David Maybury | Blog

I managed to miss a few reviews from the Irish Independent – namely because they weren’t online – but with a little help from Sarah Webb (thanks Sarah!!) I’ve got copies of the missing reviews:

Teenage readers who like their novels fast and furious are spoilt for choice this season with three cracking new action-adventure tales: Time Riders by Alex Scarrow, The Ring of Five by Eoin McNamee, and Vampirates: Empire of Night by Justin Somper.

Time Riders (Puffin £6.99) is the first YA (young adult) novel by a successful adult thriller writer and ex-computer game designer, and is an exceptionally confident teen debut. Three very different teenagers are plucked from sure death by a mysterious stranger and together must police evil time travellers and fix ‘broken’ history. Maddy should have died on a plane in 2010, Liam should have died on the Titanic in 1912, and Sal should have died in a fire in 2026 – but instead they become the Time Travellers. The concept is Einstein-clever, the plotting exceptional, the writing sharp and edgy – all in all a terrific read for readers of 12 or 13+. Highly recommended.

Irish author, Eoin McNamee is back with his second teen thriller with a fantasy twist. In the opening scene of The Ring of Five (Quercus £6.99) teenager Danny is kidnapped and forced to join ‘Wilsons’, a crack spy team dedicated to defeating the ruthless Cherubs. While not as deftly plotted as the Scarrow book there’s plenty here to keep young teen readers’ adrenaline pumping in this excellent Harry Potter/Robert Muchamore mash-up.

And finally ‘Captain’ Justin Somper is back with another Vampirate tale, Empire of the Night (Simon and Schuster £6.99). Twins Conor and Grace Tempest are thrown into another rip-roaring adventure on the high seas featuring betrayal, deception and vivid sword fights galore. Read it for the characters’ names alone – Mosh Zu and Lola Lockwood Sidorio. Swashbuckling fun, ideal to keep young imaginations fuelled.

/reviews by Sarah Webb/

From under a snow-ridden Dublin (read lots of snowball fights and a family of snow-people) here’s a quick run down of some book reviews from the last week -

*UPDATE* Not sure how I missed it but Sara Keating has a review of Manga Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet in the Irish Times:

For the most part, Manga Shakespeare has received glowing praise from teachers and graphic artists, as both an introduction to Shakespeare and to contemporary art forms, which students are given an opportunity to try themselves in workshops. They take specific scenes from the plays and condense them into comic-strip form, which forces them to pay attention to meaning as it is embodied in Shakespeare’s language.

Anything that makes classical literature more accessible and more interesting for young teenagers, teachers say, will ultimately lead them back to the original text. It is, perhaps, a mode of instruction that Shakespeare himself would approve of: “Those that do teach young babes,” he writes in Othello , “Do it with gentle means and easy tasks.” – Sara Keating, Irish Times.

Publishers Weekly have a review of new releases across the lake including Calamity Jack (Shannon Hale, Dean Hall, and Nathan Hale’s sequel to Rapunzel’s Revenge).

Amanda Craig reads two sequels – The 13 Curses from Michelle Harrison and Rebel by R. J. Anderson.

Although Anderson needs to avoid becoming syrupy in places, it’s the warmth and humour between Timothy and Linden that makes the book outstanding – Amanda Craig

Philip Ardagh appears in the Guardian with a review of Jeanette Winterson’s sequel The Battle of the Sun. Beardy Ardagh was won over:

This book radiates enjoyment, and the reader can bask in it. I was mesmerised by craft of an endlessly inventive author writing at the height of her powers – Philip Ardagh

Future Publishing are planning to release an ‘in-depth look at the latest superhero movies, videogames and the comic books’ with their aptly named coffee table tome – Comic Heroes.

And back to Publishers Weekly again – this time for a review of Asterios Polyp, winner of the PW Comics Week’s critics poll. Click for a full run down of the awards.

Saturday saw the coming and going of the Irish Children’s Literature and Culture Symposium in UCD. And what a day!? There were interesting panels, lectures and speakers up the ying-yang!

If you haven’t already read lady-schrapnell’s comprehensive notes from the day – then get to it! They are faaaar more composed than my ramblings.

I was completely blown away by some of the presentations – particularly Valerie Coughlan and Ciara Ní Bhroin’s sessions on the Liminality of the bog and Modern Retellings of Irish Myths. Both were well researched, informative – and entertaining. (And there are plenty of ‘bog’ jokes still left to be made!)

The best was kept till last though – with a round-up by Mary Shine Thompson and panel discussion featuring Celia Keenan, Patricia Kennon and Éilís Ní Dhuibhne. This was the most passionate – and engaging – part of the symposium as theories, questions, jokes, anecdotes, questions and hypotheses were thrown around the room at lightening speed. (Jacqueline Rose has me quaking and my head-hurting)

The panel touched on reviewing children’s books in Ireland – which was both terrifying and refreshing. There is a lot of work to do in reviews of Irish books!

All that is left to say are the thanks: To the entertaining gang from Froebel who kept me on my toes at tea break! (Apple and cheese snadwiches!!) To the interesting speakers for their presentations. And to Susan Cahill for organising the day – and making the great point (in relation to bringing Oisín McGann, a group of kids and L.T. Meade together): Why not?

Remember I let slip that Mr Anthony Horowitz was around?

I had some bugs planted amongst the 400 fans who managed to meet the man himself on Friday in Liberty Hall (see pic for evidence). And the the low-down is…

Mr Horowitz is leaving. Not the planet, just children’s books.

Yup – he shall be writing no more kids books,  once he has written the last Diamond Brothers, the final Power of Five and two more Alex Rider books.

(One with Alex as the lead and then the big finalé will be about Yassen Gregorovich as a 14 year old right up until he meets Alex, what makes a 14 year old choose evil, until he dies and Alex is there and probably a bit about his parents)

Shocked? I am!

And from the realms of the independent.ie (it’s not on their site at the minute) is Sarah Webb’s review of Crocodile Tears:

(more…)

I was off being festive and finding my Christmas spirit and such over the weekend – so I managed to miss a few bits in the resulting unwellness on Sunday. Thanks to the Very Hungry Caterpillar and Sarah for pointing out two extras:

The Independent on Sunday featured a young reviewers round up:

This is a moving book which has sad bits and funny bits, especially when Johnny’s friend Elizabeth Stanton (whose mother eventually adopts him) calls him “Johnny Rot”. My dad says this is a joke about punk rock. – Leo Taylor (aged 8 ) reviewing Michael Morpurgo’s Kaspar Prince of Cats.

And the other is, of course, Sarah Webb’s Christmas round-up in the Irish Independent last Saturday.

There’s an embarrassment of riches for readers of 9+ who like their fiction fast, furious and above all, fun. Action-fest masters Eoin Colfer, Derek Landy and Michael Scott hit bullseye yet again. Landy’s skeleton detective, Skulduggery Pleasant is back in Playing with Fire (HarperCollins, £6.99) and Colfer’s urbane young hero returns in Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox (Puffin £12.99). The Magician by Michael Scott (Doubleday, £10.99) is another cracking action-adventure tale. – Sarah Webb.

Right, back to the parties and homemade cures for self inflicted festive cheer.

The Sunday Times ‘Best of 2008′ list is online – a good day in advance. Nicolette Jones has a mixed list of bestsellers and quirky titles, including David Conway’s The Great Nursery Rhyme Disaster and Andy Stanton and David Tazzyman’s Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear.

Malorie Blackman’s Double Cross is reviewed by Diane Samuels in the Guardian:

Double Cross certainly stands up on its own. For a newcomer to the series it does take a bit of effort to piece the people and past events together, but it’s all worth it. Blackman “gets” people, especially young adults, in all their tentativeness, determination and energy. She “gets” humanity as a whole, too. Most of all, she writes a stonking good story. And this is what takes the book beyond the moment, giving it a timeless value. The combination packs a punch yet keeps a tender heart.

Happy reading.

Conor Kostick’s new book arrived on Friday too. But it came with a big warning on the front so I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to give away. All I’m saying is that Conor is back with a bigger, better and even more thrilling book called Move.

Liam O’Dwyer discovers he can move between parallel universes – when he wants something to go his way, he moves to the universe where it happens. (Remember Sliders?) But there are consequences to each move and they are starting to catch up with Liam and his friends.

As with his two previous books, Epic and Saga, Conor has created a world that is hard not be sucked into… (But not until September according to O’Brien Press)

Creature of the Night landed on my doorstep on Friday and the only question I can think of is… ‘Is there is no stopping Kate Thompson?’

Following on from last years success with The Last of the High Kings she is back with her fourteenth book for teenagers. This time, with Creature of the Night Thompson recreates a vision of Dublin that is laden with urban grit but at once recognisable.

Bobby’s Ma is moving him and his half-brother out of Dublin to Clare. Moving him away from his mates, Fluke, Beetle and Psycho Mick, and away from trouble. On the bus down he doesn’t waste any time in planning his escape back to Dublin. But he discovers that life in the country is worse than he had imagined – especially when his new neighbours, the Dooley’s, warn him to leave milk out for the faeries.

If I had to fault the book it would be Bobby’s well spoken manner on the page – his narration as an inner-city fourteen year old doesn’t always ring true. (Not that inner-city fourteen year olds won’t understand the language/vocabulary, I’m just not convinced that they would use it.) Like Bookwitch, I had a problem with the epilogue too and personally wish I’d stopped reading at the end of the last chapter.

All that said, the ensuing culture shock ensnares Bobby, his family and the Dooley’s in a gripping story of debt, drugs and murder mystery. There is nothing gracious or whimsical about Creature of the Night and the bleak, austere world that Bobby and his family are trying to leave behind is exposed with brilliant, vivid, reality.

Having already won most major Children’s Books awards, Creature of the Night will likely ensure that Kate Thompson’s name features on most shortlists next year. A mix of stark realities and folklore, Creature of the Night is a compelling book that you won’t be able to put down.

With the best name in music The Ravonettes, a duo of Danish early-rock revivalists, have released their third album, Lust, Lust, Lust. Listening to all three in succession may not be the best way to hear any band but it does The Ravonette’s no harm.

There is a darker substance to the new album that was lacking in the first two. Focusing on the sex of sex, drugs and rock and roll, along with the trademark tracks played fast and loud. The first few songs are more lucid than the rest of the album but there is something in each one to catch you all the way to the end. A worthy alternative to REM’s Accelerate (on the playlist for next week).

Songs of the album – Aly Walk with Me, Dead Sound.

A copy of Colm Ó Snodaigh’s album Giving fell into my lap on Friday. I’ve only managed to listen to it once (and a half) so this might not be the fairest judgement delivered on the album. First impressions are worth something though.

Giving is an eclectic mix – it was hard to find a definite thread that runs through all of the tracks apart from Ó Snodaigh’s own vocals which sometimes exude confidence, while at others shy away. The confidence on the album overall is a mixed bag – the songs jump from weakly written, Adieu, to impressive, subtle and haunting tracks like Lechaileach Arís and Is tú mo Ghrá.

The album is far removed from the usual sounds that Kila deliver – which is an interesting move for Ó Snodaigh. It does focus heavily his voice, which comes into it’s own in some of the tracks. Good for a Monday night in with a book and a glass of whatever you’re having yourself.

Everything is running a bit slow after the blog awards. Here’s todays 101 – just a little later than usual.

I’ve had the Delorento’s living in my ear all this week – discovering them nearly three years since they were the ‘next-big-thing in the making’ (according to Mr Sheridan). There is something very calmative in the songs on their album in love with detail. The confident vocals supported by the lyrics, repetitive without becoming irritating, are what stand out for me. The percussion and bass create a great, and subtle enough, atmosphere for each song that makes listening to the whole thing a real pleasure.

The band sound familiar, even on first hearing, which really can’t be a bad thing for a first album. Overall the Delorento’s have mightily impressed me – so much so that I have just booked myself two tickets to see them in the Olympia in April.

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For those that don’t know (I didn’t until yesterday) Adrian Crowley has become a resident of Whelans. Well, he is every Wednesday throughout March at least. Wednesday night will see him alongside Mumblin’ Deaf Ro and Boa Morte. Aoife has an interview with Ro (as the Mammy calls him).

I’m not sure what it is about stage performances that I have never been able to adjust to – everything seems forced (staged?). Someone crying on stage is just short of rubbing clenched fists under their eyes or a new character entering a room will nearly stomp for attention. The current Frank McGuinness adaptation of Miss Julie, Strindberg’s play about class, is no different.

The set built for the run was impressive – the kitchen is reproduced brilliantly with almost neurotic detail – but is it a good sign if all I can really praise is the stage and lighting? The actors – Catherine Walker, Declan Conlon and Mary Murray – deliver powerful performances at times but not until much later in the play.

I was dissappointed by McGuinness’s adaptation – the BBC Drama version was almost identical – except for the Irish-isms that have been injected. It was good, but not “an extraordinarily fluent and very earthy adaptation” as one review reports.

Dermod has a different take on things over at bonhomie.