Defy the Stars

Defy the Stars by Claudia Gray (Allen and Unwin)  PB RRP $19.99

ISBN 9781471406362

Reviewed by Daniela Andrews

‘She’s learned how to fight. Next she has to learn how to die.’

Noemi, a seventeen-year-old soldier from the planet Genesis, has three weeks to live. Her assignment to strike and destabilise the gateway to her planet will buy her people time in the war against Earth … at the cost of her own life. When Noemi veers off-course during a sudden attack from Earth, she discovers an abandoned ship with somebody onboard: Abel. A robot.

Abel is the long-lost creation of Burton Mansfield, an Earth-residing scientist whom some believe is a genius, others evil. The only ‘A’ model mech he’s ever created, Abel’s skill and cognitive reasoning is outstanding but his 30 years of isolation have produced a flaw in his programming. He has developed an ability to feel. When Abel reveals he knows how to destroy the Genesis Gate, Noemi orders him to help her secure the required items before she sends him to his death at the gate. (He is only a mech, after all.) But as they traverse the universe, and form a loyal alliance, Noemi feels uneasy about destroying him. Plus, the more she learns about the other planets the less she agrees with her home planet’s choices.

This is a fast-paced, gripping read by bestselling YA author, Claudia Gray. Noemi and Abel’s stories are told in alternating chapters in third-person perspective, and the progression of their relationship is fascinating. Abel’s near-human conscience constantly grapples with Noemi’s orders and his loyalty to Mansfield, providing much suspense in the story as to how he will act. Abel undergoes quite an existential battle as he tries to understand the motives behind Noemi and Mansfield’s opposing requests and behaviours. When caught in a terrorist attack, he:

‘… finds it hard to comprehend that humans don’t share the same directives he does. That their innermost beings don’t demand that they help protect one another’s lives. Shouldn’t that matter to a human even more than it does to a mech?’

The book is suitable for science fiction fans aged 12–18 years, but I believe it will appeal to a wider and older audience also. Outside of its planetary attacks, galactic descriptions and battleship commands is an enthralling relationship between two engaging characters … and a heartrending moral reflection on human nature.

Winell Road: Beneath the Surface

Winell Road: Beneath the Surface by Kate Foster (Jet Black Publishing)  PB RRP $32  ISBN:  9780994318725 

Reviewed by Elaine Harris

Although it is not the norm to introduce the reviewer before the book, in this instance I hope you will permit an exception.

I accepted the challenge to review Kate Foster’s debut novel simply because it was a challenge. Excepting Terry Pratchett and some early Jackie French, I have read little or no sci-fi – and they might be better described as fantasy and cross-over respectively, although labels can be misleading. In other words, apart from the UFO mentioned in the blurb, I had absolutely no idea what to expect.

Winell Road: Beneath the Surface is great fun, well-paced – you need those few thinking spaces provided – and full of the unexpected. There is a complex mystery to solve as well as a quest to fulfill. Not only that, but the action begins in the opening paragraph.

My first reaction was: is the language in this book clichéd? No. It might be considered so if it were a straightforward narrative; However, in spite of being written largely in the third person, what the author is doing here is telling the story through the thoughts, words and actions of the protagonist, Jack Mills. You hear his voice, think his thoughts and share his doubts and concerns. Many authors aspire to this technique, not all succeed.

Despite the “Encounter” on page one, Jack is bored, bored, bored! His parents are boring; ditto the neighbours, as is his little dead-end street. All of this changes when Roxy moves in next door and the Freogans (pronounced free-o-gans) come to call.
As the story unfolds, you discover that Mum is a fanatical gardener as well as a cook rivalled only by Letitia Cropley in “The Vicar of Dibley”, while Dad is a mad inventor whose weird contraptions never sell. Or are they? You also learn to trust no-one and that nothing is what it seems.

This book will work wonderfully read aloud in class. There are enough cliff-hanger chapter endings to keep them begging for more. It will also promote discussion about making snap judgments while providing plenty of scope for related art projects.
Then there is the wordplay. The vocabulary is rich and varied without being off-putting. Winell Road is an anagram and there are other word puzzles scattered throughout the book. The author’s love of philology and etymology shines through without being intrusive; you can follow up as much or as little of it as you choose.

Kate Foster plans two or three sequels to the novel. I wish her the very best of luck.