[Blog Tour] Hot Redemption | K.D. Penn

Original Title: Hot Redemption
Turkish Title: Not Available
Author(s): K.D. Penn (USA)
Genre: Romance, cyberpunk, erotic
Evaluation: 3/5
When I was reading this book...: ... I had to work over weekend.


WHY THIS BOOK?
As you can see in the gorgeous pic above, I volunteered to be a part of this book which is to be published by Dragonfairy Press in December this year.

ABOUT THE BOOK (GOODREADS):
Epic and his brothers don’t rob strip clubs for fun or fame, but to use the electronic currency to take care of their family. With androids and robots flooding the job market, it is almost impossible for humans to find work. Besides, stealing comes easy to the gang, until Phoenix steps into their lives, snatching away their bounty and fogging up Epic’s mind with her seductive scent.

Shots blare. A chase ensues. Both sides refuse to yield. And the small compromise that comes is brought by chains and a promise for a bigger hit—on a planet far away from earth.


Can Epic and Phoenix work together to rescue themselves from poverty? Or will they find another type of redemption, one lathered in lust and warmth, pleasure, and the type of undemanding love that no human can live without?

COMMENTS:
I wanted to be a part of this blog tour because of the mixture of cyberpunk and erotic elements in its content. The blending of these two (really hard to blend) genres was at its best. Still, being a sci-fi lover, I found myself trying to find more details of this "android&robot dominated future". All I found was limited sentences. This is not the author's fault though. The book is actually about what I mentioned in the previous part, nothing more than that. I wish it was a longer book with more details of its unique future as the author touched a sensitive social issue, high unemployment due to increasing number of robots and androids.

About the characters, I liked each of them. Epic's family was so well described that I was able to imagine all of them (especially the triplets) talking all together in a single room. I liked the strong family ties in Epic's family, how much he cared for his family and all.

The romantic and erotic parts were given at the right dose and didn't make the book get away from its sci-fi oriented scope. I liked each and every phase of Epic and Phoenix's relationship and how it turned out to be at the end.

It was a joyful late summer read for me. The timing was perfect as I had to work for long hours at work. When I was home after an exhausting day, I liked getting far far away with Epic and Phoenix.

The Shockwave Rider

Original Title: The Shockwave Rider
English Title: The Shockwave Rider
Turkish Title: Şok Dalgası Süvarisi
Author: John Brunner
Pages: 274
My Rating: 3/5
While I was reading this book...: ... I tried hard to finish it off on the way from Istanbul to London.

WHY THIS BOOK?
Actually I wasn't planning to read this book in 2012. My final sci-fi book for 2012 was going to be Neuromancer by William Gibson and with that book I would have read a book of cyberpunk and completed Leslie's sci-fi challenge. Then, the Turkish translation of Neuromancer turned out to be a total failure and I had to read a book of cyberpunk subgenre: The Shockwave Rider was the quickest replacement I was able to think of.

THE STORY:
It is the story of Nick Haflinger, a fugitive computer hacker who uses the telephone networks to hack the global network to create new identities for himself and outrun a government agency that is trying to capture him.

MY COMMENTS:
This book was published in 1975 and it is one of the early books of cyberpunk (It is older than the well-known cyberpunk classic of Neuromancer). Considering the period Brunner wrote his novel, things like computer viruses or global network hackers were hardly imaginable for many people. The book desribes internet before there was internet. From this perspective, the content of the book is way ahead of its time.

When it comes to story telling, it is not that much of a success from my point of view. Although the main character of the story, Nick Haflinger was neatly described, the character development for other characters of the book were not that good. This made me get lost in certain chapters but overall it was OK.

This is a cyberpunk novel but it was written before cyberpunk was named or even roughly described. It makes the book a sci-fi classic.

Have Space Suit - Will Travel

Original Title: Have Space Suit - Will Travel
English Title: Have Space Suit - Will Travel
Turkish Title: Uzay Elbisemle Yolculuğa Hazırım
Author: Robert A. Heinlein
Pages: 243
My Rating: 1/5
While I was reading this book...: ... I constantly looked for a piece in the book to like it.

WHY THIS BOOK?
Heinlein was one of the sci-fi authors I decided to read a book from at the beginning of this year and I had to do it.

THE STORY:
It was the story of Kip Russell, a high school graduate, deeply dreaming of travelling to the stars. This young man participated in a draw with great efforts. He couldn't win the big prize (travelling to the moon) but he did win a space suit. One night he went out with his space suit on and he was abducted by aliens.

MY COMMENTS:
I tried hard to like this book but I just couldn't. I guess I was literally lost in space. I didn't like the long, graphic descriptions of how a space suit works. I don't like when "sci" element is more in content than "fi" element in a sci-fi book. My taste (dislike) for this book was similar to that of Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon.

I do know Heinlein is one of the masters of sci-fi literature. Although the first book I read by him was kind of a disappointment for me, I will definitely read another book by him in 2013. Probably I'll be reading his Hugo award winner book, The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress. Maybe I didn't like this book because it was one of his early works and then I'll fall in love with his literature with his work from 1960s onwards.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Original Title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
English Title: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Turkish Title: Androidler Elektrikli Koyun Düşler mi?
Author: Philip K. Dick
Pages: 208
My Rating: 4/5
While I was reading this book...:... I sometimes had to go back and reread some pages (though the story and the language were not that complex).

WHY THIS BOOK?
This book caught my attention long ago because I really really liked the title. Then I spent a good amount of time and energy trying to find the Turkish version. I couldn't find it in any of the second hand bookstores. Luckily, a dear friend bought the book for me in UK and brought it to Turkey.

THE STORY:
In a disturbing future, most humans emigrated to Mars because of the toxic air of Earth. Those who remain are in danger of becoming classified either as "specials" or "chickenheads" due to brain damage resulting from poor air quality. Real animals are really scarce in this toxic Earth and one of the common hobby for those remained in Earth is to have android animals, which act almost same as real animals.

The main characters are Rick Deckard, a bounty hunter who must put to rest eight disturbingly-human Nexus-6 androids who have escaped from Mars (after killing their owners), and John Isidore, a special who drives a van for an android animal repair company. Isidore's been classified as a special for not meeting IQ cutoffs. Still, he possesses what all androids lack: empathy.

MY COMMENTS:
From the first day I saw the title of this novel, I knew I would like it. After I read the first 30 pages, I was somewhat confused. Maybe my expectations were so high but I was sure that the story would drag me into it  from page 1 onwards. It didn't happen of course. I had to read the first 60-70 pages to see the real momentum of the story.

I liked many questions the story got me into thinking about artificial intelligence:

• Would it be foolish for us to empathize with artificial life?
• Are humans, who completely lack empathy, really that different from androids with humanistic characteristics?
• Is it right to judge someone's worth in a society by just looking at his/her IQ score?
• How one can sense or measure the existence of empathy in another being?
• If your responses to certain situations have become standard, does that mean you are on the edge of losing your core humanistic characteristics? 

Well, the list goes on and I belive one should like/love a book by definition if it makes him/her question that many diverse stuff. This novel was first published in 1968 and in the first version the year of this disturbing future is set at 1991. Later editions changed it to 2021. I'm pretty sure that they will probably change it again. I found it really interesting that Dick had such little faith in humanity. I believe he was kind of sure that technological advancement will be so advanced that we would ruin Earth quickly.

Being a non-native reader, it was a quick read for me and as the events were set in one single day and night, it was quite fast-paced. It's structured well, and, for a science fiction book, relatively easy to read. There is not a lot of violence and the ending wraps up quickly.

Why 4 stars instead of 5? The plot was totally awesome but the story telling fell behind. Maybe I would have liked it more if it was a longer and more detailed novel. Still, it is a Sci-Fi Masterwork! 

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Original Title: A Canticle for Leibowitz
English Title: A Canticle for Leibowitz
Turkish Title: Leibowitz İçin Bir İlahi
Author: Walter M. Miller, Jr.
Pages: 368
My Rating: 2/5

WHY THIS BOOK?:
Just because it was a Hugo award winner for best science fiction novel.

THE STORY:
A Canticle for Leibowitz is set in a Roman Catholic monastery in a desert in the southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war. The story covers thousands of years as civilization tries to rebuild itself. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz take up the mission of preserving the remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the day the outside world is again ready for it.

MY COMMENTS:
The story had previously been published as a series of novellas in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science. I definitely would have liked the book more if I read it in the from of 15 consecutive novellas rather than a single novel. Still, it was so Catholic for me. I was overdosed by the density of Christianity related content.

I was really into the story during the first few chapters and then I got so lost as if I was really in that damn desert. I was annoyed by the sudden and unforeseen and unrelated jumps in time. I lost track of what I was reading about due to lack of a narrator.

There are so many readers out there who loved this book. I didn't like it maybe because I am just a casual sci-fi reader but come on! I didn't get a story. I didn't get characters. What I managed to get was a vague sense of some of the themes the author wanted to explore. The idea that, if the world blew up tomorrow and several centuries went by, we would probably repeat all the same developments and mistakes. The old science vs. religion thing. And probably some other themes I would have picked up ifI had read more carefully rather than losing my senses in a desperate attempt to just finish off the book.

Insurgent

Original Title: Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
English Title: Insurgent (Divergent, #2)
Turkish Title: Not available yet
Author: Veronica Roth
Pages: 544
My Rating: 4/5

WHY THIS BOOK?
Easy. Just because I loved the first book of the series, Divergent so much.

THE STORY:
Goodreads summarized it much better than I can ever do.

MY COMMENTS:
I tried hard to control myself so as not to start this time too soon. I liked Divergent so much and I knew the third book wouldn’t be around right away so I tried to keep myself as busy as possible with all those other gorgeous books in my TBR pile.

I was a bit skeptical at first. What if I didn’t like it? What if it wasn’t as good as the first book of the series? Then, I couldn’t wait any longer and let myself get lost in this uniquely described dystopian setting. I read the book on my kindle and I was surprised to find out it was over 500 pages. I mean the book was so well paced.

There was love, action, romance, violence all served at once. The progress of character development was also worth mentioning about. We had the chance to know more about Tris and Four. We learned why they acted that way towards themselves, towards each other and towards life. The setting was still not 100% presented to the reader, which makes me more curious about the third book and the grand finale of this awesome trilogy. I wonder how far Veronica will make the characters go!

Waiting for Daybreak

Original Title: Waiting for Daybreak

English Title:  Waiting for Daybreak

Turkish Title: Not available yet

Author: Amanda McNeil

Pages: 172

My Rating: 3/5

When I was reading this book...: ... hubby was sleeping and he didn't wake up (99% of time he wakes up when I start reading in bed).

WHY THIS BOOK?

I would never know about this book if I haven't been contacted by the author herself. So, I'd like to thank Amanda for contacting me. I generally blog in Turkish and I generally read non-Turkish books. Until now not a single Turkish author contacted me via my blog but Amanda did so I'll never forget it. It's been really special for me. When she asked me to read and review her book, I, o course, agreed to do it.

THE STORY:

It's the story of Frieda whose life changes in an unimaginable way on a regular day she decided not to go work after a bad date.Suffering from a mental disability, Frieda has always hard time dealing with unpleasant things. She suddenly becomes violent, furious and at times she blacks out. However, her disorder is the very reason she survives after an apocalypse. Together with her cat, Snuggles, Frieda has to find her own ways of survival in this new cruel, dangerous (an almost hopeless) world. What is more challenging for Frieda is choosing a new path to follow when she meets another survivor of the apocalypse, namely, Mike.

MY COMMENTS:

I was a bit nervous before I started reading this book as I promised the author herself to review it. I was thinking what I would do if I cannot keep reading after the first few pages and honeslt, this made me postpone start reading it for a week or two.

I'll start with the story itself. I'm a sci-fi fan in all aspects: I read sci-fi books, I watch sci-fi movies and TV series so the only thing that caught my attention in the core of the story is the disorder of Frieda, nothing else. When one is exposed to too much apocalyptic stuff, s/he always tries to find something untold before. I believe this is an understandable but easy wish from a reader's/watcher's perspective. It also puts a lot of pressure on the creater's side. The story was not a new one but the main character was.

I liked unstable, unpredictable, complicated character of Frieda. Sometimes I managed to understand her. Sometimes I just couldn't relate with her and I think this shows the author's success in creating the character and adding bits of mental disorder.

I liked the pace of events. I almost always like stories where the action hero is female like this one. I also liked how the book ended, which is very tricky in apocaplyptic novels. Sometimes the auhtor ruins everything with a bad ending. Amanda McNeil did not do that and I managed to read Waiting for Daybreak in a single day (although it was in English).

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:

It was my first Amanda McNeil novel so I can count it for New Author Challenge.

Make Room! Make Room!

Original Title: Make Room! Make Room!
English Title: Make Room! Make Room!
Turkish Title: Yer Açın! Yer Açın!
Author: Harry Harrison
Pages: 218
Rating: 4/5
While I was reading this book…: …we started making plans for a possible trip to Japan in 2013.

WHY THIS BOOK?
I found the book title attractive enough to read. Plus, it’s a dystopian novel.

THE STORY:
It is 1999 and 35 million people living in the city of New York are trying to find their own ways to deal with heat. Our core character, Andy Rusch is a detective, one of the lucky amonst the population to have a job an done of the unlucky in the population to deal with never-ending problems caused by crowds. Andy Rusch is assigned to investigate a murder. While doing his Research, he falls in love and tries to find his own way of enjoyment in a life driven by pressure.

MY COMMENTS:
What I liked most about this book is characterization. Andy, his flatmate, his girlfriend, his coworkers and even the local criminal were characterized such that I was able to get a real sense of living in a overpopulated future where almost everything was scarce. Each character of the book had his own flaws, just like any of us. These flaws were presented so nicely that it facilitated my connection with each character. In addition, the daily life of the characters were so plainly written that I was able to relate with the situations they go through.

I was also pleased with the content. I like easier to imagine sci-fi boks. The probable causes of the future such as overpopulation or all kinds of social problems caused by scarcity of resources maket his book an easy sci-fi read for everyone.

This book was written in 1966 and it was in a way projecting how life would become if birth control is not used. Another important theme of the book is how to manage scarce resources, which will always be a critical issue for humanity. I liked the way Harry Harrison exaggerated things and how he painted his dystopian future. Although some of the material of this book can be considered as valid even today, I wouldn’t name it a a classic as some do.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
It was my first Douglas Adams novel so I can count it for New Author Challenge.
It was dystopian so I can count it for The Dystopia 2012 Challenge.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Original Title: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Turkish Title: Otostopçunun Galaksi Rehberi
English Title: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Author: Douglas Adams
Pages: 246
My Rating: 4/5
While I was reading this book…: … I was asked if I was reading the Quran.

WHY THIS BOOK?
Being a late comer to the great world of sci-fi literature, it’s been a must-read book for me for quite some time. I bought the whole series long ago but I didn’t started reading it. Thanks to a book challenge, I read it finally.

THE STORY:
It is the story of Arthur Dent who ends up leaving the Earth seconds before the Earth is demolished. Of course, Arthur didn’t do on his own. Ford Prefect, an outsider who happened to be in Earth at the time to make research for the latest edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, helps him. Arthur and Ford start an adventurous journey through the galaxy. They come across many interesting characters, like two-headed, three-armed Zaphod Beeblebrox, Zaphod’s girlfriend, Trillian, Marvin (the most depressed android ever). If you want to learn about why we die or why we are born, you should read this book.

MY COMMENTS:
It is the funniest, most enjoyable sci-fi book I read till now. It’s a classic and one of 1001 books you should read before you die. It was a perfect summer read for me. I laughed quite a lot throughout the book even though I was reading the Turkish translation. Douglas Adams wrote such a masterpiece that not even a tiny bit of laughter gets lost in translation.

I ended up reading this book as it was published in the year I was born: 1979. I loved the dose of sci-fi content. I liked the sarcasm. From time to time, I got a bit disconnected with some of the characters but it wasn’t a big deal as I quickly found my way. I loved the android with manic depression. Wouldn’t you like it?

It was nice to get away from the regular plots I have been reading lately. It was a nice summer refreshment. An entertaining book I recommend to all (even those who think they wouldn’t like sci-fi).

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
It was my first Douglas Adams novel so I can count it for New Author Challenge.
This was one of the books I picked up as time travel for WFTM Science Fiction Reader Challenge.
I chose this book for Semi-Charmed Summer 2012 Book Challenge as “a book written in the year I was born”
This book was also in my list for The Classics Club.

A Clockwork Orange

Original Title: A Clockwork Orange
Turkish Title: Otomatik Portakal
English Title: A Clockwork Orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
Pages: 168
My Rating: 5/5

WHY THIS BOOK?
Because it is one of those books that make me think: “Everyone has read this book but me…”

THE STORY:
It is the story of a teenager becoming an adult in a futuristic, criminal world. The teenager, Alex is the lead “droog” in his gang. Alex and his gang do anything violent one can think of ranging from beating people up to killing them, from raping to robbing, etc. Alex and his droogs’ violent nights are the first few chapters. Then, “government intervention” comes into scene. Government claims to find a solution to violence in the society. Alex plays a key role in this intervention. I will leave it to prospective readers to discover themselves how he does this.

MY COMMENTS:
This was the most ultra-violent book I have ever read. There are long descriptions of all sorts of crime. Burgess managed to drag me into the world of Alex where I felt what he had been through. Especially in the second half of the book, I moved with Alex: I cried with him, I felt his horror and pain although he had a really annoying personality. I liked the Turkish translation of the slang used by Alex (My sincerest thanks to the translator).

This is a perfect novel about free will and it is a must read for every lover of modern classic stories. It is not easy to write something new about this book as it has been reviewed by hundreds of readers. It was one of the most enjoyable reads of 2012 for me and I strongly suggest it to all bookworms.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
I finished reading it on June 18 so I can count it for Spring Reading Thing 2012.
It was my first Anthony Burgess novel so I can count it for New Author Challenge.
It was dystopian so I can count it for The Dystopia 2012 Challenge.
This was one of the books I picked up as sci-fi modern classic for WFTM Science Fiction Reader Challenge.
I chose this book for Summer Reading Challenge 2012 as “a book from Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels List”
This book was also in my list for The Classics Club.

Ender's Game

Original Title: Ender’s Game (Ender’s Saga, #1)
Turkish Title: Ender’in Oyunu (Ender Serisi, #1)
English Title: Ender’s Game (Ender’s Saga, #1)
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 295
My Rating: 3/5

WHY THIS BOOK?
I don’t really remember how many times people suggested this book to me. Being a sci-fi lover, I had to spare some time for Ender.

THE STORY:
Ender’s Game is set somewhere in the future. An alien race attacked Earth twice and almost destroyed mankind. So as to be prepared for a possible new attack, an international battle school was established in which the world’s most talented children are trained for war. Their early trainings are simulated battles in the form of games in a zero gravity area.
Our hero, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin is the most talented, most genius child ever. Ender enters Battle School at the age of six. When everyone is questioning if humanity will win this war against the alien race, Ender grows up fast and develops any skill needed to save humanity.

MY COMMENTS:
The things I liked about this book were fewer than the things I disliked:
The story was told as an internal monologue of Ender himself. This way I was emotionally connected with the main character of the book. I easily followed how Ender dragged himself away from his family and adapted himself to Battle School. The problem for me was I didn’t like Ender.

The author himself stated that he designed the book in such a manner that even those who never read sci-fi feel comfortable reading it. I think Card managed to do this really well. Still, when I checked it with the book lovers around me, I saw that no one was interested in reading it.

The main content of this book focuses on children getting trained for war. The idea of training children for war was so disturbing for me. I didn’t like the conditions in Battle School and the pressure they put on Ender. I was annoyed by the way Battle School students talked, thought and acted like adults although I am well aware of the fact this happens in some parts of the world today. Maybe I was too well connected with the main character that I couldn’t succeed in liking what he went through. I believe those who liked the idea of “adult kids” ended up loving this book. At least, this is what I observed in a good number of reviews in Goodreads.

In short, my failure to like this sci-fi classic was because of the fact that I didn’t manage to read it as a sci-fi book.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
I finished reading it on June 12 so I can count it for Spring Reading Thing 2012.
It was my first Orson Scott Card book so I can count it for New Author Challenge.
It was dystopian so I can count it for The Dystopia 2012 Challenge.
It is a book chosen for the U.S. 2012 World Book Night so I give myself 5 points and count it for Semi-Charmed Summer 2012 Book Challenge.
This is a book I had decided to read for WFTM Science Fiction Reader Challenge.
I chose this book for Summer Reading Challenge 2012 as “a banned or contested book”
This book was also in my list for The Classics Club.

Earth Is Room Enough (Dünya Hepimize Yeter)

Original Title: Earth Is Room Enough

Turkish Title: Dünya Hepimize Yeter 

English Title: Earth Is Room Enough

Author: Isaac Asimov

Pages: 246

My Rating: 4/5

WHY THIS BOOK?

In November 2011 there was a small book fair in my university (By the way, I graduated more than 10 years ago but it is still “my” university). It lasted for four days. Although I wanted to visit it on the very first day, many unscheduled things came in between and I just couldn’t go. On the last day, I made it there but the student club that organized the book fair was busy packing the books. I was so disappointed that they felt sorry for me. They told me that all of the new books were already packed and showed me a box of second-hand books. “Earth Is Room Enough” was at the top and the minute I saw Asimov’s name, I decided to buy it. I bought 5 or 6 books on that day and the students were really happy with their last-minute sale.

THE STORY:

Earth Is Room Enough is a collection of early short stories of Asimov from 1950s. Almost all of the stories concentrate on earth while a few of them concentrate on space travel. 

MY COMMENTS:

This book, like many other Asimov books, is classic. It can be considered as early science fiction. Except for a few anomalies like punch cards, Asimov’s imagination and stories fit in well still today. The technological advances humanity has achieved over time do not affect the impact of these stories. When I was reading it, I forgot the fact that these stories were written in 1950s. I think one can still see the possibilities of some of Asimov’s imagined futures even yet. 

Like many other reviewers, “Satisfaction Guaranteed” is my favorite from this collection. 

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:

I read it in spring so I can count it for Spring Reading Thing 2012.
This was an adult sci-fi book so I can count it for 2012 Science Fiction Reader Challenge.

Divergent

Original Title: Divergent (Divergent, #1)

English Title:  Divergent (Divergent, #1) 

Turkish Title: Uyumsuz (Uyumsuz, #1)

Author: Veronica Roth

Pages: 447

My Rating: 5/5

WHY THIS BOOK?

For a long time I wanted to read this book because,
1. I loved The Hunger Games series and this was said to be another YA dystopian novel similar to The Hunger Games.
2. The publicity was so good and I almost always fall for good publicity.
3. There were hundreds of bloggers out there counting down Insurgent (Divergent, #2) ever since I found about this book.
4. I love anything related with sci-fi so I just couldn’t avoid.

THE STORY:

It is the story of a 16-year-old girl called Tris in future Chicago. In the society Tris lives in, all 16-year-olds have to pick the faction they want to live in for the remaining part of their lives. The factions are Candor, Abnegation, Dauntless, Amity and Erudite. Each faction values a characteristic which they believe the opposite of was responsible for the “warring world” of the past. Abnegation, the selfless faction, was formed by those who blamed selfishness. Dauntless, the brave, was formed by people who blamed cowardice. Those who blamed aggression formed Amity, the peaceful. Erudite, the intelligent, was formed by those in society who thought ignorance was responsible. And the remaining faction, Candor, the honest, was formed by people who blamed duplicity.

Tris has to decide if she wants to live in her old faction, Abnegation or Dauntless. As the story progresses and Tris chooses her path, it’s suddenly clear that she doesn’t quite fit in just one faction and that proves threatening for those controlling this perfect society because as a Divergent, she can’t easily be manipulated.

MY COMMENTS:

Since from the very beginning, I knew I would love this book and I was not wrong. I loved the setting, the characters (not only Tris and Four, all of them), the plot turns and twist and the end. It is not easy to write a novel that thousands will find original, popular and enjoyable at the age of 23. Well, Veronica Roth managed to do that elegantly.

During the first few chapters, I caught myself trying to find similarities between Divergent and The Hunger Games or between Tris and Katniss. Then this somehow diasappeared because this was a totally different world. Yes, it was again dystopian but totally different. I loved the desciptions and character development (just a bit annoyed by the name change of Four along the book). I loved the limited taste of romance and lack of a love triangle. I loved the insecurities of Tris. Her weaknesses and her spirit were so easy to relate to. I especially liked the evolution of her character. It was like she didn’t know herself at first so everything was new to her as they were to the reader.

The world Veronica Roth created forces you to think. I was a bit confused at the beginning about the factions. I had to go back to remember what all the different factions consisted of. Maybe because I read the book in English and I am not a native speaker but once I managed to keep in mind everything, I was dragged away.
The pacing of the book was well done and throughout the book my curiosity was never totally disappeared. I was compelled to keep reading from start to end and once I was done, I wanted more. I think that was the reason for my quick read (Please note that I’m Turkish so it takes time for me to read books written in English).

As Divergent is planned to be a trilogy, I have some expectations. I want to learn about,
- Why has the world changed?
- How did humanity decide to live in factions predicated on character traits?
- How is the world outside Chicago?

Lastly, I was lucky enough to read this book as Turkish copy is still not available in the market. I think it is mainly because a good majority of Turkish readers discover The Hunger Games trilogy right after the movie so publishers don’t want to distract people. I wonder how the translation will be?

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
It is a debut novel and of course, my first book by Veronica Roth so I can include it New Author Challenge.
I read it in spring so I can count it for Spring Reading Thing 2012.
It was a dystopian novel so it can be counted for 2012 Science Fiction Reader Challenge and The Dystopia 2012 Challenge.
Lastly, not Chicago in specific but USA in general is a place I have never visited but would love to visit so I can include it to Semi-Charmed Book Challenge.

The Swarm (Sürü)

Original Title: Der Schwarm
Turkish Title: Sürü
English Title: The Swarm
Author: Frank Schätzing
Pages: 800
My Rating: 2/5

WHY THIS BOOK?:
A couple of years ago many people around me (especially at work) read this book and everyone was so impressed. I was bucy with other books at the time so I missed the book's "popular reading period" in Turkey. After my husband's great St. Valentine's present (my gorgeous Kindle Touch), I got kindle version of the same book. I decided to start reading this book on the day we were leaving for our 10-day long spring vacation in Spain. I thought it'd be nice to read a popular apocalyptic eco-thriller on the plane and on the trains as it was suggested by many as an "airport novel".

THE STORY:
The book opens with a series of random events: fishermen going missing in Peru, whales attacking tourist boats in Canada, big colonies of tubeworms gathering around methane hydrate deposits in the North Sea... The only common thing about these incidents is that they are all ocean related. Scientists around the world start to face with the fact that something unusual going on around the world. So a task force of scientists is set up to study the phenomena and the possible causes of this under the auspices of the US Government. This leads to further disasters.

MY COMMENTS:
Although the plot of "The Swarm" is strong, its execution was a big disappointment for me. I couldn't help but think (like a good majority of the previous reviewers of this book) that the author had the idea of getting a disaster movie out of his book. There were many references to characters looking like well-known movie actors, In addition, giving the US Government a controlling role in the research aspect of the plot seemed strange to me at first (Note that the author is German) but then it appeared as Schätzing was in a way welcoming Hollywood movie makers.

Noone can deny the fact that there lies a deep research beneath this book. Actually, too much of the book was full of complex and detailed scientific explanations, which reminded me of some books of Jules Verne (such as From the Earth to the Moon). Although brief summaries would suffice, these deep scientific explanations appeared so frequently that I was distracted from the core plot.

My problem with the book was pretty simple: Every time the author started to speed up things, he immediately let it go by either some lenghty piece of character development or unnecessarily detailed scientific content. For instance, while you are reading about a tsunami, it may suddenly be interrupted by a random character considering a three-some with a couple of Norwegian guys. I was so annoyed by such interruptions so it took me ages to finish the book off.

Still, if you are interested in marine science or ecology of the oceans. It may turn out to be an enjoyable read for you.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
It was my first book by Frank Schätzing so I can include it in New Author Challenge.
I read it in spring so I can add it to my list of Spring Reading Thing 2012.
It was an apocalyptic novel so I can also count it for 2012 Science Fiction Reader Challenge.

Ambrosia Laneti

Orijinal Adı: Ambrosia Laneti
Yazar: Mustafa Resul Yalçınkaya
Yayınevi: Epsilon
Sayfa Sayısı: 409
Değerlendirmem: 4/5

NEDEN BU KİTAP?
ODTÜ İşletme Mezunları'nın (evet ben de ODTÜ İşletme mezunuyum bu arada) mail grubunda bir mezunumuzun önerdiği bir kitaptı. Aslında yazar tavsiye eden mezunumuzun bir arkadaşıymış. Ben de tavsiye mailini tam da Türk yazarlara daha fazla zaman ayırmaya karar verdiğim bir dönemde okumuştum. Türünün de bilim kurgu olduğunu öğrenince daha da bir ilgimi çekti kitap ve hemen aldım. Kitap kapağının da satın alma kararımda oldukça etkili olduğunu da ayrıca belirtmek isterim. Kapakta kullanılan renkler ve de kelebekler ile kızın elbisesi, duruşu çok şık olmuş bence. "Ambrosia" sözcüğü de başlı başına ilgimi çekti.


KONUSU:
2018 yılında yaşanan ölümcül doğal afetler sonrasında dünyanın kontrolünü ele geçirmek isteyen güçler tüm sınırların ortadan kaldırılarak bütün devletlerin tek bir yapıda örgütlenecekleri bir düzen kurmak istemişlerdir. Ülke temsilcilerinin yaptığı uzun toplantılar sonrasında "Universum" adında yeni bir devlet kurulmuştur. Ancak dünyadaki tüm devletler Universum'a dahil olmak istememiş ve kalanlar da "Terra" adlı bir oluşum altında birleşmişlerdir.

2028 yılına gelindiğinde dünyayı TBID adında bir hastalık kasıp kavurmaktadır. Aşırı teknoloji kullanımından kaynaklanan bu hastalık hemen herkeste görülmekte ve hastalığa yakalananlar kısa sürede ölmektedir. Universum bünyesinde oluşturulan Bilim Kent'te çalışmaya hak kazanan Türk bilim adımı Can Umar ise bu hastalığa çare bulmak için bir araya gelen ekibin lideridir.

Özet olarak, Ambrosia Laneti, Can Umar merkezinde 2028 ve sonrasında teknolojinin ve tıbbın sınırlarının zorlandığı sadece iki devletten oluşan bir dünyada yaşananların anlatıldığı bir bilim kurgu romanı...

YORUMUM:
Ambrosia Laneti seveceğimi düşünerek aldığım bir kitaptı ve beni kesinlikle hayal kırıklığına da uğratmadı. Yazarın ilk romanı olduğu düşünüldüğünde kurgusunun da iyi olduğunu düşünüyorum. Sadece Can Umar dışındaki diğer karakterler, özellikle de Can'ın psişik güçlere sahip eşi Dorothe'nin çok arka planda kaldığını düşünüyorum. Kitabın başlarında Can ve Dorothe'nin hikayesinin romanın merkezinde kalacağını düşünmeme rağmen Dorothe'den hak edildiği kadar bahsedilmemişti. Dorothe'nin anlatımı ne kadar zayıfsa, Can'ın anlatımı da o kadar kuvvetliydi. Bir ara romana o kadar konsantre olmuştum ki, neredeyse Can'ın hırsıyla düşünür hale geldim.

Kitabın sonu beklediğimden çok daha iyi çıktı. Bilim kurgu türünü sevenler Türkiye'de bu türde yazan pek yazar olmadığını iyi bilirler. M.R. Yalçınkaya bu tür de ümit vaat eden bir yazar. İkinci romanı çıktığında konusuna bakmadan alırım diyebileceğim türden.

En büyük eleştirilerimden ve aynı zamanda övgülerimden biri de kapak tasarımına. Kapak kitabı hemen almamdaki en büyük etkenlerden biriydi. Ancak, konuyla kapağı tam olarak ilişkilendiremedim. (Bu ara bu sorunu sık sık yaşamaya başladım. Ben de bir tuhaflık var belki de).

Sözün özü, bilim kurgu okumayı seviyorsanız Ambrosia Laneti'ne kesinlikle bir şans tanımanız gerekiyor.

Dünyanın Merkezine Seyahat (Journey to the Center of the Earth)

Original Title: Voyage au Centre de la Terre
Turkish Title: Dünyanın Merkezine Seyahat
English Title: Journey to the Center of the Earth
Author: Jules Verne
Pages: 409
Rating: 4/5

WHY THIS BOOK?:
It was back in December 2010 when I decided to read ALL books of Jules Verne. It was mainly because I was impressed by the new set of Jules Verne books in Turkish offered by one of my favorite publishers in Turkey, Ithaki. I started with the lovely story of Dr. Ox (Dr. Ox’s Experiment: The Drama in the Air / I owe a review to this entertaining book) and I continued.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is my 6th Jules Verne book and I’ve been thinking about creating a perpetual “Jules Verne Readalong” but I haven’t mind up my mind yet. Plus, I’m not sure if people would participate. Maybe it’d work if I make it bilingual. Well, this is not the right place to think about it.

THE STORY:
It is the story of an extraordinary voyage of Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and their trusty Icelandic guide, Hans. When Professor Lidenbrock discovers an ancient parchment suggesting a journey to the center of the Earth is possible, he wastes no time in pulling his nephew and ward, Axel, into an expedition, through a crater in an extinct volcano in Iceland into the center of the Earth. Harry actually sees no good that can come of this expedition, but he has no option but to agree.

MY COMMENTS:
I already made up my mind. I will read ALL books by Jules Verne but I hesitated a bit before I start reading this one. I had read “From the Earth to the Moon” back in May 2011 and I didn’t like it as it felt like I was reading a science book. Then I decided to take a look at some of the reviews posted in Goodreads and/or by bloggers about “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. I saw that there were a lot more negative reviews than I expected. Then, I again postponed reading it till this April.

As this is my 6th Jules Verne novel, I can boldly say that Verne’s writing style is generally “pure, hard core science fiction”. He uses a great deal of scientific explanation, theories and analysis, which is my main source of admiration to his work. “Journey to the Center of the Earth” differs though.

Its scientific component is not as dominant as that of “From the Earth to the Moon”. It is not futuristic. It is about an extraordinary travel that occurred during the time period the characters lived in. The plot involves the history of the world so it somehow relates to us all. I liked the way the narrator, Axel explaining the meaning of scientific terms and past discoveries.

Having written this book in 1864, as usual, Jules Verne was way ahead of his time and peers. It’s hard to understand how he managed to gather this much diversified scientific facts all together. Many sci-fi authors hardly do it today although we have access to almost everything thanks to internet.

Although what happens in the book seems to be far from reality, I really enjoyed it. When I was reading it, I could easily imagine what the travelers were going through. I felt the danger, suspense and despair Axel went through. I felt like I was travelling with them to the center of the earth!

OTHER REVIEWS YOU SHOULD CHECK:
After I checked the web, I saw that A Literary Odyssey and I read and reviewed this book almost at the same time so you should check it out. Our points of view are pretty much different from one and another so you’ll have a different perspective.

If you are thinking of listening to audio book version, check out My Awful Reviews.