Book Review: The Last Dog on Earth by Adrian J. Walker

What the publisher says: “Every dog has its day…

And for Lineker, a happy go lucky mongrel from Peckham, the day the world ends is his: finally a chance to prove to his owner just how loyal he can be.

Reg, an agoraphobic writer with an obsession for nineties football, plans to wait out the impending doom in his second floor flat, hiding himself away from the riots outside.

But when an abandoned orphan shows up in the stairwell of their building, Reg and Lineker must brave the outside in order to save not only the child, but themselves…”

What I say: As a lover of post-apocalyptic books, I very much enjoyed this novel. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic London, where Reg, a writer, lives with his dog. He knows there are other people in flats further away (he keeps track of them; there are ten window spread out over the city that lit up every night) but he is not interested in meeting anyone else. He likes to keep to himself. But then he finds a young girl at his door, who refuses to go away. Reg decides to bring her to wherever she’s supposed to be and, once he gets outside the familiar streets, finds the remnants of London to be very different from what he expected. He is forced to deal with other people and his quest to drop the girl off turns into something bigger.

Besides Reg, there is another narrator, who is at Reg’s side for most of the time but also has his own adventures. This is Reg’s dog Lineker. He’s very wise for a dog and he philosophizes like a real human. I loved how he interprets the smells that he comes across; these are much more important to him than sound or vision. However, while he was generally telling an entertaining story, as the story progressed, I found him less believable as a dog. He knew too much; he was too clever.

In all, this was an entertaining story about a man and his dog in a world where there are many more men and dogs than either of them knew.

I received this book as an e-book (ARC) from the publishers (Del Rey) via Netgalley.

 

Book Read: Shift by Hugh Howey

My second book of the year (2016).

When I bought this book, I didn’t know whether to read it before or after Wool. Shift is a prequel to Wool, but is the second book in the series. A discussion with the kind book seller (at Waterstone’s in Amsterdam) didn’t help. I bought the book anyway, but left it on the shelves until I had bought and read Wool. Then I left it for another few years…

Although I didn’t remember the details of Wool, I soon realized that there were people in this book who had also appeared in Wool. In fact, we get the back story for what happens in Wool. Not surprisingly, of course, since it’s a prequel.

The story starts with a world as we know it, and then works towards the world in Wool. We find out why the silos were built, and we’re introduced to some of the silo secrets that we were totally oblivious of in Wool. I found some of the story a bit slow. In particular, I found that I wasn’t too interested in the back story about how the silos came about. On the other hand, I loved the story of Jimmy in silo 17, whom we follow through the years. He’s also a (minor) character in Wool, and I very much enjoyed finding out how he became the person we meet in that first book.

Amazon says:

“In 2007, the Center for Automation in Nanobiotech (CAN) outlined the hardware and software platforms that would one day allow robots smaller than human cells to make medical diagnoses, conduct repairs, and even self-propagate. In the same year, the CBS network re-aired a program about the effects of propranolol on sufferers of extreme trauma. A simple pill, it had been discovered, could wipe out the memory of any traumatic event. At almost the same moment in humanity’s broad history, mankind discovered the means for bringing about its utter downfall. And the ability to forget it ever happened. This is the second volume in the New York Times best-selling Wool series.”

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Number of pages: 570

First published: 2013

I got this: bought at a bookshop

Genre: Post-apocalyptic

 

Book Review: The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

The Heart Goes Last: What it is about

Doubleday (publisher) says: “Stan and Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of an economic and social collapse. Job loss has forced them to live in their car, leaving them vulnerable to roving gangs. They desperately need to turn their situation around—and fast. The Positron Project in the town of Consilience seems to be the answer to their prayers. No one is unemployed and everyone gets a comfortable, clean house to live in . . . for six months out of the year. On alternating months, residents of Consilience must leave their homes and function as inmates in the Positron prison system. Once their month of service in the prison is completed, they can return to their “civilian” homes.
At first, this doesn’t seem like too much of a sacrifice to make in order to have a roof over one’s head and food to eat. But when Charmaine becomes romantically involved with the man who lives in their house during the months when she and Stan are in the prison, a series of troubling events unfolds, putting Stan’s life in danger. With each passing day, Positron looks less like a prayer answered and more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.”

The Heart Goes Last: What I thought

Let’s start on the outside: a beautiful cover! Do you agree? This kind of cover, simple but colorful, is so inviting!

I am not a huge Margaret Atwood fan, but I was keen to read this new novel, as it sounded very interesting. I’ve read a few of Atwood’s books, and loved them, but I also read one or two that I found impossible to get through. The science fiction ones, I love: The Handmaid’s Tale, Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood.

The Heart Goes Last reminded me to some extent of The Year of the Flood, because of the crazy things that are happening. I read the book in a weekend because it’s was near-unputdownable, but some of the crazy things were a little too crazy for my liking. Marilyn Monroe and Elvis sex dolls? And changing one’s brain for…well, I won’t spoil it for you. But this went a little too far for me. Luckily, this only appeared in the latter half of the book, and I devoured the beginning like chocolate cake.

But okay, what is the book really about? That’s a different story altogether! It’s about freedom and perceived freedom. When we first meet Stan and Charmaine, they are living in their car. They can go wherever they want, as long as they have money for petrol, but leaving their car is not advisable most of the time, because of all the violent people outside. Stan and Charmaine are extremely poor and when they get the opportunity to start a new life, they don’t hesitate and take it. However, this means being permanently locked up in a gated community, where they have to spend half of the time in prison and the other live a ‘normal’ life. Now they have all they need, in return for their freedom. Are they better off?

When they make mistakes and get in trouble, it’s time to find a way out. They discover that the system they live in is not what it seemed, and strange things are going on. In the end, Charmaine discovers that her mind sometimes limits her freedom when her circumstances don’t. That was quite an interesting discovery!

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Rating: 4 (out of 5)

Number of pages: 308

First published: 2015

I got this book: from my Penguin Random House representative for an honest review

Genre: post-apocalyptic, science fiction

 

Book Review: California by Edan Lepucki

California: What it is about

From the publishers: “The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they’ve left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable in the face of hardship and isolation. Mourning a past they can’t reclaim, they seek solace in each other. But the tentative existence they’ve built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she’s pregnant.

Terrified of the unknown and unsure of their ability to raise a child alone, Cal and Frida set out for the nearest settlement, a guarded and paranoid community with dark secrets. These people can offer them security, but Cal and Frida soon realize this community poses dangers of its own. In this unfamiliar world, where everything and everyone can be perceived as a threat, the couple must quickly decide whom to trust.”

California: What I thought

Suzanne of Bibliosue got this book, a beautiful signed hardback, for me as a birthday present. She’s too nice!

And she was right: this is just the kind of book for me. I love to know what happens after the apocalypse, any apocalypse. It wasn’t really too clear at first what the apocalypse entailed, but the effects were just right: chaos and survival in the woods. When Frida and Cal come across a community, their life suddenly improves, but at a price. Bit by bit they discover how the community works and how it evolved, and they wonder whether they weren’t better off on their own in their cabin in the woods.

I enjoyed very much exploring the world together with Frida and Cal, starting small and seeing more and more of their surroundings. Meeting the different people and their backgrounds was interesting.

The story was believable. The apocalypse wasn’t overdone but seemed like a natural result of the way the world is right now. No zombies, no virus.

Really, the book was about people and their relationships. and how best to survive in a hostile world. There are no certainties, and when Frida gets pregnant they are both terrified and excited. Will their baby be welcome in a community without any children?

It was a less dark read than I expected (which is good) and I really enjoyed this novel a lot. A whole new view on a post-apocalyptic world.

 

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (good to very good)

Number of pages: 400

First published: 2014

I got this: from Suzanne of Bibliosue, mainly because she’s such a nice person, but more specifically because she read the description and thought of me. Thanks, Suzanne! 🙂

Genre: science fiction, apocalyptic