Obliterated - Review

C.J. Hall has written an interesting story about a future apocalypse and surviving it. Set in the Southwest, Obliterated begins with a woman hearing noises and looking to downtown area and seeing a lot of destruction. The destruction is being caused by some otherworldly type vehicles in the air. She begins getting things together so that she can leave her house. She calls her husband and they take to the hills. The way they survive, trying to avoid the invaders as well as people who are panicking because of all the destruction, is extremely interesting and very well researched. The description of the hills and mountains where they take refuge is very believable.

I don't know that I would have as much common sense as was shown by the characters in this book. The subtitle, Would you know how to survive, is very apropos. I don't think most people would know how to proceed if their world was suddenly devastated and they were forced to live by their wiles.

The alien invasion was a good setup for this type of a story, but it could just as easily have been some horrible natural disaster, or political upheaval. By giving it the space invaders touch, Hall has managed to keep this from seeming like a extremists survival manual. Some of the information got a bit long but at the same time it was all very important, and is especially important if you are interested in knowing what to do under circumstances similar to these.

Characters were distinctive, although the dialogue often got lengthy. Generally well written.

Foxy' Tale - Review

My goodness a book about vampires.? Not something I would usually read. The word vampire was right there in the title but I bought the book anyway. Maybe it was the delightful cover design. At any rate, Karen Cantwell's Foxy's Tale: The Reluctant Vampire Book 1) Foxy Anders getting a new life together in the heart of DC was lively and really interesting. It had some really funny parts, too. Fortunately, for my reading tastes, they vampire part didn't show up until late in the book--actually that's not true, the vampires were hinted at from the very beginning but it was subtle and it didn't interfere with this story about Foxy.

Throughout the book there was a switching of point of view many times and that took some getting used to. Sometimes it seemed omniscient, but other times it was just a third person presentation. I'm rather picky on this type of thing, but I kept reading and got used to the style. Not only did we get Foxy's point of view, but that of her teenage daughter, Amanda, her two tenants, Myron Standish and Knot, and her daughter's boyfriend.

All of these characters were very interesting and sometimes whimsical. They were distinctive and well-written. Near the end of the story when the vampires showed upf or real, the action moved very swiftly--almost too swiftly. Because of this, the ending felt a bit rushed.

The Chief – Review

I borrowed The Chief from my Public Library.

It is interesting to have read prolific sport writer Robert Lipsyte's book right now when I am actively following and have even participated in, Idle No More—the First People's protest that began in Canada. The Chief, ends up being about American Indian heritage and reservation discord, with the feature person involved being Sonny Bear, a young prizefighter who wants to try for the heavyweight title. The story is told in first person by his friend, an aspiring writer, Martin.

The story started off rather slowly with way too much information about boxing for my taste; but I guess knowing the ins-and-outs of that sport is important. The real story seems to be Sonny accepting his heritage, and trying to do something about the discontent on his reservation in upstate New York.

The writing was smooth, although I felt the story was a bit convoluted. I'm not sure how Lipsyte would have gone about making the story more focused on the Indian situation, and without doing that it seemed The Chief was a little disjointed: boxing, Indian rights, boxing… Even the title is misleading, since that moniker never gets used. It is suggested by Hollywood people who want to make a TV movie, but it is rejected by Sonny and Martin.

In all, I found the book interesting, even with what seemed to be indecision about the book's focus.