Lion Songs: Thomas Mapfumo and the Music That Made Zimbabwe
Book
Like Fela Kuti and Bob Marley, singer, composer, and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo and his music came to...
![Herzl: Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State](/uploads/profile_image/fb7/f5fb0146-917e-4815-b2ee-01c93a5c0fb7.jpg?m=1522362104)
Herzl: Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State
Book
The first biography in more than a generation of the father of modern political Zionism and in...
![Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust](/uploads/profile_image/9df/65e04756-2bd2-4b85-ab4e-16b5e6f789df.jpg?m=1522341694)
Whose Muse?: Art Museums and the Public Trust
Glenn D. Lowry, James Cuno and Philippe de Montebello
Book
During the economic boom of the 1990s, art museums expanded dramatically in size, scope, and...
![Thieves' Quarry (Thieftaker Chronicles #2)](/uploads/profile_image/e67/cd051cb4-6055-4cc4-8b28-67561baade67.jpg?m=1611613696)
Thieves' Quarry (Thieftaker Chronicles #2)
Book
Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, September 28, 1768 Autumn has come to New England, and...
![40x40](/uploads/profile_image/0e3/630e4ff5-bfdf-4760-9e37-29f3ad9090e3.jpg?m=1522362006)
ClareR (5603 KP) rated The Ministry of Time in Books
Jun 4, 2024
The Ministry of Time is a clever book - it uses time travel and science fiction, with a touch of history that actually happened, and mixes it up with a hefty dose of romance, thriller and literary fiction. It doesn’t sound like it will work, but I’m here to say that it really DOES!
Ok, so a quick, yet vague, synopsis: the British Government has come into possession of a device that can go back in time and find particular people in the past. It’s been decided that the people they take are all in life-threatening situations. Those plucked from their time are placed with a “Bridge”; someone who will facilitate their integration into modern society.
The main pair is that of Graham Gore, a Polar explorer from the Erebus expedition, and his Bridge, a woman whose mother escaped the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Not an easy adjustment for a Victorian man. This Bridge is the narrator.
Graham Gore adjusts quickly to modern life, but is modern life willing to accept him? And what affect does it have on him and his fellow time travellers, to be so out of time?
There was so much to think about whilst reading this - I was completely immersed, and it ended FAR too quickly!
![Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East](/uploads/profile_image/4e6/e55a3194-419c-4558-a129-e6a18bf864e6.jpg?m=1522322793)
Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
Book
A thrilling and revelatory narrative of one of the most epic and consequential periods in 20th...
<i>Captive</i> is the debut young adult thriller by British author A. J. Grainger. Set in contemporary Britain, sixteen-year-old Robyn, the daughter of the Prime Minister, is kidnapped and held hostage by three animal rights activists. Until the government agrees to release the person accused of the attempted assassination of the PM four month previously, they refuse to free Robyn from captivity. It soon becomes clear that a lot of lies and cover-ups have been occurring and it is difficult to know whom to trust.
The novel gets off to a great start with a lot of action as Robyn and her family is ambushed on their way to visit grandparents. The first half of the book is really exciting as the reader slowly gets to grips with what is going on.
Grainger writes really well with great use of descriptive words and phrases. To keep the reader engaged and to lengthen the story she includes other interesting details that are educational in a way – for example, knowledge about birds.
Unfortunately the second half of the book is not as exciting as the first. A relationship starts developing between Robyn and one of the captors, which is rather unoriginal and predictable.
One thing that I particularly liked about this novel was Robyn’s character. Naturally people may expect daughters of prime ministers to be snobbish and spoilt but Robyn was the complete opposite. She did not care about where her clothes came from or whether or not she went to parties. Robyn was the representation of the average teenage girl preparing for her GCSEs.
Despite the clichéd captor/hostage situation <i>Captive</i> is a very enjoyable novel with a few exhilarating twists in the plot.
![Utusan Malaysia](/uploads/profile_image/2b4/f5118514-5adc-4e00-a52c-391bb5d052b4.jpg?m=1522358284)
Utusan Malaysia
News and Magazines & Newspapers
App
Distinctive for its blue masthead as its logo and trademark, Utusan Malaysia was first created and...
![Walden & Civil Disobedience](/uploads/profile_image/0a5/e27ecb96-1101-4591-9a42-817c4e7470a5.jpg?m=1522358960)
Walden & Civil Disobedience
Henry David Thoreau, Tom Griffith and Henry Claridge
Book
No nineteenth-century American writer can claim to be as modern as Henry David Thoreau. His central...
![The Civilian Bomb Disposing Earl: Jack Howard and Civilian Bomb Disposal in WW2](/uploads/profile_image/77d/31b196aa-285a-4144-a063-57fec7bb177d.jpg?m=1522339323)
The Civilian Bomb Disposing Earl: Jack Howard and Civilian Bomb Disposal in WW2
Book
Charles 'Jack' Henry George Howard, GC, 20th Earl of Suffolk & Berkshire, born into the noble...