Lowly’s Book Blog

I always find it very difficult to review a collection of short stories, especially if they are by a single author. There are always stories of variable quality and by the end of the book I can rarely remember one from another. This collection is no different.

Caswell is an established author of books for young people. His YA fiction is well known and frequently awarded. Most often he writes stories in a scifi or fantasy genre, but some of his most rivetting tales are set in modern realistic locations.

This collection of stories is mostly in Caswell’s comfort zone, futuristic scifi or magical and supernatural fantasy.

When I selected this from the review list, I was looking for something different. I have read enough of the historical mystery/adventures in the past few weeks. I thought I was getting into a modern thriller. I was kind of right.

This is a book that tells three different stories, gently interwoven, all linked by a single evil. The modern tale is of a small group of ethics students challenging themselves with a visit to a ‘haunted house’. Upon their return all descend into madness and suicide. The brother of one of the girls is determined to save her. He seeks the assistance of the one man who has been in that house and survived. And there the second story begins. Why did Paul Seaton go to the Fischer House? But to explain that the reader has to understand what happened in 1927.

At times I felt the book lost focus. So much of it is dedicated to Paul Seaton’s backstory and then the huge blocks of Pandora’s diary from 1927. The modern story and the military hero is limited virtually to the first and last chapters. I would suggest that the reader be brought back to current times in order to develop a relationship with Sarah and Nick. Alternatively, if the book was to be about Pandora and Paul, leave it in 1927 or 1983.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not really disappointed. As a horror novel it was far more involving than others I have read recently. Cottam based his tale on the historical fascination with the supernatural that was common in the English gentry during the 1920s. All these scenes read very convincingly.

Just be warned, this book will make no sense unless you dedicate large blocks of time to it.

Before I begin, I will admit prejudice. Twenty years ago I first read Obernewtyn, the first book in this fantasy series, and I have been hooked on this author ever since. Carmody has kept us waiting for a decade for this installment, and I was concerned that I may not remember enough detail about the story so far. There is no time to re-read the series, so a couple days ago I jumped in. And quickly remembered everything I needed.

If you have never heard of Obernewtyn, I am going to suggest that you start at the beginning and enjoy the journey. But if you need a reminder, Elspeth is a young woman with special talents. She is living in a time after the Great White, a nuclear disaster that destroyed the world before. Humanity was sent back to a pre-industrial society complete with warlords, religious fanatics and other tyrants. Through the progress of the books she has discovered other ‘Misfits’ and together they have used their talents to fight for freedom for all people on their corner of the Earth.

In this book Elspeth rushes headlong from one adventure to the next. As the book opens she is leaving Obernewtyn for a meeting in the capital city. Along the way she hears of a mysterious barricade near one town preventing all communication with the outside world. She and several friends including the son of one man trapped behind the barricade decide to visit the young man’s father to find out what is going on. She discovers a plot by religious fanatics to invade the town and eventually control all the lands in the east. With the support of her friends and the villagers this invasion is prevented, and she learns of other plots against the new government.

I won’t go on. The book is nearly 1000 pages long, and this review would go on forever. I’ll just give a warning not to start the final 100 pages unless you have time to read right through to the end.

Penguin have indicated the final installment of this wonderful tale will be published in September 2009. I’ll be looking forward to it.

Before you go any further – Do the following phrases mean anything? Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Importanct of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde. No? Then do yourself a favour and go on to the next review.

Now that I have found the Oscar Wilde fans, I can begin to introduce a most amazing new series. I will admit that I commenced the book with some misgivings. The whole concept of Oscar Wilde as a detective seemed on the surface, silly. However Brandreth built up a very convincing story.

The plot is very Agatha Christie. Seven friends meet once a month for dinner, each bringing one guest. (All must bring a guest, for it would be unseemly to have 13 at dinner.) With the port and cheeses Oscar would nominate a game of his own devising. On Sunday May 1 1892, the game was for each person in attendance to write down the name of one person they would like to see dead. The challenge for the others was to identify the victim for each man in attendance. All very fine in theory.

The atmosphere at the party becomes a little strained as the names of gentlemen in attendance begin to appear on the list. And everyone becomes concerned when those on the list begin to die, one each day. Oscar, number 13, is left to figure out what is happening before it is his turn.

Brandreth’s underlying idea is that Oscar Wilde was a careful observer of humanity. His stories and plays are clear demonstration of this idea. But Brandreth goes so far as to suggest that Oscar’s skills of observation were Conan Doyle’s basis for the character of Sherlock Holmes. Unlikely, but what a wonderful concept. And it works.

I found this book absolutely delightful. More for the wonderful characterisations contained than the complexity of the mystery itself.  And I immediately went out and bought book one of the series. Watch this space for more.

I was very much looking forward to this second book in the Fine Mess series.  And I was not disappointed

Michael and Woody are two young boys who have a nose for disaster. The first book in the series opened with a trebuchet test that sent a brick through the stained glass window of the church in the middle of a wedding.  I was waiting to see what they would get up to this year.

And there was no disappointment. Are you curious about exploding fire trucks, exploding cows or even a willy-willy laden with sewage. This is a funny book guatanteed to delight the most reluctant and resistant reader.

I normally promote this book by asking for some sensible boys to borrow it, just to get it off the shelves so the troublemakers don’t get any ideas. That almost always works.

Book number 70 for this calendar year!! Too bad it is such an average read.

Digger Jones is a 10 year old Aboriginal boy growing up in the 60s. This book is set at the time of the referendum that gave the Aboriginal people of this country the right to vote. Yes, that is 1960s. The story is essentially about digger and his school friends and the mischief they get up to, but there is also a clear picture of what racial discrimination was like in Australia at the time. Digger’s father is white and his mother has given up on everything but her family. She can see no purpose to the politics.

The book is told in a diary format, but inconsistently. There is no way anyone is going to transcribe slabs of dialogue into their diary. The editor should have picked up on that. And also a lot of the political information doesn’t much sound like a 10 year old.

Personally I think this book should be re-edited and possibly added to Scholastic’s My Australian Story series. it will more likely find committed readers there.