Book Review :: The Great Zoo of China :: Matthew Reilly

The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When you read a Matthew Reilly book, it's like jumping on a moving roller-coaster while it's wheels are flying off the rails and everyone is screaming for their life.

This book is no different.

I loved this for multiple reasons. The dragons were brought into the narrative in a very believable manner, and the whole myth and science of them was explained extremely well.

The chases, the explosions,  the close shaves, the booms and the bangs and did I mention explosions? It's all there and the book is jam packed with it all. After reading the disappointing dark defiles, this was a much better change of taste, refreshing and as popcorn as its meant to be.

This should totally be a movie.  Reilly is sitting on a goldmine of movie material books and it would be really soon that we'd one of his books made into movies.

The great zoo of china has that potential.


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Book Review: : Personal by Lee Child

Personal by Lee Child
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've often said that reading Jack Reacher books is like eating your favorite dish where all the ingredients have been changed just a little, but the taste of the dish has an undercurrent of everything you like and then something different.

Personal sees Reacher settling an old score because the army has called for his services as an old sniper has cropped out of the woodwork. The problem here is that it was Reacher who put him in the jail in his old life as a military policeman.

Things get interesting when the sniper takes a shot at the French president and Reacher gets involved in the mix because he knows about the way the sniper thinks.

There are lot of good thinking scenes and good fighting scenes. The last fight scene is exceptionally written and Lee Child's understanding of how fights take place and the mechanics of every street fight shine through just as they've done in the last 15 or 16 Reacher books.

In all, you get an excellent scheme unraveled by Reacher, great dialogue (I said nothing), Reacher's inventiveness and the way he shreds every problem presented to him. The hallmarks of the folding toothbrush, buying only one set of clothes, thinking things through, everything is there in the book.

If you've liked Reacher books in the past, you're going to love this one and if you've never read a Reacher book, this is the best time to start.

For ofcourse, Reacher is, Sherlock Homeless.


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Book Review :: Kill Baxter by Charlie Human

Kill Baxter by Charlie Human
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME FUCKING BOOK I HAVE READ THIS YEAR AND YES THIS IS ALL CAPS CUZ I WANT TO SHOUT AT PEOPLE AND MAKE THEM READ THIS FUCKING BOOK.

FUCK YEAH, BAXTER!


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Excitement aside, i read this book last year and since then i've had some time to think about it and it's indeed a masterpiece for a strange kind of literature which doesn't hold anything back. This is a world where there is pain, there is heartbreak, this is the world of Baxter which is more real than the make believe and fantasy world of others like harry potter.

Potter doesn't hold a light to Baxter who seems more real because of his imperfections. And how real is he? He could be your friend, or mine. He could be the guy you knew in school, but never paid attention to, and maybe there was much more to the guy than what was visible.

In all, a cracker of a book, a fun read and if there is going to be a part 3, Charlie Human can take my money right fucking now.

Book Review : Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human

Apocalypse Now Now by Charlie Human
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ah, yes, the title. Apocalypse Now Now is a play on the name of the movie Apocalypse Now and in South Africa, Now Now can mean anything from in 5 minutes to never. If you say that you'll do something now now, it can mean you might do it right then, or never ever.

I really really loved this book because of the intro chapters, where the main character, Baxter is running a porn syndicate in his school and trying to prevent an all out war between the school gangs. But shit really hits the fan once his girlfriend gets kidnapped by a serial killer called the Mountain Man.

It's a wild wild ride with zombies, monsters, shape-shifters, drugs, guns, and what not.

I won't go into more details, but this is the most fun I've had in recent times while reading a book.


Special addition for blog readers: I created a new category on my goodreads shelf for this book only and titled it Awesome Books. Yes, it is that good. From the intro chapters, to the south african mythos and the middle chapters where we get introduced to the world of the Hidden who have been hiding from the human community.

It is all interesting in the way that you don't read this kind of stuff in mainstream fiction where a writer actually goes deep down into the roots of his own culture and brings it to the masses in a format that really makes the reader think, speculate, and enjoy the words on the page.

This book is amazing because the way the author has amalgamated the worlds of Cape Town and the super natural community, no one else could have done it any better. There is humor, laugh out loud moments and scenes in the book that would make you think. As a package, it couldn't have been any better.

And, at the heart of it all, is a teenager with a love story and a load of new responsibilities on his shoulders. This is the kind of books that makes a person want to pick up the pen, dive deep into his own cultural mythology and spin a yarn that will leave the reader begging for more.

Once I was done reading, I was ecstatic for the next book, Kill Baxter and I knew I'd be reading that one in record time.


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Book Review: All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka

All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time travel is a tricky business and when you're talking about a time loop where a character is destined to repeat the same day again and again, it gets even trickier.

This was a short book and it offered all it had to offer in the span of 150 or so pages. Any more than that, and things would've started to get boring. I liked many things in this book, the science of the jackets, the explanation of how the alien Mimics attack the Earth and how the world tried to fight back. There were several touching moments in the book, the interactions between the primary characters, the beautiful chapter about coffee, the end was pretty brilliant too.

But that said, the only thing I wanted more of was the battle scenes. There are several, but they seem to get over in a flash. When you're talking about super-powered armor that can completely obliterate the enemy, there should be some explosive over-the-top action.

I keep wondering how Matthew Reilly would've tackled the same novel. There would have been explosions, close calls with death, daring escapes and the world almost ending in the aftermath.

That said, it's a good book if you wanna spend a few days with extremely believable characters.

Regular gripe: no overpowering villain in the book.


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Book Review : Personal by Lee Child

Personal by Lee Child
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've often said that reading Jack Reacher books is like eating your favorite dish where all the ingredients have been changed just a little, but the taste of the dish has an undercurrent of everything you like and then something different.

Personal sees Reacher settling an old score because the army has called for his services as an old sniper has cropped out of the woodwork. The problem here is that it was Reacher who put him in the jail in his old life as a military policeman.

Things get interesting when the sniper takes a shot at the French president and Reacher gets involved in the mix because he knows about the way the sniper thinks.

There are lot of good thinking scenes and good fighting scenes. The last fight scene is exceptionally written and Lee Child's understanding of how fights take place and the mechanics of every street fight shine through just as they've done in the last 15 or 16 Reacher books.

In all, you get an excellent scheme unraveled by Reacher, great dialogue (I said nothing), Reacher's inventiveness and the way he shreds every problem presented to him. The hallmarks of the folding toothbrush, buying only one set of clothes, thinking things through, everything is there in the book.

If you've liked Reacher books in the past, you're going to love this one and if you've never read a Reacher book, this is the best time to start.

For ofcourse, Reacher is, Sherlock Homeless.


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Book Review : Half A King : Joe Abercrombie

Damn, I wrote a long review but goodreads ate that and it didn't publish.

So, i'll write a short review.

Read this book.

It makes a strong case for the next two books. Not the classic Joe Abercrombie blood, guts and swear words fest, but the book is good in its own skin.

ta

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That was the good reads review of Half A King. Now this is the blogger review.

The book is excellent, if you're looking for a journey in both physical as well as metaphorical sense. We see the lead Yarvi grow from just a youth who has been burdened with responsibility to a youth who knows how to shoulder the weight that has been thrown on his back.

Abercrombie spins a good story, with characters that are memorable and it really sets the stage for the next two books. The surprises in the story do take you by surprise and there are ample.

There is a range of emotions going through the book that is just excellent. All I'd say here is that get this book and prepare yourself for the next two.