My Book of the Month - October

So many great books have been released over the past month that making my decision for the Book Zone Book of the Month for October was possibly one of the hardest so far. Just look at this list of very worthy contenders:

• The Dead of Winter by Chris Priestley
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
• Bartimaeus: The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud
• Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
• The Dark by David Gatward
• The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey (review to come soon)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading every single one of these books as you will know if you have read any of the reviews I wrote for them. However, in the end I have decided to proclaim that the Book Zone Book of the Month for October is The Dark by David Gatward, and it seems pretty fitting to be announcing this on the night of Halloween.

I thought that David Gatward's first book in this series, The Dead, was a superb debut, but I also stated at the time that I felt that it was too short by some fifty pages or so. Thus I was overjoyed, on receiving a copy of the sequel, to find that it was significantly longer, as this would show whether the author could produce a continuation of equally high quality, and maintain this over a greater number of chapters. The verdict was resoundingly positive, and in my review I wrote the following:

If you are a fan of the work of Darren Shan and have not yet discovered this series then it is well worth reading. Dave Gatward certainly knows his horror, and at times this series comes across as his personal homage to the horror films he has loved for most of his life. As an adult reader there were several times when I felt a knowing grin creep onto my face as I spotted a subtle reference here and there. Many of these will be lost on David's younger target audience, but this is the kind of book that will inspire them to become lifelong lovers of the horror genre, both written and cinematic, and they will be able to look forward to spotting these fanboy references, but in reverse.

Review: Bartimaeus - The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud

Bartimaeus, the djinni with attitude, is back. The inimitably insolent Bartimaeus has returned - as a slave to King Solomon, wielder of the all-powerful Ring. Until a girl assassin shows up with more than just murder on her mind and things start to get.... interesting.

Shocking although this may sound coming from someone who writes a blog about books for children and Young Adults, but I only read the original Bartimaeus trilogy for the first time at the beginning of this year. For this reason they never featured in my personal Top 20 books of the last decade, something I would rectify if only I could travel back in time. However, to look on the bright side, I therefore only had a few months to wait between finishing Ptolemy's Gate, and receiving a proof of a new book featuring Jonathan Stroud's awe-inspiring creation, the djinni Bartimaeus.

If you're currently in the position I was in back in January then have no fear, you do not have to read through the original trilogy before diving into this book as it is not a continuation of the series. I guess it could best be described as a prequel, although not in the sense that it is creating back-story to lead into The Amulet of Samarkand, the first book in the trilogy. In the books in that original series we were treated to many, many footnotes, some of which alluded to events from Bartimaeus's past, and the vast array of magicians he had served throughout his very long life. So in this outing we find ourselves in Jerusalem and its surrounding area in the year 950 BC, a period when Solomon was on the throne, a ruler seen by many to be a ruthless magician of exceptional power, thanks to the all-powerful ring that he wears at all times.

The beginning of the story sees Bartimaeus being summoned by Khaba, a cruel and very ambitious magician. Khaba is one of a select group of magicians who serve the mighty Solomon, each of which has a djinn, or some other sort of spirit, bound to them in a form of magical slavery. These magicians do not actually hold any magical abilities themselves, all their powers come from the spirits that they control. Mastery of spirits is not an easy task, and these men have spent years learning and mastering the incantations that will summon and bind a spirit to them. Most spirits resent this enforced servitude, and Bartimaeus is no exception; he is constantly seeking ways to break the control his master has over him (something that would prove rather bad for Khaba's health).

As well as Bartimaeus and Khaba, in The Ring of Solomon we are introduced to a huge array of colourful characters, both human and otherworldly. There is Asmira, a young assassin sent by the Queen of Sheba to deal with Solomon and steal the fabled ring, before the king invades their lands. Asmira is devoted to her queen, she has grown up in a society where the females are the warriors and royal guards and she has been waiting all of her relatively short life for the opportunity to serve her queen in this way. Asmira's quest brings a heavy does of action and adventure to the story, in a plot that is almost as fast paced as it is funny. Much of the humour comes from the interaction between Bartimaeus and the many other spirits, although there are also many deliciously funny scenes shared by Bartimaeus and Asmira as she binds him to her in order to aid her reach her goal.

If you haven't 'met' Bartimaeus yet then you are in for one hell of a treat - in my opinion he is one of the greatest character creations in modern children's literature, and he is certainly in my top ten favourite characters from any book, adult or child. He is every naughty schoolboy you ever knew, but with an an adult sense of humour based on sarcasm developed over centuries. He is arrogant, witty, irascible, mischievous, intelligent, lazy.... I could go on and on! He is the kind of character that most children's authors might dream of creating, but Jonathan Stroud got there first and not only that, but he has the writing skills to make us come back for more and more. However, one small word of warning - I know several people who have tried reading a Bartimaeus book and have nearly given up after a few chapters; if you find yourself not 'getting' him then please persevere - he really will grow on you.

Another element of these stories that some readers have not warmed to is Jonathan Stroud's extensive use of footnotes. The author uses these for many reasons: at times they add detail; they provide back history; they can add humour to the story. Personally I love these and feel that they make the stories even more uniquely special, but others have found that they interrupt the flow of the story and their reading pleasure is thereby diminished slightly. At the end of the day, this is all down to personal preference; I guess the story could be read without them, but as I have never tried to do this then it is something I couldn't state for definite.

The Ring of Solomon is definitely a book for the more confident of young readers, but it is also a book that can be thoroughly enjoyed by all ages, from 11 upwards. And yes, I am including adults in this. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if there are more adult fans of Bartimaeus than there are younger fans. I am sure that there will be many readers who will pick this book up, discover the irascible djinn for the first time and then want to read more, thus adding to the already huge group of Bartimaeus fans out there. Whatsmore, with five thousand years of Bartimaeus history to cover, Mr Stroud could be writing these for many years to come. Bartimaeus: the Ring of Solomon was released on 14th October, and my thanks go to Rosi at Random House for sending me a copy to review.

Review: Mo-Bot High by Neill Cameron

Asha’s new school is insane. Everyone has giant robots that launch out of their mobile phones! She’s only been there five minutes when the school bully challenges her to a fight. So now it’s not just about figuring out who’s cool and who isn’t. She has to learn to pilot her Mo-bot. And fast. But while Asha gets to grips with her Mo-bot’s moves and customises her DMC, she’s being watched… Her piloting skills are about to be put to the ultimate test, and there’s nothing her new friends can do to help.

This is a pretty rare thing on The Book Zone - a review for a book where the main character and all the key secondary characters are female, and there is hardly a boy in sight. And yet it is still nothing short of brilliant and a must-read for any graphic novel-loving boys of aged 9+, especially if they love manga and have grown up watching any of a variety of made-for-kids anime on TV. Add to that the fact that this is another release from the brilliant DFC Library and you know you have a quality publication in your hands.

Asha is the new girl at school, having moved with her father from London to small-town-Britain Middleford. She has the same worries that any new student at a school has - will she fit in? Will she make friends? Will she be bullied? But many of these concerns get pushed to the back of her mind within minutes of her first walking through the school gates when she witnesses her first Digital Mobile Combat (DMC) bout, i.e. two big digital robots beating the crud out of each other in the school playground. And these robots come out of any regular mobile phone. A little weird, yes? But not to all the other students at Midford High who just take it all as the norm. Asha, with jaw still almost touching the ground, is then rudely reminded of her earlier concerns as she comes face to face with the school bullies, a group of girls determined to assert their authority over the newbie, but obviously they do this Midford way - by challenging her to a Mo-Bot duel. Asha has to very quickly learn how to control the digital mechanoid that leaps out of her phone, but it very quickly becomes apparent that Asha is something of a natural.

Behind the day-to-day scenes at the school there is something else more sinister seeming going on. The dinner ladies and cleaners are very obviously linked to the software that is sent to the students' phones, and they very quickly have their eye on the new girl, proclaiming her to be "the anomaly they've been preparing for, all this time" .... "the Harbinger". The use of the school's domestic staff as insiders to an as yet unknown plot, whilst the Headteacher runs around trying to sort out the everyday goings on of a typical high school (whilst totally unaware of all the Mo-Bot stuff) is both very clever and also adds a delightful touch of humour to the proceedings (I shall certainly be keeping an closer eye on our school dining room staff in the future).

In this book we find out little more regarding the so-called Harbinger as this is only the first instalment in the Mo-Bot series, and is very much about setting the scene for what is still to come. This worries me a little, as The DFC Library is still in its infancy and there is no guarantee that it will continue so will we see more from Neill Cameron's Mo-Bots in the future? I really do hope so as this is hi-octane stuff and I would love to see where Neil takes the story in the future. That said, even if we never see a continuation of the series this is still a book that sits nicely on my shelf along with my other DFC Library favourites and is well worth buying for the set-up story and the artwork alone.

Yes, the artwork - I haven't mentioned this yet. Heavily influenced by manga and anime Mr Cameron's work is incredibly dynamic and bursting with colour during the superb robot fight action sequences, and then suitably toned down for the day-to-day school scenes. He also brings a great sense of menace to his pages whenever the story shifts its focus to the machinations of the sinister dinner ladies. As the books has very few male main characters the palette is occasionally a little more feminine than some graphic novels, but that is so much the case with a lot of the Japanese output where incredibly popular and long-running series often feature female main characters. The focus on girls also means that between the robo-battle scenes they occasionally discuss the 'fashion' of their Mob-Bots, and what makes a good colour scheme, etc. This should not put off many boy readers as it somehow just makes those quieter moments more true-to-life.

In Mo-Bot High Neill Cameron has delivered a modern comic book that has strong appeal to both boys and girls and he should be commended for this - I hope we see much more from this series in the future, but that will only happen if fans of this method of storytelling go out and buy copies of the various DFC Library releases. Believe me, they are well worth it. The book was released on the 28th October and should therefore be in many good book stores by now. My thanks go to the kind people at David Fickling Books for sending me a copy of this to review.