Monthly Archives: September 2014

‘The Rosie Effect’ by Graeme Simsion

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The Rosie Effect‘The Rosie Effect’ is the sequel to Graeme Simsion’s 2013 hit novel ‘The Rosie Project’, which sold over a million copies across the world.

Following the success of ‘The Wife Project’, Don and Rosie have moved to New York. Don’s adjusting to life with fewer routines, he’s made some new friends and when it comes to being in a relationship, he seems to have it cracked. But then Rosie falls pregnant, and Don’s perfectly ordered life is turned upside down. The result? Meltdown.

And so begins the Baby Project. As Don struggles to adapt to the idea of becoming a parent, it seems the things that made Rosie fall in love with him in the first place are the things that might just make him too much to handle as the father of her child. Don tries and tests everything he can to prepare for the birth of his child and to live up to Rosie’s expectations – with sometimes hilarious effects – but will it be enough to save his marriage.

Told entirely from Don’s point of view, his complete reliance on the literal and the logical make for a truly entertaining read. Continue reading →

Going interactive

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In a world that is increasingly technology focussed, it’s no surprise that publishers are exploring new ways to become more interactive and to engage with readers. Dedicated websites supporting specific books and authors have long been used as a way of communicating with an audience online, but new innovations are springing up all the time.

‘Dead Man’s Time’ by Peter James is one such book. It includes an interesting new interactive feature that allows readers to use Blippar to access an interactive world straught from their smartphone app. Readers can then explore real locations where scenes of the book are set, following the characters’ progress as they read.

This is definitely one way of bringing books into the technological world, but will it gain authors any more readers? At the moment, this is more of an added bonus for people that have already bought the book than a necessity for winning over potential fans. I’d also be interested to see how many people use the feature. Are we meant to be using it to enrich the reading experience as we go along – pausing in the middle of a chapter to check out this virtual world? Or is it intended more as a novelty for fans to explore after we’ve finished – like J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore?

Ultimately, I think that including features like this will become increasingly common, as more and more people come to expect them, but in my opinion, it will probably be a while before this starts to have any real effect on sales.

‘The 5th Wave’ by Rick Yancy

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Rick Yancy’s ‘The 5th Wave’ is part of a new trend of Y/A books that feature alien invasions and their impact on the human race. But there are no little green men in the book – there’s just a faceless enemy who is cleverer and more ruthless than any that we’ve imagined before.

Invasion books are usually characterised by groups of people banding together to make war on the enemy. But here – the enemy is not there to fight. They’ve been making their move from far away, effectively clearing the earth ahead of making it their home. Humans are, as the main character points out, nothing more than cockroaches to them – an infestation to be snuffed out as effectively and efficiently as possible. This happens over five ‘waves’ – featuring everything from infectious diseases to forced natural disasters to our own human paranoia – which paint a terrifying picture of how human life could be completely decimated.

Cassie is one of the few that have survived. She’s on her own, hiding out in the woods in a desperate bid for survival. Her only plan is to find her little brother and make sure he’s safe. After she’s shot in the leg, she’s taken in by fellow survivor, Evan. But even as she starts to develop feelings for him, she starts to suspect that he is more than what he seems. Continue reading →

Victoria Hislop’s ‘The Sunrise’

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The SunriseWhen I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of Victoria Hislop’s latest novel ‘The Sunrise’, I knew it was going to be good. I’ve loved all of her three previous novels, and this was no exception.

‘The Sunrise’ is set in Cyprus, and more specifically in the ill-fated coastal resort of Famagusta, on the eve of civil war between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. To give the novel some context, the year of 1974 saw Famagusta transform from a thriving tourist destination to a ghost town, as some 40,000 people abandoned their homes and fled in the wake of an advancing Turkish army. An area of the city, known as Varosha, remains barricaded off to this day. The war created hundreds of thousands of refugees – many of whom were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

In Hislop’s novel, Savvas Papacosta and his wife Aphroditi have built the Sunrise hotel to be bigger and better than any other hotel in Famagusta. The epitome of luxury, no expense has been spared to create the ultimate holiday destination. Despite growing tensions outside of the tourist resort, Savvas is determined to continue expanding and harbours ambitions of building a grand hotel empire along the beach. Continue reading →

Getting to the bottom of fan fiction

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In general, I’m not a reader of fan fiction. But I am a fan of Hugh Howey, and when I saw that he was encouraging writers to set their own stories within the universes that he creates, I thought I would take the plunge and give it a go.

Howey famously became a household name after self-publishing his ‘Silo’ series and signing a unique print only deal with a publisher. Since then, he’s given his permission for indie authors and fans to write stories based in his fictional worlds, and encouraged them to sell their work on Amazon for a profit.

I recently read ‘Dunes of Danvar’, a piece of fan fiction written by indie fantasy author Michael Bunker, which is set against the backdrop of Howie’s ‘Sand’. It’s a short, three part story that introduces new characters to the mix, although it follows roughly the same timeline established by Howie.

The characters are well developed in a relatively short space of time, and because the world is already established, Bunker doesn’t have to dedicate too much time to building up the back story – he can jump right into the action. It’s this fast pace that keeps ‘Dunes of Danvar’ feeling fresh and exciting. He mixes the familiar with the new in a way that feels entirely natural and it really does help to make the fictional universe feel more real. Continue reading →

‘The String Diaries’ by Stephen Lloyd Jones

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String diariesThe best mystery novels keep adding twist after twist.
The best thrillers ramp up the tension and don’t let us go until we turn the last page.
The best supernatural stories include just a pinch of horror to keep us on the edge of our seats.

Stephen Lloyd Jones’ ‘The String Diaries’ was a perfect fusion of all three.

From the moment this book started, with our protagonist driving on a dark, remote road, trying to escape from a nameless but clearly dangerous pursuer, the bar was set high.

Hannah, along with her husband and her young daughter, is on the run from an enemy that has stalked her family across generations. He has the power to change his appearance at will and to speak in other people’s voices, and he is unswerving in his desire to hunt down Hannah as he has her predecessors.

From a remote farmhouse in Wales to a library in Oxford and a masquerade ball in nineteenth century Hungary, Stephen Lloyd Jones creates a thoroughly convincing story of an ancient hidden race, a spurned son and a dangerous obsession that won’t die. Continue reading →