Russian Thriller Filled with Complex Characters

Brent Ghelfi writes thrillers set in modern-day Russia. They are hyper-violent, in-your-face, complicated tales set against a massive political power that is still finding its legs after the fall of communism. And Brent knows what he's talking about. At a recent publisher's lunch, Brent regaled the visiting authors with tales of post-communist Russia and the political players there that you just know will one day end up in his series about Volk, a former Chechen soldier, now a hardened, ruthless agent for The General.

I'm not a fan of thrillers generally, but I do appreciate good writing and intricate plots, and Volk's Game, the first in Ghelfi's series, has both of those. He's also created some pretty complex characters, which is always appreciated. Volk could almost be a caricature, but his twisted and horrific past, and his carefully hidden compassion provide him depth and empathy, even when he's torturing those who would hurt him and his loved ones. It's with Volk's beloved Valya that Ghelfi really scored. Barely into her twenties, Valya was also a victim of the Chechen skirmishes, including rape, beatings, torture, and ultimately a forging into the lithe, beautiful and deadly assassin that she has become. She and Volk are quite a pair, but it's not an easy or natural pairing, and given the intrigues they face there are a plethora of obstacles in their way. I suspect that one day Ghelfi will focus a book on Valya, and that will be one I want to read.

In the opening pages of Volk's Game, Volk is asked what he knows about art, and the answer is not much. By the end of the novel, Volk knows a great deal more, and he's lost a lot because of it. It's a powerful story, and even though I was getting impatient with all of the reversals and intrigues about three-quarters of the way through, I can tell a good thriller when I read one.

Francine Prose's Goldengrove a powerful coming-of-age tale

Francine Prose's forthcoming novel Goldengrove, coming out in September, is a poignant coming-of-age tale about a thirteen-year-old girl whose family endures a terrible tragedy, and the summer they spend they almost unravel. Nico's family lives in Upstate New York on the shores of an idyllic lake. Her older sister Margaret is the star of the family, with a lovely voice and a possible career as a singer in her future. She is poised and beautiful, with the adoration of everyone, including her younger sister Nico. The two watch old movies, imitating the actors, and sharing secrets. Aaron, Margaret's artist boyfriend, is not accepted by her parents, so Nico covers for her older sister so the two can be together.

As tragedy strikes at the beginning of the summer, Nico finds herself drowning in misery, unable to pull herself out of it, and she is not alone. Prose skillfully shows how the entire family copes with grief all the while keeping the focus sharply on Nico. With a few neat nods to old movies, particularly one Hitchcock film, Goldengrove is a wonderful read that is both literary and readable.

Neil Gaiman's THE GRAVEYARD BOOK is another winner

The Graveyard Book is Neil Gaiman's latest work for children coming out in September. Now I don't remember what it was like to be 10 or 11, but his man in his forties loved this novel. No one writes books with appeal to all ages as well as Neil Gaiman. Borrowing a concept from Kipling's The Jungle Book, which tells the story of an orphan raised in the jungle, The Graveyard Book features a toddler who wanders out of the house and into the graveyard after his family is brutally murdered, and is raised by the spirits and others beings who live there.

Young Bod (short for Nobody) is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a kindly couple who died childless, and watched over by Silas, a mysterious and powerful being who is neither alive nor dead. Bod learns the secrets of the graveyard, and things no living beings know. As he grows up, he begins to encounter the living from time to time, and a curiosity is sparked. All the while, Jack, the man who murdered his family, is hoping to correct his failure by finding and finishing of Bod as well.

Gaiman populates The Graveyard Book with all the sorts of mystical and fantastic creatures he is known for. Silas' wonderful, Eastern European substitute guardian Miss Luprescu is surely my favorite, but from ghouls to witches and other denizens of the dead, there is something to astound and capture everyone's imagination. Watch for this one when it's published in September.

Elizabeth Haydon's The Thief Queen's Daughter

The Thief Queen's Daughter is part two of Elizabeth Haydon's series for young adults, The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme. Ven isn't human, he's a Nain, age 50 (about 15 in human years) and he's just recently gotten the job of Royal Reporter for King Vandemere. His first mission is to head into the Gated City to discover the origin's of a mysterious artifact given the king by his father. The trouble is, the Gated City is ruled by the mysterious Thief Queen, and entering the city sometimes means never getting out again.

When Ven and his friends find themselves trapped in the Gated City, they just rely on their wits, their insatiable curiosity, and their hidden skills to survive... and get that information for the king. Elizabeth Haydon keeps things moving, and continues the fine development of her young cast of characters. Ven is slowly becoming a young man, and his supporting cast grows more interesting as their adventures continue. One character in particular has some of their mysteries revealed making them more fascinating than ever. Fantasy series have to work really hard to keep me engaged nowadays, and I'm pleased to say that Haydon's The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme has me hook, line and sinker.

Jonathan Barnes' The Somnambulist

The Somnambulist is the debut novel from British author Jonathan Barnes. Set in Victorian England, The Somnambulist is a melange of styles: the detective novel, historical fiction, occult thriller, dark fantasy. When a string of bizarre murders take place in 19th century London, Edward Moon, fading stage magician and detective, and his mysterious, silent sidekick known only as The Somnambulist, find themselves energized once again. For the first third of the book, Barnes creates a masterful and creepy atmosphere involving secret societies, traveling freak-shows, and the various social strata of historic London.

As the mysteries begin to unfold, leading to even more tightly-coiled mysteries (including the central one re-creating the apocalyptic prophecies of poet/philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge) Barnes starts to lose control of his lovely creation. In fact, halfway through the novel, I suddenly felt I was reading a satire or parody of the far superior work I had been reading 25 pages previous. Barnes manages to regain some control of the fantastic plot as he nears the conclusion, but a late-added element, almost a deus ex machina, threatens to tear it all down again. Ultimately striving for a Neil Gaimanesque dark fantasy, The Somnambulist misses more than it hits, but judging from the first third of this tale, there's some real talent there.

Peter Cameron's Andorra

As I was packing for BEA in Los Angeles, I realized that I needed another paperback book to bring on the plane because I was going to be finished with the book I was reading soon. I grabbed Peter Cameron's 1997 novel Andorra; it was a novel I'd owned for years and had been meaning to read but never got around to it. I admire Cameron's work, and Andorra may be one of his best.

Alexander Fox is a man who is seeking refuge from his past. He travels to the remote principality of Andorra on the overnight train and decides to make it his new home... a fresh start, as it were. He immediately befriends the sad but personable Ricky Dent and her dog Dino; followed by her husband, also named Ricky. He is also drawn into the social circle of the wealthy Quay family with two beautiful but troubled daughters. It seems Andorra is a community of secrets, and the much sought after Alexander becomes entangled among them. When he falls under suspicion of murder, he finds himself once again seeking to seek refuge from a life that has risen up around him.

Cameron has created a marvelous batch of eccentric characters around whom sadness seems to hover like a vapor. There are moments of brilliant honesty even as secrets are kept close to the heart, and moments of sublime revelation. Andorra makes an already sparkling body of work including The Weekend, The City of My Final Destination and Someday This Pain will be Useful to You shine even brighter.

Luck can be good or bad in Margot Livesey's new novel

Margot Livesey explores a friendship between two women, and how luck, or fate, can impact your life in the powerful and finely crafted novel The House on Fortune Street. Abigail was moved around by her parents every few months. The only sense of responsibility she has felt was when she stayed with her grandparents from time to time. As a teenager, her parents cut her loose, and she supported herself by working in order to finish her high school education. In college, Abigail meets Dara, who had her own eventful upbringing. When Dara was young, her father left home somewhat inexplicably, despite a superficially happy marriage. Dara and Abigail develop a strong bond that continues into adulthood.

While Abigail's experiences result in a capable, self-sufficient, if a little distrustful woman, Dara searches for a storybook romance and is continually disappointed by life. The men in their lives, Dara's father, and Abigail's boyfriend, provide depth and context to the women's stories, and Livesey tells it in four parts, each featuring a different character's perspective. It's absorbing and compelling like a paint-by-number image slowly being filled in. Livesey has a strong sense of place (the book takes place in London, Edinburgh, and across the British countryside) and character, and weaves a powerfully emotional story as well. For adult drama, Livesey is master.

Starbuck's Helps Garth Stein's Third Novel Become an Unqualified Hit!

Apparently Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain was purchased in a very public auction with several publishers bidding for the rights to publish it. Why Garth's first agent scoffed when first presented with the manuscript is beyond me. Apparently the fact that this novel is told from the point-of-view of a dog was what kept the agent in question from supporting the book. Seems like a bad business to me... especially in retrospect. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a well-written, tear-jerker that explores family dynamics, spirtuality, and the unconditional love that exists between man and his pet dog... it's got all the elements of a hit! And now, thanks to some clever marketing by HarperCollins, and a push from Starbucks, it is!

The Art of Racing in the Rain tells the story of Enzo. He's an old dog who has lived a long full life. By watching a television documentary, he has learned that after a dog has lived enough lives, he moves on to becoming a man. Enzo is convinced that this will be his last life as a dog, and he's looking forward to it. He lives with Denny, who splits his time between his wife and daughter, and his professional race car driving career. When Denny's wife Eve starts her struggle with cancer, the family begins its inevitable and tragic decline. The trials that Denny and Enzo endure as a devastating custody battle begins are likened to the danger of racing in the rain. When the track or road is wet, there is less margin for error. Denny is adept at racing in the rain, and he must use every bit of his skill to survive the traps and tricks his life throws at him.

Garth writes the family relationships and the emotional scenes nicely, which is why so many people respond to the novel and why people are calling it a tear-jerker. While Enzo and Denny are bonded, my favorite part of the book was the way Enzo's relationship with Eve develops. It's tentative at first, yet grows into some of the most powerful moments in the novel. Where The Art of Racing in the Rain goes astray for me, was the philosophical ruminations on race car driving, which just didn't interest me, and an unfortunate epilogue that I felt was unnecessary. Still, it's a strong read, and one that I would recommend to anyone.

(at right: Sharon (left) and Bobby (right) of HarperCollins, flank Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain. The three claim they are siblings.)

German novelist;s English language debut isn't quite perfect

The Perfect Waiter is German author Alain Claude Sulzer's first novel to be translated into English. It's a sweeping novel that focuses on a man who is forced to come to terms with the memory of his lost love. Erneste is the perfect waiter. Thirty years ago, while working as a waiter at a grand hotel in Switzerland, Erneste met Jakob and he was immediately captivated by the handsome, bold new hire. The two entered into a passionate love affair, but Erneste's heart was broken when a year later, Jakob fled to America with a wealthy, married man.

Now it is the late 60's and Erneste receives a letter from a man he hasn't heard from in thirty years, being asked a favor that awakens feelings long buried. Still the perfect waiter, Erneste must decide whether he can allow these emotions to return in order to find some sort of closure in his regimented life.

A Perfect Waiter is an enjoyable and quick read. There is a lot of restraint on display, and plenty of control just waiting to snap. Sulzer and his translator John Brownjohn do a great job with language to convey the conflicting desires simmering just under the surface of these characters.

Elizabeth Bear Spins a Complicated SF Tale

Elizabeth Bear's latest science fiction novel, Dust, is a grand space adventure where angels and ghosts of computers work together, or sometimes at cross-purposes, to keep a society in existence. A massive spacecraft carries the remnants of a dying civilization to a new home; or it would be if it wasn't stranded. Subsequent generations have adapted to life on a spaceship through genetically-altering themselves in various ways. Now the sun they are orbiting is about to expire, and their civilization is once again threatened. To survive, the ships artificial mind, now splintered into dozens of separate personalities, must merge again, against their will, and they have no qualms in using various members of the living as pawns to gain power. Through this all, young Rien, a handmaid in a feudal society, is just trying to survive, and when she discovers that the mutilated "angel," Ser Percival, who she is assigned to care for, is her half-sister, she find herself in the untenable position of betraying her cruel ruler and rescuing her captor. As Rien comes of age, she also find herself a key player in this conflict to save her race.

Bear is adept at writing big, complex sci fi sagas such as this. She also ignores convention with regard to sexuality and relationships, having her characters love come in varied forms. Bear is clearly talented, but some of she may be mixing in a few too many elements, cluttering her story to the point of distraction. The powerful ending may lead many to the eventual sequel.

Medwed's Latest Satisfies

It's been a while since my last review, but I'm back, and hopefully we'll be seeing some new contributors around here soon as I encourage all those reading librarians to send in their reviews! Now it's time for some catch up.

Mameve Medwed is the author of five novels, including Mail, and last year's Massachusetts Book Awards Fiction Honors title, How Elizabeth Barrett Browning Saved My Life. Now Medwed is back, and tackling some difficult mother-in-law issues in Of Men and Their Mothers. Maisie Grey is divorced from her husband, but she can never fully disentangle herself from her horrific mother-in-law, matriarch of the Pollock chicken pot pie empire, because of her teenage son Tommy. When Tommy's grandmother finds something suspicious among his belongings, she can't help but stick her nose into his upbringing, much to Maisie's dismay. On top of that, Maisie must deal with her business, Factotum, Inc. where she helps out those in need, and her first employee, a young mother at odds with the child welfare system. Add to that a new potential man in her life, and things get just a trifle complicated.

Medwed writes with clarity and humor, and even as Maisie's life seems to falling apart around her, we never worry too much, because things always seem to work out for the best in a Medwed novel. But what makes her work so satisfying is that those happy endings are never cheap or unearned. Maisie works hard for her happy life, and we can do naught but cheer her on when she makes it. Of Men and Their Mothers would make a great vacation read, so pick it up before you head out this summer.

The Sweet Hereafter is Powerful Examination of the Human Spirit

Atom Egoyan's film adaptation of The Sweet Hereafter is one of my favorite films, so I thought the time had come to read the novel by Russell Banks. Like Egoyan's film, the novel is a powerful examination of a community that undergoes an horrific tragedy, and how certain individuals cope with it. When a bus bearing a load of school children in Upstate New York runs off the side of the road into a frozen river, killing most of the riders, the town flounders. Some look for someone to blame, others become numbed by their own grief. Two survivors, the bus driver who is miraculously unhurt, and a high school cheerleader who is now paralyzed from the waist down, find their lives irrevocably altered to such a state that they in turn end up irrevocably altering the town again.

It's hard for me to talk about the book without referring to the film because the latter had such an impact on me. Egoyan was extremely faithful to the novel in his adaptation, using great chunks of dialogue and narration word-for-wrod in the movie. One of the two major changes he made was the addition of a "Pied Piper" storyline that added a poetic analogy to the disappearance of the town's children and the rage personified by the lawyer who comes seeking to represent the bereaved parents. The other change was the elimination of the entire final scene which in the book is vital and extremely powerful, but in the film is not necessary. It would totally change the film's focus and the end result from which is hinted at well enough as is. I'm pleased to find that this is one case where both the book and the film stand up as works of art.

The Return of Scott Heim

Scott Heim writes about difficult subjects. In his debut novel, Mysterious Skin, Scott tackled the sexual abuse of children. We Disappear, his first novel in over ten years, looks at child abductions and the death of a parent. With its raw honesty and thoughtful prose, Heim doesn't flinch from the ugliness of his characters, but by exploring them so thoroughly, he exposes their beauty.

In this novel, Donna is dying of cancer, yet her obsession with abducted children seems to be growing more intense. Her son Scott returns to his Kansas hometown from New York City addicted to meth, but concerned for his mother growing obsession. While he is there, he slowly uncovers secrets of his mother's past that cast a whole new light on their lives as a family. It's intense, it's beautifully written, and it's powerfully moving. Just about everything you want a novel to be.

Delightful Fantasy Series for Teens Begins Here!

Elizabeth Haydon's The Floating Island is the first volume in the series The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme. Our protagonist, Ven, is not human, but rather Nain, a long-lived race that tends to live underground and work with the earth. Ven's family is a bit of an oddity as their trade is ship construction, and most Nain fear water. Ven himself is an oddity among his family members. At fifty years old, an age when he was long overdue, he has yet to sprout a beard. He also possesses a singularly unique drive to explore the world where most Nain are more than content to stick very close to home.

After barely surviving a pirate attack while on an inspection tour on his father's latest contracted ship, Ven finds himself drifting alone at sea in the middle of the nights. It seems that Ven has been blessed with a bit of good luck though, by the presence of an albatross that keeps appearing in his life. Through a series of fantastic events, Ven is rescued, and befriends the Captain of a trade ship and his crew. The Captain shows Ven many wondrous things, not the least of which is the mysterious Floating Island that mysteriously appears for a very few, special people. But while Ven encounters compassionate people and amazing wonders, he makes enemies as well, simply because of who and what he is, and those enemies have their own plans in store for him.

Haydon has created a magical world that will be both familiar and unique to readers of fantasy. Ven Polypheme is an endearing protagonist, with his insatiable curiosity and good-hearted nature, and his supporting cast is delightfully varied. I'm looking forward to reading more of Ven's journals.

A Tiny Gem from Doubleday

CS Richarson's The End of the Alphabet is lovely and sad portrait of a British husband and wife, happy and in love in the middle-years of their lives, when Ambrose Zephyr is told that he has thirty days left to live. Together Ambrose and his wife Zappora (Zipper) Ashkenazi embark on a journey to destinations they have most loved or most longed to visit... in alphabetical order. But their journey is more of a journey through their loving relationship, so real, complete with imperfections, but conveyed to the reader with Richardson's gentle and musical prose. There are moments of emotional frustration alongside sublime beauty. One side journey to the Old Jewry where we meet Mr. Umtata, Ambrose's longtime tailor, is resplendent in its joy and poignancy.

The End of the Alphabet is a quick read, but one that will leave you in that place of deep literary satisfaction. Take a moment and devour this tiny gem.

French Translation Tackles Sex and Meteorology

Translated from the French, Stéphane Audeguy's The Theory of Clouds is a sensual look at clouds, both historically and imaginatively. A Japanese fashion designer in Paris, survivor of the big mushroom cloud in Hiroshima, has become a collector of literature related to clouds. His knowledge of the history of meteorology is extensive. When he hires a young librarian, Virginie Latour, to help him catalog his collection, she is surprised when during her first several shifts, he simply tells her stories from those histories. Eventually she begins to work on the collection, but their time together is often punctuated by more stories and revelations about man's curiosity about clouds and the weather. As Virginie becomes more involved in her patron's quest for knowledge, she travels to London to try and obtain The Abercrombie Protocol, one of the most notorious, coveted, unpublished works on clouds. What she uncovers in London reveals a complex story that ranges from the aborigines in Australia, through the South Pacific, to Polynesian brothels. As the ever-changing skyscape of clouds can sometimes suggest sensual forms, so too is the history of meteorology peppered with surprising carnal quests.

Audeguy has a gift for storytelling, even through his characters. His story is imaginative and complex touching on a variety of subjects, and creating an interesting modern yet somehow timeless woman in Virginie. Filled with what I can only presume is fact-based histories, The Theory of Clouds was a rewarding read for this once cloud-fascinated reader.

A story of class, race and family in Boston

Ann Patchett's Run is a wonderfully written modern tale of race, class and family set in Boston. In fact, the main characters live in my old South End neighborhood a few blocks from where I used to live. Bernard Doyle, a former mayor of Boston, lost his wife Bernadette at an early age. They had given birth to a single son, Sullivan, then adopted Teddy and Tip, a pair of African American brothers several years later. Now Teddy and Tip are in college, and Sullivan has been estranged from his family living in Africa. On a snowy winter night, a freak accident connects the Doyle family to a poor African American woman and her daughter in a way that will change all of their lives in 24 hours.

Patchett has spun a gentle tale that touches on some important issues. Her characters are good people who make mistakes. As the pages turn, I was really rooting for them. I wanted everything to work out for them all. As is often the case with life, not everything works out perfectly, but Run tells a satisfyingly positive story. Patchett uses the cities of Boston and Cambridge effectively as the story's backdrop, both from a geographical and cultural perspective. She is a talented writer whose work is definitely worth a look.

Tom Perrotta Tackles Religion

With The Abstinence Teacher, popular author Tom Perrotta tackles the issue of religion, particularly the evangelical type, in a setting where it's not usually expected: the liberal-minded northeast. Ruth teaches sex education in the town high school, and things have started getting a little strange. A strange conservative waves has reared its head in the town, and the curriculum is being changed to teach abstinence rather than education and birth control. Ruth's younger daughter plays soccer, and her coach, Tim Mason, is a former drug addict who turned his life around by accepting Jesus into his heart. Now he is active in the Tabernacle, an evangelical Christian church that doesn't approve of Ruth's teaching style. When Ruth catches Tim leading the girls on the soccer team in prayer, she lashes back with unexpected results.

Perrotta tries very hard not to take sides, presenting most of the principle characters as three-dimensional with passions and doubts both; particularly Tim. Still, he can't help but paint some of the religious views as extreme (not that they aren't). My problem was I was much more interested in Ruth's character, and when the focus shifted to Tim, I found the book less compelling. Strangely, despite the time spent developing Tim's character, I found him to be rather tiresome and predictable. This was my first of Perrotta's books to read, and his trademark humor was also lacking. I think I will go back and read one of his earlier works like Election or Joe College.

Douglas Coupland's Voice of a Generation

Douglas Coupland made history with his first novel, Generation X, where he wrote with the definitive voice of a generation. Now eighteen years later he continues to refine that generation's voice with his eleventh novel, The Gum Thief. Roger is a divorced, middle-aged, Staples employee whose life has lost direction and meaning. Through a journal sequestered in the Staples break room, he begins a written correspondence with Bethany, his twenty-something co-worker in the final phases of her goth phase. The two spark a strange connection where they are able to confess their deepest thoughts without the masks and filters they employ in their face-to-face encounters with the world. Roger is also writing a novel called Glove Pond, a timeless, yet modern-day "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" that is not-so-loosely based on his life populated by the people around him. As Roger and Bethany watch their lives unfold in a parallel track to the characters in Glove Pond, their bond strengthens, providing Roger with a much-needed anchor in his unsettled life.

Coupland writes with humor and honesty, in a voice that could certainly represent that of the aging generation he first wrote about in 1991. As characters of different generations, Roger and Bethany are representative of the lives of many people today, both young and middle-aged, just trying to succeed, be happy and find their places in life.

The Sharing Knife: Volume Two - Legacy

Prolific science fiction writer Lois McMaster Bujold returns with the second volume of The Sharing Knife, a fantasy/romance series that began with Beguilement. In Legacy, our protagonists Fawn Bluefield, a farmer, and Dag Redwing Hickory, a Lakewalker, have survived Fawn's family to marry, and now must return to Dag's family who are even less thrilled about the prospect of a farmer/Lakewalker union. Even as Dag's community is deciding what is to be done with this flagrant act of disregard to their culture, a particularly horrific magical malice attack emerges to the north, and Dag must lead a troop of Lakewalkers out to destroy it. Left alone in Dag's village, Fawn tries to mend ways with Dag's mother and brother and comes up against a stone wall of resistance. Instead, she follows the mysterious bond between her and her husband to help Dag survive his encounter with the malice and return home.

Bujold has created a winning pair with Fawn and Dag, each so different from the other, yet the love they share is well drawn and believable, despite their age and cultural differences. I'm not sure where she will be taking them in volume three, but I'm sure it will be quite a ride.

Serbian Author Creates a Mosaic Novel

Serbian author Zoran Živković has written a delightful novella, or perhaps it's a collection of short stories, called Steps Through the Mist: a Mosaic Novel. Each of the five stories focuses on a woman who is struggling with life, death and time. Each encounters a gray mist where time seems to stop, or allows people to move through it. The stories are all discrete, but they are linked thematically perhaps telling the universal story of a single woman. Živković kicks things off with "Disorder in the Head," where a strict teacher at an all-girls' boarding school has the girls report on their dreams, priding herself on the fact that she can tell when the girls are making things up, or worse, intentionally trying to deceive her. But when she calls a group of girls on just this, another girl claims to have been with them in their dreams and insists they are telling the truth. The teacher is forced to face her own reality by refusing to believe. In "Line on the Palm," a fortune teller must choose between her own reputation and the life of a visitor who wants to commit suicide. Živković has a lovely, fanciful way of writing, and the stories move by swiftly in this slender volume. Brimming with originality and style, Steps Through the Mist is worth a read for those looking for something different.

Hero Covers All Bases

As a long-time comic book reader, I am fascinated with the fact that superheroes have truly entered the zeitgeist of popular culture as evidenced by the success of superhero comic-based movies and television series. Now there seems to be a run on 'serious' novels set in the super-heroic world of comics. (See my recent review of Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible.) Perry Moore's new novel, Hero, follows along this path but takes it even further, yielding a complex, finely crafted, heroes-saving-the-world, story, the likes of with you rarely find in comics.

Hero focuses on the complicated coming-of-age of Thom Creed. This teen-aged basketball star has several burdens to carry. Not only is he gay, but he's recently discovered that he has super powers. His father, Hal, was once a famous superhero in his own right, until a tragic accident left thousands dead, Hal horribly disfigured and disgraced, and led to the disappearance of Thom's mother. When he is approached by the League, a beloved team of superheroes who routinely save the world, it's just one more thing he has to keep from his father. Add to that his unrequited crush on Uberman, the strange rivalry he has developed with his classmate Goran, and the fact that someone is murdering members of the League, and it's almost more than Thom can handle. Moore however handles things remarkably well, keeping the plot moving forward in a natural and believable way (within the context of a superhero milieu), developing the characters in realistic yet surprising ways, and instilling this fantastic story with very real emotions.

Great for adults and young adults alike, Hero stretches beyond categories and succeeds roundly. This is the type of involving, well-written, thought-provoking story that actually used to appear in comics in the 1970's and 80's. It's too bad comics have moved away from such high-level storytelling, but thankfully it seems to have crossed over into another medium.

Eli Gottlieb Explores Friendship and the Destruction of a Marriage

Eli Gottlieb's second novel, Now You See Him, is a finely written examination of the way our closest childhood friend can impact our lives. When Nick's friend Rob murders his girlfriend then ends up dead himself, Nick finds himself overwhelmed with grief and embarks on a reevaluation of his life. Lucy, Nick's wife of ten years is having trouble understanding his inability to move on, and when Rob's younger sister Brenda, also an old flame of Nick's, comes back into his life, Lucy has had enough. While Rob's impact on Nick's life is at the core of this novel, Now You See Him is also a film about the disintegration of a marriage.

While Gottlieb is certainly a skilled writer, his deft prose illuminates these characters inner lives, and he successfully crafts a compelling novel revolving around a fairly unsympathetic protagonist, his plotting skills are not to my liking. Halfway through the novel, he introduces my least favorite soap-opera twist which was a major disappointment, and there is a startling twist at the conclusion that isn't all that shocking. Overall, Now You See Him is worth the read if you're a fan of finely written drama if you don't mind some soapsuds.

Canadian Author Weaves Fragmented Portrait of Troubled Adolescence.

I was drawn to read Maureen Medved's The Tracey Fragments after seeing Bruce McDonald's amazing film adaptation starring the incomparable Ellen Page. Medved's novel about a teenaged girl fragmenting perilously close to madness is powerful stuff, and it's nice to see much of the meat of the story in the original novel. While McDonald's inventive use of of editing, split screens, and music elevate the novel into an ambitious and succesful movie (again, partially thanks to the amazing performance from Page as the title character), the core story is entirely Medved's.

Tracey Berkowitz is a fifteen-year-old girl living in remote, impoverished area in Canada. Her parents are remote and a bit mad, her younger brother thinks he is a dog, her boyfriend is an MTV-style rockstar, and her psychiatrist, while possibly her only ally, is a terrifyingly, cold bitch. All of this according to Tracey, who is the amazingly unreliable narrator of her own life. When little brother Sonny disappears into a blizzard one night while tenuously under Tracey's care, she boards the city bus to find him. In fact, as the book unfolds, Tracey is sitting in the back of the bus, naked except for the plastic, flowered shower-curtain wrapped around her tiny frame. She proceeds to tell her story in episodic pieces that often contradict themselves but gradually reveal the truth of this young girl's life. Picked on mercilessly at school, a source of eternal disappointment at home, sexually attacked and finally terrorized while wandering the streets in search of her brother, Tracey retreats into her own mind and the colorful world she creates.

Medved's novel is an illuminating tale of adolesence at its most cruel and difficult. I recommend this novel, and even moreso, the movie that it spawned (if it is ever released in the United States.

Peter Cameron Scores with a Coming of Age Novel for Teens

Peter Cameron is not an overly prolific author, but I do savor each of his works when they are published. His latest novel, Someday this pain will be useful to you, is an elegant coming-of-age tale about 18-year-old James. Living in Manhattan, disdainful of people his age, enamored of the idea of buying a big house in the midwest, James Sveck has a wry, if immature sense of humor and an annoying propensity to focus on correct grammar when engaged in conversation.

James parents aren't completely equipped to help James navigate this tricky transition from high school to college. His mother has just returned from Vegas after her third marriage... without her husband. His father is concerned that when James orders something pasta instead of steak in the executive cafeteria he comes across as faggy. When James runs away from a school trip to DC, he ends up seeing a psychiatrist, who he challenges at every turn, but in a refreshing turn, is unable to outwit. James has also got a crush on the man who works with him at his mother's gallery, but when a case of poor judgment alienates him, he is left with only his aging grandmother, who he adores, to turn to for solace.

Cameron has created a unique, teen voice in Someday this pain will be useful to you, one that rings true, and is able to balance the many portraits of suburban and rural voices of youth in literature. His prose is economical and graceful, and his resolution satisfying without answering all of life's questions.

Austin Grossman Does Superheroes Right

With the success of such movies as SPIDER-MAN, BATMAN, and THE X-MEN, and television shows such as "Heroes" and "So You Want To Be a Superhero," it's no surprise that an influx of novels about superheroes has appeared, much to this comic book geek's delight. The first of the genre that I have embraced is Austin Grossman's Soon I Will Be Invincible. Grossman is clearly familiar with the superhero world in comics, and he uses that world as the setting for his novel. There are two points-of-view in Invincible, bouncing back and forth between the villainous Dr. Impossible, and the newest member of the crime-stopping Champions, Fatale.

Grossman does a great job getting into Dr. Impossible's head. After coming so close to conquering the world so many times, sent to prison, escaping, and repeating the cycle again and again, it's interesting to see what motivates this super-genius to keep going. It seems that super-villainy is just hard-wired into his head. He's got one more idea up his sleeve, and when the opportunity presents itself, he does the expected: busts our of prison, rebuilds his weapons and tries to take over the world.

Having disbanded a few years ago, the Champions come together again due to the mysterious disappearance of the best and brightest of their members, CoreFire. He was the most powerful of them all, unbeatable and charismatic, so when he seems to be missing for real, the Champions, Blackwolf - the Ultimate Crimefighter; Damsel - First Lady of Power; Elphin - Warrior Princess; Feral - Savage Street Fighter; Mister Mystic - Man of Mystery; and Rainbow Triumph - Teen Idol with an Attitude, feel duty bound to reunite and solve the mystery. To their ranks, they add a couple of newcomers; Lily, a mysterious, superpowered outcast from the future, and Fatale - the Next Generation of Warfare. It's understandable that Grossman choses Fatale to be the readers' entry into the superhero world. She's new to the game, having received her powers after a freak accident destroyed most of her body and being transformed by new technology into a cyborg agent. Fatale is thrust into the glamorous world of the superhero elite all the while feeling she must constantly prove herself just to stand among them.

While the book is an entertaining read, and I do recommend it, I think the problem with using Fatale as one of our narrators is that when the finale arrives, and she is not a part of it, the reader is left on the outside looking in, when it would have been nice to have our point of view in the midst of the action. It's like being sidelined for the big finish, and it's a little distracting. Still, Grossman's world is certainly representative of our own if it were populated by men and women with extraordinary powers.

Dark Fantasy for Young Adults by Neil Gaiman

My reading theme for vacation last week was catching up with books being adapted into films. Neil Gaiman's dark fantasy for youth is called Coraline, and it tells the tale of a girl who stumbles upon a terrifying nightmare world right next to her own in the last couple of weeks of summer vacation. Think back to your childhood; think back on your summer vacation. For many, the last couple of weeks in August herald a transition time. The summer is starting to get a little boring, and while your mind was once occupied with exploring, playing, dreaming, now thoughts turn excitedly toward school. Such is the case with Coraline. Her parents don't have time to keep her entertained, and while the eccentric tenants who live in the other parts of her building provide curious diversions, they aren't quite enough. One day Coraline discovers that the door in the study which usually opens to a blank brick wall now opens to a long, dark tunnel. What else is there to do in the dog days of summer but explore the tunnel?

What Coraline finds is a strange world where her other-mother and other-father live. The eccentric tenants are represented as well, as is the aloof, black cat that lives out in the yard. The people are interesting, but a little off-kilter, and instead of eyes, black buttons stare unblinkingly form their faces. For the better part of a day, Coraline enjoys exploring this new, strange world, but when it comes time to leave, Gaiman's fable takes a decidedly dark turn. In the days leading up to school, Coraline must fight for her soul, the souls of the children who have come before her and the lives and souls of her parents.

Gaiman spins a tale reminiscent of the fairy tales of youth. There is something safe and comforting about them even as the plucky heroine faces chilling and very-real danger. Here's hoping Coraline makes for a good film-adaptation, and the visuals will surely have a huge impact on its success. The book, however, is terrific, and a quick read as well. Highly recommended.

Preparing for the Film Release

José Saragamo's Blindness was the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize for Literature. As the inhabitants of an unnamed city go blind one by one, the very fabric of society begins to decay until it is transformed into an animalistic morass of survival. That is the premise of Saramago's intensely powerful and challenging novel. The core of the story revolves around seven people, among the first to go blind, along with a doctor's wife who for some reason never loses her sight, but keeps this fact hidden from all save her husband.

Saramago explores how the removal of sight causes the destruction of the social structure. Even before the entire community goes blind, the government, fearing (rightly) an epidemic, quarantine all the blind under inhumane conditions. Yet as the worst of human society emerges, so too does compassion and cooperation, as we follow the seven main characters and watch as they form their own family to insure their survival.

Blindness is not a beach-reading novel that you can flip through in a day. It require concentration and reflection. Saramago pulls the reader into some pretty horrific situations as some of the downtrodden take advantage of others. With the character of the doctor's wife, the sole sighted person in a city filled with the blind, Saramago creates a character both helpless and with great responsibility to those around her. It's an insightful allegory to our world today.

I decided to read Blindness after finding out that it has been adapted for the screen. The screenwriter, director and cast are all top-notch in the independent film world and I'm looking forward to seeing it. It's sure to be a harrowing experience.

Engrossing Fantasy of the Highest Caliber

Whenever I am going to meet an author I try to read some of their work beforehand. At ALA this year I attended a dinner with Jeff VanderMeer, and on the plane to DC I started reading his latest fantasy novel Shriek: An Afterword. I only made it through the first 100 pages of so before meeting him, but I could tell there was quite a bit of talent in the man.

Shriek: An Afterword is of that fantasy genre that I don't often read: alternative histories that may or may not be earth. It is also a biography of sorts of the Shriek siblings, Duncan written by his older sisterS Janice. Likewise it is a "biography" of their strange city, Ambergris. In Shriek, Janice is looking back on her life and writing an afterword for one of her historian/writer brother's books. The Shriek's lives were marked by the sudden death of their father after receiving the announcement that he had won a prestigious literary award, when they were children. Is this event the one that started Duncan down the path of an obsessive historian with radical theories perhaps too outlandish for others to fathom? And is this why Janice longs for recognition even while self-destructively indulging in every pleasure imaginable? The Shrieks eventually become fixtures in Ambergris' culture, both reaching populist heights and tragic lows.

The river-city of Ambergris itself is perhaps the most potent character in the novel. Think of a grand, decaying New Orleans, complete with an underground city of quasi mushroom dwellers known as Gray Caps and you might get a sense of what Ambergris holds. Duncan's obsession focuses on the Gray Caps and his first work, Cinsorium: Dispelling the Myths of the Gray Caps becomes a best-seller. During his research, Duncan uncovered hints of dark secrets connecting the Gray Caps to an horrific event that nearly destroyed the city years back. He also picked up a bizarre fungal condition that remained with him for the rest of his life. Janice unspools the pair's story with tantalizing hints of their fate, augmented by notes from her brother, sometimes reinforcing, sometimes contradicting what she writes. It is a fascinating and compelling addition to the city's lore.

VanderMeer has created a masterfully detailed, complex, fantastical novel, so utterly and darkly creative. The voices of Janice and Duncan are unique and true, revealing their all-too human flaws even while endearing them to the reader. Shriek: an afterword calls to mind Mary Gentle's glorious White Crow novels, Rats & Gargoyles and Architecture of Desire in its gloriously giddy sense of the historical and the fantastic. This was one absorbing and entertaining read.

July's First Published Work Sparkles

Performance artist/filmmaker/writer Miranda July has published her first book; No one belongs here more than you, a work of short stories that examine the wonder and awkwardness of modern life. With her background as a performance artist, July possesses a self-awareness (almost a self-consciousness) that lends a genuineness to the emotional challenges faced by the (mostly) women who anchor these 16 stories. The reader feels for these characters as they face everyday hurdles, usually revolving around loneliness and isolation, even in the quirky situations July sets them in. Whether it is a young woman giving an elderly trio swimming lessons in her kitchen or an aspiring author trying to give her first work to Madeline L'engle's husband, July's characters ground their unique situations with emotions that all of us have felt at one time or another.

Anyone who has seen July's film ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW will hear her unique voice throughout this book. Her characters vary in age, sexual preference, and social status yet each one is reocgnizable, usually as the awkward girl with few friends in school. Not that there aren't some happy moments in No one belongs here more than you, but they are few and far between, with the best most of these characters can hope for being a life that is manageable and somewhat satisfying. July's collection of stories is much more than that, and is a work worth checking out.

Ambitious New Novel from Sheri S. Tepper

Sherri Tepper is a prolific writer of both science fiction and fantasy. Her latest novel is an ambitious work the is for-the-most-part a success. The Margarets takes place far in the future. Margaret is a twelve-year old girl living on Mars' moon Phobos with her parents. Terrans have for the most part destroyed the Earth through overpopulation and much of the population has abandoned the planet for colonies on other worlds. However interstellar races who advanced earlier than Earthians have been keeping an eye on them. There is some indecision as to whether or not the human race should be allowed to continue to exist.

Some of the races who sit in judgment of humanity are benevolent, while others are vile, living only for torture, pain and cruelty. The former have set in motion a plan to prove that Earthians are worthy, and in the process, give them a gift to help them mature as a race. Central to this plan in young Margaret. As a child, Margaret invented six different aspects of herself, imaginary playmates, to keep loneliness at bay as the only child on the colony. There was Wilvia, the Queen; Naumi, the warrior; a spy, a healer and more. When Margaret and her parents are sent back to earth, and then several years later, when Margaret is forced to leave the planet forever, her other selves are lost to her. Yet in reality, and unveknownst to Margaret, each of her six other selves follow a different path and flourish on different colonies, some finding great hardship and pain, while others have families and find love.

In the end, Margaret must bring all her selves together to help save the human race, with the help of some pretty remarkable beings created out of Tepper's incredibly fertile imagination. The dozens of races and beings Tepper creates in The Margarets is impressive, and there is very little that seems tired or familiar. My main complaint comes with such a large cast and massive landscape that some areas seem glossed over or too quickly resolved. Already clocking in at just over 500 pages, The Margarets could have used a couple hundred more to truly explore Tepper's ideas.