Review: Central Station

Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: Received for free from publisher via Netgalley in exchange for honest review

Data vampires, robotniks, genetic code, AI Priest, cyborgs and varieties of characters.

Good content but not much Plot. Stories are vivid but they hit the point anywhere. Most of the stories are of existential crisis of humans and cyborgs. The story is set in Tel Aviv and is focused around Central Station. Central Station is a giant airport terminal with the height of a skyscraper.

It's listed as a novel, but it's not: it's a collection of previously published united by a common setting (Central Station) and featuring a rotating cast of characters. The writer is very good. In fact, his settings are especially vivid. His stories are artfully constructed and compellingly told, with a unique far-future culture. But in the absence of any overarching plot, after a while I felt like I was in the middle of a beautiful, empty circle, going round and round and getting nowhere.

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Review: Chocolat

Chocolat by Joanne Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An awesome read indeed. The story is quite different from the movie version, I liked movie version though, but all in all it is a goodread. The plot is elegantly narrated by the protagonist and the villain.
The story is of free will versus conservative traditionalists, Love/friendship versus control and manipulation which is garnished with mouth watering chocolates and other delicacies.

As with the title of the book the plot is indeed dark, mysterious, bitter yet sweet as chocolate. It is beautiful tale of Love and Hope. Not a usual romantic story. A nice winter read indeed.

I would highly recommend it.

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The Second Lives of Honest Men by John R. Cameron
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was sent a free copy of ebook for review by the author, for which I'm grateful.

It is an dystopian novel set in near future, where America is taken over by a private corporation as Government has failed to sustain the country. In this world People are so addicted to the Social Media/Technology and consumerism that they no more care about other people and their entire life is focused on being online and buying trendy worthless gadgets. It is mixture of 1984 plus time travelling.

This is a real page-turner. It reads fast, well, the dialogues are well-paced and engaging. However the story lacks details at times. I think the book gives a lot of insight into a very possible potential future by taking some elements of the past to compare the two almost extremes. The plot could have been little more developed in terms of characters and the world.

I definitely recommend this book.

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Review: After Dark

After Dark by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Dream like prose. Murakami can put Dream into words. He analyzes and dissects our darkest nocturnal human tendencies with astounding sensitivity. After Dark - it is like reading a Movie, reader is just a view point - a scene - and it flows effortlessly frame by frame even though it does not have any plot to speak of but in this case it doesn't really matter. Plus the reference to the Jazz and classical music in the book makes it even more perfect - like a background score. The metaphorical significance of the novel and its title is complete in one volume.

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Review: The Atheist's Mass

The Atheist's Mass by Honoré de Balzac
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This Penguin Little Black Classic comprises of two stories viz, The Atheist's Mass and The Conscript. I liked the first story 'The Atheist's Mass'. Its a touching story of a reclusive yet brilliant doctor who balances two wildly different ideologies into one fascinating life.

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