Category: Lit Review

We’re happy to welcome another guest reviewer on our Lit Review column, Poon Jin Feng. His first review is a children’s book, Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan. 

Who: Award-winning author Celine Kiernan is best known for The Moorehawke Trilogy and her 2011 novel, Into the Grey, was the first book to receive both the CBI Book of the Year Award and the CBI Children’s Choice Award. Begone the Raggedy Witches is her latest children’s novel and is the first book in the The Wild Magic Trilogy.

What: On the day that Aunty Boo passes away, Mup’s world turns upside down and her seemingly ordinary life turns out to be anything but. Following their car home from the hospital are the Raggedy Witches who want to lure her mother home to the Witches Borough, where she had been born. Mup’s mother did not even know she was capable of magic; Aunty Boo had kept this secret from their little family and without her to protect them anymore, they have to fend for themselves in this entirely unknown world.

The witches kidnap Mup’s father and it is up to Mup, her mother, her baby brother Tipper, and their dog Badger to rescue her father from the fantastical land. Tipper is turned into a dog, they meet a conflicted boy called Crow, and encounter the vivid beauty and ugliness of magic depending on who wields it. Young Mup is forced to make hard choices when she finds that the instructions of the adults around her often are at odds with what she believes in her heart to be right and true.

Why: I have been an adult for enough years to confidently wield that title but even I will admit to being utterly captivated by this middle school gem. The action starts on page one and doesn’t let up throughout the book, the quick pace making this easy to devour in a single sitting. Kiernan’s gift with words is undeniable in the evocative way she conjures up her native Ireland in her literary works, effortlessly weaving magic into setting and story.

Character development is another strong point of hers, with each subject flaunting very real flaws and virtues. One sign of good writing is presenting a perspective of the antagonists that readers can identify or sympathise with. Crow’s character especially is one that is difficult to love but equally difficult to vilify, a duality Kiernan handles with appropriate sensitivity. Mup, meanwhile, is a spectacular main character, an oddball heroine well able to carry this entire adventure on her back.

Reading Level: Ages 10 and up

Verdict: An action-packed romp led by a suitably quirky main character and well upheld by a colourful supporting cast. (9/10)

Availability: Paperback, RM44.90

Special thanks to Pansing Distribution for a review copy of the book. 

Who: Jeff VanderMeer is the author of the bestselling, award-winning Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), the first of which was adapted into a critically-acclaimed movie on Netflix. VanderMeer is a three-time World Fantasy Award winner and 15-time nominee, and widely regarded as a leading fantasist.

What: Borne takes place in an unnamed City, at an unknown time, in an unknowable dimension. The City is ruled by a malevolent ursine god-emperor, the giant flying bear Mord. Mord, of Godzilla-esque proportions, is the product of the morally ambiguous organisation known only as the Company, which pumps out biotech for purposes both pragmatic and nefarious. Biotech has effectively taken over the natural world in the City, with humans likely the only ones that have not been experimented on (at least not on a large scale). The story of the City and Mord is told in the first person by Rachel, a scavenger par excellence who ekes out the barest living with her lover and partner Wick formerly of the Company. Wick grows and manufactures biotech from the raw sluices of his bio-pool in their descriptive but unimaginatively named hideout Balcony Cliffs. There is no water in the City save in toxic sludge pools; food must be scavenged; and booze comes from the insides of bio-engineered fish. But all this changes when Rachel finds Borne, an innocuous-looking sea anemone, on one of her scavenging sorties.

Why: There are quite a few layers to Borne. On the one hand, it’s a story about a survivalist doing the best she can in a really trying situation; on the other, it’s about a mother and child relationship a la ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin‘. On a third (bio-engineered) hand, it’s about humanity’s self-destructive practice of strip mining natural resources and returning genetic modifications into nature; and on a fourth tentacle, it’s about royal rumble between a 20-storey giant flying bear and a giant sea anemone. Is there too much going on? Fortunately, thanks to the book’s slimy, malleable, bio-organic theme, the story unfolds fairly smoothly and manages to check some of VanderMeer’s wilder imaginings. Admittedly, it takes time to accept a giant flying god-emperor bear.

Nevertheless, VanderMeer’s universe with its writhing, sinewy, biological perversions can be difficult to stomach, particularly for someone with acute trypophobia. The bio-engineered creations in the City occupy that fine border demarcating magical fantastical reality and pure fantastic perversions — a fact happily acknowledged by Rachel: “In the City, the line between nightmare and reality was fluid” as evidenced by modified children who are armed with “an explosion of colours and textures and a variety of limbs”. There is something uncanny valley-ish about VanderMeer’s city in that everything within it is recognisable as both real and unreal at the same time. Red salamanders rain from the sky only to dissolve into liquid when hit by sunlight, predator cockroaches and crab spiders function as biotech defences, and a giant leviathan of a fish masked with a human woman’s face is used as an assault weapon — this is some trippy stuff.

For the lucky reader, all these unrealities recede into the background after a while: Of course they are going to mine no-man’s land with bio-engineered bugs and tentacles. What else were they going to use? Mines? And there is also the side-story of Rachel’s exodus from a much more normal and bucolic childhood to this Lovecraftian nightmare of the City. Central to the story is the notion of secrets — kept both by Wick and Rachel, and embodied in both Borne and Mord. As with all stories containing a secret, some of the narrative borders dangerously close to melodrama leaving some readers including this one to wonder how people as childish and immature as Wick and Rachel could ever hope to survive in the City’s nightmarish wasteland. (This is also a problem I had with Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One).

Giant flying bears, alcoholic minnows, battle beetles and demonic children aside, it is perhaps unfortunate that the most difficult creation to stomach is the eponymous Borne with whom Rachel develops a maternal bond. It’s not so much the physiology of Borne or his mind-bending physical capabilities, but its personality and extent of its mental development that feels like a bridge too far. It’s clear that VanderMeer hoped for Borne to be a multi-textured being that struggles with existential and ethical angst, but nevertheless retains its child-like innocence. This theme of an innocent killing machine is a pet peeve of mine and has rarely been pulled off well. I do not think Borne is an exception.

Verdict: Imaginative and more fun in retrospect than in the actual reading. It certainly makes me want to read some of VanderMeer’s earlier novels and perhaps catch Annihilation on Netflix. (7.5/10)

Cultural Touchpoints: Think Mad Max meets Heavy Metal.

Availability: Paperback, RM59.90

Who: After four years as a junior doctor, Lissa Evans decided medicine wasn’t quite for her and gave it up for an entirely different career. Following a decade-long stint as a producer and script editor for both radio and television, Evans decided she would write something of her own. Her first novel, Spencer’s List, was published in 2002. Since then she has written three other novels for adults and three for children. Wed Wabbit is her latest novel for young readers.

What: Eleven-year-old Fidge, her four-year-old sister Minnie, and their mother are out shopping one day when Minnie encounters an awful accident that lands her in the hospital. Fidge is sent to stay with her cousin, Graham, because Mum needs to be with Minnie. On her very first day with her neurotic and excessively mollycoddled cousin, they are suddenly whisked into the world of Minnie’s favourite storybook, The Land of Wimbley Woos during a freak thunderstorm. Inhabited by different coloured Wimbley Woos, the land is ruled by the good King Wimbley, at least according to the book. Instead, Fidge and Graham find that an ill-tempered tyrant, Wed Wabbit, has taken over the land: the wascally wabbit has locked up the good King Wimbley, confiscated all the candy, and is soaking up all the joy and colour from the land. Even though Fidge and Graham don’t like each other very much, they quickly realise that they have to work together to help the Wimblies depose Wed Wabbit before it’s too late. Luckily for them, they have help in the form of Ella, Minnie’s stuffed elephant, and Dr. Carrot, Graham’s comfort toy.

Why: Reading this story made me smile pretty much throughout the entire book. While the lead-up to Fidge and Graham ending up in Wimbley Land is by no means perfect, the story really blossoms from there on in the fantastic Land of the Wimbley Woos. Evans deftly uses fantasy and humour to relay complex ideas (from dealing with loss to the beauty of diversity), and the result is an utterly enjoyable but also deceptively wise and emotionally intelligent book. The tale is wonderfully imaginative, peppered with puns and jokes for both children and adults, and has a therapeutic message to boot. It is a gem of a story that will appeal to both children and grownups alike.

Reading Level: Ages 10 and up

Verdict: Witty, whimsical, funny and poignant, this book is an absolute delight and I cannot recommend it enough. (10/10)

Availability: Paperback, RM45.90

Special thanks to Pansing Distribution for a preview copy.

We are pleased to introduce the first of what we hope to be many Lit ‘Guest’ Reviews. In this segment, we invite our discerning friends and guests to contribute a review of a book they’ve recently read — advance reading copies (ARC) or otherwise.

For our first column, we have a review by Jack Smith, a friend we’ve recently made at the shop and a self-professed crime/thriller aficionado. It is, therefore, quite interesting that the first book he has chosen to review for us is AJ Pearce’s debut novel Dear Mrs Bird, set in 1940s London. From the outset, Dear Mrs Bird looks a bit of a comic drama, not dissimilar to Mary Ann Shaffer’s highly readable The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The following is Jack’s review of the ARC provided by Pansing Distribution. 

The well-researched narrative, and a cast of fully relatable characters, puts a smile on your face almost immediately; and you imagine that it will stay there. However, given that it is set in London in the early years of WWII, there are heart wrenching episodes breaking up the general heart-warming tale.

AJ Pearce employs a clever writing style which, by using typical 1940s phrases/slang and evocative descriptions of the Blitz, manages to convey a real sense of daily life in wartime London.The story approach is original and melds historical fiction with human elements of fun, comedy, tragedy and poignancy. As well as being a “romp”, it is also thought-provoking as it pulls you in with the vivid descriptions of how people coped with the uncertainties and devastation of German bomb drops.

The main character is Emmeline (Emmy) Lake who lives with her best friend Bunty. This allows for the display of joys and frictions of relationships in trying times. The dialogue really does feel as if it is taken directly form Emmy’s diaries. Emmy volunteers part time for the Fire Service whilst doing her day time job, but dreaming of becoming a war correspondent. Upon seeing an advert for a Junior at a leading newspaper she thinks that this is her chance. However, in her eagerness, she fails to realise that the position is just for a typist at a failing women’s magazine. She decides to stick with it as it may lead to Better Things.

Her main duty is to type answers to the letters received by the “Agony Aunt”, Mrs Bird. Unfortunately, the cantankerous Henrietta Bird will not countenance any Unpleasantness (note the capital letter), which means that the advice that the readers most need is never offered and the letters are thrown in the bin. This upsets Emmy, who secretly decides to respond, in the best way she can, to some of the desperate. The story arc then unfolds, joining together the consequences from this decision and the perhaps unsurprising result on her personal life.

It wouldn’t surprise me if there is a sequel (you do wonder what happens next); and it would make a good television drama.

Availability: Trade paperback, RM77.90

Who: Award-winning UK author Dan Smith writes adventure stories for children and thrillers for adults. His latest novel for young readers is Below Zero.

What: At Outpost Zero in frigid Antarctica, eight families have volunteered to be part of the Exodus Project, a programme designed to train them for life on Mars. Enter our would-be hero, Zak, his parents, and older sister, May, who cut their beach holiday short so that Zak’s parents could check on their malfunctioning invention, the spider drones. The scene at the base, however, is less than welcoming. The power supply is erratic, the vehicle parked out front is damaged, and the people who were supposed to be on-base seem to have disappeared.

Suspicion is immediately cast on the work being done by scientists from BioMesa, an enigmatic biotech company that have set up shop in the Antarctic. They are — were — currently studying a mysterious life form discovered in The Chasm, a fissure in the thick antarctic ice a stone’s throw away from Outpost Zero. That the strange going-ons at the base are due to these alien critters comes as a surprise to Zak and his family, who how have to fight to outsmart the invaders. But as each of his family members fall prey, one by one, to the creatures, Zak finds himself having to play the part of the reluctant hero.

Meanwhile,  another menace is brewing in the form of The Broker. He wants to get his hands on the alien life form BioMesa discovered and has deployed a weaponised tactical team to steal it. But what started out as a straightforward mission quickly goes awry.

Why: I’ll say this right off the bat: I really enjoyed this. It’s a fun sci-fi page-turner with a background scenario that’s so current — training for life on Mars — even if the main plot does not revolve around it. I like a good alien story, and this one surprises in pleasant ways.

Parents looking for a stimulating story with an empowering thread will find it here. A sensitive and thoughtful lad, Zak is an unlikely hero. He isn’t particularly brave or strong, and he suffers from a brain tumour, and is dreading the treatment he would have to start when he gets home. When it falls on him to save the day, he has to scrounge up courage to save his family from their fatal end.

Reading Level: Ages 11 and up

Verdict: An unputdownable, fast-paced, action-packed, heart-thumping sci-fi mystery and adventure tale with enough intrigue to keep you guessing. (8.5/10)

Availability: Paperback, RM44.90

Special thanks to Pansing Distribution for a review copy of this book.

Who: Frances Maynard teaches English to adults with learning difficulties, including Asperger Syndrome. Her insights into neuro-atypical adults helped form the protagonist of her debut novel, The Seven Imperfect Rules of Elvira Carr.

What: Twenty-seven year old Elvira Carr (Ellie) has lived a sheltered existence due to her overbearing mother, who believes that Ellie’s neuro-atypical mental condition prevents her from meaningful participation. Ellie is not at all prepared to for the real world when she’s forced to do so after her mother suffers a stroke. Together with the help of her neighbour, Sylvia, Ellie  draws up seven rules to help her interact with  people and the world around her. However, when she stumbles upon a mystery surrounding her deceased father, she realises that she will have to go beyond her seven rules if she is to come to terms with the truth.

Why: Having Ellie as narrator makes this novel truly special because for many of us, it’s difficult to comprehend just how literal neuro-atypicals relate to or respond to people and the world around them. For instance, social cues that might be obvious to us “NormalTypicals”  slip right by Ellie. Aside from  the challenges that come with having to live on her own and figuring things out for herself for the first time in her life, Ellie also has to deal with the echoes of her mother’s overbearing and often patronising voice in her head. We feel nothing but empathy for Ellie.

Over the course of the book, Ellie comes into her own as a person. There are victories big and small, such as learning how to use a computer and Google, and volunteering at a zoo. She also makes plenty of mistakes, of course, as in when she decides to help her neighbour Sylvia retrieve her granddaughter. When her world is completely shaken up upon uncovering the truth about her late father, Ellie has to dig deep to find the strength to deal with it and move forward.

Best/Worst Line: “Rules change depending on the situation and the person you are speaking to.”

Verdict: Heart-warming and uplifting, interspersed with some bitter and sad moments, this ultimately feel-good novel hits all the right notes. (7.5/10)

Availability: Trade paperback, RM75.90

Who: Bestselling YA author Holly Black returns in 2018 with a brand new fantasy trilogy. The Cruel Prince is the first book in the series.

What: After having their parents slaughtered right before their eyes by vengeful redcap general Madoc, Jude and her siblings, twin sister Taryn and older sister Vivienne, are taken to live in Faerie, a land of magic populated by Fey, beautiful but cruel immortals. The story picks up 10 years later, with each of the girls trying to find their place in a world that does not look kindly on humans. Jude is out to prove that she is just as capable as the best of them and wants a place in the King’s court. Taryn, meanwhile,  just wants acceptance and is willing to play by the rules. Vivi, on the other hand, would rather return to the mortal world.

Amidst all this, Jude has to contend with bullying from her Fey classmates, in particular the youngest son of the High King, Prince Cardan. Jude, not one to stand down from bullies, defies the prince, setting into a motion a series of events. She then becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and court machinations, even as a civil war threatens to engulf Faerie.

Why: Fast-paced with the right amount of drama, action, plot twists, cruelty, courage, and romantic intrigue, The Cruel Prince is Holly Black in scintillating form. Hooking you right from the start and refusing to let go, The Cruel Prince leaves one breathless and aching for the next book in the series.

Central to the novel is the obsession with power. This is an obsession that not only ensnares our heroine Jude, but is a fact of court life in Faerie. It is a matter of survival for Jude, however, and she is confronted with ethical dilemmas at every turn. As she navigates the complex dynamics at play in Faerie, Jude doesn’t always make the wisest decisions. Our heroine is flawed in many ways, but we like and empathise with her all the more for it.

The antagonist, Prince Cardan, is as mean as they come, but there’s more to his motivations than meets the eye. Clashes between Jude and the prince build to a climax with unexpected and shocking turns of events, and their relationship, as well as Faerie, evolves as a result of these clashes.

Best/Worst Line: “True power isn’t granted. True power can’t be taken away.”

Verdict: An absolutely engrossing, juicy read with plenty to keep you interested and guessing. (8/10)

Availability: Trade paperback, RM55.90

Who: Luke Kennard is better known for his five collections of poetry, one of which won the Eric Gregory Award in 2005. In 2014, he was selected by the Poetry Book Society as one of the Next Generation Poets. The Transition is his first novel and was long-listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize.

What: Karl Temperley is the hapless, underachieving poster boy of generation rent. Sent out into the world armed with a graduate degree in Metaphysical Poetry worth £78,000, he quickly learns that intimate knowledge of John Donne and Henry Vaughan didn’t really amount to a whole hill of beans in modern day London. Disenfranchised, cynical (when he can muster the energy for it) and accompanied with too much wit, Karl finds himself employed as a sweatshop academic, churning out “study aids” for students. Unable to cover rent or basic necessities —due in part to his penchant for “flavoured coffees the size of poster tubes” — and the demands of his somewhat eclectic teacher wife Genevieve, he turns to benevolent credit card companies to make ends meet. There is, however, a limit to their benevolence.

Charged with credit card fraud and looking at 15 months in prison, Karl is offered the opportunity to participate in the Transition in lieu of jail time. The Transition is ostensibly a rehabilitation programme designed to instil teachables such as financial planning, dental hygiene and time management. The goal, one is led to believe, is to reintegrate programme participants into society as productive and beneficial members. With no options left, Karl enrols with Genevieve, and are placed as “proteges” under Transition mentors Stu and Janna. Living arrangements are top notch, and the programmes, eye-rolling though they might be, seem to be helping. At least for Genevieve if not for Karl.

But of course, it’s too good to be true. Karl discovers that the Transition is a cover for a sinister-ish programme threatening to separate him from Genevieve.

Why: I was drawn to the book because it promised to be funny, and it is, although much of it is owed to Karl’s wry and deadpan observations and repartees. The dialogue between the characters is something that Kevin Smith would put in a script, which can both be fantastic and abysmal simultaneously. Karl is a throwback to the mid-90s when grunge and alternate youth were in ascendance; when young people in their 20s fresh out of university were generally bitter and recriminatory. It’s funny in the way that Reality Bites was funny, which is to say that it won’t be funny for everyone.

But Kennard does litter genuinely funny lines throughout the novel:

• In describing a bad incident: “A turn for the worse was taken.”
• In getting advice: “If you want my advice, don’t get involved with any conspiracy nuts or Stalinists or anyone who wants to bring down Western Civilisation. I love Western civilisation. It’s brilliant.”
• On the joys of staying in: “Most of all, he loved being free of the responsibility of having a good time.”

The Transition tackles a few other themes aside from that of the modern impoverished. These include themes of mental illness, societal integration, George Orwell’s 1984 and perhaps love. The latter is a bit strange because clearly Karl loves Genevieve, but it’s never made very clear why. She’s not particularly lovable and Karl’s love can be better described as an obsession that has run on for too long; an unhealthy co-dependence would probably be a fitting description. Nevertheless, there is love.

Did I mention there was a secret, sinister plot?

Best/Worst Line: “A turn for the worse was taken.”

Verdict: A fun dysopia which is probably less dystopic than it intends to be. Both Karl and Genevieve deserve a smack every now and then. (7/10)

Availability: Paperback, RM49.90

Who: Peter Bunzl is a BAFTA-award-winning animator, as well as a writer and filmmaker. Cogheart is his debut children’s novel, and Moonlocket is the second book in the series. The third book is slated to come out some time in 2018.

What: Set in a vivid steampunk Victorian era England, Cogheart is the story of spunky Lily Hartman, whose life gets thrown upside-down when her father mysteriously goes missing. She is stalked by silver-eyed men who will do anything to get their hands on one of her father’s mechanical inventions, the eponymous Cogheart. Thankfully, she doesn’t have to face them alone — she has the help of Robert, the clockmaker’s son, and Malkin, her mechanical fox. They also find a friend and ally in newspaper reporter, Anna. As they begin to figure out who the men chasing them are and their reasons for doing so, Lily also uncovers the truth about her family.

In Moonlocket, Robert’s past catches up with him when a criminal mastermind, the Jack of Diamonds, breaks out of prison and appears at his father’s workshop searching for the mysterious Moonlocket. Robert discovers that the locket is a memento from his mother, who left him and his father when Robert was just a boy. Together with Lily and Malkin, Robert goes on a quest to discover the mystery behind his family only to uncover dark secrets that plunge them further into danger.

Why: The world that author Bunzl has created is one teeming with mechanical wonders — remarkable clockwork animals and beings that need to be wound with a key. But these are no mere machines as they are endowed with the capacity to think and feel. The book brings into relief the question of what makes one human — is it merely the ability to self-propel, or is there something more profound behind automation?

In Cogheart, Lily and Robert both grapple with individual loss, each having to navigate their way through crushing life events and find the courage and strength to carry on. The pace picks up considerably in Moonlocket, with high adventure and strange hijinks thrown into the fray. But ultimately, the overarching theme of the novel is what it means to be family and how one can choose who is family.

Best/Worst Line: “Life can be painful. And if you can’t change what’s happened today, bide your time, until you’re strong enough to fight tomorrow.”

Verdict: Bunzl weaves an imaginative and thrilling tale of mystery and adventure, imbued with a lot of heart — great for children aged 9 and up who’s hankering for something a little out of the ordinary. (8/10)

Availability: Paperback, RM29.90 each.

Who: Secondary school teacher Muhammad Khan wrote I Am Thunder as a response to the three British schoolgirls who fled to Syria to join ISIS in 2015 — this is Khan’s debut YA novel. He took inspiration from the children he teaches, as well as his own upbringing as a British-born Pakistani.

What: Muzna Saleem is a 15-year-old British Pakistani who harbours a secret ambition of becoming a novelist, even though her parents have decided she should become a doctor. Muzna isn’t brought up to disobey elders or to rock the boat, and so she goes along with her parents’ fantasy. Her quiet and unassuming life gets disrupted when she meets high-school stud, Arif Malik, who, to her utter surprise, takes an interest in her. She discovers a troubling secret about him and his brother bears a grudge against the powers that be for what he perceives to be the demonisation of Islam. As they start down a progressively darker path, Muzna has to make a difficult choice: keep quiet and betray her beliefs, or speak out and betray her heart.

Why: The perennial question of whether to follow the head or heart is addressed in two different scenarios in this bildungsroman. Muzna is made to question her beliefs and desires, and has to find the courage to do the right thing, although it is not always clear what the right thing is. The struggle here is very real.

The novel also examines the idealism of young people and their easy exploitation by opportunists and extreme ideologies. Exploitation, the book carefully shows, is a gradual process that simultaneously preys on vulnerabilities but also reaffirms and panders to the ego. It is a study of contemporary psychology, and attempts an explanation at the all too familiar lament of the naivety and simple idealism of the young.

Best/Worst Line: “I am Muzna. I am the cloud who brings the rain.”

Verdict: While the novel is not unpredictable, it is ultimately an empowering and uplifting story with a lot of relevance today for teens and adults alike. (7/10)

Availability: Paperback, RM49.90

Special thanks to Pansing Distribution for the ARC.