Books
40
What Pelican read this month A
witness the beginning of the end of an entire people. The cruelty of the era is paralleled by the unforgiving hostility of Tasmania’s rugged landscape, and at times the story’s vivid horror will leave you gasping for breath. In a world where the only material possessions are boots, weapons and women, Wilson’s historical fiction is both thoroughly researched and told with such force as to make you glad for the mundanity of your life. Violence, pain and illness are constant companions for whites and blacks alike through this story and the lawlessness of this “prison without bars” is brilliantly depicted.
The Roving Party Rohan Wilson Set in a time of bushrangers, chain gangs and Tasmanian tigers, The Roving Party is the story of a band of bounty hunters on a state-sponsored mission of Aboriginal slaughter. Led by the local squatter, the group is composed of convicts and mainland Aboriginal trackers who have been promised their freedom and money in exchange for the wholesale murder of indigenous Tasmanians. As the party track and kill while struggling to survive the harshness of the wilds, we
F
Kiss of Snow Nalini Singh Ok. Here’s the thing. I don’t read a lot of romance novels and it’s not a literary snob thing. They just don’t appeal to me. However, this novel promised funny, sexy, action-packed adventures (back cover blurb) with the added incentive of being part of a ‘bestselling’ sci-fi series. Well, I’m going to have to disagree. Hawke, a super hunky alpha male slash wolf, has been fighting his “fatal” attraction to Sienna for several tedious pages. It’s
In a terse yet graphic style, Wilson effortlessly conveys intense power and emotion as well as fascinating details. Ongoing descriptions of everyday life and Tasmania’s botany and geography entrap the reader, and you become interested in not just the characters but the time and place itself. As a result, you will find your thoughts straying to this book long after you have put it down. Giles Tuffin
B+
Most of the story is set in Japan, where avant-garde artist and newly empowered mutant Kenji is running amok. Kenji’s power allows him to manipulate his body mass, giving Gillen and Espin the opportunity to delve into body horror. Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic Akira is a clear influence
Generation Hope: The Future’s a FourLettered Word Written by Kieron Gillen Art by Salva Espin and Jamie McKelvie If X-Men First Class left you with the desire to check in on the latest developments for Marvel’s merry mutants, then Generation Hope is a series you should be reading. Mutantkind is facing extinction but salvation lies in the hands of Hope Summers. Hope is the ‘Mutant Messiah’, the first mutant born since their near-extinction. Through the magic of time-travel, Hope is now in her teens and working to help new mutants
not exactly clear why his attraction is so fatal, a euphemism about his fearfully large boner perhaps? Meanwhile there is this whole paranormal subplot going on, what with Sienna being an X-class Psy and Hawke being leader of the Snow Dancers (not the most spine-chilling name for a wolf pack). A lot of irrelevant conversation about impending Psy-wars and protecting wolf territory happens between the sexy times. I wish the author had stuck to one genre of fiction rather than flitting between harlequin-type romance and gritty sci-fi details. By the end, if I had to read another sentence about Sienna’s maddeningly spicy scent or how Hawke’s alpha was going to burst out of his pants, I wanted to set myself or the book on fire. Probably the book. As a novel aspiring to be full of slick, provocative dialogue and tantalising love scenes, it falls decidedly short of the mark. At best, this is a book to pass the time while you’re waiting for something better to come through the mail. Deblina Mittra
control their powers. Five lights begin to shine on the Cerebra device, alerting the X-Men to the existence of new mutants.
B-
Conversations With Myself Nelson Mandela It is near-impossible not to be drawn in by the magnitude of Nelson Mandela’s story. This may be why Macmillan thought a book composed entirely of material written or spoken by the man himself would be a safe bet. It sets out to answer the question that apparently remains unanswered: “What does he really think?” The book is arranged chronologically into four indistinct parts intended to mirror Mandela’s reverence to classical literature. “Pastoral” and “Drama” are well crafted,
The final chapter re-teams Gillen with his Phonogram collaborator, Jamie McKelvie. They explore the politics of the mutant nation and Hope’s place within it. Gillen portrays Hope as caught between the agendas of the older X-Men. However, they also hint at just how dangerous Hope can be. Espin does a fine job on art chores, excelling in action set pieces of giant monsters and creepy flesh. McKelvie is one of my favourite artists and it’s exciting to see him bring his unique character designs to the X-Men. I particularly like his Magneto, who closely resembles Sir Ian McKellan. Generation Hope is proving to be one of the most interesting X-Men spin-off comics currently running. Building the future of the franchise with a heady mix of teen angst and political intrigue. Kevin Chiat
providing neglected details of Mandela’s childhood and early education. There is a combination of modesty and aspiration here that would resonate without any knowledge of the adversities and achievements of Mandela’s later years. In the following parts, however, Conversations becomes wearisomely bogged down by its technical and formal restraints. Every chapter is heavily footnoted and there is a frustrating lack of continuity as successive parts of the same excerpt are titled twice. The value of dedicating an entire chapter to Mandela’s calendar entries is also highly questionable. Yet if you can tolerate continual page flicking and timeline-consulting, you will be rewarded with candid insights into the function of the African National Congress, Mandela’s political ideologies and the prison regime that sought to eradicate them. Mandela sets forth a particularly potent recurring motif in the struggle between brain and blood which implements a powerful theme of personal sacrifice. Large parts of Conversations tell us very little of what Mandela really thinks, but it’s a worthwhile read for the stark beauty of his letters to family members alone. Elizabeth Howard