11.23 Tropic Moon by Georges Simenon

Tropic Moon by Georges Simenon

I didn't realize I had a couple of more reviews to wrap up for 2011. Tropic Moon is such a great book. Simenon leaves you with a palpable sense of anxiety as you read the novel.

Please head over and read the quality summaries and opinions of Buzby and Olman on Tropic Moon.

11.22 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (2009) by Suzanne Collins

Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge. 

Jesus, I was warned that if I continued on into this series I would be sorely disappointed. Not that I had any high expectations but the first book was a tolerably entertaining read. For this second novel the author seems to have gotten grander expectations of creating a story writ larger than just the love triangle of Katniss.

Understandably she couldn't just write another Hunger Games but the good stuff about the first book was a fairly low level of moping about the situation and actually being pretty competent when it came to fighting in the Games. This time around though it's all boohoo for me and the heroine time and again needs saving by the better, more well informed men around her.

I'm hard pressed to find a reason to read the third one. I'll just have to wait for the inevitable movie.

08.21 Empty World by John Christopher

Empty World (1977) by John Christopher
Pbk, Penguin 134 p.

The sampling of John Christopher's (Samuel Youd) oeuvre continues unabated. Having just finished the Tripods trilogy, I ran across this little novella in the bookstore the other day.

From the back: "Neil is alone after the death of his family in an accident. So when a virulent plague sweeps across the world, dealing death to all it touches, Neil has a double battle for survival: not just for the physical necessities of life, but with the subtle pressures of fear and loneliness."

Another post-apocalyptic novel! This is definitely a young adult book but I can't imagine what school district would ever have their kids read it. The British must be far more intellectually sophisticated that us North Americans.

The tone of the story is interesting. There is no self-analysis or moaning - just a lot of stiff upper lip getting on with things. although initially in the country, Neil is an urban boy who has little experience with milking a cow or fixing a car. The plague is relentless and for much of the book Neil is alone however he does have some encounters. Christopher, like other British PA authors, uses these encounters to illustrate something about the human condition. In the end Neil is left with a moral conundrum which seemingly imparts a lesson to the reader. What that lesson is still seems unclear to me.

07.11 The Protector's War

The Protector's War (2005) by S. M. Stirling
Pbk, Roc Books, 590 p.
The second novel in this trilogy begins 8 years after the time of the Change where all forms of power and combustion stopped working across the world and in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Portland is controlled by a psychotic ex-history professor who has modeled his leadership like an overlord. He calls himself The Protector and maintains an expansionist policy against all the other communities in the valley.

As in the last book, the protagonists are the communities led by June Mackenzie and Mike Havel. The Mackenzie clan has become the most successful agriculturally and in the development of a community. It is like a combination of Braveheart and Lord of the Rings. The other colony of Mike Havel's Bearkillers is the toughest army around with deadly archers and mounted knights.

In this book the author brings in a third plotline from England. There, society and survivors retreated to the smaller islands surrounding the UK after The Change and have rebuilt a monarchist system based in the south. An older knight, his son and their companion fall afoul of King Charles (!) and his evil new Danish wife. They eventually end up on a Tasmanian ship and thence to America where they play in integral part in the books conclusion.

The Protector's War comes off as a typical middle novel of a trilogy - the reader is already familiar with the characters and milieu so there is lots of filler to get us through to the climactic final book. In fact, there is not even a war with the Protector; it's all set-up. The book is well written and there are a number of excellent scenes. I just found that the author becomes pedantic in his descriptions. He goes too far into the minutiae of harvesting wheat, building a bow, making clothes or what have you. The pacing suffers.

I have the final novel, Meeting At Corvallis, and will report on it soon.