Nigma by Ana Salote

(The Waifs of Duldred - book 3)
Review by The Mole

Oy is still trying to save Linnet's life by finding her medicine but in order to do this he must pass the impassable storm wall and evade capture by the Felluns.  It doesn't look god for Oy and his friends and things will only get worse for them.

This is the third book in the Waifs Of Duldred trilogy, a trilogy that seems to have kept me waiting forever. Book 1 was "Oy Yew" and I remember being truly amazed at how wonderful this story was. But it left the reader on a cliff hanger and it seemed like Book 2 "Nondula" would never come. And Nondula, once again, left us on a cliff hanger.

The Felluns are the threat that Oy and friends have to evade and they want Oy badly. Their race is dying and, as a healer, they believe he can save their race - but on their terms as a prisoner. As the friends run the Felluns deploy their greatest trackers and bring in beasts to sniff out their scent. In the meantime the friends, in their innocent naivety, think they keep evading the Felluns only to come face to face again.

Nigma is a real complement to the series and was worth the wait. While waiting for book 3 the names, characters, and events so far portrayed in story have slipped to the back of your mind but here Salote brings the reader back up to date with an ease that almost leads you to believe that you could read this book as a stand alone. Please don't - you'll miss learning so much about the waifs and how their hardships have shaped them to become the fabulous characters that they are. Now is the time to start this tale as you can page seamlessly from the start of book 1 and continue until you finally close the cover on "Oy Goes Home" - the final chapter of book 3.

A wonderful end to a magnificent trilogy!

Publisher - Mother's Milk Books
Genre - Children's/Adult crossover,  dystopian

Nondula by Ana Salote

(The waifs of Duldred - book 2)
Review by The Mole

We left the waifs trying to escape from Duldred and getting hit by a storm. The storm carries them to Nondula where the people welcome them and try to help settle them into the lives they deserve. But the Felluns, their neighbours, are a violent dominant race who wish to enslave everyone else.

It becomes apparent (as we saw in Oy Yew) that Oy has certain abilities with regards to healing and this brings him into conflict with the Felluns and he becomes enslaved in animal pits. The other waifs try to find him and set off to rescue him. They also try to shake the Nondulans from their subservient acceptance of Fellun treatment in order to help them in their task

Candy Gourlay said of the first book "Oy Yew is a book that deserves to be discovered. Lyrical and magical". Lyrical and magical? It sounds trite but there is certainly something in the style and characterisation  that makes this really true. This story complements the first without compromising the style, the message or the innocence of the waifs.

In OyYew the story focussed around the title character but here we learn more about each of them and their "powers" or talents. But these powers stretch to being able to organise and catalogue, to being able to think on your feet in a tight situation, or the ability to use colour in design - skills that children can identify with and already possess in some measure - a message to underline that the reader is just as special as most of the characters.

Salote ties these characters together in a truly compelling way that keeps the reader involved, rooting for the waifs and, more importantly, reading.

I highly recommend this as a read for younger readers or to share with younger readers (and you may well, like me, enjoy it) but please make sure you start with "Oy Yew" or you will miss so much about the characters.

Publisher - Mother's Milk Books
Genre - Children's/Adult crossover,  dystopian

The Mole's pick of 2015

It always surprises me to look back over a year and see what I have read. The biggest surprise is to find books that you really did read this year, not two or three years ago and books that you enjoyed but have not thought about since.

2015 for me brought about some discoveries of new authors and new books by old favourites. Once again I cannot compare and say what order these all come in because how can you compare crime with steampunk? BUT... in Oscar tradition there is one that sticks out above all the rest - and it will come last.

On the subject of crime, once again Leigh Russell figures amongst my picks of the year with books in each of the Geraldine Steel and Ian Patterson series. Steel goes from strength to strength with Killer Plan bridging the gap between thrillers of the first three in the series and the whodunnits of the later books, while Patterson, in Blood Axe, becomes a more rounded character and one I grow to care about more.

Denzil Meyrick found his way onto my reading list this year and having read and enjoyed The Last Witness I went back and read the first two starting with Whisky from Small Glasses, the first in the series which gives a far more complete introduction to all the characters involved. I am sort of hooked on these books now and look forward to what 2016 may bring.

Regular readers to this blog will know that I am partial to short stories and 2015 was a good year for them. Of course the Unthology anthologys continue apace and are never dull or repetitious. You might think that choosing short stories would be simple but these guys manage to put them together thematically to make each story part of a bigger picture and give greater enjoyment. A must and the next collection is sitting on my TBR pile already.

Another short story find of 2015 was Refrigerator Cake by Dickson Telfer, his second collection ad every bit as good.

One find  this year was Last Bus to Coffeeville by J Paul Henderson, a harrowing account of alzheimers disease, although it is eased with lighter moments and eccentric characters. It sounds heavy going but is surprisingly light and I am so glad that I read this one.

Before I lighten the mood - and it could do with a bit of lightening - I will mention Intercept by Gordon Corera. I haven't read a lot non-fiction in 2015 but this was a must for me having seen him speak about it at Edinburgh International Book Festival. It told me nothing about the technicalities of cyber hacking that I didn't know but it explained a great deal of history about it that came as a huge surprise. Given our growing dependence on IT in today's world this, perhaps, should become compulsory reading and could lead to people taking greater care.

We can't get the mood much lighter than nominating Jane Hissey's Old Bear's Bedtime Stories for inclusion in the pick. I used to read Old Bear and his friends to our youngest and this year a new collection has been released that contains some old stories and many new ones. A book well worth keeping in your collection "in case".

The next find was The Shield Of Kuromori by Jason Rohan - a fantasy adventure that drags the reader into impossible fantasy and holds them hostage until the last page.

The last two books were from small independent publishers who we met in Nottingham. The first of these two was Greaveburn by Craig Hallam. I haven't read a lot of steampunk in recent years but this was one of the best I have ever read.

And now... the pièce de résistance... Oy Yew by Ana Salote. This is one of the most memorable books I have read and I can't tell you why but it left me wanting to see it succeed above everything I have read in a long time. If you get chance, pick up a copy and find out what I mean.

Oy Yew by Ana Salote

Review by The Mole

Oy Yew is a young waif who cannot remember where he came from or what his name is. He wanders the streets living off the smell of a bakery while not being noticed. One day, however, he is noticed, by children who catch him and sell him to Jeopardine, a factory owner. Oy now finds out what it's like to be noticed, to be spoken to and to have people who are concerned for his welfare, albeit only other waifs. It's not long before he is sent, along with a couple of other waifs, to work in the factory owners house.

When waifs reach a certain height they are released from service and sent "home". But in this household because food is scarce and accidents are rife it takes a long time for the waifs to reach the required height - if they live that long.

Jeopardine soon notices that Oy is different to other waifs and takes a special interest in him. Then accidents start to threaten Oy but somehow Oy seems to live a charmed life. 

Oy Yew is a story described as crossover aimed at 9 to 90 and it certainly works (although I'm not 90 yet!). A story of slavery, abuse, treachery, kindness and friendship also steeped in adventure, suspense and danger. It encapsulates much that is bad in the world and contrasts that with so much that is good.

The main characters are the waifs who are all aged in the 7-12 age bracket (although age is not something they discuss - it's height that matters) and they are a mixed set of girls and boys, some likeable some positively not so. For the younger capable reader this has everything they could want in a book, for the older reader it works equally well.

As book 1 of a trilogy called The Waifs of Duldred (Duldred is Jeopardine's estate) we can reasonably safely assume that all will not go as the waifs have planned at Duldred.

Longlisted for the Times/Chicken House prize for children's fiction - I thoroughly enjoyed this well crafted story.

When I come to write these reviews I always wonder have I said enough? Is there more I should add? With this in mind let me finish with these words.... read this book!

Publisher - Mother's Milk Books
Genre - Children's/Adult crossover,  dystopian