Ryu Murakami, From the Fatherland, With Love

I think I stumbled upon From the Fatherland, With Love during a search for speculative fiction. It instantly appealed as it is set in Japan and North Korea and the initial premise sounded both promising and believable.

The Plot: Japan's economy is devastated, there is mass unemployment and people are living in makeshift camps in public parks. Young men who have been in either the perpetrators or victims of violent crimes congregate in abandoned warehouses in Kyushu. They posses a unique set of skills, some are expert bomb makers, one can decapitate animals with custom built boomerangs, another boy breeds poisonous insects and frogs. Japan teeters on the edge of complete lawlessness, and North Korea seeks to take advantage. A small team of North Korean forces invades the city of Fukuoka, if they are successful  a further 120,000 troops will follow.

Rating: ««¶¶¶ (2.5/5)

For my review see under the jump:-

Dave Eggers, The Circle

I'm not that fussed about Dave Eggers, I know some people absolutely love his books, but before The Circle I'd only read What is the What and I wasn't blown away. After reading The Circle my position hasn't really changed.

The Plot: Newly graduated and ambitious, Mae is determined to rise through the ranks when she joins mega-corporation The Circle. By linking users personal emails, social media and finances together, The Circle has heralded a new age of internet transparency, people can no longer hide anonymously behind a screen, troll or catfish without consequences. However this new accountability begins to threaten privacy and liberty.

Rating: «««¶¶ (3/5)

Full review under the cut *warning may contain spoilers*

Liz Jensen, The Uninvited

I'm holding The Uninvited partially responsible for the reason why I woke up screaming a couple of nights ago. I can't fully recall my dream, but this novel about murderous children is pretty freaky, so I'm pretty sure it's in part to blame.

The Plot: It is Hesketh's job to look for patterns and make connections, so when acts of industrial sabotage and child violence because a worldwide pandemic, it is up to him to determine the cause.  

Rating: ««¶¶¶ (2/5)

Full review under the jump *spoilers warning*:

Patrick Ness, Chaos Walking Trilogy

After finally convincing my mum to read The Hunger Games (which she loved by the way) I fancied reading some YA fiction of my own. I spotted the first of Patrick Ness' Chaos Walking Trilogy for a mere pound on Amazon kindle, which I quickly devoured, before scooting off the the local library to pick up the other two.   

The Plot: A month away before becoming 13 and officially a man, Todd is the youngest resident of Prentisstown - a town in which all the women are dead, and the men are plagued by Noise, a telepathic disease which means no thoughts are private. When Todd stumbles upon a silence in the Noise, his discovery has far-reaching consequence which threaten the survival of the entire planet.

Rather than reviewing the books separately, I'm going to lump them all together, so I'm going to put spoilers under the cut. However, in brief, if your perhaps looking for a book for adolescents/teenagers Chaos Walking is not a bad idea. In my opinion, it lacks the brilliance of  His Dark Materials or The Hunger Games, and isn't as a successful as them for YA/adult crossover, it's not without merit though. The initial premiss, pioneers to a new world and the complication of Noise, is clever and imaginative. My main gripe is with the main protagonist Todd, but like I said spoilers under the cut:-