That was the sound of my jaw hitting the cave floor, when I read the first line of Furnace: Death Sentence by Alexander Gordon Smith. By the time I was at the bottom of page one I’d forgotten that my mouth was still open, and it was only when I finished the book that I remembered. My tongue has dried to the exact consistency and stickiness of a rubber-faced ping pong paddle. But enough about my hobbies.
Here’s a link to a review I wrote back in April of the first book in this series, Furnace: Lockdown. I won’t tell you anything about what happens in the follow-up, Furnace: Solitary, or the third book, Furnace: Death Sentence, as I don’t want to risk ruining the story for you. I’m just going to say that these books have more that lived up to the promise of the first: in my opinion, this is the best and most thrilling YA series being published right now. If you’re a fan of fast and ferocious storytelling, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
PS: Have you ever wondered how the books that you see in bookshops are chosen? Out of all the thousands of books published each year, who chooses which of them are going to be there on the shelves of bricks-and-mortar shops for you to pick up at look at? For an insight into this utterly crucial aspect of the book trade — and for a rare opportunity to review books yourself, before they’re even published! — check this blog post by samurai bookseller Simon Key, of The Big Green Bookshop.
27/10/2009 at 4:27 pm Permalink
Wow those books look soooo good. But on a more important note surely your lower jaw would make a KLANG sound.
27/10/2009 at 5:18 pm Permalink
Hi Adam!
This was definitely a ‘Klung’ – possibly to do with the way the sound echoed off the back of my throat. Try it yourself and you might see what I mean.
And no worries: your spelling looks perfect, to me!
PS: Tommy’s jaw goes KLANG. But that’s because it’s made of sheet steel and he has rivets for teeth.
28/10/2009 at 3:46 am Permalink
is the series scary? give a comparison to a well known horror novel e.g. goosebumbs, ravens gate, u know stuff like that
28/10/2009 at 12:56 pm Permalink
Hi Scott!
Thanks for your question.
I’d like to help you that way, but it’s hard to give a comparison. First, because I find that most supposedly scary books for young people (including heh, the ones you’ve listed, imho!) actually… /aren’t very scary/. At least not to me. Different things are scary to different people: I guess that might be a factor. Also, it’s hard to find a comparison because I think with Furnace that Alexander Gordon Smith is doing something very fresh and new and original: that’s partly why I like it so much. So let me try this another way.
-Has it got monsters? Yep. Some of the best, foulest and most hair-raising monsters I’ve seen in ages.
-Does it convey the horror of being trapped in a brutal prison regime with a load of teenage psychopaths? Yes. Very effectively.
-But – and here’s the clincher for me – it also describes something truthful and real about the secret inner darkness that I believe lurks inside everyone, every human being. The things that happen to Alex (the books’ central character) are nightmarish and horrible and bizarre. But the reader recognises them. Because in some part of you, you’ve felt that way yourself.
That, to me, makes this a truly scary, truly thrilling series. But a hard one to compare to other stuff – sorry!
Hope that’s helpful
Sam
28/10/2009 at 2:08 pm Permalink
aaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!! im scared just thinking about it! yeah it did help, thanks