Review: Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor

Sarah and Robert are sure their number is up when their aeroplane crashes over the Australian desert. But this is no ordinary air disaster. A meteorite strike has impacted Earth, bringing with it a deadly alien disease. Thousands fall victim to the virus, falling into a deep coma. Luckily, Robert and Sarah appear to be unaffected - until they begin to exhibit some extraordinary psychic side-effects. This quickly makes them a target for HIDRA, a rogue international agency determined to experiment on them like lab rats in an attempt to control their superpowers. Before long, the children are captured in HIDRA's secret desert HQ, a prison for superhuman kids who can control fire, create storms and tear steel with their minds. This new generation of superheroes must join forces if they are to escape HIDRA. But what kind of world awaits them outside?

Watch out Walden, Craig and Muchamore.... there's a new kid on the block and he's good. Thanks to the generous folks at Usborne I managed to Twitter win/blag a copy of the first book in Mr Taylor's Superhumans series, and I enjoyed it immensely. Amazon.co.uk have it scheduled for a 29th January 2010 publication date so not too long to wait for this.

The premise is not eaxctly original - groups of young people developing superpowers and learning how to use them has been seen a lot in the last decade, with the X-Men movies and then the Heroes TV series. Joe Craig has covered some similar ground with his Jimmy Coates series, as has Sophie McKenzie with her Meduda Project. So, having seen it all before, what made this book so enjoyable? Firstly the pace - Mr Taylor really does deliver a white-knuckle ride full of tense action scenes. Without giving too much away, the climatic battle scene is a real page-turner; I was late picking my wife up from the station because I really wanted to see how things were brought to a conclusion for our heroes. Ooops!

His characters are also very believable and, for a debut novel, I was impressed with how quickly I became involved in their story. The relationship between brother and sister Sarah and Robert is well observed - their mother has recently died and long-absent father is suddenly on the scene to look after them, creating tension and confusion, with a healthy dose of mistrust on Sarah's part. Mr Taylor uses the events in the story well to help bring these characters together. I also liked the fact that unlike Sarah and Robert, the majority of people in the story have no immunity to this virus from outer space - an original concept that adds another element to the traditional kids with super powers premise.

The Bookseller has described Meteorite Strike as a "...heart-racing, breath-stopping thriller. There’s a cinematic quality to this adrenaline-fuelled adventure." and I can agree with this whole-heartedly. This is most definitely a book that will appeal to action-loving boys of all ages. It is also the first in a new series, with the second book, Alien Storm, scheduled for release later in 2010. 

Review: Pastworld by Ian Beck

Pastworld. A city within a city. A city for excursions and outings. Pastworld is a theme park with a difference, where travellers can travel back in time for a brush with an authentic Victorian past. But what if the Jack the Ripper figure stopped play-acting and really started killing people? For Caleb, a tourist from the present day, his visit goes terribly wrong when his father is kidnapped and he finds himself accused of murder. Then Caleb meets Eva Rose, a Pastworld inhabitant who has no idea the modern world exists. Both Caleb and Eva have roles to play in the murderer's diabolical plans - roles that reveal disturbing truths about their origins.

I liken this book to an 80s Arnold Swarzenneger action movie - I liked it, but felt guilty for liking it because of its faults. However, like any good teacher I always prefer to start with the positives, the biggest of which is the premise for this book - turning London into a glorified Victorian theme park is a stroke of genius. Not only that, but the descriptive writing about the city is very good as well. Ian Beck is obviously a fan of Dickens, Holmes and general Victoriana; either that or he has researched his subject very well as his writing about the Victorian London environment and its inhabitants seems pretty accurate, and the detail he goes into means you are easily able to visualise being there yourself. 

And so....onto the book's faults. Firstly, I am still not sure who is supposed to be the main character in the story - is it Eve or is it Caleb? Eve is introduced first, but all of her main scenes are written in the first person in the form of her journal, and even then these scenes are pretty thin on the ground. So is it then Caleb, who doesn't even appear in the story until Chapter 8? Certainly his scenes are written in much greater detail, and most of the action set-pieces centre around him. Mr Beck also changes the character point of view regularly throughout the story..... at one point we're with Caleb, then the Artful Dodger-esque Bible J, then Inspector Lestrade, then the merciless villain known as the Fantom. Sometimes these changes between characters occur at the end of chapters, or with spaced breaks within chapters, but this wasn't always so fluid in the build up to the story's climax - something that may confuse younger readers.

I am also not entirely sure of the age group this book is aimed at. The twist in the plot is fairly obvious for older readers, but some parents may not be happy with the level of violence within the story where younger readers are concerned.

Faults aside, as i have already said, I enjoyed reading this,in fact I struggled to put it down in the last 100 pages, and Mr Beck has left it open for a sequel; hopefully we will see further development of the main characters when this is written.

Review: A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin

When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford - Samuel Johnson In fact, Dr Johnson was only half right. There is in London much more than life - there is power. It ebbs and flows with the rhythms of the city, makes runes from the alignments of ancient streets and hums with the rattle of trains and buses; it waxes and wanes with the patterns of the business day. It is a new kind of magic: urban magic. Enter a London where magicians ride the Last Train, implore favours of The Beggar King and interpret the insane wisdom of The Bag Lady. Enter a London where beings of power soar with the pigeons and scrabble with the rats, and seek insight in the half-whispered madness of the blue electric angels. Enter the London of Matthew Swift, where rival sorcerers, hidden in plain sight, do battle for the very soul of the city ...

Ooops.... I bought this book by mistake! Hey, at least I am honest! I read the synopsis on Amazon and assumed that it was a YA novel. It was only as I started reading the first chapter that I realised that it was definitely written for the adult urban fantasy market. A little research revealed that Kate Griffin is the name that the brilliant Carnegie Medal-nominated author, Catherine Webb, uses when writing fantasy novels for adults. Being a big fan of Ms Webb's Horatio Lyle series, and already being intrigued by the style of her prose in the opening chapters of the book, I decided to read on.... and I definitely wasn't disappointed.

So what is a review of this book doing on a blog about books suitable for boys? Well, firstly I wouldn't want someone to make the same mistake as I did by buying the book thinking it was aimed at the YA market, and secondly it is a very good read for any older boys who have grown up on a diet of Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman and want to progress onto something a little more challenging. And it is challenging - it took me a while to get into it, but once I did I couldn't put it down. Ms Griffin's prose slowly draws you in and before you know it another hour has passed.

So what attracted me to this book in the first place? Simply put.... I love historical and urban fantasy books set in London. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman is one of my all time favourites, and I thought the Stoneheart trilogy by Charlie Fletcher was amazing, so the synopsis for A Madness of Angels was a a big pull. 

Apart from her beautiful prose there are two other things that really stood out from this story for me. The first is the characters, which are all finely crafted. The author puts the same amount of love and care goes into the creation of the secondary characters as she does into Matthew Swift, her main character. But for me the characterisation is overshadowed by one thing - Ms Griffin's descriptions of London and the magic she has imagined there. Since reading Neverwhere and Charlie Fletcher's trilogy, visits to London have never seemed the same, and A Madness of Angels has now added to that sense of magic that I feel whilst walking around the capital.