Saturdays exhibition opening with Fiona Kidman was lovely. I know I'll treasure my signed copy of this fantastic book.

Please check out the link if you wish to see a review for this second part of her celebrated memoir.

http://mary-mccallum.blogspot.com/2009/06/congratulations-dame-sir-fiona.html

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith

Review by Alicia Ponder

There's something wrong about this book. There's no denying the idea's a little sick , but then every Zombie story ever written is a little sick. Nor is there much denying that the book struggles to have a plot, but that never stopped the original from being a classic. So what's screamingly, horribly wrong, can only be that somebody dared to put the two together. It's just wrong on a gut level -- and that's the exact reason I had to read it, and probably why I kind of enjoyed it -- but I wouldn't rave.

Yes, there are moments of brilliance, but there are also moments of drear drudgery. Whole sections where a stray Zombie or two -- just to put one or two of the characters out of their misery (and consequently out of our own) would have been heaven-sent. Whatever point Jane Austin may have been trying to prove about how shallow it is to be only interested in men and fripperies, did she have to make it so well, that even the zombies Seth Grahame-Smith injected into the script, seemed more full of character than the majority of the heroine's family?

So is it worth reading? Yes, in the end, why not? It is a bit of culture -- and there's the added bonus that the character you dislike the most may yet succumb to those dreadful zombies..

Nina of the Dark by Ken Catran

Children's Fantasy approx 9-12

Nina is raised as a slave, but her special abilities mean that she is the only person capable of saving the world.

Yes, as you can probably tell by the opening paragraph -- this book is full of thinly disguised cliché fantasy stereotypes, so if that's what you're after, you'll probably love it. I didn't, and unusually it wasn't the writing that put me off -- it was the characters. Not only were they shallow, but they acted like puppets to be directed by nothing more than the plot, and often heavily directed by author devices like "the balance of the world," and the completely new "thumb hurting."

The action is episodic, a little bit like a random Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Now, that's not entirely a bad thing, and the action was mostly fun, except when, for no reason at all, important fight scenes are skipped and then revisited in retrospect. And the reason for this seemed to be that the book wasn't written around the action, so much as things being explained to Nina. Those one-way dialogues are the big turning points of the story. This having stuff explained, and having objects and events fall into Nina's lap in my view are plot flaws, and trumpeting them undermines her character, the decisions she makes, and how she fights for them. If only more emphasis had been put on those moments, instead of the jiggery-pokery behind the scenes stuff, the story might have worked.

My overall impression was simply that the author did not have respect for his audience, and if that is the case, I suggest he turns his very able pen toward the adult market.

Review by Alicia Ponder

The Reformed Vampire's Support Club by Catherine Jinks

The perfect antidote to Twilight, funny, undeniably original, and there's a plot!

So you think being a Vampire is cool? Think again. Nina has been cooped up in her room, barely able to go out -- except to her vampire support group.
When one of her fellow vampires is killed they are all terrified a mis-informed vampire-killer is on the loose. Something has to be done - but it means risking everything. And it's dangerous, just think about it, for a vampire sunlight is deadly!

Catherine Jinks is always a great read, so there were a few arguments about who would read this book first -- and second -- and third...


Review by Alicia Ponder

Nation by Terry Pratchett

What? not Discworld??

Surely we cant be in the real world? It's too funny, but what exactly am I reading?

According to the author, Nation is set in -- "a world that's remarkably similar to earth." But not Earth. At least not Earth as we know it. Must be some parallel universe where there are pirates and pistols and parrots. A universe where the world is funny and fresh and dangerous. A universe where the sweetness isn't Hollywood and the lessons-- or more accurately -- the really cool stuff, isn't preached, but folds its way into the story like chocolate chips into cookies.

It's just a shame that it takes so long for the plot to really get kicking. Apart from a tsunami and the culture clash of Mau and Ermintrude (Daphne), all the real action seems to kick off about half way through, when the "Nation" our characters have built must stand or fall, not only on their actions, but on their wits.

A great story, in many places this is being touted as his best yet.

Review by Alicia Ponder