Book Review: “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children”

by Ransom Riggs.

Okay, let me start with my conclusion. Based on the book's cover and the excerpt, I was expecting a scary story with creepy characters. It is not. And that was a little disappointing. However, once I was past that, it was still a good fantasy tale.

His grandfather's tales of his childhood and a collection of old photographs, take 16-year-old Jacob to a large abandoned orphanage in Wales. Jacob barely steps into a world out of time, before he is introduced to a group of "children" with very unusual talents, and faced with the very unearthly threat of soul-sucking hollowgasts. Armed with a newly discovered "peculiar" power of his own, and supported by a range of talents from making fire, to floating, to invisibility, Jacob embarks on a great rescue mission.

I thought that the concept of the time loop was fantastic, and I really liked the unique characters that make up this tale. (Although I really cannot say I was enamoured by Jacob and Emma's relationship; regardless of what she looks like, she is around 100 years old, and she did have a relationship with his grandfather).

One last observation; I think if the characters were closer to 9-10 years of age, it would have made more sense - within the world and outside: both the children's actions and the narrative style seem to point to a younger cast and a younger audience.

Still, overall, an enjoyable story.

Rashmi bookmarks “The Night Eternal” (Book 3: The Strain Trilogy)

by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

This final book of The Strain trilogy is set in a world where the Master has successfully created a nuclear winter, and most humans - what little is left of them - live as slaves to the vampires.

While Fet and Gus continue to be the heroes of this story, this book also prominently features the fascinating life of Mr. Quinlan. Through interludes describing his fascinating history dating back to 40 AD, and narratives revealing his true purpose in life, it is now that we really get to know him. Eph - who I really wasn't that impressed by, even though he is clearly positioned as the main protagonist of this tale - does finally redeem himself in the final moments of this fight. Nora goes from somewhat useless to excessively annoying. And why Zach is the "chosen one" is never explained ... there is a weak 1-sentence attempt at an explanation, but that may have made it worse than just leaving it as an illogical plot point. Oh, and whatever happened to the Space Station that we very, very briefly visited some time back? Like the character of Phade, that was a good idea that went nowhere.

Generally speaking, while the first book was really good, and the second more of a placeholder, overall, I have mixed feelings about this final book. I liked the fast-paced action and the broad scope of the story that takes us to so many different areas where different people are seen to cope with this calamity in different ways. What I really did not like at all, was the concluding narrative where the authors walk us through the Bible and talk about God, and Sodom and Gomorrah, and what happened to Ozryel, and how Gabriel and Michael eventually return him to Heaven... The Strain had started on a scientific premise, basing vampirism on a hitherto undiscovered virus. How that became a story about god and the angels and heaven and hell, defies all explanation and good storytelling.

Still, overall, an interesting read - with some of the more interesting characters I have read about. For ultimately this is a story driven mainly by characters. The heroism of Abraham Setrakian, the villainy of Eldritch Palmer, the bravery of Augustin Elizalde, the loyalty of Vasiliy Fet, the unique story of Gabriel Bolivar, the fascinating saga of Mr. Quinlan ... it is their acts of bravery and their moments of cowardice, that ultimately creates this world of The Strain.

Rashmi bookmarks “The Fall” (Book 2: The Strain Trilogy)

by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Things slow down considerably in this second novel in The Strain Trilogy. Where discovery of a new threat and its gradual takeover of the world is a natural foundation of storytelling, repetition of the same events and situations in a second book just makes it boring.

Regardless, the characters that had been established as the key players in this war against deadly vampires, continue to shine in this book. Setrakian's quest for the Occido Lumen, an ancient book that contains the secret for defeating the vampires and Fet, whose common sense, street smarts and bravery make him a perfect ally for any mission, were my two favourites in this book too. Gus, recruited as the vampire's "day hunter" forms a team comprising such memorable characters as Silver Angel. The luchador whose glory days are far behind him, has one of the more heroic and memorable moments in this tale. Even Eph appears to be set to take on a more active role in the coming days.

While the majority of this book was rather slow, the final scenes - including the ride in the Amtrak train and the confrontation between Setrakian and the Master in the nuclear power plant - were brilliant. Fast-paced and exciting, they changed events around quite a bit, and paved the way for an exciting final installment.

Rashmi bookmarks “The Strain”

by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.

Starting with the legend of Jusef Sardu, the Polish nobleman who suffered from gigantism and met with some mysterious fate in Romania, this first installment in The Strain Trilogy tells the story of the horror that crosses continents in its terrifying mission to rule the world.

From the moment the dead airplane arrives at JFK International Airport right after an occultation, and all but 4 passengers are found inexplicably dead, the tension in the creepy atmosphere grips you and never lets go. Truly there are moments when the very air stops, yet the darkness keeps moving.

Led by Dr. Ephraim "Eph" Goodweather, a Director at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and with the discovery of a mysterious box in cargo, the theory of a deadly virus is considered. And as the Strigoi slowly takes over, we see the beginnings of the slow eradication of humankind, as handfuls and then large groups of people fall victim to a yet unheard of "disease".

As far as characters are concerned, of course the hero of this tale is Holocaust survivor Abraham Setrakian. Working at a nondescript pawnshop, we are slowly introduced to his life, his history and his ultimate mission. It is through him that we learn about the 7 Ancients, and the one rebel among them - the Master. And it is his decades of knowledge that puts together a plan that has any hopes of victory, and a group that has any hope of carrying his crusade through to its end.

Greatest in this group is exterminator Vasily Fet. Called in to inspect a rat attack in an upscale home, it is Fet who carries out his own inspection, and it is Fet who tracks down Eph and proves to be a fantastic asset as he transforms his knowledge of vermin living in the dark to this fight against the vampires.

Surprisingly, even though the author clearly positions Eph as the protagonist - we do follow him around right from the beginning - he was really not a very impressive person. An ordinary human at best, and a cliched divorcé at worst, his story was too insipid for him to be the hero of a vampire novel.

The sinister tone that was set up in that tiny kitchen where a grandmother told her grandson the story of the monster that goes pic.. pic.. pic... never lets up. Six foot stingers that zap out of the mouth and drain human blood while white parasitic worms take over the corpse and turn it into a vampire that will continue the cycle... This is not a story about your average pretty boy vampire from Twilight. Harking back to the concept of the vampire as created by Bram Stoker, this is true terror.

Rashmi bookmarks “Dying of the Light”

by George R. R. Martin.

Set on the rogue planet of Worlorn, this is a tale of a planet moving in Space towards its inevitable death, of planetary cultures that came together for a brief time, only to then drift towards their eventual annihilation.

As awesome as the setting of this story was, unfortunately far too much time was spent on the personal relationships of a few characters - which immediately loses me as a reader who really has limited patience for love stories in science fiction!

Here lies endless Space. Here spins the brilliant Wheel of Fire. Here is a planet that is being pulled closer towards a cold and dark region of space where no life can ever again survive. Here is a world built with the express purpose of celebrating the cultures of 14 different planetary systems. Here lie stones with the power to retain memories and relay messages. Here are cities where everything from taxi service to acquiring citizenship is fully automated ...

Yet, here we are, for the most part, pondering over the break-up of (the very weak) Dirk t'Larien and (the very annoying) Gwen Delvano. Actually I found the "secondary" characters way more interesting than the main protagonists - they had a richer story to tell, with their unique culture and code of behaviour.

Still, for a first novel, Martin certainly created an undoubtedly fascinating world.

Rashmi bookmarks “The Confession”

by John Grisham.

1998. An abduction of a high school cheerleader. A black boy who happens to be in the same school. Oh, and this is a small town in Texas.

After spending nine years in prison, wrongly convicted for a crime he had nothing to do with, Donté Drumm is just days away from his execution, when serial rapist Travis Boyette comes forward and confesses to the crime. Set against the backdrop of a rotting legal and judicial system, this story is a mad race against time as a few good people, led by advocate Robbie Flak, frantically attempt to set matters right.

The story - desperately heartbreaking at times, wonderfully victorious at others - was beautiful. A fast-paced narrative added that element of swift page-turning that a story like this demanded. Adding to this were some truly memorable characters; the dramatic Reeva Pike, whose greatest desire appears to turn her tragedy into popular reality television; Keith Schroeder, the Lutheran pastor, whose desire to be good and do good is put to the ultimate test the day a criminal shows up on his doorstep confessing to a rape and murder that someone else is on death row for; and of course lawyer Robbie Flak who faces perhaps the greatest trial of his life as he fights for justice in a town steeped in bias and injustice.

A great story that left me alternately happy, angry, and very sad.

Rashmi bookmarks “Neverwhere”

by Neil Gaiman.

Away from his home and family in Scotland, Richard Mayhew is trying to make a life for himself in London. Other than a dull job and an overbearing girlfriend, London has not granted him any of the fantastic dreams he had hoped to realize. Enter Door. In saving a severely injured young girl who appears out of nowhere, Richard is sent on a mission to find the Marquis de Carabas, the only man who can help Door. And just like that, along with him, we fall through the cracks of this world and enter the unbelievable world of London Below.

With “Neverwhere”, Neil Gaiman sets us off on a magical quest for life in an underground land of death, disease, murder, mayhem, and all things truly, truly fantastical. We deal with Rat-Speakers. We make our way through the terrifying Night's Bridge. We meet the legendary Hunter. We appear at the bizarre Earl's Court. We take vampires for guides. We test our mettle at ordeals set by Black Friars. We visit the unique Floating Market. We are visited by an Angel ... And in all this, we are constantly running away from the horrific duo of paid assassins, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar.

An overwhelmed Richard wants to get back to his ordinary boring life; Door is on a mission to find out why her family was murdered; Hunter wants to kill the Great Beast of London. Gaiman adds to his usual world of fantasy, a touch of the mysterious, as the tale weaves in and out of the labyrinthine underbelly of London, through several twists and turns and surprise revelations, as varied characters with vastly different goals join forces in that weird underground world.

“He had gone beyond the world of metaphor and simile, into the place of things that are...” Richard Mayhew's speechless reaction upon first discovering London Below is precisely my reaction - each and every time - to the wonderful world of Neil Gaiman.