Books and travelling with Lynn

One Way by S J Morden

Posted On 12 April 2018

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: One Way, S J Morden

One Way is a book that I was really looking forward to. A murder mystery on Mars. Everyone’s a suspect and there’s no way to escape. It sounds perfect doesn’t it? I expected to enjoy this and in fact I did. It’s well written with plenty of detail, some may think maybe too much detail, but I enjoyed it. A good read, not as tense as I expected, but none the less fast paced and compelling.

The book is set in a near future where plans to colonize Mars are in the final stages. The company undertaking the work have bitten off more than they can chew and final delivery on schedule is unlikely so they come up with a new plan To cut costs they hit on the idea of convict labour. They look at those convicts with no chance of release, convicts with skills that can be used and adapted to build a base on Mars. They offer them a deal which basically involves a one way ticket to Mars and although, basically, this is little more than swapping one form of prison for another it has the promise of hope.

As the book starts we meet Frank. Frank murdered somebody and is due to stay in prison for the rest of his natural life. Previously Frank worked as an architect with experience of project managing which means he comes up as a potential match and as such he’s offered the chance to work on Mars. With the opportunity to undertake work that could really make a difference in the future Frank accepts the offer.

The story then moves to a training facility where all the inmates chosen undertake rigorous training. They eventually meet the rest of the crew they will be stationed with but at the same time they find out that their choices are not as straightforward as they first expected. It seems like there’s one ultimatum after another and the rewards for failure don’t really bear contemplation and merely serve to act as a carrot to keep everyone in line. The training is eventually complete, or more to the point the date of departure is moved forward whether the crew are ready or not. They’re all set to depart for a one way trip to Mars where they’ll have to work intensely to establish a base in which to live and where their only company will be convicted murderers.

I did find this story very easy to read. I really enjoyed the attention to detail and Frank is a very easy narrator to get along with. The whole premise in fact was quite fascinating and clearly written by somebody who knows the whys and wherefores concerning space travel and the like and that knowledge and understanding is evident in the writing. Basically, it’s impressive and very readable but I did have a few things that prevented this from becoming a book that completely bowled me over.

I think my first issue was the lack of tension. I don’t know why but the deaths had a fairly ‘flat’ feel – which could simply be because for the main part they were made to look like accidents and it’s not until the story is fairly advanced that foul play is suspected. Secondly, we really don’t spend very much time with the crew. We primarily accompany Frank and whilst he’s an easy storyteller to like it does also mean that the other characters are very flimsy and consequently their deaths don’t really have an impact. Finally, for me, what was really going on seemed obvious and so I found myself slightly irritated that the crew couldn’t see it. Of course, as a reader, I’m privy to information that the rest of the team are unaware of and to be fair I don’t think the author was trying too hard to create a mystery as such. I think this was more about survival and outwitting the murderer. Basically, I think my expectations when picking this up were maybe not what they should have been. I think I was expecting this to be a much more scary read.

Admittedly that does seem a little negative so I’m going to end with a more positive note. This was without doubt a good read. Very intelligent and well thought out. I found it really gripping and could barely put it down. If you fancy picking this up then I would simply say that I found this more to be a story of survival against the odds than a dark and scary murder story.

Not what I originally expected but a good read, well written and with an open ending that could either mean another book is in the offing or the author is letting you make up your own mind about how things conclude.

My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy, through Netgalley. The above is my own opinion.

Can’t Wait Wednesday : Redemption’s Blade: After The War by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Posted On 11 April 2018

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Adrian Tchaikovsky, Can't wait Wednesday, Redemption's Blade, Wishful Endings

Comments Dropped 16 responses

Can't Wait Wednesday

“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : Redemption’s Blade: After The War by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I want this book in my life.

Ten years ago, the renegade demigod known as the Kinslayer returned. His armies of monsters issued from the pits of the earth, spearheaded by his brutal Yorughan soldiers. He won every battle, leaving burnt earth and corruption behind. Thrones toppled and cities fell as he drove all before him. And then he died. A handful of lucky heroes and some traitors amongst his own, and the great Kinslayer was no more.

Celestaine was one such hero and now she has tasked herself to correct the worst excesses of the Kinslayer and bring light back to her torn-up world. With two Yorughan companions she faces fanatics, war criminals and the monsters and minions the Kinslayer left behind as the fragile alliances of the war break down into feuding, greed and mistrust.

The Kinslayer may be gone, but he cast a long shadow she may never truly escape.

Due for publication: 26th July 2018

Never say Never

Posted On 10 April 2018

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: That Artsy Reader Girl, Top Ten Tuesdays

Comments Dropped 22 responses

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic is :

Books I Loved but Will Never Re-Read

I thoroughly enjoyed all of the books below which makes it a surprise that I’m saying I wouldn’t reread them at some point – although In fairness I never really say never (see what I did there). But, the books below all have something in common, either a twisted ending or a reveal of some kind – now that I know about the ending the tension would be less during the read. I still might enjoy these, especially if I give myself enough time to forget the conclusion. As it is though, these are all still fairly fresh. That being said, I highly recommend these books:

Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory
The Martian by Andy Weir
Kill Creek by Scott Thomas
13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough
The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne
The Hike by Drew Magary
The Family Plot by Cherie Priest
The Motion of Puppets by Keith Donohue
The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis
The Sleep Walker by Chris Bohjalian

Weekly Wrap Up : 08/04/18

Posted On 8 April 2018

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Weekly wrap up

Comments Dropped 13 responses

Well, this week has been crazy. I’ve done no blogging at all and I’m behind with reviews. We’ve had friends staying and books and everything else have taken a back seat. It was good fun. I have read two books though.

Books read:

One Way by S J Morden
The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst – wow, I love this and can’t wait to read No.2.

Next Week’s Reads:

School for Psychics by K C Archer
The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross

Upcoming reviews:

Starborn by Lucy Hounsom
Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace
The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
Sufficiently Advanced Magic by Andrew Rowe
Feeder by Patrick Weekes
The Sisters Mederos by Patrice Sarath
Tiger Lily by K Lincoln Bird
The Atrocities by Jeremy C Shipp
One Way by S J Morden
The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

I’d love to know what you’re reading this week.

Friday Face Off: “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody…

Posted On 6 April 2018

Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Mary Norton, The Borrowers

Comments Dropped 16 responses

Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” – a cover featuring a family

Well, I really struggled with this one. I knew that Spoonbenders had a cover with a family on it, but I’ve used that before (I think) so wanted to avoid it. Then I thought of The Sisters Mederos which is a recent read that I enjoyed but there’s only the one cover at the moment. Finally, I came up with a childhood read, The Borrowers by Mary Norton – no shortage of covers for this one!

My favourite this week is the one with the family helping to hang up the title of the book with all the reels of cotton and chess pieces in the picture to give you the idea of the scale of the people:

borrow5

Which is your favourite?

Next week – a cover featuring a panorama

Future themes:

13th April – ‘lawns and rocks and heather and different sorts of trees, lay spread out below them, the river winding through it’ – a cover featuring a panorama

20th April – Where there’s fire there’s… – a cover featuring smoke

27th April – ‘Those darling byegone times… with their delicious fortresses, and their dear old dungeons, and their delightful places of torture’ – a cover that is positively mediaeval

4th May- ‘A Hand without a hand? A bad jape, sister.’ – a cover featuring a hand/hands

11th May – ‘Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth’ – a cover featuring a dinosaur/s

18th May – ‘Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;’ – a cover featuring a gravestone

25th May – Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap – a cover featuring footsteps

1st June – clinging and invasive – a cover featuring creeping vines

8th June – Raining Cats and Dogs – a cover featuring a stormy sky

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