I have been reading profusely over the last few months and had the idea of doing some snapshot reviews, shorter (comparatively) than my usual ramblings/analyses, but still drawing attention to some of the more interesting books I've come across.
THE INVISIBLE LIBRARY BY GENEVIEVE COGMAN
This is a new sci-fi/adventure
series from Tor UK based around an inter-dimensional library which harvests and
preserves fiction from different realities. It’s a fun roller-coaster of an
adventure which still has potential for more character insight and development
in future sequels. There are limitless possibilities to the base concept –
which is enough to whet every book lovers’ appetite on its own. There are
elements of Sherlock Holmes, Victorian England, magic, horror and Steampunk. For
me, the library and its hierarchy were the most intriguing part of this debut –
especially with the time and space relativity and the careful balancing act
that was Irene’s childhood – that’s something I’d love Cogman to go into in
the sequels.
It’s a thrilling ride and I will
come back for more if these elements come further into play – there are hints
that they will – as these will make it a little more thought-provoking as well
fun and fantastical. Irene was an interesting female lead, and her job as a spy
is pretty awesome, but would love to see her come into her own even more. Kai
felt like a bit of a distraction – especially as he was introduced immediately
as being ‘beautiful’ – it made it harder to relate to him from that moment
because it was a bit of a cliché. Again, it will be interesting to see where
Cogman takes both characters as there is obviously still a way to go.
ENDGAME: THE CALLING BY JAMES FREY
I knew nothing about James Frey before reading this and that
is probably a good thing- I wasn’t prejudiced in any way while reading the novel.
Endgame #1 works as a piece of the puzzle that Frey is trying to create – it
includes its own puzzles which promise a literal treasure of gold coins for any
who can solve it – but the entire project involves a film, game and novella as
well as future sequels and puzzles. This network of tie-ins will form a whole,
no part really exists to stand alone – and that is something to note when
critiquing this book.
This first novel sets up the fight to the death between
12 bloodlines, only one of which will survive. It is a fast and compelling read
but a fairly shallow one on its own, flitting between a starting cast of
twelve/thirteen characters and their viewpoints as they race across the globe.
It is, however, a truly diverse cast of characters – hailing from places like
India, China, Turkey, Ethiopia, Australia, Italy, England and America. So once
you get past the initial conceit of teenagers-killing-each-other, which has
become familiar, the book develops an intriguing character of its own. My
favourite characters were probably An Liu (China) and Chiyoko Takeda
(Japanese). Both had complex backgrounds and inhibiting character traits, a
volatility and a vulnerability which made them particularly fascinating. It definitely felt like there was more to them than some of the others.
At
present it doesn’t feel like Endgame can be classed as a dystopia – it is set on a
recognisable planet Earth with no overt forces of oppression in the foreground,
though these may come into play in the sequels. Frey’s style can become
repetitive after 400 pages, but he knows how to build suspense and he is
ruthless when he needs to be (I liked the anti-romance in Christopher’s
storyline). I admire the project and the effort that is going to go into this
to make it an immersive experience – I think it will be easier to review and
form a clear opinion once all components are available. It was certainly
interesting to read and I remain curious.
Would be interesting to hear what other people make of both projects - particularly Frey's (no obvious Hunger Games comparisons please!)
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