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Nothing O’Clock by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Every tv or film series that is even moderately successful ends up having spin-off novels of varying quality. This is particularly true in the sci-fi genre. Doctor Who is somewhat more than moderately successful, so there are quite a lot of them. Because spin-off works in general have a reputation as being quickly produced extensions of the shows they represent, I’ve generally avoided them. But there are certainly stand out exceptions that make you sometimes rethink your preconception (and hopefully adjust your personal level of snobbery). Nothing O’Clock is most certainly one of these.

As part of the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who last year, Puffin released 11 short stories in e-book format; one for each Doctor and written by different children’s authors. (A twelfth story for the new Doctor will be released in November 2014. No word on whether the War Doctor will get one…)

For the eleventh story, they tapped Neil Gaiman, a phenomenal (and phenomenally successful) writer who has some experience both in the genre and in the series. Gaiman penned two episodes of the series in recent years during Matt Smith’s run as the Eleventh Doctor, and so he is very familiar with that iteration character and that of companion Amy Pond. In fact, it’s all too easy to imagine this story playing out on screen. In the audiobook version, which is how I partook of the story, this is aided in no small way by narrator Peter Kenny.

The story is a nice combination of familiarity and freshness. It feels like just another in a long line of adventures for these well-known characters, but everything else about the tale is brand new and very typically Gaiman.

The author introduces a new enemy, the Kin, an alien race determined to take over the Earth. (This is not a spoiler.) They are creepy as anything Gaiman has come up with before, and that’s not faint praise. The author has a real knack for spooky.

The dialogue and characterization of the Doctor & Amy Pond is so good that I found myself googling a few lines to see if they had already been on the show – that’s how authentic Nothing O’Clock feels. This story would make an excellent episode, and so the length of the story feels exactly right.

My only possible criticism of the story would be that it has probably unfairly raised my expectations for other Doctor Who stories. I’ll take that…

[schema type=”book” url=”http://www.neilgaiman.com/” name=”Nothing O’Clock” description=”Thousands of years ago, Time Lords built a Prison for the Kin. They made it utterly impregnable and unreachable. As long as Time Lords existed, the Kin would be trapped forever and the universe would be safe. They had planned for everything… everything, that is, other than the Time War and the fall of Gallifrey. Now the Kin are free again and there’s only one Time Lord left in the universe who can stop them!” author=”Neil Gaiman” publisher=”Puffin” pubdate=”2013-11-21″ ebook=”yes” ]

Rewinder by Brett Battles

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Kindle Owners’ Lending Library selection, and possibly my favorite so far, Rewinder is a new time-travel adventure by thriller author Brett Battles. I haven’t read any of the author’s previous works, but that is sure to change as I absolutely loved Rewinder.

The story is set in an alternate version of the present time in which the British Empire has lost none of its potency and continued to expand further across the globe. The American colonies are just that – colonies. The American Revolution never occurred in any meaningful way and our protagonist Denny Younger lives in the Shallows, a lower-class area in the western part of New Cardiff (our Los Angeles). The class system is hugely important at this time in history, enough so that Parliament has replaced traditional titles such as labor class or gentry with a numbering system. Denny is on the lower end, an Eight, and likely to remain so for the rest of his life.

But when he takes the Operational Placement Examination he is not placed in the power plant alongside his father as expected but instead flagged as a promising candidate for the Upjohn Institute. Within a day he has been elevated to a higher class and whisked off to the institute where he will learn to be a Rewinder – a time travelling researcher. Rewinders verify family lineage – firsthand. Their mission: “to observe and record. It’s not just what we do. It’s all we do”. They observe events and never interfere. At least those are the rules…

Rewinder is a fascinating and exciting book. The plot is tight and the story written by a clearly skilled hand. It moves along at a quick pace and is easy to follow. I’m sure that if I spent more time picking apart the intricacies of the time travel elements I’d find some problems – there nearly always are in stories that feature such foundations, but the novel is so enjoyable that I didn’t bother myself with looking for problems.

The dialogue is good, the characters better. It has the unique distinction of making both the original and altered histories interesting. If the author had written a tale in either timeline that didn’t involve time travel it still would have made a good setting.

It’s sometimes hard to find great books that aren’t part of a larger series. Rewinder is the sort of book that you appreciate for being a great standalone novel, but would be equally happy to see expanded into a series because the author has done such a fine job of realizing a great setting. Highly recommended.

[schema type=”book” url=”http://www.brettbattles.com/” name=”Rewinder” description=”You will never read Denny Younger’s name in any history book, will never know what he’s done. But even if you did, you’d never believe it. The world as you know it wouldn’t be the same without him. Denny was born into one of the lowest rungs of society, but his bleak fortunes abruptly change when the mysterious Upjohn Institute recruits him to be a Rewinder, a verifier of personal histories. The job at first sounds like it involves researching old books and records, but Denny soon learns it’s far from it. A Rewinder’s job is to observe history. In person. Embracing his new duties with enthusiasm, Denny witnesses things he could never even imagine before. But as exciting as the adventures into the past are, there are dangers, too. For even the smallest error can have consequences. Life-altering consequences. Time, after all, is merely a reference point.” author=”Brett Battles” publisher=”Createspace” pubdate=”2014-08-17″ isbn=”1500766941″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” ]

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A memoir from a non-fiction writer may seem sort of an odd idea. And it is. Doesn’t mean it’s not wonderful.

Author Bill Bryson uses tales of his childhood alter-ego “The Thunderbolt Kid” as a dramatic device to tell long, rich and wonderful anecdotes about growing up in Iowa in the 1950’s. Not a bad conceit, really, and if it helped him to collect these thoughts into a narrative – great. But I found these interludes a little distracting, taking the book away from what is a very detailed and entertaining time capsule.

One of the things I appreciate the most about Bryson’s writing is that it doesn’t really matter what he’s talking about; his ability to humanize situations and provide perspective is the glue that holds his books together. There’s a personal touch to his work even when he’s discussing technical material, but it really shines through in this one. Highly recommended.

[schema type=”book” url=”http://www.billbryson.co.uk/” name=”The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid” description=”From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the middle of the United States in the middle of the last century. A book that delivers on the promise that it is “laugh-out-loud funny.” Some say that the first hints that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came from his discovery, at the age of six, of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater, but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously the Sacred Jersey of Zap, and proved that he had been placed with this innocuous family in the middle of America to fly, become invisible, shoot guns out of people’s hands from a distance, and wear his underpants over his jeans in the manner of Superman. Bill Bryson’s first travel book opened with the immortal line, “I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.” In this hilarious new memoir, he travels back to explore the kid he once was and the weird and wonderful world of 1950s America. He modestly claims that this is a book about not very much: about being small and getting much larger slowly. But for the rest of us, it is a laugh-out-loud book that will speak volumes – especially to anyone who has ever been young.” author=”Bill Bryson” publisher=”Broadway Books” pubdate=”2006-10-17″ isbn=”0739315234″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

Bossypants by Tina Fey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t really have a ton to say about this book. It was wonderfully funny, which was an absolute certainty coming from such a funny comedienne & writer. It was also completely unsubstantial and probably longer than a book about an active person needs to be. Going through the book, I felt like I did when I heard Tina Fey was being honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor; it’s not that it was unjustified – far from it. It just seemed a bit premature. As talented as Fey is, I suspect that her best work is still ahead of her (or at least that her best isn’t behind her). It’s a little early for career retrospectives, isn’t it?

Like all autobiographies, it is most enjoyable the further the narrative stays from the present time. The stories of growing up and discovering her voice are absolutely hysterical. Once the story starts to catch up to current events it feels more like a journal. I’m not that interested in reading an author’s thoughts on things that just happened – I was there – I got the gist of it. More detail starts to feel like justification and over-explanation of events – I’m already reading your side of the story – it’s your book. Tell me more about your theatre camp – that was a riot…

The exception to this criticism is the newer material on parenting. Because that is providing access to things I didn’t previously know about. And because it is side-splitting funny.

I actually listened to the author narrate this story as opposed to reading it. I’m sure I would have enjoyed the book without Tina Fey’s voice but I can’t imagine I would have enjoyed it as much. She has such a fantastic delivery. Recommended.

[schema type=”book” url=”http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/tina-fey/bossypants/9780316056861/” name=”Bossypants” description=”Tina Fey, one of the most powerful and beloved women in entertainment, brings sharp wit and uncanny observational skill to everything she does, from television to major motion pictures. She’s managed to be known as both the thinking man’s sex symbol, and every woman’s alter-ego/imaginary best friend. Now, for the first time, Fey takes her writing talent off-screen and into the pages of a audiobook. From her disastrous honeymoon cruise to the oversold joys of breastfeeding, from how to assemble the perfect female body to the working mom’s inner thoughts (when cleaning under the couch: eat the Cheerio, pocket the penny. Unless your sweatpants don’t have pockets…), Tina Fey puts her unique and endlessly funny mark on modern life, love, marriage, and motherhood.” author=”Tina Fey” publisher=”Reagan Arthur Books” pubdate=”2011-04-05″ isbn=”0316056863″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” hardcover=”yes” ]

A Better World by Marcus Sakey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you read my review of  Brilliance (Brilliance Saga, #1), you know that I appreciated the novel but was very interested to see what author Marcus Sakey would be able to achieve with the story once he’d got all the exposition out of the way. I’m very pleased that my hunch that the second novel would be more rewarding was correct.

A Better World examines the ramifications of former FBI agent Nick Cooper’s actions at the climax of Brilliance. Our world has been turned upside down, with the Brilliant-led terrorist group the Children of Darwin able to operate almost without impunity in the absence of the Department of Analysis and Response (DAR).

There is a lot of political intrigue in this series, but it succeeds best with its feet on the ground, up close with those dealing with the effects of the world-shaking actions in this chaotic time. The Children of Darwin are able to completely isolate 3 major American cities, starving them of supplies and aid. Mob rule & martial law vie for control, both seeming worse than the actions of the terrorists. The maxim about civilization being twenty-four hours and two meals away from barbarism is perfectly illustrated here.

The story works because of its terrifying plausibility. In fact, the Brilliants don’t really even have much to do. The real story of this novel has much less to do with superhuman abilities than it does with all too human weakness.

It’s not all positive; the writing is still very screenplay-esque and the author makes the unforgivable sin of not finishing the story. It’s understood when you’re in the middle book of a trilogy that everything isn’t going to be wrapped up neatly, but there is no excuse for releasing a story that feels this unfinished. There’s an expectation on the part of the reader that each installment of a series has to feel like a complete story, even when the overall tale is not done.

My annoyance at this lapse is due in large part to my desire to find out what happens next. It just could have been much more elegantly tied off if not tied up.

I really enjoyed A Better World – a good story got much better in the second installment. Recommended – with the caveat that you may want to wait until the series is complete before starting…

[schema type=”book” url=”http://marcussakey.com/” name=”A Better World” description=”The brilliants changed everything. Since 1980, 1% of the world has been born with gifts we’d only dreamed of. The ability to sense a person’s most intimate secrets, or predict the stock market, or move virtually unseen. For thirty years the world has struggled with a growing divide between the exceptional…and the rest of us. Now a terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities. Supermarket shelves stand empty. 911 calls go unanswered. Fanatics are burning people alive. Nick Cooper has always fought to make the world better for his children. As both a brilliant and an advisor to the president of the United States, he’s against everything the terrorists represent. But as America slides toward a devastating civil war, Cooper is forced to play a game he dares not lose—because his opponents have their own vision of a better world. And to reach it, they’re willing to burn this one down. From Marcus Sakey, “the master of the mindful page turner” (Gillian Flynn) and “one of our best storytellers” (Michael Connelly), Book Two of the Brilliance Saga is a relentless thrill ride that will change the way you look at your world—and the people around you.” author=”Marcus Sakey” publisher=”Thomas & Mercer” pubdate=”2014-06-17″ isbn=”1477823948″ ebook=”yes” paperback=”yes” ]