Not So Much Book Reviews as Book Rambles and a Note
Not So Much a Book Review As a Book Ramble: Part I: Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz
Okay, so first of all, I love the Alex Rider series. I find it wonderful with the right blend of action, suspense, humour and mystery for my taste. Anthony Horowitz writes like some sort of writing god. I always start out reading his books feeling silly - usually the lettering is too big and the lines too far apart for my tastes, and at first glance of each new book I can't help but think that his writing style is so easy; but it grips me. It's unnoticeable as you're reading along without any real firm opinion of the book (be it Nightwish, Snakehead or Scorpia) and then all of a sudden you find yourself unable to stop reading. You just can't put the book down or stop turning the pages, and it has you right where it wants you - much like the tv series, Bones.
I'm sad to say, however, that even though I've been looking forward to this book since I read Ark Angel two years ago and that excitement doubled when I got my hands on Nightwish at the start of the year, Snakehead didn't quite live up to what I expected.
I had already considered Ark Angel somewhat of a disappointment after Scorpia, and so I had high hopes that Snakehead would, as the last book in the series, be the most brilliant of the lot. But even as early as the four young Australian SAS men taking Alex to the beach, I was frowning with slight dislike. Alex was acting stupid and not at all like he'd spent major parts of the year being a spy. He was being naïve and hopeful in his thinking, which may very well have helped his survival but it didn't sit right with me in either case.
Going from a training war zone into a sealed off area with DANGER signs, should also have given him a clue that there was a minefield ahead. Even the Australians wouldn't fence off an area for no good reason, but I have to give Horowitz this: the "soldier" was a nice touch for a moment.
I continued with mild worry that the book would not get any better, especially when Alex decided to go back into the car with the four SAS men who had (as he then thought) practically killed him. I would be highly suspicious as to why that was - especially when they explained themselves that the sounds had made them realize their mistake when they'd earlier said that there'd be training going on.
I continued without much of an opinion for some pages, annoyed at Jack (who I can't bring myself to like anymore) and a brief flare of hope at Alex when he went into ASIS. But I did not like Ash being introduced into the plot. It's hard not to become suspicious of new characters, and Ash was no exception. Especially when he turned out to be Alex's godfather and having been present at their deaths. So I didn't trust him, and I had my reasons:
1. New characters with a key role in Horowitz's books end up either being (a) bad or (b) dead.
2. There had not been a single mention of him in the earlier books. Not a whisper. Alex no doubt has pictures of his parents wedding - there should have been something about him from the start.
3. Nothing quite like fucking with Alex's already non-existent family by adding an unknown godfather and having him betray Alex at some point.
4. Bad things kept happening.
But once again Horowitz had decided to go with an insane plot to kill a lot of people, and considering where he positioned Alex, I was interested in see how it turned out. The fight, flee, fire scene was excellently written and typically Horowitz. The rats an especially nice touch.
I was pleased to see M16 reappear, along with Fox. It would hardly be a good ending for the series if Alex didn't get his finish with M16, and to be honest, I loved the SAS training team from Stormbreaker.
The book continued being good, despite my constant frowning at Ash, though Alex getting his fingerprint onto the Royal Blue was all too easy, but then - in action books and movies, certain things have to be. Alex was brilliant in getting off the boat - a fine display of improbable skill, luck and timing, though I had an overwhelming urge to call him an idiot when he called Ash. Especially when he found out Ash was around after they'd gotten seperated, because despite what Alex may have thought: Ash does not have a magical unicorn in his pocket ready for handy transportation. Getting seperated from Alex back in Indonesia and suddenly reappearing in Darwin when Alex called should have sent major warning bells ringing.
The dinner conversation with Major Yu was informative but cliche. After all, the plot would go so much slower if the bad guy doesn't always feel the overwhelming urge to spill their guts to the hero because they're overconfident and stupid. Alex acted surprised at Major Yu's madness, when in fact, he'd had the same experience back on Skeleton Key which seemed to have been erased from his mind completely.
But here is where I think Horowitz really did his best work during the book: the organ-stealing hospital in the Australian jungle. Chilling, exciting, interesting and new. Brief moment to wonder how this could ever really work out for Alex, and then Alex's three best friends reared their head again: improbable skill, luck and timing.
I continued reading happily from then on, even through Alex's MacGyver moment where he charged his watch with a battery from his shoe, and Ash's pathetic death, until I came to the last chapter.
Not so bad as Deathly Hallows' 19 Years Later, but close. I'd always carried the hope with me that Alex would go in for M16 in the end. A silly little hope, since I think I can recall Horowitz's declaring with some certainty at one point that it wouldn't happen, and the fact that Alex is like a yo-yo on that front. Still, when he's older, there is the chance he'll return to work for them, or at least I can hope.
As long as he doesn't settle down with Sabina as his wife and Jack as his next door neighbour and four plump (or not) children running around in the backyard somewhere in London, I think I will be happy with Alex's ending.
But still, I can't deny I'd be happier if Sabina was dead.
Not So Much a Book Review As a Book Ramble: Part II: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I picked this book up without much thought. I was stuck together with Liisa in a mall, there was a clown/pirate and a rhino dancing behind me and singing about how books are good and make you less stupid, and so I really just grabbed it and hoped I'd be lucky with the quality as I fled the scene. My first thoughts about it, once I had a chance to study it, was that I should at one point lend it to my father, and that the author looked quite handsome. Like a mix between Greg Grunberg and someone I can't place my finger on.
And I started reading, liking it just fine with no special opinions of it other than "this is good" until Part Four: The Standover Man. From then on, the book slowly took my heart and crushed it. I fell in love with Max as a character. He was sweet and reduced to nothing, and so it was impossible to not feel sorry for him. Liesel and Max combined made my heart clench and weep, and I kept record. From Part Four and onward, I wept close to 15 times.
There are such powerful pieces of writing in the book, surrounded by simple sentences and situations. I can't really properly write down my thoughts and my love for this book, and so the only real thing I can do is show you the quotes that truly captured my attention and got my heart stuck in my throat.
It kills me sometimes, how humans die.
*
"Max," she said. He turned and briefly closed his eyes as the girl continued. "There was once a strange, small man," she said. Her arms were loose but her hands were fists at her sides. "But there was a word shaker, too."
One of the Jews on his way to Dachau had stopped walking now.
He stood absolutely still as the others swerved morosely around him, leaving him completely alone. His eyes staggered and it was so simple. The words were given across from the girl to the Jew. They climbed onto him.
The next time she spoke, questions stumbled from her mouth. Hot tears fought for room in her eyes and she would not let them out. Better to stand resolute and proud. Let the words do all of it. "Is it really you? the young man asked," she said. "Is it from your cheek that I took the seed?"
Max Vandenburg remained standing.
He did not drop to his knees.
People and Jews and clouds all stopped. They watched.
As he stood, Max looked first at the girl and then stared directly into the sky who was wide and blue and magnificent. There were heavy beams - planks of sun - falling randomly, wonderfully, onto the road. Clouds arched over their backs to look behind as they started again to move on. "It's such a beautiful day," he said, and his voice was in many pieces. A great day to die. A great day to die, like this.
*
I watched the contents of his soul for a moment and saw a black-painted boy calling the name Jesse Owens as he ran through an imaginary tape. I saw him hip-deep in some icy water chasing a book, and I saw a boy lying in bed, imagining how a kiss would feel from his glorious next-door neighbour. He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It's his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.
*
I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.
*
I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words so damning and brilliant.
None of those things, however, came out of my mouth.
All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I tell it now to you.
I am haunted by humans.
Not So Much a Book Review As a Book Note: Part I: Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury
I've been curious about Khoury's other book, The Templar Legacy, for quite sometime. I've been eyeing it and wondering how good it would be - and I now decided to check out Khoury's writing style without risking disappointing my fascination with the Templars.
This was good. I liked it until Khoury decided to muck things out with having Mia totally accept that her mother had lied about her father - and that when her mother is kidnapped, the father appears and she witnesses several kidnappings, is shot at and sees people killed. She accepts it like he's been gone for 6 months and she knew about him all along. That, and the whole deal with Corben made me not like the book so much as I probably would have without it.
But Corben is like Casey's long-lost twin. It makes things almost worth it.
Okay, so first of all, I love the Alex Rider series. I find it wonderful with the right blend of action, suspense, humour and mystery for my taste. Anthony Horowitz writes like some sort of writing god. I always start out reading his books feeling silly - usually the lettering is too big and the lines too far apart for my tastes, and at first glance of each new book I can't help but think that his writing style is so easy; but it grips me. It's unnoticeable as you're reading along without any real firm opinion of the book (be it Nightwish, Snakehead or Scorpia) and then all of a sudden you find yourself unable to stop reading. You just can't put the book down or stop turning the pages, and it has you right where it wants you - much like the tv series, Bones.
I'm sad to say, however, that even though I've been looking forward to this book since I read Ark Angel two years ago and that excitement doubled when I got my hands on Nightwish at the start of the year, Snakehead didn't quite live up to what I expected.
I had already considered Ark Angel somewhat of a disappointment after Scorpia, and so I had high hopes that Snakehead would, as the last book in the series, be the most brilliant of the lot. But even as early as the four young Australian SAS men taking Alex to the beach, I was frowning with slight dislike. Alex was acting stupid and not at all like he'd spent major parts of the year being a spy. He was being naïve and hopeful in his thinking, which may very well have helped his survival but it didn't sit right with me in either case.
Going from a training war zone into a sealed off area with DANGER signs, should also have given him a clue that there was a minefield ahead. Even the Australians wouldn't fence off an area for no good reason, but I have to give Horowitz this: the "soldier" was a nice touch for a moment.
I continued with mild worry that the book would not get any better, especially when Alex decided to go back into the car with the four SAS men who had (as he then thought) practically killed him. I would be highly suspicious as to why that was - especially when they explained themselves that the sounds had made them realize their mistake when they'd earlier said that there'd be training going on.
I continued without much of an opinion for some pages, annoyed at Jack (who I can't bring myself to like anymore) and a brief flare of hope at Alex when he went into ASIS. But I did not like Ash being introduced into the plot. It's hard not to become suspicious of new characters, and Ash was no exception. Especially when he turned out to be Alex's godfather and having been present at their deaths. So I didn't trust him, and I had my reasons:
1. New characters with a key role in Horowitz's books end up either being (a) bad or (b) dead.
2. There had not been a single mention of him in the earlier books. Not a whisper. Alex no doubt has pictures of his parents wedding - there should have been something about him from the start.
3. Nothing quite like fucking with Alex's already non-existent family by adding an unknown godfather and having him betray Alex at some point.
4. Bad things kept happening.
But once again Horowitz had decided to go with an insane plot to kill a lot of people, and considering where he positioned Alex, I was interested in see how it turned out. The fight, flee, fire scene was excellently written and typically Horowitz. The rats an especially nice touch.
I was pleased to see M16 reappear, along with Fox. It would hardly be a good ending for the series if Alex didn't get his finish with M16, and to be honest, I loved the SAS training team from Stormbreaker.
The book continued being good, despite my constant frowning at Ash, though Alex getting his fingerprint onto the Royal Blue was all too easy, but then - in action books and movies, certain things have to be. Alex was brilliant in getting off the boat - a fine display of improbable skill, luck and timing, though I had an overwhelming urge to call him an idiot when he called Ash. Especially when he found out Ash was around after they'd gotten seperated, because despite what Alex may have thought: Ash does not have a magical unicorn in his pocket ready for handy transportation. Getting seperated from Alex back in Indonesia and suddenly reappearing in Darwin when Alex called should have sent major warning bells ringing.
The dinner conversation with Major Yu was informative but cliche. After all, the plot would go so much slower if the bad guy doesn't always feel the overwhelming urge to spill their guts to the hero because they're overconfident and stupid. Alex acted surprised at Major Yu's madness, when in fact, he'd had the same experience back on Skeleton Key which seemed to have been erased from his mind completely.
But here is where I think Horowitz really did his best work during the book: the organ-stealing hospital in the Australian jungle. Chilling, exciting, interesting and new. Brief moment to wonder how this could ever really work out for Alex, and then Alex's three best friends reared their head again: improbable skill, luck and timing.
I continued reading happily from then on, even through Alex's MacGyver moment where he charged his watch with a battery from his shoe, and Ash's pathetic death, until I came to the last chapter.
Not so bad as Deathly Hallows' 19 Years Later, but close. I'd always carried the hope with me that Alex would go in for M16 in the end. A silly little hope, since I think I can recall Horowitz's declaring with some certainty at one point that it wouldn't happen, and the fact that Alex is like a yo-yo on that front. Still, when he's older, there is the chance he'll return to work for them, or at least I can hope.
As long as he doesn't settle down with Sabina as his wife and Jack as his next door neighbour and four plump (or not) children running around in the backyard somewhere in London, I think I will be happy with Alex's ending.
But still, I can't deny I'd be happier if Sabina was dead.
Not So Much a Book Review As a Book Ramble: Part II: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I picked this book up without much thought. I was stuck together with Liisa in a mall, there was a clown/pirate and a rhino dancing behind me and singing about how books are good and make you less stupid, and so I really just grabbed it and hoped I'd be lucky with the quality as I fled the scene. My first thoughts about it, once I had a chance to study it, was that I should at one point lend it to my father, and that the author looked quite handsome. Like a mix between Greg Grunberg and someone I can't place my finger on.
And I started reading, liking it just fine with no special opinions of it other than "this is good" until Part Four: The Standover Man. From then on, the book slowly took my heart and crushed it. I fell in love with Max as a character. He was sweet and reduced to nothing, and so it was impossible to not feel sorry for him. Liesel and Max combined made my heart clench and weep, and I kept record. From Part Four and onward, I wept close to 15 times.
There are such powerful pieces of writing in the book, surrounded by simple sentences and situations. I can't really properly write down my thoughts and my love for this book, and so the only real thing I can do is show you the quotes that truly captured my attention and got my heart stuck in my throat.
It kills me sometimes, how humans die.
*
"Max," she said. He turned and briefly closed his eyes as the girl continued. "There was once a strange, small man," she said. Her arms were loose but her hands were fists at her sides. "But there was a word shaker, too."
One of the Jews on his way to Dachau had stopped walking now.
He stood absolutely still as the others swerved morosely around him, leaving him completely alone. His eyes staggered and it was so simple. The words were given across from the girl to the Jew. They climbed onto him.
The next time she spoke, questions stumbled from her mouth. Hot tears fought for room in her eyes and she would not let them out. Better to stand resolute and proud. Let the words do all of it. "Is it really you? the young man asked," she said. "Is it from your cheek that I took the seed?"
Max Vandenburg remained standing.
He did not drop to his knees.
People and Jews and clouds all stopped. They watched.
As he stood, Max looked first at the girl and then stared directly into the sky who was wide and blue and magnificent. There were heavy beams - planks of sun - falling randomly, wonderfully, onto the road. Clouds arched over their backs to look behind as they started again to move on. "It's such a beautiful day," he said, and his voice was in many pieces. A great day to die. A great day to die, like this.
*
I watched the contents of his soul for a moment and saw a black-painted boy calling the name Jesse Owens as he ran through an imaginary tape. I saw him hip-deep in some icy water chasing a book, and I saw a boy lying in bed, imagining how a kiss would feel from his glorious next-door neighbour. He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It's his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.
*
I have hated the words, and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.
*
I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race - that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words so damning and brilliant.
None of those things, however, came out of my mouth.
All I was able to do was turn to Liesel Meminger and tell her the only truth I truly know. I said it to the book thief and I tell it now to you.
I am haunted by humans.
Not So Much a Book Review As a Book Note: Part I: Sanctuary by Raymond Khoury
I've been curious about Khoury's other book, The Templar Legacy, for quite sometime. I've been eyeing it and wondering how good it would be - and I now decided to check out Khoury's writing style without risking disappointing my fascination with the Templars.
This was good. I liked it until Khoury decided to muck things out with having Mia totally accept that her mother had lied about her father - and that when her mother is kidnapped, the father appears and she witnesses several kidnappings, is shot at and sees people killed. She accepts it like he's been gone for 6 months and she knew about him all along. That, and the whole deal with Corben made me not like the book so much as I probably would have without it.
But Corben is like Casey's long-lost twin. It makes things almost worth it.