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.

Antilop ve Flurya

Orijinal Adı: Oryx and Crake
Türkçe Adı: Antilop ve Flurya
Yazar: Margaret Atwood
Çevirmen: Dost Körpe
Sayfa Sayısı: 396
Değerlendirmem: 5/5
Ben bu kitabı okurken...: İngiltere Büyükelçiliği'ndeki sevgili vize memuru ile kavga ettim gibi bir şey oldu.

NEDEN BU KİTAP?
Margaret Atwood hiç bir kitabını okumadığım halde tüm kitaplarını severek okuyacağımdan emin olduğum için kitaplarına başlamaya kıyamadığım bir yazardır. "Deli misin sen?" diye sorabilirsiniz ama bazı yazarlarda bana böyle oluyor işte. Neil Gaiman için de böyle olmuştu zamanında. Artık daha fazla dayanamadım, başladım Atwood kitapları okumaya.

KONUSU:
Bilimin gücünün dünyanın tüm yaşam dengelerini alt üst ettiği bir gelecekte yaşam savaşı veren Kar Adamı'nın bugününün ve geçmişinin paralel bir şekilde anlatıldığı bir roman Antilop ve Flurya. Bu distopik dünyada neler var neler: Klonlanmış insanlar, hayvanlar, internetten canlı canlı idamlar, cinayetler, çocuk pornoları izleyerek eğlenen hale gelmiş bir toplum ve alabildiğine ilerlemiş bir teknolojik üstünlük. Özetle, dünyanın nereden nereye gittiğini anlatıyor bize Kar Adamı, esas adıyla Jimmy.

Kaynak:  http://www.perdador.com/f6update/illustration_f9.html

DEĞERLENDİRMEM:
Romana başlamadan o kadar emindim ki çok seveceğimden tadını çıkara çıkara, yavaş yavaş, sindire sindire okudum Atwood'un bu romanını. Tertemiz bir bilim kurgu romanı Antilop ve Flurya. "Kurgu" kısmını pek çok yazar iyi kıvırıyor da genelde "bilim" kısmında tökezliyorlar bu işin. Margaret Atwood farkı da bu kısımda kendini gösteriyor zaten. Derinlemesine yapılmış bir bilimsel araştırma ama okuyucuyu da bilimsel ve teknolojik öğelere boğmadan inceden inceye, alıştıra alıştıra aktaran bir yazım ustalığı.

Benim bilim kurgu roman yorumlarımı takip edenler bilir: Bazı kitaplar için derim ki "Bu bilim kurgu her çeşit okuyucu için, korkmayın okuyun". Bazı kitaplar için derim ki "Bu kitap sadece bu türü sevenler için yazılmış, dikkat edin". Antilop ve Flurya bu iki yönlendirmemin ortasına düşen bir roman. Genetik mühendisliğinin nereye kadar ilerleyeceğinin ciddi anlamda tartışıldığı, GDO diye bir kısaltmanın yaygın şekilde kullanıldığı günümüzü düşününce Atwood'un betimlediği dünya ürkütücü olsa da kabul edilemeyecek kadar gerçek dışı gelmedi bana.

Atwood o kadar güzel bir ayarla arttırıyor ki kitabın temposunu bir bakıyorsunuz olayların orta yerinde kalmışsınız. Kar Adamı ile bir geçmişe gitmişsiniz, bir bugüne dönmüşsünüz, etrafınızda Flurya'nın Çocukları. Kitabın sonlarına doğru dinin oluşumuna ilişkin de öyle güzel, küçük bir olay var ki merak edip de okuyacaklar için büyüsü bozulmasın diye anlatmayacağım ama çok hoşuma gitti.

"Bilim kurgudan korkmam, çekinmem. Distopik romanları da severek okumuşluğum var" derseniz, bir göz atın bu kitaba.

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!

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.

The Graveyard Book

Original Title: The Graveyard Book
Turkish Title: Mezarlık Kitabı
English Title: The Graveyard Book
Author: Neil Gaiman
Pages: 284
My Rating: 4/5
While I was reading this book…: … the twins of one of my dearest friends turned 4 :)

WHY THIS BOOK?
Being a constant follower of Neil Gaiman’s web site and having read two of his masterpieces already (Neverwhere and Coraline), I knew that I’d like this book. I didn’t hesitate for a moment when my hand reached the shelf in Dost Bookstore in Ankara.

THE STORY:
It is the story of Nobody Owens who escapes to a graveyard when he is a toddler after his family is murdered by an assassin named Jack. Bod is given the graveyard freedom by the inhabitants of the graveyard. His graveyard family teaches Bod how to see at night, to haunt, to fade, to dreamwalk, etc. They protect him from the outside world and from Jack.

The Graveyard Book is the tale of how Bod survives. When he learns about his past, he vows to seek revenge on Jack.

MY COMMENTS:
A couple of days ago, I shared the opening paragraphs of this book just to show that it’d attract me even if it wasn’t written by Neil Gaiman. It did attract me as I expected.

The Graveyard Book consists of a collection of interconnected stories and these stories are presented in a chronological order. When I was reading Neverwhere and Coraline, I liked both the characters and the plot in the same way. This time, however, I liked the characters more than the plot. Bod was such a loveable character for me and as I approached the end, it was truly sad for me to say goodbye to him.

The book is written for young adults. Still, Neil Gaiman states in his Newberry acceptance speech that he didn’t write a book about childhood, he wrote a book about parenting. That’s why he converted the good, old saying of “It takes a village to raise a child” to “It takes a graveyard to raise a child”. Gaiman simply made possible the impossible idea of a boy brought up by the inhabitants of a graveyard. When I was reading it, I truly felt the difficulty Bod’s foster ghost parents experienced.

My only disappointment about the book was the facts about Jack. I was expecting a deeper story and I kept waiting for him to reappear throughout the book. When he appeared towards the end, it was not satisfactory enough for me. That’s the only reason behind my 4 stars.

Finally, I love the way Gaiman writes and I completely agree with what Paulita earlier told me and here I quote “It’s good to find an author you love who is still writing”.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
This was a book I chose for “a book that could make me as happy as once “Neverwhere” made” so I count it for Summer Reading Challenge 2012.
This was the book I chose for “Hugo winner” category of 2012 Sceience Fiction reader Challenge 2012.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Original Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine, #1)
Turkish Title: Not available
English Title: Original Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine, #1)
Author: Ranson Riggs
Pages: 352
My Rating: 4/5

WHY THIS BOOK?
I came across this book first on Leslie’s website: Working for the Mandroid. I found the title of the book really interesting. After googling the book a bit, I saw that it was a novel together with really eccentric photos. Then, I asked my coworker who helps me get e-books for my kindle and in less than a day, there it was, waiting for its turn to be read on my kindle. Similar to Starters I read earlier this year, I started reading it short after I got the book.

THE STORY:
It is the story of Jacob (16). He is a funny, curious, intelligent boy who has a close relationship with his grandfather. His grandfather always told him fantastic tales about an orphanage in which he grew up. His tales are generally supported with odd old photos. As Jacob becomes a young adult, he loses interest in his grandfather’s stories about his earlier magical life.

As Jacob’s grandfather is aging day by day, he gets murdered one day and Jacob’s life turns upside down. He sees something hard to believe and starts to question his grandfather’s magical stories. Meanwhile, Jacob’s parents worry about his mental health. So as to help Jacob deal with his grandfather’s sudden and unexpected loss, his father takes him to Cairnholm Island in Wales. That’s where the main story starts. Jacob has much to discover on the island about himself and about his grandfather’s magical fantastic world.

MY COMMENTS:
Putting the story aside, I really liked the photos used in this book: They were truly peculiar like the children themselves. I also liked to learn the fact that the photos were real and gathered together from various collectors (including a few shots by the author himself).

When I started reading the book and showed my friends the cover and some of the freaky photos, many found it quite disturbing rather than interesting. I am known to be a fan of weird books so they were not surprised by the fact that I would read and enjoy it. They were right. It was a joyful read for me. The book was mysterious starting from page 1. I was not certain about where the story will take me and most of time I felt like I myself was actually in Jacob’s peculiar world. Although I read many books and watched many TV series & movies about people with supernatural powers or eccentric talents, I still enjoyed learning about the gift/talent of each and every child in Jacob’s grandfather’s orphanage (namely, Miss Peregrine’s Home).

I found the book really well-paced. I think it is mainly because the author had already writing a sequel in mind so he didn’t rush. There were almost no holes in the plot. As I expected, it was mysterious and creepy.

Unlike many early readers of this book, I knew that the author had the intention of writing a sequel to this book so I was expecting such a final chapter. Now I hope to learn more about what Jacob’s grandfather had been through in the second book. I’m also happy to learn that Ransom Riggs has already started collecting photos for his sequel.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:
It was my first Ransom Riggs novel so I can count it for New Author Challenge.
It wasn’t until this book I knew that the word “peregrine” was actually a kind of falcon so I can count this book for What An Animal Reading Challenge.
I chose this book for Summer Reading Challenge 2012 as “a book I judged by the cover”.
It turned out to be a book about time travel so I can also include it in my list for WFTM Science Fiction Reader Challenge.

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.

Starters

Original Title: Starters (Starters, #1)
Turkish Title: Başlayanlar (Başlayanlar, #1)
English Title: Starters (Starters, #1)
Author: Lissa Price
Pages: 338
My Rating: 3/5

WHY THIS BOOK?:
The reason I bought this book is so simple this time: Just because of the cover.

THE STORY:
During a biological war called the Spore Wars, deadly spores were released killing anyone who was not vaccinated. Prior to the war, those under the age of 20 and over the age of 60 get vaccinated. At the age of 16, Callie has to take of her little brother, Tyler and struggle to survive together with her best friend, Michael. Trying to make life better and easier for her brother, Callie goes to “Prime Destinations”, a company that rents out the bodies of teenagers to those over 60. In Callie’s case, something goes wrong and Callie discovers what her renter was actually after.

MY COMMENTS:

When I read the back cover (after getting attracted by the front cover), I thought it’d turn out to be a promising dystopian novel but it turned out to be an average book for me. Having read books of Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth, it is not easy to love other YA dystopian novels. Still, the concept of the Starters differed. I liked the idea of renting out teenage bodies to old people and body swapping. The plot was interesting but a bit predictable. The boldest move of the author in this book was wiping out the entire population in a society between 20 and 60. However, the character development, especially for Callie, was poor in this book. For example, how can Callie have amazing target-shooting skills and can make perfect use of them without years of practice?

I finished off the book quickly and will read the sequel that will come out at the end of 2012. I think many readers will like this book more than I did as YA dystopian novels are quite popular these days and Lissa Price managed to find a niche in dystopian society.

APPLICABLE CHALLENGES:

I read it in spring so I can count it for Spring Reading Thing 2012.
It is a debut novel and of course, my first book by Lissa Price so I can include it New Author Challenge.
It was a dystopian novel so it can be counted for 2012 Science Fiction Reader Challenge and The Dystopia 2012 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.

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.