11.27.2013

 

Shada

by Gareth Roberts, based on a screenplay by Douglas Adams, 376pgs, hardcover
Series: Doctor Who
Overall Grade: B

A recommended read for invested Doctor Who fans with a knowledge of "classic" Who. Roberts, with explanations in the afterword, adapts and builds off an original, unaired Doctor Who episode written by Douglas Adams, to bring the reader a complete and resolved version of 'Shada'. Featuring the Fourth Doctor, Romana and K-9, the story bounces between space and Cambridge University, accidentally involving two young, on-the-cusp-of-a-romance professors when an evil villain shows up looking for an ancient and powerful Gallifreyan artifact that the retired Time Lord Professor Chronotis has in his posession.

Based on Roberts' recounting, I will admit that he probably did a deft job weaving Shada into a logical and satisfactory Doctor Who tale. I am always happen to learn more about the Time Lords and their culture and there was much in this book to please me in that regard. Somehow though, during my reading, the Fourth Doctor lost some of his charm, and his chauvinism became more prevalent, which was sad. I can't say if this was due to the change in medium (tv vs. book) or not.

Still I would recommend it to "hardcore" fans, so they can finally "see" the episode that might have been. But if you didn't know it was missing to begin with, it's probably not worth the read.

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 2:08 AM
 

Etiquette & Espionage

by Gail Carriger, 336 pgs, hardcover
Series: Finishing School book 1, spin-off series from The Parasol Protectorate
Overall Grade: B+

In this prequel spin-off series, Sophronia Temminnick, a curious and active young lady, is recruited to a mysterious finishing school. But Mademoiselle Geraldine's is not your typical finishing school for genteel ladies. Catering to the female progeny of intelligencers, evil geniuses and other questionable types, this airborne academy finishes teaching ladies how to behave and also how to "finish" their adversaries and collect intelligence. From the beginning Sophronia is at odds with a senior student, Miss Pelouse, who failed her graduation assignment and was dropped back to Sophronia's class. Only as Sophronia gradually makes friends and learns to apply her lessons does she start to uncover what secret Miss Pelouse is keeping and concocts a plan to thwart her.

Coming from Ms. Carriger, and set in the same universe at 'The Parasol Protectorate', I had high expectations for this book. While interesting and fast-paced, it took me a while to get invested in the students. Written from Sophronia's perspective, the reader definitely has the feeling of not knowing everything that's going on, sometimes frustratingly so, and I hope some topics will be developed more as the series progresses. A couple of characters from the Parasol Protectorate reappear as younger versions of themselves in this series, leaving me thoroughly confused about the timeline because their age disparity is much greater in the former series. I've never known Carriger to be sloppy with such details in her previous books, so I can only hope that this mystery will also be elucidated as this series progresses. Not one of the best books I've read this year, but certainly a series that I will keep in my to-read queue... now if I could just get a reserve on the second book from my library...

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 1:50 AM
 

The Wolves in the Walls

author: Neil Gaiman, illustrator: Dave McKean, 56pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: B

No one in Lucy's family believes her when she tells them there are wolves in the walls of their home. But one night the wolves emerge and Lucy and her family escape to their yard. Most of her family is ready to throw in the towel and move elsewhere, but Lucy sneaks into the house to rescue her stuffed pig-puppet, and concocts a plan for returning to the house. The ending is delightful.

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 1:31 AM
 

The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish

author: Neil Gaiman, illustrator: Dave McKean, 64pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: C

As described on the B&N website: After trading his father for two goldfish, a boy and his little sister go on a rollicking adventure around town to get him back.

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 1:25 AM

11.05.2013

 

The Slave-girl from Jerusalem

by Caroline Lawrence, 209 pgs, paperback
Series: The Roman Mysteries XIII
Overall Grade: B+

 Although I've always thought the series was darker and more realistic than many YA series, this book seems even more so. (By the end, all 4 main characters have written their own wills.)
The story begins with Jonathan's sister, Miriam, who enlists the help of the 4 young sleuths in proving that her childhood friend was freed before her master died. The case rather quickly becomes bloody, and the slave-girl is shortly accused of triple-homicide.

Despite the presence of Flavius, or "Floppy", and Flavia's fawning over him, I enjoyed this story. There was a lot to learn about how Romans freed their slaves, wrote and enacted wills, and conducted criminal trials.

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 12:16 AM
 

Ender's Game

PG-13, 114 minutes
Official Site | IMDb
Adapted from the first book in the Ender's Game series
Overall Grade: A-

In the recent past, Earth was invaded by an alien species, the Formics (or more derisively, the Buggers), which humanity managed to miraculously and mysteriously fend off. Since that day, the International Fleet has been selecting the brightest children from around the world and training them as military leaders for the day humanity must fight the Formics again.

I think this is a pretty fair adaptation of the original novel. A number of changes are present, of course. The children in battle/command school are older than in the book, and not naked. The pacing is much faster. There is also quite a paucity of Peter and, less so, Valentine - the whole Locke/Demosthenes storyline is completely absent, but it's not hard to see why that would be hard to fit in to an "action scifi" movie. Bean is present but Julian Delfinki is not even cast in a non-speaking role. There is also a noticeable proto-romance being pushed between Petra and Ender (can you please not Hollywood?). The location of the Command School also differs, but necessarily I think, in order to facilitate a tighter ending than the denouement of the novel. These are the most noticeable and significant changes, in my opinion. There are some subtle touches that readers the whole series will hopefully enjoy - look for references to 'First Meetings' and 'Speaker for the Dead'. And I think Harrison Ford also makes a pretty good Hyrum Graff.

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 12:06 AM

11.04.2013

 

Coraline

by Neil Gaiman, illustrations by Dave McKean, 163 pgs, hardcover
Overall Grade: C+

Coraline is a girl who moves into a new home. Her parents are very laissez-faire so she is mostly left to her own devices to explore the house and property, and meet the other tenants. One door in her home has been bricked off, but Coraline finds that it might not necessarily lead nowhere. And what is waiting for her through the door will test her resolve and her resourcefulness.

Another work to check off the list as I plow through Gaiman's bibliography. This is probably much creepier to younger readers than it was to me.

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# posted by Cptn. Suz @ 11:20 PM

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