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Day 21 (The Hundred, #2)
Day 21 (The Hundred, #2)
Kass Morgan | 2014 | Dystopia, Fiction & Poetry, Young Adult (YA)
10
8.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review</i>

In Kass Morgan’s bestselling <i>The 100</i> no one had set foot on Earth for centuries after a devastating war that rendered the planet uninhabitable. One hundred teenagers have been sent from the safety of a gigantic spaceship to test out whether or not it is yet safe to repopulate the Earth. <i>Day 21</i> continues on from the first book and the group is about to discover that they may not be alone.

 As with the previous book the story is shared from four different points of view: Wells, Clarke, Bellamy and Glass. It has been three weeks since the hundred crash-landed and there appears to be no sign of radiation poisoning, however some people are falling unwell with unidentifiable illnesses and others have become targets of an unseen enemy. Things take a dramatic turn after the capture of a stranger, a girl who was not from their ship. Is it possible that she is an Earthborn, and therefore how did people manage to survive the Cataclysm?

Back on ship Glass and the rest of the Colony face their own life-threatening problems. Oxygen is running out and it will not be long until there is no air left to breathe. In a mad panic the risk of radiation on Earth is forgotten as the civilians scramble to get onto the remaining drop ships. However there will not be room for everyone.

At first this book did not feel as exciting as <i>The 100</i>. The settings are no longer a new concept to the reader and the love triangle involving some of the key characters was already a little tiresome. Nonetheless once the plot begins to climax once again, it becomes really enjoyable.

Although it is not clear, the ending implies that there will be more to come in this series, which is great as there are a lot of unanswered questions about the characters’ futures. This is a must read for lovers of dystopian literature, however make sure you have read the first book before progressing on to <i>Day 21</i>!
  
Architecture &amp; Morality by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Architecture & Morality by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
1981 | Pop
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"There are certain bands that are hard to talk about, OMD, Simple Minds, where their earlier records were just phenomenal, and later on they made records that were too commercial and not quite as strong as their earlier ones. The first OMD album, Dazzle Ships and Architecture & Morality were flawless. They were beautiful, experimental, inspiring records, then a few years on they were making music for John Hughes movies, and they were good at it and I'm glad that they had success with it, but it wasn't nearly as creatively inspiring as the first three records. Architecture & Morality, I mean it's not hard to overdo the hyperbole, but it's a perfect album, so cohesive, and every song perfectly speaks to the other song, the unapologetic emotional quality of it is really inspiring. Even the artwork by Peter Saville, everything about it is perfectly crafted. One of my very odd musical moments was years ago when I was at South By South West in Austin and OMD were doing a reunion show at a BBQ at three in the afternoon, and they asked me to play bass with them. I found myself playing bass with OMD on 'Enola Gay' at a BBQ at three in the afternoon in Texas. It was one of those moments where you told me that actually I'd just done way too much mescaline and I was currently lying on a bed somewhere and making up the whole thing, I'd believe you. It's a shame that a lot of people came to know of OMD through the last couple of records that were more commercial. It's like Simple Minds, the first five albums are amazing, and then they became a stadium rock band. Now you mention Simple Minds and people think about 'Alive And Kicking' and 'Don't You Forget About Me' which aren't terrible songs, but the earlier stuff was experimental and textural and weird. Maybe someone sees OMD on this list and immediately thinks of a John Hughes movie, maybe they'll be inspired to back and listen to Architecture & Morality."

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A Thousand Ships
A Thousand Ships
Natalie Haynes | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
How could it be anything other than ‘Epic’ when it’s Greek Mythology involved?
A Thousand Ships is the story of the Trojan War as experienced by the women. Greek mythology is always centred around the men - after all, it was men who original myths down (The Iliad and The Odyssey both having been written by Homer). Women are side characters who have things done to them, rather than them being the ones doing things - unless they’re a goddess or a witch. Although witches and nymphs don’t seem to come out of these stories particularly well either 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’ve always loved reading Greek myths and legends, and I’m really enjoying the resurgence of these tales. Told with a modern eye, they can tell us something about ourselves today. We still experience war and loss (there has clearly been no learning experience over the time span between Troy and the modern era), and women are still the ones who shoulder the worst outcomes during and after a war.

It was fascinating to learn about these women, and I particularly liked Penelope’s letters to her husband Odysseus, relaying information about his unbelievable voyage and rather circuitous route home: all information gleaned from bards and their songs. A sensible person would want to know how the singer got the information to write the songs!

The Trojan women sections were really where the true heroes were. These were the women who had lived through a ten year siege, lost their husbands, brothers, sons and families, and were shared as slaves amongst the conquering Greeks. And that includes the poorest as well as the richest of women - Hecabe, Queen of Troy, amongst them.

This book was on the shortlist for the Women’s Prize 2020, and it deserved to be there. I loved reading this, and I now need to read the book written before this (The Children of Jocasta - it has sat patiently waiting on my bookshelf!) to get ready for Haynes’ book about Pandora and her jar!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
  
    Air Race Speed

    Air Race Speed

    Games and Entertainment

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