Our Reviews for Showa

2011/12

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These reviews are arranged in alphabetical order by title.  If you are looking for a certain author (by surname/family name) then please use this table.

Title: The House of Silk

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Suitable: Yr 7+

This is an excellent addition to the Sherlock Holmes stories.  I really enjoyed it and am very glad that I read it.  Some "new" Sherlock Holmes stories have been a real let down but this one really excited me and lived up to all my high expectations of a book by Anthony Horowitz.

The book is written in a very different style to Anthony Horowitz's other books.  It is much more wordy, with longer sentences and with a very rich vocabulary.  I learnt several new words myself!  It is much more in keeping with the style of Dr. Watson.  This is book to sit down and really enjoy and savour the style as well as the story.

As with any good Sherlock Holmes story, there are plenty of unexpected twists to the story line and so I really do not want to spoil it for you here by telling you too much.  As always the book starts off with a visit to 221B Baker Street by a London art dealer whose life has been turned upside down since a recent visit to Boston.  He returned with a new American wife and a man stalking him.  The story appeals immediately to Sherlock Holmes who starts investigating what at first seems like a very simple case: "The game's afoot...".  However he is soon drawn into a spiders web of crime that stretches right across Britain at all levels of society.  As this is the final case, nothing is certain.  Anything can happen, anyone can be killed!  Be warned: this is a great book and one to read on cold day during the Christmas holidays.

Richie Steven

Title: The Last Dragonslayer

Author: Japser Fforde

Suitable: Yr 6+

Gently humorous with lots of clever references to a fantasy version of the UK, this story centres on Jennifer Strange, a fifteen year old running an agency for magic folk. Business is failing as the magical powers appear to be waning and there is a rumour that this may be connected to the demise of the dragon population. Suddenly there is a surge and powers seem restored but this coincides with a prophecy that the last dragon is about to die, potentially terminating the magical world simultaneously. Could and should this be allowed to happen? 

A great fantasy novel with excellent characterisation and a clever interweaving of magical ideas. I particularly liked the rewiring job that Jennifer supervises near the beginning.

Karen Armstrong

Title: Wasted

Author: Nicola Morgan

Suitable: Yr 7+

   Jack had rather an unfortunate start in life.  His mother died giving birth to him.  His father re-married but after his first day at school, they were playing football in the kitchen and she fell onto an upturned carving knife in the dishwasher.  Having 'lost' two mothers, Jack feels that he has had his share of bad luck so he trust that he can rely on the flip of a coin to always send him good luck.

   Jess is a singer and by chance, Jack hears her sing just as he is looking for a new singer for his band.  Their stories interweave lending to a tragic conclusion.  As the story unfolds, there are a couple of occasions when the outcome is determined by the flip of a coin.  Adjacent chapters propose two possible outcomes.  Even the ending is determined by the flip of a coin.

  I loved this book.  The story was well-placed and the characters sympathetic and normal.  The chance element was thought-provoking as one considers how nearly things could turn out so differently, or are some things simply inevitable?

Karen Armstrong

Created: Monday, 21st November 2011