Beneath the world, a sea - Chris Beckett

Hardcover, 288 pages

Expected publication: April 4th 2019 by Corvus

Speculative fiction

Thank you Corvus for this review copy

My Thoughts

I will say it, Chris Beckett writes such weird books! But good! But seriously weird. They are so hard to explain.

Right...ok so this cop goes to a strange place in South America. People were dumped there 150 years ago. There are also some strange creatures and the UN wants to protect them. Also if you go there you lose your memory for awhile. And you have no idea what you did then...

This place is so weird. The strange Duende brings our the worst in humans. Near them every thought in your head screams at you and that is why people kill them on sight. Every dark thought you ever had comes forward.

It is surreal, like being on drugs. It is not a place I would want to visit and it messes with everyone. But it is fascinating. A corner of the world not explained. Like what are the Duendes. How does this weird place work?

It is a good, but strange book. And the poor cop soon realises that stopping these murders wont be easy, or even possible. I liked the doubts he had and how he wanted to know during those lost days.

I have never read anything like it. He does write the weirdest books.

Blurb

South America, 1990. Ben Ronson, a British police officer, arrives in a mysterious forest to investigate a spate of killings of a local species called the Duendes. They are silent, vaguely humanoid creatures - with long limbs and black button eyes - that have a strange psychic effect on people, exposing them to their suppressed thoughts and fears.

The crimes have taken place in a landscape known as the Delta and to reach it Ben has crossed the Zone, a territory which wipes the memories of all who pass through. He remembers nothing of the preceding days; what he did or felt or saw.

Ben is uneasy about what he may have done in the Zone and avoids opening the diaries he kept whilst there, busying himself with the investigation instead. He becomes fascinated by the Duendes, but the closer he gets, the more he begins to unravel. As the Delta starts to take hold of his mind, Ben becomes increasingly haunted by the unopened diaries and the terrible secrets they might hold...

Our Child of the Stars - Stephen Cox

Hardcover, 496 pages

Published January 24th 2019 by Jo Fletcher Books

Spec fic

Thank you JF for this copy

My Thoughts

Molly and Gene had their issues. Well, Molly had her issues. Gene stood by her even though things went downhill. I never thought about what a great guy Gene was!

Molly lost a child and sank into alcohol and depression. Then the meteor comes and with it a child, of the stars.

Ok so obviously you can guess that it's an alien. Yes the kid is an alien. It is the 60s. Soviet are knocking on the door. There are commie spies. There is the threat of nuclear war. And well alien tech, yes please to that!

Molly with her issues, was a good person, she saw this lost child and wanted to care for him. And she knew what the government would do *shakes fist at government*. She hides him and raises him as their son.

The book is about lost hope, loosing yourself and finding something to live for. A new goal, a new life. But there is danger as they will never stop looking, and well there are more things that I can not discuss. Those things made me want another book at the end. To see how things goes after the end, which was a good solid ending.

And you know if it happened today they would take him at once and do things, who cares if it is a child with feelings and speech. It is an alien after all.

Conclusion:

A good story, that packs danger, curiosity and most of all what it means to be family.

A different sort of alien story, that is truly worth reading

Edit: I asked the author and he will write another book! Good news cos even though there is an ending, there is so much more that could happen

Story

A lost child, the family who try to protect him and the secret that refuses to stay hidden . . .

Molly and Gene Myers were happy, until tragedy blighted their hopes of children. During the years of darkness and despair, they each put their marriage in jeopardy, but now they are starting to rebuild their fragile bond.

This is the year of Woodstock and the moon landings; war is raging in Vietnam and the superpowers are threatening each other with annihilation.

Then the Meteor crashes into Amber Grove, devastating the small New England town - and changing their lives for ever. Molly, a nurse, caught up in the thick of the disaster, is given care of a desperately ill patient rescued from the wreckage: a sick boy with a remarkable appearance, an orphan who needs a mother.

And soon the whole world will be looking for him.

Cory's arrival has changed everything. And the Myers will do anything to keep him safe.

A remarkable story of warmth, tenacity and generosity of spirit, set against the backdrop of a fast-changing, terrifying decade. 

Audio: The Gate to Women's country - Sheri S Tepper

Women rule in Women's Country. Women live apart from men, sheltering the remains of civilization. They have cut themselves off with walls and by ordinance from marauding males. Waging war is all men are good for. Men are allowed to fight their barbaric battles amongst themselves, garrison against garrison. For the sake of his pride, each boy child ritualistically rejects his mother when he comes of age to be a warrior. But all the secrets of civilization are strictly the possession of women. Naturally, there are men who want to know what the women know. And when Stavia meets Chernon, the battle of the sexes begins all over again. Foolishly, she provides books for Chernon to read. Before long, Chernon is hatching a plan of revenge against women. 

Audio CD, 12 h

Published June 5th 2018 by Tantor Audio (first published November 1st 1987)

Post apocalyptic

For review

MY thoughts:

This would be the perfect book club listen. There is soooooo much to discuss. The whole book is one big discussion. I do not even know where to start.

Men destroyed the world, with their bombs, with the guns. They do remember that they had things long ago (since in some sci-fi apocalyptic ones people have just forgotten, which I never get.) Like that they used to have cars, washing machines, but now they do not. Though a lot has been forgotten since women do not want people to remember.

Women rule the world, well they rule this parcel of land (and I can not put my finger on where it takes place. But then I get ideas further in). Women live in cities, men live outside in garrisons and fight wars, but mostly they play sports, train and drink beer (and the women do not mind.) Women do all the work, farming, fishing, making things. Having babies and sending boy children out when they grow older.

At first this world makes me wonder. How can it be a good idea that they men are outside and the women inside? That they men get to come in twice a year for fun times at Carneval? But the more I listen then more I understand, they might not be going about it the perfect way, but it truly is better that the men are outside. Except for those that have "returned" and they co-exist peacefully inside. And yes it does make me wonder if men are brutes who love war and women are the voice of reason. And then I see, maybe men are brutes...

SO much more that could be discussed, but spoilers!

Anyway the book is about Stavia, we see her at 10, 13 and 22. How she meets a young soldier and falls for him, and how she shows him things that are forbidden to the men. Oh Stavia! You said you would not be a fool for a man. But the book also shows her at 37 so we know she comes out ok, but SO much goes down before that. I liked Stavia, she is smart and she only wants the best for her friend Chernon (who is a bastard! Grrr.).

I'd love to say more, but yes secrets. Just let me say that the entire world is not Women's country and it is clear that Women's country is the only way to live in the end.

Such an interesting listen!

Narrator Emily Durante

I truly liked her voice for Stavia, it changed with every year, but still kept the essence of her. She did a great job

Wolfhound Century - Peter Higgins

Investigator Vissarion Lom has been summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist --- and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian state, worn down by an endless war, must be seen to crush home-grown terrorism with an iron fist. But Lom discovers Mirgorod to be more corrupted than he imagined: a murky world of secret police and revolutionaries, cabaret clubs and doomed artists. Lom has been chosen because he is an outsider, not involved in the struggle for power within the party. And because of the sliver of angel stone implanted in his head.

My thoughts:

How to describe this one? How to do it justice? In Soviet Russia reviews writes you! Anyway...

Yes, this book takes place in a world that is ours, or maybe it is not our world. We have a "Russia" turned "Soviet", ruled by a ruthless dictator, revolutionaries running around in the streets bombing stuff, a war with a place called The Archipelago, and that is all we learn of that place. But that is only the beginning. There is a vast vast forest, there are creatures from Slavic mythology, there are Gods that left, and there was a war in the sky that broke the moon and made angels fall to earth and die. Their flesh used by scientist for their own gain, and one of those angels are still alive, huge, dark and hungry. Hey there was even "Finnish" giant. Now you might to understand that this was different. 

In this fascinating world an investigator named Lom is brought to the capital to find a terrorist. Instead he finds a conspiracy bigger than anything he could have imagined. A city killing itself, earth moving beneath his feet and a world that needs to be saved.

Conclusion:

So, it's a mystery, fantasy, alternate earth, detective story. Really different and honestly just cool.

Cover

It made me think more thriller and not this crazy mix

Paperback, 336 pages
Published January 9th 2014 by Gollancz (first published March 1st 2013)
Wolfhound Century #1
Alternate history / detective story /speculative fiction
For review