Reading Challenge - 45 to 49

45 - Watership Down by Richard Adams
Watership Down comes highly recommended, and won a fair number of prizes on the last 40 years. A story where the main (well, almost all) characters are bunnies. Actual rabbits hopping about the English countryside.

Despite the fact that it is clearly stated that these are rabbits (with one in the cover), not a human version with bunny ears, I kept having trouble picturing them as animals (I kept seeing them as Hobbits, go figure! - except for General Woundwort, that I imagined as a tiny Napoleon).

The rabbits were likeable and funny, and a bit stupid most of the time (seriously, did it take them that long to realise they were all males!?), but they were still able to come up with some inventive plans.

What I liked the most on this book were the stories of El-ahrairah, the ultimate trickster, of how he always managed to (cunningly) get his way.

It was an enjoyable book, but not as much as all the recommendations lead me to believe it would be.

(3.5/5)

46 - The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
I've sat around pretending to be writing this review for a long time, when all I really want to say is: “This book is awesome! Go read it!” - There it is, I've said it.


[Full Review]

(4.5/5)



47 - Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn

Set in a Japan-but-not-Japan land, i.e., a heavily Japanese inspired land, full with its most traditional costumes, and samurais and ninjas, but not bound by the need to be totally accurate, because it's fantasy. But even the term fantasy is used very loosely here. There are hints of some things that may be magical. A term that I rarely use, but which I like, and fits this book is Speculative Fiction – a what if? kind of book.


This is the first book in the series, but can easily be read as a standalone. I will read the next ones because I loved this one.


[Full Review]

(4.5/5)


48 - The Beginning Place by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Beginning Place in a coming-of-age story, but different from usual. Although the two main characters, Hugh and Irena, are young, they are not in the usual age group for these stories, they are not teenagers, they are past the age when people become adults. Yet they are not fully there.

They both find the Beginning Place while running away, and so, it becomes their safe haven, their hiding place. But they don't find it together, first it is Irena, who has time to get to know Tembreabrezi and their language. But when she discovers Hugh in “her place”, trespassing, tainting what she thought was pure, she can only hate him.

The Beginning Place is a fantastical place, where time goes in a much different fashion than the outside world. They can spend a day there and only a few hours would have gone by outside. They can have adventures there. It's a bit like Narnia, but more barren, eerier, darker.

I can describe this book as being quiet and subdued, but deep and memorable. I enjoyed it a lot, slowly seeing the characters grow, become adults and free themselves from what was holding them back.

(4/5)

49 - Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Touched by an Alien is the story of Katherine “Kitty” Katt, who goes from being a marketing manager in Pueblo Caliente to helping an Alien Agency protect the Earth from nasty things from Space. The thing is, all the aliens in this agency are drop dead gorgeous (the author turned a major flaw in romance fiction into a feature!), and the hunk (Armani-clad!) that first appears to help her is ready to make his moves on her.

If you're a big romance fan, and don't care much about getting the science right, this book is probably for you. If you, like me, like your science fiction to be more about science, you can still enjoy this book as light reading, for the romance and the chuckles.

[Full Review]

(3.5/5)

Touched by an Alien by Gini Koch

Touched by an Alien
Touched by an Alien is the story of Katherine “Kitty” Katt, who goes from being a marketing manager in Pueblo Caliente to helping an Alien Agency protect the Earth from nasty things from Space. The thing is, all the aliens in this agency are drop dead gorgeous (the author turned a major flaw in romance fiction into a feature!), and the hunk (Armani-clad!) that first appears to help her is ready to make his moves on her.

The book drops you right into the action. One minute Kitty is leaving the court house, the next a man sprouts huge wings and starts attacking everyone. Not to be cowered, Kitty rummages her purse in search of a suitable weapon, finds a pen, gets off her high heel shoes (sensible girl!) and goes for the kill.

When the Armani-clad hunk, Jeff Martini, appears to save the day, the day is quite saved already. Of course there needs to be some damage control, after all a winged monster just appeared in broad daylight and started to attack people, so Kitty is escorted by Martini and the rest of his entourage (all of them male, all of them gorgeous) to a safe place.

And then the flirting starts. Because Martini is very impressed with our girl and makes his claim soon enough. And keeps doing it, to the point that I felt like screaming “Down, boy!” (later I realised I should also have been saying “Down, girl!”).

After the initial action the plot starts to drag a bit, mostly because there is a lot of information being dumped on the reader (and on Kitty, I suppose), but since it is all new, aliens and monsters and other things from space, it's to be expected. Once the plot is moving again, it becomes much better, and goes much faster. And faster means fast, because this book is a page turner, and what is refreshing is that it does not rely on cliffhangers – you genuinely want to know what happens next.

The story was entertaining, and I was chuckling on the right parts at the beginning. Then the jokes got old, and I started to get a bit tired of all the banter. Because if there is something in this book is a lot of banter between characters. There are a lot of cheesy lines (and cheesy pick-up lines), and they soon lose their charm. Also, some of the characters lose a bit of their charm towards the end of the book, especially Kitty (so sensible in the beginning, taking of her shoes before running, only to end up going into a battle with her purse. And her iPod. And her hairspray).

As a Fantasy and Science Fiction aficionado I had some trouble with the believability of this book. This book gets its Science Fiction more from blockbuster movies than the genre literature. There are explosions, monsters, parasites and aliens, but most ends up serving as backdrop to the romance. But there is some development of the plot, and that, I liked. I liked the story of the parasites (once they were on Earth, that is. The idea of jellyfish-like parasites travelling on Space... *shudders*) and the aliens, and even the religion aspect of it.

On the romance part, though, I have nothing to complain about. Well, it was predictable with whom our heroine was going to end up with, but I don't think the author ever wanted it to be a mystery. There was also a hint of what could have been a love triangle, but it was dealt with as a means to character development and not to throw angst at the reader.

If you're a big romance fan, and don't care much about getting the science right, this book is probably for you. If you, like me, like your science fiction to be more about science, you can still enjoy this book as light reading, for the romance and the chuckles.

(3.5/5)