Goodreads Choice Awards 2013 Semifinal Round

The opening round for the 2013 Godreads Choice Awards is already behind us, and now each category has had five more books added based on write-in votes.

I must say that for the Fiction category, I am surprised to see Lauren Graham's (of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood fame) Someday, Someday, Maybe. It is an okay book, I am just having a hard time seeing it as the best fiction book of the year. I think I will stick with my current favorite for this category, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah. Another new addition includes Meg Wolitzer's The Interestings, which I have not read but I have heard good things.

I could not be more pleased to see that my write-in vote for the Science Fiction category, The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, has made it in for the semi-final round. I will definitely continue to vote for it and believe that it could go far in the competition. 

For the remainder of the categories that I have any interest in, it looks like I'll be sticking with the same books I chose for the opening round. I do hope that Stephen King's Joyland, Hannah Kent's Burial Rites, Naoki Higashida's The Reason I Jump, and Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl all continue in their respective categories at least into the final round, which is set to begin next Monday, November 18th. 

Whether your favorites win or lose, this competition pulls from a wonderful and diverse set of books. And if anything, it gives readers more suggestions for potential books to read. I know my list has grown considerably since the competition opened (Neil Gaiman I am looking in your direction).

Continue casting your votes here and check in next week to see how your favorites are doing.

Contemporary Fiction: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Believe it or not, this is the first book I have ever read by J.K. Rowling. Of course, on paper, The Cuckoo's Calling is the debut novel of Robert Galbraith, but by now, most of the world has learned that the book is actually the latest from the Harry Potter author. And I was curious to see how Rowling would handle a detective mystery. Also, this book has been nominated in the 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Mystery & Thriller, which isn't at all surprising, especially considering its leap in popularity after everyone discovered who the true author was.

The Situation: Supermodel Lula Landry has fallen to her death from her London apartment. The police are more than ready to rule it as a suicide, as the model had a history of mental health issues. And if there was someone that would have murdered her, pretty much everyone is ready to blame her unlikeable on again off again boyfriend Evan Duffield, except he has an iron-clad alibi. The press are all over the story, the family is distraught, but everyone does their best to move on.

The Problem: Lula's brother, John Bristow, isn't even remotely convinced that his sister would have committed suicide. That is why he has insisted on reaching out to private detective Cormoran Strike, a veteran who lost his leg in the Afghan War, to investigate the entire incident, and is even willing to pay double the going rate. At first, Strike is going to refuse the offer, except he badly needs the job and the money. A recent break-up has him living out of his office, and debt collectors keep calling him demanding payment. Even so, he could be taking Bristow's money only to find out Lula did commit suicide, but then again, what if John is right and her killer is still out there. Strike's investigation gives him access to the types of people the paparazzi climb all over themselves just to get pictures of as they walk down the street. And Lula's family has the kind of money and connections that could protect them from almost anything. Everyone Strike interviews seems to have wanted something from Lula or were using her for something, and almost all of them have a secret to hide, something that keeps them from telling the whole truth. And if Lula was murdered, she may not be the one and only victim. 

Genre, Themes, History: This is a detective mystery, or crime novel, almost in the classic sense. It is also clear that Galbraith (or Rowling if you prefer) intends to keep the story going as a series, bringing Strike back to investigate more crimes. While an obvious theme may be the high cost of fame, another one is the complication of adoption, as all three of the Bristow children (John, Lula, and an already deceased older brother, Charlie) were adopted by Sir Alec and Lady Yvette. The adoption of Lula is further complicated by Lula being an African American child adopted into a rich white family. And then of course, there is also greed and jealousy coming from everyone on all sides over various things, mostly money, but also over attention and fame. 

Rowling initially sent the manuscript for The Cuckoo's Calling anonymously, and at least one publishing house declined it. Interestingly enough, it was eventually picked up by a publisher that is affiliated with the publishing house that worked with her on The Casual Vacancy. After it was revealed that Rowling was the author, the book soared to the top of the best-selling novel list on Amazon.com. Rowling's authorship was supposedly leaked via Twitter (of all things) to a reporter at The Sunday Times by the wife of a lawyer who had worked for Rowling. 

My Verdict: I will probably always be suspicious of any post-Harry Potter book by Rowling that gets rave reviews, simply because people like to ride the wave and acclaim any book by an author who has already lead them through one of the most beloved stories of all time. I'm not saying The Cuckoo's Calling was bad, in fact, it was actually quite good and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. And usually with most contemporary novels, my disappointment lies in the ending, particularly with mysteries. But that was not the case with this novel. Rowling has Strike methodically and thoroughly unravel this mystery before arriving at the inevitable conclusion. At some points, Strike's methods and questioning did make for a boring story, but usually not for very long. I doubt Rowling fans will be filled with the same sense of awe and wonder and excitement they had with Harry Potter, but The Cuckoo's Calling is still worth a read.

Favorite Moment: When the bulky 6'3" Strike gets the chance to enter a trendy club with a supermodel in front of paparazzi.

Favorite Character: I am tempted to pick Strike, because I do like him a lot as a main character, but I think instead I will pick Robin, his secretary at his office. Robin is fairly integral in holding Strike's life together. He is more than a competent detective, but Robin still proves incredibly useful in getting Strike information he couldn't get on his own. She is also polite enough to never bring up the fact that he currently lives in his office.

Recommended Reading: I am not terribly big into detective mysteries. And there is only one true crime novel I have ever read, but I enjoyed it immensely. Truman Capote's In Cold Blood is the true account of the murder of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Capote wrote about the investigation that followed and even spoke to the suspects himself before they were hanged.  

Goodreads Choice Awards 2013

It is the opening round of the 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards, the only book awards that are decided on by popular vote from readers.

Since Goodreads is probably my primary resource for deciding which books I review and blog about, I am always incredibly interested in the Goodreads Choice Awards and which books have made the cut in each category. And fortunately, I have managed to choose quite a few books that have been nominated in various categories.

Just from looking at the fiction category I can see I'll have to make some tough decisions this year. No surprise that Khaled Hosseini's And The Mountains Echoed made the cut for this category. But also in the running are Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, Anthony Marra's A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being. I'd be willing to cheer on all four of these books, but I can only vote for one. And I am sure they will all have a hard time going up against Jhumpa Lahiri's The Lowland.

A few nominees for the Mystery & Thriller category that are also not at all surprising are Stephen King's Joyland and Robert Galbraith's The Cuckoo's Calling. Of course, as most everyone knows by now, Robert Galbraith is a pseudonym being used by J.K. Rowling. But even with the immediate popularity The Cuckoo's Calling was guaranteed to gain upon being associated with the popular Harry Potter author, I have to say that the book is pretty good and can stand on its own merit. And another book nominated for this category that I am actually in the middle of reading is Marisha Pessl's Night Film. I am only about a fifth of the way through and from what I have read I do believe it deserves to be nominated.  I will probably lean towards Stephen King, but Night Film may end up changing my mind.

Cathy Marie Buchanan's The Painted Girls has been nominated for the Historical Fiction category, and while I generally enjoyed the book, I can't say I believe it to be the best of the year. However, I also read Burial Rites by Hannah Kent for an upcoming blog post, and this book I am willing to vote for. But as always, this category has some stiff competition with Colum McCann's TransAtlantic and Philipp Meyer's The Son.

I actually don't have any favorites for the Science Fiction category, so I decided to write in Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's The Long War. I'm kind of surprised it was not nominated seeing how the first book in the series, The Long Earth, took the prize in this category for 2012.

For a future blog post I read The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen Year Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida and translated by David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas). Just from reading the book jacket I had a feeling this book would be nominated, and here it is in the Memoir & Autobiography category. It is one of those books that probably everyone should read, and it is fairly short, coming in at under 150 pages. I won't be at all surprised if this book stays in the running for a long time, or if it ends up winning the entire category.

Probably my favorite category of all is Young Adult Fiction, and I am so glad to see that Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl has been nominated, a book I will be gushing about in an upcoming blog post. However, it isn't my only favorite from this year to be included in this category. Sarah Dessen's most recent novel, The Moon and More, as well as Ruta Sepetys' Out of the Easy have also been included. And really, I could see any of them taking the prize. Dessen seems to me like the obvious favorite, but Rowell could pull off an upset...Fangirl is just that good.

This is only the first round of voting, which is open through November 9th, and the second round begins next Monday, November 11th. So go ahead and begin voting for your own favorites here and making some predictions of your own. I must say, that I am probably more excited about this year's Goodreads Choice Awards than I should be. But hey, that's a bookworm for you.

Classic Fiction: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

The movie version of Orson Scott Card's 1985 novel Ender's Game comes out today in theaters throughout the US and Canada. I have many friends who read this book as kids and absolutely love it, so I approached it cautiously as someone who may have missed the window, but I was going to try anyway. The idea of adults using children for stuff that even some adults shouldn't even be doing is always intriguing to me, as is the idea of children growing up too fast too soon because of the world around them.

The Situation: Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is a third. What that means is that his parents had more than the regulation two children allowable under Earth's two-children policy, so Ender is the youngest of three, after his older brother Peter and his sister Valentine. Because thirds are not common, and are technically against the rules, Ender is tormented relentlessly for it by the kids at school, and even receives constant reminders about it from his parents who endure their own hardship for making the decision. But even though Ender is a third, he is the only one of the three Wiggin children that is accepted into the Battle School. He has been recognized as somewhat of a prodigy, and becomes one of the youngest kids admitted into the Battle School: a school made for training young children to serve in the military, and ultimately fight against the alien race that has twice fought against humanity. Ender enters the school when he is only six years old, but the teachers and leaders believe they have made the right decision. And if they are wrong, it could mean the end of the human race.

The Problem: It was bad enough when Ender was picked on at school. It was even worse that he was picked on and tortured at home by his older brother, Peter. But much to his frustration, it looks like he will be picked on in Battle School as well as he is immediately singled out as one of the best and brightest, and the other children resent him for it. Ender just wants to do well and make friends, and while he is allowed and encouraged to do well, making friends is never really an option. Just as he starts to get along with someone, the rules change or he is transferred to another group. The better he does, the more intent some students are to hurt him. And it doesn't look like the adults plan to ever step in and do anything about it, and are constantly hiding the truth from him. Meanwhile, Ender also fears that he does so well at the Battle School only because he is more like his sadistic brother Peter than he wants to be. Why is he so good at the games? Why is he so good at hurting others? And at what point do the games stop, and the real fighting begins.

Genre, Themes, History: This is a science fiction novel set in the not-so-distant future. Aliens, referred to mostly as "buggers" because of their insect-like appearance, have twice threatened the human race so that now much effort and resources are put into making sure that never happens again, even if it means taking children as young as six years old and making them into soldiers. It's pretty much war at its absolute worst. It's life under the constant threat of invasion, and what human beings are willing to do to remove that threat. But kids are almost bred for this as all three of the Wiggin children were monitored to see if they were even right for Battle School. In the end it was decided only Ender was up to the task. And the fact that he was even monitored a year longer than Peter becomes a sore spot for the older brother, making the teasing and torturing even worse. For the entire book, despite his best efforts, Ender is never really in control of his life. The book is like a crash-course in manipulation. But it is also like a case-study on gifted children and how their differences affect their lives, for better and for worse. There are many moments when Ender would prefer that he wasn't so special, but then again, he enjoys it, and he likes being the best, even if it means dealing with the isolation, and also the unwanted attention from everyone else.

My Verdict: It makes me sad that it took me so long to read this book, because now I doubt I will take the time to not only read the other four books in the Ender Saga, but also the many other books that make up the Ender's Game series. Seriously, there is a whole Enderverse out there that Card dreamed up. Fortunately for me, Ender's Game does just fine as a stand alone novel. Actually, it does more than just fine. The ending does not leave anything hanging, but it also doesn't just wrap everything in a neat little bow either. People die, people are manipulated, lives are changed, for better and for worse, and relationships are broken. And Ender himself will never be the same...actually, most of the people in this book, adults included, will never be the same. But even so, Card manages not to crush the reader's soul. There are plenty of tense moments, moments that show the evil that human beings (even kids) are capable of, but also some glimpses of kindness and hope that make anyone believe, even Ender, that we're not in fact all monsters.

Favorite Moment: I pretty much enjoyed it whenever Ender outsmarted someone, and that happens a lot. No matter what they threw at him to challenge him or push him, sometimes even to trip him up, he bested them every time.

Favorite Character: Ender does manage to make some friends in both Battle and Command School, one of which being Alai. He is one of the few people who remains a comfort to Ender throughout the book, even when they weren't in close proximity to each other. It is these types of friendships that will help Ender make it through.

Favorite Quote: From Dink, an older kid at the Battle School: "I know, you've been here a year, you think these people are normal. Well, they're not. We're not. I look in the library, I call up books on my desk. Old ones, because they won't let us have anything new, but I've got a pretty good idea what children are, an we're not children. Children can lose sometimes, and nobody cares. Children aren't in armies, they aren't commanders, they don't rule over forty other kids, it's more than anybody can take and not get crazy." 

Recommended Reading: I highly recommend Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. It also takes place in the not-so-distant future, but instead of fighting an alien race, Cline's characters are fighting a large corporation in an elaborate video game built around 1980's pop culture references. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.

Historical Fiction: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

Anthony Marra's A Constellation of Vital Phenomena made it onto the fiction long list for the 2013 National Book Award. Normally I avoid anything, fiction or nonfiction, that is about the very real wars that have happened, or continue to happen, on this earth. But for Marra's book I decided to take a chance.

The Situation: It is the Second Chechen War and Dokka has just been taken from his home by the Russian Federation. After briefly searching the house, the Feds then continued to douse the inside with gasoline and set the entire structure on fire. His eight year-old daughter, Havaa, would escape only because her father had enough foresight to have packed a "just in case" bag for her and was able to push her out of the back door before the Feds entered the house. The little girl hid in the woods while her father was taken, and afterwards she is found by Akhmed, a friend of Dokka's. Akhmed knows Havaa cannot stay with him, as the informant who gave Dokka's name to the Feds is nearby and will be looking for her, so he takes her to the hospital. Sonja, the doctor who now runs the less than fully functional hospital, is reluctant to take on the small child. Sonja also isn't thrilled that the completely incompetent Akhmed wants to stick around and help out, but she needs all the help she can get. And Akhmed holds onto the faint hope that they all may be able to save each other.

The Problem: As I already mentioned, it is the Second Chechen War, and things are bad. The informant that gave Dokka's name to the Feds is still looking for Havaa, knowing she couldn't have gone far. And the people he reports to keep asking for names, and he's willing to give up his friends and neighbors in order to save his own neck. And while Sonja gets used to the presence of two more people in the hospital, she also deals with her own loss of her sister, whose narrative shows the trials and hardships many women go through when seeking illegal passage to Europe. Even Akhmed, as he attempts to keep Havaa safe, also has a very sick wife at home for whom he expects death is very close. He cares for her while using  his current relationship with Havaa as some sort of absolution for how he treated Dokka in the past. Everyone is struggling to just survive, but they are also struggling to keep secrets from decisions made in the past, some of which were made out of necessity, and some just out of selfishness. In the end it may not even matter. 

Genre, Theme, History: This is a historical fiction novel that takes place in 2004 in Chechnya. The Second Chechen War rages on and won't see an end for five more years. And while this book does take place during a war, there aren't a any battle scenes. Instead, Marra focuses on the civilians that stayed behind in Chechnya, or in Sonja's case, those that came back. I could just say that the overarching theme is one of survival, but there is more to it than that. Not only are these people trying to survive, and each one has a limit to what they will do in order to do that, but it is also about how many are willing to look beyond themselves in the face of imminent danger. Akhmed knows he is putting his life on the line for Havaa, but he does it anyway. Meanwhile, Ramzan gives up the lives of others in order to continue his own and get medicine for his father, something his father will come to resent. And even Dokka, before his disappearance, made room in his house for refugees needing a place to stay. And Sonja will come back from the safety of London to find her sister, and then will continue as a doctor in the nearby hospital...a hospital that many are quickly fleeing as she resolves to stay. This is the effect this war has had on this particular group of people, and everyone's decisions effect everyone else in some way. 

My Verdict: The only reason I picked up this book is because it was on the long list for the National Book Award, and the UTSA library had it available for check out. But I am glad I read it and glad I pushed through some of the harder and more brutal scenes to the end. None of these characters are completely innocent people. Everyone is guilty of some act of selfishness at some point, except maybe Havaa. But somehow, even with all of their flaws, Marra made each one relatable. Sure, I would like to think I have nothing in common with Ramzan the informant, but even his story manages to evoke some sympathy despite his continuing acts of cowardice that result in the disappearance and ultimate death of others. The novel is a picture of war that is often unseen and forgotten about. It is about the day to day life of those who aren't fighting, but trying to live their lives while their home is being torn apart. It is not only informative, but also compelling, and incredibly heartbreaking.

Favorite Moment: The reveals that Marra places throughout this book, not only about the main characters but also about many minor ones, are absolutely fantastic and done incredibly well, even the tragic ones. Marra slowly and thoughtfully reveals the plight of each of the people the reader has come to care about. In the same that way he unwraps their past and shows how they are all connected, he unwraps their future and shows how what happened in the course of the novel got them there.

Favorite Character: For my favorite character I have picked Ramzan's father, Khassan. He definitely does not approve of his son's decision to become an informant. And to really show his disapproval, he takes any of the food Ramzan gets as payment and feeds it to his dogs. 

Recommended Reading: While reading A Constellation of Vital Phenomena I was reminded of Rutya Sepeteys' historical young adult novel Between Shades of Gray, which tells the story of a Lithuanian family who are forced from their home under Stalin's orders and are taken to the Arctic Circle for a life of hard labor. Two different wars, two different countries, but a lot of the hardship and terror are eerily similiar. 

Contemporary Fiction: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

All credit for my discovery of this novel goes to Goodreads as well as Barnes & Noble. It was on Goodreads that I first read the description of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah and decided I wanted to read it eventually. But it was seeing it at Barnes & Noble that made me realize that "eventually" wasn't quite soon enough.

The Situation: Ifemelu and Obinze grew up in Nigeria, where they met as kids. Almost immediately there was something between them. They liked each other and continued to date even after Ifemelu went away to America to go to school. She and Obinze kept in touch through emails and phone calls, and their friends and family did not doubt that soon they would be receiving wedding invitations and that the couple would be linked together forever. But eventually, it appears that Ifemelu has cut off all contact with Obinze. She stops returning phone calls and emails, eventually changing her number and deleting her old email account. Friends and family are confused, and Obinze is devastated. Enough time will pass, and Ifemelu will begin to meet and date other men as she gets more established in America, and Obinze himself will get married and have a child back in Nigeria. It isn't the way anyone thought the story would go, but that is what was happening.

The Problem: Obinze is now a rich man in Nigeria and is doing very well. But he isn't completely satisfied with how things are, and he often thinks about how he should not have married his somewhat simple and superficial wife, Kosi. He may have been able to continue living this life just fine, except one day he receives an email out of the blue from Ifemelu saying that she will be returning to Nigeria after years of living in America. Now he is obsessively looking online for more information about her and about what she has been doing. He checks his Blackberry constantly to see if she has emailed back. He even finds out what he can about the men she has dated in the States and finds himself becoming jealous, even though Ifemelu has long done with them. What will Ifemelu's return mean for him? For them?

Genre, Themes, History: If anything, this section is going to show just how simplistic my above summary actually is. This is a fiction novel that is about much more than just a boy and girl who become separated by time and oceans who are about to be reunited again. In fact, for the majority of the book, Ifemelu and Obinze aren't even together on the same continent. Just as much as this book is about a long lost love, it is also about race relations in America, cross-cultural communication and interaction, immigration, literature, education, and even black hair care. Ifemelu didn't simply come to America, get an education, work a few jobs, date a few people, and then go back home to Nigeria. She had to deal with all of the paperwork and red tape that comes with being from another country and trying to work and go to school in America. She started a blog about race in America that soon had readers from all over the world. She watched her aunt, a single parent, struggle to become a doctor in a strange country while raising her son. And she watched other people from other countries try to make it in their own way, with their own unique struggles and successes. Even Obinze had a brief stint in London that ended in his deportation. And after finally making headway as a businessman back in Nigeria, the reader is given a look into how Nigerians do business, how much they value status and wealth, and what being successful means to them. There is a lot packed into this 477 page novel, making it one of those books for which it is impossible to answer the dreaded question "So, what's it about?"

My Verdict: As I said, there is a lot to this book, but I rarely felt overwhelmed by everything that was going on and everything that Ifemelu was observing. I am sure many will feel like Ifemelu's thoughts on race will seem heavy-handed and unnecessary, but really, her observations felt to me like the kind of stuff a non-American black person would pick up on and find interesting. The reader gets to follow Ifemelu from her life as a young girl in Nigeria, to her life as a young adult in America, and then back home again. And while you know from the beginning that Ifemelu intends to return to Nigeria and meet up again with Obinze, Adichie writes it all in such a way that I didn't mind at all that she takes the scenic route and almost leaves the reunion for the very end. In fact, I think I would have been fine if Ifemelu and Obinze went on living their separate lives. The love story between the two of them was probably my least favorite part. I enjoyed watching Ifemelu navigate life in America, and Obinze's misadventures in London that lead him back home. There is one part where a character, the sister of one of Ifemelu's American boyfriends, is lamenting that she wanted to write about race, but the editor keeps wanting her to sort of water it down and make it about other stuff too. And maybe that is what Adichie had to do. Maybe this book is really about race, but the love story was put in to really sell it. I honestly have no idea, but I can see that happening.

Favorite Moment: The parts I enjoyed the most came from the blog post entries that were included throughout the novel. Ifemelu is a fairly straight-forward person who isn't afraid to speak her mind, but in her blog, she really didn't hold back. Topics ranged from black hair care, to Barack Obama, to the white friend who "gets it," to interracial relationships, and on and on. For me, these were some of the most interesting passages in the book.

Favorite Character: I may not have agreed with her opinions and her actions all of the time, but I will pick Ifemelu as my favorite character. She is the one the reader has the most access to throughout the novel, and fortunately for me she rarely got on my nerves and didn't cause much eye-rolling. I think I like her because she wasn't afraid to be the bad guy and tell the truth.

Recommended Reading: A few times throughout the book, Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is mentioned, and that would be a great follow up to Americanah. Also, Baratunde Thurston's How to Be Black is always a good choice.

Science Fiction: The Long War by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter

Quite naturally, I had to eventually read and blog about Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's follow-up to The Long Earth, a science fiction series centered around the idea of there being parallel Earths, most of which are like our own. The Long War continues the story of how humanity is adjusting to the seemingly endless opportunities afforded to them by the Long Earth. As I mentioned in last year's post, this is a story line with seemingly endless possibilities, and Pratchett and Baxter decided to embark on a good deal of them.

The Situation: It is now ten years after Joshua Valiente and Lobsang took a trip across the Long Earth and discovered sights and species that most had only read about in science fiction novels. Now, humankind has spread out across the Long Earth, shaping it just as it is shaping them. And Joshua, now with a wife and child of his own, has settled in a small town simply referred to as Hell-Knows-Where (see what they did there?) a long way away from the Datum, or original Earth. Now somewhat of a celebrity, Joshua would like to live a simple life and leave all of the exploring to the more adventurous types, such as Sally Linsay, who doesn't care at all for Joshua's decision to "settle down." Also, the enigmatic Lobsang is still up to his old tricks with his ability to be in multiple places at once and know pretty much everything there is to know about anyone that he finds interesting or that he believes might help him in his personal mission. It has only been ten years since Step Day, so humanity is still making mistakes regarding the Long Earth, but progress is being made, and everyone is getting along as best they can.

The Problem: One of the many new species that human beings have encountered in The Long Earth are the trolls. They are kind, smart, strong, and somewhat sensitive creatures. They cause the humans little to know trouble. In fact, in many settlements, they work for the humans and don't seem to mind doing it. But in a place in the Long Earth known simply as "the gap," one mother troll decided she didn't want her cub to be part of an experiment being run by the space program, and attempts to subdue her and take the cub end tragically. And of course, because humans seem to have video of everything and will share anything remotely interesting  as quickly as they can, the video of this incident becomes well-known across the Long Earth, and the result is an almost complete split, with some wanting to protect the trolls and maintain peace with them, and others calling for their subjugation and/or extermination. Sally, a troll sympathizer, goes to Joshua for help, and despite his reluctance, he agrees. Meanwhile, President Crowley has sent out stepping airships across the Long Earth colonies that fall under the jurisdiction of the USA in an attempt to maintain control of them, and also to somewhat deal with the troll issue. And of course Lobsang seems to have his own objective as well, as he continues to recruit his own team and even attempts to get back into Joshua's good graces. With millions upon millions of worlds to explore, there are many opportunities ofr progress, and also for destruction.

Genre, Themes, History: In the first book, just the idea of there being so many alternate "earths" to discover was overwhelming enough. In this second book, it is still overwhelming, but that didn't stop Pratchett and Baxter from going even further with this idea. The Long War is of course a science fiction book, but it takes fear of the unknown and misunderstood, as well as colonization and greed to a whole other level. It is no longer just Lobsang and the Black Corporation that he works with that are interested in exploring the Long Earth. Now the Chinese are getting involved (and I'm assuming other countries as well) and are making their own discoveries. Also, it becomes apparent that each world isn't just slightly different from the Datum, but that some have the capacity to be nothing like anyone has ever seen, and same goes for the life forms that inhabit them. Literally anything is possible. President Crowley back on the Datum is concerned with maintaining control over the colonies associated with the US in order to not suffer a complete economic collapse at home, as well as protect those who chose to remain on the Datum. But like most things, it appears that ultimately, everything about the Long Earth doesn't revolve around human beings and what we think is best for it. These alternate earths have seemingly always existed without us, but now that humanity has started stepping, existence without the Long Earth may no longer be a possibility.

My Verdict: There was certainly some tension regarding the discovery of the Long Earth in the first book, but while there is still a great deal of discovery that takes place in The Long War, Pratchett and Baxter bring the tension to the forefront. Really, my only concern may be that there are too many possibilities for this type of book, as the authors bring up a lot of different storylines in the 400+ pages of this book. I am comforted by the fact that the series may end up being at least five books long, so maybe there will be ample time for everything to get somewhat resolved by the end, but still. It would be one thing if we were following Joshua, Sally, the US military, Lobsang, and the slew of other new characters that were introduced just over the surface of our own world. But we're attempting to follow these people over millions of worlds, all with their own species and ecosystems, a few of which nearly cost Joshua his life. But I suppose that is half the fun isn't it? So many possibilities make the story less predictable, and the adventures can literally go anywhere. I plan to keep up with the series, because at this point I just have to know where Pratchett and Baxter are going with this.

Favorite Moment: When Helen, Joshua's wife, completely lays out a would-be assassin of her husband with one punch to the face. 

Favorite Character: Before I had picked Joshua, who I still like, but I think I will go with Agnes for this book. Sister Agnes was one of the nuns at the home Joshua grew up in before she died. Now, she has been reincarnated (sort of) by Lobsang and is still as awesome and ornery as ever, but with a younger and quicker body. She is just the type who may be able to keep Lobsang in check, and she still doesn't take any nonsense from anyone.

Recommended Reading: Naturally, it would make sense for me to recommend reading The Long Earth before attempting to tackle its sequel. But just as I did a year ago, I will also recommend checking out Segei Lukyanenko's Night Watch series. It's much darker, and it's fantasy instead of science fiction, but it might be worth looking into if you enjoyed The Long War.