Truckers (by Terry Pratchett)

After reading an emotionally moving novel, I like to have a contrast in something light, and preferably humorous. So what could be better than Terry Pratchett?

Rather than re-reading one of the Discworld books, however, I decided to read 'Truckers', first in the Bromeliad trilogy. It's intended for children, but is one of those wonderful crossover books, all the more enjoyable by adults who can pick up on much of the humour that may be missed by children.

I first read this about fifteen years ago, I suppose, when I first came across Pratchett. Then I read it to my sons when they were about six and eight - and it made an excellent read-aloud. But since then it's sat on the shelves; re-read by my sons several times, but not by me. Until now.

The story is about a group of 'nomes' - small people who inhabit the same world as humans, but a great deal faster. They remind me slightly of Mary Norton's "The Borrowers" , but are a great deal more interesting (in my view).

The first nomes we meet are outdoor ones, surviving - just about - in the open world, by luck, skill and determination. Masklin is the only hunter left, and he knows they cannot survive long in the wild. So he persuades them to get in a truck, and ends up at a large department store, established in 1905 by Arnold Bros. There they discover thousands of nomes, living in different departments in rivalry with each other, and with an entire religious system brilliantly written in the 'book of nome', passing down a little ancient wisdom, a bit of current happenings, and several misunderstood signs around the store.

The store nomes have no idea there is a world outside the store; they have their own world under the floorboards of the shop, and everything they could possibly need. Until they learn that the store is to be demolished in three weeks...

It's very cleverly written, with subtle humour that parodies human foibles in a similar manner to some of the Discworld books. Did you ever wonder why you press the 'up' button on a lift, only to go down a floor first? After reading this book, you'll never wonder again...

I thoroughly enjoyed it; it's a quick light read, probably best as a read-aloud. Still in print in the UK, but apparently only available as part of the full trilogy in the USA. Not a problem since 'Truckers' is left rather open at the end; the first time I read it, I immediately wanted to find the sequel ('Diggers').

Recommended.

Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 25th May 2008. All rights reserved.

The Sorrow of Sisters (by Wendy K Harris)

I'd never heard of Wendy K Harris until last year, when I was sent one of her books - 'Blue Slipper Bay'- by The Bookbag, for reviewing. I very much enjoyed it, and although it was complete in itself, I realised that it was a sequel, or follow-up, to another book. I was intrigued to know more of the previous story, as well as impressed by the writing, so I put the first novel - 'The Sorrow of Sisters'- on my wishlist and was delighted to receive it for my birthday last month.

I started reading it a couple of days ago, thinking it would last me several days as it's nearly 400 pages. I was wrong. After the first couple of chapters, I could barely put it down. I read it while waiting for my computer to boot, I read it while waiting for jam to set, I read it in between loads of laundry... and finished it this evening.

The main character is Jane, an almost-fifty-year-old novelist who has been experiencing some writers' block. Her husband is an accountant, who's somewhat stressed about his job and their finances, And there's Henry, Jane's father, who's old and frail, and a bit bad-tempered. Out of the blue, Jane receives a letter saying she has inherited a cottage in the Isle of Wight, which belonged to her Aunt Lillian. Jane has no idea that she had an aunt, so she asks her father... he admits that Lillian was his late wife Victoria's sister, but that they did not have any contact. He refuses to say more.

Jane is surprisingly disturbed, and decides to go and visit the cottage for herself.

Meanwhile, an elderly woman called Emmeline is mourning Lillian, and going over the past in her imagination with her, as well as hoping that Jane will arrive...

The book is a very clever mixture of past and present, allowing the reader to stay just one step ahead of Jane as she learns some surprising, sometimes shocking things about her past. She thinks she has discovered what it was that made her parents cast Lillian aside - little realising quite what further revelations are still to come.

The characters are well-drawn, the settings very believable, and the plot so well written that it drew me in almost at once. I kept guessing at the next step, sometimes successfully, sometimes not quite getting there. I didn't relate quite as strongly to the characters as I do to those of authors like Rosamunde Pilcher, but then again this was really plot-driven, with themes of love, loyalty, bigotry and jealousy permeating the novel.

There are one or two traumatic scenes, although nothing explicit; there are some moving passages too, and a positive bitter-sweet ending. All in all, I thought 'the Sorrow of Sisters' was an excellent book, and I'm very pleased to read that there will be a third in the series before too long.

Highly recommended. I'm rather surprised to find that it hasn't been published in the USA.

Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 24th May 2008. All rights reserved.

Seven White Gates (by Malcolm Saville)

I love re-reading my childhood favourites, from time to time. The 'Lone Pine' series by Malcolm Saville is a series of twenty books, which I gradually acquired during the 1970s, my teenage years, although I had read a few of them before that (and borrowed others from the library).

I re-read them all in the mid 1980s, when I was about 25, and thoroughly enjoyed doing so, but have not read them since - until recently. About a month ago I picked up the first of them, 'Mystery at Witchend' and enjoyed it was much as ever. So I determined to read the entire series again, although not directly one after another.

Yesterday I felt in need of another quick, light read so I re-read the second 'Lone Pine' book, 'Seven White Gates'. This features, again, David Morton - who is sixteen - and his loyal, endearing, and frequently aggraving twin siblings, Dickie and Mary, who are nine. It begins, however, with Peter (Petronella) Stirling, who is fifteen, and discovers just before the end of term that she cannot return to her beloved Hatchholt, as her father has to go away. Instead she is to stay with her unknown aunt and uncle, near Barton Beach.

On her way there, Peter encounters some friendly gipsies, and makes friends for life - Reuben, Miranda and Fenella appear in others of the series, as well; I had forgotten that they were introduced in 'Seven White Gates'.

Peter's Aunt Carol turns out to be a delightful woman, but Uncle Micah is a strange, slightly frightening person who wanders the hills alone, and is grieving for his son Charles, who left home years previously after an argument. It seems a little odd that Peter would never have met her uncle - her father's only brother - despite their living in the same county - but then again, this book is written during the war years, when people didn't travel much.

Tom Ingles, the lad who lives near the Mortons, is also involved in this story, and Jenny Harman, the impetuous redhead, is introduced when Peter meets her at the Barton beach post office.

There are no 'baddies' in this book, but it's an exciting adventure nonetheless when the twins go on a night-time wander, and get trapped. The conclusion is perhaps a little unlikely, but makes a very nice ending to the story. I don't mind coincidences in fiction so long as there aren't too many in one book.

This was really intended for teenagers, but today's teens are mostly far too sophisticated for this kind of simple adventure story. Younger children would probably enjoy it - anyone from about the age of seven or eight upwards, or even younger if parents read aloud to them. And, of course, it's nice nostalgia for adults too! I'm very pleased that the whole series is being brought out in facsimile editions of the originals (linked from the UK Amazon link above) but my version is the paperback Armada edition, which cost me all of 20p back in 1974.

Not the best of the series, but a useful introduction to several people and some places which play important parts in future Lone Pine books.

Review copyright © Sue's Book Reviews, 22nd May 2008. All rights reserved.

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (by Bill Bryson)

I do like Bill Bryson's writing, on the whole. My single reservation is his excessive (in my view) use of bad language, most of which seems entirely unnecessary. But I enjoy his sense of humour and style enough that I usually read his books anyway.

I hadn't realised that he had written an autobiography until my older son presented it to me for my birthday, about a month ago. 'The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid' is sub-titled 'Travels through my childhood' and promised to be an interesting read.

Bill Bryson's childhood was actually rather uneventful - he makes reference to this in his prologue, explaining that while his parents had a few strange quirks, they didn't abuse or neglect him, and didn't treat him in the appalling manner of some recent well-publicised autobiographies. But, as one of the newspapers said, Bryson could write about lint in a tumble drier and make it funny. His childhood, in the USA in the 1950s, has a great deal more scope than drier lint... and although it's not laugh-aloud funny, I smiled several times, and found it a very readable book.

Interspersed with childhood anecdotes that seemed very real (although he admits to changing a few details, and exaggerating here and there) is some commentary on America in the '50s and '60s - probably nothing new to readers in the USA, but for someone who knows very little of American history, it was quite revealing.

Bryson is entirely honest about the problems that overtook American culture, and the bad habits that people developed (such as junk food and excessive TV watching) while clearly loving the positive sides of his country and people. Perhaps for the first time I began to understand some of why America is what it is - and it's mostly a rather strange culture for those of us in Europe and elsewhere.

As well as the autobiographical incidents, and social history comments, are some slightly surreal accounts of Bryson's belief that he was 'Thunderbolt Kid' - a child from another planet, who could zap and obliterate people he didn't like. This belief grew from the super-hero culture, found in comics and television, but he writes these sections as if they're as real as the rest of the book. It helped me get a better picture of what he was like as a child, and made the book all the more enjoyable.

I'm not sure that Americans would appreciate this as much as Brits; it does poke a lot of fun at their culture, and the historical parts are probably nothing new to folk who grew up in the USA. Much of the humour in the writing is ironical, or subtle, which appeals strongly to the British sense of humour but perhaps not so much to those in America.

Recommended to anyone who enjoys Bryson's style - and to anyone who wants to know a bit of social history of America in the post-war years.

Review copyright © Sue's book reviews, 21st May 2008. All rights reserved.