The Bookworm by Swanshurst Library

The Bookworm Books, cinema and more for KS4 students and 6th formers

Winter 2012

Fantastic Worlds From JRR Tolkein to JK Rowling With more contributions from students and staff this Bookworm is our biggest and best so far. Harry Potter in 30 words; Ms Hardwick on Philip Pullman; Ms Moody on Dianna Wynne-Jones; Mr Stock on Final Fantasy; Mr Beniston gets ANGRY; new section featuring non-fiction by Brian Cox; Momina Khan on The Orphanage and much, much more.

Editorial ‘Tis the season of Autumn, when farmers set off fireworks and shops intent on flogging us Christmas two months early are blown to smithereens by witches. Or something like that . . . To celebrate the release of The Hobbit in December we’ve devoted a large part of the autumn Bookworm to fantasy. Of course fantasy is a fairly broad category so we’ll be celebrating The Lord of the Rings alongside Mervyn Peake, Harry Potter and Philip Pullman. As always we’re fairly confident you’ll find some new inspirations and some new loves amongst the books, films and games we recommend here.

‘The Team’ Ms Wild - The Wizard Ms Lea - The Barbarian Ms Hopkins—The Rogue

Mr Beniston—The Bard Momina Khan—The Sorcerer

Contents News, reviews, prizes

8 pages of news, prize news and the latest books

Classic Reads

Shannon Jones introduces Tess of the d'Urbervilles

The Ideas Page Mr Beniston gets angry Non-fiction

80 42

18 20 22

Popular science writing with Brian Cox and further suggestions for your reading pleasure

Fantasy Games

26 66

Mr Stock on Final Fantasy VII

Cinema Club Till next time We want your reviews for next time

70 96

Part 1 Whereupon Ms Hopkins is kidnapped by Trolls. The Trolls are soon very sorry. Miss Hopkins becomes Queen of the Trolls. The Trolls attempt world domination . . .

Momina Khan

Ms Osgood

Ella Crabtree

Mrs Bridger

Shannon Jones

Ms Hardwick

Ms Moody

Eleanor Burgess

Ms Arif

Mr Stock

Anisa Ahmed

Saania Mahmood

Mr Beniston

The Casual Vacancy is out and the first reviews are in. We’re looking forward to knowing your verdict, though remember it is aimed at the adult market. There is a good interview with JK in The Guardian here.

I know this magazine isn’t for KS3 but we realise lots of you who have grown up with these books will be thrilled to know Jeff Kinney’s new Wimpy Kid novel is out in November. Enjoy.

News Bali Rai is back! Fire City should be in the library any day. It’s a change for Bali as this book is a fantasy. Can’t wait to see what you think.

Lots of you will know Simon Armitage from reading his poems your in English classes. His versions of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and The Death of King Arthur are especially great. He’s just produced a small collection called Black Roses.

In the world of comics, DC have announced that romance is in the air. Superman has hooked up with Wonder Woman. Presumably they’ll be too busy looking into each others eyes to save the world and so evil will reign. And what kind of powers will there progeny have? Better still, will their children be so disgusted with their goody-two-shoes parents that they’ll plot to kill them. That’s a comic I’d read!

The poems are about Sophie Lancaster. She and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were murdered in 2007. They were attacked simply because they were a little different; they were goths. With great delicacy Armitage gives Sophie a voice.

Everywhere you look at the moment there are adaptions of classics. The BBC adaptation of Ford Maddox Ford’s Parade’s End has had rave reviews as has the recent movie version of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Also look out for The Paradise based on a novel by Emile Zola.

What you read this summer

The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is an epic stone-age tale of a boy, Torak, who must save the the forest from the terrifying and allpowerful soul eater, a group of evil mages bent on controlling all of the clans. With the help of his wolf and his best friend Renn, Torak journeys far and wide through forests and mountains to destroy them once and for all. These six amazing books are an absolute must-read for lovers of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. [Annabel Butcher] Lets be honest, after the success of The Hunger Games lots of authors jumped on the dystopian bandwagon to make money. Veronica Roth’s Divergent was one of these but every bit as good as Suzanne Collins’ trilogy. Now we have the sequel Insurgent which is even better. Tris and her companions are in more danger but fighting for survival in a shattered world… the truth is her only hope. [Haleema Zahid]

If you want books aimed specifically at teenage girls with a great mixture of dark fantasy and romance, try the current series’ by Jana Oliver and Simone Elkeles. Ikra Shah

Lots of other books recommended by YOU

And coming soon

What I read this summer, by Mr B

I’ve been really lucky this summer. Almost all the YA (young adult) novels I’ve read have been either good or REALLY good. Three get short reviews here. Another three by Jo Walton, Margo Lanagan and Russell Hoban are included later in the fantasy section (see P43-47).

“There is a lot of pressure from anxious adult carers of children and young adults to fill children’s and YA literature with explicit moral messages that can only be read one way, the ‘right’ way. This is not, I believe, the purpose of books and reading. Fiction is a means to make parts of the world visible in all its complexity and ambiguity, not cover up its nasty bits and hope they’ll go away. Fiction (particularly fantasy fiction) provides a safe place where uncertainties can be considered and explored.” Margo Lanagan Not quite sure how I’d missed Aidan Chambers until now but Patrick Ness gave this book a great review in The Guardian so I gave it a go. Karl is 18 and a plumber; he’s also dyslexic. He’s fallen for Fiorella, a clever girl who wants Karl to open up more; share his feelings. Karl contacts a local, ageing novelist and asks for his help. It’s a lovely tale of the friendship that develops between the two men. They realise they have a lot in common despite the massive age gap The plot is a little obvious perhaps, but I’d still urge you to read it. Its particularly shrewd and insightful on love and loss.

In one way way this is a typical YA novel—I’s about growing up; falling in love; learning to live with some of the rubbish life throws at you. Miles is 16. He’s a cleverish, skinny loner at his school so he asks his parents if he can go to boarding school and make a fresh start. He quickly makes friends: Chip ‘the Colonel’ Martin, Takumi, Lara and the beautiful, charismatic but self-destructive Alaska. Life soon changes beyond all recognition. He still loves studying but his new friends introduce him to all kinds of new experiences and of course, he falls for Alaska. If you like Bali Rai’s novels or Skins or Misfits on TV this could be the book for you. It also made me think a little of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton because the rivalries that exist at the new school are tied to wealth, status and class. The Colonel and Alaska are scholarship students and view the posh kids with contempt. I won’t give you any big clues but a life-changing event changes the course of their lives dramatically. Be ready for tears! I can easily understand why Green is already a prize-winning, bestselling author in the USA (known for this, Paper Towns and the website he shares with his brother). His writing style is uncomplicated and unfussy, plus he really taps in to the teenage psyche. Excellent! Andy Robb’s fantastic debut novel was released in the summer. In some ways its aimed more at boys than girls but don’t let that put you off. The main protagonist is 14-year-old Archie. He’s a geek and his friends are geeks. They love Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars and much more think of younger versions of the characters in The Big Bang Theory. So, there’s no chance Archie is going to find a girlfriend any time soon. Or is there? No YA novel has made me laugh this much since Keith Gray’s Ostrich Boys. Highly recommended for all those with geek tendencies.

Prize News This is the Guardian children's fiction prize 2012 longlist and what an excellent list it is, though how they managed to get a picture of Ella Crabtree and Ms Hopkins on the front of the Eva Ibbotson book I’ll never know.

The Booker shortlist is out. I’ve read 3 out of the 6 so far. I can definitely recommend Hilary Mantel’s brilliant sequel to Wolf Hall - Bring Up The Bodies. The Lighthouse by Alison Moore is well worth reading too.

Andy Mulligan won the Guardian children’s prize last year with Return to Ribblestrop. If you’ve not read it yet it’s the brilliantly funny tale of life at Ribblestrop School. The school’s motto is ‘Life is dangerous’ so that gives you an of some of the scrapes the kids manage to get into. Have you ever seen any of the old St Trinians films? Well imagine those, but updated to appeal to you in 2012.

Huge congratulations to Patrick Ness on winning the Carnegie medal for the second year running. If you haven’t read A Monster Calls then get to it! Jim Kay won the Kate Greenaway medal for his tremendous artwork in the book. too.

THE List

Congratulations! Felicitations! Complimenti! You found your way to ‘THE LIST’. Don’t you just love a list? It’s so satisfying to cross off a task when you have completed it. This is a different list. Not the sort you get with a stern lecture about how much time you should devote to reading things you would really rather not. The sort you start to read and then find yourself waking up four hours later thinking “Oh dear, how did that happen?” I doubt you will have seen one like this before. I have organised the list into my own genres They aren’t exactly traditional and I am open to suggestion for others. Might I suggest crossing each book off the list if you read it? You could award a grade, maybe running from A to GRAVE (so bad it needs to be buried) You might want to do this (tick not grade, don’t get ahead of yourself!) when you start a book if you are really trustworthy. Regrettably I am not.

Ms Lea Purveyor of exceptionally good book lists

Most people like a good list. Not everyone admittedly, but most of us. With that in mind we’ve now got a range of book lists available for your reading pleasure in the library. Just look out for them. Ms Lea’s beautifully designed list for sixth formers is available online like The Bookworm. You can check it out here. There are lots of great recommendations and of course adventurous KS4 students should take a look too.

The Bookworm is designed so it doesn't really go out of date. In each issue we explore different genres and topics. So if you haven’t already had a look at our previous Bookworms click on the pictures above.

Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A pure woman faithfully presented. These words passed the lips of Thomas Hardy in 1891. But are they really true? For in his world of rural Victorian England, a pure woman may merely be a harlot in white and faithfulness is a matter of opinion. Faithfulness to your God. Faithfulness to your love. To yourself. To what you have become. Hardy’s penultimate novel follows several years of the life of young farmer Tess Durbeyfield as she passes from the awkward age of sixteen into the equally troubled life of a young woman. Forced away to claim kin of a wealthy D’Urberville family, Tess’ life is anything but straightforward. As her road ambles on, twisting and thrashing, Tess is faced with a crossroads - a decision that will change the remainder of her hopefully long lived life. The topic in question? Men! Alec D’Urbeville; supposedly of her own blood. Dark and handsome, the son of a wealthy merchant; the first choice of her parents. Then Angel Clare; artistic and intelligent, fascinatingly so. Fair and handsome, the son of a wellknown parson, yet rebellious to the heaped up expectations of his Father and congregation. Tess’s family have only one wish; wealth. Whichever choice Tess may make, the titles of Lady and Gentleman are sure to follow; an added bonus. Of all there is just one problem; the looming question of love. Unreliable, deceptive, difficult love. Both suitors are advantageous on the surface; love is not skin deep. Although the names suggest otherwise, both men are mere mortals; both flawed. As Tess opens doors to the two worlds that lie beyond, she discovers the shadows of seduction and secrecy that lurk within every room. The only thing simple in her life is Tess herself. Bless thy simplicity Tess. And by her simplicity her fate is set . [Shannon Jones]

Gemma Arteton in the 2008 BBC adaption of Tess and (below) Trishna, Michael Winterbottom’s 2011 movie is based on Tess and well worth a watch.

Thomas Hardy (1842-1928) is one of the great, influential English novelists of the 19th century. Far from the Madding Crowd (1874), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895) are generally considered his best novels but earlier novels like Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) and A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873) are lovely too. He gave up writing fiction but began to concentrate more on his poetry. If you get into Hardy’s brilliant novels and poetry and you want to know more Claire Tomalin’s biography is fab.

OK you lot, its time to get into the spirit of all this fantasy malarkey.

Anyone who doesn’t know what Dungeons and Dragons is? Well, lots of you play computer games or have brothers or dads that play computer games. Some of the most popular games are role-playing games (RPGs) where you choose to be a character— say a wizard or an axe-wielding fighter and you slowly get more abilities as you progress through the adventure. Well, the original RPG was Dungeons and Dragons (created back in 1974) and geeks were playing a table-top version even before computer games were invented! It’s still going strong. The question is of course what kind of character would you be? Check out these quizzes to help you decide: What AD&D class are you? What class are you? What Kind of D&D Character Would You Be? (only for serious geeks - 129 questions!) What D&D class are you?

Believe it or not, in the 1980s, D&D was so popular that a cartoon series was produced that became incredibly popular. Check it out on YouTube

k e Ge

t r e l A

Ideas Fantasy and science fiction fans can be notoriously obsessive and can perhaps tend to luxuriate in their escapism a little too much. They are not alone of course—we all need a spot of escapism every now and then, be it your favourite soap opera, celebrity gossip, watching sport or reading the latest Stephanie Meyer. However, critics and fans of sci-fi and fantasy also produce some of the best cultural criticism to be found on the web. By reading these critics you can find new insights into the books you love as well as books, films and comics you might never otherwise discover. Read carefully, many of these thoughtful reviews also give you key insights in how to review books yourself. Strange Horizons is a brilliant site that discusses the whole range of speculative fiction. SFX is a monthly magazine but has a good website to keep you up to date with films, TV, comics and books. It also has a regular book club where writers introduce classic books. I think there are 76 so far—there are some lovely reviews. You’ll always find thoughtful pieces at Abigail Nussbaum’s site and Adam Robert’s Punkadiddle. Also check out Pornokitsch and the Ranting Dragon. From these sites you can link to lots more sites via their blogrolls.

We are volcanoes. When we women offer our experience as our truth, as human truth, all the maps change. There are new mountains. Ursula le Guin Some good review sites and blogs: Book geeks Poetic Serendipity Book View Cafe comicbookGRRRL Excellent levels of cheekiness to be found over at The Girls Guide to Surviving the Apocalypse. Philip Reeveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blog, The Solitary Bee is BRILLIANT. Lots of good ideas for your reading pleasure.

I grew up reading fantasy and loving the sheer escapism and the sense of wonder it evoked; and yet, as I grew older, I found myself craving fantasy that was a little more grounded in plausible reality, a little more visceral, possessed of a bit more intellectual substance and an adult emotional sensibility. I wanted work that made me think and feel in addition to entertaining me. Jacqueline Carey

Mr Beniston gets ANGRY REALLY, REALLY

Look up fantasy in the dictionary. No really, have a look. Using the big Collins dictionary in the library you get nine closely related meanings— ”imagination unrestricted by reality”, “a whimsical or far-fetched notion”, “a highly imaginative design or creation” are just three. For me these definitions don’t describe my favourite fantasy novels but they do describe one of the most irritating and upsetting things we all face on a day to day basis—advertising. More money is spent on marketing and advertising each year in the USA (and thus in nearly every country in the world) than is spent on arms—over a trillion dollars in 2010. I could start getting angry with the billions that are spent trying to convince women and girls to buy ‘beauty’ products or slimming products. I could get angry about the billions spent by the food industry to try to make us believe

their products are healthier than they really are. Or I could get angry with the pharmaceutical industry but you’re already starting to get the picture. Let’s go with mobile phones. Multinational companies make incredibly confident, inventive and ingenious adverts. The problem is they want to use all our genuine dreams, desires and fantasies and twist them. Once you start to view them critically you’ll never be able to see them in the same light again: the cool, inspiring music; images of friendship, meeting people, parties. They want to make us believe that having that new mobile phone will make us more popular; that having that particular car will get us more friends; some new make-up will make us more beautiful; a new laptop will make us more successful. Furthermore they play on two seemingly contradictory desires.

First, our desire to be considered individual; thus think about how many different brands of phone there are and how many different models. Count them up and you’ll find there are hundreds to choose from yet they all do the same basic job! Secondly the companies play on our desire to fit This isn’t me in and that by the way. I was even means keeping angrier up to date—if you don’t get the newest type of phone you’re out of the loop. Even worse than that advertising tries to make us forget where Rrrrrrrrrrrr! products are made, the people who make them and the raw materials being consumed. So we know that most of the things we use, from cars to clothes, mobile phones to cheap plastic toys, are being made by people on low wages and often working under difficult, if not brutal, working conditions. When it comes to raw materials, think about Coltan, a mineral essential for the

capacitors used in mobile phones, tablets and laptops. The scramble for Coltan in the Congo (which possesses 80% of the world’s reserves) has led to huge profits for a few companies and the governments of Uganda and Rwanda but impoverishment and war for the population. This is real fantasy—all the ways we are persuaded to forget or ignore reality. Most of the time when you think about fantasy on TV, in books or at the cinema you think about escapism. Actually the best fantasies can help us think about some of the mad contradictions that lie at the heart of our society. Novelists and directors confront a world where their characters’ imaginations and there daily lives are restricted, directed and warped by the weirdness of reality and the power of ideology. Wouldn’t it be better if all that talent and creativity within advertising were used for the betterment of all of us rather than the enrichment of the few? Oh, and don’t even get me started on Steve Jobs and Apple . . . I’ll try and get good and angry again for the next Bookworm.

Last year I was guilty of teasing a student for reading science books for pleasure (you know who you are— Hello!) rather than fiction. Luckily I saw the error of my ways pretty quickly and apologised. It’s weird anyway because I go through phases of reading more science, history and other non-fiction than fiction - so I should have known better. Therefore The Bookworm thought we better branch out in yet another direction to cater for those of you who love reading factual books and finding out about the world. I loved science when I was at school, especially biology where I had two great teachers: Miss James and Mr Wilson. Still, I can’t remember being particularly inspired. For you lot I’m such that’s very different with the brilliant teachers we have at Swanshurst. Science has to be food for our imagination and our sense of wonder as much as it is an essential tool to understand and manipulate the

world. One of the great things about growing up in 2012 is the profusion and maturity of popular science books and TV programmes. In Waterstones this summer I realised just how popular Brian Cox has become. Browsing the popular science section I couldn’t help but overhear a group of girls (your age) enthusing over Mr Cox. Their enthusiasm wasn’t entirely scientific! He became popular on the back of his brilliant programmes for the BBC – Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe (both on DVD) and the beautiful hardback books that accompanied the series’. He has now gone on to write (with Jeff Forshaw) two excellent books – Why does E=mc2 and The Quantum Universe: Everything that

can happen does happen. I read both this summer. They are not the easiest books to read but they are accessible to KS4 students and sixth formers with ambitions to study science at university. I started with The Quantum Universe. I can remember learning about the nature of atoms with their nucleus of protons and neutrons and their belts of electrons. That building block is essential for understanding the basics of chemistry and physics at GCSE. But imagine now a hydrogen atom. Imagine for a moment that the nucleus is the size of a tennis ball. How far away do think the electron is, spinning around that ball? A millimetre? A centimetre? A metre? Ten metres? Try a kilometre. That’s right, a kilometre. Now remember that atoms are the basic building blocks of matter (let’s not get into

quarks, etc) and so consider that, in a quite fundamental way, all those things we touch and feel, that feel so solid (including ourselves) are made up of empty space! This is just one of the mind blowing, exciting concepts that Cox and Forshaw introduce. There are parts that you have to go back and reread (at least I had to!) but they really are insightful and exciting. I’ll leave you to imagine Cox’s lovely Lancashire accent as he introduces Wonders of the Solar System . . . “We live on a world of wonders, a place of astonishing beauty and complexity. We have vast oceans and incredible weather; giant mountains and breath-taking landscapes” “If you think that this all that exists – that our planet exists in magnificent isolation – then you’re wrong”

Bill Bryson is always a pleasure to read. Here he tackles, well, nearly everything. He’s not a science writer so it’s a real feat that he manages to explain complicated concepts with such simple language. This is THE perfect book if you fancy trying popular science.

Ben Goldacre is a doctor and science writer. In this book you get a mixture of politics and science as he examines the dodgy science stories released by multinational companies and printed, with little critical thought, in the press.

New Scientist have produced seven of these now. They contain lots of questions and excellent answers provided by New Scientist readers. When I was a nurse one of my friends loved these books— he’d come in each shift with a new fact or explanation. Read them and amaze your friends too!

Just starting Periodic Tales having devoured The Disappearing Spoon. These are all about the elements—their discovery and their uses but mixed up with all manner of weird tales so that that you get a lovely blend of science, social history and more. Dawkins’ new book was produced specifically for children and young adults so if you want to start your journey into popular science in safe hands this is a good place to start. The hardback edition is beautiful as well as informative due to Dave McKean’s fab illustrations.

NEXT TIME In non-fiction - Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class by Owen Jones

Fantasy comes in many shapes and sizes so we’ve tried to include a bit of everything to appeal to all tastes. We’ve split it into two sections: First we try to give you sense of where modern fantasy writing has come from and introduce some great classics that we think you might appreciate like The Lord of the Rings, Gormenghast and The Wizard of Earthsea. Then we concentrate on all the modern novels you’ll be more familiar with. A new Golden Age of fantasy perhaps began with the publication of Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights in 1995. Other classics followed: the first Harry Potter book appeared in 1997, Skellig in 1998, Mortal Engines in 2001, Eragon in 2002 and Inkheart in 2003.

Huge thanks to all our contributors: Eleanor Burgess on JRR Tolkien Ms Hardwick on Philip Pullman Ms Bridger on Alan Garner Ms Osgood on Cornelia Funke Ms Moody on Dianna Wynne Jones Ms Wild on David Almond Ella Crabtree & Ms Arif on Terry Pratchett Saania Mahmood on Christopher Paolini Mr B on Mervyn Peake, Ursula Le Guin, Philip Reeve, Margo Lanagan and Francis Hardinge.

A sunny summer weekend with nothing but the day ahead, and what better than to find a good book and sit outside to lose yourself in another world. There are so many different places you can escape to in a good book, innumerable adventures and scores of characters to love, hate and admire. So many people say they struggle to find the right book or author and every time I find myself turning to one author, one trilogy and one world; Middle Earth. I might enjoy other books, rave about other stories but the one I know I can always return to; discover something new about each character and enjoy more each time is a trilogy I can happily say most people will have heard ofâ&#x20AC;Ś The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord Of The Rings is a tale of one burdened hobbitâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey across the world of Middle Earth to defeat the evil of Sauron, which threatens all he holds dear. Setting off on a perilous journey, from which he may never return, Frodo the hobbit leaves the comfort of his hobbit hole, multiple breakfasts and The Shire behind, with only his friends to help him through his quest.

The burden Frodo carries may be small in size but the power it holds is great and if Frodo does not succeed the consequences are horrific. With only the aid of his friends, Merry, Pippin and Sam, Frodo’s quest seems very far off. However, when chance leaves him with the help of a mysterious stranger known to the locals as Strider events begin to change dramatically. The Hobbits join up with the powerful wizard Gandalf the Grey, a Dwarven fighter named Gimli and an Elvish archer who never misses, called Legolas. Frodo and the hobbits now have new hope. Their adventure becomes entwined with greater and greater forces and with every step the journey becomes more perilous and new foes appear, from giant wolves known as Wargs to the armies of Orcs. Frodo’s burden is The Ring. Not just any ring though, the One Ring which rules all others, craved for by the evil Sauron. Pursued across the land Frodo must fight to complete his quest even though it may end in tragedy. Join him on his quest to destroy the ring. You’ll never regret it. [Eleanor Burgess]

Ok, I admit it. I’m in trouble with Ms Wild AGAIN. When Marcus Sedgwick visited last year I convinced her to buy Mervyn Peake’s brilliant Gormenghast trilogy (because it is one of Sedgwick’s favourite novels). Alas no one has read it. No one! Ms Wild is threatening to sack me for such a woeful lack of judgement (AGAIN). So someone needs to read it. Pleeeaaassse!!!!!!!!!!!!

Admittedly if you want a fast plot and an easily accessible world then yes, I may be trying to sell you a book you won’t want. One of the ways you may be able to decide if Gormenghast is for you is by reading some of the excellent reviews, positive and negative, at goodreads.

And seriously, you can’t talk about fantasy without talking about Mervyn Peake. This is a different kind of fantasy, without magic and without monsters, elves or big swords and it predated the publication of The Lord of the Rings by 8 years. If you remain unconvinced by the reviews at goodreads who could resist a novel with characters that include our ‘hero’ Titus Groan; his father Lord Sepulchrave; his mother Countess Gertrude; Cora and Clarice Groan; our other ’hero’ Steerpike; the doctor Alfred Prunesquallor and his sister Irma; head chef Abiatha Swelter; Mr Flay; Nannie Slagg; Sourdust and his father Barquentine; and not forgetting The Thing. Or just try it because I love it and Marcus Sedgwick loves it and China Mieville and Charlie Higson and Carlos Ruiz Zafon and . . . .

In 2011 The Guardian produced a splendid celebration of Mervyn Peake’s work. Check it out here.There’s an excellent review of Titus Groan by Adrian Tchaikovsky here and a lovely, thoughtprovoking piece by Michael Moorcock here. Mervyn Peake was born in China in 1911 and spent his first 11 years there before he and his family returned to England. He became a very successful artist. When World War II began he applied to become a war artist but was refused and instead was conscripted to the army. In 1942 he suffered a nervous breakdown. After his recovery he was invalided out of the army but went on to record and draw images of the war. In 1945 he visited the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in northwest Germany. Titus Groan was published the following year, Gormenghast in 1950 and Titus Alone in 1959. When thinking about Peake’s work or indeed that of Tolkien (and many others) it’s worth trying to imagine the horror of what had happened during, and prior to, the war - over 60 million dead, the Holocaust, Stalin’s gulags, the bombing of Nagaski and Hiroshima and much else must have deeply affected what most people felt and did for decades. Remember also that in Britain working class people, sick of the distinctions and privilege of the upper and middle classes, demanded change. The Labour government of 1945-51, though far from perfect, did bring in considerable reforms like the NHS. Unlike Tolkien, who I think romanticised the past, Peake captures the stagnant class-bound nature of the UK and the desperate need for change. Maybe that makes Peake’s trilogy sound too worthy and if so I’m doing it a serious disservice. It’s one of the weirdest things in English literature.

Librarians are cool!

Part 2 Defeated by a plucky, and very lucky, band of adventurers, Ms Hopkins has retreated to the Underworld. Her powers weakened, she reaches out to the World to find new allies . . .

Classic fantasy So, we’ve given you Tolkien and Peake—the two great granddaddies of fantasy if you will. During the 1960s fantasy took off in a big way. Tolkien’s influence was huge. Lots of people wanted to write similar things and create their own imagined worlds. There were also authors who reacted against what they saw as conservative ideas in The Lord of the Rings - its romanticising of rural life and its innate racism (dwarfs are always gruff; elves noble; orcs and goblins evil). Whatever your taste there are lots of classic novels that are well worth reading if you want to explore fantasy. What follows is a list to pique your interest—some great books that I simply don’t have the time or energy to review at length. It starts with easy to read novels and they get more challenging (but more rewarding). David Eddings— The Pawn of prophecy(1982) Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman— Dragons of Autumn Twilight (1984) Katherine Kerr—Daggerspell (1986) Stephen Donaldson - Lord Foul’s Bane (1977) Anne McCaffrey— start with Dragonflight (1968) Marion Zimmer Bradley— The Mists of Avalon (1983) Roger Zelazny— Chronicles of Amber (1970) Michael Moorcock— Elric (1965) Jack Vance— Tales of the Dying Earth (1955-1984) Robert Holdstock— Mythago Wood (1980) John Fowles—The Magus (1966) Mikhail Bulgakov— The Master and Margarita (1966) David Lindsay— A Voyage to Arcturus (1920) Poul Anderson— The Broken Sword (1954) Gene Wolfe— The Book of the New Sun (1980)

Children’s fantasy in the 1960s and 70s Yes, yes, I know, the 1960s for you lot is the ‘olden days’ isn’t it? Well, just for me, relax, expand your minds and imagine that some of the novels written then might be every bit as exciting, or as strange, as anything written today. There are a handful of authors whose work you should definitely try to check out - Alan Garner (The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, The Owl Service and Red Shift); Philippa Pearce (Tom’s Midnight Garden); Penelope Lively (The Ghost of Thomas Kempe, The House in Norham Gardens and The Voyage of QV66) and Joan Aiken (The Wolves of Willoughby Chase). These books cover the whole gamut of weird fiction—ghosts, time travel, mythical beings, secret gardens, witches and of course, blokes with really big swords. Now, over to Mrs Bridger . . . The Weirdstone of Brisingamen is probably single-handedly to blame for my love of fantasy and science fiction. It was published in 1960 and I would have read it first in about 1965 when I was ten. I immediately found myself drawn into another dimension yet still grounded in a realistic place, a long hill or escarpment called Alderley Edge, near the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The two children in the book are in danger from the very start, mainly because Susan is wearing a family heirloom as a bracelet – the Weirdstone of the title, and it is the key to release a band of warriors each with their horse, buried below the hill. These warriors, possibly including King Arthur could be used to save England in its hour of need. Of course danger is approaching in the form of the dark forces of evil, the Morthbrood. I remember being terrified by the sheer idea of them, and the fact that you never know who all the baddies are – they could be local people who turn out to be witches, or even hikers – scarier than creating a fantasy land. Many of the ideas are based on stories handed down in the author’s family (as they lived in the area) and a Welsh legend called the Mabinogion.

Years after reading the book I had my first teaching job in Cheshire and I remembered the link to the Edge, which was only a few miles from where I lived. I soon decided to visit. I found the Edge as I expected it to be – wild and windy with old twisted hollow trees, and amazingly all the places on the map in the book actually are there in the same places, including the mines where Colin gets stuck in a tunnel. Needless to say I didn’t go in the mines and I did not see any wizards or dwarves! Now I am amazed to find that Alan Garner, at the age of 76, is still writing and the third book in the trilogy – Boneland will be published this August. The second book called the Moon of Gomrath was published in 1963. Is that a record – a trilogy taking 52 years to produce? Another reason to read – Phillip Pullman reckons that the author was a major influence on him too! [Mrs Bridger]

Boy Wizard School for Wizards Dark nemesis So we’re finally going to talk about Harry Potter? Wrong! Ursula Le Guin wrote The Wizard of Earthsea in 1968. She has gone on to write 3 further volumes: The Tombs of Atuan (1972), The Farthest Shore (1973) and Tehanu (1990). These books are the original ‘crossover’ books—beloved by children, teenagers and adults. The first book charts the young life of Ged, a boy growing up on the island of Gont in the archipelago Earthsea. His aunt teaches him the rudiments of magic but Ged learns fast. His talent is such that he is sent to the wizard’s school on the island of Roke. What follows is a tale of classic fantasy—of magic and dragons, rivalry and friendship. There’s a lovely review here by novelist Amanda Craig which will give you a great idea of Le Guin’s strengths as a novelist and the beauty of the book.

The magic of Earthsea is primal; the lessons of Earthsea remain as potent, as wise, and as necessary as anyone could dream. Neil Gaiman It’s very hard to explain just how important and influential Le Guin is in terms of her impact on genre fiction, especially perhaps to women wanting to write fantasy and science-fiction. She’s written numerous books now but several are regarded as classics: The Left of Darkness (1969), The Lathe of Heaven (1971), The Dispossessed (1974) and Lavinia (2008). I recommend them all.

I couldn’t not mention Eva Ibbotson in this guide. She is best known for her warm, funny books for younger readers. They’re great for slightly younger brothers and sisters. Journey to the River Sea is slightly different. Famously Ibbotson wrote it at a time of great sadness after the death of her husband (they were married 49 years). The hero is an orphan, Maia who journeys to the Amazon Rainforest to live with her relatives. Again, though certainly a ‘children’s book’—I’d describe it as a historical adventure perhaps—it’s one of those novels that is so beautifully written and structured that you’ll get something out of it whatever your age.

a n a i D s e n o J e n yn

When I was about eleven years old I ran out of things to read. The flow of books just dried up. I was stumped. My reading had previously been completely dominated by the books I had brought with me from the U.S: The Babysitter’s Club, Sweet Valley High and, most alarmingly, a set of vegetable based horror books like The Celery Stalks at Midnight Unfortunately, now I was back in England, my supply of fluffy American kids books had dried up. It was perhaps the best thing that had ever happened to me. The lack of new reading material meant that I had to go look for something new- something exciting, more like the fairy tales I’d loved when I was really little. One Friday afternoon CBBC began a new drama series called Archer’s Goon. I loved it instantly. It was weird, and new, and as it turns out based on a book by an author I hadn’t heard of before—Diana Wynne Jones. Archer’s Goon turned out to be just one book in a vast body of work by Diana Wynne Jones, and not even the best! The variety was endless: a book about the Dog Star falling to Earth (Dogsbody), followed by a book about a boy with nine lives (The Lives of Christopher Chant), followed by a book about a floating castle (Howl’s Moving Castle). I was hooked, for life.

The thing that is really amazing about Diana Wynne Jones is the range and variety of her worlds. Some books stand alone and are perfect worlds by themselves, like Hexwood, and some are series that explore whole worlds through the eyes of different characters. Many of the books are linked, with minor characters from the first book in a series getting books of their own later on, with familiar characters popping up to support them. Diana Wynne Jones died last year, after a long battle with cancer. But not before she published her final book, Enchanted Glass. It was the last book in the Lands of Ingary series that began with Sophie Hatter, Calcifer the fire demon and the vain wizard Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle. As always, I loved it. But it was bittersweet because I knew that there wouldn’t be any more. However, I can’t be greedy. Diana Wynne Jones left behind her a wealth of hidden worlds, daring characters and magical beings, all for our entertainment. She really was the queen of fantasy. [Ms Moody]

On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown)... sits the Discworld. Great A’Tuin the world turtle swims through space. On its back stand four elephants that, in turn, carry the Disc on their backs. There was, for example, the theory that Great A’Tuin had come from nowhere and would continue at a uniform crawl, or a steady gait, into nowhere, for all of eternity. This theory was popular among academics. An alternative, favoured by those of a religious persuasion, was that A’Tuin was crawling from the Birthplace to the Time of Mating as were all the stars in the sky which were, obviously, also carried by giant turtles. When they arrived they would briefly and passionately mate, for the first and only time, and from that fiery union new turtles would be born to carry a new pattern of worlds. This was known as the Big Bang hypothesis. Terry Pratchett is an undisputed master of fiction for children, teenagers and adults. In my opinion his Discworld series is his best work and I know this sentiment is shared by many. He has also written Johnny and the bomb and other such things. However in this I will focus on the Discworld series as it is undeniably one of the best fantasy series ever written and so far there are 40 books in this remarkable collection (not including Streets of Ankh Morpork, A Tourist Guide to Lancre and many more). He includes wit and humour in this series and takes real life problems and events and twists them to suit his needs. He sends a clear message whilst being funny about it.

My favourite characters are Sam Vimes, Vetinari and Death. Sam Vimes is a man who spends a lot of his time being angry and questioning the world. He’s a witty policeman who was a drunk and was in the Nightwatch. He tends to annoy people in charge and challenge people’s ideas of what a policeman should do.

‘One of the universal rules of happiness is: always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual’ — Jingo Vetinari is the patrician or ruler of Ankh Morpork; he is by far the most successful ruler the city has had because he understands how to keep the city running. He was trained by the assassin’s guild and participates in the art of listening aggressively. He also knows exactly what you have done, especially if you don’t want him to. Death is a character on the Discworld - he tries very hard to understand mortals, but this effort is largely negated by his utter lack

'Never trust a ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn't in the job’ – Vetinari. of anything even remotely resembling a sense of incongruity or a sense of humour. If you’ve never read any of Pratchett’s work then get stuck in now—you won’t regret it [Ella Crabtree]

‘Although the Death of the Discworld is, in his own words, an ANTHROPOMORPHI PERSONIFICATION, he long ago gave up using the traditional skeletal horses, because of the bother of having to stop all the time to wire bits back on’ — Mort

Part 3 Joined by a band of evil wizards, Ms Hopkins finds new hope for her nefarious plans. Soon their hideous undead creations are stalking every land. Is there any hope for humanity . . .

This is a gorgeous book. 15 year-old Morwenna has grown up in Wales in the 1970s but has run away from her disturbed mother after an accident in which her twin sister died. She now lives with her father and her aunts but is sent to a posh boarding school. She finds it really hard to fit in. Morwenna finds solace in her love of nature and in booksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;she reads the great sci-fi and fantasy novels of the 50s, 60s and 70s voraciously. Luckily she is very clever, precocious even, and she also copes by defying the girls at school and nurturing her independence. In a lesser novel this set-up could easily become either overly nostalgic or a more typical teen novel where the protagonist must learn her lessons and embrace change. However, Morwennaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love of books does not deliver escapism but becomes a way of discovering and negotiating her way in the world. She retains her fierce, hard-edged individualism but also learns to embrace the kindnesses and opportunities offered by those teenagers and adults around her. What else? Well the librarians in this book are almost as cool as we are! There is definitely a touch of Jane Eyre about it and oh yes, there is magic and there are fairies too. Yet, the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s use of magic is unlike anything being written in YA literature today and manages to deepen and complicate the themes at the heart of the novel. Among Others has already won the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award in the USA. Ursula Le Guin writes a lovely little piece about it here and Jeff Vandermeer reviews it better than I ever could, here. I hope you read it.

He’s not the Antichrist, He’s a Very Naughty Boy! I generally do not like Science Fiction or Fantasy writing – there I said it. Now, before the booing commences and someone from a Doctor Who convention attempts to pelt me with a Dalek yelling ‘exterminate!’ there are exceptions to every rule; Phillip K. Dick’s Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep is one and almost anything written by Terry Pratchett. Good Omens, the comedic brainchild of writers Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman is an absolutely genius take on modern society and how swapping babies can accidently bring about Armageddon. Think the Bible meets The Omen meets Monty Python and you will get a flavour of the type of satire this epic novel serves up. Crowley is a Bentley owning Demon who is haunted by Queen (the band not William’s grandmother), for encouraging Eve to eat an apple; his greatest achievement on Earth was creating Manchester. Aziraphale is his friend, an overly fussy and somewhat camp Angel, who owns a bookshop. They are part of a cast of deliciously quirky and hilarious representatives of Hell/Heaven and Earth which include: The Antichrist named Adam (swapped at birth), his hellhound Dog (confused) and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, (though War is a flame haired temptress with enough guns to take out the moon), revving into this final battle of Good vs Evil on their Hogs. My favourite characters are The Chattering Order of St Beryl, satanic nuns who just really love to wear black and Newton Pulsifier a Witchfinder who is so geeky he might come out looking like Clark Kent if he changed in a phone booth. Student Advisory Label: this book will make you giggle, guffaw or do that really embarrassing nose snort when you are trying not to laugh. Read in public at your own risk! [Miss Arif]

There’s a north where it’s so cold that your nose hairs get stiff and your eyeballs get brittle and your face hurts and your hands will freeze if you leave them uncovered too long. A north where the white wind blows, where the night wind wails with the voices of the cold and lonesome dead. Where the ice bear walks alone and he’s never lost. Where the white wolf comes trotting, trotting on the paths of the living, the paths of the dead. Where the snowy owl drifts through the long twilight without a sound. Where the raven speaks his word of black. This is a strange book. If you don’t want a bit of strangeness in your life then probably best not bother. If however you’d like to shout a barbaric yawp to strangeness and embrace it this is probably the book for you. It’s not very long, just 140 pages, and many of those contain beautiful pictures by Alexis Deacon. It’s a book that wants to be read aloud—not just to younger brothers and sisters but to everyone. The sentences are lyrical; paragraphs hypnotic; figures of speech perfectly judged. Sixteen face John is a shaman. His wife No problem, is expecting a baby— the Soonchild of the title. The problem is Soonchild doesn’t want to come out. She can’t hear the world songs that entice a baby into the world. The problem might be John himself, so scared of the world, who has deserted his shamanism in favour of Coca Cola and TV. John must drink a big dream brew and go in search of the spirits who can show him the way to the world songs. Soonchild is metaphorically rich—your head will be happily floating off on various trails of thought. For me this summer, there was added resonance with all the news of the retreating arctic ice and the madness of allowing oil companies to drill there. Oh and adults, if you ever watched and loved Northern Exposure you’re in for a treat.

“THERE was once a poor widow who lived in a lonely cottage. In

front of the cottage was a garden wherein stood two rose-trees, one of which bore white and the other red roses. She had two children who were like the two rose-trees, and one was called Snow-white and the other Rose-red” So begins the classic Grimm fairy tale Snow-White and Rose-Red published in 1812. Most of you will know some version or another— maybe the classic Disney version of Snow White and Seven Dwarfs (1937) or this year’s Snow White and the Huntsman. Nothing however will prepare you for Margo Lanagan’s YA take on it, Tender Morsels. This is a dark, electric and miraculous reworking of the fable. It retains it’s medieval, folk setting but, . . . but I’m getting ahead of myself. First a warning: the book contains distressing themes so I need to give some spoilers [below I give you a sense of the first 80 pages but don’t think I’m telling you the whole story!]. The first 50 or so pages are incredibly upsetting. Liga is fourteen going on fifteen, and lives with her abusive, bullying father who continually rapes her. She gives birth to a daughter shortly after her father dies in an accident. Life briefly begins to get a little better but the locals know she is on her own. Five local boys break into her house and rape her again. None of this is described explicitly but somehow Lanagan manages to convey the horror and humiliation of Liga’s existence and the loathsome sexual violence the men subject her to. After the rape by the boys, Liga grows pregnant again. When she reaches her lowest point a kind of miracle occurs and Liga is taken to a safe, idylic version of her world, where she and her two daughters, Branza and Urdda, can grow up together in peace and safety. Everyone is nice to her; most of the men have been removed; she and the children befriend wild animals, and so on. Of course if this were the end of the story it wouldn’t be a very long novel or a very good one. Two things begin to happen to complicate matters. First, a handful of individuals from the ‘real’ world manage to cross over into Liga’s haven. I won’t tell you how or in what form they arrive. What happens

Margo Lanagan is Australian. Born in 1960 she has also written some brilliant short story collections including White Time and Red Spikes. Her new novel is The Brides of Rollrock Island. however is that that these people begin to stir up perplexing emotions in Liga and the girls. They begin to experience desire in various ways; sexual desire certainly, but Urdda especially, desires access to the messy, dangerous, exciting ‘real’ world. The novel becomes even more complex and satisfying as Lanagan explores the tension between reality and ‘fantasy’. The novel is also technically brilliant; by using a mixture of third person and first person narration, Lanagan tells her story via a host of characters whilst managing to keep their voices and characters distinctive. Tender Morsels is 486 pages of magical story-telling and seductive writing. Be clear—it’s a novel that discusses the horrific consequences of sexual violence and so can be very distressing. Miraculously it also discusses the delicious sensuousness of sexual awakening and longing with remarkable delicacy too. It is a feminist fable for the 21st century and I don’t expect to read a novel better or wiser than this for some considerable time.

Loony? No, just Luna. Eccentric, day dreamer and faithful friend. At first there are those that see her as weak and humiliate her - but soon they all eat their words. Eleanor Burgess

I love Luna. I think her dreamy way and her total acceptance of all things is wonderful - she is not at all judgemental and could teach us all a thing or two. Ms Hayes

Of course we could have got someone to write a long review of all the Harry Potter novels but you already know how brilliant they are. Don’t you? So here we’ve asked a selection of students and staff to write about their favourite HP bits. The hard part? They had to do it in just 30 words! We run the whole gamut of sublime to ridiculous.

I’m a big Neville fan! Love the fact that he is always lurking there looking out for his friends, then in The Deathly Hallows saves the day. Classic understated hero! Ms Huckson

Neville Longbottom and The Philosophers Stone . . . Doesn’t have the same ring does it? However, the prophesy does not name Harry; if interpreted differently Neville would have been the chosen one! Ms Wheeler

Goblin made, the sword of Gryffindor, symbolising strength and goodness, belonged to Godric, founder of Hogwarts; evil could not destroy the sword. Harry and Neville use it to kick Voldemort’s ass! Tasnim Noor

I LOVE Hermione’s enchanted bag! Can you imagine having a bag that could store anything but wouldn’t get any bigger or heavier? That would be AWESOME . Ms Hopkins An epic moment in the series is in the fifth story when the Weasley twins ’prepare’ for their all-toofamous exit! PLUS the celebration of cancelling exams! Haleema Zahid

It would be amazing if I could have my own Dobby – he is the most gorgeous creature in Harry Potter and I love it that he turns up when in need of some support. Ms Gardner

When I found out that is was Professor Quirrell NOT Professor Snape who’d been working for ‘YouKnow-Who’. What a twist! From that moment I was hooked. Ms Davies When I hear the score for the Harry Potter films, even if it’s just a snippet, I get filled with anticipation, the sort you get on Christmas Eve when you are a small child. Ms Lea Snape’s brilliant. Is he loyal to Dumbledore? I was guessing till the end. He acts with a sense of duty, despite his feelings, to ensure that his love is not forgotten. Ms Taylor

He’s incredibly sexy. Anonymous (teacher)

The bravest man I ever knew. Mr Embrey

The heart-breaking death of the amazing Sirius Black—it changes everything. It really opens your eyes; from then on you know more people WILL die in the fight against Voldemort. Maham Hassan

Many years ago, as a young and wrinkle free librarian, I came across a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in the stack of books I’d been asked to read for a forthcoming Book Selection Meeting. Unknown then to all but a few, I read it, liked it, recommended it and purchased multiple copies which were then sent across the schools of the area for children to read and enjoy. Unaware that just 10 years later, a copy of the same edition would sell at Sotheby’s for over £10,000, I eventually consigned all of the well-loved and tatty books to the bin!! [Ms Wild] Some of you have read the books 5 times, some of you have pointy hats, some of you have wands (you know who you are), some of you luurve Daniel Radcliffe. We love your enthusiasm and your passion so never worry, we’ll always have copies of the Harry potter series in the library!

“Not my daughter, you b****!” This is the best part of the whole series—who would have thought Mrs Weasley would say such a thing. GO MRS WEASLEY. Sabaah Ali

The awe and wonder of the students’ first arrival at Hogwarts, every bit as evocative on screen as in print, inspired me to visit the ‘real’ Hogwarts, Alnwick Castle, Northumberland. Ms Yates

I wish Voldemort had won. Munibah Safdar

Me too. Mr Beniston My favourite character is Hagrid. He was so sad when he was dismissed (but they had him back) and he doesn’t bother with housework. My kind of man! Ms Cashmore The best part of Harry Potter was when Harry meets Hagrid for the first time. Harry finally gets his Hogwarts letter and a mushy birthday cake. Magic and friendship begin. Taahira Khan I’d love to play Quidditch: it’s the most exciting game ever. AND it’s played on the best magical creation (except perhaps wands) brooms that can fly! Yusra Mian

With crazy hair and a childlike laugh, you’ll never find anyone as EVIL as Bellatrix: the most loyal death-eater, yet she’s the most playful of them all. Neelam Narshi The Weasley’s family clock has to be the most striking thing about Harry Potter. It doesn’t tell the time but tells you where you should be or where others are. Henna Nabi

Bellatrix Lestrange is sadistic, psychotic and a little mean. Her cackle’s pretty freaky and she’s never been introduced to the concept of a hairbrush; but what’s not to love? Shannon Jones

Cornelia Funke

Mo is a man with a magical talent, a talent that, like any avid book reader, I would love to possess. He is a Silver Tongue, which means he has the ability to read characters out of books simply through the use of his voice. But as with most gifts, it comes at a price, whenever he reads something or someone out of a novel, something goes back in. Is this why Mo has never read aloud to his daughter Meggie? And what does this have to do with the mysterious disappearance of Meggie’s mother? From the moment you begin reading this unforgettable trilogy you will be completely and utterly enveloped in a world full of books, wonderfully vivid characters and twists and turns that are completely unpredictable. Despite being nearly 600 pages long (and they get longer) I probably read each of the trilogy in two days; I simply couldn’t put them down. For me, most fantasy novels that have a modern setting are things that I steer well clear of. Past experience has often taught me that these things simply don’t work, it’s like finding a fully working laptop in the middle of deep dark forest, it sticks out like a sore thumb and makes it difficult for you to get lost in the story. However, Funke manages to pull off the impossible and actually manages to weave fantasy elements seamlessly into modern day Italy, where the majority of the first book is set. The subtlety of the story allows the modern world to co-exist beside the world of fairy tale characters without seeming out of place. Each character adds to the depths of the story. The fiendishly evil Capricorn, the terrifying Shadow and Fareed, who falls right out of Arabian Nights when Mo is forced to read aloud.

But by far my favourite has to be Dustfinger, a fire breather and conjurer who was read out of the novel Inkheart by Mo years before the story begins. At times morally ambiguous, desperate to return back to his wife who was left in the book when he came out, the mixture of darkness and light that exist within his character is just what makes him so irresistible. Whether you like fantasy, drama, romance or even horror, these books are for you. If you’ve ever sat dreamily wishing you could meet your favourite characters from a book in the flesh, or step inside the book you’ve just read, then read this trilogy. Also check out Cornelia Funke’s latest novel Reckless. Equally breath-taking and unpredictable. [Miss Osgood]

r e h p o t s i r i Ch n i l o a P

You may have heard of Eragon before, but have never thought to give it a try, simply because of its size or the fact that the fantasy genre doesn’t appeal to you. Maybe the thought of a book about a farm boy and his dragon doesn’t entice you to give it a second thought. Well, I’m here to tell you the very opposite and give you plenty of reasons why you should read the Inheritance series. First let me say you won’t be alone. The Inheritance cycle has sold over 33 million copies worldwide. When the third book Brisingr went on sale in Britain it sold 45,000 copies on the first day! Paolini was just 19 when Eragon was published. 19—can you imagine that!

Eragon is based on the story of a poor farm boy who one night, whilst hunting, stumbles upon a polished stone. Or so he thinks. What he doesn’t realize is that this very stone is in fact one of the last eggs of the dragons, a species which had “died out” centuries ago. After the discovery of the egg, which soon hatches (making him the first Dragon Rider after the Fall Of The Riders) and soon after, the death of his uncle, Eragon sets off on a perilous journey. What started off as a quest to avenge his uncle, soon unfolds into something more mysterious and dangerous then he could have ever imagined. His friendship with the dragon, Saphira, is beautifully imagined. Their journey, as they seek to destroy the power of the evil king Galbatorix, lies at the heart of the novels. Though the series revolves around fantasy, there are obvious elements of action, adventure and suspense, love and romance. This series takes you on a voyage more exhilarating than anything you will have experienced before, and you can’t help but race through every chapter as it flies by in a blur of excitement, action and pure thrills. Once you start reading, you’ll stick with the story till the very end, still yearning for more, after its conclusion. [Saania Mahmood]

s i c n a e g Fr n i d r a H I came to Francis Hardinge late. Not sure how I missed her as Fly by Night was published in 2005 but I don’t think I’m the only one only just catching on to her talent. Fly by Night and Twilight Robbery are set in the Fractured Realm - think of 18th century England in a parallel universe - and feature 12-year-old Mosca Mye, her ‘pet’ goose Saracen - a “web-footed apocalypse”, and con-man Eponymous Clent. Mosca and Clent share “a love of words, a taste for adventure and a dubious relationship with the truth” - they are, in short, loveable rogues. At one point Mosca’s eyes are described as “wide insolent black pennies”, which gives you a lovely sense of her mischievous, stubborn, street-wise character and Hardinge’s descriptive gifts. Fly by Night begins as Mosca flees from her home village after setting her Uncle’s mill on fire. In order to get away she helps Clent escape from the village stocks. They begin an adventure in a world of highwaymen and smugglers, mad royals and brave revolutionaries. This is fantasy as breathless, madcap adventure. Twilight Robbery is just as good. After a few early scrapes Mosca, Clent and Saracen arrive in Toll—a town that lives a curious double life. By day, all the ‘normal’ law-abiding citizens live out their lives, but at dusk they hurry indoors and the night is taken over by the lost, the

2005

2007

2009

forgotten and the criminal. Once again Mosca and Clent get caught up in events that they cannot control and must use all their courage and ingenuity to stay alive. A Face Like Glass is Hardinge’s new novel. I haven’t read it yet but Haille O’Donovan at Strange Horizons believes it is her best. Hardinge deserves to be compared with authors like Philip Pullman and Philip Reeve because her worlds are so brilliantly conceived and worked out. So . . . believable. Characters aren’t inherently good or evil, motivated by abstract ideas, intent on world domination or driven by ‘destiny’; rather they exist in a world with traditions and social conventions we can recognise. Her characters have political, economic and social motives. Struggles for power or money, self preservation and idealism are all at the heart of her plots. Some of her novels could easily be enjoyed by younger readers but don’t let that fool you. I haven’t discovered anything this good since I found Chicken Madras, Aloo Saag and Mushroom rice. If you see what I mean . . .

2011

2012

There are perceptive reviews of Gullstruck Island here and here; of Twilight Robbery here and here and Verdigris Deep here.

Philip Pullman You may have already read the trilogy… or one of the companion books… or watched the alternativelynamed film… or seen the plays at the Rep. If you haven’t seen or heard of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, where have you been? With the fantasy genre being so popular with young adults, it’s easy to make comparisons with other books. When the first book, Northern Lights, was published, it was hailed as the new Harry Potter, which for legions of Potter fans around the world was the biggest compliment a novel could have. Even that comparison falls short, however; whilst Harry Potter series is truly special, it doesn’t have the richness in narrative and ideology that the His Dark Materials trilogy offers. The story starts with 11 year old Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon (essentially her soul but in animal form) in a parallel city of Oxford where she witnesses someone trying to poison her uncle. This revelation, along with a secret about something called Dust, leads her on an epic adventure in which all is not as it seems. What are the beautiful Mrs Coulter’s intentions in taking Lyra to the Arctic? Why are children disappearing? And why is the church so concerned about Dust? The books themselves are set in a host of different worlds, some of which are similar to our own (indeed the second book starts in the world as we know it) and some of which are totally different. Within the books are a host of different creatures, from polar bears with magnificent armour (called panserbjørne) to the heroic Gallivespians, who are tiny humans who ride around on dragonflies.

Lyra’s fate eventually intertwines with a boy’s called Will who is from ‘our’ Oxford and is on the run after accidentally killing a man. Together they discover that what is right is not necessarily what is easy as they are forced to take sides in a war that transcends all worlds. The books are full of exciting and unusual objects; one of the most important of these is Lyra’s alethiometer (the ‘golden compass’ in the film). The alethiometer is a truth-teller which can reveal secrets about the past, the present and even the future. As you can imagine, it is very dangerous in the wrong hands, but as the boundaries between good and evil are often blurred in the books, Lyra finds it difficult to know who to trust with her secret object. There is also a knife that can cut through into different worlds, but does this come at a price? The trilogy weaves so many different narratives, characters and worlds that there is a danger that the reader would lose their way. However, the storytelling is so masterful that you’re absorbed from the very first page in Lyra’s Oxford to the final, bittersweet chapter. Pullman can hook in even the most reluctant readers with his compelling story, but readers looking for something more weighty will find it in Pullman’s exploration of religion, human nature and relationships. Even if you’ve watched the film or seen the play, the books really are something else. Yes, they are wordy and they’re a harder read than the Harry Potter series, but they are ultimately more rewarding. If you haven’t yet met the trilogy, give it a try. I promise you won’t be disappointed. [Ms Hardwick]

Philip Reeve Philip Reeve is ace. He’s awesome; stupendous; champion; masterful; savvy, sharp and slick. Ok I’ll stop it with the thesaurus. He’s best known for his Mortal Engines series. In the first book we’re thrown into a future earth devastated by a nuclear war. Cities now move about on huge traction engines, hunting for smaller cities to dismantle for their resources. It’s a viscious world based on ‘Municipal Darwinism’ but it’s seemingly the only way of surviving. We’re introduced to Tom who lives on the London engine. Soon, he gets to meet his hero, the famous explorer and hero of London, Thaddeus Valentine. When Valentine is attacked Tom manages to stop the assassin but then he and the assassin find themselves dumped off London, alone and unprotected in the wasteland and their adventure begins. His unwilling companion is a girl called Hester. As I’ve said before in these pages, Hester is my favourite character in all children’s and YA fiction. She’s fantastic. Reading Mortal Engines is an intensely visual and sensuous experience achieved by a tremendous Dickensian celebration of words and names (Natsworthy, Pandora, Valentine, etc) and of aptly chosen metaphors and similes. It’s arresting from the first page - how London is “skulking”, and that it lumbers “in hot pursuit, a moving mountain of metal which rose in seven tiers like the layers of a wedding cake”. The text also displays a playfulness AND a very serious analysis of how language is used and how it changes. But hey, I’ll be putting you off. Don’t be - this is a fabulous series. Along the way you’ll meet the Shrike—a cross between Frankenstein’s monster and the Terminator; you’ll meet Anna Fang and other members of the anti-tractionist league; you’ll meet the dastardly Magnus Crome, Mayor of London and the brave apprentice engineer Beavis Pod. Its seriously, awesomely, brilliant.

Reeve’s new book is called Goblins. It’s a comedy adventure that Reeve started writing and reading to his son, Sam, at bedtime. I’ll quote Reeve from his website talking about the genesis of the book: One of the things that always troubled me about The Lord of the Rings, even as a boy, was the way that all the orcs and goblins are evil. All of them? It seemed a bit unfair to me: surely there must be some who were just fighting in the armies of the Dark Lord because they'd been conscripted, and would have preferred to lead a quiet life somewhere given half the chance. Even Sam, when we were half way through LOTR, wondered why Sauron wanted to take over Middle Earth. There is no reason, of course; that's just what Dark Lords do, but I thought it might be fun to write about a goblin who starts to ask the same question, and that gave me the idea for the hero of this book, who is a goblin named Skarper.

As with any Reeve book, its fantastic. Enjoy. So, I love the Mortal Engines series but I love Here Lies Arthur even more. This is the Reeve book that won the Carnegie Medal. If you love Merlin on TV or you love the romance, intrigue and history of the Arthur legend then you need to try this book. One of my favourite films is called Excalibur (1981)—a brutal, bloody and at times, downright weird, retelling of the Camelot, Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere story, in all its Celtic mystery, directed by John Boorman. Reeve’s book is very different, but like Boorman’s film it manages to capture something vital and poetic about Dark Age Britain. So . . . it’s 500AD, the Romans are gone and Britain is descending into chaos. War bands roam the country pillaging and looting while poets follow in their wake spinning tales of glory and the old gods. Reeve retells the story by focusing on a girl, Gwyna who joins Arthur’s war band disguised as a boy. Its exciting; its violent; but it’s beautiful too. So trust me (again)—curl up this winter with Reeve’s magnificent book and be transported into that lost world of the Celts.

Modern fantasy Fantasy is now big business—in films, TV, games and books. Go into any bookshop and the sci-fi and fantasy section will have hundreds of thick tomes in series that seem to last forever. Children’s and YA fiction also has similar series but it is different too. Adult fiction is marketed by genre and unfortunately some people can be very snobby about genre. Children’s fiction on the other hand often is much more of a mash up; elements of fantasy are to be found everywhere. Think of some of your favourite authors like Malorie Blackman, David Almond, Mary Hoffman and Marcus Sedgwick or the ‘Dark Romance’ novels that have been so popular and fashionable over the last few years; fantasy is a massive element in all these author’s works. Even Bali Rai is at it now with his new novel Fire City. Bear in mind as well, that in this issue we don’t discuss the close relationship between fantasy, scifi and horror or discuss speculative fiction or weird fiction. Nor do we talk about magical realism or the use of fantasy in modernist texts. These are all things we can feature in future Bookworms. In Upper library we have some ’traditional’ fantasy that comes highly recommended. Try Trudi Canavan’s Black Magician Trilogy, Alison Croggan’s

Pellinor quartet or novels by William Nicholson and Garth Nix. If you’ve been convinced by any of the reviews and recommendations in this Bookworm you may want to try some of the stuff aimed at the ‘adult’ market. There is all kinds of stuff out there including lots of influential work by women. Writers of ‘literary fiction’ like Angela Carter, Toni Morrison and Hilary Mantel explore the fantastic with tremendous wit and intelligence but so do ‘genre’ authors like Justina Robson, Octavia Butler. Marge Piercy, Mary Gentle and Elizabeth Moon. I could go on and on. Many of you will have heard of George R R Martin now that Games of Thrones has been produced for TV by HBO. His novels are part of a newer movement in fantasy marked by far less romanticising of the past, greater violence, a measure of sexual explicitness and a willingness to tackle the moral and social complexity of medieval life, especially war. They don’t always succeed in undermining stereotypes but they are fun. People like Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie cite Martin as a huge influence. Richard Morgan’s A Land fit for Heroes trilogy is the apotheosis of this trend—brilliant but not for the faint–hearted! A final word for China Mieville. There’s no better starting point for entering the world of modern fantasy than Perdido Street Station. Radical, daring, genuinely weird—it’s the bees knees!

The English Dept and the librarians get together before their regular game of Dungeons and Dragons

It had to happen—we started with books, expanded to include films and comics, and now . . . Games. I could say we included games to fit in with the fantasy theme but in truth it was the Geekocracy (new word again!) amongst the English teachers that spoke out . . . And they would not be denied. And really of course I was very happy to play along. I’ve ‘wasted’ many hours of my life playing RPGs when I could have been reading, watching films or fighting the real forces of Darkness (Michael Gove et al). Games are seriously big business, outselling cinema tickets, DVDs and music sales. It’s fair to say that most games aren’t exactly intellectual but then neither is watching cartoons or playing tennis. Games are fun and they engage our imaginations. What’s not to like? Overleaf Mr Stock writes brilliantly about Final Fantasy VII, according to him “The Greatest Fantasy Story of all Time”. I think we can safely label that as hyperbole but hey, we’ll let him off! If you want to get into RPGs there are loads of brilliant titles to choose from. I’ve spent several enjoyable days this summer playing Dragon’s Dogma and replaying a brilliant old game called Baldur’s Gate that has been updated and can now be played on the ipad as well as the PC.

I know what you’re all thinking: last term it was comics, this time it’s video games. You’re probably all building up a rather negative image of me. But as always, I’m here to tell you why you’re wrong. Video Games are the new era of art. They have undoubtedly become strong competition for film, literature and music. Believe me; some of the games that come out these days are not to be sniffed at. But this all started years ago. Games have been great for a long time, and although it’s only recently that the graphics have become mindblowing and the gameplay is ultra-interactive, the story element has been superb for ages. In my eyes, since 1997. The year Final Fantasy VII came out. This was the first game I ever had on a console. I still remember loading it up on Christmas Day, but nothing could prepare me for the epic 40 hours of gameplay that lay ahead of me. The game opens with a cut scene depicting a girl selling flowers in a dystopian society; the contrast of her bright coloured dress and the miserable cityscape of ‘Midgar’ around her are tantalising, and then images of a racing train are interspersed throughout. As soon as the train pulls in, Cloud Strife-our hero of the game-jumps off and begins kicking proverbial ass. Cloud is a fascinating character. He is a blonde, spikey haired teenager, whose sword is about four times too big for him and moans about pretty much everything throughout the game.

His development is what really grabs me though; slowly learning sympathy for the world around him and gaining a cause to fight for. His relationships with the other characters begin as challenging, but soon they blossom into friendships, relationships and maybe even love. But the events that take him there are the most fascinating of all. From the moment you get off the train, you are plunged into a mission to blow up a part of the city. The world’s life force is being harvested from the planet, and slowly killing it bit by bit. Already interesting, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. After blowing up a couple more bits of the city, you are arrested, thrown into jail and then mysteriously broken free by an ethereal presence. Take a breath, then… Enter Sephiroth. Sephiroth is the main villain of the game, and boy is he solid. He looks like a girl, again uses a sword that is far too big for him and is criminally insane, but he will take you out with one-singlesword-blow. The quest to save the planet begins to tie in to this mystical enemy, and eventually your saviour’s mission becomes a hunt for Sephiroth himself. And the craziest thing is that’s still the tip of the iceberg in terms of story. After 10 hours in, you think the story can’t possibly develop any further, but it does. I don’t want to ruin any more for you, but I will say this. Play it, and play it quick, before it gets too old for people to even look at outside of a museum. Prepare to have your mind melted by a constantly changing story that encompasses fantasy, romance, sci-fi and many others. [Mr Stock]

Peter Jackson came to prominence in 1987 when he directed the mad, hilarious horror film Bad Taste. The equally bizarre Braindead appeared 5 years later. However, it was in 1994 that Jackson attracted worldwide critical attention when he made the remarkable Heavenly Creatures based on a true murder story and starring a young Kate Winslet. Two teenage friends share an intense imaginary life (and a love for Mario Lanza) but their parents want to separate them. Not a good idea! The Fellowship of the Ring was released in 2001 to incredible commercial and critical acclaim. The films were shot in gorgeous locations in New Zealand. I for one think the film adaptions of The Lord of the Rings are better than the books. Some might think I’m being a philistine though many more would recognise that I am, as usual, correct. Why? Well China Mieville puts it better than I ever could: “he (Peter Jackson) cares passionately, even about something as flawed as Tolkien's work, and commits to it totally. The film is rich with this integrity . . . The film is a passionate love affair between Jackson and the book.” If you’ve never seen The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, please do—it’s great. As for The Hobbit—well, lets keep our fingers crossed.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m proud to say that our film section is expanding exponentially. We continue with our project of introducing old and modern classics with snippets of film theory mixed in. Momina reviews two great films - Son of Rambow and The Orphanage. Anisa Ahmed writes about one of my all-time favourite films, The Shawshank Redemption and Ms Arif shows the love for Tim Burton. Ms Hardwick and Miss Osgood introduce two older filmsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Donnie Darko and Labyrinth. Better than that, film editor Momina stops me blathering on and on and on. Enjoy.

Films reviewed this month Donnie Darko 15 Willow PG Labyrinth PG The Orphanage 15 Pans Labyrinth 15 The Shawshank Redemption 15 Son of Rambow 12A Plus: Cinema Club, News and Tim Burton feature

News

So, what did you make of this summer’s blockbusters? For me it was only The Dark Knight Rises that managed to live up to the hype (and stir up debate wherever I went). Brave was enjoyable but Paranorman even more so. The Bourne Legacy was watchable but a little flat compared to the previous films but I loved the fantastic Shadow Dancer, a thriller set in Northern Ireland in the early 90s. Autumn and winter are always usually much better for quality movies. Hollywood releases the films it hopes will win awards. The cinema’s schedules also allow a little more room for art-house and foreign titles. Personally I’m looking forward to the new Bond film Skyfall and films by two of my favourite directors: Michael Hanake’s latest - Amour, which won the Palme d'Or at this years Cannes Film Festival and Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone. I saw a trailer for Silver Linings Playbook this weekend—could Hollywood be about to offer us a really good romantic comedy? What are you looking forward to?

2012 has been a great one for comic fans, with Avengers Assemble, The Amazing Spider-Man and Dark Knight Rises. Fortunately there’s still more to come in 2013! Iron Man 3 (yay Tony Stark!), Thor 2, and Captain America: The Winter Solider are all on the way. But here’s what to look out for before then: Looper (15) starring Bruce Willis, Joseph GordonLevitt and Emily Blunt, Anna Karenina (12A) starring Aaron Johnson and Keira Knightley (out now and apparently very good), Resident Evil: Retribution (15), Liam Neeson in Taken 2 (12A), Frankenweenie, Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (PG). If you are 18 then seriously go watch Lawless (18) now, starring Shia LeBouf, Tom Hardy AND Gary Oldman. Now I’m not proud to be typing this but The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 is out too. Let’s be glad it’s going to be over soon! (‘Fun’ Fact – did you know the Twilight books were rejected 14 times before being published! Awkward moment when no one’s surprised!) [MK]

The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 film adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. It’s directed by Frank Darabont and stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. It’s set in the 1950s. Robbins plays Andy Dufresne, a banker sentenced to life imprisonment in Shawshank state prison for the murder of his wife and her lover, though he claims he is innocent. Andy starts to make friends with Ellis Boyd also known as Red, played by Freeman. At the start Andy finds prison life incredibly difficult. He is bullied, beaten and molested by one of the prison gangs. Slowly however things start to get better. Red is the prison ‘fence’ - he sells items that have been smuggled into the prison. Red gets him a poster of the movie siren Rita Hayworth to put on his cell wall. Andy has a passion for geology too and so Red manages to get him a small rock hammer. Andy is able to dig for stones in the prison grounds. He then carves the stones into beautiful chess pieces. He hides the hammer in his bible so the guards will not find it. The prison warder also takes an interest in Andy—he wants to utilize Andy’s skills as an accountant. I won’t tell you why! But this gives Andy small privileges which Andy then uses to help the other inmates and, mid -way through, provides one of THE GREAT MOVIE MOMENTS as he locks the warder’s door and uses the stereo to play "Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto" from Mozart’s opera the Marriage of Figaro to the whole prison. I defy you not to cry! [see P95] I can’t tell you how the plot develops because I don’t want to spoil it. Unbelievably this film didn’t do that well on it’s initial release, but when it came out on DVD it started to become more and more popular. It’s now regarded as one of the great Hollywood films. Some even thought it a ‘man’s movie’ but that has proved wrong too! In my opinion this is one of the best films ever. Its perfect for all kinds of people—girls, people who have never picked up a book or people who aren’t particularly movie buffs. You’ll love it. [Anisa Ahmed]

For any of you that like the idea of learning more about cinema here are some ideas

Good magazines include Empire, Total Film and Sight and Sound. Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo have been running their film review show on radio for many years. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as brilliant as ever. Kermode also writes for The Observer and has a film blog at the BBC. All the broadsheet newspapers usually have interesting reviews. The Guardianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s film site is very comprehensive. Abigail Nussbaum always provides thoughtful reviews of genre films. Finally, every film buff could not do without IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes.

Spanish filmmaker Guillermo del Toro came to prominence in 1993 when he made the fantastic lowbudget shocker Cronos. It took him 8 years to make another great film - The Devil’s Backbone. He then caught the attention of Hollywood and made two entertaining Hellboy films. However, Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) is his masterpiece. He wrote and directed all of these excellent films. Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in Spain, 1944*. A pregnant woman and her daughter are travelling to the mountains to live with the woman’s new husband Captain Vidal—a smart, viscous man assigned to root out a band of revolutionaries still holding out against the fascist regime. On arrival the girl, Ofelia, is drawn into a labyrinth adjacent to the camp where she meets a fawn. He tells her she may be the lost princess of the underworld; if she completes three tasks successfully she will be able to return to her kingdom. From then on the film weaves the two narrative strands together. Ofelia meets an array of terrifying creatures as she attempts to fulfil the quests. Her encounters match and symbolically echo the horrific realities of life for her and her mother in the army camp. Sergei Lopez as Captain Lopez is truly terrifying. The film enchants at the same time as your stomach knots with tension. The score by Javier Navarrete adds magnificently to the ambience. Be warned this a scary, sometimes violent film with moments of genuine horror. It isn’t a children’s film! Nor should you expect a happy ending. Famously, a number of people think the film DOES have a happy ending. THEY ARE BONKERS! However, anyone who chooses to enter the world of Pan’s Labyrinth will be rewarded—this is one of the first masterpieces of the 21st century.

*If you’re not aware of Spain’s history during the 20th century it’s useful to be aware of some of the basics. By that time Spain was a fascist dictatorship led by General Franco. He and others had led a coup in 1936. A bloody civil war was fought from ‘36 to ‘39 with Franco’s forces given considerable help by Hitler and Mussolini. Franco’s repressive government lasted until 1975 when Franco died.

Son of Rambow is a comedy about friendship and faith made in 2007. Directed by Gareth Jennings, it stars some familiar faces: Bill Milner who you’ll recognise from the film Skellig and Will Poulter, from the The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The film is set in England in the early 1980s. Its about two boys, their growing friendship and how they make a film, slowly involving older kids from their school. Will comes from a strict religious sect; his father has had an aneurism and he has never even watched TV. Will is raised by his mother (played by Jessica Hynes, who voices Mafalda Hopkirk in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix). He is the oldest child so he feels his responsibilities. Life is hard for him because his religion is so strict , so he can’t do most things other kids do. Without TV, game consoles and other usual sources of childhood entertainment, Will passes time by drawing out his bursting imagination which he doodles all over the pages of his Bible. Will who has never seen a movie before is caught off guard when he sees Rambo playing on the TV at Lee Carters’ house, the graphics of the movie explode in Will’s imaginative mind and from then on Will has changed forever. The fact that he has never watched TV in his life and is making a movie which involves violence does not have a good impact on life at home, especially as his Church group starts taking notice of Will’s more worldly interests; because of this he is almost sent away. He doesn’t have many friends at school, so when he meets Lee Carter he thinks of him as friend and doesn’t really realise that he is being bullied by him. Lee (Will Poulter) is the tougher wide-boy, who has no parental supervision, a kid who bullies and then befriends Will; later they become ‘blood brothers.’ They make an amateur re-make of the film Rambo: First Blood. Although the two boys couldn’t be more different, this brings the boys closer as they get to know each other.

At the beginning of the movie I deeply disliked Lee Carter. I disliked the fact that he was a bully and that he was only using Will. But as the movie goes on you feel it’s not his fault that’s he’s a bully and that he is in need of a friend too and has a tough life at home. Although both his parents are alive they aren’t around: his mum is abroad. He is looked after by his adult brother, who bullies Lee. He doesn’t really have a choice - he needs to be tough to survive his big brother and his friends. After taping a Rambo movie, on the old VCR, he is inspired to make one of his own to enter in a film competition. This is also his way of escaping the life he has. When Lee is in hospital his big brother Lawrence sees Lee’s footage and is impressed, he also sees Lee’s rant at Will defending his neglect and bullying, which is accidentally filmed. With Will’s help, he adds a part in which he acts himself. He also includes a reply message for Lee. Lee’s expression is really touching when he sees this. All the characters in the movie are likeable. The funniest character is the French foreign exchange student, Didier. His appearances are all quite amusing. He doesn’t say much but he looks funny. At his French school he is also lonely and bullied but all the English boys think he’s cool, so he becomes popular. Probably because his dress sense is new to them, he has a way with the ladies and he smokes. The end the movie is very touching for many reasons. If you are an emotional person when it comes to movies then you will be in tears, happy tears mind. You will love this movie if you love drama, action and comedy . [Momina Khan]

The Orphanage, or El Orfanato in Spanish is a Spanish horror directed by Spanish filmmaker J.A. Bayona. The film stars Laura played by the brilliant Spanish actress Belén Rueda, her husband, Carlos, played by Fernando Cayo and Roger Príncep as their adopted son Simón. Laura persuades her husband to buy her childhood home, an orphanage. Laura plans to turn the house into a home for disabled children, but a problem arises when she and Carlos realize that Simón believes he has a masked friend named Tomás with whom he will run away. After an argument with Laura, Simón is found to be missing. Getting straight to the point, this movie is disturbing and very creepy! It has unsettling characters in it and as in many horror movies, no one is to be trusted. There are moments that make you jump and send shivers down your spine, literally. It’s more of a psychological thriller than a horror, so it isn’t that gory and there’s not a lot of blood, except that one scene, which almost gave me a heart attack. (Apparently, this scene is the only reason for the 15 rating.) I won't ruin it for anyone by revealing what happens. Then plot is actually quite surprising. This movie will seem familiar if you’ve seen The Omen, Poltergeist, Rosemary’s Baby, The Others and Paranormal Activity even [NOTE— MK is allowed to watch 18 certificate films. On The Bookworm we cannot advocate that you do the same unless you have your parents’ permission]

What makes the movie are the characters - in this movie the characters are just so eerie. Tomás (Simóns’ ghost friend) is a boy in a mask made from a sack. This will definitely creep you out if you don’t like clowns. Before I got to know his story I thought he was an evil force disguised as a child. He really reminded me of Damien from The Omen. But towards the end of the movie you really feel for him and see him as a child who was just treated different because of who he was. When you first see the social worker, Benigna and your gut is telling you she might be evil, trust me when I say, trust your instinct. Another creepy thing in the movie is the game that Tomás plays with Simón. Simón teaches Laura the scavenger hunt game that Tomás taught him. The game involves hiding a person's possessions, with the player who recovers his final possession winning a wish. Tomás uses large gold coins as clues. The coins creep me out because once the movie was over, I was walking upstairs and once I’d reached the top the first thing I saw was a 10p coin. Later in the movie Tomas plays this game with Laura to give her clues as to where Simon might be. Graphically this movie is dark, but it adds to the horror and thrills. It makes it seem scarier and darker. The music was mainly instrumental but has brilliant sound effects, like the constant creaking and wind blowing. I can honestly say some of the thrills were a little ‘cheap’ but they were effective all the same. The quote that stuck out to me most was: ‘Seeing is not believing, it is the other way around’. It is said by a medium Aurora. Aurora is brought in to help find Simón when the police can't find him. Think about that quote when you get to the end of the film . Oh, and prepared to be scared! [MK}

Gretchen: Donnie Darko? What the hell kind of name is that? It's like some sort of superhero or something. Donnie: What makes you think I'm not?

What would you do if a giant bunny rabbit called Frank told you that the world was going to end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds? If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re anything like 16 year old Donnie Darko, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll write it on your arm, buy yourself a calendar and start doing something about it. This deeply dark fantasy film, made in 2001 is set in the 1980s. It starts with Donnie being lured out of his bedroom by a giant rabbit in the middle of the night, being told the world is going to end, and then returning home to find a plane has gone through his bedroom wall. He should be dead and no plane is missingâ&#x20AC;Ś so where did it come from? And how has his escape from death affected everyone else?

Whilst the film deals with some big issues (religion, morality and responsibility to name but a few), it is just as comfortable exploring the idea of time travel as it is how Smurfs have babies. When Donnie starts to get blamed for mysterious occurrences (such as flooding the school) he starts to wonder whether the rabbit has more sinister intentions. The time traveling aspect of the film is probably the most intriguing part and involves Frank (who is not necessarily what he seems) and Grandma Death, an old woman who seems to have some link to the end of the world. When Donnie starts seeing people’s action ‘paths’ (in the form of giant vortexes coming out of people’s stomachs) it makes him question whether fate and pre-determination really do exist. If he was meant to die in the plane crash, what happens if he’s changed the future? With the haunting notes of Gary Jules’ ‘Mad World’ at the end and the final, poignant scene, it will leave you wondering about your own fate and just how dark fantasy can get . [Ms Hardwick]

This was the film that made Jake Gyllenhaal ‘s name. He was just 21. Director Richard Kelly became an overnight sensation but unfortunately he hasn’t gone on to make any films half as good as the glorious Donnie Darko.

CINEMA CLUB Everyone that loves films has their favourite movie stars. You just can’t help it. Maybe for you it’s a Bollywood star, a Hollywood legend or familiar British actor done good. The weird thing is that often, the stars we are drawn to aren’t the best actors. Obviously they have to have some acting ability but usually it’s a combination of charisma, good looks and personality. Take Bruce Willis. He made his name on the TV show Moonlighting. Like millions of others I loved it. Willis was funny and charming as David Addison, a private eye in partnership with Maddie Hayes (played by Cybill Shepherd). My 15 year old self desperately wanted to be as cool as Addison and yes, I loved Cybill Shepherd! Off the back of his success on Moonlighting, Willis was given a starring role in a very poor rom-com called Blind Date (1987), but then came Die Hard (1988). Seeing it at the cinema is one of my favourite movie memories. I was 17 and saw it at the cinema with a group of my best mates. We came out of the cinema high as kites, running on pure adrenaline, convinced we had seen the best action movie ever—we had (at least until the Bourne trilogy).

Alan Rickman is brilliant in it as the baddie and there are host of great actors in minor parts but Willis is fantastic—moody, cheeky, brave, hard and completely believable. He showed Hollywood he could carry a film and he’s been doing it for 25 years. It would have been very easy for Willis to make lots of money making a string of mediocre action blockbusters … and he has! But what marks him out, like many of the other great movie stars, past and present, is that he has also got himself starring roles in some of the best films of his time. He’s brilliant in Tarrantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994) and then has the leading role in three great genre films— Twelve Monkeys (1994), The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2000). Admittedly the Noughties passed by without any great Willis films but this year he was back with two more canny choices in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and Rian Johnson’s Looper. One of the lessons you have to learn fairly soon is to separate the movie star from the real man or woman. Knowing about your hero’s life can be very depressing! You don’t have to read too many biographies to discover the dark side of Hollywood glamour and wealth - numerous philandering, wife beating, greedy, right-wing alcoholics. Thankfully Willis doesn’t tick all these boxes but he openly supported George Bush Sr in 1992 and George Bush Jr in 2000 in the US presidential elections. In real life we wouldn’t get on! You just have to put that information at the back of your mind—it’s the films we have to judge. You’ll have to wait till your 18 to see Die Hard and Pulp Fiction but once you’re 15 you can try Twelve Monkeys, Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense. Looper is on at the cinema now AND you can get Moonlighting on DVD.

Brilliant book. Brilliant film.

Enter a world where the border between reality and imagination blurs and absolutely nothing is what it seems. Labyrinth is a timeless classic from the the great Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets. In Labyrinth you get puppetry on a grand scale; these go far beyond the simple hand controlled creatures we see in most films. Rather each puppet is a realistic character who you will either love for a lifetime, such as the gentle giant Ludo, or fear, like the nightmarish Fire Gang. Labyrinth is a tale of growing up and having to learn when to leave your childhood behind. It centres around Sarah, a fifteen-year-old girl who feels she is trapped within her own fairy tale, with her own wicked stepmother to boot. In a moment of madness she begs the Goblin King (played by the legend that is David Bowie) to take her halfbrother away. When this comes true Sarah is led on an epic journey to the centre of the labyrinth, where the Goblin City and all her hopes of regaining her brother, lie. Along the way she meets a range of bizarre and lovable characters, including the ever crotchety

Hoggle, Sir Diddimus and his faithful doggy stead Ambrotious, as well as a variety of weird and wonderful goblins. Add to this a succession of breath-taking fantasy landscapes, including the sprawling maze itself, the hilarious and smelly Bog of Eternal Stench, as well as my personal favourite, in the final scene where Sarah has the final showdown with the Goblin King in a location that smacks of Christopher Masonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surreal paintings, with stairways coming out of ceilings, doorways that lead to nowhere and rooms that seem to be twisting in on themselves. Add to this a rocking sound track sung by Bowie himself and you have what can only be described as a film so epic that you will never want it to end. [Miss Osgood]

In the opening scenes of Willow, the evil Queen Bavmorda is looking for a newly born baby who, it has been prophesised, will bring an end to her reign. Luckily the baby is smuggled away and finds its way into a village of little people and into the hands of Willow (Warwick Davis), the film’s hero. However the armies of Queen Bavmorda are scouring the land in search of the baby. The village council send Willow out to find someone who will look after the baby. Unfortunately Willow can only find the roguish Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and soon their adventures begin as they try to evade the queen’s forces. Willow is fantastically directed by Ron Howard and has a brilliant soundtrack by James Horner. The film delivers 2 hours of magic, monsters and sword fights, fun and romance - Madmartigan falls for Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), the daughter of the evil queen. It’s a brilliant feel-good movie that never fails to make me smile. If you don’t like it, you’re heartless, and there really is no hope for you!

The Capital Theatre was a hunkering gothic edifice replete with stained glass, pseudo-velvet maroon walls and threadbare red carpeting that enveloped you. A more suitable portal into the warped and wonderful world of Tim Burton couldn’t be conjured for the uninitiated. The dark elegance of Christopher Walken’s saturnine face as the heartless industrialist, Michael Keaton as the tortured billionaire Bruce Wayne and Michelle Phiffer’s brilliant turn from ungainly assistant to whip wielding Catwoman snarling, ‘I am Catwoman hear me roar!’. Absolute magic prevails once you are sucked into the brilliance that is the Burton aesthetic and there’s no going back – life’s better on the quirky side of reality; yes it is ‘dark’, ‘weird’ and ‘gothic’; however, this can overlook that it is also heartbreaking, ironic and unbelievably funny. Whether you are a comic book aficionado or couldn’t care less, Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns propelled the comic book genre from capers to cool. The same could be said of his animation features such as The Corpse Bride which showcases ‘that look’ we have come to associate with Burton, the dark shadowed eyes balefully projecting their truths, the hollow features and the sharp contrast of motif colours black, white and red.

Let us be clear, ‘gothic; is not just some guy/gal running around with a lot of black eyeliner, white face power, shiny leather and romper stomper boots. I am using the term ‘gothic’ here as a concept of the strange and uncanny within the ‘normal’. Whilst there is nothing intrinsically wrong with these labels, that is exactly what they are l abels, there Our Tim Burton Top is a

Ed Wood (1994) Edward Scissorhands (1990) Batman (1990) The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) (Burton was producer for this one) The Corpse Bride (2005)

tender irony in applying such limitations to a director, artist and poet, whose body of work shows that he defies such reductive

mislabelling. The exquisite satire within Burton’s worldview is that sometimes what constitutes as ‘normal’ is the strangest thing of all. The enchanting fairy tale Edward Scissorhands showcases this vision perfectly; tragically explored through the eyes of the innocence inherent within

suburbia – complete with identikit houses, cars and social prejudices presented in glorious Technicolor. One of the most profound things about Edward is his lack of voice; (played with notes of infinite delicacy by J. Depp), enacting his distance from a world that needs to place people into boxes to reassure itself that it is right. The purity of Edward’s character is exemplified by the unconditional love that he gives to the Boggs family who take him in, Kim (played by Winona Rider who is actually good in her role despite the fright wig) is the girl who steals Edward’s metal heart; along with his connection with softly spoken surrogate mother Peggy (Dianne Weist) providing tragicomic flavouring, as she tries to help Edward fit into this prefabricated world. This film is starkly beautiful with shadowy, gothic castles on the hill complete with ice sculptors and horticultural constructions bizarrely representing those peculiarities inherent within us all; and by refracting our presumptions and norms through this twilight prism, Burton‘s Burton’s vision teaches us to cherish robotic man the quirky and to embrace this -child, Edward, darkness in all its strange beauty. as he is thrust into the [Ms Arif] surreal world of 1960’s American

Brave Sir Robin from Monty Python and the Holy Grail Bravely bold Sir Robin rode forth from Camelot He was not afraid to die, O brave Sir Robin He was not at all afraid to be killed in nasty ways Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin He was not in the least bit scared to be mashed into a pulp Or to have his eyes gouged out and his elbows broken To have his kneecaps split and his body burned away And his limbs all hacked and mangled, brave Sir Robin His head smashed in and his heart cut out And his liver removed and his bowels unplugged And his nostrils raped and his bottom burnt off And his penis... (Well that's enough music for now, ladsâ&#x20AC;Ś)

Brave Sir Robin ran away - No! Bravely ran away, away - I didn't! When danger reared its ugly head He bravely turned his tail and fled - No! Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about And gallantly he chickened out Bravely taking to his feet He beat a very brave retreat Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin Monty Python and the Holy Grail was made in 1975 though of course you can go and see Spamalot which retains its silliness and its irreverence towards medievalism. Brave Sir Robin is just one of the fantastic songs. You can find lots of clips on YouTube including the brilliant scene where French soldiers taunt Arthur and his knights. Better still, when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re 15 try watching the whole movie and then try the equally brilliant Life of Brian.

Part 4 Were you really expecting a happy ending? No chance. Ms Hopkins - I mean the Queen of Darkness - wins. She was always going to win. She really is very determined when it comes to being bad. You have all been warned . . .

The vastest things are those we may not learn. We are not taught to die, nor to be born, Nor how to burn with love. How pitiful is our enforced return To those small things we are the masters of. Mervyn Peake â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don't want to know. Some things are best left unsaid. I'd like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can't be expressed in words, and makes your heart ache because of it. I tell you, those voices soared higher and farther than anybody in a gray place dares to dream. It was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man in Shawshank felt free â&#x20AC;&#x153; Morgan Freeman narrating in The Shawshank Redemption.

When the next Bookworm is released it’ll be spring; the nights will be getting lighter, Santa will be having a well earned holiday, One Direction will have split up and Justin Beiber will have had all his hair shaved off. Most importantly, love will be in the air (we’ll aim for a Valentines Day release date) and Doctor Who will be on the TV again – though without Amy (cue collapse into tears). So for the next Bookworm we want reviews of your favourite love stories in books and films and we want reviews of TV, cinema, comics and books that you love. So yes I love Doctor Who—have done since I was five so to get you thinking I’ve been deliberating about my fave Doctor Who episode but first . . . who else has got a sonic screwdriver? Hands up. Oh . . . just me? OK, what about a remote control Dalek? Come on . . . surely someone . . . OK as I was saying . . . my current favourite episode is a toss-up between The Eleventh Hour – the first episode of Season 5 when Matt Smith and Karen Gillan are introduced, Vincent and the Doctor – the ridiculously moving episode about Vincent Van Gogh and The Girl who Waited from Season 6. Strange choices perhaps since Matt Smith isn’t my favourite Doctor but I’ll have probably changed my mind by February and I’ll probably allow myself another choice. Hoorah for being in charge!

I thought everyone had there own Dalek! AND I thought everyone loved Karen Gillan. How wrong can one man be?

Vincent and the Doctor is written by Richard Curtis – the very famous writer of Blackadder, Four weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually. The Doctor has taken Amy to Paris to see a Van Gogh exhibition. They are looking at one of his most famous paintings “The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise” (1890, see below) but the Doctor notices a detail that shouldn’t be there – a monster’s face in the church window. So off they go to Arles in France, 1890, to meet the greatest artist the world has known, and find the alien.

So why is it such a great episode? SO MANY reasons, especially if you love Van Gogh’s paintings. The BBC art dept brilliantly and imaginatively recreate Van Gogh’s life. The Doctor and Amy meet Vincent at a cafe that looks exactly like the “Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum” (1880, see below). His little house and his bedroom, which of course looks exactly like his “Bedroom in Arles” (1888), are fantastically rendered. The countryside is beautiful. The depiction of Vincent (by Tony Curran) and the interplay between him, Smith and Gillan is fantastic. The Doctor and Amy know that Vincent only has months to live – that he will commit suicide at the age of 37, no longer able to cope with the depression that has plagued him throughout his adult life. The episode shows Vincent sometimes in the grip of depression but also energised by his love of life, his creativity and by the visit of the Doctor and Amy. For once the Doctor is powerless to change events; he cannot save Vincent. As Simon Moffat says “the demons that assail Vincent are far beyond the Doctor’s reach”. This knowledge pervades the whole episode with a real bittersweet sadness.

Two scenes stand out. At night, Vincent, the Doctor and Amy lie on the ground, join hands and look up into the night sky. Vincent urges them to look at the sky and, as he exultantly describes what he sees, the night sky transforms into a vision of his “Starry Night” (1889, see below right). Then at the end of the episode the Doctor and Amy take Vincent into the future, to the gallery, to show him how important his paintings are and how loved they are. Remember that Van Gogh is perhaps the only great painter who never received a jot of praise in his own lifetime. For some this ending may be too sentimental (and goodness knows Richard Curtis certainly can be sentimental) but for me it’s perfect; beautiful, painful, poignant and life-affirming. I hope that you all get to see Van Gogh’s paintings at some point in your lives to feel their extraordinary power. So as the Doctor would say “come on you lot – be exceptional”. If you don’t want to write about luurve, then write about something you love—it can even be Doctor Who too! We look forward to seeing your reviews and recommendations over the winter.