The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood

Title: The Handmaid's Tale
Author: Margaret Atwood
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 1985
Formats: Hardback/Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Amazon UK
Waterstones

"The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood was chosen as the November read for the Women of Science Fiction Book Club. I was a little bit unsure about this at first as to be honest, I knew Margaret Atwood was the author of one of my wife's books and to be honest, her books aren't always my cup of tea.

The story is set within a bleak and totalitarian, Christian fundamentalist, dystopian Northern United States. Any opposition to the regime or failure to follow the strict rules is punishable by death or deportation to the labour colonies. In this society, most people have been given specific regimented roles that no one can venture away from. None more so that the "Handmaids" who are women seen as being fertile who, due to plummeting birth rates are enslaved as breeding machines for the political leaders of the nation. The story follows one of these "Handmaids" and lets the reader witness the oppression and fears she must endure just to stay alive.

To be honest, the plot is rather standard for a dystopian novel but I did find it interesting enough and Atwood has created a society that truly is chilling and depressing. She has taken so many of the negative aspects of our world and utilised them in some great world development. What she created when she wrote this back in the 1980's is something that feels eerily similar to the stories and reports that come out about some totalitarian Islamic societies today. Personally though, I have to admit that I did find it a little bit unbelievable that the US society could have degraded as quickly and badly as it did in this manner, but as this is a speculative fiction novel I was willing to just accept the premise anyway.

The novel is written in the present tense, purely from the point of view of the main character, Offred with the overall plot being interspersed with various flashbacks of her life. At times I found this to be very interesting as it teased out some of the back story, but at other times it just irritated me as some of the flashbacks were "inaccurate" due to Offred's distorted memories. I understand that these distortions in some of flashbacks were probably there to let the reader understand the state that Offred had now fallen to, but I just got a little bit bored of the repetition of the same type of thing. In addition I have to admit that I found the transitions between present and these flashbacks weren't always the best or easiest to follow which could at times interrupt the flow of the novel.

In regards to the pace, this book really does crawl along; I am actually quite impressed I managed to finish it in as quick a period as I actually did. But this is probably because at its heart the book does have a rather interesting and meaningful story that I was willing to follow although it was a struggle at times. In addition, I think Atwood has maybe intentionally utilised a slow pace to highlight how tedious and relentless Offred's existence actually was. Basically, I wouldn't advise anyone to pick this up as a light read for the beach or train journey as it really needs some dedication in my opinion.

The writing style itself wasn't really for me to be honest; it is too full of metaphors, similes and some strangely constructed prose. In particular, I couldn't stand the lack of speech marks; it just made the book harder to read in my opinion, especially considering it is a rather deep book to try and follow anyway. There is a reason I dropped English Literature & Language classes at 16 and that is because I read to be entertained, not to marvel in the complexities of the English Language. I suspect my wife would probably love it but I can't say this experience of Atwood's style has persuaded me to pick up any of her other novels at the moment.

Overall, I felt that "The Handmaid's Tale" was a reasonable novel if a little slow going. Personally, I have to say that whilst I found the book to be enjoyable enough, I think it has a reputation way beyond what I think it deserves, however we all have our own opinions and mine may just be at odds with the majority due to my own various likes and dislikes. I will say that due to its reputation, I think that think anyone interested in dystopian novels should pick this up and give it a read. In addition I think it would also probably appeal to those who like contemporary fiction with deeper meanings and complex, novel use of the English language.

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on my TBR list for Winter

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish which I am taking part in. 

It has been quite a while since I did a Top Ten Tuesday but decided this was a nice one to join in on and read the other blogs for some more reading ideas. Anyway, the Top Ten Books on my TBR list for winter are below:

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I just read The Hunger Games last week so this book has moved up high on my TBR list now, I just hope I  enjoy this book as much.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Yes, I enjoyed The Hunger Games so much that I know the third book will also be easily read this Winter.

The Expanse by J.M. Dillard
This is the next novel in my Star Trek reading challenge and I am looking forward to read it and push on towards at least completing the Enterprise novels sooner rather than later.

City of Pearl by Karen Traviss

This is the last book in the Women of Sci-Fi Book challenge that I have been reading over 2011 and I am looking forward to it. I just hope some of the challenges I join in 2012 reveal some other interesting reads.

The Two Faces of Tomorrow by James P. Hogan
This is actually the first book I am reading in the 2012 Sci-Fi challenge I have joined and I am excited about what it could hold. This is supposedly quite a hard sci-fi novel which is a sub-genre I haven't read in a while.

Port of Errors by Steve V Cypert
This is a book that I have been asked to review that looks rather interesting. This adventure novel set around pirates and the seas should hopefully keep me hooked.

Containment by Christian Cantrell 

I won this book in a competition and picked it because it was the highest selling low value Sci-Fi ebook on Amazon at the time. It sounded like I might enjoy it and hopefully there was a good reason why it was selling well on the charts at the times.

Project Ultra by James Michael White

This is another book I have been asked to review but this one sounded like it might be an enjoyable paranormal thriller. Set in the 1940's it follows the intelligence agencies using psychics to combat each other.

The Last Man on Earth Club by Paul R. Hardy

This book sounded very interesting in that it follows the last people alive being rescued from parallel worlds where an apocalypse has occured. I just don't know how well this will work but I look forward to finding out.

Monster Story by McCarty Griffin

This will probably be the next book I actually read and as I haven't read a good horror story in ages I hope that I will enjoy this. There is nothing in the dark cold nights than curling up with a good scary book. As long as my wife is also there to help keep me warm!!

Anyway, is there anything interesting in your own TBR list for Winter? Anything I should maybe check out? Let me know!

The Game of Pawns (Darkness Series Book 3) - Leonard D Hilley II

Title: The Game of Pawns (Darkness Series Book 3)
Author: Leonard D Hilley II
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2010
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Smashwords
Amazon UK

"The Game of Pawns" by Leonard D. Hilley II is the third book in his excellent Darkness series which follows the previous novels; Predators of Darkness and Beyond the Darkness, both of which I have previously reviewed here & here. I do have to say that whilst I enjoyed this book immensely, I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the first two books. I just don't think that the multiple plot lines came together as well as they did in the previous novels.

The story itself is set mainly around Kat Gaddis who was introduced as a minor character in the last book and Lucian the clone. They are investigating a series of murders in Newark, New Jersey after they discovered that several of the victims worked for a Biotech company called GenTech. The strangest aspect of the crimes is that a red pawn is left on each of the bodies as a signature. When a body then appears with a black pawn, Kat and Lucian get dragged into an explosive secret war being fought between two companies who are using genetically engineered clones and cybernetic killing machines.

Whilst I don't think it was as good as the previous books, this was still an exciting, action packed thriller than I struggled to put down. The pace moves along at a breath taking speed right from the first chapter until the very end. I did feel that in this novel, Hilley has tried to delve even more into the emotions of his characters with even more emphasis being placed on the various relationships involved which was quite nice to see.

In regards to the characters, most of the previous main ones do show their faces but this book does mainly concentrate on the newer or those that previously only had minor roles. I have to admit that I didn't really love these newer characters as much as I had the original ones and those very same original characters didn't feel quite "right" when compared to what was seen in the earlier novels. In addition I found that all these new characters on top of the quite large collection of previous ones did further complicate the multiple plots which did make the novel a bit unwieldy at times.

One thing about the novel though that I really did love was the vast amount of humour that filled the story. Morton the cat once again steals the show when it comes to witty one liners, but in addition there are now some talking rats that have some brilliant scenes that ensured the novel never became over burdened with gloom and seriousness.

Overall, I have to say that the "Game of Pawns" is another great Sci-Fi Thriller from a talented author that really knows how to get the reader hooked. If you have read the other novels in the series then I doubt I need to recommend you go out and pick this one up as you probably already have. If you haven't read this series then I recommend that you do so, it is a thrilling adventure that really deserves to be read by more people than I expect it has been. For myself, I now have to wait and hope that the little teaser at the end of the book actually leads on to another book in this brilliant series.

Star Trek Enterprise: Surak's Soul - J.M. Dillard

Title: Surak's Soul
Author: J.M. Dillard
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2003
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
Apple iBookstore US
Kobo
Amazon UK
Apple iBookstore UK

"Surak's Soul" by J.M. Dillard is the latest book in my ongoing saga to read every Star Trek book in chronological order as per my Star Trek Reading Challenge. Whilst it is a reasonably well written original Star Trek story, the overall plot isn't that complex, deep or really anything we haven't seen before. It actually reminded me of the type of plot we would have seen on the original series. In fact, I could easily visualise the talking alien energy life form, present within the story, in Technicolor glory like we would have seen on the TV show! It also wasn't helped by the fact that, as with the previous Star Trek books I have read during this challenge, I was able to figure out what had happened very quickly thereby destroying any suspense that may have been built up.

Anyway, in regards to the story, it follows the Enterprise responding to a distress signal that leads them to a civilization on the brink of extinction due to a mysterious illness. As the crew explores the planet, T'Pol is forced to kill the last remaining survivor to ensure the survival of Hoshi. This leads to a type of identity crisis for T'Pol as she begins to suspect that spending her time with humans was leading her to go against the teachings of Surak regarding non-violence.

As T'Pol tries to get to grips with her thoughts and choices, the Enterprise remains to investigate what happened to the planet's inhabitants. As the investigation progresses, a mysterious energy based life form known as the Wanderer turns up and offers to assist, which is greatly appreciated by the crew. Especially when they also begin to fall foul of the same illness that claimed the inhabitants on the planet below.

My biggest disappointment with the story though was actually the very little attention actually given to T'Pol and her inner struggle to come to terms with what she did and if is really against Surak's teachings. She just seems to meditate once and then decide that she is going to give up all violence, even if it would save a member of the crew. It was a big let down as the book synopsis had left me thinking it would be a good character driven story exploring T'Pol's character and the guilt she was suffering which it really wasn't.

The little bit that did focus on T'Pol's thoughts was something that I did actually enjoy and it was quite nice to see her comparisons between Surak & Gandhi. However, besides this comparison there is nothing really in this book about Surak at all. It really appears to me that, with this and what I highlighted in the last paragraph, this book should be 'done' for false advertising! Or maybe it was my own fault for reading too much into the title and synopsis.

Now that I have got my disappointments out of the way I will talk about some of the merits. The story does move at a good pace and whilst the story isn't anything special it is entertaining enough. I also think that the author's characterizations were probably the best I have seen so far in an Enterprise novel although I would expect this to be the case as it is currently the latest one that I have read.

Overall "Surak's Soul" was another reasonable Star Trek Enterprise novel that won't win any awards but kept me entertained enough. It was especially nice to see an author really capture the characters form the show well. It is a shame that the book didn't really live up to what I was expecting in regards to really going into T'Pol's soul searching or give us some more information on Surak as I think that I would have really loved the book had this been the case.

2012 Free Reads Challenge

Runs from January 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012
Hosted by Bookish Ardour

What It’s All About
Are you one of those book lovers who receive lots of books for presents? Have unread books lying around that you won in giveaways, received as ARCs, were given second hand, or even found lying around in the street! Then you might want to join in this challenge because we’re aiming to read all those unread books received as freebies in some form.

The Deets

• The Main Rule: Read books you’ve received without purchasing, gifts, ARCs, prizes (not library books), that you haven’t read yet.
• Running Dates: 1st of January – 31st of December 2012
• When Can I Sign Up: All the way up to the last two weeks of December!
• Crossover Genres: Anything! As long as they were free when you got them, it doesn’t matter..
• Mr Linky: To use the Mr Linky you’ll need to click on the graphic held at the hosting site then enter your link. These will be updated and posted into the host page every couple of weeks or so.
• Further Details: Crossover challenges are fine, you can change levels at any time, this is eBook, short story, and graphic novel friendly, and you don’t need a blog to join in (read further for details).

The How To

• Choose Your Level: These are listed further down and you can change levels at any time.
• Grab The Badge: Place it somewhere on your blog, profile, or in a signature where possible and link back (main host site or the hosting challenge page, it’s up to you).
• Sign Up Post: Create a post on your blog, in a group, or on a forum (only if allowed) to let others see what you’re aiming for (a predefined list of books is optional).
• Link Up: Grab the direct URL to your sign up post, not your blog, click the Mr Linky graphic on the hosting site challenge page and enter your link!
• Blogless? Don’t worry, you can sign up with your social network profile (YouTube, Twitter, GoodReads, Shelfari included), just make sure you link to your review list, shelf, tweet, or category. If you don’t have any of those feel free to comment!

Afterwards

• Your Reviews: Reviewing is optional! But if you do review we’d love for you to share them by submitting them on the hosting site Review Page (including social networks).
• Finished: When you’re done it’s completion post time and you can share these on the hosting site Completion Post page!

Challenge Levels

• For Me? – Choose 5 books to read
• On The Cheap – Choose 15 books to read
• Bargain – Choose 30 books to read
• Presents – Choose 50 books to read
• So Free – Choose 75 books to read
• Gift Addict – Choose between 76-135 books to read
• Speechless – Choose between 136-200 books to read

Extra Challenges
If you feel like that extra kick to your reading challenges here’s a couple you can choose from.

• World: Choose a country as your theme, reading only books from that country or where it’s the setting. For how high you go you can choose more than one country;
• Level For Me? and On The Cheap: Choose one country
• Level Bargain and Presents: Choose two countries
• Level So Free to end of Gift Addict: Choose three countries
• Level Speechless: Choose four countries.

• Gender Battle: Read books only by female or male authors. Another alternative is to read equal amounts of both.

My Quota
I have decided to target the Bargain level as I am pretty sure I can manage 30 books considering the number of review books I get sent from indie authors. I may actually be able to meet the next level but I do like to try and read books I bought ever so often so won't try and aim to high.

You can track my progress on my 2012 Challenge Page.

Beyond The Darkness (Darkness Series Book 2) - Leonard D Hilley II

Title: Beyond The Darkness (Darkness Series Book 2)
Author: Leonard D Hilley II
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2008
Formats: Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
The Book Depository
Smashwords
Kobo
Amazon UK
Waterstones

"Beyond The Darkness" by Leonard D. Hilley II is the 2nd book in his "Darkness Series" and it is set a few years after the events of "Predators of Darkness" which I have previously reviewed here. I am happy to say that just like the first book, this one is stuffed full of action, thrills and a fast paced plot that never seems to let up. However, it is also a little different in regards to its sub-genre; basically the first novel was very much a dystopian horror novel whilst I found "Beyond The Darkness" to be more of a futuristic thriller.

The story itself follows the lives of the survivors from the first book and how they are dealing with the trauma. Daniel, them main character from "Predators of Darkness" for one is having nightmares about his time in Pittsburgh and can't shake the feeling that something else is still to come. Then, out of the blue his friend Lucas is caught on camera killing a senator, but when Lucas calls Daniel from police custody and informs him that it must have been his clone, Daniel realises that there is something sinister at work again. Before he knows it, Daniel and the other survivors are all drawn into a nefarious scheme that once again puts all their lives in danger.

I will admit that I really wasn't sure where this story would go at first; I felt the ending to "Predators of Darkness" was pretty solid and couldn't easily see how much could be made of any loose ends. However, I quickly found that those odd loose ends grew into a superb thriller with various inter-linked plot lines that both intrigued and entertained. The pace was also once again superbly balanced, with the exciting action and various plot twists keeping me hooked right up to the end.

The characters from the previous book have grown and adapted to their new lives and this has helped enhance them into really interesting, dynamic, multi-faceted characters. It really felt like they had learned something in the past and were now acting in a way to avoid the same mistakes. Even some of the characters I wasn't that bothered about in the previous novel really began to shine in this book; Lydia & Johanna being two of the characters that spring to mind. The best character though had to be Morton; this shape shifting cat really stole the show with his wits, charm and loyalty to his new family. Even if the darkest parts of the story his humorous comments ensured that I still had a wry smile on my face.

Overall, this has been another enjoyable book in what is really turning out to be a great series. The superb characters, enjoyably twisting and multi-faceted plotlines and great pace have been brought together well to create a book that should appeal to anyone who has already read the first book. For myself, I am now looking forward to where the sequel "Game of Pawns" will take the series and already had it sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read.

Star Trek Enterprise: Shockwave - Paul Ruditis

Title: Shockwave
Author: Paul Ruditis
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published: 2002
Formats: Hardback/Paperback/Ebook

Available at:
Amazon
Apple iBookstore US
The Book Depository
Kobo
Amazon UK
Apple iBookstore UK

"Shockwave" by Paul Ruditis is the latest book in my Star Trek Reading Challenge and it is a novelization of two Star Trek episodes; namely the Season 1 Finale and the Season 2 premier. I have to admit that I found Shockwave to be one of the better stories in the initial few seasons of the show so I was looking forward to refreshing my memory with this novel.

The basic premise of the story is that the Enterprise manages to vaporise several thousand people in a major accident whilst visiting a planet. Then, as the Enterprise prepares to be recalled back to Earth, Captain Archer is visited by a time traveller who explains that history had never recorded this incident and it is all part of the temporal cold war that was previously mentioned in the first Enterprise novel; Broken Bow. Thus begins an adventure through time, ranging from several months back to thousands of years in the future as the crew tries to unravel what has occurred and why.

The first thing I have to comment on is that it does stick very closely to the TV show and there isn't really anything new added in terms of the story or characters that you couldn't have gained by watching the show, but to be honest that is not a new issue when it comes to novelizations. I did note that various flashbacks to earlier episodes in season 1 have been added to the story. It is a nice way of ensuring that people who haven't seen the show will still understand aspects of the story. I actually appreciated it myself as it was many years ago that I watched the show and can only vaguely remember some of the episodes.

Paul Ruditis, has written the story well enough with his descriptions really bringing you into the centre of the story and the plot is well paced. Basically, I found the novel to be just as entertaining and interesting as I remembered the episodes were.

In summary, this book is a very faithful adaptation of a very enjoyable double episode. However, in a way this is its flaw as I still believe Star Trek books mainly appeal to those who have watched the TV show. Therefore, most people who pick this up will already know the story and it doesn't really add anything new to the experience. So, if you have already seen the Shockwave episodes, the only real reason to pick this up is to re-immerse yourself in this enjoyable story in another form which is perfectly reasonable. If you haven't seen the TV series then I think you will find this a fun and light Sci-Fi adventure book, although I would advise that you read Broken Arrow first as it does give some background and set-up for the overall plot.