Review: Judith Clarke - Night Train

Nightrain, by Judith Clarke, is one of the of the saddest and most depressing books I've ever read - but I still love itv I'm yet to find anything else that talks so openly and honestly about how hard life can really be. The book beings with the funeral of the protagonist, Luke, as told from the point of view of his two sisters: Naomi, 5, and Molly, 16. Naomi's account especially draws you emotionally in the story from the beginning.

We see that Luke is troubled from the onset, skipping school, expelled twice, failing all his subjects, Luke appears from the outside to be your stereotypical 'troubled kid' who just doesn't care about anything. From the inside we see that Luke is troubled in a different way. He's having trouble managing everyday things, and is obviously struggling from undiagnosed depression.

The action of the book only takes place over a couple of days, as Luke struggles to try and finish an assignment for the one teacher who still has faith in him, and deal with the threat of being expelled from school. The book shows not only his problems, but also how everyone around him is affected by them. Luke's sisters, his mother, his girlfriend and his english teacher all have POV chapters, and we watch them struggle to understand Luke, and deal with the impact he has on their own lives.

The book is largely about confusion and lack of communication. Luke knows that something is wrong with him, but can't express it to anyone else. Similarly, the other characters know he is troubled, but everyone is at a loss for what to do about it.

The two people who stand out particularly strongly are Naomi, his sister, and Dan, his father. Naomi is an ideal viewpoint character because we all naturally have empathy for little kids, but no-one really talks about them. People tend to forget that kids are smarter than they look, and know more than they look, so Naomi's reactions to Luke's situation is particularly powerful. Through her telling we hear about how worried she get when Lukie doesn't come home, and how she has to close all the gates on their street - or something bad will happen to him.

Dan is noticeable for his absence for most of the book. Disappointed in his son's luck of progress during his second attempt at the HSC, Dan stops talking to or about his son. This bothers not only Luke, understandably, but also Margret - who is feeling completely out of control of both her children. Dan's viewpoint is similarly absent during most of the book - it's only at the end, when we get a glimpse of how things might just turn out ok, that he gets a chance to express himself too us - and we learn that he really does care about Luke, and tries to make things right.
The book draws you in by showing you the pain and suffering off all the characters, then gives you hope towards the end that everything will turn out ok. You know that it won't because the beginning of the book told you so, but it's a statement about the power of hope that you still want it to anyway. To me, this book has always been a hopeful book, despite the sad ending, because it's a sign that things often aren't as bad as they look - and that you better make the most of the them because you never know when they will be gone.

Movie Review - Golden Compass

Whenever I hear about yet another childhood favorite being turned into a movie, I'm always at least a little scared, if not outright terrified, about how they are going to butcher whichever beloved book they have just turned their sights upon. Fortunately, I am often good at forgetting about the rumours until I actually see a preview - and in the case of the Northern Lights adaptation this was probably a good thing. The preview alone blew me away by creating exactly the right atmosphere and sense of wonder that I experience while reading His Dark Materials trilogy, and the movie itself doesn't disappoint.

One of the biggest problems with book to movie adaptations, is trying to convey all of the subtle information that comes across in the book in a two hour movie. While I can't comment as to how Golden Compass does this from the point of view of someone who hasn't read the books - I found it really interesting that at the start of the movie they gave you a short summery of what the world was about, nothing to do with the plot of the books, just enough so that anyone new to the series would understand what it was that made this world different to our own.

Not that the beautiful buildings, magic flying ships, horseless carriages and little critters everywhere wouldn't give this away. The CG on the movie is fantastic in it's effortlessness, it creates a fascinating world that at the same time inspires a sense of wonder, and is completely believable - to anyone willing to enter the worlds of fantasy at least. The daemons are dealt with particularly well. For those unfamiliar with the series, daemons are essentially the equivalent of having an imaginery friend that is real. Everyone has a daemon, who can change shape until puberty, and who then settles on a form that is somehow appropriate to your personaity and stataion in life. So pause and think for a moment, about how much effort went into giving every single actor in the movie their own little CG pet. The daemons are seamlessly inserted into every scene, and actually quite clever in how they give you little clues about the roles of all the important characters.

The most important character in the movie is obviously the protagonist, a young girl called Lyra. One of the reasons that I am so fond of the this book/movie, is that Lyra is a phenomenal role model for both boys and girls. Loyal, smart and very brave, Lyra is called to demonstrate these qualities over and over again through the movie, and does so without complaining once. She is able to express her fears to her daemon Pan, but that never shakes her resolution about what she has to do.

The actress playing Lyra was a bit older than I expected, and while this changed the character somewhat, it was an acceptable trade off for having someone capable of playing the character of Lyra with the depth it needed. All of the other actors in the movie were fantastic - as you would expect with the number of big names it attracted. This was in some ways a slight disadvantage, because being able to play 'spot the celebrity' broke the realism of the movie a little, but the actors were all so well cast for the roles that they dragged you right back in again. Sam Elliot as Lee Scorseby deserves an honourable mention, because while I had never ever imaged that character as being such a cowboy as soon as I saw him on screen I realised it was perfect, and I will never ever be able to see him any other way.

The last thing that really impressed me about this movie is how close to the books it actually is. I kept waiting for them to change something, to do something that loyal fans would get upset about - but they really didn't. The only changes came towards the end of the movie, and you could see exactly why they changed things the way they did. They even left in parts of the books I was sure they would skip for 'pacing reasons'.

It still ends up a very long movie, and it may seem to jump around a little for people not familiar with the book, but overall I think that it is a wonderful and engaging story matched with awe-inspiring visuals. It may have recieved mixed reviews in the critical press, but I loved it and hopefully you will too.

Review : Juliet Marillier - Wildwood Dancing, Cybele's Secret.

I am a sucker for a good fairytale. I believe that there are things we have to learn in this life, and I love the idea that are mischevious beings out there that want to teach us. Even if there aren't, I love that there are other people that think that way too. Juliet Marillier is one of the masters of fairytale. Her adult trilogy (Daughter of the Forest, Son of Shadows, Child of Prophesy) is one of the most intense and realistic fairytale adaptations I have ever read, so you can understand why i was interested when I discovered she had turned her hand to writing for young adults.

She has written two novels so far, Wildwood Dancing, and Cybele's Secret. Both are set in the same world, focussing on the same group of Seven Sister, but they are very different in feel and in flavour. As an aside, I was very miffed to discover that Cybele's Secret followed on from Wildwood Dancing, because there is absolutely no indication of it anywhere but within the story, where it essentially tells you what happened in Wildwood Dancing. However this is a marketing flaw, not a writing one, so I won't dwell on it too much.

Wildwood Dancing is the story of five sisters, who have discovered a secret portal from there bedroom, into the world of fey, where once a month on the full moon, they are allowed passage into the fey court for a night of dancing and revelery. Cybele's Secret is a followup, where one of the characters accompanies her father on a business trip and discovers a mystery of her own.

I liked Wildwood Dancing much more than Cybele's Secret. Wildwood Dancing brings you straight into the world of these girls, with one of their nightime trips. You get a feel for each of the characters and what makes them special, and it's not too long before things start to go awry. Juliet Marillier knows how to write strong female characters who may not know their own strength, but who are still determined to succeed, and who you can really feel for as a reader. I liked a lot that the main character wasn't the pretty and popular eldest sister, but the levelheaded and somewhat plain second sister, who is forced to try and keep the family together in the face of all that goes wrong. Which is a lot, things go from bad to worse quite quickly for these girls, and the story develops quite a dark feel, which makes me want to keep reading all the more. I know it is a fairly tale, so I know there will be a happy ending, but there is always that thought that maybe, just maybe, they're not going to pull it together in time....

Cybele's Secret on the other hand, lacks the tension that kept me hooked through wildwood dancing. It is set far from the world of the girls childhood castle, and Paula is instead exploring the world of ancient Istanbul. This would usually be quite interesting to me, but it's not what I expected from this type of story. I was constantly waiting for the faries to happen, and even though there clues to unravel and signs to interpret, rather than keeping me in the story they just frustrated me. There was no real danger for Paula, she didn't really have anything to lose, other than failing to be smart enough for the challanges that had been set before her. It wasn't until three quarters of the way through the book that things started to get really interesting. Paula does something daring, nearly gets one of her companions killed, and suddenly I'm in. From there, the book is exactly what I expected and wanted it to be - an adventure story with realistic characters.

For more information about Juliet Marillier, visit her website http://www.julietmarillier.com/news.htm

Review: Cassandra Claire - City of Bones

In some ways I don't like Cassandra Claire. There is no rational reason for this, though if you believe internet rumors there could be plenty. I'm fairly sure that the only reason I have for not liking her is a sense of extreme jealousy. Cassandra Claire has gone from being a ridiculously popular fanfiction writer, to being a ridiculously popular novel writer and hanging out with some of the coolest people in the industry. Me? Jealous? Never. In some ways the reason I brought the book is that I harbored this vague dislike. I wanted to be proved wrong, and to be shown that she deserved all of the praise and adoration she got. So far though? I'm not convinced.

The first thing I noticed about the book is that it's really long. As a fan of epic fantasy, I think that this is a great sign, but the novel itself doesn't seem to have the stamina to keep going. I'm not quite sure what it is, but something about the book just doesn't keep me hooked the way it should.

The plot itself if decent, although there are vauge Potteresque allusions in this too: young girl knows nothing of magical world until she stumbles upon it, big bad evil who has been hiding for years and everyone believes is gone, but now his inner circle is rising again..... plus pretty boys that are a fanfic writers dream. That considered, she does a pretty good job of making a magical world, using all the sterotypes to her advantage so she never really has to explain things, but the reader still has a clear idea of what the baddies look like.

The characters also felt a bit like they were from derived from specific stereotypes, and while they are quite well fleshed out, they still don't entriely escape completely from those origins. The dialogue between them on the other hand is quite good. While I tended to skim the action scenes, the interactions between the characters is what kept me interested in the books. The book is predominately about teenagers and how they interact with each other. There are some gems of wisdom in there that I totally agree with, and think that teens that read really need to hear.

The ending gives me hope of things to come. While some of the twists at the end were predictable, some were less so, and i feel that the book nicely deviated from the Harry Potter trap. With the next book in the series, which is due out soon, Cassandra Claire should hopefully be able to get rid of the taint of Potter altogether, and allow her characters and plot to grow into themselves. I have great hopes for her, let's see how it goes.

You can check out city of bones on Amazon

Movie Review: Seeker, The Darkness is Rising

Seeker has all of the elements of a good fantasy movie: unsuspecting protagonist, mysterious bad guy, large family of boys, including mischievous twins and a cute younger sister.... does this sound familiar to anyone? While I can't blame the plot, which was written by Susan Cooper well before Harry Potter had even been thought of, I can't help feeling that this movie made not by someone who loved fantasy, but rather by someone who saw a way to cash on in the recent fantasy movie craze. In terms of making money, it's quite likely the movie will succeed, it is quite a pretty movie, with good use of camera effects whenever evil happens, a feel good/sappy ending, and a main character who is well versed in the frodo-baggins-one-facial-expression school of acting.

The basic premise of the story isn't that bad, Will Stanton has to find the six signs before the incredible evil destroys the world. As a book, in which there is enough time and space to explore the characters it could work out ok, but in a movie it feels ridiculous. The main character seems to wander though the movie randomly finding clues and whining about things. Whenever he finds a sign, he is transported through time to the period it was 'hidden' in, which provides the excuse for a brief action scene, but really doesn't add much to the plot. Then, as if condensing the search for the first five signs isn't enough, a sixth sign is introduced, as a way of introducing a feel good subplot that is ridiculous and makes no sense.

As if the plot wasn't annoying enough by itself, the portrayal of Will Stanton makes it worse. I understand a certain amount of reluctance from a hero that has the kind of responsibility involved with saving the world thrust upon him, but Will Stanton is just stupid about it, and what makes it worse is that he occasionally has moments of clarity about the problems of his family members that come out of no-where and are completley out of character! The antagonist is similarly a bit off, in his "evil rider" form he is merely average, the character would have been much scarier if played by someone with a little more presence (say Viggo Mortenson :P), and his 'in disguise' form was just strange, not even a creepy strange like the bug man in buffy for example, just strange.

The other characters are much more enjoyable. Will's five brothers do seem to blend into each other a little, but we do get a surprising amount of understanding of them considering their relative unimportance in the movie. His sister is a cutie, and his mum is lovely as well. The 'Old Ones' who help Will in his search are all wonderful, they are very strong characters with oodles of grace, and I loved watching them whenever they were on screen. If I can be as cool an old lady as Ms Greythorn, I will die happy.

I do think this movie will succeed, it's got a kind of showyness that will appeal to the kind of audience that don't really want to think when they are in a cinema, I can only hope that the success of this movie means more good fantasy will get made. Me? I'm still waiting for Golden Compass.

Review: Randa Abdel-Fattah - Does My Head Look Big in This / 10 Things I Hate About Me

I've been interested in reading "Does my head look big in this" for a while. The catchy title alone is definately a draw point, plus it was getting a fair amount of media attention. As it turns out, I read Randa Abdel-Fattah's second book, "Ten things I hate about me" first, so I'll talk about that first.

The book begins with a class of kids just come back from school holidays, talking about the race riots. This leaves you with no illusions of what kind of book you're about to read. It's obviously going to be about Issue's. This continues throughout the book, the plot is incredibly linear, and prediticlable. The love intrest is introduced on pg 9, and it is obvious from the onset that's what he is. The secret identity character also has an element of not-so-secret.

The saving grace of this book is it's characters. Even though some of them feel like they are there only to illuminate certain points, the main character Jamilah and her family are still interesting. Randa Abdel-Fattah is obviously writing what she knows, and it shows, it's a great insight into a world that I know nothing about, which is a great thing to get out of any book.

Her first book, "Does my head look big in this" does that even better. The predictable plot of "ten things i hate about me" are not an issue here, mostly because there isn't really that much of a plot. The book is much more character driven, and feels less like it's trying to make a stand about an issue, instead it is genuinely trying to show us what life is like for a Muslim girl living in melbourne. The book opens with Amal's voice very strong and powerful, and the whole way through we have a really clear sense of the character, and what motivates her.

The other characters in the book come through clearly as well. While it still has the 'non-sterotype' representation probelm of "ten things i hate about me' as well as resuing some of those personality types, the two pairs of best friends mechanic actually works really well, especially since they all have their own problems, it really emphasizes that no-one is perfect, even the blond georgeous girl doesn't see how good things are for her.