The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden.

Hello Readers :)

Recently, I've been reading the book "The Gates Of Rome" by Conn Iggulden, a pretty fantastic book by the author of "The Dangerous Book for Boys" and other historical novel, takes place in the Roman times, following Gauis Julius Caesar, or as he will be later known as, Julius Caeser as a boy, and growing up, until he is in his 20's, which then leads onto the next book in the series, which I know doubt shall be reading!

  As a whole, the story was pretty good, and you could tell Conn Iggulden has researched it, as many of the authors I have read have seemed to have done. It goes over Gaius' childhood, and also goes over his best friend, and "brother", Marcus' life up 'til the time the book ends, ending on a pretty amazing realization for the reader, as you get during some of the novel. He seems to keep it secret that Gauis is indeed Julius Caeser (that is, if you didn't read the blurb, like me.) until about halfway through the novel. The story was, however, very good, and as detailed as you'd want. You can get lost in it, as I realised, at 1AM one Monday evening a few weeks ago!

  The language was understandable, and even uses a good few Latin words, but Iggulden tells the reader what they mean, when they are first used in the story, and example being "Gladiuus" which is a "Short-Sword" in the English language. Although it seems really complex, you understand what they're saying, and strangely, it makes you feel slightly more intelligent, in a weird kind of way.

        The Characters were realistic, as some of them actually existed, however, the author created some of them, to add some artistic detail to it, but to be honest, you couldn't tell the difference between the characters that actually existed, and the ones that Conn Iggulden created. They were believable, and you can understand why some characters do the things that they do (not giving too much away).
        The themes centrally used in this novel is love, friendship, militarism and social differences among the different classes, slaves were talked to alot differently than a fellow man or an army general. The themes were done well, and worked well among the historical background with it.
    The settings and the world have to be one of the most impressive parts of this novel. You feel like a part of this world, and you can't seem to want to leave it all. Like the last book, I could instantly see some of the characters' scenes being played out in my head, like one of the scenes which is particularly gory (again, trying to not give it all away). Adding to that, there are alot of gory moments in it, and the person who recommended this book to me said she felt "Physically sick" during the reading of one of the chapters, so you have been warned. Lastly, you can smell the filth and blood in the streets, you can almost side with one of the two groups in it, and you can see how the events prior to the unfortunate decline of Julius Caesar, and how these have set the scene for the unfortunate death as well.
  Overall, I would give the book a 9 out of 10, because you can really feel the world, and believe me, I ended up only wanting to read the book for 20 minutes, before I went to bed, but ended up reading for 4 hours, covering most of the middle of the book, and ending at about 1 in the morning... and I don't like to think I get sucked into a book often.. Enough said on that point, a good book, and if you like things like Lords of the Bow and other historical novels by Conn Iggulden, then you'll love this book, "The Gates of Rome"!
Signing off for this week, thanks for reading
Dan :)
Conn Iggulden's site is here: http://www.conniggulden.com/
The Gates of Rome Wikipedia Page is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gates_of_Rome

From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma

Recently, after finishing Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz, I started reading this book, From Where I Stand by Tabitha Suzuma. It's not the longest of books, but it's certaintly more quality than quantity!
  The story is really intricate and detailed, and starts when the central character, Raven, is taken to his new foster home, though you don't quite know why.  The story centres around Raven, as he tries to take revenge on the murderer of his mum.  Throughout the whole story, you are really taken into it, and it is, (though I hate using the term) a pageturner. It was also, extremely well structured, starting at the right place, as starting at any other point in the story would either ruin it, or the reader wouldn't know what's going on, and stop reading. The ending, I have to say, was very good, and well thought out. It leaves the reader surprised, and wanting to re-read it, and I'll stop talking about the ending, as I wouldn't want to spoil it. Overall, the story was a good one, and you can tell the author has spent a long time thinking about it.
  The language worked well, using language that everyone would know, and that the characters would actually say if they were in the situation. Unlike the last book I reviewed, it actually swore, but the author could get away with this one, as it's aimed at young people who can cope with the swear words, and have probably said them before.
  The characters were also well developed, and had a history behind them. Also, you needed to really empathise with the central character, Raven, because otherwise the story wouldn't be a good story. You can also empathise with all the other characters, and the situations they're in. At the end of the story, however, your left with a sense of almost betrayal, or injustice, as you realise what happened (again, I'm not trying to give too much away). They were very realistic, and you could almost imagine what they looked like, and, strangely, I spent quite a while realising that this could make a perfect film, minus one or two bits of the story. I liked most of the characters, apart from certain aspects of the character Lotte, because you wouldn't do what she did in such a rush like that, in my opinion, but then again, I haven't been in the same situation, so wouldn't know.
  The themes throughout the story include things like depression, self-harming, the feeling of loss, anger and denial. These ideas are explained perfectly from the point of view of the characters, and the author of this story has experianced a few of these, as she suffered from manic depression, and problems to do with self-harming. You really realise why the characters would do what they do. The author's trying to say that you can cope with these things, although she doesn't say it directly, and how the peoples' minds work.

  The setting was somewhere in London, set in present day.It's a good place to set it, because it means that people can empathise with certain situations, and people have a sense of knowing where the people were. (people can imagine the London underground alot more than the interior of a medieval banqueting hall, in 1540) Also, it's good as the author can use modern themes and explore them better, in a modern day setting.

  Overall, I would give this book 8.5 out of 10. It's an exciting and interesting thriller, and does well as a story. I'd say, read it if your into that genre, or if you've ever seen and liked things like The Shining or Inception.

Note: I would however, give the ending a 9.5 out of 10, it's an awesome ending, and really gives the reader a sense of surprise, as said earlier.

Note: The authors website is here: http://www.tabithasuzuma.com/

The author has however, written 4 books, with characters in similiar situations, in different places in the world. If you loved From Where I Stand, read some of the other work by Tabitha Suzuma.

Snakehead By Anthony Horowitz.

Hello readers :)
Over the holidays, I read Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz, recommended by Dramagirl. Alex Rider is a child spy, if you haven't read the other books (which I highly recommend doing) that has been recruited to MI6 (a spy organisation) on multiple occasions, much to his dissaray, as Alex is only 14, and doesn't particularly want to join MI6

The story follows Alex Rider as he crashes back down to Earth following Alex Rider's last adventure, Ark Angel. He's brought back to Australia, and the normal thing for him happens. He is recruited back into intelligence. He works for the Australian Secret Service, to find out more information about a terrorist group, Snakehead. Working with his Godfather, they go on a journey through their immigration facility. I thought that this story was pretty good, and well thought of. It was structured extremely well, and it makes you want to keep on reading. When you think its the end, it turns out to be only the beginning of the great story that is Snakehead. It worked extremely well, and was one of the better Alex Rider books.

The language was really easy to read, as it was language that a 14 year old boy would use. He manages to make the reader feel the emotions that Alex Rider was feeling throughout the story. The author almost shields the author from swearing, by not telling the reader what he actually said, leaving it to the readers imagination. An example of this would be "Alex swore a single, foul word". This can be done well, as it makes the whole book as exciting to a 15 year old as it would a 9 year old, without having to put a Age warning on it, as books like Cherub had to.

The characters were extremely detailed and thought out. He puts a bit of the history or every character into the books, and that makes you empathise or hate the character, or what ever emotions the author wants you to feel about the character. In your head, you can imagine the character, and no two characters were alike in any way. The characters were very realistic, which is what Anthony Horowitz wants you to think, as he states it at the very back of every book he's written. Another good thing about it was that no character was completely good, and no character completely bad, which is what makes these characters so realistic, and what makes them so believable.

The themes were very good, exploring lots of ideas, such as Immigration, Self-Discovery, Death, Betrayal and Pain. They were believable, and they worked well with the rest of the story, as they linked into the whole series, and didn't detract from the characters and storyline. The main sort of theme was Self-Discovery, as Alex finds out more about himself from his Godfather, Ash. Alex only wants to do this mission to be paired with Ash, so he can find out more about himself, which brings him onto a whole new adventure all together.

The settings were, as in every book in the series, very, very good. In the back of every Alex Rider book, Anthony Horowitz says that he trys to make each book as realistic as possible, when settings come into it. He also says, that apart from places he can't go (Eg. Space or a Warzone) he tries to go to every location that Alex goes to, and if he can't get there, he researches as much about the place as possible. In some cases, in fact, he actually uses the places he visits in his books. He spends a long time in his stories, describing a place or person long before any actual action happens, much like a person would if he went there for the first time. It really makes you want to be there, and makes you be able to play out the scene in your head, almost like a film.

Overall, it's a pretty good book. The whole series is brilliant anyway, but this is as good if not better, then some of the other Alex Rider books he has written. Overall, I'd give about 9.5/10. It's always a joy to read Anthony Horowitz's work.

For more information on Anthony Horowitz, visit http://www.anthonyhorowitz.com/
The new book in the Alex Rider series, Scorpia Rising, is out now in all good book shops
Dan :)

Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz

Due to a positive review from a fellow blogger in my class, Dramagirl, I have chosen to read "Snakehead" by Anthony Horowitz over this holiday. Further reviews, and general ideas on how good I percieve books to be, will be back after the holidays, when term starts (2nd May).
Until then,
Dan :)

Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Well, over half term, I read the book Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. I have to say, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, and kept me entertained during the boring days of being home alone. The story was a very thorough, very well thought through one, however, in some parts, it does feel like your reading the second book in the series, and you haven't read the first. It followed two main characters, Jack Morgan, an ex US Marine, and Justine Smith, one of the psycologists at the New York Police Department. It shows 3 different cases, and how the team of 5 at Private sort them out. With a pretty amazing prologue, it's a well thought storyline! The language was adult, as most of James Pattersons language tends to be, and was aimed at older audiences.The characters were well thought out, and Patterson gave them an obviously complex background history. Alot of Jack Morgan's story did actually revolve around his history in the marines, and his dreams revolve around the mistake he made at the beginning, making the image Patterson gives to you in the prologue a lot clearer. Also, having almost stereotypical characters, eg. one of the characters was a computer nerd, something which every police department "needs", and it's very stereotypically geeky. He does very well at doing this. Next, Patterson tackles the themes of teenage grooming, illegal sport fixing, murder and teenage murder chain- much like the news stories today! I think overall, throughout the themes, he is trying to say that not all things are completely free of crime, and there are corrupt people everywhere you turn. It's set throughout America, because the two other agents go all over America to find the facts about the NFL gambling scare, and the prologue is set in Afghanistan. The author spent about 2 pages describing Afghanistan and the bullets flying past your head. You almost feel like your there.

  So overall, I would give this book about 8 1/2 out of 10. It's good for a half term read, but it won't make you want to read more James Patterson, it's sort of a book to say "I'm Still Here!".

UPDATE: Private London is the sequel to James Patterson's Private, and is coming out in June 2011. Go to

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Private-London-James-Patterson/dp/1846058317

And again, if you want to find out more about the author, go to:

http://www.jamespatterson.com/

Shadow Wave: The final installment of CHERUB

  August saw the release of the much long  awaited final installment of CHERUB! My review is here:

• In the twelfth and final book, it saw James leaving CHERUB and going on his final mission. It also delves into ex-CHERUB agent, Kyle Blueman's past.
•    This story was worth the wait, with high speed action sequences that you could see happening in front of you and certain bits that tugged on the emotions . Its a great end to the series, especially if you've grown up with the series, as most readers have done. 
•   The language was easy to read, and although having some very explicit language, is able for most readers. Muchamore has done very well in captivating readers in the intricate pasts of the characters and the realistic emotions. Throughout the series, this author has explored loads of tough issues, from gang worlds, to drugs and social problems to animal abuse.
• The characters in his books are sometimes based on other people, and sometimes plucked from his imagination. No matter which method he takes, they all are very lifelike, and help keep the book together. If you read the rest of this series, in the right order, you'll find that you either grow up with the characters, or you watch the characters grow with the books!
•    As Muchamore has said in many of his interviews, he has gone and explored pretty much all of the places in which he writes about in his books, and he spends a long time describing the detail, making you feel like your there! In particular, in one of the earlier books, where two of the characters had to stay in a maximum security cell in Arizona, USA, he spent a certain number of weeks looking at them, and seeing all the different places.
•   Overall, seeing as Robert Muchamore only started this series so his nephew had something to read in the summer holidays, this final book gets a very well deserved 9 and a half out of 10.
• If you want to find out more information on the author, then go to his fansite, www.muchamore.com
• Any other information can be found  on my media page, on this website, in the Archive.