters
Book ThreeMUDDLE EARTH by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddel
What They Say: Muddle Earth is not quite like our earth. For a start is has three moons. And of course, the abundance of pink, stinky hogs, sleeping, farting trolls and exploding gas frogs mark it out as something quite extraordinary. In fact, welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it should be, especially for young Joe Jefferson, an ordinary boy who somehow finds himself not only transported to this curious planet, but discovers fairly quickly that he is also its saviour-apparent.
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's The Edge Chronicles series has built the author/illustrator team a seriously solid fan base of children and young-at-heart fantasy-fevered adults. Muddle Earth will delight them all. Vivid characters--from young, bewildered Joe in his Warrior Hero suit comprising saucepan helmet, dustbin lid shield and toasting fork spear, to the deliciously bad-tempered battle-axe wife of a pointy horned baron--weave their way through this delightful but totally mad book. This is a story that ultimately results in a time honoured tradition: a battle between good, evil and the "sort of OK but just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time".
A fantastic read that should be added to the "what do we read between Harry Potters" lists at home and in schools, Muddle Earth is a funny, clever, completely loony novel with wicked illustrations. Stewart and Riddell are indeed a winning team who may well be able to tempt even the most reluctant of young readers into the library, while ensuring that the older readers (who really should know better!) are well and truly catered for. Age 9 and over. --Susan Harrison --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis:
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Muddle Earth... As the third moon rises over Muddle Earth's Perfumed Bog, the twinkling lights are lit on a small houseboat, home to a wizard, Randalf, and his familiar, a very sarcastic budgie called Veronica. Randalf is in trouble - he's stony broke. He's just spent his last silver pipsqueak. There's only one way for a wizard to make cash on Muddle Earth - and that's by doing some magic. There's just one problem: Randalf has lost his spell book. He's just got a fragment of paper with half a spell on it - telling him how to summon a Great Warrior Hero. The last one, Quentin the Cake-Baker, wasn't a great success. But this time, it's going to be different. And life is about to change beyond recognition for an ordinary schoolboy on ordinary earth - Joe Jefferson - and his dog, Henry. Welcome to a world of ogres and goblins, batbirds and pink stinky hogs, flying cupboards and terrifying teddy bears...
What George Says: However immiture and childish this book seems-it isn't. It's a really good pisstake of Lord Of The Rings, with a different storyline. For a start, there's Muddle Earth. Then there's Mount Boom. And there's the Lord Of The Rings chant about a teaspoon "One teaspoon to rule them all etc." I found it funny...and the book smells really nice as well. It kept me fully occupied on a long plane journey anyway.
448 pages
30 Chapters
So, that's all for now. More coming soon.
(Sorry to Kobolos for taking the idea.)
What They Say:
Like its eponymous hero, British author Brooks's self-assured debut manages to be at once hard-boiled, wide-eyed and despite its downright grisly subject matter laugh-aloud funny. When Martyn Pig accidentally kills his slovenly and abusive alcoholic father several days before Christmas, he decides not to call the authorities: he is afraid the police won't believe him and, besides, he doesn't want his aunt given custody of him. An avid reader of murder mysteries, he instead works with his next-door neighbor (and secret crush), the aspiring actress Alex, first to hide the death, then dispose of the body. As if the plot weren't already thick, Martyn soon discovers that his father recently inherited a handsome sum of money. Just when it seems that Martyn is coolly transforming himself into a junior version of Patricia Highsmith's Ripley, the story takes another hairpin turn. The crisp, perceptive storytelling, like the works of writers Martyn admires (Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie), indirectly but unmistakably raises moral questions. One minor frustration: although the novel is set in England, inconsistent editing has sprinkled the landscape with disorienting Americanizations (e.g., Martin scrounges up "a dollar here, fifty cents there" for bus fare and shops at a CVS drugstore). Happily, these discrepancies don't dim the substantial pleasures of this satisfying and oddly buoyant story. Ages 12-up.
What George Says: I got this book for my Birthday back in December, and didn't read it until last month (March) but it proved to be good, and Kevin Brooks is now one of my favourite authors. It's a really exicting murder mystery, with loads of twists that will seriously stop you putting it down. The only problem was the fact that I had to read it to my teacher for our book club thing at school, and it swears. Luckily, the bit I read didn't seem to have swears. And for a debut, it prooves to be a good career as an authors.
220pages. 9 Chapters.
Book Two LUCAS by Kevin Brooks
What They Say: Caitlin and her family don't quite fit in with island life. She is idealistic and quiet, and her father spends his time writing avant-garde teen novels that, to quote Caitlin, "don't make a lot of money." The only one who sort of fits in is her brother, who has spent most of his time home from college out of the house. Caitlin's summer life on the island promises to be a game of avoiding the town's scummy college-age self-proclaimed gift to women and trying to figure out what to do about her best friend, who is hanging out with people Caitlin finds unsavory.
The moment she sees Lucas, though, she knows things will be different. Lucas has no last name, no history, no friends, and no family --- but he is gentle and thoughtful, and Caitlin knows she can trust him. Not everyone on the island is as open-minded, however, and when Lucas is accused of a terrible crime, Caitlin is thrown into a kind of witch-hunt that will leave her changed forever.
If you have ever looked back on a sad event in your life and wished you could do it all over, this is the book for you. As Caitlin shows that the only way to make sense of tragic happenings is to sometimes look back, think about them and write them down, we as readers want to shake the ignorant island residents and cheer for Lucas and Caitlin's relationship. There is no pretentious language in this book, which is what makes it so great. The simple words, elegant descriptions, and an ending that is sad and hopeful at the same time stay with you long after the book is finished.
What George Says: Also in first person, this book is brilliant, and a lot different then Martyn Pig, showing that Mister Brooks can deal with different things altogether, which is a plus. Strangley set from the postiton of a fifteen year old girl was a big thing to take on, but he proved that he could do it. You get to know the characters really well in this book, and it introduces them all. The book desribes little things really well, and it really paints a picture, but doesn't drift you away. The way it descibes Caitlyn's feelings are amazing, and Kevin Brooks has here another un-putter-downable book.
360 pages
23 Chapters
Book ThreeMUDDLE EARTH by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddel
What They Say: Muddle Earth is not quite like our earth. For a start is has three moons. And of course, the abundance of pink, stinky hogs, sleeping, farting trolls and exploding gas frogs mark it out as something quite extraordinary. In fact, welcome to a world where nothing is quite as it should be, especially for young Joe Jefferson, an ordinary boy who somehow finds himself not only transported to this curious planet, but discovers fairly quickly that he is also its saviour-apparent.
Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell's The Edge Chronicles series has built the author/illustrator team a seriously solid fan base of children and young-at-heart fantasy-fevered adults. Muddle Earth will delight them all. Vivid characters--from young, bewildered Joe in his Warrior Hero suit comprising saucepan helmet, dustbin lid shield and toasting fork spear, to the deliciously bad-tempered battle-axe wife of a pointy horned baron--weave their way through this delightful but totally mad book. This is a story that ultimately results in a time honoured tradition: a battle between good, evil and the "sort of OK but just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time".
A fantastic read that should be added to the "what do we read between Harry Potters" lists at home and in schools, Muddle Earth is a funny, clever, completely loony novel with wicked illustrations. Stewart and Riddell are indeed a winning team who may well be able to tempt even the most reluctant of young readers into the library, while ensuring that the older readers (who really should know better!) are well and truly catered for. Age 9 and over. --Susan Harrison --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis:
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Muddle Earth... As the third moon rises over Muddle Earth's Perfumed Bog, the twinkling lights are lit on a small houseboat, home to a wizard, Randalf, and his familiar, a very sarcastic budgie called Veronica. Randalf is in trouble - he's stony broke. He's just spent his last silver pipsqueak. There's only one way for a wizard to make cash on Muddle Earth - and that's by doing some magic. There's just one problem: Randalf has lost his spell book. He's just got a fragment of paper with half a spell on it - telling him how to summon a Great Warrior Hero. The last one, Quentin the Cake-Baker, wasn't a great success. But this time, it's going to be different. And life is about to change beyond recognition for an ordinary schoolboy on ordinary earth - Joe Jefferson - and his dog, Henry. Welcome to a world of ogres and goblins, batbirds and pink stinky hogs, flying cupboards and terrifying teddy bears...
What George Says: However immiture and childish this book seems-it isn't. It's a really good pisstake of Lord Of The Rings, with a different storyline. For a start, there's Muddle Earth. Then there's Mount Boom. And there's the Lord Of The Rings chant about a teaspoon "One teaspoon to rule them all etc." I found it funny...and the book smells really nice as well. It kept me fully occupied on a long plane journey anyway.
448 pages
30 Chapters
So, that's all for now. More coming soon.
(Sorry to Kobolos for taking the idea.)