Erebos (Erebos) - Ursula Poznanski

Nick is surprised when some of his classmates seem to be very interested in some mysterious CD going around school, all exchanging it very hush hush. Not only so, but some of them are skipping classes and even the basketball training, and it seems it is because of this CD. Nick, our 'cool young hero', tries to find a way into this mysterious world, and finally he does, when one of his classmates gives him a copy of the CD. But it is not a music CD, but a video-game... and playing it will change Nick's life forever... "Erebos" is an entertaining YA novel, where a mysterious game seems to be taking over the lives of some high school students with dangerous consequences. It is all light enough (well, there are some not so light moments in the book but they are not really dwelt into) and in general the story is quite simple and nothing becomes too complicated. Poznanski does an OK job in developing the story and the characters, and in making the plot engaging, even if one has to wonder why our 'hero' takes some of the decisions he takes, because in many cases his character (and some of the the other characters in the book) development is rushed and clumsily handed. And the book also expends too much time in the 'game' world. But it never becomes boring, and you will turn the pages waiting to see what will happen next. Don't go expecting anything that will change your life, but an entertaining book that will fill a couple of summer afternoons and you will be in for a threat. The best: easy to read; it becomes addictive, like the game; the mysterious atmosphere The worst: the writing; there doesn't really happen much; poor and superficial character development; too many pages expended on the "Erebos" world by Nick and the author The skinny: YA for the summer, without much depth or complications Other options: I've seen many people comparing it to "Ready Player One"; as I haven't read that one, I can't say anything about it; I think "The Hunger Games" series or "Harry Potter" are way better YA than this one, and with way better characters. 6.5/10 (Catalan Translation by Carlota Vallès Ferré & Michael Steinmetz )

Метро 2033 (Metro 2033) - Dmitry Glukhovsky

This is a disappointment. A futuristic, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi novel where the only survivors seem to live in the metro of Moscow could make for a thrilling read, right? Oh, you would be wrong... "Metro 2033" tells the story of Artyom, who gets the mission to get to Polis to alert of a non-very-clear danger that can kill everyone that lives in the Metro, the poor, lonely survivors after everyone else died in a kaboom end of the world full of nuclear bombs, where soldiers were always calling home to ask about their wives and daughters and the only hope was to hide and survive in the stations underground... These poor souls still alive eat mushrooms and pigs (?), survive on filtered water (really?) and have some kind of electricity and the economy is based on the exchange of cartridges. Artyom has this very difficult mission to cross different metro stations walking (cough cough) given to him by Hunter, you know, cool name, because the 'Dark Ones' are invading his station and probably the whole world. Cue Artyom saying, yeah, why not, and going to the next station with a group of people trying to put a telegraph between both stations (bear with me). Pretty soon a dark and mysterious sound almost kills everyone and only Artyom can save them. The group ends getting to the station where another random character tells Artyom to join him to go to another station. End of the story. Or it could end here. Because Glukhovsky's lame attempt at a novel is based on this pattern: Artyom meets a person in a station, they walk from one station to another and along the way a mysterious, dark and magical force tries to stop them, but they finally get to the next station, where, for some mysterious reason, Artyom parts with his previous partner to join forces with another for the next trip to another station where... A loop. A boring, lame loop where it is all always the same. Ironically Glukhovsky thinks he is making some groundbreaking novel where the metro represents the real world because he talks about Communism or Socialism or Nazis that have taken over some of the stations. But instead of the book showing, the characters developing and things happening, all goes: shoots, this group is blah blah blah because, I, the author, is telling you so, and they represent blah blah blah... It is a mess, it is boring, it is repetitive. And that without getting into the absence of female characters (like, just one, close to the end of the book) and the constant messages about them being wives and daughters and the need to protect them (hu?). Horrible. Worse than the metro at rush hour (I know, lame; like this novel). The best: well, I have a soft spot for sci-fi, but here... The worst: everything: character construction and development, plot development, that women are 'wives and mothers', the 'I meet someone, problem, we part, I meet someone, problem, we part' way the novel develops, the idea that humanity would have changed so much in so little, no one could believe that anyone would have survived in a so poorly organized metro, the magical elements, the sci-fi elements, the militarism, the in-your-face messages that the author telegraphs and writes to show how deep the story is... I could go on and on for ever... but it's almost 2033. Oh, and the poor translation, littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. Instead of this: Read "Dune", "The Forever War", "Stranger in Strange Land", "Cryptonomicon", "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch", "The Handmaid's Tale"... If you want some funny and silly sci-fi, try Shinichi Hoshi's short stories. There are too many options to lose time with this one. 3/10 (English translation by Natasha Randall)

終着駅(ターミナル)殺人事件 - Kyōtarō Nishimura (西村 京太郎)

Another Nishimura novel; it must be that time of the year when I want to read about train timetables. "終着駅(ターミナル)殺人事件", or "The case of the murder at the terminal station", is your quintessential Nishimura novel: Totsugawa and Kamei (here Sakurai or others don't have more than a passing mention) investigating some mysterious deaths that have a lot to do with trains. Here, it is a group of seven friends from Aomori who get killed one by one, the first one dying at Ueno Station just before the start of a trip of the group together back to their hometown. Kamei, who is also from the north, is one of the first policemen at the crime scene and pretty soon Totsugawa and the team are investigating the case. Curiously, though, in this case we get little of the investigation, as Nishimura expends a lot of time with the group of friends, starting from the very beginning of the book, when we get the chance to see them meeting again, getting on the train, etc. It is a very good start to the novel and shows that Nishimura knew how to create fleshed out and interesting characters. Unfortunately for the reader, this doesn't translate through the length of the novel, as we get bogged down with too many unnecessary conversations and too many pages around the speed of trains, or the stops a train makes along the way. This is your basic problem with a Nishimura novel: if you don't like trains, you will hate him. He expends always too much time talking, describing, contemplating trains, time tables, ways to go from point A to B to explain the mystery, instead of expending time developing characters, making a good mystery or making things thrilling. For example, there is a moment when there is a possible 'closed room murder'. Instead of dwelling onto it, he goes back to his trains. This doesn't mean the novel is boring, no, because it is one of his best, starting with the group of suspects/victims and following with our policemen Totsugawa and Kamei. But knowing that he can create amazing set-ups, it is a pity that he seems to be unable to deliver on the expectations he himself creates. The best: it is not your average Nishimura novel with hundreds of conversations about train tables (I mean, it is, but not as much as others); it is also not so repetitive as some of his other novels; the beginning, as always, is great, and introduces the mystery and the characters nicely; Totsugawa, Kamei and company are always fun to be with The worst: it is still about trains; the answer to the mystery... well, it is not much of a mystery Alternatives: any of his other novels if you like this one or anything like this; you have other options in Japanese mystery novels: Higashino Keigo, Kirino Natsuo, Miyabe Miyuki, Kishi Yusuke, Akimitsu Takagi or the grand Edogawa Ranpo; you can also go to other languages and places like Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie or more modern ones like Val McDermid, Camilla Läckberg or Henning Mankell. Options, too many options... 6.5/10 (Original Japanese Version)

La mort del pare (Min kamp #1) - Karl Ove Knausgård

A book about a guy rambling and mumbling about his past, where he talks about trying to date girls, smoking, getting drunk and his relationship with his family. For almost 500 pages. This is a recipe for disaster in the making, one would think, a boring, self-indulgent, vacuous work. Happily for us, even if "Min Kamp" volume 1 has a little bit of all of this, Karl Ove Knausgård does an amazing job of making his life, his musings and his story with his family a very interesting one. Even if he is actually not telling much. The story is autobiographical and tells the author's life in his youth till, well, the death of his father and his relationships with friends and family. It goes for pages on end about an end of the year party or dwells into his relationship with his brother. It explains his failure in becoming a famous musician. Or how he wakes up early to go writing. It all will look kind of familiar. One, because it may remind the reader of their family one way or another. Two, because this is a story of death, booze, violence and, in some ways, redemption. So, why is this any good? First, because it is engaging. Even if Karl Ove Knausgård is not saying anything special, he tells it in a way that even going to the funeral parlor becomes interesting, all the little details making each of the moments, story and situations he tells interesting. You may not like the 'hero' of the story, but you will be not bored while entering into his mind and seeing his actions, fears, and interactions. Second, because, at least in this Catalan translation, it is beautifully written. How close it is to the original is difficult to know, but the use of language and the way the story is developed is great, with some moments, as the moment Karl Ove visits his father and drinks with him just, plain and simple, great. This is not a book about a mystery, thrills or people finding treasures. But it is as much interesting and enjoyable as if it was. "Min Kamp" volume 1 is a book that fulfills its mission of creating a relatable character and it leaves with a desire for more. Well, there are five more volumes. The best: the writing, the way the story develops and envelops the reader in its world The worst: it can be seen as another booze-violence-rebellion kind of story Other options: not that I have read many of this kind of books, but Lucia Berlin, for example, would be an option 7/10 (Catalan translation Anna Llisterri based on the English one)

Djevelen holder lyset (When the Devil Holds the Candle) - Karin Fossum

A couple of teenage friends, Andreas and Zipp, are bored, without much to do. They go around bullying immigrants, stealing purses from women going on a stroll with their babies and breaking and entering in old ladies' houses. One of the last goes wrong and silly things start to happen. All the while the police and its detectives do nothing. That is basically the plot of lame and silly "When the Devil Holds the Candle" a novel just because the cover says it is a novel. It is 230-pages-long of stupid plot and character decision after stupid plot and character decision. None of the motives of the characters make much sense, and even if Karin Fossum tries to infuse them with lives and motives and justify bad decisions, it all ends up being risible, laughable, a bad joke. Even if the book is short, it could actually have been one forth, because there is so much padding and stretching without end that it makes things crawl to a stop. This is no crime/mystery novel. This is just a sad excuse of a book. The best: how the author tries to make the characters human The worst: everything else: it's a mess, the character's decisions make no sense, the plot is silly and worth of a rubbish bin, there is no mystery, there is no point to the whole proceedings Other options: any other mystery novel; if you want one with actual character development you can have Agatha Christie and Miss Marple; if you want them from the cold, you can pick from Camilla Läckberg to Henning Mankell; you can go Japanese and pick Miyabe Miyuki or Natsuo Kirino... Anything else but this. 1/10 (English translation by Felicity David)

Isprinsessan (The Ice Princess) - Camilla Läckberg

The first book of the Fjällbacka series introduces the characters of the long standing mystery series set in a little town of Sweden where too many deaths seem to happen. Young, pretty and a little snobbish Alex is found dead in her house at Fjällbacka. Her old friend Erica, a non-fiction writer, is one of the first to find the corpse, and decides to investigate (or put her nose into other people's lives) to see what was behind the killing. Not only her, policeman Patrik Hedström is also trying to find the killer of Alex. Cue your typical whodunit where Erica and Patrik go around trying to find clues and the truth behind the death of Alex. It is your typical story with lots of conversations, and with little tidbits that advance the story. Läckberg doesn't go for the Sherlock Holmes mold of analyzing clues and little details and lots of mental work, but more into the Miss Marple of the 'heroes' going talking around trying to find the truth in their interrogations. Actually, the feeling I got is that it is not a book that cares a lot about the mystery per se, and more about the world construction and the development of the characters. The reader will enjoy being with Erica and Patrik and seeing them investigating and their relationship and their interactions with others. But they will have more problems with the mystery per se, as the author throws new information out of the blue just to further the plot and the reader can't really know what happened and who is the killer based on the information that appears in the story (maybe closer to the end of the story, but not from early on; there is no change for the reader to play detective). As a mystery story it lacks in real mystery. Isprinsessan (The Ice Princess) is an entertaining book that the fan of mysteries will enjoy (even if they will not be very surprised by it). A perfect reading for those free afternoons (with a coffee and some pastries). The best: the characters interactions; there is way more than just the mystery; it is easy to read and engaging The worst: no chance to play detective; the mystery isn't great; the new information out of the blue just to further the plot; the resolution is just ok Further Reading: Any book of the series would be a good option, probably, but I have just read "The Drowning", which was entertaining but had a weak ending; Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes if you want oldies; Yusuke Kishi, Keigo Higashino, Miyabe Miyuki,Ranpo Edogawa or Natsuo Kirino if you go for Japanese mysteries; maybe "Gone Girl" for a different kind of 'mystery' novel or "Fever Of The Bone" by Val McDermid. 6.5/10 (English Translation by Steven T. Murray)

Death and the Penguin (Смерть постороннего) - Andrey Kurkov

A man, a penguin, and mysterious deaths. What could go wrong? Well, nothing goes wrong, but nothing goes particularly well either in "Death and the Penguin", a quirky, dry and sometimes humorous novel by Andrey Kurkov. The story goes around writer Viktor, a writer of short short stories who just keeps on living without much purpose on his life, his only companion his penguin Misha. But one day he finds a job writing obituaries for a newspaper, a job that sparks a change in his life. What we get from that moment is a dry and detached criticism of a society and of an era, while adding some little attempts at humor that normally fall flat. The novel never seems to have very clear what its purpose is, and the tone is flat and uneven, changing from one page to the other. Sometimes it brings a smile to the face of the reader or even touches some interesting human commentary. But in general it is so dry and cold that the reader will feel they are reading the book through plastic film. And its social criticism is just your typical people from the cold of Europe drink a lot, are corrupt and can only open up with alcohol in their blood. It is a little bit repetitive. It doesn't help that Viktor is not a particularly compelling character and that the penguin, Misha, seems to be an afterthought. Also many of the events of the book seem to happen just to fill pages, without much purpose or interest. "Death and the Penguin" is an easy enough to read novel. But nothing to call home about. The best: some human commentary The worst: the same 'lots of alcohol in ex-Communist European countries'; the same 'lots of corruption in ex-Communist European countries'; the weird relationship between Viktor and Nina; its tone is uneven; it has no clear purpose or objective, its journey just going around in circles; too dry (just in case I hadn't made myself clear) Further reading: read Dostoyevsky if you want a better look into human hearts from the cold, or you can read "Entanglement" by Zygmunt Miłoszewski, a mystery novel from Poland; "The Master and Margarita" is another interesting option 5.5/10 (English Translation by George Bird)