Reading at Dawn - Book Review Blog

Jasper Fforde, Author

Book 10 in A to Z challenge

Jasper Fforde writes a series of fantasy books about an alternative reality in which a human agency polices the world of books, a reality in which book characters exist, time and reality are mutable and the literary is often more real than every day life. Meet Thursday Next, one of those agents policing text, who is tasked with the retrieval of Jane Eyre who has been kidnapped from her novel.

Across books and realities, with the aid of many well loved literary characters and a father who has been erased from history, Thursday Next hunts for the missing heroine with whimsy, wit and a phlegmatic disposition we are never certain is true or pretend. The climax of the Eyre Affair both leaves you laughing and wanting more - fortunately there are other books to follow that first.

This book is for any book lover with a sense of humour and the ability to simply disband belief and be taken on the roller coaster of craziness and familiarity which is the book world. This book defies traditional age rating though I believe that the lovers of the classics will fall into it faster, and more completely, than others.


Reviewed by:
Christine Blackthorn
www.christineblackthorn.eu

For fun, since I'm trying to submit more fiction, I decided to do one review on a short fiction publisher. Daily Science Fiction (aka DSF) is a daily sci-fi publisher, as the name suggests, and I get the stories right in my email inbox.

Day 4 in A to Z challenge

About the Publication: "Original Science Fiction and Fantasy every weekday. Welcome to Daily Science Fiction, an online magazine of science fiction short stories. We publish "science fiction" in the broad sense of the word: This includes sci-fi, fantasy, slipstream-- whatever you'd likely find in the science fiction section of your local bookstore. Our stories are mostly short short fiction (flash fiction) each Monday through Thursday, hopefully the right length to read on a coffee break, over lunch, or as a bedtime tale. Friday's weekend stories are longer."


 http://dailysciencefiction.com/


There are a couple of features about DSF that make it great for readers who like science fiction (obviously if you don't, umm don't read their stories). One is that due to the nature of the name, there are many stories published. It's not quite every single day but close enough that one can accept the title. This means there are chances for many different authors to get published, which is always great (for us writers). And that allows for variety (which readers can appreciate).

This does mean that not every story is going to match the same reader's personal taste. I'll admit sometimes the stories I get end up deleted before I get half way through them. I try but just some sci-fi and me don't get along. Others, I really really like. Personal taste plays a big part but that's the good part about getting them in email. If I don't want to read more, I don't have to do much aside from click on the little trash can image.

This also allows for some playing with formatting that some publishers would be weary to take on. I've seen a couple of stories where they don't look like what one expects from a story. This can be anything from letters, dictation to machine or even a space tech support transcript. Can be very interesting to see what approach different authors take with their writing. The site also has the stories categorized, which is convenient if you are looking for a quick sci-fi read, since they have quite a collection available at this point.

One story that caught my attention recently is The Folds of War by Marcus Gallagher-Jones. It had an interesting set of characters and premise. I stumbled for a second over the Nee-Chan because I'm in the U.S. and only see it in Manga and such but since I've started reading those too I got over that quick. From there, I was hooked because I have a recent interest in paper cranes. I made a couple images with them, so I wanted to see what the story would lead to and I wasn't disappointed. While I didn't quite expect how it would go, it all made sense. Overall, it was a good, quick read.

Anyone who likes science fiction, short in particular, should check out the Daily Science Fiction web site and sign up to get stories emailed to them. If you don't want the emails, then save the link to your favorites and peruse at your convenience. And enjoy the plethora of sci-fi the publisher has to offer.


Reviewed by:
Dawn Embers

So, this was supposed to be the month I did only middle grade book reviews but the book I was reading has disappeared on me. This book will have to fill in but it's not even close to middle grade. While I love fantasy, I studied science fiction lit and this was one of my favorites. I recommend the audio version, which is what I have, because the voicing is great and makes the story really stand out.

About the Book: A set if people (humans and some others) on the moon in 2076, and they are kept poor and oppressed by an Earth-based Authority that turns huge profits at their expense. A small band of dissidents, including a one-armed computer jock, a radical young woman, a past-his-prime academic and a nearly omnipotent computer named Mike, meet under odd circumstances. Revolution inspirations spiral into actions despite the near certainty of failure and death.


This is a great book and while I haven't read a paperback (so unlike me I know) the audio version was just mind blowing amazing. I can see why Heinlein is such a prominent name in Science Fiction.


I am always interested in stories where unlikely characters come together for a rebellion. And to have characters that are fun to listen(read) about is a key element. While I wasn't sure at first about the main character, he grew on me and his interactions with Mike was intriguing. Heinlein is not just a fine author but he created a believable world where people live on the moon.


Reason for going with audio: The accent. I never would have read the accent at all because I wouldn't know what the exact sound would be so I'm glad I went with audio because now all I can here is the readers voice whenever I think about the novel and it was so fitting. It even worked with the other characters, including the sassy and slightly outrageous in a good way female side kick. Well, she wasn't a side kick per say but it's kind of the role her character took. She was vital in the revolution and with the odd mismatch group, the story of the adventure stood out. Listening to it was great. 


If you're interested in trying out a classic Sci-Fi novel, I'd recommend this book. Even if the genre is not your usual, it's always good to give other genres a try and there is much any writer could learn from an awesome author.