Furnace 01 & 02: Lockdown and Solitary, by Alexander Gordon Smith

Review

 Wow. I think this is a great YA series that exists very comfortably being a strange mish-mash of horror, action and dystopian fiction. There are some genuinely frightening ideas and creepy goings on in the Furnace series, but the books are also clever, suspenseful and involving. I found the writing to be perfect for the tone and style of the book. I read the first one rather quickly and then a few weeks later, I picked the second one up to chill out for a few chapters before doing something else, and then I ended up starting and finishing the book in one night. That hasn’t happened in years.

Lockdown is set in gen pop of the Furnace Prison when Alex is wrongly sent there and begins to experience some of the horrors the prison contains. The second book Solitary sees him in solitary trying to navigate the lower levels of the prison – the levels where the horrific laboratory experiments take place, where a battle is playing out gruesomely between the monsters of Furnace, and where every dark rocky corridor holds another grisly secret.

I think the ideas behind Furnace are fascinating. What I like best about these books is that the writing isn’t pulpy – there’s something very intelligent and emotive behind it. The main characters, who we’re meant to care about – I do care about them. I want them all to get out of the prison. And when some of them don’t, well it’s not like I break down in tears – but there is a sense of ‘oh, damn’, there.

Where the Furnace series is particularly successful is in how it creates suspense – there is a sense of constant anticipation and fear that runs throughout the books. How long till the monsters come for Alex in his cell? How long before the rats break into his solitary hole? Will they get caught before they can blow the cave and escape? How long till they get discovered in hiding? And so on and so on. It is quite harrowing. But it never feels like a cheap tactic to get the reader involved.

The Furnace setting is fantastic – all dark shadows and deep rock far into the bowels of the earth; all creepy laboratories and confined spaces and a darkness that you never know is a blessing or a curse. I understand that in future books Alex manages to break out of Furnace so it will be interesting to see how the story survives once it is set free from the prison.

I really enjoyed these books and think they’re great. I originally started reading them when I had to put together a list of horror books for one of our school library clients at the bookstore. The covers (the American ones) hooked me in. This is a series that I will see out to the finish. I highly recommended for mature teen readers and even horror fiction lovers who want an easy but involving read.

First published in 2009

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

First published in 2011

If you can, try to get the illustrated version of A Monster Calls – it makes the whole book a beautiful little volume to keep and really enhances the dark themes and emotions present in the book. They mimic the kind of twisted, bitter thoughts present in Connor’s mind, but overall just appeal to the idea of darkness. I think they were haunting and beautiful.

This book is dark. It is raw, it is unflinching and honest, and for all the magic realism present in it, it is a very real story. I knew what was coming – I think that it is clear what will happen from the start. But I did cry, and not even just because the writing was beautiful or it was really tragic – but just because it feels very real and laid bare. Even if you can’t relate to Connor’s sadness, and the reasons for it, I think it is easy to apply those feelings on a personal level, because as they are written they are simple and totally accessible and there is nothing forced about them.

I really loved the idea of the monster calling on Connor. I actually found the monster rather funny with his deadpan lines and how he totally discredits all of Connor’s outbursts. I thought he was kinda cool. I wouldn’t mind if he came calling on me. The ‘monster’ element is actually a really lovely, unforced example of using magic or fantasy to enhance a contemporary story – the two parts work together seamlessly.

Another aspect of A Monster Calls I really enjoyed is the way it uses the importance of stories – stories to occupy our minds, stories to cast light on our own lives, and stories to create beauty out of chaos. Connor may not like the stories the monster tells him, but he cannot deny their importance in getting him to the place he needs to be with his mother.

A Monster Calls is not a story I absolutely love or would hold dear to my heart, but it is a very special story and a beautiful idea. I think many people would cherish it as an emotional attachment - it might be one of those books that ‘gets’ them.

The Orphan of Awkward Falls, by Keith Graves

First published by Chronicle Books, 2011

A boy, Thaddeus – living alone in a dilapidated old mansion with only an ancient robot and an oddball cat for company, conducting strange but brilliant experiments, answering to no one but himself. A girl, Josie – adventurous and curious, recently moved to Awkward Falls and drawn to the old mansion next door. And a grotesque hunchback, Fetid Stenchley – just escaped from the Insane Asylum and heading to a certain mansion where he used to work under the watchful eye of his master, many years before.

What will happen when these three meet? And what could one dilapidated old mansion possibly be hiding? And finally, what will happen when the mansion’s secrets are finally let loose?

This was a grim, gory and immensely readable little story. It is easy to get sucked in and once you’re hooked, the pages fly. There is a great deal of adventure, a bit of sly hilarity (at least for kids) and lots of spooky and gruesome details to keep the enthusiastic reader happy.

I did have a bit of trouble with some of the content – I feel like some of it wasn’t appropriate for the intended age group, there were a few parts where I thought it was just a little bit too sick for kids. I wouldn’t like my own children (if I had them) privy to some of the more violent and macabre scenes. This is not to say that kids shouldn’t read it; but perhaps just exercise some caution when recommending to kids – it’s really dependent on the individual reader.

It looks gorgeous. I had a proof copy, but I have seen the final version and the cover is eye-popping and perfectly captures the content of the book. And although I mainly had unfinished illustrations in my copy, they look like they will be super-gorgeous (in a gruesome kind of way!) as well.

Like I said, it is immensely readable, written in easy English with lots of action and a dose of wit. Scenes are snappy and well-paced. There is a bit of mystery to keep you thinking, lots of creativity and a large amount of fun.

It’s just ... something didn’t work for me. The whole book felt a bit off-balance. I think it was that it tried to be zany and funny in a way that appealed to kids but then having that right next to the violence and scenes that are grisly and even psychologically hideous, it just didn’t sit comfortably. And I think that may alienate some audiences.