Monday 9 April 2012

Thief of LivesThief of Lives by Lucy Sussex
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

why am I reading this book?

This is another book for the Australian Women's Writers Challenge. This brilliant challenge maybe found at www.goodreads.com/group/show/59176, https://www.facebook.com/AustralianWomen... and http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/p/... It's not too late to get involved. Get reading.

about this book

This is part of a series of novella size books which is currently being by published Twelfth Planet Press (http://www.twelfthplanetpress.com/). These books are short story collections. This book is a series of fairly unrelated stories;

Alchemy
Fountain of Justice
The Story of O
Thief of Lives

What I thought

This book is an interesting introduction to the work of an interesting writer. I will definitely read more from this author.




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Sunday 8 April 2012

Mistification. Kaaron WarrenMistification. Kaaron Warren by Kaaron Warren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

why am I reading this book

I am reading this as part of the Australian Women's writers challenge (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/5917...) (http://www.australianwomenwriters.com/p/...)

Summary

A young boy grows up in a room with his grandmother, hiding from a foe who he can only hear and going on covert stealing missions. This book shows him; growing up, leaving his cage, falling in love and developing his own talents.

Themes

This book looks at the concepts of myth, story and realty. Marco gift allows him to throw a mist over peoples eyes. This mist allows him to distort reality, giving the person a new story and allowing Marco to alter their history. Through out his journey he encounters people who tell them his story. As a reward, he alters their story to take away their painful memories. Marco becomes aware that these stories are needed if humanity are to survive. Humans would go mad if they were forced to face the truth.

In addition, it takes a look at the difference between the world as it is portrayed in the media and the reality of our own lived experience. Marco spends his life in a room watching TV with no sound and this does not prepare him for the real world.


my thoughts

I was fascinated by the world that Warren creates within this work. I loved the ideas that she explores. The stories interspersed within the narrative make for interesting reading. But, the characters, especially Marco, left me cold. They didn't engage me. Therefore, I was not able to give it a five.






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