Just Purchased
"A plane crashes in the vast Northern Territory of Australia, and the only survivors are two children from Charleston, South Carolina, on their way to visit their uncle in Adelaide. Mary and her younger brother Peter set out on foot, lost in the vast, hot Australian outback. They are saved by a chance meeting
with an Aboriginal boy on walkabout, who teaches them to find food and water in the wilderness, but whom Mary can’t bring herself to trust.
Though on the surface Walkabout is an adventure story, darker themes lie just beneath. Peter’s innocent friendship with the Aboriginal throws into relief Mary’s no longer childish anxiety, and together raise questions about how Aboriginal and Western culture can meet. And in the vivid descriptions of the natural world, we realize that this story—a deep fairy tale in the spirit of Adalbert Stifter’s Rock Crystal—must also be a story about the closeness of death and the power of nature."
"The three Beauchamp women--Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid--live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret--they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there's Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.
For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it's time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them."
"Maigret stumbles upon a series of murders in Fontenay-le-Comte while visiting an old school friend. The forty-second book in the new Penguin Maigret series.
On his way home from a conference, Maigret stops to visit an old school friend in Fontenay-le-Comte. A man in the same train car introduces himself and asks if Maigret has come to help solve the murder case. In fact, the man’s brother-in-law had been murdered four days earlier, followed by the murder of a local widow in the same way, a blow to the head with a pipe. While Maigret is in town, a third murder is reported. Maigret soon discovers that there are two warring factions in the town, a clear class separation, and an air of suspicion that only he can put to rest."
"Garry Disher's cool, enigmatic anti-hero Wyatt has a job--a jewel heist. The kind Wyatt likes. Nothing extravagant, nothing greedy. Stake out the international courier, one Alain Le Page, hold up the goods in transit and get away fast.
Wyatt prefers to work alone, but this is Eddie Oberin's job. Eddie's very smart ex-wife Lydia has the inside information. Add Wyatt's planning genius and meticulous preparation, and what could possibly go wrong?
Plenty. And when you wrong Wyatt, you don't get to just walk away."
"Why would a killer ignore expensive jewellery and take a pair of Turtledoves as the only bounty?
This is only one of the questions that piques Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune’s interest when an attaché with the Mexican Consulate is found murdered alongside the director of a local bird sanctuary. The fact that the director’s death has opened up a full-time research position studying birds hasn’t eluded Jejeune, either. Could this be the escape from policing that the celebrated detective has been seeking? Even if it is, Jejeune knows he owes it to the victims to solve the case first. But a trail that weaves from embittered aviary owners to suspicious bird sculptors only seems to be leading him farther from the truth. Meanwhile, Jejeune is discovering that diplomatic co-operation and diplomatic pressure go hand in hand.
With two careers hanging in the balance, the stakes have never been higher for Inspector Jejeune. And this time, even bringing a killer to justice may not provide the closure he’s looking for."
The Science Fiction Novel - Dystopic Futures Part 3
My last look at this sub-genre can be found at this link. I'll look at four different novels / authors in this thread.
"I'm glad I read this book. It's been a long time coming. I tried back in my university days, but couldn't get past the language. But really, the story is easy to understand; it reminds me of 1984, maybe more Brave New World, that view of the future. The story is told from the point of view of Alex; a gang boy, who spends his evenings on drugs with his mates, then beating people up, raping women.. Sent to prison for killing an old woman, he takes part in an experimental program, so he can get out early. This involves brain washing him so the thought of violence makes him ill. It's an interesting concept, an argument between mind control by the state or free will, even if that free will is a violent sociopath. I think the ending was a bit of a throw-away, but all in all, still an interesting concept and story. (3 stars)"
"Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny was an interesting story. Set in a dystopian future where all that seems to remain of the US after a nuclear war, are the Southwest corner (California) and the Northeast (New York / Massachusetts). What lies between is Damnation Alley, filled with radioactive zones, mutated creatures, strange storms, volcanoes, etc.
Hell Tanner, ex-leader of a California band of Hell's Angels, has been 'volunteered' to escort a shipment of medicine to Boston to help them combat a plague that is spreading through the city. Tanner travels with 5 others in three specially equipped armoured vehicles to try and find a way through Damnation Alley.
Tanner is your best kind of anti-hero (think of Snake Blixen in Escape from New York). There is more than enough action in this hectic drive across the US center but also time for reflection. There are a few interesting characters that Tanner and his companions meet along the way as well.
The story is kind of matter-of-fact but still kept my attention and moved quickly. I much preferred Zelazny's Amber fantasy series but I also enjoyed this story. (3 stars)"
"Company Town is my first experience with the work of Canadian writer, Madeline Ashby. She has also written a series about 'the Machine Dynasty' which I may check out.
In Company Town, which is set on the oil rigs out past Newfoundland and which are complete communities, Go Jung-hwa works as a body guard for the United Sex Workers of Canada. Everyone, except Go seems to be augmented in some way or another. (Did I say that I did find this story confusing for lots of it? Oh, ok, well, I did) The wells are purchased by a new company, the tycoon dynasty, Lynch, and Lynch wants Go to work for them, to be the bodyguard for the young heir to the organization.
Old friends of Go begin to be murdered. As well, there are threats to Go's life. She begins an investigation with the help of Joel, the boy she is guarding, and also with that of Daniel Siofra, the man who works for Lynch and who hired her.
"I loved Station Eleven. It was one of those books that I wanted to finish to see how it ended, but, at the same time, I wanted to continue exploring the lives of the characters. Does that make sense?
It brought out so many emotions; sadness, anger, tears (in both a good and bad way), happiness, encouragement, etc. In some ways it reminded me of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but it wasn't so consistently dour and scary. Probably part of the reason for that may be that Station Eleven had more characters and it also didn't just situate itself solely in the dystopic (am I spelling this right?) future.
I particularly liked how the story moved along, starting in their present (our future), introducing the Travelling Symphony and highlighting the new way of life of people trying to survive, then wandering to other characters, explaining where they were when the Georgia Flu caused this world-wide destruction and following their adjustments to the post-flu life.
I liked how the main characters are slowly linked up, such as how Kirsten came to be in possession of Miranda's comic, Station Eleven, even how this comic may have impacted The Prophet. The Prophet introduced a very scary element into the whole story. Was he not utilized enough? Maybe but, personally, I think his appearances were just sufficient enough to provide a negative counterpoint to those trying to live safe lives. More of him might have put a completely different tone to the overall story. How people coped with this new future is what was most interesting.
So there you go, other authors' looks at what a dystopic future might look like. Any of them interest you?
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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