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[morganmuffle]

So it's the start of another month which means it's book review time.

• The Teleportation Accident- Ned Beauman
  
• Russian Roulette- Anthony Horowitz
  
• London Under- Peter Ackroyd
  
• Searching for Dragons- Patricia Wrede
  
• The Castle of Otranto- Horace Walpole*
  
• Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum- Richard Fortey
  

*read on kindle

Comments

[katie__pillar]

I really liked The Teleportation Accident from the beginning but even given that I felt like I was sort of ploughing through it for a while, then about half to two thirds in it clicked with me and I raced through to the end from there. An odd experience I think.

Russian Roulette is in a box on the floor next to me, waiting to be catalogued and then read. I had genuinely forgotten Yassen wasn't ginger.

[morganmuffle]

The Teleportation Accident is like the exact opposite of a Dan Brown novel- those are page turners but with nothing in them whereas this felt like hardwork but was really interesting!

I know right? Damian Lewis has absolutely taken over the Yassen space in my head and even when I remember Yassen doesn't look like him the hair colour stays! I hope you like it.

[katie__pillar]

Someone else I know who read it said she wouldn't necessarily recommend it to people despite having liked it, because you have to really WANT to read it to get through it. It sounds like a bad book from that but it isn't!

[morganmuffle]

Exactly! It's a difficult one because they idea is so good and the execution is really intriguing AND YET I'd imagine unless you were very interested to start with people might well abandon it.

I'm wondering about trying his other novel just to see if that's what his style is always like (but I need a break first!)

[morganmuffle]

It's amazing how films can imprint on your consciousness whether you want them to or not! I can see where you're going with a young Robert Redford, he'd definitely have worked as Yassen. My brain eventually settled as a weird cross between Damian Lewis and Ben Daniels but that definitely wasn't quite right.

[suzie_shooter]

I've always quite liked that fact that book!Yassen was blonde because it presumably makes him quite similar looking to Alex, but he's also definitely Damian in my mind. (And interestingly, also in Anthony Horowitz's, according to his twitter.)

will definitely be doing a longer post on it at some point, just waiting for someone else to finish reading it. but yes, thank god to the lack of love interest! \o/

[morganmuffle]

Oh absolutely, it's all part of the way that Yassen reminds John of himself and then Alex reminds Yassen of John AND himself but Damian Lewis is just too... noticeable?

Looking forward to seeing your thoughts :D

[suzie_shooter]

not sure if you're a member of yassen_alex but all the analysing seems to be going on in this post right now!
http://yassen-alex.livejournal.com/94072.html

[morganmuffle]

I've just submitted a membership request, thank you for the link!

[katie__pillar]

I finally read Russian Roulette! I loved it and OMG Hunter/Cossack.

Euros though, really? Euros. In Yassen's teenage years. Although looking at the afterword he does seem to have rejigged the timeline quite a lot, so maybe it just about works.

[morganmuffle]

Absolutely Hunter/Cossack <3 (although also

[katie__pillar]

There was a bit where he got given an account with 10,000€ in it and I just screeched to a halt. But THEN in the afterword it says events take place in approximately 1995-2000, so that means he's pushed the timeline of Alex Rider up to today, rather than when the first books were actually published. Unnecessarily confusing, Horowitz! I think I noticed it because the euro came in when I was living in France, so it's firmly fixed in my head. And actually, it came in on New Year's Day 2002, so even that's iffy. I know the euro makes it easier to give an international assassin currency, but artistic license only takes you so far...

And yes I am over-thinking a children's book, but that's what we do.