Tomorrow, When The War Began review

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

Pan Macmillan, 1993, 286 pages

I wonder if positively reviewing this book will help me win the John Marsden award this year. Well, I guess we’ll have to see what happens nine months from now. In the meantime, here’s my review of one of Australia’s most famous books from one of Australia’s most famous authors, book one of the best-selling Tomorrow series.

So, I guess you’re wondering what this book’s about, aren’t you? Well, skip to the next paragraph; this is the part about how the idea came up. When Marsden began writing, he wanted to write a novel about war, though didn’t know how to go about it. He then thought about just focusing on a small group of people in the war, and not the war itself. Then (in a completely original move by him</sarcasm>) he decided to write to about teenagers. Marsden has said a lot of the inspiration comes from World War II, where Australia could have been taken over by Japan.

Now, as promised, here’s the plot. It’s the end of the school year, there’s nothing to do in the country town of Wirrawee, and Ellie and friends want to do something. After some consideration, Ellie comes up with a perfect idea: a camping trip. Gathering numerous friends from school (boys AND girls, wink wink nudge nudge) they set off to Tailor’s Stitch on their way to Hell (not the ACTUAL Hell, that’s just the name the give to a nearly unreachable forest at the bottom of the cliff). After a few days of lounging around at the bottom of the cliff (and ignoring fighter jets that flew over them), they head back to town.

And now, the thrilling part. When they get back to town, they find it not only deserted, but many of the animals at Ellie’s family’s farm were dead. And Homer’s house wasn’t much better. If you hadn’t already seen the title of the novel, you’d be a little confused as to what’s happened, but since you have, you would realise that they’ve been invaded. How do eight ordinary Australian teenagers survive in a country being taken over by an unknown enemy? Simple: by attempting to fight back despite the odds being tipped in favour of the invaders. Damn those crafty . . . actually, it doesn’t say who invaded us.

Let me put my thoughts this way: there’s a reason this book has sold three million copies, won several awards and had a film adaptation (with a sequel on the way). From wild car chases through town to spying on the enemy through day and night looking for weak spots, this book will have you on the edge of your seat from chapter 6.

My rating: 9/10

Any suggestions, post them below

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment review

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Little, Brown, 2005, 413 pages

This week’s review is going to take flight . . . or at least the characters are going to. I’m reviewing book one in James Patterson’s best selling Maximum Ride series (even though it would make more sense to wait until August and review it then when the final book comes out, or next year when the movie supposedly comes out).

The inspiration for this hit series actually comes from two of Patterson’s earlier books (When the Wind Blows and The Lake House). These books also have a character called Max who escaped a school, though that’s about all they have in common (in other words, those books aren’t prequels to this series). This is the first of a few popular book series’ Patterson has written in recent years (The Daniel X, Witch and Wizard and Middle School books being the others). That said, Maximum Ride is (and I daresay always will be) the most popular. This is the only book series that has a chance of knocking Harry Potter off its throne of “Most Awesome Book Series of All Time . . . In My Opinion” (we’ll see how book eight goes).

Let’s get into the plot. Maximum Ride is a 14 year old girl who lives in the mountains with a group of friends she calls The Flock. Why’s this? Well, they have this little problem. They’re mutant hybrids being hidden from psychotic scientists who think nothing of performing horrific experiments on children. I can already tell I’ve got you hooked. Max and her Flock (which consists of 14 year old Fang and Iggy, 11 year old Nudge, 8 year old Gazzy and 6 year old Angel) are only 98% human. The other 2% is avian (bird) DNA (I’d have made the lead up better, but then I remembered I ruined it in the first sentence of this review).

One day, while The Flock were out for a fly, they are attacked by Erasers (human-wolf hybrids), sent by The School (the place where The Flock was created, and what a perfect name for a place that traumatises children) to kidnap Angel. While the group devises their rescue plan, Angel is put through numerous horrible psychological tests, the most challenging of which is the sudden reappearance of Jeb (the man who kidnapped them from The School four years ago and disappeared two years ago, leaving The Flock to assume he was dead). This thrilling rescue operation is only the first half of the first book.

Action, adventure, mystery, mutant fight scenes. This book is full of them. No wonder Patterson had to write another seven books after this. Once your kid has finished Harry Potter, get them on these books (while you older readers secretly read them yourself and enjoy them). One criticism: NEVERMORE ISN’T OUT YET!

My rating: 9/10

Any requests, post them below

Twilight review

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Little, Brown, 2005, 544 pages

I’m gonna get SO much backlash for this. Ladies and gentlemen, a 20-year old male has read Twilight. Get over it now or leave, it’s your call. The first book in what people are either calling “an abomination to the entire literary genre”, or “OMFG liek da b3st theeng eva”, it depends who you ask.

So, how did Twilight come about? Well, according to author Stephanie Meyer, it started after she had a dream on 2^nd June 2003 (why she remembers the exact date or bothered to figure it out I’ll never know) about a human girl and a vampire who loved her, but also wanted her blood. This dream is now Chapter 13 of the first book. She wrote the first book in about three months despite her little writing experience prior to it (I can already hear you saying “it shows”). After the final edit, she signed a three book deal with Little, Brown for $750,000 (HOLY ****, I think I’d be lucky to get half that much).

The plot revolves around 17-year old Bella Swan, who is moving from sunny Phoenix, Arizona, to rain-drenched Forks, Washington, to live with her dad, since her mother and step-dad will be moving around a lot and she wants to stay in one place. At school, Bella notices a group of very strange looking kids (the Cullens). She learns from the other kids that the Cullens don’t really talk to the other kids, which explains why Edward Cullen disappears for a few weeks after being paired with her in Biology (kind of). Once he comes back, however, he seems friendlier than he was before he left.

Sounds like a fairly standard teen romance novel, doesn’t it? Well, time for some plot twists. After Bella nearly dies…twice, and is rescued by Edward…twice, Bella starts to suspect that Edward might not be fully human (the first near death being where someone’s car skidded out of control and Edward pushed it away, when moments ago he was across the other side of the parking lot; the other time she gets attacked by a group of thugs when shopping in Seattle). After she does a bit of research, she finds out what the reader has known since seeing the cover of the book: Edward and his family are vampires.

Now, I know a lot of you have seen ads for the movies and think “Twilight vampires aren’t real vampires, they sparkle”, I’d like to share with you something a friend of mine has theorised about the Twilight vampires: they’re not actual vampires, more vampiric statues. This makes sense, since their skin has a similar effect to marble in the sun. Just keep this in mind while you read it (if I’ve somehow convinced you to read it). It isn’t as bad as people think it is, so STOP JUDGING A BOOK BY ITS COVER…literally.

My rating: 7/10

Any suggestions, feel free to leave them below

Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone review

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Bloomsbury, 1997, 223 pages

Have you ever accidentally trapped your cousin in the snake enclosure at the zoo because you’re a famous wizard and don’t even know it? Harry Potter has. This is how the most successful book and movie franchise of all time starts. Yep, this week I’m reviewing the very reason J. K. Rowling bathes in diamonds every night.

Back in 1990, J. K. Rowling was on a four hour delayed train trip when the idea for a boy attending a wizarding school formed in her mind, though she isn’t sure from where. As soon as she got home, she started writing. It was around this time, she had already written the epilogue for the final book, but it wasn’t until 1995 that she finished the first book. She wrote the first one from a few local coffee shops because the air-conditioner at her house was busted (I wonder if she has the money to fix it yet). What amazes me is that when it was finished, there were about ten publishers who rejected it (coincidently, there were also about ten people working at those same publisher who soon got fired).

Now, for the seven of you worldwide who are yet to read it, what the hell is wrong with you? Anyway, the story is of a young boy (for argument’s sake, let’s call him Harry) who finds out he’s a wizard after accidentally getting his cousin stuck in the snake enclosure at the zoo (fun fact: many fans believe that the snake that got released was Nagini, Voldemort’s snake). Anyway, he is soon admitted to Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, where he makes his first friends ever, Ron Weasley (the sixth of seven children in an entirely red-haired family) and Hermione Granger (a girl smarter than the collective minds of NASA, MENSA and MIT combined…when it comes to magic at least).

The trio get into many adventures, from battling trolls and three-headed dogs to learning the mysteries surrounding the Philosopher’s Stone, and finding it before the Dark Lord Volde…err, He Who Must Not Be Named does. I first read this book over a decade ago, and it has since become one of the cornerstones of my childhood. For young readers, it’s a journey of wonder and excitement, and pretty damn captivating too. For older readers, it can take you back to your childhood, when you believed in all the wonder and magic that Harry Potter offers. All us Muggles are very lucky to get a glimpse inside the world we didn’t know existed under our very noses.

Really, I only have one criticism of the whole series (not just this book, the whole series). The problem is that the best character (Loony Luna Lovegood) doesn’t appear until book five. Other than that, enjoy you sad, sad people who for some reason haven’t read this book, or all you awesome people who have read the whole series five times.

My rating: 10/10

Any suggestions, post them below.

The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy review

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Pan Books, 1979, 180 pages

Ever wake up and suddenly remember that today’s the day your house is getting demolished to make way for a bypass? How about finding out a few hours later your planet is also being demolished for the same reason? Well, this is what happens to Arthur Dent in Douglas Adams bestselling book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

Back in 1971, Adams came up with the concept of writing a “hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy” while lying drunk in a field in Austria. With this in mind, he went to sleep and forgot about it for six years. It was at this time The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy arose in its original form: a series on BBC Radio, the first episode of which was first broadcast on March 8 1978, with absolutely no publicity at all. After a few weeks, a couple of letters arrived, as well as an offer from Pan Books for Adams to write up the series in novel form. They later informed him that he’d passed ten deadlines and that they didn’t care it was only two thirds finished.

The plot follows Arthur Dent’s bad day getting worse, then catastrophic, then slightly better. One day, Arthur wakes up only to remember that today’s the day his house is set to be demolished to make way for a new bypass. A few hours later, his friend Ford Prefect informs him that his planet is doomed to the same fate. Luckily Ford just so happens to be a field editor for The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the highest selling book in the galaxy, and gets them both off the planet just seconds before it gets vaporised. Unfortunately, they end up on a Vogon spaceship, the very aliens responsible for destroying the planet in the first place. After being forcefully fired out of the airlock, the two are miraculously saved by Ford’s semi-cousin Zaphod Beeblebrox, who has stolen the most legendary ship in the universe, the Heart of Gold. And the day goes back to getting worse…

With some interesting cutaways to excerpts from The Guide (such as how to make the best Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, the usefulness of towels, and of course Earth’s entire entry), as well as a strange yet fascinating cast of characters (Zaphod, the two-headed president of the universe who acts before he thinks…on the few occasions he actually does think; Eddie, the Heart of Gold’s onboard computer who’s annoyingly cheerful; and Marvin the Paranoid Android), The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy is a nice, enjoyable read for people of all ages (and not too long due to it only being two thirds finished).

All in all, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a nice, light-hearted book for anyone who doesn’t take things too seriously (unlike some people who thought Adams actually had deeper meaning to his book despite the fact even he denied it himself). I highly recommend that you at least read the first two books in this series (oh, did I forget to mention this was in a series?)

My rating: 9/10

Any suggestions for next week, post then below.