Review of Zoo City by Lauren Beukes

It was a brisk autumn afternoon in the grungy backstreets of Johannesburg.  Moving in fits and starts, a draft manuscript of Charles Stross’ latest Laundry Files novel danced along the pavement, buffeted by the wind.  The margins full of notes, he was undecided how heavy to lay on the tech and magic. Should I go all out, from www brain implants to wizards, or keep things relaxed, just a little social media and a touch of voodoo?  At the same time and place, Philip Pullman, pique on his tongue and time to kill, was looking for a place to relax into a pint or two.  But just as he spied a promising pub, the draft manuscript whipped up and slapped him in the face.  Peeling the papers away and holding them at arm’s length, he entered and sat down, ordered a glass of bitter, and took a look at what fate had sent his way.  Immediately intrigued, he didn’t notice when the beer arrived.  So absorbed, in fact, he began scribbling his own notes—character needs animal familiar,a strong, toothy one—but which? Crocodile? Alligator?... And this one? Mongoose?  Sloth?  Pullman so deep in concentration, it took the man sitting at a nearby table several tries to get his attention.  “Hi, my name is Bill Gibson.  Looks like you’ve got some run ons, hanging clauses, and more than a few over-indulgent metaphors there.  Let me see if I can’t help you tighten up that story a little—give it an edge you can cut with, you know?” The rest, as they say, is Lauren Beukes’ 2010 Zoo City.

The above introduction would seem to render Zoo City imitative rather than original. That was only half the intention.  By setting her story in a fully realized, near-future version of Johannesburg, giving her main characters singular voices, and having her own thematic aims, Beukes transforms the tropes and styles of Stross, Pullman, and Gibson into a combination of her own making.  The influences are readily apparent, but the creation is of its own design—at least mostly. 

Review of Redwall by Brian Jacques

For those who have not discovered Brian Jacques delightful and exciting Redwall series, you’re in for a real treat. Though aimed at the young (I first enjoyed the first book at age eleven), it can easily be enjoyed by adults as long as its intentions are understood (I read it this year, and though the experience was not the same, I still enjoyed it).  A combination of animal and heroic fantasy, Jacques transforms the meadowlands and forest into an epic landscape where mice, badgers, shrews, moles, hares, foxes, stoats, and all variety of woodland creatures live in pastoral harmony, fighting for survival when evil looms.  The series now standing at twenty-two books in total, the first, entitled Redwall, was published in 1986 and is the subject of this review.

Redwall Abbey is a brick structure standing in the middle of Mossflower Wood.  A place of safety and tranquility, woodland creatures come and go, meet with friends, receive medical attention, or just enjoy a good meal with the brothers and sisters safe behind its high walls.  (Thankfully, there is no religion at Redwall Abbey despite the setting.)  All is well in the Summer of the Late Rose until Cluny the Scourge, a bilge rat, comes careening up the road in a cart laden with rough-cut mercenaries and an eye to making the Abbey his new home.  Father Mortimer unwilling to simply hand over the keys, the normally bucolic Abbey finds itself in a fight for its life against the treacherous villain.

Review of Watership Down by Richard Adams

Among the first, and still one of the most influential, Richard Adams’ delightful 1972 Watership Down is a highly original work of animal fantasy.  Charmingly and savagely bringing to life a rabbit’s world, the novel is one of the top sellers of all time, and winner of several awards.  Eminently enjoyable by the young and old, Adams struck imaginative gold with his heroic tale of Sandleford warren and their quest to establish a new home.

Watership Down begins with Fiver, a rabbit who has a vision of his home warren being destroyed in a terrible catastrophe.  Only able to convince a few of his friends of the impending doom, Fiver, along with Hazel, Bigwig, Blackberry, Dandelion and others, escape just in the nick of time.  Homeless, the group need to find a warren where they can live in peace once again.  But finding a new home proves more than difficult.  Their quest taking them to a variety of places in the English countryside, the band of survivors must always be on alert; not all evils are of the black and white variety.  Dangers appear on all sides—traps, foxes, impassable waterways, and other rabbits, making the start of a new warren a harrowing experience they may not survive.

Review of "Life of Pi" by Yann Martell

Not trapped in a zoo, not trapped in a building, not trapped in a cage, but trapped on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger at sea.  How long would you survive?  Would you be able to overcome your fear and try to assuage the situation?  Would the absurdity begin to make you think it all a dream?  Yann Martel’s 2001 novel Life of Pi is such a story.  Playing with itself intra-textually, Martel’s story raises more questions than it answers, in the process telling a tale of survival at sea like has never been told. 

Piscine Molitor Patel, more happily called Pi, is a young boy growing up in Pondicherry, India.  His parents own a zoo, a facet of life that gives pleasure to an existence that is otherwise filled with taunts about his name.  Deciding to move to Canada to better their prospects, one day Pi’s parents pack the animals in a freighter and head out to sea.  They never arrive on Western shores, however. The ship capsizing, Pi is left afloat with only himself, a lifeboat, and a few animals—a hyena, orangutan, zebra, and Bengal tiger included. His adventure has only begun.

Review of "The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents" by Terry Pratchett

Given the light-hearted yet poignant nature of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, it is surprising to learn that only one of the XX books is YA oriented.  (I write “XX” because the number seemingly increases every few months, at last count at thirty-nine.)  The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents that book, it should not be surprising to learn that it can readily be enjoyed by adults, as well.  

Playing with the legend of the Pied Piper, The Amazing Maurice is the story of Maurice the cat, his band of talking rats, and the teenager Keith whom with they travel city to city.  Running a scam, the preening, egotistical Maurice works as a middle man for Keith and the rats, the former earning money by playing the pipe to eliminate the rats who have made themselves a nuisance under Maurice’s guidance, the group sharing in the spoils.