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Book Review: Hunger by Michael Grant

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
Hunger by Michael Grant Hunger is the second book in the Gone Series. The first book was Gone, which I have already reviewed here.

In Hunger by Michael Grant the kids are trapped in the dome and they’re hungry. But they’re not the only ones, the darkness is also hungry. While the kids want food, the darkness wants uranium pellets from the Nuclear Power Plant. It plans to use Caine, Diana, Drake & Co. to get the pellets and healer Lana’s abilities to create a body for its self, so that it can leave the Mineshaft.

More kids are developing powers including Duck who can sink into the ground or float into the sky and Hunter who has microwave hands. There’s a growing divide and resentment among those with powers and those without.

Like Gone, there’s some really good ideas. I particularly liked the worms with sharp teeth intentionally designed to bury through skin. The worms are territorial and that their territory happens to be the agricultural fields, full of much needed food for the kids.

In Hunger I kept an eye out for the kid from Coats who came to Perdido Beach in the beginning of Gone. No mention was made, meaning it must have been a rather annoying loose end or plot hole in Gone.

Hunger is not as fast-paced as Gone and no were near as captivating. Despite Hunger being much bigger (more pages) than Gone, the characters and storyline development disappointed me. None of the characters really showed any development in this book and it added very little to the overarching plot.

Hunger by Michael Grant is available to buy on Amazon. Lies is the next book in the Gone Series, which I will be buying because I generally like the idea behind the series, like the characters and hope it will tell more of the overarching storyline.

Review soon,

Antony



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Book Review: Inventing the 21st Century by Stephen van Dulken

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
inventing-the-21st-century-book-cover If you’re an Inventor, Entrepreneur or a Patent-Geek then you’ll enjoy reading Inventing the 21st Century by Stephen van Dulken.

Dulken a Patent Librarian, tells the patent stories of fifty of the most well known and well used inventions of the 21st Century including: e-books, The ‘bladeless’ fan, The iPod MP3 player, Apple’s iPhone, The Nintendo Wii, ‘Wave and Pay,’ Self-cleaning Glass, Self-Service Checkouts, Robot Helpers as well as others.

Dulken starts with an introduction that describes the patent world as one where technology, law and business meet to create and protect innovation. He writes that inventors need to be good at business as well – being able to do their market research, be honest with themselves and write good business plans in order to get financial backing.

Then Dulken goes onto some of the most popular and successful inventions (so far) of the 21st century. Each of the inventions has a page that describes the patent, the concept and product design/development; followed by a page that has illustrations from the patent.

Dulken concludes by giving advice on how the patent system works and recommends that anyone who wants to write a patent to hire a Patent Attorney.

The Inventing the 21st Century book blurb boasts that it includes ‘personal insights’ from some of the Inventors. So I expected that it would have a few interesting stories about where the inventors got their ideas. I’m fascinated about where creativity comes from and how it develops.

But unfortunately these personal insights were extremely limited, usually down to a sentence or two at most. Instead Dulken focused purely on the patent aspect of each invention. It’s clear that Dulken is passionate about patents, which is great for him, but not so great me. I didn’t want to read a book of facts: dates, specifications, costs, etc. which is what I felt like I was reading. However I’m sure people with a very logical mind will like Dulken’s formal style.

In summary, Inventing the 21st Century by Stephen van Dulken is a well thought-out book that aspiring Inventors, business people and some academics will find a pleasant read.

Inventing the 21st Century by Stephen van Dulken is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Book Review: Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French Book Cover In Oh Dear Silvia, Silvia Shute is in a coma. Silva has a secret; a secret that’s led to the end of her marriage with Ed, a breakdown in the relationship with her children Cassie & Jamie and to her having a lesbian relationship with Cat. Each of the characters are convinced that they are the only one that can bring Silvia out of her coma.

The idea behind the book is a fantastic one, but any writer would struggle to do much with their main character being in a coma. French uses the other characters having conversations with an unresponsive Silvia to tell the story. It meant there was an awful lot of telling, rather than a good mix of show and tell. French was forced put the description into the conversations. At times it was overly descriptive and occasionally made the conversations feel unnatural.

I waited for the paperback of Oh Dear Silvia and it did take me a while to get into the book. But once I was

hooked, I found myself at night thinking: I’ll just read one more chapter before bed. Then staying up late to read three chapters.

The pacing of the story was excellent. However a source of frustration was the repetitiveness of Ed talking about trees. Oh Dear Silvia is exceptionally funny, with the laugh-out-loud comedy usually being delivered by Jo, Silvia’s New Age Hippie Sister. The reader will also enjoy Winnie, Silvia’s Jamaican Pentecostal Christian Nurse who is cleverly written as she’d speak.

As the reader gets to know the characters and what’s happened between Silvia & them, a secret is slowly revealed. A dark secret that’s truly stupendous.

The reader comes to understand Silvia’s choice to cut off her family, that it was to protect them. Empathy develops for Silvia that leads to an emotional ending. The book did end prematurely, it would have been interesting to have seen the characters reaction to the revelation of Silvia’s secret.

Everything considered, Oh Dear Silvia is a mixed bag. It got lots of great aspects that you’ll enjoy, but it really is an easy read that’s intended for light entertainment. It is worth a read, but don’t expect for the story to be memorable or to cause you to think. Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French is available to buy on Amazon.

On a personal level I love Dawn French and her first fiction book A Tiny Bit Marvellous. I gave it an excellent review. I will probably buy her next book, but can’t deny that this offering wasn’t as good as the high expectations I had.

Review soon,

Antony

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Book Review: Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story by Ian McClellan

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
zombie-apocalypse-2012-political-horror-story-ian-mcclellan McClellan shows great promise with his first book: Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story. It’s a story about a zombie apocalypse in the USA, told through the perspective of an ordinary guy. The guy in question is Lance, an unemployed factory worker who feels the media and politicians are all failing to take control of the situation and work together to resolve it.

McClellan says about his book:
“My book is a funny and entertaining look at the politics of the zombie apocalypse. Hopefully, it can get people asking why politicians keep fighting each other instead of doing something for the American people, and why the media keep asking all the wrong questions…”

Lance lives with his wife whose obsessed with conspiracy theories. Needless to say, she doesn’t survive for long. Afterwards Lance gets scratched by a zombie, takes a load of antibiotics and locks himself in his basement.

After sometime Lance feels better and decides to journey to C.D.C to share his experience with them. He thinks that he maybe the key to a cure for the zombie plague. Lance and Larry (his neighbour & new best friend) set out on their journey.

The plot is well thought out and captivating but left one major plot hole: why do the zombies sniff the main character and then turn away? What’s different about him now? This is a source of frustration for the reader on finishing the book.

There were good peaks and troughs of action interlaced with the political aspect of the book. The politics didn’t appeal to me. The politicians were American and I’d never heard of most of them. Luckily, the politics was sparse and mainly focused on the frustration with bureaucracy and political correctness.

Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story is a throughly entertaining read. McClellan writing style is wonderful; the words seemed to flow off the pages making it was a joy to read.

The title of the book is too long to stand out to the average reader and will ultimately date the story. The cover design is completely unappealing and off-putting. However put the title and cover design aside, overall Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story is a great zombie story. One that is an easy read, at times very funny and is well worth reading.

Zombie/Apocalypse 2012: A Political Horror Story by Ian McClellan is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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