H10N1 - M. R. Cornelius

RATING: THREE STARS

The world has been thrown into disarray by a coordinated terrorist attack that unleashed the deadly Korean Influenza virus, H10N1, across the globe. Not even the terrorists could have predicted just how destructive the virus would be and humans have been all but eradicated. There are just a few thousand left across the world and civilisation has ended. There are no workers to produce new foods, medicines and electricity. The lucky survivors are fighting for whatever is left, desperate for help from the scant few hospitals that are still able to provide it.

Dr. Taeya Sanchez is one such medic and works in one of America's last remaining hospitals. The staff there are overworked and the only way they are able to help their patients is through assisted suicide, making the pain of H10N1 disappear forever. When Taeya finally has enough and speaks out against the new regime, she is forced to flee her sanctuary at the hospital. She is plunged into a brave new world that is ruled by the gun, surviving only because of the help of an unlikely alliance with a defecting supply gather, Rick DeAngelo.

The Good
M. R. Cornelius has done a fair job with this story and both of the main protagonists are interesting, telling the story from different mindsets. They quickly form a love-hate relationship which Cornelius develops throughout the book as their friendship turns into something more, despite both of them not really wanting it to and disbelieving that the other likes them in a romantic way.

The story itself is also exciting, with lots of action and surprise events, but Cornelius has stayed away from the traditional viewpoints of post-apocalyptic worlds. The book isn't all about violence and people fighting for resources, which features in the book only as pivotal events. Instead, the book is more of a journey of self-redemption, love and survival, which is nicely refreshing.

The Bad
Sadly, some of the characters in H10N1 are a bit bland and stereotypical. Some of them are villains for no real reason and do things which don't actually benefit anyone, even the antagonist themselves. This does make the book slightly implausible at times and, as a reader, I just had to suspend my disbelief and roll with it.

Cornelius' prose it also lacking in description and focuses more on events and dialogue. This does help keep the story moving at quite a fast pace, but it's difficult to imagine the world around the characters some of the time and he often uses generic description to set the scene, such as 'cars pulling up in a forest.'

My Thoughts
Overall though, H10N1 was an interesting read and I enjoyed it. It was more of a story about love and redemption than a grisly post-apocalyptic horror of murder and violence and M. R. Cornelius has a few nice ideas about what living in such a world would be like.

Treasure Island - Robert Louis Stevenson

RATING: FIVE STARS 

I must confess that with the notable exceptions of those by Tolkien and Wells, I’ve never really been interested in reading what I consider as ‘old books’. This is mainly due my conception that they are written in long-winded and tedious prose, as was the custom back then, but I don’t really know. Due to this ignorance however, I was pleasantly surprised when I decided to delve into the pages of Treasure Island and quickly fell in love with Robert Louis Stevenson’s witty, albeit rather archaic, text! 

In fact, I actually found that his outdated form of writing greatly added to my enjoyment of the story and really brought the characters of the infamous Long John Silver and his buccaneering companions to life! Stevenson’s vivid descriptions, use of old sailor slang and his classic: “yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum” poem really made me feel as if I was adventuring on the seven seas with Jim Hawkins, Doctor Livesey and the rest; securing Treasure Island’s place in my all time favourite read’s list. 

I don't feel the need to describe the plot of the book to you, as I'm sure many of you already know it. Whether from actually reading the book or watching a film (such as the Muppet’s re-enactment as I did as a child), you probably know the story well. I will recommend reading the book though, if you haven’t already, and feel confident that you won’t be disappointed! Even if you just marvel at how people used to speak, as Stevenson’s English isn't English!

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

RATING: FOUR STARS 

When I first picked up The Lovely Bones, I didn't know what to expect. I’d heard that the film was good and had been advised by more than a few friends to watch it, if it ever happened to be on TV. But I'm not one for watching a book-based film without reading the actual novel first, and so (with a long train journey imminent), I decided to give Alice’s Sebold’s story a go. 

Fortunately, and despite my misgivings about a plot that I wouldn't normally gravitate to, I really enjoyed reading The Lovely Bones and found its pages to be full of emotion and tear-jerking prose as Sebold tells the heartbreaking story of Susie Salmon, a young girl who was abducted and murdered by a paedophile while walking home from school one day. 

The story itself is told through the misunderstanding and innocent eyes of a child, describing how Susie sees Earth while looking down from her Heaven. As she watches her family and the police searching for her killer, Susie has to learn to cope not only with her own death, but also with the devastation that her loss has caused on Earth – destroying the lives of her family as they struggle to come to terms with her absence and what it means for them. 

Understandably then, The Lovely Bones is full of heartbreak and makes for a captivating read that I found very difficult to put down. Due to this, I praise the book most highly and say, should you read it, that you won’t be the same person when you turn the last page as you were when you opened the first.