I am Apache follows the story of a teenager called Siki from the Apache tribe in the Black Mountains. She and her brother are both orphans, and tragedy strikes Siki yet again as she watches her four year old brother being brutally cut down by Mexican warriors, while the male Apache warriors are off on a trade mission with the Mexicans. Siki vows revenge on the Mexicans and trains to become a warrior, though she has to contend with the jealousy of another would-be warrior, Keste. Keste hints at a dark secret in Siki's past, which gnaws at her until she finds out the sad and terrifying truth.
It took me a while to get into the flow of this book as the way it is written is very different from most books on the Young Adult market. It is marketed as YA but it is written much more maturely, perhaps reminiscent of Siki needing to grow up more quickly than normal teenagers due to the tragedy in her life.
Knowing the history of the Native Americans, it was clear that this book was not going to end well, but it is nevertheless a very moving and, in some places, romantic read. Siki is a very thoughtful, observant, and determined young woman, and makes a very good role model. It's immensely poignant to read about the structure of the tribe, their relationship with the land, and their desire to protect it. It raises thought-provoking and challenging questions about the way we relate to people who live in such different ways to us. It is a book that, in these turbulent times of identity and race politics, we could all do with learning from.
Friday, 19 October 2018
Review: Battlemage, Taran Matharu
The beginning of Battlemage picks up immediately after the end of The Inqusition, when Fletcher and his team have entered the ether. The ether is another realm from which the humans and orcs harness their demons. The air of the ether is poisonous to humans, but Fletcher's team were able to grab some flowers (discovered in the temple of the orcs) that make them immune to the poison, but not for long. They're in a race against time - not just to find more flowers, but also against the orcs that pursue them.
After they make it out of the ether, that's when the really war begins. They know the orcs will be coming for them in one, final battle, and they need to prepare.
Unlike some third books of trilogies, Battlemage doesn't suffer from the feeling that the story got rushed in order to make a deadline. There are some truly spectacular races against time, well-organised battles as if Matharu was truly there himself organising the varying sides. There are some tragedies, as in any war, that moved me immensely, which shows the power of Matharu's characterisation.
Overall, this was a brilliant trilogy that I would recommend to any fan of YA or fantasy or both.
After they make it out of the ether, that's when the really war begins. They know the orcs will be coming for them in one, final battle, and they need to prepare.
Unlike some third books of trilogies, Battlemage doesn't suffer from the feeling that the story got rushed in order to make a deadline. There are some truly spectacular races against time, well-organised battles as if Matharu was truly there himself organising the varying sides. There are some tragedies, as in any war, that moved me immensely, which shows the power of Matharu's characterisation.
Overall, this was a brilliant trilogy that I would recommend to any fan of YA or fantasy or both.
Review: The Inquisition, Taran Matharu
The Inquisition picks up a year after the end of the Novice. At the end of the tournament, the final big set piece of book 1, Fletcher is picked up by the Justices of the Peace (the Pinkertons), and is taken to prison back in Pelt.
Fletcher is put on trial for the murder of his nemesis in Pelt but, thanks to Arcturus, he is freed. However, trouble soon comes in the form of the rise in orc wars to the south. A secret plot has been discovered - the orcs are breeding thousands of goblins, and they need to be destroyed. Fletcher and other teams form to go into the orc jungles, find the eggs and destroy them.
The novel takes us away from Vocans and Corcillum, but the themes of friendship, politics, and identity remain. We delve a lot deeper into demon mythology and the origins of the wars between the orcs and the rest of the empire.
The suspense really builds in The Inquisition. There is a lot more present danger than in the last book, as Fletcher and his friends are not just looking over their shoulder for orcs but for the other teams as well, whom have set themselves as not just rivals but enemies as well. The worldbuilding and pace of their journey through the jungles is superbly written, with each page bringing new and fresh revelations about the world that Matharu has built.
Fletcher is put on trial for the murder of his nemesis in Pelt but, thanks to Arcturus, he is freed. However, trouble soon comes in the form of the rise in orc wars to the south. A secret plot has been discovered - the orcs are breeding thousands of goblins, and they need to be destroyed. Fletcher and other teams form to go into the orc jungles, find the eggs and destroy them.
The novel takes us away from Vocans and Corcillum, but the themes of friendship, politics, and identity remain. We delve a lot deeper into demon mythology and the origins of the wars between the orcs and the rest of the empire.
The suspense really builds in The Inquisition. There is a lot more present danger than in the last book, as Fletcher and his friends are not just looking over their shoulder for orcs but for the other teams as well, whom have set themselves as not just rivals but enemies as well. The worldbuilding and pace of their journey through the jungles is superbly written, with each page bringing new and fresh revelations about the world that Matharu has built.
The Novice - Taran Matharu
The Summoner Trilogy is made up of The Novice, The Inquisition, and The Battlemage. Matharu himself described the trilogy as Hogwarts meets Pokemon, which I think is a perfect description of the series.
The main character, Fletcher, lives in a village called Pelt in the north of the empire. He is an apprentice blacksmith to a man called Berdon, his adoptive father. Neither Fletcher or Berdon knows why Fletcher was abandoned as a baby outside the village.
A soldier comes to the village on market day, nicknamed Rotter (James Rotherham). He brings with him a book that turns out to be a diary by a Summoner, that also contains a summing scroll. Through an explosive sequence of events, Fletcher finds out he has the power to summon and a demon who Fletcher calls Ignatius appears.
Fletcher, frightened for his life, runs away and ends up in a city called Corcillum. He is picked up by a Battlemage who sends him to Vocans Academy.
At Vocans Academy, Fletcher makes both friends (including elves and dwarves, neither of whom are friendly with humans) and enemies of the upper class. The entire year culminates in a tournament - but I won't give that away.
This is a fantastic book, and a sorely needed addition to the YA fantasy market. It's well plotted with well-rounded out heroes and villains. There's a good undercurrent of themes of politics, rights and oppression, that are well explored. The novel ends on a good cliffhanger - more about that in my next review.
The main character, Fletcher, lives in a village called Pelt in the north of the empire. He is an apprentice blacksmith to a man called Berdon, his adoptive father. Neither Fletcher or Berdon knows why Fletcher was abandoned as a baby outside the village.
A soldier comes to the village on market day, nicknamed Rotter (James Rotherham). He brings with him a book that turns out to be a diary by a Summoner, that also contains a summing scroll. Through an explosive sequence of events, Fletcher finds out he has the power to summon and a demon who Fletcher calls Ignatius appears.
Fletcher, frightened for his life, runs away and ends up in a city called Corcillum. He is picked up by a Battlemage who sends him to Vocans Academy.
At Vocans Academy, Fletcher makes both friends (including elves and dwarves, neither of whom are friendly with humans) and enemies of the upper class. The entire year culminates in a tournament - but I won't give that away.
This is a fantastic book, and a sorely needed addition to the YA fantasy market. It's well plotted with well-rounded out heroes and villains. There's a good undercurrent of themes of politics, rights and oppression, that are well explored. The novel ends on a good cliffhanger - more about that in my next review.
Friday, 24 August 2018
Review: Jane Doe, by Victoria Helen Stone.
Jane is an unassuming, pretty, loyal woman who works at an insurance company in Minneapolis. Her meekness and insecurity makes her stand out to her manager, Steven Hepsworth, who quickly pursues her.
Too bad for Steven that Jane isn't who she says she is. She's revealed her real first name, but that's the only 'real' thing about her. It wasn't an accident that Jane works in a low-level entry position under Steven.
Jane is actually a high-flying attorney in Kuala Lumpur, but she has come back to Minneapolis for one reason. Revenge.
Jane's best friend, Meg, killed herself. What's the connection? Steven. Meg had previously been dating Steven in an on-off relationship for years. He was the classic hot and cold - he could be warm and generous one minute, then cruel and cold the next. For years, he whittled away at Meg's self-esteem until she could see no other way out.
And Jane will not accept that. So, she plays the long game, slowly letting herself be pursued by Steven, getting in with his family and his church, until she knows exactly what she can do to destroy his life like he did to her best friend's.
This book is definitely a page-turner. Each page brings some new point of dramatic tension or fresh new idea, and it's interesting to see Jane's frankness to the reader as a self-confessed sociopath feed into everything she's doing. She confesses that Meg is the only person who ever made her feel close to real, and the weight of grief and sorrow (not normal for her) that she felt when Meg passed away made her feel vengeful as hell.
There is some light relief, however, presented in Luke. Luke is an old boyfriend of Jane's from college, who quickly identifies her despite the dramatic change in her appearance. He provides the new normality in Jane's otherwise double life (although she obviously doesn't tell him what she's doing).
I would recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), Paula Hawkins, (The Girl On The Train), and Sophie Hannah.
Too bad for Steven that Jane isn't who she says she is. She's revealed her real first name, but that's the only 'real' thing about her. It wasn't an accident that Jane works in a low-level entry position under Steven.
Jane is actually a high-flying attorney in Kuala Lumpur, but she has come back to Minneapolis for one reason. Revenge.
Jane's best friend, Meg, killed herself. What's the connection? Steven. Meg had previously been dating Steven in an on-off relationship for years. He was the classic hot and cold - he could be warm and generous one minute, then cruel and cold the next. For years, he whittled away at Meg's self-esteem until she could see no other way out.
And Jane will not accept that. So, she plays the long game, slowly letting herself be pursued by Steven, getting in with his family and his church, until she knows exactly what she can do to destroy his life like he did to her best friend's.
This book is definitely a page-turner. Each page brings some new point of dramatic tension or fresh new idea, and it's interesting to see Jane's frankness to the reader as a self-confessed sociopath feed into everything she's doing. She confesses that Meg is the only person who ever made her feel close to real, and the weight of grief and sorrow (not normal for her) that she felt when Meg passed away made her feel vengeful as hell.
There is some light relief, however, presented in Luke. Luke is an old boyfriend of Jane's from college, who quickly identifies her despite the dramatic change in her appearance. He provides the new normality in Jane's otherwise double life (although she obviously doesn't tell him what she's doing).
I would recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl), Paula Hawkins, (The Girl On The Train), and Sophie Hannah.
Review: This Is Going To Hurt (Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor), by Adam Kay
I think this book should be required reading for anyone who has ever benefited from the NHS, or is a supporter of an NHS, or (God forbid) anyone who thought, during the government's war on the Junior Doctors, that they were being stubborn or greedy (they weren't).
It's not hard to see why the NHS is almost like a religion in this country. Unlike other countries (*cough USA cough*) there is literally no-one in the U.K. who would be afraid to go to the doctors' or the hospital because they couldn't afford to. (They'd be more worried they were just wasting the doctor's time). "From cradle to grave" was Nye Bevan's vision, and even though the NHS is on its knees, that much is generally still true.
But anyway. Back to the book. Adam Kay writes his book as a series of diary entries (some just a few sentences, some running over a couple of pages), from the first week on the wards to his final shift six years later. (No spoilers but... be prepared for the ending).
The entries run from the sublime to the ridiculous to the downright heartbreaking, and none of them are what ever any of us working outside of a hospital or doctor's surgery could call a 'normal' day's work. From retrieving objects from patient's anuses when they got a bit too experimental over Christmas, to having to perform 5 Caesareans in the same amount of hours, it seems that anything goes and you just have to meet it? Break times? For wusses. Food? Nah, you don't need it. Sleep? What, you mean you would like a rest in between the first five deliveries you've performed and the next five you'll have to do? Pfft.
Honestly, I knew life for junior doctors was hard but it's not until you read or hear the personal stories of someone who has done it for such a long time that you really appreciate just how much goodwill the NHS runs on. There are so many more stories from the book that I'd love to share here but I couldn't do them justice and I wouldn't want to deny anyone reading them for the first time.
So, please, if you love the NHS, if you value doctors, if you want to see them being actually treated by the government like the decent human beings they actually are, then please read this. And please do whatever you can to get involved to support them.
It's not hard to see why the NHS is almost like a religion in this country. Unlike other countries (*cough USA cough*) there is literally no-one in the U.K. who would be afraid to go to the doctors' or the hospital because they couldn't afford to. (They'd be more worried they were just wasting the doctor's time). "From cradle to grave" was Nye Bevan's vision, and even though the NHS is on its knees, that much is generally still true.
But anyway. Back to the book. Adam Kay writes his book as a series of diary entries (some just a few sentences, some running over a couple of pages), from the first week on the wards to his final shift six years later. (No spoilers but... be prepared for the ending).
The entries run from the sublime to the ridiculous to the downright heartbreaking, and none of them are what ever any of us working outside of a hospital or doctor's surgery could call a 'normal' day's work. From retrieving objects from patient's anuses when they got a bit too experimental over Christmas, to having to perform 5 Caesareans in the same amount of hours, it seems that anything goes and you just have to meet it? Break times? For wusses. Food? Nah, you don't need it. Sleep? What, you mean you would like a rest in between the first five deliveries you've performed and the next five you'll have to do? Pfft.
Honestly, I knew life for junior doctors was hard but it's not until you read or hear the personal stories of someone who has done it for such a long time that you really appreciate just how much goodwill the NHS runs on. There are so many more stories from the book that I'd love to share here but I couldn't do them justice and I wouldn't want to deny anyone reading them for the first time.
So, please, if you love the NHS, if you value doctors, if you want to see them being actually treated by the government like the decent human beings they actually are, then please read this. And please do whatever you can to get involved to support them.
Monday, 13 August 2018
Review: Hetty's Farmhouse Bakery, Cathy Bramley
Hetty is a farmer's wife up in Cumbria, but she longs for more than that. Both she and her husband put their lives on hold when Dan's father suddenly died and Dan wanted to take up the farm with Hetty by his side.
Over a decade later, and they're still at it, yet Hetty yearns for more, prompted by her daughter, Poppy, declaring the Aunt Naomi (Hetty's sister in law) is her inspiration.
It is actually Naomi who provides Hetty with the chance she's always wanted. On the pretext of having no pies for the farm shop's open day, Naomi persuades Hetty firstly to bake pies that could become own-brand produce for the shop, and then to enter it into a regional competition. Hetty's pie wins, so then gets invited to a national competition, Britain's Best Bites.
Hetty is thrilled but terrified in equal measure. The thought of becoming an entrepreneur while being a mum and a farmer's wife - particularly when the farmer is not being hugely supportive at first - is overwhelming, but she decides to take the opportunity while she can.
There are a whole range of fantastic characters in the book, from Hetty's best friend Anna, to the extended family beyond the farm. They all bring their own interesting backstories that play into the main plot without hijacking it, and there are plenty of twists along the way.
If you're a fan of Jojo Moyes authors like her, I would definitely recommend this book.
Over a decade later, and they're still at it, yet Hetty yearns for more, prompted by her daughter, Poppy, declaring the Aunt Naomi (Hetty's sister in law) is her inspiration.
It is actually Naomi who provides Hetty with the chance she's always wanted. On the pretext of having no pies for the farm shop's open day, Naomi persuades Hetty firstly to bake pies that could become own-brand produce for the shop, and then to enter it into a regional competition. Hetty's pie wins, so then gets invited to a national competition, Britain's Best Bites.
Hetty is thrilled but terrified in equal measure. The thought of becoming an entrepreneur while being a mum and a farmer's wife - particularly when the farmer is not being hugely supportive at first - is overwhelming, but she decides to take the opportunity while she can.
There are a whole range of fantastic characters in the book, from Hetty's best friend Anna, to the extended family beyond the farm. They all bring their own interesting backstories that play into the main plot without hijacking it, and there are plenty of twists along the way.
If you're a fan of Jojo Moyes authors like her, I would definitely recommend this book.
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