My Top 10 Scifi / Horror Books For 2014

It’s been a busy year! I reckon I’ve gotten through around 35 books this year so it’ll be hard to whittle it down to a top 10. I’ve noticed a lot of the lists about this year are very safe and samey so I’m shaking it up a bit. Also unlike most of the other lists around I’m including self-published titles, of which there have been some outstanding examples this year. Sincere thanks to all the authors and publishers who have supported me this year!

1. Eleanor by Jason Gurley

I absolutely loved this one. Highly original and thought-provoking. Jason has since bagged a publishing deal with Crown so expect this book to be everywhere next year, albeit in a revised edition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Sand by Hugh Howey

Hugh pulled out all the stops with this tense post-apocalyptic actioner. It’s a riveting read from start to finish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. World Of Trouble by Ben H. Winters

Ben’s iconic detective Henry Palace unravels the final pieces of the puzzle as asteroid Maia hurtles ever closer to earth. He really couldn’t have finished this trilogy any better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The Martian by Andy Weir

A huge success this year, this originally self-published scifi thriller features a quick-thinking wisecracking astronaut stranded on Mars. You will never clench your buttocks more. Think of it as Gravity with a little Ferris Bueller thrown in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

This beautifully designed and innovative take on the haunted house theme transferred to retail was a blast. Think House On Haunted Hill-meets-Ikea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes

This supernatural crime thriller was a gem strengthened by Beukes unique style and unflinching attitude.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. The Fourth Sage by Stefan Bolz

My YA pick for this year, this is a no-nonsense dystopian epic which should definitely NOT be split into two movies to bore the pants off the general public.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

A thoroughly enjoyable sequel to Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, expect to see a lot of this series next year as the Tim Burton movie is released (hopefully not starring Johnny Depp as Miss Peregrine)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells

A huge hit on Amazon this year, Fluency is a brilliant fusion of classic and modern scifi and paves the way for what should be a very entertaining series.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. The Other Of One  (Book One) by Brian G. Burke

My middle-grade/early teen pick for this year. I’ve been raving about this one for a while but it deserves a shot. An epic fantasy tale with an Irish twist to rival anything else that’s been released in this genre this year with a lot of heart, plenty of action, humour and scares to keep 11-15 year-olds (and many adults!) interested. Looking forward to book two next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Hollow City (Miss Peregrine Book #2) by Ransom Riggs

One of the books that helped me rekindle my love of reading was Ransom Riggs’ Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. Initially intrigued by the cover which had gone viral, I found both the premise and the concept fresh and exciting and coupled with Doogie Horner’s amazing book design, it was not only one of the best written but best designed books in its genre in many years.

Hollow City picks up where Miss Peregrine’s left off, with Jacob Portman and his peculiar friends barely escaping the island of Cairnholm, with Miss Peregrine incapacitated and constantly hunted by the wights and their grisly minions, the hollows.

Journeying across a Britain ravaged by World War II, the children stumble across news of a cure for Miss Peregrine, now trapped permanently in her bird form and with time running out for their protector, head for London, the Peculiar capital of the world.

With the introductions out of the way in book one, Riggs now has the time and scope to offer a  much bigger story than he was previously, while also expanding on the characters and building on the mythology of the Peculiars. The pace has picked up significantly and while the original felt a little static at times, the opposite is the case here. There is rarely a lull as the children stumble their way in and out of danger in a much more linear fashion and although they have no idea of what will happen once they reach their goal, they continue to push forward faced with the truth that there is no going back.  Tension is expertly created throughout, building to several life-threatening crescendos, its opus being  a brilliantly devious twist at the conclusion.

It’s also a story about conflict, both internal and external with Jacob worried about the impact of his disappearance on his parents and his relationship with Emma, and the other peculiars torn between their sometimes misguided loyalties and doing the right thing when faced with adversity and the threat of death. What’s interesting about Riggs’ Peculiars is that they’re not treated as superheroes and they don’t act like them either. Each has distinct flaws and regardless of their age (some being hundreds of years old) at times they can still act like the petulant children they once were, largely due to being under the over-protective wing of Miss Peregrine for so long.

Once again the story is brilliantly enhanced by the eerie vintage photography, most real and collected by Riggs over the years (as was the case with book one.) The big difference here is that with Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, much of the story seemed driven and written around the photography. I don’t get that impression with Hollow City. It’s much more it’s own story and uses the images sparingly and to great effect in parts, while also building on the plot built around the ones used in book one and once again, this concept never feels gimmicky at any stage of the proceedings.

It’s a brilliant expansion of an inventive novel and although a darker and more grown-up affair which, to an old geezer like myself sometimes feels restricted by the Y.A. audience it’s aimed at,  it’s a perfect companion to the original and one that will not only delight, excite and intrigue fans,  but leave them with an uncomfortable (but hopefully curable!) case of the Heebie-jeebies.

Eamon Ambrose

Amazon

Amazon UK & Ireland

Book Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A while back I happened to come across the photograph above on the internet. I was intrigued both as a lover of photography and all things weird. I instantly tried to track down it’s origin and my search brought me to this curiously titled book. They say never judge a book by it’s cover but in this case I was so impressed with the design of the cover I would have bought it for that alone.

Out soon on paperback, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is the first novel from wonderfully named author Ransom Riggs (that’s his real name by the way – well done Mr & Mrs Riggs!) an avid collector of vintage photography from pretty much anywhere he can find it. In this book he uses some of his most unusual discoveries to weave a gripping fantasy centred around a young teen Jacob who after witnessing the death of his grandfather Abe at the hands of a terrifying creature, discovers a life hidden from him until now except for some odd photographs of children doing seemingly impossible things shown to him over the years.

In an effort to understand what has happened and conserve his own sanity he follows a trail of clues which lead him all the way to a remote Welsh island to find the orphanage where his grandfather spent his childhood during the 1940’s. He finds the house in ruins after a German raid during World War II but on following a strange girl he recognises from one of the old photos through a Cairn – an ancient neolithic tomb he exits in the 1940’s with the house fully restored and populated by the aforementioned Peculiar Children who possess strange powers, protected by the enigmatic Miss Peregrine.

What follows is a wonderfully written adventure both original and captivating and at times chilling . Riggs has a wonderful, almost forensic eye for visual detail (his previous book was the amazingly detailed Sherlock Homes Handbook which says a lot!)  and constructs a vivid world to play out the unfolding storyline. To the author’s credit as the story transfers from America to Wales the transition is pretty seamless. Riggs understands the language and customs of the area and this section doesn’t feel as if it’s written by a tourist. As the story reaches it’s conclusion we’re prepared for a sequel (Hollow City, due January14th 2014) by a thrilling cliffhanger .

The other wonderful feature of this book is the book itself (I’m speaking of the hardback version here as this was my review copy) – beautifully bound with classic fonts and high quality paper and peppered with those wonderfully creepy photos it’s one of the best designed books I’ve seen in years and the Quirk Books team have to be applauded for their efforts in creating such a beautiful piece.

Looking forward to Hollow City!