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| Jan 13, 1996
| Aug 07, 2007
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Recently I listened to Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and at the same time, I picked up this book too because it also seemed like a really interesting
Recently I listened to Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer and at the same time, I picked up this book too because it also seemed like a really interesting story. I’m fascinated by Alaska – I love books set there, I love television shows set there, I love documentaries about any aspect of it. I even watch a couple on YouTube religiously who document their homestead life there. It’s not for me personally – I’d never survive the winters! But I find it fascinating. So even though this isn’t fully set in or about Alaska, it involved it enough that I knew I wanted to read it and try and understand more about this story. Christopher McCandless was born into a well to do family, he was well educated and graduated with a college degree. His family believed he intended to enrol in law school after the summer but upon completion of his graduation ceremony, Christopher packed up his car and was basically, never seen again by his family. He drove to Utah in the US where he then abandoned his car after it was bogged, and lived as a vagabond, hitching lifts, working odd jobs here and there and living a transient lifestyle. He met many people along his travels and all of them seemed to be taken in by ‘Alex’ as he was calling himself – he was using the pseudonym Alexander Supertramp during his travels. Jon Krakauer originally wrote a piece on Christopher/Alex after his body was discovered in Alaska but the story fascinated him so much that like the trip to Everest, he turned this into a full length book as well. This story is filled with the recollections of those who met ‘Alex’ on his travels, as well as his background, his struggles in his complex relationship with his father and the ideals he’d developed about the sort of life he wanted to lead. The ‘final boss’ of Alex’s journey it seems, was the ability to subsist in Alaska, the ‘Last Frontier’. It would eventually lose him his life and lead to many lambasting him in letters to Krakauer and probably other publications as well, for his arrogance and hubris. Alaska is probably littered with those who thought they could survive and were inadequately prepared and in some ways, McCandless is probably not a lot different to many of them. He didn’t have the sort of gun or equipment that would make living in such a way easier. He possessed a field guide on edible plants but his clothing and shoes were inadequate and he only carried in with him, a 10lb bag of rice. But as Krakauer explores his journey further, it becomes clear that for a large portion of the time he was finding enough to eat. It was other circumstances that kept him there longer than he might’ve originally intended, and that would end up being his downfall. A lot of this is speculation, because although McCandless kept a sort of journal, these were short scribbled entries in the back blank pages of books he had been reading, rather than detailed accounts in a book specifically for this purpose. The given cause of his death was starvation but from his brief notes it seems as though he consumed something that made him either unwell or hastened his death in some manner. I do wish he’d left more detailed notes on what he had been doing and experiencing because they would’ve been so interesting to read! And many considered that he may have been suicidal, going in the way he did, underprepared and it certainly seemed something he had considered, at least. Two of the letters he wrote to people he knew that he had met on the road and kept in touch with, mentioned the possibility that he may not return. That doesn’t necessarily suggest suicidal thoughts though, maybe an acknowledged reality of the dangers of Alaska and subsisting alone in the wilderness. There are any number of ways in which you could die – drowning in break up rapids, wild animal, falling and breaking a bone and not being able to hike out or provide food for yourself, etc. Alaska’s weather is also inconsistent and frosts and freezing temperatures can happen at the oddest times. I listened to this in just a couple of days, I found it so engaging and interesting. This is also narrated by the same guy that did Into Thin Air but I enjoyed the narration of this one much better as he wasn’t trying to do Australian, New Zealand or South African accents! This was a really fascinating piece of investigative journalism that tried to solve a mystery of why a young man might be drawn to this sort of lifestyle, the reasons behind it. Krakauer uses some personal experience as well, to attempt to draw a conclusion. I have really enjoyed both the books I’ve listened to by him and I will definitely seek out his others. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Aug 27, 2024
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Aug 29, 2024
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Aug 29, 2024
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Audible Audio
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| 4.25
| 520,939
| May 01, 1997
| 2016
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I actually heard about this years ago because a Hollywood movie called Everest based on this disaster. It had a few Australians in it as some of the p
I actually heard about this years ago because a Hollywood movie called Everest based on this disaster. It had a few Australians in it as some of the people involved were Australian. I’ve seen the movie and I’ve read about the disaster but I didn’t connect the dots that the guy who wrote this is also the guy who wrote Into The Wild until much later. When I was looking for audiobooks, I wanted some nonfiction because that’s my preference for audio so I ended up grabbing both this and Into The Wild. Jon Krakauer is a journalist who, in 1996 was part of an expedition to Everest with a well known team, led by a New Zealander named Rob Hall. It was largely a commercial expedition and Krakauer’s employer had been given a significant discount by Hall in return for prestige advertising space in their magazine. Krakauer was an experienced climber but not with Himalayan experience. This is a first hand account of one of the deadliest days on Everest, when on the day both Hall’s team and that of another expedition led by Scott Fischer from a rival team, were both summiting and a violent storm blew in. When it was all over, eight people would be dead, including both Hall and Fischer. To be clear, I have never climbed anything in my life and I’m notoriously lazy. But I see the appeal, even as a person who never does anything more strenuous than walk around the supermarket. The appeal of these mountains, for highly competitive people, can be irresistible. For me, it’d be for the scenery. Recently I watched a guy summit Everest with his go-pro filming everything and since this, I’ve watched a documentary on this disaster and also one on K2, the world’s second highest mountain and technically a more deadly one than Everest. The scenery is just incredible and to see it in person, would be amazing. Although based on what I’ve read and seen, it’s unlikely you’d appreciate it given the lack of oxygen you’d be experiencing and your focus on getting down after summiting which appears to be when most of the bad stuff happens. In 1996, Krakauer followed Hall’s plan of multiple trips up the mountain from Base Camp to Camps 1, 2, 3 and 4 to acclimatise. On the climb to camp 4, there was horrific wind, the day before they were due to make their push for the summit. The wind died down though and the team was able to start the climb around 11.30-midnight or so but what followed ended up being a whole bunch of little things that went wrong and ended up culminating in catastrophe. For Krakauer, he was stifled by Hall’s insistence that they climb as a team, often being forced to stop and wait and certain points for the slower climbers to catch up. He did summit, one of the first in the combined group to do so, and due to being ahead, made his way back down and was back at camp when the storm hit for real. Basically unconscious in his tent as the wind roared, he had no idea what was unfolding around him until much later. It’s important to say that there are multiple books about this from survivors and this is just one person’s thoughts, opinions and observations on their experiences and their views about what happened in terms of what went wrong and who did what or who did not do something. And everyone is basically mentally impaired for almost all of this story. At high altitude, your brain is not receiving the amount of oxygen it is used to, even when ‘acclimatised’, even when using supplemental oxygen. People are slow to make decisions, are slow to put them into action, are prone to mistakes, are focused on certain things that make it impossible to see other things (such as summiting much too late, meaning you’ll be descending in the dark, instead of aborting the climb) and being fooled into thinking that because you’re above a lot of weather, that below you will be fine, too. Krakauer is no exception and details extensively the toll that this took on his body, not just on his thought processes and decision making but also his physical condition. He had trouble eating, trouble sleeping (which definitely wouldn’t help the whole rational thought process) and was putting his body through a gruelling climb when he was already exhausted. Krakauer also wrote a piece for his employer that ruffled a few feathers and he addresses that in this book. He also wrote this only a few months after the experience, which frankly, doesn’t feel like much time to process. I know you’d want to get it all down while it was still as fresh as it could be, but there are definitely things that come with time and clarity much later, after a traumatic ordeal. It isn’t until later when Krakauer talks to someone again that he realises that in his post-summit stupor and exhausting descent, he made a terrible mistake that had severe consequences for the family of another climber. I really enjoyed this, I liked the experience of listening to it, however….I have one personal gripe with the narrator. A fair few of the characters are Australian or Kiwi and there are also quotes from South African climbers as well and the narrator attempts to do all the accents. It’s probably just because I’m Australian but they were awful. The Australian and Kiwi accents were very grating but I think the attempts of the accents of the Nepalese Sherpa and the Black South African climber are straight up uncomfortable to listen to. Look, I might be the minority, but in a narration, where the person is describing who is speaking, I don’t need accents to distinguish them and when they’re bad accents, they actually detract from the story. Just read the story. You can add emphasis and embellish a bit for narrative quality but please, if you can’t do accents then just….don’t. Just don’t do them. It’d be better if they weren’t in this. That’s my only gripe about listening to the audiobook and it honestly probably wouldn’t bother a Northern Hemisphere listener. Another hard thing was listening to this and already knowing who was dead, especially when they talked about their families and that sort of thing. It’s one of those things where I knew the ending before I started and it adds a certain sort of heaviness to the earlier parts of the story, before the disaster begins. I’ve done a lot of reading since this and one thing I’ve noticed that in reading successful summit stories, quite often you click on a link of that person’s name and….they’re dead. They’ve since died in another summit attempt of a different mountain. The deaths of Hall and Fischer, both experienced climbers and experienced on Everest, show that often, no matter how experienced you are, there are so many circumstances that can be outside of your control, like the weather and avalanches. And yet, I still get it. I still get why people want to do it. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 24, 2024
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Jul 29, 2024
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Jul 28, 2024
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Audible Audio
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| 0575099852
| 9780575099852
| 0575099852
| 4.08
| 38,949
| Nov 01, 1998
| Jan 01, 2011
|
really liked it
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I do not know how I had never heard of this series before like, 2-3 weeks ago. This book was first published in 1998 and there are like, 8 books in th
I do not know how I had never heard of this series before like, 2-3 weeks ago. This book was first published in 1998 and there are like, 8 books in the series. I saw someone talk about the first book recently and it sounded good but when I looked it up, I honestly didn’t expect my library would have it given it was published so long ago. It looks like a bulk of them were republished or reissued starting in 2011 and surprisingly, my library has all of the books in those editions. So I requested this one and decided to give it a go. Karigan has been suspended from her school due to an incident where she bested the son of a very powerful man in a fight. She’s the daughter of a very rich merchant but a merchant isn’t the same in terms of rank as a landowner clansman and so she leaves the school. She finds a dying Green Rider (one of the King’s messengers) on the side of the road and he begs her to complete his mission, to take a very important message to the King. When Kari agrees, he transfers his Green Rider privileges to her including a badge, his horse, his cape and saddlebag as well as a few other surprises that Kari will come to discover. She’s immediately pursued by the same assailant who killed the rider and her mission to get the letter to the King becomes an incredibly dangerous one. Along the way Kari meets some mysterious people who help her, more people who want to kill her and attempts to thwart a mission to overthrow the King. She’s also ‘protected’ in a way by the spectre of the fallen Green Rider, who seeks to still help the completion of the mission. I found this really enjoyable. I’m glad I only came across it now as it seems there’s been some pretty big gaps in between some of the instalments. 16yo me would’ve ate this up in 1998, when I was right into David Eddings and the like. And I still really liked it now. I love a quest book – they’re my favourite type of fantasy, probably because of those David Eddings books I read in high school that were all focused around one quest or another. Kari is determined to get the message to the King but she’s also equally determined that it be her only Green Rider task – it’s clear she doesn’t fully understand the commitment of a Green Rider yet, nor the circumstances under which someone becomes one. Now because there are many more books in this series, obviously Kari isn’t going to just ‘go home’ when this is all over and she’s this reluctant kind of hero, or chosen one. I really enjoyed her as a character. In the beginning she’s angry about what occurred at the school, knowing that she’ll never be treated fairly, that kids like the boy she bested will always have family members to call upon, to see that she’s punished. She is determined and strong but also…..knows when she’s beaten as well and isn’t prone to crazy and fruitless escape attempts. She’s good at judging a situation and knowing when to move and when not to. I enjoyed the other characters we met along the way and towards the end, you could see a core group of potential supporting characters coming together, the ones we might see again and again in future books, that Kari becomes friends with and learns to rely on. Because for a large majority of this book, all she has to rely on is the horse of the fallen Green Rider. They do develop a relationship (that evolves quite slowly, it’s definitely not instant) and learn to trust each other. The horse knows things and Kari at times, has to accept that he’s doing something for a reason and she should just go along with it. I had a great time reading this and think it left off in a way that will allow for a lot of interesting world building and character development so I’m definitely going to be reading book 2 as soon as I can. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 28, 2024
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Jun 2024
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Jun 01, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0593599837
| 9780593599839
| 0593599837
| 3.98
| 94,788
| Feb 27, 2024
| Feb 27, 2024
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really liked it
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This book has been getting a lot of traction recently. I was curious about it and I love a fantasy series. I borrowed this one from a family member wh
This book has been getting a lot of traction recently. I was curious about it and I love a fantasy series. I borrowed this one from a family member who didn’t end up loving it enough to want it back. I think I liked it more than they did but it didn’t become a favourite. Although it was entertaining there were parts of it that felt very fantasy-by-numbers. The world was interesting. It’s very Norse mythology inspired, Viking times, with lots of wars and pillaging and raiding going on. In this world, some people are touched by the Gods…imbued with their power. Freya’s awful husband is one such person and his gift keeps their village well supplied with fish. He sells Freya out to the….kind of King? of their area, as Freya is apparently the subject of a prophecy that says she will unite everyone beneath the power of the man who controls her. That’s the King guy, who marries her and charges his oldest son Bjorn with looking after her. It’s not a real marriage, the King is already married to another woman he’s supposedly faithful to but what is definitely inconvenient is Freya and Bjorn’s attraction to one another that began before they even knew who the other was. They had a chance encounter before Freya’s husband sold her out and now they’re forced into close proximity every day. The complication being that to everyone else, Freya is Bjorn’s ‘stepmother’ and supposed to be loyal to her husband. The King isn’t a particularly good guy. He’s not evil, like Freya’s husband was but he’s also very power hungry and very into controlling Freya because the wording of the prophecy basically makes him feel like he has to wield her like a weapon and have her beholden to him. This he does in various ways including but not limited to threatening the various useless members of her family. If Freya has an Achilles heel, it’s definitely her family, although why is a bit of a mystery as she’s never been treated particularly well by any of them. She’s always played second fiddle to her brother, who grew up spoiled. Although he fights in the King’s army, he’s a weak man and you get the feeling he’d sell her out at first opportunity too. I really enjoyed the idea of some people being touched by one of the gods and what that meant. For example, if you possess a drop of Thor’s blood, you can control thunder and lightning. Bjorn is also god touched, it’s his job to train Freya, who has always had to hide her abilities previously. There’s a war coming and basically once it’s known that Freya, the child of the prophecy has been found, almost everyone wants to kill her. Or sway her to their side, rather than be under the control of the guy who wants to be King of the united people which apparently, he can only do whilst he possesses or controls Freya. The wording and implications are a bit gross. I think the biggest issue with this one is that the characters spend a lot of time walking places. Freya has to go make an offering to the gods or something as part of the prophecy, I don’t know, so they have to trek there and then back and then somewhere else and then there’s a battle, etc. It does occasionally make the book feel a bit slow as they’re just walking around for a while, with this being broken up sometimes by someone or other trying to kill Freya. It’s not until close to the end, where there’s a big battle and then…well….something I should definitely have seen coming and didn’t, happens. I knew part of it was coming but when it was all revealed….I was annoyed at myself for not noticing it. I did like this enough to read book 2 but the ending of this one severely impacted on my liking of one character. I understand why they did what they did but the way in which they went about it is going to be almost unforgivable. It’s going to be interesting to see how they try. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 25, 2024
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May 27, 2024
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May 29, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 0306831953
| 9780306831959
| 0306831953
| 3.75
| 10,568
| Aug 22, 2023
| Aug 22, 2023
|
really liked it
|
I can’t remember where I first saw this. Maybe it was when it was nominated in the Goodreads Choice Awards. But I have read Wild by Cheryl Strayed and
I can’t remember where I first saw this. Maybe it was when it was nominated in the Goodreads Choice Awards. But I have read Wild by Cheryl Strayed and seen the movie. I’m kind of interested in people who are long distance hikers even though I could never do that myself. I’m just not a hiking kind of girl. Short hikes? Yes, absolutely. But I need indoor plumbing, thank you. And knowing I’ll be returning to a real bed at the end of the day. This is about the uglier side of long distance hiking, the dangerous side of the Pacific Crest Trail, a hiking trail that runs 2600ish miles through three states from the US southern border with Mexico, through California, Oregon and Washington to its northern border with Canada. This is about the people who set out on a hike, be it a thru-hike, where they hike the whole trail, or just a portion of it, and never return. This book specifically focuses on three people, all men, who have never been found. In some cases, there hasn’t even really been a trace of them – no gear, nothing. In the third instance, gear belonging to the missing man was found abandoned. But in all three cases there’s been very little to go on and extensive private searches as well as some professional searches as well, have turned up basically nothing. This book is written by a former park ranger who helped coordinate search and rescue as part of her role, although she left that job and retrained as a nurse. She is still ‘connected’ to hiking though and has herself, hiked the Appalachian trail, the US’ other great trail on the eastern side of the country that stretches through many states. She was struck by some of these cases and offered assistance in search efforts and ground research. I am at the moment, watching a couple of people documenting their own hiking of the PCT, which has become common in recent years. Youtube is a platform that makes it very easy to create short videos and in one I’m watching a woman who was a “SOBO” (south-bound, starting at Canada and hiking down) hiker post the videos from her 2023 hike. In the other series I’m following a man who is a NOBO (you guess it – northbound) hiker who is basically uploading his videos in as close to real time as it gets, editing and uploading at various points on the trail. He started maybe a month or six weeks or so ago. The SOBO hiker started later, hiking out of Canada in the summer so that by the time she gets to colder weather, she’s hopefully well into southern California where it’s warmer. If you’re NOBO, you want to start in the cooler months because it’s obviously hot down along the Mexican border and be hitting the Canada border in summer. The PCT has become so popular in recent years that you need a permit to hike it in its entirety and the department responsible issues about 55 permits per day, staggering starts. You’re given your start date and I don’t believe it can be altered. The idea is to “take nothing but photos, leave nothing but footprints” but obviously, this is not always the case. The three cases are all interesting in that there’s so little to go in so many ways. I know this is remote territory and that it’s easy to get lost and the like and there are examples of how people have gone missing and searches have come within like, 50-100m of them and not found them the first time. There are examples here of using drone and aerial photography to search from above, in rough terrain and when there is simply too large a search area to be practical and it’s a technology that does seem under utilised as a method and flying drones in National Parks is illegal in the US as well, which also doesn’t help. Another large problem with reporting people missing is that often, the police are uninterested and tend to regard hikers, be they casual or dedicated thru-hikers, in less than ideal ways, like itinerant people, assuming they are disappearing on purpose and aren’t interested in speaking to their families. And that does happen, but even when presented with evidence to the contrary about people, the pattern in this is that largely they were uninterested until research done by parents/family/dedicated volunteers turned up something or multiple things, police had missed. Jurisdiction is also often an issue, with the trail being so long, going through so many different counties and states etc. It’s very complex, which is why it seems, there is such a dedicated team of volunteers who turn up to help when people do go missing and aren’t found immediately. And so much of it is done by the family – one of the men who went missing, his stepmother has spent years searching, going through social media tips and possible sightings, working tirelessly to try and find him so that they might have closure. This was so interesting but I won’t lie – it’s also very deflating. Time and time again there are hopes raised by a story that seems credible of a sighting somewhere only for it not to pan out. It’s time and effort and so many tears. It’s uncertainty because without a body, there’s still hope, even when it’s been years and that hope is futile, really. But it’s still there, because you don’t have the definitive to say otherwise. The not knowing must be awful. There are also parts in here where it’s quite obvious that grieving parents are being targeted by either charlatans or trolls – people who want to profit by telling them they can find their loved one via some new and improved sort of way or by people who want to tell them that whatever they’re doing is wrong. If you’re looking for them, you’re “smothering them” and you’re probably the reason they vanished in the first place or if you’re not and trying to wait and see, do you even care about them? As much as social media can be a very valuable tool in something like this, to get word out, organise searches etc, it can also be the opposite. I found this fascinating. Not sure I’ll say I enjoyed it exactly because it’s quite grim subject matter. It raises a lot of issues not just about hiking but about people disappearing in general and how difficult it can be to get taken seriously by authorities and how when someone is hiking, it can be quite a while before people realise that someone is missing. This is probably less likely now, a lot of hikers wear GPS trackers but there are some that don’t want that sort of exposure. It means that the key window of searching is often missed significantly. I did feel somewhat flat after finishing though. I can’t imagine how the loved ones must feel. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 21, 2024
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May 21, 2024
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May 21, 2024
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Hardcover
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| 0593545087
| 9780593545089
| 0593545087
| 3.38
| 3,381
| Jul 04, 2023
| Jul 04, 2023
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really liked it
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I borrowed this on a whim because it looked fun and like the sort of romance I enjoy. And it was and I did. It wasn’t perfect but it was enjoyable and I borrowed this on a whim because it looked fun and like the sort of romance I enjoy. And it was and I did. It wasn’t perfect but it was enjoyable and I liked the dynamic. Dylan is a writer, working for Buxom magazine. She keeps being promised a column and never getting it by her boss and is instead relegated to writing more quizzes. Bored one day she calls into a radio station who are advertising a round the world trip for one lucky winner – with the catch being that the radio station picks the person who accompanies the winner at random from the contacts in their phone. When Dylan wins, the person the radio station picks is “Jack the Posho” a guy that Dylan doesn’t even remember. They met in a bar months ago and nothing ever happened. Jack clearly remembers Dylan though and he reluctantly agrees to accompany her. From there it’s Sydney, Tokyo, Bangkok, Mumbai, Cape Town, Iceland, New York, Mexico City and….I don’t know, maybe a couple others that I’ve forgotten. At first, things are icy between Dylan and Jack. It’s obviously a bit awkward she didn’t even know who he was and clearly he remembered her and Dylan’s boss has dangled the carrot of a column in front of her if her pieces for the magazine website about her trip do certain numbers. As things warm up with Jack, it’s clear what her boss wants her to write about but Dylan knows that Jack won’t want that. What does Dylan want more….the numbers that will get her a column? Or what could happen with Jack? I wanted a bit more about the travel – I understand that would’ve made the book a lot longer as they went to like 9 cities but…..as someone who hasn’t left their home country, if a book where travel is the hook, I kind of want to read about it? There was a bit about Sydney and Tokyo as they were the two first stops. And as someone who is from Sydney, the idea of them just getting into a hire car and “driving around the CBD to have a look” was hilarious. Have you ever seen Sydney traffic? I did love the Bridge Climb and the drive to the Three Sisters was fun. But there was very little about some of the other cities and the flights and just the general travel. It’s a lot of timezones and things and a lot of different places and honestly you don’t really get that. The fun of the ‘going around the world with someone that is a virtual stranger who you are also becoming kinda hot for’ is balanced out by the serious issue that Dylan has faced since penning an article for her magazine about a political issue, some months ago, in which she discloses a personal decision she herself made. It led to a lot of backlash for her personally from people on the internet who harassed her, doxxed her so badly that she and her flatmate had to move house and received multiple death threats. As she writes the articles about her travel experience, some of those old trolls return, threatening her again. It’s an interesting exploration of what cna happen when you put yourself out there on the internet and how that somehow makes people think that they can say anything they like to you or about you, such as releasing your home address, threatening to kill you or hurt you in other ways and all manner of other disgusting things. And yet, most of those people do so anonymously and if you were to reveal their identity for saying such things, they’d see that as incredibly unacceptable and an invasion of their privacy. I’ve seen this play out in multiple ways in real life – guys who send dick pics to women unsolicited and then get upset when she forwards them onto their girlfriends/wives/mothers/etc. Or women who send the death threats they receive from men onto their employers. The issue Dylan speaks on is a divisive one and even puts her at odds with her own parents, who are also unable to accept the choices she has made for herself as a grown adult. In some ways, this felt a little out of odds at time, with the rest of the book but it also somehow made sense because of Dylan’s profession and the fact that she was writing in the public space. I liked the dynamic between Dylan and Jack. She’s kind of an agent of chaos and he’s more of an uptight, live by the rules and die by the schedule type, so it leads to some interesting moments when she wants to wing it and he definitely does not. There’s a nice attraction between them that builds over the course of the trip and it’s kind of a slow burn. I thought it was pretty hot when it boiled over but then there’s the conflict that you can see coming from a mile away. That was pretty well done too, I thought it was good in the way that Dylan owned her mistake. She definitely messed up in not telling Jack and thinking that he wouldn’t find out but her apology was good – the sort of apology that people should give when they have done something wrong. I thought this was a great way to pass an afternoon. As mentioned, I would’ve liked a little more about the individual cities, because after Tokyo they kind of became like nothing until New York or Mexico, which was a bit of a shame. But everything else I quite enjoyed ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Dec 03, 2023
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Dec 03, 2023
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Dec 02, 2023
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Paperback
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| 1925870545
| 9781925870541
| 1925870545
| 4.31
| 1,437
| unknown
| Aug 27, 2019
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really liked it
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I’m not sure where I first discovered this book – I think it might’ve been suggested to me by Amazon after looking at something similar but when I saw
I’m not sure where I first discovered this book – I think it might’ve been suggested to me by Amazon after looking at something similar but when I saw it, I knew I had to read it. I really want to go to New Zealand (was actually supposed to go for my 40th birthday, but you know, global pandemic etc) and although I do not have much interest in tackling New Zealand the way Laura Waters does here, the chance to learn some more about the terrain on a personal level was too good to pass up. After the end of a toxic relationship, Laura Waters decided to hike the length of New Zealand from the north down to the south, over 3000kms in order to kind of…find herself again I guess. Originally supposed to have the company of a friend on the hike, which would take 5 months, that friend was injured and had to pull out on just the second day. Laura decided to undertake the journey alone, although she would not often be truly alone, meeting and joining up with many other hikers over tough terrain that included mountains, beaches, forests and cities. For the most part, I enjoyed a lot of this. I liked the descriptions of the terrain, the talk of the walk and the toll it takes mentally and physically. I liked the meet ups Waters has with many other hikers at common resupply places, the people she bonds with and walks with along the way. It’s a big undertaking to do something like this and Waters hadn’t done a hike of this magnitude before (or even close, I don’t think). It involves a certain amount of trust in others doing the hike as well, as you can be at your most vulnerable around other people, especially as she does not have a traveling companion. This isn’t just about New Zealand’s wilderness and the hike. It’s also about the crippling anxiety that Waters experienced, her inability to do her job before going on the hike and how she was kind of using the hike as a way to recenter herself, accomplish something and use it as a way to decide how she wanted to proceed in her life, I guess. She worked a corporate job before the hike as an assistant to a CEO, long busy days in an office environment. There’s also quite a bit about the relationship that broke her self-confidence in herself as well, and how it still continues to haunt her and pretty much the memories of that seem to dictate her every interaction with any man she encounters. One of the things I didn’t enjoy about this book was…. Look, Waters is 40 in this but at times, a lot of the internal dialogue comes across as feeling like someone who is quite a bit younger. Waters spends a lot of time wondering if she might hook up with any of the men she meets on the trail. I get she might want an interaction to boost her confidence but the ‘do we have a connection? does he feel it? could it be this guy? might we kiss? I wonder if we’ll meet again on the trail, see where things go, maybe kiss?’ rhetoric got on my nerves. It felt like a girl in high school daydreaming over boys in her class, rather than a grown woman seeking to undertake an arduous physical and spiritual journey. And I’m not against the idea of her finding a dude to get down with, it was just the constant internal could it be him? or him? type of talk. It was almost like she didn’t care what guy it was as long as she found some guy to vaguely connect with on the hike. It just felt so odd that so much of her time seemed to be preoccupied with this and honestly, most of it could’ve been slashed from the page and replaced with more about the South Island, which seemed to suffer quite a bit from being at the end of the journey and much of it is glossed over or skipped apart from one dangerous crossing where someone died in the weeks before Waters undertook it. I did enjoy this but I felt like it was occasionally repetitive at times about certain topics. I think I’d have liked more on New Zealand/the Te Araroa trail and definitely less on “Steve” and “Steve vs Liam”. ...more |
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1
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Jul 20, 2022
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Jul 20, 2022
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Jul 19, 2022
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Paperback
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| 3.93
| 146,669
| Jul 08, 2014
| Jun 02, 2015
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really liked it
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I saw this in a recommendation video on YouTube from someone I watch regularly about her favourite fantasy series’. My library happened to have it and
I saw this in a recommendation video on YouTube from someone I watch regularly about her favourite fantasy series’. My library happened to have it and so I had it delivered and it’s honestly been sitting in my library books box for probably like, 6 weeks. I picked it up because I was looking for something that would be an easy read and although quite long (as is sometimes the way in fantasy books) it definitely is an easy read and I finished it in a couple hours. Lia is a First Daughter, something that’s very important in her world but it also means that her life is not her own. Her father, the King of her nation, has promised her in marriage to the Prince of a neighbouring land which will force an uneasy alliance between the two, in order to quell some sort of barbarian uprising or whatever, I’m not entirely sure. Lia wanted to see her husband before marrying him but for some reason it wasn’t to be (whether it’s not done, I don’t know) and being somewhat rebellious and wilful natured anyway, she ends up fleeing with her maid back to a tiny seaside village where the maid is originally from. She’s unaware that the two mysterious men who arrive just after her are a) the Prince she was supposed to marry and b) an assassin sent by her father to kill her for her betrayal. The book is told from three differing perspectives: Lia’s, the Assassin’s and the Prince’s. The interesting thing is that we know the mysterious men are Rafe and Kaden and often we get chapters titled under their names but those chapters give nothing away as to which is which. The chapters under the titles of The Prince or The Assassin don’t use any names and it’s left to the reader to try and figure it out. Especially as Lia is conflicted by her feelings for both of them but is developing something a little more rapidly with one of them – but which one? Lia has led a very sheltered life and really doesn’t know a lot about her kingdom, her family, the First Daughter meaning, the so-called ‘Gifts’ that they often gain on reaching maturity and to be honest, many other things. She’s not particularly versed in politics or the ins and outs of the kingdom and the threats or the alliance with the neighbouring land that her marriage would’ve secured but a lot of that isn’t her fault. She’s been kept deliberately in the dark about a lot of things and towards the end of the book she finds herself an unwilling participant on a journey that gives her just a taste of the things she could learn, that she could know. It gets quite interesting and I really want to know more about what some of these gifts are, what Lia learns reading the prophecy and why she’s been kept in the dark about a lot of things. I’m not generally a big fan of love triangles because I have this terrible tendency to prefer the person that ends up not being chosen plus people frustrate me when they go back and forth with love interests. I have more tolerance for it in YA because the characters are younger and figuring themselves out and what they want and it’s quite muted in this – there’s not really a lot of romantic development and because for a large part of the story I wasn’t sure who was the assassin and who was the Prince, I wasn’t really sure who I wanted Lia to pursue something with. Going into the second book there’s a lot of development so I have a better idea. Both the second and third books are available at my local library so I have requested both of them and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes because I think as Lia learns more about the land, the world will develop along with that knowledge. She’s been sheltered and doesn’t know much, only life in the palace and that small seaside town she escaped to really so we’re about to get a look at a very different part of the world. This was exactly the type of read I was looking for and I enjoyed it and it definitely intrigued me enough to want to go on with the series and find out where it all goes. I feel as though Lia has a lot of development to do as a character, as a Princess and I want to know what happens with the situation she has found herself in at the end of this book. Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to get book 2. ...more |
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1
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Oct 08, 2021
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Oct 08, 2021
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Oct 07, 2021
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Paperback
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| 1492677507
| 9781492677505
| 1492677507
| 3.73
| 4,923
| Jan 28, 2020
| Jan 28, 2020
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really liked it
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Okay so anyone that knows me and what I like as a reader, would know immediately that Antarctica is an instant autoread for me. I love books set in An
Okay so anyone that knows me and what I like as a reader, would know immediately that Antarctica is an instant autoread for me. I love books set in Antarctica and I also love enforced proximity as a romance trope. This ticks so many of my boxes I had to buy it and it was only about $5 so I thought why the heck not. It was actually a pretty decent read. Was it at all realistic? No. Did I care? Also no. Angel Smith has been working at a research station in Antarctica over the “summer”, as the station cook. She’s provided the researchers and workers with tasty meals but now it’s time for the summer crew to leave and the station will be manned by a skeleton winter crew. One of the winter crew will be glaciologist Ford Cooper, who has caught Angel’s eye more than once but who has shut her down at every opportunity. Just before Angel should be boarding the plane she finds herself caught up in an attack on the station and left behind – just her and Dr Ford Cooper. With the station destroyed they need to leave – especially as Angel made sure that the people who attacked the station did not leave with what they wanted and they’ll be back. They have 21 days of food to make it almost 300 miles to a Russian research station across harsh unforgiving territory and no doubt with people on their heels with technology at their disposal, which Angel and Ford do not have. Ford and Angel will have to rely on each other in ways that will test every single thing about them – especially Ford, who has always kept Angel at a distance for multiple reasons. Ford has some sensory issues, he seems to get easily overloaded by sounds and crowds and other things as well and he’s definitely a reclusive type of person who rarely gets close to anyone. Angel is a bit of a ray of sunshine and she’s been intrigued by him for a while. He also definitely thinks she’s attractive but doesn’t think that sort of attachment is for him. He’s happiest researching his ice in Antarctica, drilling his ice cores and whatever and living a peaceful and solitary life. The isolation and peace of Antarctica suits him but close proximity to Angel on the journey tests his control to the limit. Look, the mystery/suspense bit isn’t the strongest. There’s a lot of people operating some sort of clandestine research of their own, and they need Ford’s ice cores. There’s a lot about how it goes “all the way to the top” (which by of course they mean the American government, because who else would be “the top”?) and the villains are at times, comically evil but also incredibly stupid. I’m not sure when this was written but what is in the ice feels uncomfortable to read at the moment but it could just be a coincidence (ok it was published January 2020 so it’s a coincidence which suddenly gains an all new realism in 2021). However, where this book is excellent, is the romance. And let’s face it, that’s why I was reading it anyway! This is not quite enemies to lovers, but it has the forced proximity that is my jam and sexual tension for days. Especially because for a while, it has to remain unconsummated as well, one just can’t be going around being naked in a tent in quickly-turning-to-winter Antarctica where it’s -25 to -45. The tension is delicious and I really loved Ford’s inner struggle with himself and his tenuous grip on his control and it’s so much fun. I also liked the descriptions of the trip where they have to mostly ski across a large portion of Antarctica to the next research station and the growing realisation that they simply aren’t moving fast enough for the amount of food they have with them. This is a series and it looks like the overall story is going to spin out over several books, so there is not closure here on the ‘big bad’ and what they’re doing. The author introduces some people Ford knows and those people are seemingly going to provide the basis for a potential number of books and it’s probably going to become this group vs the big evil that is trying to do something incredibly deadly. So this book ends without any real closure on that story and I did like this enough to want to read the next one because……it’s set in Alaska! Which is also one of my favourite settings. More forced proximity! People on the run! Sometimes you just want some fun. Entertaining. Kept me invested and I really enjoyed the romance. ...more |
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1
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Sep 20, 2021
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Sep 20, 2021
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Sep 20, 2021
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 1619023474
| 9781619023475
| 1619023474
| 3.93
| 561
| Jul 28, 2013
| Oct 14, 2014
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liked it
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Felicity Aston, some years before, put together a team of women from different parts of the globe who had very little skiing or trekking experience an
Felicity Aston, some years before, put together a team of women from different parts of the globe who had very little skiing or trekking experience and did a similar trip as a team. However to challenge herself she decided that one thing left was to try it solo with no aids. Others had done the same journey with parasails or kites, both men. Unlike the early explorers Scott and Armundsen, Felicity would have the opportunity to drop supply packs at strategic points in her journey before beginning so she could limit the amount of stuff she had to carry at any given time. She also had quite a tight timing schedule in which to complete this trek as the weather is only forgiving for a portion of time and as her start is delayed by weather that doesn’t allow the plane to fly her to her start point, she’s already stressed she won’t make it before she even begins. Although this does talk about the physical journey – the amount of distance she can cover in a day, the terrain, the landscape, the fitness levels and how her body changes on the way, it’s really very much about the mental journey. Felicity is mostly completely alone for the entire 70-something day trip. She does briefly stop at the South Pole to restock supplies and she also encounters 1-2 other parties on their own treks but apart from that, she’s alone. She makes a call each night with a satellite phone to reassure of her continued survival but that’s it. She can tweet from the satellite phone as well but it’s a one way thing. She cannot see replies or interaction with the tweets or respond to them. The mental toll on Felicity was very interesting to read about. It’s situational, which is to say the way that the brain reacts to being in such a location, as well as the actual isolation itself. For example, I didn’t realise that given a complete lack of stimulus (like a white landscape for weeks on end) the brain will create its own, with vivid hallucinations. Aston was aware of the possibility or likelihood of this and she saw a psychologist before undertaking the journey (probably for various reasons) but one of the things they discussed was how to cope with hallucinations and recognise that they were in fact, hallucinations and not real. And as she gets deeper into the trip, you can actually see her grip on reality beginning to slip in a way. She starts off talking to herself, saying out loud what she needs to do, what her tasks are, what she has to complete, what she sees, what is next. But as the isolation settles in, she stops doing that and can go days without speaking a word except on her check in, which she comes to resent as intruding into her silence. She also begins to talk to the sun as though it is a sentient entity, able to understand her and even read her thoughts about it. A lot of her progress relies on the sun’s appearance and this is a large part I think, of why she comes to view it in such a way, almost feeling she has to bargain with it or appease it in order for it to make an appearance each day. I enjoyed this because it’s really focused on someone setting themselves a really difficult challenge and then doing whatever it takes to complete it through some pretty tough conditions. However, for me, I was looking for more about Antarctica itself, about the physical journey, more about her surroundings and what it was actually like to be there. I know she’s been there before both working as a researcher at a station and also doing the team trek (which she also wrote a book about, but I haven’t read that one) so perhaps she feels as though that’s been covered. It’s what I’m interested in regarding Antarctica but the mental aspect is a very important part of it. It’s definitely not a place many people could cope with, especially under those conditions. And Aston is very honest I think, it felt very genuine. It’s a no holds barred kind of thing with the mental aspect, it didn’t particularly feel as though the physical aspect of it was much of a challenge. ...more |
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1
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Aug 11, 2019
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Aug 12, 2019
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Aug 11, 2019
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Hardcover
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| 1488030669
| 9781488030666
| B07GBB28LZ
| 4.52
| 777
| Jan 14, 2019
| Jan 14, 2019
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really liked it
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For the most part, I really enjoy this series. I discovered it a lot of years ago now and I think we get around 2 instalments per year and there are a
For the most part, I really enjoy this series. I discovered it a lot of years ago now and I think we get around 2 instalments per year and there are a lot of things that I really appreciate about it. Firstly, how good Lexi is at her job. She’s super awkward and dumb stuff happens to her all the time but she has a really analytical mind and she’s always ready to drop whatever it is she’s doing and help someone. I love her ability with computers and the way she thinks. Also I like her and Slash and how steady they’ve been for the last 7 or so books. It can be rare in a series to have that romantic consistency and not have the main character torn between characters or in a perpetual state of relationship flux. In this book however, Lexi and Slash face probably their greatest test when someone from Slash’s past starts sending him messages about things he’s done and threatens to spill some secrets, things that Slash doesn’t particularly want Lexi to know. He has a very highly classified past and has definitely done some things that he’d prefer Lexi never have to find out about. There’s also a lot about his background and his unusual upbringing as well that Slash himself doesn’t even know about but he’s about to get some of the answers in the course of investigating just who it is that is threatening to expose him and why. The book starts with Slash and Lexi’s engagement party, something that Lexi has been coerced into doing. She’s still not at ease in social situations, even when she knows everyone that is going to be there and the situation is only made worse when her mother starts immediately harassing her about wedding details and producing grandbabies. Lexi and Slash just got engaged and even thinking about the wedding right now is too much of a distraction for her – I think it’s almost a relief when Slash is targeted with a message, because it gives her something else to focus on and that is providing support for Slash in any way that she can, letting him know that he’s not alone anymore and she’ll be there for him. For Slash, who comes across as supremely confident, it seems that Lexi is his Achilles heel – he’s constantly worried that she’ll find out about him and that’ll cause her to leave him, when she learns what he’s done in his past. A large portion of the book is in Italy and revolves around the Catholic Church and the Vatican which is not particularly my sort of thing because I have a lot of issues with the Catholic Church and the blind eye they’ve turned to instances of extreme abuse. There’s just a lot about most organised religion that I really don’t enjoy and I’m not a big fan of reading about it either. But it’s an integral part of the storyline here and Slash was raised in Italy, a country that is heavily devoted to Catholicism and he also worked for the Vatican. There’s some nice stuff that ties into Slash and Lexi’s meeting with the Pope in the third book, No Place Like Rome as well and it’s always good when a series keeps consistent to those prior stories. I like a series that builds, rather than each instalment feeling stand alone. There’s so much more that the reader knows about Slash now after this book. Before this he had been a mystery for so long – each book had built on that mystery until, to be honest, he was almost barely human. But this book strips it back a bit and lets us get a glimpse of him as a real person with insecurities and fears and a burning desire to know more about his past. His love for Lexi has always been a very strong part of him and his acceptance of her for who she is, weirdness and awkwardness and all but in this book we get a look at the opposite – Lexi’s steadfast support of Slash and her willingness to accept him for all he is, shady past and all. I think this will make them feel more “even” in the future – there’s no longer that feeling that Lexi doesn’t know much about Slash’s past or that he has these secrets and she’s realised that he could be just as vulnerable as she could. Progression! ***A copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of an honest review*** ...more |
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1
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Jan 05, 2019
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Jan 05, 2019
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Jan 04, 2019
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Kindle Edition
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| 0143783084
| 9780143783084
| 0143783084
| 3.98
| 139
| unknown
| May 29, 2017
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really liked it
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I love road trip books – they’re an autobuy for me so when I read the blurb of this one I knew I had to get it. The thought of doing this sort of trip
I love road trip books – they’re an autobuy for me so when I read the blurb of this one I knew I had to get it. The thought of doing this sort of trip really intrigues me and it’s definitely something I wouldn’t mind doing in the future. But Amber, our main character, wakes up with a thumping hangover in a car with her sister, heading to a meeting point for a tour to Alice Springs. Despite declaring last night (under the influence) that she was up for it Amber is horrified and wants to leave immediately and make her way back to Sydney. Her sister Sage won’t hear of it though, begging Amber to stay on the tour, dangling a choice piece of information in front of her that this trip might lead to answers about her father, a man Amber has never met and has no information on other than his name. Amber rather spectacularly lost her job after a drunken rant at an event the previous night so really she has no commitments. A childhood spent mostly on the road with her nomadic mother though has made Amber somewhat of a driven workaholic where she had goals and worked towards them. Her career is important to her and until her meltdown, which has gone “viral”, she’d been very successful in her chosen field. She wants to be looking for another job, not gallivanting around the country with her hippy sister….but the carrot of finding out more about her father is too hard to ignore. Amber gets off on the wrong foot with pretty much everyone on the tour – she makes a less than ideal first impression and is bad tempered, her reluctance to be involved obvious. Even when she tries to do the right thing it doesn’t really work out, whereas Sage seems to slip in effortlessly. The good looking tour leader Tom also seems to think she’s an alcoholic, based off what he’s seen so far and the two are always struggling to keep up, often making the rest of the group late setting off. I really enjoyed a lot of the aspects of this novel – I loved Amber, flaws and all. I sympathised with her, because although some people would thrive on that sort of upbringing, it wouldn’t be for me and I understood how she’d become because of it. Her mother was a frustrating figure and Sage was definitely more like her than Amber. Amber had always felt the odd one out in her family, Sage was a copy physically of their mother as well whereas Amber didn’t look anything like anyone in her mother’s side of the family and her mother always refused any information on her father which led to her feeling isolated. It’s why the thought of being able to find anything on him at all from this trip to Alice Springs, is so attractive, so much so that she agrees to stay with the tour (after several false starts). I do have the say that the character of Sage drove me nuts….from pretty much the first page but what she does at a point on the tour to Amber infuriated me. So much so that I had to put the book down for a while because it made me want to throw it. It felt quite contrived unfortunately, I could see it coming from the time they arrived in Coober Pedy. It just felt like the flakiest, most stereotypical thing a character like Sage could do in order to frustrate Amber and also throw her together with Tom in a more intimate manner. And yet there’s very little payoff because the romance in this book is very low key and doesn’t really kick off until the book is almost over – I’d have liked a bit more to be honest. There are some nice interactions between Tom and Amber but it does feel like it takes a bit of time to get where it’s going. Overall though I did really enjoy this – loved the setting, travelling west through New South Wales to South Australia and then up into the Northern Territory. I enjoyed the different characters taking part on the tour and the little quirks and quibbles that came up from spending so much time together in such a way. As I mentioned I really liked Amber as well and hoped that she got the information that she was after. Only Sage annoyed me and I would’ve liked a bit more in the romance stakes but those are quite small quibbles really. This book had humour and charm – Janette Paul is better known as Jaye Ford, writer of crime suspense/thrillers but she could definitely carve out a nice rural niche for herself too, if she chose to. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 15, 2017
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Jun 15, 2017
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Jun 15, 2017
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Paperback
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| 0091956145
| 4.42
| 1,162,363
| Sep 27, 2011
| Aug 28, 2014
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really liked it
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Mark Watney is a NASA astronaut currently on a mission to Mars. Whilst he and the rest of the crew are on the planet, a freak dust storm separates Mar
Mark Watney is a NASA astronaut currently on a mission to Mars. Whilst he and the rest of the crew are on the planet, a freak dust storm separates Mark from the rest of the crew. A number of things combined lead the crew to believe that Mark has been killed and they escape the dangerous situation, leaving him behind. But Mark didn’t die. And now he’s stranded alone on the red planet. There’s any number of things that could go wrong. The Oxygenator could break down, leaving him to suffocate. The Water Reclaimer could break down, leaving him to die of thirst. The Habitat could be breached in which case that’ll just make him explode. If none of those things happen….well Mark only has enough food to last him a certain amount of time. The next mission to Mars won’t arrive for years, well past the time Mark’s food will have run out. But then there’s the really fun part…..no one on Earth knows that he’s alive. And he has no way to tell them. I’d been hearing a lot about this book lately. Science fiction isn’t usually my thing but this sounded really interesting and in a way, quite plausible. There was something about the horror of it that appealed to me. The idea of being the only person on another planet, unable to contact Earth and with everyone thinking that you were dead…..it was just going to make for a good story. Mark is smart. There’s no way around that – he does work for NASA after all, so he has to be a brain. And luckily for Mark, he happens to be the perfect combination of things that lends him the best chance of surviving on Mars. In order to streamline the mission and the weight of the crafts that take them to the planet, each of the team members play multiple roles. Mark is the team’s engineer and also a botanist so…within days he’s figured out how to grow potatoes on Mars – a lot of potatoes. He knows that the meal packs he has left aren’t going to be anywhere near enough to last him until the next mission to Mars arrives in something like four years time. And so he grows potatoes to supplement his diet, adding carbs to the vitamins he’ll already have in the form of pills of which he has plenty. He has enough water, so long as the Water Reclaimer doesn’t break down and if he can keep the Habitat (the “Hab”) secure, he’ll be fine. The only problem is, no one knows that he’s alive, the Hab has no communication equipment and when the next mission to Mars lands on the planet it’ll be 3000kms away. Originally the author had trouble selling this manuscript and so he posted it online for free, for people to read. By request, he also made a Kindle version and sold it for 0.99c, the minimum price you can set. It became a hit and publishers obviously realised what they had missed, snapping it up and it’s become a worldwide bestseller. The film rights have also been sold and the movie, with Matt Damon playing Mark Watney will be out in the later half of this year. You can tell reading it that it really does have the potential to make a great movie, if well done. A lot of it focuses on Mark being alone, figuring things out and the book seems to work in a bit of a pattern: Mark stuffs something up or something goes wrong and he needs to figure out how to fix it/get out of it/etc. The first thing that goes wrong obviously is Mark being left behind, for reasons that are really no one’s fault, just a bad combination of events. He begins to keep a diary, presumably in the beginning, for whoever is able to rescue his body, years in the future. But then he decides that he might as well make the best go of it, begins growing potatoes and trying to figure out other ways in which he might be able to survive. He’s incredibly good at problem solving and it helps that he has the skills to make things, fix things, alter things, etc. All of the things Mark has to do he usually accomplishes with almost ridiculous ease and even though there are often setbacks, I never really felt like there was a chance that Mark wouldn’t be able to fix it. The science in this book is obviously heavily researched and it’s incredibly detailed. I don’t have a science brain so some of it went over my head (ok more than some) but I appreciated the effort that the author had obviously gone to in order to make his story as authentic as possible. For some people the pages about making water or calculating whatever might get a bit dry but they’re broken up and balanced by Mark’s humour, which is kind of teenage nerd boy. As well as Mark’s point of view, we also get the points of view of various people who work at NASA as they realise what has unfolded via satellite photos. Weir does a great job of building the tension as he teases to the reader the various ways Mark could perhaps be rescued before smashing them to pieces and starting over again. This is a clever and enjoyable story and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie and how they adapt it to the big screen. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Mar 07, 2015
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Mar 08, 2015
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Mar 07, 2015
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Paperback
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| 0399167307
| 9780399167300
| 0399167307
| 3.99
| 7,022
| Sep 02, 2014
| Sep 02, 2014
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liked it
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Husband and wife treasure hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo are on an environmental expedition off north western Canada. To the surprise of everyone, th
Husband and wife treasure hunting team Sam and Remi Fargo are on an environmental expedition off north western Canada. To the surprise of everyone, the expedition discovers a perfectly preserved Viking ship. But that’s not the most surprising thing – the fact that the ship is filled with pre-Columbian artifacts from Mexico could change what is known and taught about history. After they have secured and photographed the scene and stayed with it until the Canadian government is able to dispatch a research team, Sam and Remi fly home and begin their research. They find a link between the Vikings and the feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl of the Toltecs. They also find evidence of an object known as the Eye of Heaven….a emerald about the size of a man’s fist. Sam and Remi want to finish the job and prove definitively that the Vikings did visit Mexico and they’d also like to locate the Eye of Heaven in order to have it preserved and able to be enjoyed. But they’re not the only ones who are on the trail and there are others out there who would do anything to possess these incredible historical artifacts, but for the ability to sell them to the highest bidder. There’s a huge black market in trading antiquities and soon Sam and Remi will be fighting not just for the right to keep the Eye of Heaven from falling into the wrong hands, but also for their lives. I have to admit, I have a bit of a soft spot for this series. I’ve only read books 4-6 but it really doesn’t matter. You don’t need to read all of them, or even read them in order. They’re all basically the same – Sam and Remi are incredibly wealthy (due to Sam inventing something and selling it for megabucks) and they spend their time trotting around the globe hunting treasure for the altruistic reasons of turning it over the authorities. It’s the thrill of the chase, the excitement of the discovery and uncovering a mystery that excites them. They both have lots of skills and they’re attractive and generous with their money. These books always involves lots of interesting locations and a good mystery with some action, usually them fighting off bad guys who want the treasure for profiting purposes. The two previous Fargo Adventure books I read had a different writer involved – I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure about the role that the other writer plays in the writing of the book. Do they write the entire thing, taking only the creation of Sam and Remi Fargo from Clive Cussler? All of the books have had an “assistant” writer, Russell Blake is the third author to step in on this series. There’s little that changes perceptibly from the books I read previously except that this one does tend to lay off the filler that I complained about in my last review, describing Remi’s designer clothes and shoes although the devotion to describing their elaborate meals out at restaurants and the wines that are chosen to go with them stays. I tend to find this very jarring because it feels out of place. I’m tipping that most readers of these books don’t care whether or not Remi wore Dior or Chanel. I noticed that in this book, Sam has added a Gulfstream G650 to his assets, enabling them to fly around the world at a moment’s notice much more simply than when their assistants had to book them onto commercial flights! These will set you back around $65m US although Sam was thrifty and picked up a repossessed one or something, so I’m imagining that he got a bargain! These books are pure escapism although I don’t actually want to be Sam or Remi. I actually would prefer to work for them, helping them with their research and learning interesting things! They have a very small team that they place their utmost trust in – in this novel, one of their team brings in someone new and Remi in particular has quite a negative reaction to this, convinced for most of the book that the new person can’t be trusted and is possibly betraying them. I felt as though this wasn’t resolved very satisfactorily and there was little to suggest why Remi, otherwise intelligent and rational, might feel this way. In terms of the actual mystery and treasure, I have to admit it wasn’t the most exciting one I’ve read. However what I like about these is that they’re really easy reads that just keep you turning the pages, waiting for the inevitable moment when Sam and Remi get the treasure, thwart the bad buy and live happily ever after, ready for the next mystery they can sink their teeth into. This one was interesting in that it paired Vikings with Mexico but I found the actual searching for the treasure to be a bit lacklustre and it seemed like they did little in the way of protecting the dig, even though they knew that someone was following them and attempting to find the Eye of Heaven before they could. It seemed like Sam could’ve dropped some of his extensive fortune on security officers to secure the site who wouldn’t be bribed so easily by the person chasing them. But I enjoyed the cat and mouse games, the attempt to stay one step ahead of the bad guys or regain ground lost, which is part of the fun of these. You always know who is going to win in the end, but first you have to get there. Not my favourite of these but definitely still a pretty good read. ...more |
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1
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Oct 16, 2014
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Oct 16, 2014
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Oct 16, 2014
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Hardcover
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| 0425262480
| 9780425262481
| 0425262480
| 3.96
| 838
| Feb 04, 2014
| Feb 04, 2014
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really liked it
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India Black is just preparing to question the enigmatic spy French on what he has been withholding from her about her family when they are interrupted
India Black is just preparing to question the enigmatic spy French on what he has been withholding from her about her family when they are interrupted by a messenger who delivers a seemingly innocent shipping bill for her to safekeep for a Colonel Francis Mayhew. India doesn’t run a post office so she’s mildly irritated by the whole thing but that turns to anger when, shortly afterwards, three thugs turn up, steal the envelope and rough up both India and French. Now it’s personal and India is keen to track down the thugs and the meaning of what this shipping bill is all about so she can get some payback for her split lip. It is part of her moneymaker after all. India and French do some investigating and after discovering that Colonel Mayhew has been viciously murdered in his bedroom they begin to understand that there’s a lot more going on here than just the shipping notice would suggest and the villains are willing to go to extreme lengths to keep things quiet. They visit the London docks to find the ship in question and attempt to discover what the cargo really is because surely it is not what is listed on the bill. There India sees a face from her past – the gentleman thief and her former lover. He attempted to set India up long ago but she managed to turn the tables on him and go on to become the successful proprietor of Lotus House that she is today. She hadn’t seen the thief again – until now. Her past with him isn’t something she feels she can disclose to French even though it’s come out recently that the mysterious agent has some secrets of his own. As well as this new investigation, India also needs to keep badgering French to give up what he knows about her family. Unbeknownst to her, she’s about to get the answers she seeks but it’s going to bring chaos and some very unexpected news that will disrupt her life. This series is like a breath of fresh air for me. Set in Victorian times, India Black is a (former) whore and brothel owner who, by accident, fell into a position of assisting the Prime Ministers office on several matters of security. She mostly works with French, an agent of the Crown and military man. Their relationship has evolved with each book but they still face many challenges: firstly, French isn’t quite as unattached as he seemed in their early acquaintance and secondly, he’s unashamedly a well bred gentleman who struggles with the growing feelings he has for India versus his commitments and his honour. Plus he’s not always comfortable with India’s former profession. Although she refers to herself as a whore, India is basically retired and hasn’t taken customers in some time – she prefers running the show and counting the coins. She keeps her girls well fed and the customers well supplied with alcohol and good cigars. The two of them make for an interesting pairing because of the two, French is more likely to declare himself (although it generally has the agonised tone of the conflicted) whereas India attempts to keep her distance from him emotionally. There’s no denying that she’d like to get him into bed and she doesn’t seem to care about anything else he may have going on in his life but India has a very vested interest in keeping her heart protected. In contrast, French attempts to avoid anything at all physical. It’s worked well for the last three books but I do believe that it’s probably time to step things up a gear and explore a little more what is going on between them, French’s complications aside. There’s no denying the two of them were on rather uneven footing, although developments in this novel seem to rectify that in some ways. The way in which this novel sets up their next adventure makes it look as though it will be very difficult for things not to escalate! So I’m looking forward to that. It’s time! I enjoyed the plot about the shipping bill and what was really going on and it was interesting to have someone from India’s past crop up. I haven’t read the novella which details her adventure with the gentleman thief – previously none of the books were available for my region although I’ve noticed that since these books are to be published in England, I can now purchase kindle versions of the first two novels and the two novellas. I did like that the inclusion of the gentleman thief had a bit of an effect on French, especially when he realised that India was protecting him. I’m glad India also found out more about her past in this book although to be honest it doesn’t so much give her peace of mind as it does raise an awful lot of issues and problems for her! The inclusion of the Dowager Marchioness of Tullibardine (and her entourage) got quite wearying to be honest, perhaps because it was difficult to see India so helpless against the onslaught. She’s such a strong character who takes no crap from anyone, watching her relegated to the couch in her study while the Dowager Marchioness alienated customers and sneezed snuff everywhere became a bit irritating. India is at her best when she’s sharp and snappy and this weakness didn’t particularly suit her. Reading this latest installment made me want to go and read all the previous books again so that’s what I did – including tracking them down at various different branches of my local library. Definitely need to acquire them at some stage, so that I can revisit them whenever I want. This is another excellent installment and it’s left me waiting very impatiently for the next one! ...more |
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1
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Jun 04, 2014
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Jun 04, 2014
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Jun 03, 2014
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Paperback
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| 0399167293
| 9780399167294
| 0399167293
| 3.99
| 5,787
| Mar 04, 2014
| Mar 04, 2014
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liked it
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It’s the 1920′s and Prohibition is in full swing in America and therefore so is rum-running and bootlegging. Isaac Bell is a detective working for the
It’s the 1920′s and Prohibition is in full swing in America and therefore so is rum-running and bootlegging. Isaac Bell is a detective working for the Van Dorn agency and when their boss, Joe Van Dorn is shot and critically wounded whilst chasing down a high speed rum-running vessel, Bell and the rest of the Van Dorn team take it very personally. Isaac Bell swears he will hunt down the perpetrators, expecting it to be a gang war issue, rum-runners reasserting themselves and their turf. However when a potential witness to the shooting is executed in hospital whilst under police guard in the manner of the Russian secret police, the plot thickens considerably. These are no ordinary rum-runners. The rum-running team are Bolshevik assassins who are in America not to run prohibited alcohol and control the flow into the major areas but to overthrow the government of the United States and destroy the capitalist system for good. Isaac Bell and the rest of the Van Dorn detectives are going to have to be everywhere, doing everything they can to gather information and try and stop them. All of them are highly skilled, concealing their identities and making sure that nothing can be traced back to them. But Bell and the rest of the Van Dorn men are good too. The Bootlegger is the seventh Isaac Bell novel and it’s the first one in the series that I’ve read. Now I’ve done this with Clive Cussler series’ before, come in late and it hasn’t really mattered – the universe is clear and the world and story are easy to pick up. However this one wasn’t as easy. The setting is 1920′s Prohibition which is relatively straight forward but the series seems to play a bit fast and loose with time and technology. There were advancements that didn’t quite match up with the historic setting and there were a few things I wasn’t too sure about. However I could still follow the particular story of this book, it was more the stuff on a grander scale that had me a bit lost. Bell is much the same as other Cussler heroes – he’s handsome, he’s witty, good with machinery and a gun and likes the finer things in life. He has a ridiculously good looking wife of course who floats in and out of the story and appears totally unperturbed at everything Bell is up to. In other words she understands him and has her own important career which keeps her busy. This lack of wifely presence allows Bell to flit off all around the country investigating things and almost getting himself killed but never quite, because he’s better than his opponent every single time. Also, almost every woman he meets falls in love with him but he is of course devoted to his beautiful, understanding wife and so they must wearily accept only his friendship. I quite enjoy novels set in the 1920′s and I’ve only read one or two others focusing on Prohibition before so all of the information about the rum-running and the bootleggers and how groups got around the banning of the importation and sale of alcohol was pretty interesting. Despite the laws, it seems as though the 20′s was a time of glitz and glamour, parties and living a lavish lifestyle – it was a very good time to be rich, but then again I suppose when isn’t? Like Sam Fargo from the Fargo Files, Isaac Bell is independently wealthy, having inherited vast amounts of money. He’s very good at what he does and the company and man he works for is highly respected. They all have very high standards and it’s obvious they are all very loyal. More interesting was the Bolshevik connection. The Bolsheviks were founded by Vladimir Lenin and morphed into the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and it’s sort of tongue in cheek I think that the Russian comrade is supposedly amassing a fortune to overthrow the government by rum-running and controlling the flow of alcohol in many of the major areas – New York, Detroit and Florida. In other words he is using the capitalist system by creating demand and jacking up prices or flooding it and lowering it to put his competition out of business, in order to overthrow the capitalist system so that they can implement a communist one. This is the plan but it seems as though Marat Zolner, the Russian agent has become what the communist system doesn’t encourage – an individual thinker. His position in America with the rum-running gives him money and power, two things that are very hard to give up once you have them and begin to get used to them. Only one thing stands in Marat Zolner’s way of pretty much total domination of whatever he wants and that’s Isaac Bell. The plot is fast paced and there’s plenty of action there – lots of shoot outs on boats, things blowing up and people getting beaten up, knifed, drowned and murdered in various other grisly ways. There’s plenty of snappy dialogue and some clever moments where you could almost end up sympathising with some of the Bolshevik characters. There’s some very basic talk on theory – the book doesn’t get too deep into the capitalism versus communism thing but it does touch upon deportations and a bit of the fear of it from a capitalist standpoint. It’s all very basic though and the focus is more on the action and Bell getting the job done in superb style. ...more |
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1
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Feb 26, 2014
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Feb 26, 2014
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Feb 26, 2014
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Hardcover
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| 071815844X
| 9780718158446
| 071815844X
| 4.21
| 8,884
| Nov 05, 2013
| Jan 02, 2014
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really liked it
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Juan Cabrillo is the leader of the mysterious Corporation, a highly skilled group of people who can be hired to find out information, track someone do
Juan Cabrillo is the leader of the mysterious Corporation, a highly skilled group of people who can be hired to find out information, track someone down, pick up or deliver some goods…basically anything at a price. Cabrillo works out of the Oregon a sea-going vessel deliberately dumbed down to look much slower and older than she really is. Her slightly battered facade hides a highly efficient motor, a shedload of sophisticated and deadly weaponry and an even more highly efficient state of the art technical hub and quarters for its crew, the employees of the Corporation. There’s nothing they can’t find out and their exclusive contracts take them all over the world, flying the Oregon’s different colours to throw more people off the scent of what she really is and is doing. When Cabrillo goes undercover at a notorious Siberian prison, it is to break out an acquaintance, Yuri Borodin although things go awry in their attempt to make it back to the Oregon. Yuri gives Cabrillo a few cryptic remarks including “Tesla” which immediately intrigue Cabrillo. He wonders why anyone would utter the name of a long dead Serbian scientist given he was so overshadowed by others even though he is responsible for some of the most important discoveries and inventions in the modern era. Cabrillo sets his highly skilled team onto finding out why Borodin wanted to talk about Tesla and the results turn out to be potentially very damaging for a lot of people including probably most of the Western world. The Philadelphia Experiment took place in 1943 and rumours were that a ship was cloaked to remain entirely invisible to enemies. Someone has resurrected this technology and is using it today and Cabrillo immediately grasps what this could mean in terms of modern day warfare. He takes it upon himself to track down the man who has the technology before it fall into even more unsavoury hands and starts a WW3 disaster. It’s hard to fight an enemy you can’t see and has something that can blast you right out of the water before you can even load your guns. But Cabrillo has his ways and so do the rest of the crew of the Oregon and with her formidable assets they just might be able to win. Mirage is the ninth book in the Oregon Files series revolving around the mysterious Corporation and its enigmatic leader, Juan Cabrillo a man of many talents. This is the first book I’ve read in this series but I have some experience with some other Clive Cussler series’ and most of them you can read as stand alone no problem and this one is no exception. It’s also not the first Clive Cussler book I’ve read that revolves around some of the more rumoured work/discovery/inventions of Nikola Tesla and this one also incorporates the Philadelphia Experiment which is sort of considered a hoax as it defies most rules of physics. Either way there is no confirmation of said experiment but the rumours do give rise to a lot of potential in terms of fiction, something Cussler and Du Brul have worked well with here. All of Cussler’s heroes are quite skilled Alpha males usually with some form of military or government background and Cabrillo is no exception but he is set apart in away by the loss of his leg which he has turned into an asset by having a large array of prosthetic legs which conceal weapons, items etc that are custom designed and serve individual purposes. He seems rougher, more proactive than the others I’ve encountered and has a large team around him that all perform a purpose and function to make the Corporation the formidable unit it is. I think of all the Cussler protagonists I’ve read, Cabrillo is the most interesting. I loved the setting of this novel, which begins in Russia and then for the most part is spent aboard the Oregon or one of its vehicles in residence: a submersible, a helicopter, etc a brief foray into Uzbekistan and then finishes up in China. The beauty of having a ship as the setting gives the characters a lot of freedom to move around, including places they really have no business being, simply by changing the name of the ship and the colours she flies. There’s so much action, a lot of it revolving around the Oregon and her deceptive appearance. These sorts of books appeal to me because I have always loved the idea of working as a spy or for a secret organisation that get things done. The Corporation is definitely such an organisation and it seems like a very fun company to work for (if you ignore the fact that you’re nearly always in danger of being killed). Mirage has all of the action and adventure you could want but there’s also a bit of thinking that has gone into it too with the physics and the experiments. It may not all be plausible (and I’m the first to admit that I’m a bit of a science dunce so a lot of it went over my head) but it doesn’t matter because the book convinces you that it almost could be and you can imagine what would happen if it were possible and that various governments or groups had this sort of technology and could perform such stealth attacks on other ships and even on war planes in the air. This novel is a wild ride from start to finish that keeps you turning the pages and makes me wish I had the time to go back and read the previous 8 Oregon Files books right away instead of putting them on my ginormous TBR because I enjoyed this one so much! I want to know more about Cabrillo and the men and women that make up his team. ...more |
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1
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Nov 03, 2013
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Nov 03, 2013
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Nov 03, 2013
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Hardcover
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| 1408842211
| 9781408842218
| 1408842211
| 4.14
| 1,894
| 2013
| Sep 01, 2013
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really liked it
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Australian Tim Cope had long been drawn to the nomadic lifestyle of Eurasian steppes in a time gone by. Inspired by the groups that still live this wa
Australian Tim Cope had long been drawn to the nomadic lifestyle of Eurasian steppes in a time gone by. Inspired by the groups that still live this way, even to this day, he decided to undertake an extraordinary journey: to follow the steps of Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan on horseback, beginning in Mongolia, trekking through Kazakhstan, Russia, Crimea and the Ukraine until he reached the banks of the Danube in Hungary. In his original plan, he thought this journey might take around eighteen months. However, due to bureaucratic delays, horse and supply issues, health problems and personal tragedy it would take twice that by the time he finally found the Danube. Along the way he would meet many families from different cultures and experience the generous hospitality of the various nomadic and stationary peoples of this area, even from those who had nothing to give. He would see some of the world’s most beautiful, untouched scenery and experience torturous weather conditions – 50°C in the summer and down to -30ºC in winter. He would have to avoid would-be horse thieves and those who would wish to rob him, wolves and various other creatures – even the tiniest ones such as flies and mosquitoes could prove devastating. He would have to rely on being able to find food and water for his three horses and at times, the pickings were very lean. He would also come to rely on his horses and the dog Tigon that was presented to him as a travelling companion, bonding with them in their shared experience of crossing such a vast continent alone. On The Trail Of Genghis Khan is the story of a man who wanted to connect with a more simple existence and leave the trappings of most of modern day society behind in order to pay tribute to one of the greatest leaders of all time. Ever since I heard about this book, I immediately knew I had to read it. I don’t read a huge amount of non-fiction but every now and then, something really catches my eye and this was one of those. The idea of someone undertaking such a trek was fascinating. Travelling through Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Crimea, the Ukraine and reaching Hungary would bring such a wide variety of conditions and hazards and also give me more information about areas that interest me and that I don’t know much about. I read a fiction book mostly set in Kazakhstan earlier this year and since then, I admit that I’ve been interested in the area, mostly because it’s been so underrepresented in the books that I’ve read. This book is more than just the story of a young man who undertook an epic journey. It also describes the history, politics and surroundings in the most amazing way. This is an area foreign to me, given where I’ve grown up – it’s filled with a poverty that I can’t understand. The nomad way doesn’t really interest me in terms of it being something I’d like to do myself – I’m too much of a sook. But it’s fascinating to read about and attempt to imagine. A lack of trappings, the simplicity of growing and raising almost everything you need yourself, moving around the landscape following the weather sounds peaceful and beautiful and it can be. But it can also be the exact opposite. The dangers that Tim Cope faced are well documented in this book. As I mentioned – this is an area where most, if not all people, are very poor. Extremely poor. Almost everywhere he went, he faced threats and violence. Various people attempted to steal his horses and belongings (with varying levels of success) and although many people were welcoming and hospitable, sometimes offering up food and fodder that they could ill afford to share, others were hostile, unwelcoming and some downright threatening. Drinking is common – even the poorest of families possess vodka in large amounts (perhaps homemade? I am not sure but it’s definitely not the Stolichnaya we can buy at the store) and almost everything revolves around the liquor. The book is an honest portrayal of the highs and the lows in an area that has been buffeted by politics, power and corruption. But the good outweighs the bad. So many people were warm and welcoming, offering up hospitality, food, drink, fodder, companionship, information and an insight into their lifestyles. The journey took Cope about three years and although his then-girlfriend started out with him for the first couple of months and he occasionally had guides, much of his trek was conducted alone apart from his horses and after a while, Tigon. Companionship was important both for Cope to learn about the people and lifestyle that so fascinated him and also for his own sanity during his journey. On The Trail Of Genghis Khan is such an amazing story, in so many ways. It’s one of those engrossing reads made all the more wonderful because it’s all true. It’s a great way to learn about an area that you might not know so much about – really learn about it from someone who has been there, has experienced it and has seen it in all its glory and negativity. There’s so much information here and it’s all delivered in such an appealing way. I admire Tim Cope for sticking it out even though there were delays, bureaucratic disputes and personal tragedy that all sought to derail his adventure. It took courage and determination and a real ability to adapt to the most difficult of conditions and the most changing. I loved reading about the way he came to feel about his animals (particularly his dog Tigon, who now resides in Australia with him after a lengthy wait and quarantine stay). He cared about the horses and reading about how much he relied upon them both for pleasure and practicality was lovely. His careful consideration about them at the end of the journey and his continued interest in their lives is heartwarming. I’d read a lot more non-fiction if I could find books like this. ...more |
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1
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Sep 11, 2013
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Sep 13, 2013
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Sep 11, 2013
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Paperback
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| 0718177231
| 9780718177232
| 0718177231
| 4.03
| 8,050
| Sep 03, 2013
| Aug 21, 2013
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liked it
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Husband and wife team Sam and Remi Fargo are taking part in an expedition off the coast of Mexico tagging Great White sharks when there’s an earthquak
Husband and wife team Sam and Remi Fargo are taking part in an expedition off the coast of Mexico tagging Great White sharks when there’s an earthquake in Central America that devastates a great area. Using their hired boat to ship in medical supplies, food and water, they eventually make a remarkable discovery whilst trekking to some of the more remote, affected locations. The earthquake has revealed the perfectly preserved skeleton of a man along with a Mayan pot that contains a Mayan book safely sealed inside. Due to so many Mayan books and relics being destroyed, burned for being items of the devil, it’s clear that this discovery will be immensely important for the academic circles and also immensely desirable among collectors, especially the more untrustworthy ones. Sam and Remi get the book safely down the mountain but it isn’t long before they notice that they are being tracked already, thanks to someone in their party releasing the find to the press. They ship the book back home to safeguard it from theft which also gives them and a renowned academic time to study the book. It details Mayan cities, which the academic is certain are undiscovered to this day. When a nefarious attempt to steal the book is successful, Sam and Remi try to stay one step ahead of the thief, mapping and locating the Mayan cities mentioned in the precious book, attempting to reach them first and stake a claim so that any relics and riches may go to the appropriate authorities rather than into a private collection or sold on the black market. It turns out to be a dangerous game and Sam and Remi will need to stay one step ahead, use everything in their enormous arsenal and even call on some old friends to try and get out of this one alive. This is the fifth novel featuring insanely rich and resourceful diving team Sam and Remi Fargo but it’s only the second novel that I’ve read (the other being The Tombs). There’s no denying that the two of them do have a pretty amazing life: they jet around the world working/diving in glamorous locations and almost always get pulled into some sort of dangerous mission featuring valuable artifacts, etc. I actually forgot how they originally got all of their money because it isn’t referenced in this book but thankfully, the review I wrote for The Tombs last year magically cleared me up on this account! Sam invented some amazing engineering thing which he then sold for squillions of dollars allowing them to build their ginormous house with all its safety features (which in this book they’re totally renovating/rebuilding after it was shot to pieces in The Tombs. I can’t be sure how much their insurance covered a shoot-out featuring semi-automatic weapons!). They’re also super glamorous with skills in just about everything: Remi is a former champion pistol shooter, Sam has some sort of mysterious armed forces past (presumably before he was rich), they’re both diving and boating experts, they’re always fabulously dressed and are physically attractive and madly in love with a successful company staffed by incredibly brilliant and loyal employees who can get them out of anywhere in a jiffy. Basically, it’s good to be either Sam or Remi. I found a lot of the stuff in this book rather interesting, the bits about the Mayan civilisation and the way in which it was steadily wiped out by the Spanish, the information on their books and how so much has been lost. It always seems like a lot of research goes into these books which is always good because although these books are serious fluff and action with lots of people attempting to kill Sam and Remi but failing abysmally, I always feel like I’m learning things whilst reading them. However this one is disappointingly bogged down with an awful lot of filler. There’s too many descriptions on what designer dresses Remi is wearing, what shoes she has on, what they’re eating in fabulous 5-star European restaurants, what expensive wine they’re choosing to go with this meal. For a book that’s written by two blokes, they know an awful lot about designer dresses and shoes. More than I do. I know that they obviously research everything they put into the book but I didn’t really care if Remi’s outfit was by Chanel or Dior or if her shoes were Manolo Blahniks or Louboutins. I cared about whether or not anyone would manage to steal the Mayan book from them (and then, when someone did) how on Earth Sam and Remi were going to go about getting it back and making sure they didn’t end up getting themselves arrested for smuggling an antiquity out of the country of its discovery. And actually, I’m not sure why but the book doesn’t answer that last question. Clive Cussler novels aren’t the type I seek out but I’ve read several for review now and enjoyed them all however I didn’t enjoy this one as much as previous books. The story wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been because it focused too much on Sam and Remi’s wealth and the trappings of it all. Hopefully the next book about Sam and Remi focuses more on their adventures and a bit less on what they’re wearing and eating. ...more |
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1
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Sep 09, 2013
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Sep 09, 2013
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Aug 30, 2013
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Paperback
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| 192190111X
| 9781921901119
| 192190111X
| 3.96
| 108
| Jul 24, 2013
| Jul 24, 2013
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really liked it
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NASA astronaut Judd Bell is looking forward to a few days at the Beverley Wiltshire hotel with his girlfriend Rhonda. After he and a few others saved
NASA astronaut Judd Bell is looking forward to a few days at the Beverley Wiltshire hotel with his girlfriend Rhonda. After he and a few others saved the Atlantis 4 shuttle, it’s been a bit of a wild ride. Judd has been treated like a hero, but there’s a cold feeling inside him that shies from the attention. He doesn’t think he’s a hero and a few days with Rhonda and catching up with Corey, the Australian chopper pilot who shared his adventure might be just what he needs. They’re going to meet with the studio responsible for adapting the saving of the shuttle into a big blockbuster movie and do a few promotional appearances. It’s somewhat fortuitous that he and Corey are together when it happens. All around Los Angeles at the same time, engines begin exploding – cars, trucks, buses, airplanes, chainsaws. Anything that has a combustion engine – the exhaust turns purple and then black and then it explodes. LA becomes chaos as thousands of cars blow up, causing huge amounts of damage. Corey and Judd are able to get information from an injured man that it’s a nanotech airborne virus that gets in to the fuel line. It was supposed to be developed to be used in warfare, to disable an enemy’s weapons before they were able to be used but someone has taken it and used it in an urban manner. California has more cars per capita than any other location in the world – the perfect place to make such a statement of how they are killing the environment and should be stopped. And millionaire Zac Bunsen is willing to sacrifice people in order to get his conservation message across to the masses. And blowing up all of the engines in the local area isn’t the only thing he has planned – there’s another part to his plan that will release the virus to the entire world and cause a destruction that hasn’t been seen before. In the devastation, Judd sees opportunity. He’s driven to do something, to try and stop this madness any way he can. It might be the only way to ease the cold feeling inside him, to erase the moment where he did nothing and replace it with one where he did something that mattered. Combustion is the second novel to feature the unlikely pairing of NASA astronaut Judd Bell and outback Australian chopper pilot Corey Purchase. Having saved the world once already, the two are looking forward to a weekend of discussing the movie script and doing some promo. Corey has been hitching his way around America, seeing the country and has managed to find himself many new fans along the way. His ever-faithful dog Spike is by his side as always but Corey tries to keep the conversations he has with Spike secret even though in LA, it’s okay to be eccentric. Most people are, in some way or another. Neither he nor Judd counted on being thrust right into disaster, yet again. These books are so fun and easy to sink in to – they’re like a huge big budget action flick where the pace is breakneck from the beginning. The plot moves along at a rapid pace and never stalls. Judd and Corey race around LA on push bikes and later on in a helicopter helped along by an antidote to the nanotech virus, attempting to stop Zac Bunsen and his men from completing the next phase of their plan which would cause even more catastrophic devastation. Judd and Corey work as a seamless team, both of them bringing their strengths to the union. Judd is focused, always thinking and Corey tends to be more of a “let’s do this and see what happens” wingman but I noticed that in this book he seemed to come up with more ideas and plans, speak out more. Perhaps their earlier adventure gave him more confidence in himself and his abilities. He grew on me greatly in this book. I liked him in Velocity but it took me a while to warm up to him and his ‘different’ personality. In this book I was on board from the get go and his relationship with Spike integrates into the plot naturally. I don’t even question it anymore. In fact most of the time I find myself wanting to know what Spike is saying and wishing Corey would translate everything. And then I catch myself and think you are wanting to know what a dog is saying. I really enjoyed the plot of this one – humans have come to rely on technology and vehicles so much. We use them for transport, for emergency assistance and enforcing the rules, to ship food and other goods. The idea of everything with a combustion engine blowing up was kind of a frightening one. Zac Bunsen advocated a more simpler existence, less reliance (or no reliance) on cars and vehicles and respecting the environment a bit more. That’s interesting because it’s certainly something that has been raised before but he didn’t seem to consider the repercussions of that – like food. There are many places that aren’t capable of producing their own food due to design or location. He’s a sociopath so presumably he doesn’t care, but it really isn’t just as simple as blowing up all the vehicles in the world. A simpler existence is actually not always an easier one. Combustion is a book that takes you on a wild ride but it’s also comfortingly familiar. It’s the sort of book where you know that it’s okay to get attached to the good guys. Steve Worland is carving himself a pretty handy niche in the area of action novels. 8/10 ...more |
Notes are private!
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Jul 18, 2013
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Jul 18, 2013
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Jul 13, 2013
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| 4.01
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Aug 29, 2024
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Aug 29, 2024
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| 4.25
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Jul 29, 2024
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Jul 28, 2024
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| 4.08
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really liked it
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Jun 2024
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Jun 01, 2024
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| 3.98
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really liked it
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May 27, 2024
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May 29, 2024
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| 3.75
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really liked it
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May 21, 2024
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May 21, 2024
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| 3.38
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really liked it
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Dec 03, 2023
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Dec 02, 2023
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| 4.31
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really liked it
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Jul 20, 2022
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Jul 19, 2022
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| 3.93
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really liked it
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Oct 08, 2021
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Oct 07, 2021
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| 3.73
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really liked it
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Sep 20, 2021
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Sep 20, 2021
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| 3.93
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liked it
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Aug 12, 2019
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Aug 11, 2019
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| 4.52
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really liked it
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Jan 05, 2019
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Jan 04, 2019
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| 3.98
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really liked it
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Jun 15, 2017
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Jun 15, 2017
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| 4.42
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really liked it
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Mar 08, 2015
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Mar 07, 2015
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| 3.99
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liked it
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Oct 16, 2014
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Oct 16, 2014
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| 3.96
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really liked it
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Jun 04, 2014
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Jun 03, 2014
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| 3.99
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liked it
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Feb 26, 2014
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Feb 26, 2014
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| 4.21
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really liked it
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Nov 03, 2013
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Nov 03, 2013
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| 4.14
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really liked it
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Sep 13, 2013
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Sep 11, 2013
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| 4.03
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liked it
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Sep 09, 2013
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Aug 30, 2013
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| 3.96
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really liked it
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Jul 18, 2013
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Jul 13, 2013
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