The Portal

The Portal

By Andrew Norriss

William, aged 13, and his brother Daniel, aged 8, live a fairly ordinary life with their parents. But one day their parents disappear, and the two brothers learn very extraordinary things about their home, their parents and themselves.

This a very enjoyable book – Norriss writes with such humour and understanding of his young characters, and the story’s plot has touches of science-fiction, mystery, adventure and family drama.

William struggles to understand the disappearance of his parents, and is confused about how to help his younger brother cope. Friends of his parents offer him help and advice, but it is William himself who eventually solves the mystery. Mixed with this is the discovery that William’s dad was the Station Master for an intergalactic portal, and that he is expected to take over the role while his dad is missing, meeting and greeting visitors from other worlds.

A fun book, with an exciting story and interesting characters.

Being

Being
Author: Kevin Brooks

This is an intriguing story; a fast-paced, gritty novel with themes of identity, self, free-will and romance.

Robert goes into hospital for a routine procedure. Mid operation he becomes aware of his surroundings, listens as the surgeons find that his very human-ness is under doubt, and hears them call in government agents to investigate. Unable to understand what has happened, Robert goes on the run, and finds unexpected romance as he tries to elude his pursuers.

This sci-fi thriller is a great read. As Robert tries to determine what it would mean if he found out that he was something other than human, the reader is easily drawn into the philosophical considerations of what makes a person who they are, of how much we determine what we can actually do. The philosophy is never blatant or unwieldy though, simply revealed through Robert’s thoughts in an accessible way. This search for the meaning of identity, and the whole chase/escape scenes, have the same edgy feel as Ludlum’s The Bourne Identity, and the themes are reminiscent of those explored in the movie Bladerunner (based on Philip K Dick’s Do androids dream of electric sheep?).

I loved it – totally got caught up in Robert’s confusion and fear, loved that he met such a gutsy girl, and though I was initially annoyed at the ending, I’ve now come round to thinking it was the best and only way for the story to have finished.