For the first time in I don't even want to know how long, I have a book review for you! I have been doing a lot less reading lately than I would like, and most of the books I have been reading are advanced readers copies (ARCs), meaning that they have not yet been released, and that I can not yet review them. I want to get into the habit of reviewing them as I finish them and having the reviews go up as they come out, so hopefully there will be more book reviews coming soon.
Plot Summary (from Amazon.com):Many generations ago, a mysterious cataclysm struck the world. Governments collapsed and people scattered, to rebuild where they could. A mutation, "the Change,” arose, granting some people unique powers. Though the area once called Los Angeles retains its cultural diversity, its technological marvels have faded into legend. "Las Anclas" now resembles a Wild West frontier town… where the Sheriff possesses superhuman strength, the doctor can warp time to heal his patients, and the distant ruins of an ancient city bristle with deadly crystalline trees that take their jewel-like colors from the clothes of the people they killed.
Teenage prospector Ross Juarez’s best find ever – an ancient book he doesn’t know how to read – nearly costs him his life when a bounty hunter is set on him to kill him and steal the book. Ross barely makes it to Las Anclas, bringing with him a precious artifact, a power no one has ever had before, and a whole lot of trouble.
My Review:
Stranger was recommended to me by a friend who said it was the best book he'd ever read. While I wouldn't put it quite in that category, it was very good. The characters were well developed and unique. The book has five main characters who alternate narrating chapters (all in third person), and they each manage to have a unique voice. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and it can be easy to forget who some of the minor characters are and how they relate to the story, but overall that wasn't too much of a problem.
The plot is enjoyable. While it is primarily action driven, the action was interesting enough that I did not mind too much. As I know I've said on this blog many times, I'm usually a fan of character driven plot over action driven. The plot kept a good pace, never getting slow enough to be boring, or fast enough to be confusing. There were quite a few subplots, mostly of the romantic variety, and while some of them lost me a bit, the main ones were interesting. There was a good balance between the action driven main plot line, and the romance driven subplots.
The writing is very interesting. While it at first seems to fit pretty well into the easy to read/well-written slot where books like Harry Potter reside, something about it makes me hesitate to put it there. As I read, I never found myself particularly noticing the writing, but it was a slow read, which I also wouldn't have expected. I think that maybe that is because of the density of action and nuance that it is not a super fast read. You do have to pay attention to understand what is going on.
One of the best things about this book is the fictional world it resides in. While we hear very little about the world as a whole (there is very little exposition, which I appreciate), we don't really need to. It's a futuristic, post-apocalyptic world, but it still manages to feel unique and fresh, and the important elements of this world aren't at all formulaic.
Who should read this book?
I would recommend this book to young teens and above. The writing and plot might be challenging to grasp for some younger readers, but it is well written and should be engaging to most. There are romantic elements to the story, but there are is nothing that would get probably about a PG rating, and there is no swearing that I can recall. Even violence, while it exists, isn't particularly graphic.
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