Muh, das Telefonbuch

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

The review contains spoilers about Zom-B.
___________________________

The last time B Smith got up the world was still okay. There were reports about zombie attacks in Ireland, but who is possibly supposed to believe that? B had to learn the hard way that this attitude can have fatal consequences when zombies overrun the school the teenager attends.
Now, everything is different. Zombies are real and B’s father made his child do things that can neither be forgotten nor forgiven. But that is not everything: B is awakening dead but not in heaven. It is a laboratory that investigates the phenomenon of zombies, and they do that with the help of other zombies who kept their consciousness. Once again, B has to deal with what is right and what is wrong because the zombies are not the monsters everybody wants to see in them. Well, at least they are not the biggest ones as B is to find out …


Book 1 was less about zombies and more about racism – in book 2, both topics are equally dealt with. As the zombies appeared rather publicly, you will not get away from them. But what is the matter with them? How come there even are zombies and how do they work? There are only some answers to those questions, and we also get a lot more questions that will probably take their time to be answered even partly.
For example: not all zombies are brainless monsters. Some keep their consciousness and conscience, like the mutants that appeared in the first book and were able to control the undead. It gets clear that there is much more to come – especially trouble for B.

Here, the racism concerns the so-called monsters. People’s first thought is to exterminate the zombies and to use some of them for experiments, whatever you like. Why should you feel sorry for them? They are monsters.
Many forgot, though, that those have been normal people not long ago, who had a life and a family and friends. They might not be able to think clear now, but it is not their fault, is it? Of course, you cannot simply leave them be; they would start murdering others after all. However, Darren Shan shows us here that there cannot be drawn a clear line between good and evil. The book’s message is still that you cannot judge someone for what they are.

For all that, the plot stays a little bit slow. We do not learn much more about the secrets even though there is much more information about the zombies.
The book concentrates on the development of B’s character. In book 1 there was the fear that the father’s influence had become too much; now, B finally takes responsibility: for things past and present, even though in the latter case the teenager could not have possibly done anything to prevent it. Surprisingly, it is this short-haired rebel who appeals to the scientists’ conscience and who makes them aware that they are the ones acting like monsters.
You do not really get to know any other characters. On the other hand, they do not appear long enough so it would be possible.

The story is far from boring, though. “Zom-B Underground” does not have many pages anyway, but even so it is very entertaining. Give it an afternoon and you are finished. The author simply manages to throw us into an unknown situation and, when we gained some sense of orientation, to confront us with other mysteries and questions we instantly want an answer for. The result is a lot of fun while reading the book and the sudden urge to grab the next instalment – though I doubt we will know much more after reading the third book. It would be ridiculous if Darren Shan could not think of more to tease us. That man is anything but squeamish when it comes to his characters and readers.


“Zom-B Underground” by Darren Shan is not perfect. There is not much development in the story and the only character you will find much depth in is B. Still, this book makes you craving for the next one. It is entertaining and fun without getting banal. There is no good and bad in those books – so if that is what you are looking for and you are still up for a good laugh, then the “Zom-B” series might be perfect for you!

Just a short review because there really isn’t much to say about this book. After the previous books ended rather abruptly, this one more or less races to the end. The story simply starts where it had ended and then we’re off to fight the bad guys.
There are a lot of lucky coincidences, Edward somehow knows exactly what he has to do (even though he’s not always aware of that) and there are generally not many surprises. It’s an okay ending but not a good or even thrilling one.
I’d really have preferred it if the books of the trilogy would have been published as one. Then, at least, it would have seemed “whole” as opposed to snippets of one story. Then again, there might have been even more space for all those things that aren’t dealt with in the actual story but are mentioned in the end and made me curious again. You think the story is more or less closed just to realize that this is simply not true.

All in all, it was nice but could have been much better, "whole", even as a children's book.

2.5

Die Rezension enthält Spoiler zu den vorherigen Bänden.
_____________________

Es ist mittlerweile der April 1809, und Abby befindet sich mit ihrer Familie auf dem Weg in Richtung Freiheit. Australien können und wollen sie nicht verlassen, doch die Kolonie ist zu weiten Teilen noch unentdeckt. Zusammen mit anderen Familien machen sie sich auf den Weg, um dem Einflussgebiet des Rum-Corps‘ zu entfliehen. Doch so sicher, wie sie dachten, sind sie dabei nicht. Es blieb durchaus nicht unbemerkt, dass Abby nicht auf dem Sträflingsschiff war, auf dem sie sein sollte und ihre Erzfeindin setzt alles daran, um der jungen Frau auf die Spur zu kommen und sie ihrer „gerechten Strafe“ zukommen zu lassen.
Abgesehen davon warten im Busch noch weitere Gefahren: Banditen machen das Leben dort unsicher und auch innerhalb der Gemeinschaft kann man sich nicht immer sicher sein, wem zu trauen ist und wem nicht …


In der eigentlichen Kolonie ist es nicht mehr sicher für die junge Familie und so wird es Zeit, andere Teile Australiens zu erforschen – gut für uns, denn auch wenn wir nichts komplett Neues über das Land lernen, so werden ein paar Aspekte geschildert, die vorher vielleicht nur kurz Erwähnung fanden.
Allerdings hat es auch seine Nachteile, denn anstatt sich wie die beiden vorherigen Teile auf eine relativ kleine Zeitspanne zu konzentrieren, ziehen hier wieder mehrere Monate in Land, auch wenn das Buch damit noch lange nicht so weit greift wie der erste Band. Dadurch wird beispielsweise die Dynamik der Siedler untereinander bisweilen nur angedeutet und nie wirklich ausgearbeitet – dass Rainer M. Schröders Bücher nicht von der Interaktion der Charaktere untereinander leben, haben wir aber schon in den vorherigen Bänden merken können.

Ansonsten gibt es zum vierten Band der Reihe nicht viel zu sagen, was nicht schon in vorherigen Rezensionen erwähnt wurde. Die wörtliche Rede haut nach wie vor nicht richtig hin und die Bücher sind nur mäßig spannend, wenn auch nicht uninteressant, um die zwei wichtigsten Punkte noch einmal zu nennen.

Dennoch wäre da noch eine Sache, die mich hier ein wenig beunruhigt hat. Dass die Wertevorstellungen damals anders waren, ist mir bewusst und auch wenn Begründungen à la „Frauen waren damals halt weniger wert“ nie heißen müssen, dass es keine Frauen gab, die „über ihre Rechte hinaus“ gehandelt haben, ist genauso logisch, dass es Frauen gab, die sich in diese Rollen eingefügt haben und ja, teilweise auch wohlfühlten (oder das zumindest dachten). Was Anwandlungen dieser Art hier zu suchen hatten, ist mir allerdings schleierhaft – war Abby in der Vergangenheit eher ein Beispiel dafür, dass es auch anders geht. Es gab ein paar Stellen, die so gar nicht zu Abbys bisherigen Taten passen wollten: Sie hat bereits gezeigt, dass sie genauso arbeiten kann wie Andrew und bewies ihre physische wie psychische Kraft. Wenn dann Passagen auftauchen, in denen sie von Handlungen absieht, weil ein starker Mann gebraucht werde, sorgt das erst einmal nur für ein Stirnrunzeln. Wenn sie dann aber Andrew das Überleben ihres Sohnes zuschreibt, während der ganze Plan zu großen Teilen ihr Verdienst war und das Überleben des Kindes ihrer Initiative und Hartnäckigkeit zuzuschreiben ist, muss ich mich ernsthaft fragen, wer von uns die Bücher besser in Erinnerung hat – der Autor oder ich. Es waren nicht viele Stellen, aber doch genügend, um mir das Buch ein wenig zu verderben.


Einige fragwürdige Stellen bezüglich Abbys Position als Frau machen das Buch letztlich zum schlechtesten der Reihe, auch wenn es sich ansonsten nicht allzu sehr von den anderen Bänden unterscheidet. Die Dialoge sind steif wie bisher, während das Geschehen interessant, aber selten mehr ist – schade drum, es hätte ein guter Abschluss werden können.

3.5

Die Rezension enthält Spoiler zu vorherigen Bänden!
________________

November 1808, Australien: Abby und Andrew haben sich wiedergefunden und sind nun auf dem Weg zurück nach Yulara, doch was sie dort erwartet, ist nicht etwa ihre Familie, sondern eine einzige Ruine. Die Farm wurde niedergebrannt und auch andere Opfer wurden gefordert, während Andrews Bruder Melvin mit ihrer Schwester Sarah verschwunden ist. Das junge Ehepaar findet vorerst Unterschlupf bei anderen Farmern, doch nicht jeder begegnet ihnen mit einem guten Willen, und ehe Abby sich versehen kann, trifft sie auf alte, aber ungeliebte Bekannte – und dieses Mal ist es nicht nur ihr Leben, das auf dem Spiel steht.


Der dritte ist der erste Band der Reihe, der sich nicht hauptsächlich mit einem Aspekt des Lebens in Australien beschäftigt, sondern mit den Protagonisten selbst. Die Geschichte dreht sich um Abby und ihre Erlebnisse und da gibt es einiges zu erzählen. Wer glaubt, der armen Frau ist endlich mal ein wenig Ruhe gegönnt, irrt gewaltig, denn nach wie vor gibt es viele, denen Sträflinge und die Chandlers im Besonderen ein Dorn im Auge sind – was man in diesem Buch deutlicher denn je zu spüren bekommt.
Es war das erste Mal, dass tatsächlich auch Spannung aufkam, wenngleich sich diese nicht gleichmäßig über das Buch verteilt, sondern eher am Ende auftritt. Dramatische Momente gab es dafür auch zur Genüge – wie das eben so ist, wenn vollkommen Fremde mit einem Fingerschnippen über das eigene Leben verfügen können.

Manche „Schäden“ lassen sich mittlerweile aber nicht mehr beheben; so beruft sich der Autor in diesem Buch auf Beziehungen zu anderen Personen, die in den vorherigen Bänden nie wirklich ausgeschöpft wurden, da der Fokus weniger auf dem ganz Persönlichen lag. Abby und ihre Freundin Rachel werden beispielsweise als unzertrennlich beschrieben, davon hatte man zuvor aber höchstens ansatzweise etwas bemerkt.
Das war vorher nie anders, nur fiel es dort weniger ins Gewicht, weil die Rolle eine kleinere war – hier aber sticht es sehr heraus; wenn man sich zuvor aber schon damit abfinden konnte, wird das hier nicht anders sein.

Auch ansonsten hat sich wenig geändert. Der Schreibstil des Autors ist während der wörtlichen Rede gewohnt steif, ansonsten aber gut zu lesen – wenn man einmal davon absieht, dass sich an der einen oder anderen Stelle recht kitschige Formulierungen finden lassen. Manches davon lässt sich auch darauf zurückführen, dass die Bücher sehr kinderfreundlich gestaltet wurden. Sex wird maximal angedeutet und das auch nur sehr blumig – es ist recht amüsant, wenn man bedenkt, dass die hygienischen Zustände, die ich mir um einiges traumatischer vorstelle, nicht gerade verschleiert werden und die unfairen Behandlungen, um es nett auszudrücken, sich genauso wenig verstecken müssen.


Auch der dritte Band der Reihe, „Verraten und verfolgt“, gleicht in vieler Hinsicht seinen Vorgängern, auch wenn der Schreibstil manchmal ins Kitschige abrutscht. Dafür ist das Buch auch wesentlich spannender, da nun wirklich Abby im Mittelpunkt steht und nicht die allgemeine Geschichte Australiens beziehungsweise das Leben dort.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.
___________________________

London, 1349: it is a nice evening for Seraphina; she is on a masque ball with her parents after all and is the centre of attention of a charming young man – the pharmacist’s son, Cyrus, who she happens to be interested in for quite some time now. However, before they can even start to plan anything for their future, the unthinkable happens: Seraphina gets stabbed in an assault. She would have died, had Cyrus and his father had not found a way to separate one’s soul from the body. Seraphina takes over a new body and continues to live, so the both of them have now much time left – forever.
Today, not much is left of the love they felt back then. Cyrus supervises every step Seraphina makes and tells her what she has to do. Everything she wants is to get away – away from him, away from this life, away from the murders. But her plan to let this body be her last goes awry. In the end, she has to ask herself whether she wants to continue living – but to what price? Besides, Cyrus is now after her, and he will never forgive her for leaving him.


“The Alchemy of Forever” is neither fish nor fowl, and that shows instantly. After the blurb you might think that Seraphina and Cyrus were once truly in love with each other, but that is what actually happens: they meet, it is mentioned that they found each other interesting (nothing more!), Cyrus promises to request her hand in marriage and then she gets killed. Love? You will not find that here because after that were are already in the present and then you cannot even speak of a neutral acceptance of each other.
Seraphina getting caught in a youth’s body causes even more confusion. Is this a YA novel now, will she get to make up for the years that were taken from her? (She was 14 when she died and took over the body of an adult.) After that, many things indeed reminded me of a typical YA novel. I wondered why it was even necessary to create all that fuss about the souls; for the most part, we are confronted with issues addressed in any contemporary novel, though the author changes her course again later. Still, the book is hard to classify because it does not really belong anywhere.

There are too many things that do not work. For example, Seraphina’s age is often said to be 600 years. Not more than 600 years, exactly 600 years. In conclusion, the present would be in 1949, but it is obvious we find ourselves in more recent times. That might be bean counting, but such details are not unimportant.
Otherwise, the plot seems to be rather forced. It would have been too easy if Seraphina was actually determined – as she claims she is – to go on with her plan. Instead, she “accidently” ends up in another body of someone she originally wanted to help. Something like that just had to happen, unfortunately I have to say. It is more a desperate try to get the story going and less a logical consequence of the protagonist’s actions.
Everything after that is predictable and therefore extremely boring. Especially the ending is probably supposed to leave the reader on the edge, but all those pages before that were so dull I could not care less. It really does not help that there is nothing really happening or that Seraphina is constantly changing her plans. She decides something, but misses (literally oversleeps!) the right moment, and after it she changes her opinion again and again and again. Might be I am not the right recipient for that kind of behaviour. Usually, if I make a decision, I stick to the plan no matter what. Seraphina, on the other hand, does not seem to take her situation seriously.

As a result, I liked her even less. The author probably wanted to introduce a likable character, and just reading about her you would never know she has been killing people for centuries, even though people who wanted to die “anyway”. (Never mind that Cyrus did not really care about that little detail.) Her other mistakes are quite visible though, and there is not much you could like about her. Just think about what she does to the girl’s family whose body she inhabits now – sure, the family gets to enjoy their daughter/sister some more; they do not know she died in that car accident. But in ten years the body will turn to dust; every body they take over does. What happens then? Will she pretend to run away? Will she pretend to die, or maybe torture the family with their daughter’s “suicide”? Will she actually die? For that, she would finally have to carry out one of her plans, but we get confronted with enough reasons why she does not really want to die yet. The author obviously just had to introduce another conflict that cannot be possibly solved and that came as surprising as everything else: not surprising at all, that is.
The only likable characters are supporting roles that barely get mentioned; at least you can hope you will get to know more about them later.

Only the style is mostly pleasant and has its nice moments, but also gets quite kitschy way too often. There was a really telling line I cannot quote, unfortunately, as I read the German translation. Anyway, it resulted in me staring at the text in disgust.
Flowery language can be nice if it does not get too much; then it becomes annoying which makes it useless and unnecessary. Those attributes also apply to the drawings within the book. (Are they in the original editions as well?) I normally like such things, but in this case it was mere decoration that mostly was not even connected to the text.


“The Alchemy of Forever” by Avery Williams might have been a good idea to start with, but in the end we get a highly constructed and predictable plot, unpleasant protagonist who creates her problems herself inclusive. It is nice to read on a very basic level and if it were not for the kitsch, this might be a positive point about it. It might not be the worst book ever written, but it is definitely not a good one.

Was slightly more interesting than the other volumes, but ... plot anybody? All they did was discussing one question, more or less.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.
___________________________

Ananna is not exactly delighted about her parents’ plan to force her into marriage. To make matters worse, her betrothed is good-looking – Ananna does not trust good-looking people. In the end, she sees only one solution: she flees.
She did not expect her betrothed’s family to send an assassin after her, though, to make her pay for this insult. The young woman might know a lot about fighting, but there are powers in this world even the best sword can do nothing against. Desperately, she accepts the help of a complete stranger, but when she finally meets her pursuer, Naji, things get completely awry: she binds him to herself, and both do not like that at all. To find a way to separate them again is just as dangerous, and the situation does have its advantages: they still seek Ananna’s life and who would be more capable fighting an assassin than another one?


There are three things that become obvious on the very first pages. First, the book is written rather colloquial, which I welcomed here. In the world Ananna grew up in school is not the most important thing, only the most basic things are taught. If you can neither read nor write, you will have a very difficult time and will not get very far. Still, it would be ridiculous to expect Oxford English from Ananna; that particular woman says what she thinks and that is not always very polite. Except for some shortening such as “’course”, the text is orthographically speaking correct; everything else is at least bearable. So what if Ananna uses a double negation again? That is her and the text suits the person we get to know.

Second, Ananna is a total kickass. Besides speaking sarcasm fluently, she does what she deems necessary. If that means fleeing from a forced marriage on a stolen camel, then so be it. And even if she is angry with her – treacherous, as she says – parents, she is still their child and misses them and the life she had there. Like everybody else she has conflicting emotions, but does not let herself be swayed too much by them. She is willing to fight for her life and for the life of those she loves, which does neither mean that she does not make any mistakes nor that she can cope perfectly with everything that has to be done. She might be a pirate who has learned to steal and cheat from very early on, but she has a conscience, her pride and, yes, honour as well.
Next to her, Naji seems a little bit pale. I liked him at first, but could never fully relate to him. His part is actually the one often left for the female protagonists in many (not so good) YA novels: he has a traumatic past he has not come to terms with yet; he worries a lot about what he looks like, owns great power and makes the biggest mistakes. The nice thing about it is that it is the guy’s role for once. You should not give him up entirely; there are some interesting aspects about him and Ananna is diehard enough to make him see some sense. (With violence if all else fails, but that is another matter.)

Third, the story starts instantly. Without any introduction we follow the meeting of Ananna and her betrothed, and in the next moment she is on the run. I usually like such an approach; in this case it was a little bit unfortunate. Except for some memories, we barely get to know anything about her life as a pirate and the daughter of a captain. It is the same with Naji’s past, but it is not that bad as he is “only” the second main character. The book concentrates on the current adventures of those two and there is much to tell about those. Still, the story ends rather abruptly. If you expected the conflict to be solved in this book, you are mistaken – at the end, the pace gets really slow and before you know where you are, you turn over the last page – everything to be continued in the next book.
However, there is not much to be said against that as the interaction of the characters was marvellous, though I sometimes really wanted to punch Naji in the face, just as Ananna did. As I said: improvement is in sight, and it was a fun read even when the story slowed down a bit. Only one detail seemed to me to be exaggerated, but I admit that it might come to that if you experience that much together.


In “The Assassin’s Curse”, Cassandra Rose Clarke offers us a wonderful protagonist, a second main character with some potential and with both of them a lot of fun. The plot is quite thrilling most of the time and even when it slows down some, you will be perfectly entertained. It bothers me only a little bit that the books ends without a real solution to the problem, and the language is also something the author can be proud of – the next book cannot be published quickly enough!

The fist volume is, again, more about bullying than survival - seems like it's the author's favourite topic, but I really don't mind that too much.
The characters are a little bit superficial for now, but that's no surprise considering the few pages this volume has. There are some hints at more depth, but well, we'll see what the author has in mind. (Another review didn't make me too hopeful, though.)
The character development that was shown seemed a little bit radical. I do not doubt that pupils can become the meanest of little shits (sorry) in this world and we know that people already ran amok because they were bullied over years. But especially Morishige's outbursts seemed a little bit ... I don't know. Crazy, probably. On the other hand, now I can say for sure that I'm sane. That's something.
Keiko Suenobu's style is very expressive, as always. In my case, I like that very much. So I guess it's no surprise to anybody that I'm going to continue to read the series. I am interested in whether Morishige will kill them all or whether they will be rescued after all.

3.5

Die Rezension enthält Spoiler zum ersten Band!
_________________

Oktober 1808: Jahre sind vergangen, seit Abby Lynn nach Australien deportiert wurde, um dort ihre zu Unrecht auferlegte Strafe abzuarbeiten. Doch sie hatte Glück und wurde bei Neusiedlern aufgenommen, deren jüngsten Sohn, Andrew, sie vor vier Monaten sogar heiratete. Und auch wenn dem Begnadigungsgesuch der Chandlers für Abby noch nicht stattgegeben wurde – und so schnell vermutlich auch nicht wird –, ist es doch ein gutes Leben geworden, das sie führt; zumindest dachte sie das.
Eines Tages bricht ein Waldbrand aus, was in dieser Gegend nicht ungewöhnlich ist. Bei der Bekämpfung der Flammen fällt Abby eine Gestalt auf, die sie rettet und danach auch gesund pflegt – es ist eine der Eingeborenen und außer Abby scheint niemand recht Mitleid mit ihr zu haben. Die Eingeborenen sind unter den Farmern als Wilde und Kriminelle verschrien, die die Mühe nicht wert sind. Es beunruhigt Abby zu wissen, dass von ihr geliebte Menschen so denken können, doch viel Zeit, daran etwas zu ändern, bleibt ihr nicht. Auf einer Reise werden sie überfallen – und hinterher weiß niemand, wo Abby steckt und ob sie überlebt hat.


Konnte man beim ersten Band noch sagen, dass es – neben Abby – auch um Australien und das Leben dort ging, so gilt das Gleiche für Band 2 für die Eingeborenen, allgemein als Aborigines bekannt, die sich selbst aber Yapa nennen. Unter den Kolonialisten – und auch heute noch, möchte ich meinen – herrschen viele Vorurteile über diese Menschen. So sollen sie beständig Vieh und Alkohol stehlen und diejenigen, die ihre Stämme verlassen haben und in der „zivilisierten“ Welt leben, gehen selten als ehrenwert erachteten Berufen nach. Bezahlt werden sie in Alkohol und Tabak und wenn sie nicht doch für jemanden Fährten lesen, fristen sie im Gefängnis oder in Armut ihr Dasein. Für die Siedler sind sie weniger wert als die Sträflinge, und warum? Weil sie anders sind, ihr Leben nicht den westlichen Standards entspricht und die meisten schlichtweg nicht genug Verstand haben, um sie überhaupt zu verstehen, oder sich die Mühe zu machen.
Das Buch zeigt, dass diese Vorurteile nichts weiter sind als gemeine Verleumdungen, dass die Siedler trotz ihrer Techniken in vieler Hinsicht die „Primitiven“ sind. Aber nicht nur das: Dank der Zeit, die einige Charaktere mit Ureinwohnern verbringen (müssen), überdenken nicht nur sie ihre Ansichten, auch wir können etwas über ihre – damaligen – Sitten und Bräuche lernen. Wie das heute aussieht, ist selbstverständlich ein anderes Thema.

Inhaltlich passiert daher in diesem Buch nicht allzu viel, vieles ist theoretisch und mehr über die Religion der Ureinwohner zu erfahren, mag interessant sein, von Spannung zeugt es aber nicht gerade. Andererseits ist es auch nicht langweilig, denn mit der Frage, wie Abbys Verbleib aussieht, sorgt der Autor durchaus dafür, dass ungeduldig weitergelesen wird. Es vermutet natürlich niemand, dass die titelgebende Figur im zweiten Band einer Tetralogie sterben wird, aber es gibt immer noch viele Dinge, die mit ihr in der Zwischenzeit geschehen können und das muss geklärt werden.
Abgesehen davon liegt der Fokus hier auch nicht auf der Weiterentwicklung der Charaktere. Was durch den unpersönlichen Erzählstil ohnehin schon schwierig ist, geht durch die vielen Informationen noch ein bisschen mehr verloren; außerdem lässt sich bei vielen Charakteren nicht mehr erfahren, weil sie zum Großteil gar nicht oder nur sehr selten auftauchen. Die meiste Zeit über begleiten wir dieses Mal sogar Andrew, aber wie ich bereits sagte: Es geht um die Ureinwohner.

Was den Schreibstil angeht, bleibt meine Kritik vom letzten Mal: Eigentlich schreibt Herr Schröder sehr angenehm und lesenswert, das Ganze funktioniert aber nicht in der wörtlichen Rede, für die er seinen Stil kein bisschen abändert. Damals mag man anders gesprochen, aber so? Da müsste man schon drei Besen verschluckt haben, damit das zutrifft.
Bisweilen wirkte der Text auch ein wenig belehrend und oft wurde direkt erklärt, wie ein Verhalten zu interpretieren sei. Allerdings ist das, was mich ein wenig störte, für jüngere Leser vielleicht gar nicht so verkehrt. Zwar muss man auch Kindern nicht vorbeten, was sie zu denken haben, aber ein kleiner Hinweis hier und da kann eigentlich nicht schaden. Sie mögen vielleicht viel und oftmals andere Dinge sehen als Erwachsene – manches bleibt dann aber trotzdem auf der Strecke. Als etwas älterer Leser muss man sich einfach darauf einstellen, dann kann man es auch gut verschmerzen.


Auch der zweite Band der Abby-Lynn-Reihe, „Verschollen in der Wildnis“, von Rainer M. Schröder legt keinen allzu großen Wert auf eine spannende Handlung – auch wenn es durchaus spannende Momente gibt! –, sondern erzählt wieder von Australien, dieses Mal von den Ureinwohnern, die sich mit Vorurteilen, Diskriminierung und Verfolgungen konfrontiert sehen. Sprachlich bleibt das Ganze holprig, wenn es um die wörtliche Rede geht, aber es ist nichts, was man nicht – um der Geschichte willen – verkraften könnte.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

3.5
___________________________

Bobby thought that it could not get any worse. Against her will, she is back in the UK and instead of starting school right away she has to go on a class trip with all those kids she does not know. When they are finally on their way back, the unexpected happens: Bobby’s classmates drop down dead and her teacher comes back as a zombie. For now she barricades herself into the bus with three others: Smitty, the stereotypical rebel, Alice, who definitely earned herself the title “Barbie” and Pete, who is rather shy and the brains of the group. Together they try to find a way to get help, but that is more difficult than they thought. Mr. Taylor is not the only one who returned from the dead …


“Undead” starts instantly. At first, we get to know Bobby, who would like to be anywhere but here, but then she is on the run from zombies. Boredom really is not something you could blame the book for; the characters barely get time to catch their breath. They need to try to find help and if they want to escape the zombies, they need to keep moving. This is what they do, though not always in a way I expected them to.

The thing is: the book is full of stereotypes. It is the traditional horror story with the, pardon my English, annoying chick, the cool guy, the nerd and the uncomplicated heroine. The only one missing was the clown, but you could debate about whether he really does not appear or whether he does.
The story itself is nothing new. In fact, I was surprised when the author started to explain the zombie situation. I really did not expect that and had been willing to accept the apocalypse as it was, without any explanations. On the other hand, without some background information there would be no link to the next book; however, this link is – together with the amusing ending – well established.
After all, there do not have to be many new things to write an entertaining story and that is what Kirsty McKay managed to do. The mix of killing zombies, horror and humour is fun, and I did not expect anything else from this book.

When it comes to the language, it is more a case of “someone tried to sound youthfully casual a little bit too hard”. The book sounds as if Bobby is telling us right now what happened. Might be that I am already too old with my once 20 years of age, but sometimes it was simply too much. Still, most of the time I was not put off and it would not be the first time I was surprised about how some people talk.


“Undead” offers nothing new but solid entertainment with fun and horror. If you are up to blood and gallows humour, you do not make a mistake by reading this book. The youthful style suits the protagonist and makes it sound as if you are told the story instead of reading it, but sometimes it is a little bit too much of effort.

3.5
_________________

Es ist Februar 1804 und die damals vierzehnjährige Abby weiß nicht mehr weiter. Schon seit Wochen plagt ihre Mutter eine Krankheit, die sie einfach nicht abschütteln kann und die sie am Arbeiten hindert. Geld haben sie keines mehr und in den meisten Geschäften bekommen sie auch nichts mehr angeschrieben. Selbst Betteln würde nichts helfen, denn London ist von den Armen und Bedürftigen bevölkert. Als Abby einmal mehr ihre Sachen verkaufen möchte, geschieht jedoch etwas Unerwartetes. Dass junge Taschendiebe die Runde machen und reiche Menschen bestehlen, ist nichts Ungewöhnliches – wohl aber, dass sie auf ihrer Flucht ihre Beute in Abbys Korb fallen lassen, mit dem Versprechen später zu teilen. In Panik versucht auch Abby zu fliehen, wird jedoch geschnappt und für alle Umstehen steht bereits fest, dass sie die Komplizin des Diebes ist. Ohne viel Federlesen wird das junge Mädchen in Newgate untergebracht, einem der schlimmsten Gefängnisse der Stadt. Lange Zeit vergeht, ehe ihr überhaupt der Prozess gemacht wird – und auch dann deutet nichts auf ein gutes Ende für die unschuldig Eingekerkerte hin. Zum Strang wird sie nicht verurteilt, dafür aber zu sieben Jahre Straflager am anderen Ende der Welt, Australien; die meisten überstehen nicht einmal den Weg dorthin.


Es gibt gewisse Details, die beim Lesen sofort auffallen, und dazu gehört der Schreibstil eines Autors selbstverständlich dazu. Im Falle von Rainer M. Schröder ergibt das einen gewissen Zwist, denn einerseits ist sein Buch sehr schnell und leicht zu lesen, so dass es kaum mehr als einen Tag dauerte, ehe ich das Buch ausgelesen hatte. Andererseits wirkt sein Schreibstil sehr steif, wenn es die wörtliche Rede betrifft. Was beim allgemeinen Erzählen der Geschichte gut funktioniert, kann aus dem Munde einer der Charaktere vollkommen unnatürlich klingen und genau das war das Problem, das ich oftmals hatte. Es war nicht so prominent, dass mir das Lesen keinen Spaß mehr gemacht hätte, trotzdem fiel es negativ auf, genauso wie der sehr ausschweifende Gebrauch von Ausrufezeichen und das ständig wiederkehrende „so, …“.
Es ist ein wenig schade drum, denn ansonsten lässt sich das Buch wirklich sehr gut lesen. Ich habe mich über die Zeit auch nicht daran gewöhnen können, aber immerhin konnte ich es akzeptieren – allzu sehr hat er mir den Spaß am Buch schließlich nicht verdorben.

Wer erst einmal bereit ist, diese kleine Hürde zu nehmen, den erwartet in „Abby Lynn: Verbannt ans Ende der Welt“ eine ganze Menge. Denn anstatt sich auf eine kurze Zeitspanne zu beschränken, vergehen im Buch ganze vier Jahre, was für wenig mehr als 300 Seiten eine beachtliche Zahl ist.
Wenn man sich die Widmung des zweiten Bandes ansieht, so scheint es, als sollte es zunächst keine Fortsetzung geben, worauf auch das Nachwort des erstem Buches schließen lässt, in dem der geschichtliche Abriss zu einem Ende gebracht und kleine, offen gebliebene Fragen geklärt werden.
Das Buch beschäftigt sich nämlich nur zum Teil mit dem Mädchen – und später der junge Frau – Abby Lynn. Sie ist der Hauptcharakter des Buches, muss sich diesen Platz aber auch mit Australien und dem Leben in der damaligen Kolonie teilen.
Die Darstellung der Ereignisse ist oftmals sehr gerafft. Immer wieder gehen wir die anfänglichen Schritte mit, alles andere wird nach einem Sprung im Nachhinein erklärt. So erleben wir Abbys Festnahme und ihre anfängliche Einkerkerung, bis plötzlich Monate vergangen sind und ihr der Prozess gemacht wird. Gleiches gilt für den anfänglichen Weg nach Australien, dann aber sind wir angekommen. Nach diesem Schema funktioniert das ganze Buch. Es gibt keinen wirklichen Höhepunkt oder ein Ziel, auf das hingearbeitet wird, stattdessen erhalten wir einen umfassenden Eindruck, der sowohl das Leben eines Sträflings im 19. Jahrhundert betrifft als auch das der Farmer und Australien an sich.

Wie man sich vorstellen kann, ist das Buch nicht unbedingt durch rasante Action und Spannung im Übermaß gekennzeichnet, langweilig ist es deswegen aber noch lange nicht. Wer sich schon länger mit dem Land oder den Menschen dieser Zeitperiode beschäftigt, erfährt hier freilich nichts Neues. Für alle anderen, vor allem junge Leser, dürfte es eine interessante Lektüre sein, die all das ein wenig näher bringt.
Außerdem lernen wir Abby gut genug kennen, um zu merken, dass sie ein sympathisches Mädchen ist, das stets Gutes im Sinn hat und bereit ist, das Beste aus der Situation zu machen. Jammern liegt ihr nicht, stattdessen tut sie, was nötig ist und früher oder später wünscht sich wohl jeder, dass sie endlich ihr Glück findet.
Andere Charaktere lernen wir nicht so gut kennen, aber Ansätze sind da und da es sich letztlich doch um eine Reihe handelt, kann man sich damit vorerst auch zufrieden geben. Denn auch diese Charaktere zeigen zum Teil, dass sie sich ändern und eine Entwicklung durchmachen können. Das Potential ist da und reicht vollkommen aus, um trotz der an sich abgeschlossenen Handlung Interesse am nächsten Buch zu wecken.


„Abby Lynn: Verbannt ans Ende der Welt“ ist das erste Buch einer vierbändigen Reihe, das besonders auf diesem Gebiet unerfahrenen Lesern einen umfassenden Eindruck über Australien und das Leben dort verschafft. Wer daran Interesse hat und nicht allzu sehr auf Spannung aus ist, soll getrost zu diesem Buch greifen und muss nur über die bisweilen steif wirkende wörtliche Rede hinweg sehen. Einen Blick ist das Buch trotzdem definitiv wert.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.
___________________________

Evie O’Neill lives in America in the 1920ies and next to having her very own mind she makes her life much more difficult by using her special powers when she really should not do that. When she touches an object – and this object played a significant role in its owner’s life – she can see that person’s past. It is quite practical but nothing to gloat with on a party – which is exactly what Evie is doing. After being involved in a minor scandal because of that, she is sent to New York to live with her uncle Will. That does not really look like a punishment, does it?
At first, it really is not and Evie enjoys herself together with her friend Mabel. Then, however, a girl is found dead; it appears to be a ritual murder. The police look for her uncle’s advice and Evie gets entangled in the investigations as well. While they are trying to find the murderer, it also gets clear that the Diviners’ time has come – the time of people with very special abilities. People like Evie.


Oh, Evie O’Neill! She does not only lay up trouble for herself but probably puts also some readers on the spot – at least she did so with me. It is not exactly a love-hate relationship but it goes into that direction. On the one hand, Evie is a very funny character who will not let things get boring; on the other hand, this is what nagged me. If I were Mabel and Evie my friend, I would have shouted at her by now, especially when she acts as if her own lifestyle is the only sensible one.
But this is what makes her authentic – who is perfect and loved and liked by everybody?
It is the same with the other characters, though we do not get to know them as well as the 17-year-old whirlwind. Evie is the main characters, so there are only a few chapters left for Memphis, Mabel, Theta, Sam and Jericho, but they offer a nice insight. Plus, it is obvious that there is more to come.

I really liked how each chapter added a layer to the already formed picture. In many books something is going on, but it usually concerns only the plot (if anything at all); here, we constantly get new information about what is going on, about the characters and their past, creating a new picture all over again.
“The Diviners” might be an introduction to the “big plot”, but we get enough information in order to not be frustrated after reading. On the contrary: my curiosity is excited.

When it comes to the murders, “The Diviners” is an independent – and partly very mean – story with hints towards the next book. We get to know who did it and still want to know what is going to come next. Who and what exactly are the Diviners, and what is their purpose? How do some of the other characters fit in here? Hopefully, the second book will answer those questions.
I also do hope that some developments will seem more logical then. This might be a partly fantastic story, but some details still did not seem to fit. However, it is not all over yet and if it gets explained properly, I am the last one to complain.

Linguistically, it sounds like the time it is set in – at least that was my impression. I am not an expert of American English, never mind the English of the 20ies. Others know more about that and if you care a lot about whether the language is authentic, you better ask them. If you do not care that much about it and are content when it feels right, then rest assured: it does. The vocabulary and expressions did not remind me of today which might cause inexperienced readers of English some problems – I am convinced that you will get used to it quickly, though. In the end, the language does a lot to bring alive the atmosphere of the “Roaring Twenties”.


“The Diviners” by Libby Bray is a good book. While the protagonist Evie makes herself and the reader sweat, other interesting characters wait in the background and make the next book seem even more promising. You do not have to be afraid of a cliffhanger as the book has a closed ending, even though not every question is answered – some information is left for the next instalment. The language is convincing as well, so if you are someone frightened by the amount of pages: do not be, reading “The Diviners” is worth it.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

3.5
___________________________

Seraphina lives at Goredd’s court where she helps the composer and sometimes takes part in the playing herself. If it was for her father, she would stay hidden at home, but Seraphina needs her freedom despite her secret no one must ever know of. So far she did well, but that changes when the prince is found dead with his head severed from his body – it is the dragon way to kill.
It is a huge scandal as an unsteady peace was made years ago that forbids dragons to change into their true form, but is also supposed to shield them from human attacks. It is a peace that helps both sides, which many have forgotten. Now a search for the murderer starts, in which the prince’s nephew – Lucian Kiggs – participates. Even Seraphina is included because of her knowledge and it becomes very difficult for her to keep her secret – especially since she comes to some realizations that give many things a whole new meaning.


“Seraphina” is a book where I am not sure whether to love it or not. There are a lot of arguments for and against it, and in the end it is always a “yes, but” – I do hope the next book will be more on the positive side.

Let us start with the obvious: the dragons. Scaled creatures will always have a special place in my heart, and of course I am counting dragons in even though I have read surprisingly few books with them. Be it as it may, I like dragons and if they are not only the winged but lovely flame-throwers, I am a happy reader. Rachel Hartman made more of them and gave them a mathematical nature that is always concerned about logic which pleased me as a participant of advanced courses in maths in school (though not a very successful one) very much. Even if you do not like maths, do not worry: when dragons want to interact with humans, they have to change their shape – or the humans speak Mootya, the dragon language, which is highly unlikely. In their human bodies they are confronted with quite a lot of things, such as emotions, which are, strictly speaking, forbidden for them. If they get too involved with their emotions, they have to endure a process that erases their memory of them and everybody involved.
It is a harsh system that is put under close observation. As much as I liked the little misunderstandings and bickerings resulting from the dragons’ different nature, neither they nor the humans are the good ones here.

The book’s second strength is the characters. I admit that I did not feel as much with Seraphina as I hoped, but that is mainly because I do not feel that much for music – she does. I might like it, for her it is nearly everything.
There are other characters, though, that might not be perfect but lovable. It starts with the young princess Glisselda who is still highly influenced by others, and goes on with Captain Kiggs, Seraphina’s dragon teacher Orma (who deserves the most applause) and Lars as well as others who only meet Seraphina in this book. There are various personalities and fates and I do hope we will get to know more about them in the next book. After all, there is still much to learn.

Even the language convinced me. The setting includes swords, old-fashioned habits and the slowly ongoing technological development, and that is what the language sounds like. (Or, in this case, the German translation; I am sure it accounts for the original as well.) The translation sounded slightly stiff every now and then, but it usually suited the situation and it was rather rare that it did not.
So, why can I not be completely enthusiastic about this book? So far, it has everything to be at least good.

Well, mainly I was missing some suspense. The murder and its investigation were probably supposed to create that, but that does not really work if you barely offer any hints toward the culprit. For a long time the story is rather drawn, and even if I never felt bored, there has always been something missing.
The ending consoled me a little bit again; there, even action lovers like me can enjoy themselves.

If it were not for the rushed looking love thing, I might have been content. Of course there is a romance, which is not a bad thing in itself. At the beginning, it is not even very dominant but hides in quickly dismissed thoughts so the reader can be looking forward to what is coming. The realization, that it is truly love what they feel, came too quickly, though, and is not really based on anything. It is simply too strong for the beginning of their relationship. Maybe I am too strict as this is something I am complaining about a lot. But there is a difference between loving and being in love, and most of the times it is not acknowledged. However, there is not much to be said against any other development of that part of the story, so it is only a minor niggle.


“Seraphina” has both its positive and negative aspects. While the plot is a little bit drawn and the word “love” is mentioned too early, it is convincing with its different and likable characters. Also, the dragons we get to know here are responsible for some very entertaining reading hours. We will see how the author will continue her story – I will definitely have a look.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.
___________________________

Words are powerful and some books are so dangerous they should never be read. The Dancing Jacks’ is such a book, but so far nobody knows that. When it is put into circulation few are interested and nobody realizes how much it changes its readers: they start to manically rock back and forth while reading, express themselves in an odd way and act illogically, but those are only the most prominent symptoms. People start to believe they are characters of the book, that the reality they live in is only a dream. Not many can resist the book, and those who can are persecuted and persuaded with violence of the “truth”.
Time is getting short in order to do something against those developments, but rarely anybody sees them or takes them seriously. Young Paul is one of those who realize what is going on, but who is supposed to give credit to a child that is telling such a fantastic story?


“Dancing Jax” is a book that wants much and achieves only some of it. To name the positive things first: there are some passages important issues are addressed in, often only in a subordinate clause or a short remark – which is the good thing about it. The author is not trying to lecture you but offers thoughts that might lead to other ideas. It is up to you.
Furthermore, the book has kind of a negative presence. You will often find passages that hint towards a coming disaster; in addition, “Dancing Jax” will not give you many reasons to laugh but even starts with a scene even I found hard to stomach. The situation simply was too perfidiously planned and extremely cruel in its consequences.

The book within the book seems to be interesting at first, too, but that is all that can be said about it. Each chapter starts with a little excerpt which is very confusing at the beginning; later, when you found your way into the story, you have already forgotten all the details. This leaves us with the later excerpts and those included in the main text – those are not many, though.

A big problem of the book is that there are too many characters who get introduced but whom we do not get to know properly. There is never any depth even though the potential is there, I guess. I never felt as if those were stereotypes; however, I was never really interested in them either.
This is why there is no balance to the parts you will find rather boring because you do not care about the narrators at all.

To make matters worse, the plot never really thickens. What we get is an introduction; the main problem is established very thoroughly, unfortunately. The author does not alter his approach to that: it is always the same when people get lured into the book’s world, some show resistance but give way in the end all the same. When this pattern is repeated for the third or fourth time, you cannot even pretend to be surprised any longer. And it gets really boring, of course.

In the end, barely any interest in the future events is left, so I do not feel the need to continue reading this series. It is a pity if you think of how thrilling this book could have been if Robin Jarvis had concentrated on the progress of the story instead of the numerous characters.


It has been a good idea and an unsatisfying realization: too many characters and an uneventful story that keeps repeating itself often take all the joy of reading “Dancing Jax”. I am sorry for the good moments this books had; all in all, this is not a terrible book but it left me utterly unimpressed.

Is it just me or does it sound as if it's set in the same world as "For Darkness Shows the Stars"?

EDIT: as she writes here:

Is this book a companion to For Darkness Shows the Stars?

Yes! It’s set in the same world as FDSTS (after the Earth was devastated by the Reduction and the wars of the Reduction), and in the same time period as FDSTS (a few generations after healthy children start being born to the Reduced). However… Star-Swept takes place in a different land called New Pacifica, where society responded very differently than the Luddites of FDSTS to the Reduction and the wars. (And you find out int eh book how and why, and why their history was thus remarkably different.) As you may have guessed from the description, they aren’t anti-technology at all.

Are Kai and Elliot in this book?

Spoilers! But I will say that you will recognize some of the characters in Star-Swept. If you’re familiar with Kristin Cashore’s books Graceling and Fire, it’s kind of like that. This book is set in a different society, with different main characters, but you will meet some familiar faces along the way.

Die deutsche Rezension findet ihr hier.

4.5
___________________________

Imriel nó Montrève de la Courcel is a boy with many roots. He is Melisande Shahrizai’s biological son, but had lived for ten years as a shepherd, believing he was an orphan. Then he had become a slave who had to endure torture and sexual abuse until Phèdre nó Delauney de Montrève liberated him – and adopted him together with her partner, Joscelin Verreuil. At the same time, he is the Queen’s cousin and therefore a possible heir to the throne, which is regarded suspiciously by many; his mother is the greatest traitor the country has ever seen after all. It is a difficult environment to grow up in, made even worse by his experiences as a slave and the origin of his family. The Shahrizai are direct descendants of Kushiel, the God who punished and loved all the same. How can Imriel desire what once tormented him?
The boy still has to learn that it is not the same, just as there are many things he does not know of yet. And this is his story.


Long, way too long I have waited to read the next book in the Kushiel series. I have been blown away by the first three books, and they have been the first heavy tomes, besides some Potter books, to enter my book shelves. However, this had been Phèdre’s story, which I had been reading in German. How would I cope with Imriel, who had only appeared in the third book and had been a child? Would I even understand the English? My former plan to reread the first trilogy in English first was never put into action, but with the years I assembled all the other books of the series on my shelf. Now that I owned all of the author’s books it was about time to change something. Project Imriel was started and what shall I say? I am delighted.

Imriel is not Phèdre. They are different characters with a different past, different strengths and weaknesses; their biggest common ground is their love for each other and the connection to Kushiel, though they deal with the latter differently. Still, this first book of a new trilogy resembles the other one to some extent – the book takes its time. We do not directly start with the main plot, but take a lot of time to rediscover the known characters and especially to get to know Imriel und to follow his development. He went through a lot, so there is much that needs to be learnt and understood – that is true for us as well as for him.
If you think this might become boring, then you are mistaken. Jacqueline Carey takes us to her version of an Europe of the Renaissance with all its wonderful and not-so-wonderful characters you either love or hate, you suffer with, you take to your heart, and who you will curse so badly it will surprise you how mean you can become. This book is full of emotions even though there is not much going on, so it cannot possibly get boring. Instead, with every page I read I fell more and more in love (again) with the author, her creativity, her world, and remembered rather sadly that “Kushiel’s Scion” does “not even” have one thousand pages.

Still, you do not have to do entirely without suspense, and the last third is full of it. Did somebody ever tell authors that it is difficult to read when you constantly have tears in your eyes? Well, if so, Jacqueline Carey has not been present, because what she does here almost cruelly tugs on your heartstrings. It is no wonder – the characters, as well as the reader, are easy targets. Why? Now, this book is so full of love. Romantic love, true friendship, forbidden love, unrequited love, the love of a mother, of a father, of someone close … “Love as thou wilt” is the motto the D’Angelines follow and that is what the book represents.

As if I would not already be utterly in love with the book, it is also beautifully written. Beautifully as in “stunning” and “moving”. The sentence “when all is said and done” might be mentioned a little bit too often, but Jacqueline Carey is still an artist of words. Especially sex scenes often get vulgar, but not so here. There are many scenes like that, but she always manages to show the … well, what? Holiness? Sex is a way for the D’Angelines to show their love and nothing else, which is why it is sacred. Whether it happens because of lust or sympathy or worry or anything else, it happens to bring joy to each other, to help and heal, to worship the gods of their country. It is almost a heavenly concept that works in this world and if you read about it, you cannot not understand it. Nothing here is vulgar or clumsy, but like the rest of the book: beautiful.


I have to take away half a star, because the story drags a little bit at the beginning as we get to know Imriel and everything else (again). After that, there is nothing I can criticize. If you are looking for an atmospheric and slightly erotic fantasy novel that can sweep you away even without much suspense, then “Kushiel’s Scion” is the book you should read.