Book Review: The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R Carey

Don't be deceived by the cover of The Girl With All the Gifts. This is not a YA novel. This book, written by M.R. Carey, is a post-apocalyptic, science fiction thriller, it is quite bleak and depressing even for this genre. Despite its sad and oppressive tone I recommend it nonetheless because it is both a moving tale and am interesting take on the genre.

Synopsis:

Melanie is 10 years old and she lives in England. Every morning three soldiers strap her to a wheelchair and wheels her from the cell to the classroom. Melanie is not alone, there are many other children like her. They all live in a walled fortress because they were told there are "hungries" outside and they want to eat people.

Why do the adults strap the children to the chair? To Melanie and the children this is a good question, but the cell and the classroom are all these children ever know, so maybe this is just the way things have always been. The mundaneness and the lack of freedom bother Melanie a little, but Mr. Justineau makes it bearable. Melanie loves Mr. Justineau, she teaches the children history and greek mythology. Melanie loves those stories.

One morning, Sergeant Parks and his men came to Melanie's cell as usual, but this time they did not take her to the classroom. Instead, Parks told Melanie that she has a special appointment with Dr. Caldwell. This is the day when Melanie's life will change forever.

My thoughts on the book:

If you must choose to either save a child or save millions of people, what will be your choice? This moral dilemma is at the centre of The Girl With All the Gifts. The story follows a small handful of characters. Helen Justineau, the school teacher, represents the choice of saving a child. Dr. Caldwell, the scientist, represents the choice of saving millions of people by sacrificing a little girl. Meanwhile, Melanie is the little girl to be sacrificed. However the story has a twist, because Melanie is not exactly a girl but something more.

I liked the theme and the exploration of this moral conundrum, but I think Dr. Caldwell's character was a bit thin. The book portrayed Caldwell as an antagonistic character, and I was ok with it, but she was one dimensional and her motivation seemed unrealistic to me. I think the author could have added more depths to Caldwell's character. As a result, the book's theme was hampered by Caldwell's weak characterization, and the conflict in the story was overly black and white.

My second issue with the book is the treatment of "junkers". But what are the "junkers"?

Minor spoiler ahead:

In The Girl With All the Gifts, humanity faced an extinction event where an epidemic was turning every living human into mindless cannibals. Or, zombies, if you like. There were three types of "humanoids" on earth; 1) The survivors who barricaded themselves into walled cities and compounds, 2) the zombies, and finally, 3) The junkers, they were large bands of scavengers, while they were not infected, but the survival challenges wiped out every trace of their humanity. In this book, the junkers had a big role in the world. Yet, the book used the junkers as a plot device. They were the catalysts, to move the characters from location A to location B. Crucial information about the junkers, such as their origins, their motivations, their social structure, so on and so forth, were missing. The bare bone treatment of the junkers was a disappointment given their significant role in the book's world.

Other than the two above mentioned issues, this book is excellent in every other way. Melanie herself was an interesting and likable character. Her journey from innocence to the shocking discovery of her true identity was heartbreaking. Meanwhile, Helen Justineau was an intriguing character, who, out of a deep guilt, sought salvation by protecting Melanie. Finally, Sergeant Parks was a fascinating character. Parks appeared to be a ruthless man at the start, but as the story went on his character showed surprising depths. I think Parks was the most honest out of all the adult characters in the book.

The book also scored a bonus point for its worldbuilding. The zombie genre is very popular. While in most zombie stories people were turned into zombies by "some virus", but the stories never explain exactly how the virus turned people into those shambling, flesh eating corpses. I mean, it is all good and well to say some virus turned people into zombies, but how does the virus work? The Girl With All the Gifts defies the trope, because it went into details to explain how the infection worked, including the biological details of how the virus affected the human brain and its neural networks. 

The Girl With All the Gift is a very good book. While Dr. Caldwell and the Junkers could have been better written, but as a whole this is a heartfelt story with memorable characters. Most importantly, it is a refreshing take on the zombie apocalypse genre. 

Book Review: Kellanved's Reach, by Ian C. Esslemont (Path of Ascendancy #3)

I think Malazan is perhaps the best fantasy series ever written. There isn't a series in fantasy quite like it. In fact, if there is such a thing as "War and Peace" for fantasy, then Malazan is probably it. Yet, Malazan is not the creative imagination of one man, but two; Steven Erikson, who authored the series' canon, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, and Ian C. Esslemont, who authored 6 companion novels to Book of the Fallen, as well as a prequel trilogy called Path to Ascendancy.

Although these two authors are writing stories set in the same universe, but their books differ vastly from each other. While Steven Erikson is well known for his quality writing and philosophical depths, Ian C. Esslemont approached the storytelling in a way more traditional to the fantasy genre. Each author tells the Malazan story in his unique voice, and the result is spectacular.

Long time readers of my blogs would know that I am a big admirer of Erikson's Book of the Fallen series. I adore it for the characters, the stories, and most importantly its exploration for the problem of suffering. However, I never read Esslemont works until I picked up Dancer's Lament and Deadhouse Landing in 2017.

Dancer's Lament and Deadhouse Landing belong the cycle of Path to Ascendancy, it is a prequel trilogy to Erikson's Book of the Fallen series. The trilogy narrates the misadventures of Dancer and Kellanved, both are key players in Book of the Fallen series. I loved both books, but the wait for the concluding installment was 18 months long. When the final book, Kellanved's Reach, finally became available at the book seller's website it was like magic. I have high expectations for Kellanved's Reach because of my love for the first two books, and I am very happy to report that the book did not disappoint, although I think there are minor issues in its structures.

The story picked up from the end of Deadhouse Landing. Petty feuds and wars raged across the city states in Quon Tali. Meanwhile, our upstart mage and assassin, Kellanved and Dancer, now control the southern seas and the Malaz city, they are a power to be reckoned with. However, Kellanved could care less about the politics and the war strategies, because the little mage from Don Hon has his eyes set on an ancient flint spear and uncovering its ties to an Elder race of legends. His friend, Dancer, is sceptical and therefore reluctant about chasing after this myth about an army of dusts and bones. But the eccentric mage can be persistent, therefore the duo set out once again in another misadventure into the unknown, and their journey will pave the way to the birth of an empire.

I like Kellanved's Reach, it is a very good book. For those who have read Book of the Fallen this book has many Easter eggs and it also sets up the stage for the canon. This book is more true to the Malazan fashion where the story features dozens of characters and multiple plots. While one would expect such a complex story to be a sizable volume, yet Kellanved's Reach is curiously short, for the book is only 330 pages. I enjoyed the book, it is fast-paced and rich, but I couldn't help but feel the book was a bit rushed and another 100 pages would have improved the story expositions. As a result, while Kellanved's Reach is a good conclusion to Dancer and Kellanved's misadventures, but the two preceding volumes are better than this one by a notch.

The book features many characters. Some are newly introduced characters, and some returning characters from the previous books, and finally the book marks the entrance for some big players in the Book of the Fallen canon. For example (spoiler ahead) I was jumping up and down in excitement when Onos T''oolan appeared in the late chapters. However, I also feel that Esslemont should have explored each character more. I mean, I was disappointed that Dassem only has a minor role in this book. Furthermore, Dancer and Kellanved are almost like secondary characters themselves in this installment. All in all, while the characters in this book are as interesting and memorable as always, but I could not help but feel that book could have explored these characters a bit more, that the book feels rushed.

Every Malazan book finish with a "convergence" event, where the multiple plots and characters finally clash in a crescendo. Kellanved's Reach has the convergence event too, and it was spectacular. However, after the climax the story continued on for another 50 pages. While the last 50 pages tied up the loose ends for the subplots but it is, inevitably, anticlimactic It just feels like those last 50 pages are in the wrong place, they should have appeared before the convergence rather than after. This is yet another example where a lengthier book and more story expositions could have made Kellanved's Reach better.

In the end, Kellanved's Reach is still a very good book and a worthy installment to the Malzan saga. I had a great time reading it. But at the same time, the book feels rushed and it could have been better if Esslemont had written an additional 100 pages to better explore the characters and their stories. Therefore while I like Kellanved's Reach but I think it comes slight short of both Dancer's Lament and Deadhouse Landing. Having said this, Kellanved's Reach is still a great conclusion to the trilogy, and it is definitely worth reading if you are a fan of the Malazan series.