The Year of the Flood

by Margaret Atwood

Bloomsbury. Science Fiction, Fantasy. Hardcover RRP $41.95

The Year of the Flood is the story of two women who survive a man-made disaster, obliterating the majority of the human race.

Ren and Toby both are members of a cult called God’s Gardeners at one time or another. Toby is rescued by Adam One and his followers from the hands of a maniac who has used Toby for his enjoyment and is now ready to discard her to the place of no return. Ren is dragged into the Gardeners complex by her mother when she is a child, escaping the boring life of being married to a man who doesn’t really acknowledge Ren and her mother’s existence.

Toby gradually works her way up through the ranks of the Gardeners until her closest friend and supporter dies and Toby steps into her shoes and takes up the position as Eve Six and becomes the keeper of bees and administerer of potions.

Ren spends her childhood with the Gardeners learning that their way of life is a good way of life, where animals and humans co-exist and each is treated with respect. When her mother decides to leave the Gardeners and return to her husband and his chemical company, Ren is torn.

When the waterless flood hits the world both Ren and Toby have been locked away from others and find they have been spared from the disease. But what is the new world going to be like? Who else has survived? And what of the new species of animals and humans?

With man continually tinkering with DNA and chemicals, the animals, diseases, drugs and machinery, The Year of the Flood could possibly be a story waiting to happen.

http://www.yearoftheflood.com/

This is Shyness

by Leanne Hall

Text Publishing Company. Young Adult, Australian. Paperback RRP $19.95

Reviewer – Sandy Fussell

Imagine adventure, romance, a light touch of science fiction – and take one step left. Welcome to Leanne Hall’s wonderful debut novel This is Shyness.

Wildgirl is in the mood for, for forgetting and as soon as she spots him in the bar, for Wolfboy. Wolfboy can’t believe anyone like her would possibly be interested in him. In one night their worlds not only collide but change forever.

In Shyness the sun never rises. In this eternal night Wildgirl and Wolfboy embark on a dangerous mission - finding self esteem and a reason to live.

But Wildgirl and Wolfboy must first come to grips with their pasts. On this night, they do it together.

This book is unusual and unique. It’s different to anything else I’ve read but has all those elements I enjoy – it’s exciting and sensitive. It leaves you feeling that you have experienced something you could never imagine.

This is Shyness was the winner of the 2009 Text Publishing Prize, The Text Prize for Young Adult and Children’s Writing.

http://thelongblinks.com/

You are a Star

by Michael Parker and Judith Rossell

ABC Books. Children’s Picture Book, Australian. Hardcover RRP $24.99


Inspired by Michael Parker’s lifelong love of cosmology and his desire to explain scientific concepts to his young children, You are a Star explains how everyone has a piece of the stars inside them. A star is a celebration of a child’s place in the universe.

As the reader floats through space, fires burn and stars are born. They continue to burn until they explode. Tiny pieces fly across space to cool to become part of planets, rocks, plants, animals, trees … and the child reader.

The book is written in conversational storytelling style promoting the intimacy of a wonderful magic secret shared. The magic continues in Judith Rossell’s illustrations, with the clever use of light and dark. Stars glimmer, taking on many different shapes as they drift through space, tails streaming behind.

The story is beautiful encapsulated by this one line: “But remember, that sky way, way above your head is not cold and dark. It is the cradle from which you came.”

Recommended bedtime reading – a little magic, a little science and a strong sense of belonging.

The Reading Stack reviewed in April 2010 Judith Rossell and Mark Macleod's book Wrong Way.

http://www.michaelparker.com.au/

The City

by Armin Greder

Allen and Unwin. Australian, Picture Book. Hardcover RRP $29.99

Reviewer – Sandy Fussell

I found The City a difficult book to review because reviews need words and when I closed the cover I found myself speechless and wordless.


This is the story of a mother and child. The world is a scary place and it is human nature to protect our young ones. But where do we draw the line? To learn they must be exposed to the mortal dangers and all so they can grow through experience.

The City has many dark images and words that match perfectly. My favourite is a double page of crows with the simple words: “One moonless night she died.” Another dark double page spread shows a wolf’s face preceded by another beautifully simple string of words: “One day the night suppressed him.” The child-man finally confronts his future alone.

This is a powerful picture book that defies any further categorisation. It is a story to be read to primary children; read by secondary students it will promote discussion of text, art and then. It is also a story for adults and as a parent I found a message in it just for me.

Torment

by Lauren Kate

Random House. Young Adult, Fantasy. Paperback RRP $29.95

Lucinda Price, Luce known to her family and friends, has been hidden away by her angelic boyfriend, Daniel. After the angel/demon battle at the last school, Sword & Cross, Luce is not safe and has been sent to a school in Fort Bragg called Shoreline, a school for the rich with a secret class for the ‘gifted’. Normal kids try hard to get into the gifted programme but unless they have a parent who is an angel or demon, they will never get in. Except Luce.

Luce has been placed at Shoreline under the protection of the school’s Nephilim kids. These kids all have powers and Luce can be well hidden in amongst their auras from the Outcasts, immortals who want Luce dead.

The shadows that have followed and surrounded Luce all her life are still with her but she learns, with the help of her new friends and teachers, that they can be manipulated to help her see into her past and past lives. Luce has eighteen days to learn as much as she can about her and Daniel’s past before the truce between Daniel and Cam, the demon that tried to kill Daniel at Sword & Cross, finishes and then Luce may have to fend off more than one enemy.

The more Luce learns about her past, the more she realises that her and Daniel have a long past that always ends up badly. Could their relationship finally culminate in something, but what? She is a mortal and he is a fallen angel.

The Reading Stack reviewed Book one, Fallen in February 2010. You don’t have to read book one but I would recommend it just to enjoy the story of past lives and angels and demons. Can’t wait for book three, Passion which will be out mid-2011.

http://www.fallenbooks.com/

Utopian Man

by Lisa Lang

Allen and Unwin. Australian, History. Paperback RRP $23.99

Utopian Man is the story of the real life eccentric entrepreneur Edward Cole told with a dash of Lang’s imagination.

Edward Cole was a man of vision. A vision that every man, woman and child could come to a place to relax and read – where trees would grow, bands played, Chinese tea served and animals romped. This vision was realised in the late 1800’s in the heart of Melbourne, where Edward William Cole created Cole’s Book Arcade.

This man was so forward thinking that he advertised for a wife in the newspaper and ended up marrying Eliza eight weeks later. This marriage was a good, faithful and happy one with five children being brought into the world. Eliza and Edward were married until death separated them.

Cole’s vision flourished but then a series of events nearly led to his downfall – the death of his youngest, the recession, his fraternising with Chinese and blacks, séances, opium dens, corruption within parliament and amongst his friends. Cole survived but only just.

Utopian Man may be an imaginary tale but Lisa Lang has brought the 1800’s to life. I looked up more on Edward William Cole after reading this book and found that he was a fascinating man and Utopian Man is a fascinating story. Corruption, lust, drugs – it has it all!

Ghost Watch

The new Vin Cooper thriller

by David Rollins

Pan Macmillan Australia. Australian, Crime, Thriller, Mystery. Paperback RRP $25.00

Guest Reviewer – Ian Brown

Australia’s David Rollins has created a great series of adventure books involving special agent Vin Cooper. This is the fourth book and having only read Ghost Watch, I can’t wait to read the three previous books.

This is a gripping read from cover to cover. If you are a fan of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan or Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, then these books are for you.

In Ghost Watch, Vin Cooper, special agent for the United States, is on assignment in Kabul to protect an Afghan politician. When that goes wrong and the politician is killed, Vin is assigned to a cushy job in Africa looking after entertainers performing to American troops. Things go wrong again, and Vin and the entertainers end up in the middle of the African Congo fighting for survival.

From then on it’s a battle to survive involving corruption, various tribes fighting each other, slavery and gold mines.

David Rollins has written a story that puts you into the heart of Africa. Go there!

http://www.davidrollins.net/