The Rook – Indescribably fun!

I had The Rook by Daniel O'Malley downloaded for quite awhile and I'm not sure where or exactly when I acquired it – bit of a mystery. In a moment where I was between the audiobooks I had been waiting for I decided to give this a try. It was a shocking delight! I had heard nothing about this book, and had no idea what I was in for. It isn't very often I read or listen to a book where I can't anticipate what's going to happen next. In The Rook I was constantly surprised at where the story took me and its cast of slightly supernatural freakish characters who work and live within a cutthroat world of corporate operatives. Well over a month after I finished listening to it I'm still lying awake at night thinking about it.

"The body you are wearing used to be mine." As an opening line, this worked very well – I was more than a bit shocked. Susan Duerden, a reader I'd heard grace one of my favourite audiobooks of all time – The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, has this pleasing and captivating voice that instantly lured me in. She perfectly matches the ironic sense of humour that lead character Myfanwy Thomas (rhymes with Tiffany) carries throughout the book. She is the perfect voice to express the "What the fuck?" attitude that drives Myfanwy through the story.

Myfanwy awakes in a park in London, in the pouring rain, with a black eye and surrounded by dead bodies who are all wearing surgical gloves... and absolutely no memory of who she is. How could I not keep listening? She discovers a letter in her pocket, supposedly from her former self, and follows the instructions it lays out. Once she recovers her wits in a hotel under an alias prearranged by her former self, she continues reading the letter from her pocket. She discovers her previous self has left her two options. For option A she goes to a certain bank, opens a large safe deposit box and safely (presumably) escapes to a new life and new identity in a foreign country. Option B has her going to the same bank, opening a different safe deposit box, and finding out who the bloody hell did this to her.

It turns out Myfanwy is a high ranking official in a supersecret British organization called the Chequy (pronounced Shek-ay) that reminds me a bit of Men in Black, but less secret agent and more dull corporate. Instead of dealing with aliens from other planets, however, they deal supernatural freaks from right here on earth. Some of those freaks, who seem pretty normal in the Chequy world, even work as part of the organization. Did you know that a certain percentage of men who routinely wear hats are wearing them to cover horns? I had no idea! Myfanwy herself has some odd quirks (hence the latex gloves on the people who tried to kill her – and ended up dead).

Officials in the Chequy take on the title of chess pieces. There are two Rooks, two Bishops, a King and Queen, and a whole lot of Pawns (you can guess what happens to a lot of them). Myfanwy is a Rook (referred to within the organization as Rook Thomas) with an incredible talent for organizing, budgeting, and sitting in an office doing paperwork.

I'm not going to tell you more because if you're not already hooked you never will be, and if you do read it I wouldn't want to spoil any of the delightful surprises that await you!

The Rook is author Daniel O'Malley's first, and hopefully not last, book. I desperately want a sequel! He has a web page and a blog that is too infrequently updated for my liking (I know, a bit of the pot calling the kettle black here!). As I mentioned before, Susan Duerden is an outstanding reader who makes you feel like she's sharing a great secret story with you – like you're inside the inner circle of the characters. I've loved her storytelling in two books now (The Rook and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society), and she rescued a third – a juvenile that I think was poorly written and I haven't covered in this blog.

I can't recommend this book enough. Although it comes in at a whopping 17 hours, it's the kind of audiobook I'd sneak five minutes here or there to listen to more of. Usually I listen when I'm on long drives to work or other places. It's also the first time I listened to an MP3 version on my new Samsung Galaxy SIII phone – not doing that again – too weird getting calls and trying to coordinate my hands free blue tooth, etc. From now on, my fabulous phone is not for audiobooks! Plus, they only play MP3s... what's with that??? The selection is too limited.

 

The Rook is not available on Library To Go but if you live in the TNRD I have ordered the audio and print versions for my library. If you're not in the TNRD - beg your own library to get it! or buy it from Audible - it's worth it!

 

You can listen to a sample here but it doesn't look like I can embed samples from Audible anymore - I'll keep pursuing it.

 

 

Listen Up!

The Rook, (17 hrs, 51 mins), Hachette Audio, 2012

The Oracles of Delphi Keep

OK, time to catch up a bit here. Apparently if I think about writing, it doesn't actually happen. It seems one must actually write. Freelance writing doesn't count, either! 

I listened to the Oracles of Delphi Keep by Victoria Laurie last summer while I was on holiday in Saskatchewan. I was surprised to learn that the reader was Susan Duerden, who I had just listened to in the awesome Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I wouldn't say this was a fabulous book. It seemed a bit disjointed and far fetched, like it was the first third of an actual story and the reader / listener is left with more questions than answers at the end. There were some great characters, mysterious creatures, orphans, a bit if magic, and the threat of World War II (all my usual criteria). I listened to the end and will probably listen to the rest of the series if it becomes available on audio, but I just didn't think the writing was the best and the mythology that the story is based on was a bit confusing. The reading, however, was excellent. Susan Duerden is a compelling reader who brings the main characters of Ian and Theodosia, orphans who are the subject of an ancient prophecy, to life in a fantastic way.

The story follows Ian and Theodosia, two orphans who are as close as brother and sister, living in Delphi Keep, an orphanage near Dover, England in the years leading up to World War II. While exploring tunnels near the famous White Cliffs of Dover, Ian discovers a silver box embedded in the tunnel floor. When he removes it, he unleashes hell hounds and starts a deadly chase with Theodosia, their friend Carl, two of their teachers and a professor travelling through portals to gather ancient objects in order to prevent the end of the world. Sounds simple enough. 

A sequel, The Curse of the Deadman's Forest, has just been released but I haven't come across an audio version yet. Like I said, I will probably listen to it if only to try and figure out what is supposed to be going on.  

I think this is a case of a reader being able to make or break a story, even possibly rescuing it.

I listened to this recording of the Oracles of Delphi Keep on CD.  To listen to a sample click below or visit Random House Audio.

Listen Up!

The Oracles of Delphi Keep, 13 sound discs (16 hr, 45 min), Random House Audio, (2009) 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Greetings from Saskatchewan! I had planned to offer you a profile of reader Jayne Entwistle today, but she'll have to wait until tomorrow. Instead, I'm going to tell you about the awesome audiobook I listed to yesterday on my 13 hour drive to the lake. I was a bit pressed for time in the week before I left so I browsed through some of the Books on CD at one of the libraries I was working at. Hoping for a gem I grabbed a bunch and ended up listening to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece, Annie Barrows. When I started I literally knew nothing about it. The book has been out for a few years and while I was always intrigued by the title, I never checked into what it was about. Yesterday I plopped it into the CD Player in the car and started my drive. Almost instantly I felt like I'd won the audiobook lottery! I also now desperately want to visit (and possibly get lost in) Guernsey!

Set in 1946, the story is told completely in correspondence with each reader voicing the letters written by that particular character. I was really impressed with how the authors managed to tell the complexities of the story without allowing it to become overly dramatic or emotional. The story looks at the Island of Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, and talks about the effects the 5-year German occupation of the island in WWII had on the island residents. The islands were completely cut off from the rest of the world and starvation, lack of fuel, and the occasional cruelty (and compassion) of the German soldiers had a dramatic impact on the community even after the war had ended.

Shortly after the end of the war, Juliet Ashton, a young writer who is enjoying the success of her first book, receives a letter from a stranger from Guernsey. He had obtained a book she used to own at a used bookstore and would like more books by the author or about him. This begins a long correspondence between Juliet and many of the island's inhabitants who had formed a literary society as a way to rebel against the Germans and maintain a sense of normalcy.

I loved this book! I was crying at parts and laughing out loud at many others. I can't recommend it enough! Author Mary Ann Shaffer, a former librarian, editor, and bookseller, passed away in February of 2008. This was her only novel and she never lived to see it published. She wrote it with her niece, Annie Barrows, who is a noted children's author. Learning the author had passed away made the story even more poignant. This is the kind of book I would love to write someday.

I was leery about listening to a book read by a collection of readers because  I was worried it would be read like dialogue. Instead, each reader reads the letters written by their character – perfect! Paul Boehmer I had listened to already in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and his distinct voice was perfect here. The other readers, Susan Duerden, Rosalyn Landor, John Lee, and Juliet Mills, were all new to me and absolutely excellent.

I listened to the CD version but I discovered today that it is available for download through Library to Go. You can listen to an audio sample there or at the Random House Audio link below.

Listen Up!

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, (8 hrs, 7 mins), Random House Audio, (2008)