Making It Up

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SF

Delete by Kim Curran Blog Tour

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Smart, sharp science fiction, not only for teenagers.

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The country is at war. Beset by enemies within and without. And all because of the decisions changed by one boy, Scott Tyler. In this ravaged alternative reality, Scott hardly recognises himself. He’s a war hero, a leader of a unit of Shifters and maybe the only one who can prevent the country’s frail defences from crumbling.

But all Scott wants to do is find a way back to the world he knew, without losing the girl he loves.

With every Shift he makes, Scott edges closer towards oblivion. With no one to trust – not even himself – how much is he willing to risk to get home?

This is the third in the Shifter trilogy by Kim Curran, and if you haven’t come across these, I recommend you do start at the beginning or you’re doing yourself out of a treat. Kim writes tight SF adventure with characters that seem well rounded from the moment you meet them. And although versions of reality snap to and fro as you’re going (check the blurb!) the characters stay reasonably constant.

This is how I like my SF. Fast, a little funny, personal with a good story. Scott is a great character, and I’ve been rooting for him from the beginning. Will it all work out? Well, that would be telling 😉 (and we all know that I don’t do spoilers) but I really don’t think you’ll regret getting stuck into these books.

And, as part of the blog tour, there’s a giveaway to win all three books being hosted across all the blogs taking part – see the rafflecopter widget here.

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Kim PicDublin-born Kim Curran is the award-nominated author of books for young adults, including Shift, Control and Delete. She studied Philosophy & Literature at university with the plan of being paid big bucks to think deep thoughts. While that never quite worked out, she did land a job as a junior copywriter with an ad agency a week after graduating. She’s worked in advertising ever since and is obsessed with the power of the media on young minds.

She is a mentor at the Ministry of Stories and for the WoMentoring Project. And lives in London with her husband and too many books.

Website: http://www.kimcurran.co.uk

Twitter: @KimeCurran

Goodreads Author page

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Mind Games: Teri Terry

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On the day I found out I’d been longlisted in the UKYA blogger awards it seems only appropriate to review a forthcoming UKYA title. (And run back through my archives making sure ones I’ve reviewed before are tagged 😉

I’ve read the Slated trilogy by Teri Terry – we even went to the book launch for Shattered I guess you could say we’re fans 🙂

The blurb for Mind Games:

In a future world, life is tightly controlled by the all-powerful PareCo. Standing out from the crowd is dangerous so misfit Luna hides her secrets carefully, not realising her own power. Unlike her friends and family, Luna has never been able to plug into Realtime, PareCo’s virtual world, where almost everyone now lives their lives. So how do PareCo know about Luna, and why do they want her for their elite think tank?

The truth is hidden in a web of shining silver secrets, and the corrupt authorities would do anything to keep it that way. Can Luna find a way to use her own hidden powers and bring the truth to light before it’s too late?

This blurb gives the book rather more of a sinister and dystopian feel than I felt the book started with. The strength of Teri Terry’s writing is in the characterisation I think, (along with the ripping yarn thing she’s got going 😉 ) and Luna is just great. As a Refuser of the technology you need to access virtual worlds mentioned above, she’s excluded from pretty much every activity going on with her peers, but she doesn’t come across as isolated somehow, she’s very complete in herself. As ever, I prefer to avoid spoilers in reviews, but I don’t think I’m giving away too much to say that this is likely to appeal particularly to gamers and coders.

There are twists and turns and conspiracies galore, and Luna will need every bit of the strength of character refusing has given her to find her way through it. If you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to clear a block of time for this book – I really didn’t want to put it down, and carted it about with me on trains and to swimclub. And while I don’t *really* have anything against trilogies or series, it is good to get the whole story in one shot once in a while.

I was surprised to discovering a teaser for Teri Terry’s next book at the end of the ARC though. Here’s hoping that means it’s coming very soon 🙂

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys SF/dystopia, and don’t forget to take a look at Slated, Fractured, Shattered if you haven’t already read them. Eg here Teri Terry on Amazon (Slated (Slated Trilogy Book 1) is currently on offer at 99p on Kindle)

Mars evacuees by Sophia McDougall

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I was lucky enough recently to win a signed copy of Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall. It’s not just signed though, it’s doodled in. Isn’t this just fab?

The fact that someone had decided I’d be safer on Mars, where you could still only SORT OF breathe the air and SORT OF not get sunburned to death, was a sign that the war with the aliens was not going fantastically well.

When Alice Dare finds out that she’s being evacuated to Mars to join the youth defence force, she isn’t sure what to expect. But it sure wasn’t being shot at, chased by invisible aliens, befriending a robot goldfish – and then having to save the galaxy!

I wasn’t sure quite what to expect before I actually got my hands on this one. It turned out to be a great SF adventure – there’s an alien invasion on the go, and a batch of children are shipped off to Mars to be fast tracked through an academy to join the defense forces. You might be thinking Ender’s Game – don’t. This is more adventure yarn in an SF setting, although there was a moment when I thought we were going Lord of the Flies, and I surprised myself by feeling a bit upset with it. Stick with it through the rough parts though, and you’ve got all sorts of fun things coming up to do with working past surface perceptions *and* working as a team. It turns out your allies can be found in the most unexpected of places.

I think this is described as middle grade (I’m not really up on my age categorisations I’m afraid) which just means a bit younger than Young Adult. I can see it going down well with children around Small’s age (currently 11) and upwards. I thought it was well written, good fun, and I’ll certainly be looking out for more from this author.

What have you been reading? Feel free to link up and let me know.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

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I’m not quite sure why I haven’t read the Giver before now. And I’m not quite sure why I really wanted to read it now. Someone recommended it, but I can’t remember who.

Thank you, anyway.

The Giver is dystopian fiction. Without guns. Without violence. The main character is 12 (looking at the film publicity that appears to have been changed slightly) and it’s a very low key story, based mostly around the relationship within a family unit, and between a mentor and a child.

It’s beautifully put together. There’s a sense of foreboding from the very first page, but it’s oh so gentle. Mild. Safe.

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Safety is important in the Giver’s world. Sameness. Security. Routine.

There is no pain. Everyone is open about their feelings. They are required to be open about their feelings. About their dreams. Everyone is precise with their language usage. Everyone has fun.

What could possibly be wrong with that?

I highly recommend you read it. If you like dystopia, although it’s somehow not very dystopian. If you like fiction that raises questions, that worms its way into your head, that stays with you long after the last page is finished, this is a book you will value.

And please, from what I’ve seen of the film, read the book first.

So, that’s what I’ve been reading this week. It was blissful actually – I’d ordered it from the library, but when I went to pick it up, my card wasn’t working, so instead of bringing it home, I sat in a comfy chair in the library and read it there in peace and quiet. Then went back today to finish it.

I might have to try that again. Or perhaps I’ll start taking the massive unwieldy TBR pile out to a cafe. Or the library 😉 (Would that be weird?)

If you’ve something to share of what you’ve been reading, I’d love to hear it. There’s a badge if you want it too over on the Read 52 page. (Which is desperately in need of updating. Sorry.)

If you enjoyed The Giver, you might like The Chrysalids or A Wrinkle in Time.

Reading in the garden – Earth Flight.

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I have a lot on my todo list.

So obviously, what I did yesterday, was sit in the garden and read a book.

I’ve already read and reviewed Earth Girl and Earth Star by Janet Edwards, so I was desperate to get my hands on book 3 in the trilogy.

It doesn’t disappoint.

Now, how to discuss a trilogy without spoilers for anyone who hasn’t indulged yet?

This is classic adventure SF, with a teenage focus. The first book focusses closely on Jarra, the Earth Girl of the title, setting her in the centre of a conflict between the Handicapped (humans who can survive only on a largely abandoned and destroyed Earth) and norms who are spreading out to colonise the Galaxy. Earth Star widens out to bring in politics, a wider cast and a first contact with Aliens scenario, that Jarra powers her way through. Earth Flight lifts up again, and feels packed to the rafters with details on the politics, science, culture and that ever widening cast. There’s Jarra herself, her family, her friends, the military, the various governments. There’s the first contact situation, but there’s also a growing movement to do something about the upstart earth girl and the problematic planet she inhabits.

The plot rackets along at an ever increasing pace – if I have a criticism, it’s that I’d really like to see the whole thing slow down and incorporate more characterisation, more side details. Some of the cast just don’t get their chance in the limelight, and that seems rather a shame. There is just so much to cover though that I can see why it didn’t happen, and if you do want more exploration, there are short stories going up free on the author’s website at the moment, that really do flesh out the characters by bringing in back story, different cultures and so on.

This is an incredibly rich environment and while we might have had most of Jarra’s story now, I hope that we’re going to see much more in the setting. It reminds me of the Vor novels from Lois McMaster Bujold in the breadth of backgrounds, cultures and politics that are being drawn in, although there is a feeling that we’re skating over the surface rather. I’m sure there’s much more to come from this author, and if you’re an SF fan, you really can’t go wrong with getting stuck into this trilogy. And at least if you buy now, you’re not going to be waiting for answers in the way I have been 😉

Great fun, great characters, lots I didn’t see coming, but nothing that didn’t fit. More please 🙂