In my quest to collect and read all Hugo award winners (novels), I read the Dutch translation of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman this week. This is the first version of the book, without the extended middle section about life on earth in 2007.
It is the story of William Mandella, born in the 1970′s, intellectual, and forced into the army. In the 1990′s humankind has discovered how to ‘jump’ through space to cover many light years in the blink of an eye. On one of the expeditions the spacecraft from earth is attacked by the Taurans, an alien species. That is how the war starts, and Mandella is one of the first 100 soldiers in training to fight this unknown enemy. In the book the fighting expeditions that Mandella is sent on are described, coupled with the given fact that time passes much faster for those on earth than for those on the expeditions. The first time he returns this means that he has been away for a couple of months, but for his family it has been decades. Centuries are quickly added to this time, adding up to more than a thousand years that have passed. This also means that those fighting never know how far behind their techniques will be, and what they will find when they return to the base to report.
The book, while a bit dated in the science/technical side of the story, deals with this time difference very well. Everything changes on earth, not only scientific advances, but also language and culture. One time heterosexuality is taboo, then it’s not. Sometimes there is war, peace, rebellion, hunger, bliss etc. The book is said to be a reflection on the author’s time in the army during the Vietnam War, the alienation the soldiers felt when returning home and the futility of war. I can see that in this book, especially the alienation but also the author’s feelings about war, why it starts and the conscription of soldiers. For me, this is one of those books that keeps me thinking long after finishing it. Four out of five stars.

When I was buying books in England, this book was very hot. I even saw a display in an independent bookshop saying that the owner would sell this book for £3.00 less than the list price, just because she loved the book so much and wanted it to do well. On LibraryThing it is the same, it seems a lot of people are either reading or gushing over it. And it’s worth it.

This is the story of Marco and Celia, two young people living not quite so extraordinary lives in the late nineteenth century. They live in a world where magic is real, though hidden. It is also the story of the Night Circus, a circus out of the ordinary that appears suddenly, is only open between dusk and dawn, and where visitors can wander around and pick and choose which tents to visit and experience. And it is the story of Bailey, a boy enchanted by the circus.

I am really struggling to write a review without spoiling the magic of the book, and the winding of the story. The book is wonderful, it is not only a good story of love, magic, battle and winning over fate, but it has a whole magic mood around it, making you lose yourself in the book. Great for a rainy sunday afternoon. I really recommend this book to anyone enjoying a bit of magic in their stories. This is one of those books you wish you could read again for the first time. Five out of five stars.

Billy works at the Natural History Museum in London as a conservator of mollusks. One evening, when he is giving a tour of the museum’s Darwin Centre next door, he discovers that the main specimen on the tour, the giant squid, has vanished, tank and all. Without a trace and without any suspicious noises or traces.
Pretty soon Billy learns that there is a lot more to the world, and especially London, than he thinks. He gets involved into the investigation of why the squid was stolen, by whom, and how to stop the apparent impending apocalypse. A lot of magic, gods and beliefs are involved.
The writing in Kraken can sometimes be a bit confusing, because such a lot is going on at any one time, all of it being very weird. However, I loved the world and history Miéville created in this book, which reminded me of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Miéville’s gods and magic is a lot stranger though. At the heart of it all was a good action packed mystery to prevent the end of the world. Four out of five stars.

After reading ‘The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society’, a book about the letters between a book club and a writer, a long while back, ’84 Charing Cross Road’ was recommended to me many times. It took me a while to find it (I like finding my books in a real store instead of ordering online) and two days ago I did, at the wonderful Scarthin Books in Cromford.
My copy contains both 84 Charing Cross road and the Dutchess of Bloomsbury. The first book is the correspondence between the writer, Helene Hanff in New York and mainly Frank Doel, a book seller at Marks & Co in London. The correspondence spans twenty years, from just after the war. The second book is about what happened after the first book was published, namely that Helene finally travels to London and meets some of the people she wrote, and fans of the book.
The quirky, dry humor in Helene’s letters make it a fun and endearing read, and the reactions are sweet and fun too. The trip to London, described in diary style is great, Helene Hanff really was special. It is a great book for booklovers and those who love epistolary novels. For me, this was a five out of five stars read.

Another Doctor Who book, about the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack Harkness. While traveling in the TARDIS, they pick up a distress signal from an abandoned Russian Naval base. They head down to investigate and find that the villagers are dying unusual deaths, they say by a vampire like creature from folklore. The story quickly becomes a mystery the trio needs to solve to save the villagers and themselves.
The book is a fast read that feels like an episode of the TV show. The Doctor has a some very funny and cheeky lines, Captain Jack doesn’t like authoritative figured and Rose does the best she can. A light, fun read. Four out of five stars.

China Mieville said in an interview I once read that he wants to write books in every genre. Previous books I read by him could be classified as steampunk, science fiction or detective books, and this one is a childrens/teen adventure fantasy.
This is the story of Zanna and Deeba who discover the strange world of UnLondon, a world parallel to their London, where everything is slightly different. Giraffes are murderous predators and roam the streets. Umbrellas (unbrellas) are broken but live. Trash can be a pet. Everything is slightly weird. The people there believe Zanna is the chosen one, and they need her to save their city from Smog, sentient pollution that wants to rule UnLondon.
The book is filled with action, mysteries, funny un-things, beautiful drawings by Miéville himself and heroics. The story does seem a bit similar in premise to that of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, but goes its own way and does its own thing. It is a light fun and fast-paced read, good for old and young alike. Four out of five stars.

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through the You Review program of The American Book Centre.

The Departure by Neal Asher is the first installment of his new space opera series, Owner. It is the origin story of Alan Saul, Owner of Worlds and how he became what I assume he will be in the later parts of the series.

It is the twenty-second century, and earth is ruled by a Director and a Committee. The population has risen by billions to unsustainable levels, and to ensure their own survival, people have given up pretty much all their freedoms. The Committee is a ruthless, all knowing, all governing, all consuming structure, that determines who lives and who dies. In this world, Alan Saul wakes up, in a box on a conveyor belt, heading for an incinerator. He doesn’t remember anything about the time before that, but he slowly figures out his potential when he is contacted by a com life living inside the successor to the Internet, GovNet. He can tap into the network using nothing but his mind, and uses this to regain his freedom.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I can see how Asher sets the scene for further parts in this series, and how this is just the beginning. The world Asher creates, with regard to technology and scientific development sounds realistic. On the other hand, the balance of this book was strange sometimes. A lot of time is spent explaining how the world is and how it came to be that way, either by sections at the start of each chapter, or by the characters reminding themselves. Especially that last way of describing it felt forced. Also, any deaths or attacks in the book were described pretty graphically, which wasn’t always necessary for the story itself. Lastly, the characters were a bit lifeless. Saul, Var and Hannah felt more like a type than a real person, and that made me care less about the story.

This first part in the Owner series made me curious for the coming installments, but I do think it might need those other books to really come into its own. For me, this book is now three out of five stars.

Another book in the Hainish cycle of loosely connected science fiction books by Urusla Le Guin, this one, called City of Illusions in English, is about a man who comes from a forest, remembering nothing, not even his own name. The House of Zove take him in, despite his strange cat-like eyes, and teach him about the world, Earth in the far future. Earth is controlled by the Shing, a group that is known for always lying. So how can Falk, the man, know what is true, and who is telling the truth. A group of people that say that they always lie, are they lying when they say that? Are the people from the House just rebellious and slanderous when they say that the Shing lie? Slowly Falk unravels the mystery of who he is, why he has lost his memories, and needs his whole mind to figure out what to do about his situation.
Even though this is a pretty short book (my version is only 186 pages), a lot is going on. Falk’s education, Falk’s travel, and his arrival in the city of the Shing and his mental mystery. I really liked the problems that Falk runs into, how he mentally solves them, and how the whole story comes together in the end, including the small hints that both I as the reader and Falk didn’t understand at the time. Four out of five stars.

A couple of months ago I finally watched the new Doctor Who series from it’s first season (2005, ninth Doctor) up to the last episode of season six before the break, and I was hooked. I love all three Doctors and don’t really have a favorite (although bow-ties are cool). There is also a series of books that takes place in the same timeline with the same people as the show. Our library has the first and second book of the new series, so I decided to try one.
This book is about Rose and the ninth Doctor. It’s Rose’s first trip to an alien planet, and it all goes wrong in the first few pages. The Doctor and Rose get caught and separated. While they are trying to reunite, they find out that something bad is going on in this universe of justice planets.
At first I found it weird to read the thoughts and emotions of these characters I feel I know so well from the TV show. I thought that Rose was a lot more emotional in the beginning of the book than in the TV show, but then again, I may be remembering just the later, powerful Rose who has seen it all. Soon the book turned into a real Doctor Who adventure, and it was fun to see some of the monsters I knew from the TV show again. I hope to read more of these stories in the future. Four out of five stars for the fun and memories.

This historical novel is about the Codex Gigas, the Devil’s Bible, the largest medieval manuscript in the world. It is said this book was written by fallen monk, who was walled up as a penalty. He promised to write a book to glorify the monastery in one night, and to complete this task he asked the devil to help him. In this story this caused the book to have enormous power. Seven monks are charged to protect it, hidden away in a monastery, but many people want to find it, to unleash its power.
The book follows several characters in late sixteenth century who are all connect to the Devil’s Bible, some want to use it, some want to get rid of it, some don’t know it but their lives revolve around it. All are trying desperately to find it, and the monks are trying to prevent this from happening. The story is pretty fast paced, filled with love, intrigue, mysteries and mad kings. I couldn’t put it down, I found it original and very good. The writer, Richard Dübell, shows the backstory with some short chapters, and then just lets the story play out, leading the reader around. Not all of it is very predictable, making it a fun read that fits into the real history pretty well. Four out of five stars.