PLANET OF THE HEAD-BREAKERS by Zeb Haradon @ZebHaradon

 5 GOLD stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: one of my favourite authors, so I look out for his new releases.

In a Nutshell: Character-orientated scifi.  Robots.  The future of mankind.

Blurb: 

Centuries after the revolution, the remnants of humanity survive on agricultural communes where they are subjected to mandatory lobotomies before reaching adulthood.

The centuries-old, malfunctioning robots that control them have turned the lobotomy into a coming-of-age ceremony. Most children look forward to it, but not Jim. He dreads the impending surgery and contrives a plan to evade it.

Japeth, a nomadic surgical robot tasked with performing the lobotomies, admires Jim's rebellious spirit and decides to spare him. He promises to return, and makes a bold claim - he was once a man of flesh and blood.

Jim maintains the charade of being lobotomized as he awaits Japeth's promised return, but after years without rescue, he resolves to flee the commune. His quest takes him across a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape in a desperate search for the elusive Japeth.

*

I was just talking to someone on Twitter about how hard it is to review books by this writer.  This was how the conversation went:

T: I LOVED it. Just reviewed but couldn't do it justice. The prob with reviewing ZH's books is that you can't explain what they're like; I end up writing a barely sufficient review then saying 'it's brilliant, you have to read this' and that's kind of it.

C: That sums it up. Nobody else I've read does this combination of imaginative originality, characterisation, absurdity and just all round competence like that guy

Here it is, anyway!

There are probably as many different fictional versions of the future of our world as there are people who want to read and/or write them, but Mr Haradon's take on the subject is, as one would expect, a lot more imaginative and entertaining than most I've read.

The first part of the book is about Jim, at ages 6, 11 and 16, as he navigates life in the commune.  I was completely engrossed from page one, but it was the second part, in the POV of Japeth, that made the book really take off for me, as he tells the story of how human became android became robot, and how the world collapsed.  It's BRILLIANT.  So good I wanted to read it again as soon as I'd finished it, even though I suspect I am light years away from the author when it comes to views on political and societal progression.  Didn't matter.  Always good to broaden one's outlook! 😉😆

The last part (back to Jim) is sad, touching, heartbreaking ... but not without a glimmer of light.  I'm still thinking about this excellent novel, and will need a day before I can start anything else.  This guy can write the arse off most authors - I was going to say 'in his genre' but he doesn't really have one.  Highly, highly recommended.

LITTLE BIRD'S LULLABY by Kameo Monsoon #RBRT #TuesdayBookBlog

 3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Family drama, dangerous adventure.

This is not my usual sort of genre at all, but the nicely written blurb piqued my interest.  Generally, this novel was a bit too 'Hallmark' for me, but that's merely a matter of taste - the book itself was jolly good, and the author can certainly write.  The  characterisation is excellent, the story is well-paced, and I found myself wanting to know what would happen next - which is, of course, what the answer to the question 'is it any good?' hinges upon.

Parents Jen and Blake take their three children - Sydney and Tessa, teenagers, and Max, aged 10 - on a hiking trip in Arizona canyons, an area of wild beauty and potential danger, which I had trouble picturing because of course there is nothing like that in England!  I looked up a couple of Youtube videos of canyon hiking, flash floods, etc, so I could see what I was reading about.  Divisions and underlying tensions are magnified when the family's strengths are pitted against Nature at her most unrelenting.

Sydney is the eldest and is reluctant to go on the trip because she will be missing her boyfriend's party - and she is already concerned about his loyalty.  She was the most interesting character.  I didn't take to Jen much; she seemed rather humourless, and Blake a bit too Great Dad.  

I liked reading all the stuff about hiking and survival - it was clear that the author is well-versed in this but the information was seamlessly woven into the narrative and never felt like too much.  My star rating of 3.5 is a reflection of personal preference, but in the interest of objective reviewing I've rounded it up to 4* on Amazon and Goodreads.

SILO by Hugh Howey

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Started watching Apple TV series, sought out the book.

In a Nutshell: 'In a ruined and hostile landscape, in a future few have been unlucky enough to survive, a community exists in a giant underground silo.

Inside, men and women live an enclosed life full of rules and regulations, of secrets and lies.'

As is usual, the actual story differs a fair bit from what I've seen of the TV series so far - only 3 episodes, though, so I'm reserving judgement.  This first installment was originally called 'Wool', and I still don't know why, unless it refers to the stuff that gets pulled over one's eyes.

The book opens with characters who are not seen again once their stories have been dispensed with, leaving a slowly unfurling chaos in their wake - probably, according to 'the rules' of novel writing, a total no-no, but it really worked for this.  The protagonist for the rest of the novel is engineer Juliette Nichols, who works in the 'deep down', keeping the machines running.  As often happens with men writing female main characters, she's a man in all but name, but that didn't matter too much, because I liked her well enough so could suspend any disbelief; also, her backstory provides reasons for her somewhat hamstrung emotions.  The most vivid characters for me were Walk, an elderly technician, Lukas, who studies the stars., and Jahns, the mayor when the story opens.

The theme of the story, throughout, is the growing sense that the inhabitants of the silo are being lied to about why they are there, what happened to humanity before the silos existed and what's really outside, and that's just for starters.  A few who know more are keen to make sure that truths remain hidden; investigating too deeply can be dangerous.

It's good.  I remained interested throughout and loved the concept of one's whole life being governed by one's place on that never-ending staircase from top to bottom.  Look forward to seeing what happens next.