Number 35- A Short Stay in Hell- Stephen L Peck

Another cheat read- trying to get my numbers up before the halfway point in the year ( I finished this on Saturday just gone- 5 days ago)

The title tells you in an ultra-sarcastic way what this book is about. When Soren Johanssen dies, he assumes he's going to heaven since he's been a good Mormon boy all his life and followed all the rules.

However, in a waiting room hosted by a genial demon, we find out that Mormonism isn't actually the one true faith, and therefore he's going to hell to repent. I won't reveal which faith it is that gets the free pass to heaven, you will need to read the book to find that out for yourself.

He finds himself in an almost infinite library and tasked with finding the book that describes his life. If he can find that book, he can move on. That's easier said than done though.

It appears that mystical, infinite (almost) libraries are almost becoming a subgenre of their own. And it's one I approve of.

This is a much better example of the genre than The Midnight Library was. The humour works and the whole treatment of the theme is much better. I think Mark Lawrence's Library trilogy might still hold the edge for me though.

I really liked the characters in this. The scope of the task they face becomes horrifically clear very quickly. The fact that Peck manages to make a hell of eternal tedium into such an intriguing and more than vaguely disturbing story is nothing short of miraculous. It's difficult to say if the Hell of other people is better or worse than the Hell of Loneliness that Soren also endures.

The Hell in this is based on a short story by Borges  this is openly admitted to in the book by the demon who decides which Hell to send our poor protagonist.

The world Peck builds is truly Hellish.  Far worse and more imaginative than any lakes of fire and brimstone.

I know this is a book that is going to stick with me.  It's also a dead easy read and very short- just over 100 pages, but more satisfying than a lot of novels four times that length.

Highly recommended.

Number 34- Turbine 34- Katherine Clements

 

Another entry in the numbers theme so quickly...

The year is 2050 something. The world is baking.  On the West Yorkshire moors, an environmental scientist is trying to determine the impact of a controversial wind farm on the local peat bogs. She camps up by Turbine 34. However, there is something else on the moors, something that knows her, something that shouldn't be there.

This is a nice quick read that builds its atmosphere with great efficiency. The images and visions she experiences are at times genuinely unnerving.

The acknowledgements highlight the strong environmental message that runs through the story about the importance of the peat bogs as habitats for the wildlife, and flood defence etc. The book manages to carry these messages without overloading the story.

However, I do think the ending was fluffed quite badly. The twist to the tale really doesn't work for me.  It's a shame because I was really enjoying it up until that point.

Your mileage may vary.  This was a damned good trip, even though the destination was a bit of a letdown.

Number 33- 33 Place Brugmann- Alice Austin

 

This book was specifically chosen for the number in the title, and it sounded interesting. The next part of my occasional numbered books theme for the year.

Set in the second world war, this follows the inhabitants of the eponymous Belgian house in their various experiences of wartime Europe. The Jewish family from the first floor flee to the UK. Other inhabitants join the army or the resistance. Others are more sympathetic with the invaders.

This is all very nicely written, but it's such a slow burn I struggled to get involved with any of the characters or their dramas. The second half of the book is definitely much more interesting, especially when the residents start running foul of a traitor.

Each chapter is written from the point of view of a different character, including two chapters told posthumously, which allows for a first person narration of the character's death. That was an interesting twist.

However, this falls foul of the old trap of all the characters talking with the same narrative voice. Older characters will not talk in the same way as younger characters. The old colonel will not have the same voice as a Russian immigrant Jewish girl. But in this book, they all sound the same. It robs the book of a lot of its potential.

I can understand why people would like this. The prose is undeniably good, even if it should be varied and isn't. The story, when it gets going, is good. The slow unravelling of plot points is actually very nicely handled where a passing comment from one character can take a whole new meaning later on. However, I just didn't get on well with this book.

Lots of potential, but for me it fell well short.