Talking foxes, more fire-breathing rabbits and the anti-hero discovering a fear of octopuses. It could only be another Lex Trent book.

Publisher: Headline
Pages: 376
Type: Fiction
Age: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-0-7553-5519-8
First Published: 3rd February 2011
Date Reviewed: 30th January 2011
Rating: 4/5

The Games have been scheduled once again and, once again, Lex has been chosen. But whom will he pick as his companion this time, as he seeks a life-giving sword in the Wild West? The decision is obvious, but Lex and his companion will have to do more than simply spin a couple of pistols and walk beside the tumbleweed. One of the other players is the grandson of a person affiliated with the Trents and having been shunned, the idea of winning the three rounds becomes all the more appealing.

Lex Trent Fighting With Fire continues the same basic format as Lex Trent Versus The Gods but features a lot more events in between the rounds, providing the reader with a chance to get to know the anti-hero even better but also, this time, to see where he can be a bit nicer. That’s not to say that the character improves exactly, because he doesn’t, in fact if anything the more you learn in many respects makes your opinion of him worse, but there are some very good points to him, no matter how well he tries to conceal them, that end up surfacing during the course of the book. This allows for Lex Trent to be ever more awful without alienating the reader.

Money had made them stupid. Lex could have announced himself as Tex Lent and they still wouldn’t have put the pieces together.

Lex’s companion Jesse, is superbly stereotypical as are the other contestants, and this is one of things that makes the book fun to read. Bell exploits stereotypes almost viciously, really making the most of them, and you can’t but be amused even if sometimes in reality it wouldn’t be correct.

More so than the first book, because of the connections between the characters, the other players play a bigger role in the story, at most times being just as much important as Lex and Jesse. The game rounds are more extreme too, whereas in the first book they were very dangerous but more interesting, this time they are more nightmarish and deadly. One round, involving books, is a treat because of the very nature of readers. And Bell includes a far share of libraries.

After all, when a mysterious volcano range suddenly appears on the landscape and may erupt at any moment, what could be more natural than to build a café right there beside it?

The story is slower than Lex Trent Versus The Gods because there is more information in it. The Wild West element is a whole subplot in itself as Lex is doing more than last time; he has two games to win – again the structure and writing style aid in helping the slowness to pass.

Lex Trent Fighting With Fire continues on a theme but succeeds in taking the story further thanks to that theme. In a time when second books are generally fillers it stands out from the crowd with the golden glow of a glowing canary that’s nearing the treasure. And it fits into a sole tradition – it’s own. It is a worthy follow-up and solid piece in a series that is likely to continue.

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An anti-hero with a cleanliness issue plays a divinely-created game lead by a flighty Goddess in a toga.

Publisher: Headline
Pages: 344
Type: Fiction
Age: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-0-7553-5518-0
First Published: 4th February 2010
Date Reviewed: 26th January 2011
Rating: 4/5

Lex likes to make trouble and has a habit of stealing whilst supposedly studying law. Once, when he found himself on the run after an unsuccessful mission, he decided to hide in the church of Lady Luck. This lead to him being enlisted as a competitor in the games, three rounds of challenges organised by the gods. Now, unfortunately for Lex, his boss is his assistant. There’s nothing more Schmidt would like than to give the criminal the what for, but instead they will have to cooperate if they are to win against the odds.

Lex Trent Versus The Gods is an oft-hilarious novel revolving around the tasks set for Lex to complete. There is a touch of Terry Pratchett-like humour in it, especially at the beginning where you may recognise where Bell has got her inspiration from; but the similarity stops there and otherwise the book is unique.

What’s particularly interesting about the story is that the main character is an anti-hero but nevertheless a character you want to read about. Bell’s humour plays a big part in this and she extends it to the group of characters as a whole. Lex is… horrible. He’s not the most awful person by any means, enlivened somewhat by an OCD that ill-fits his “profession” and is thus very funny, but he can at times be uncomfortable to read about. His opposite exists in Schmidt, the lawyer who provides interest because of the oppositeness (and, incidentally, for his opposition) and his dialogue. Of particular note is a scene in which Lex and Schmidt attempt to walk up an ice staircase.

When you have similar themes running through a book, in this case rounds of a game, it can be easy for everything to blend together and for the reader to forget when different events occurred. This is not the case here, where Bell effectively colour codes the rounds and sets them in a variety of locations. Be sure that the game never becomes boring because of these differences and because of the strange goals set.

Generally, authors of fantasy stick with the bog-standard mythical and legendary creatures established in the genre, here and there creating new ones specifically for their own works. Bell partly continues this trend but also diverts her attention to ancient Greek mythology to add a sparkle to the first round of the game. It fits the material perfectly.

“Zoey is – as you say – a ridiculous name for a griffin. I suppose my grandfather thought it was romantic to name a huge, hulking beast after the woman he loved.”

The narrative is fast paced and easy to read. There are a few slower sections where the book can be put down for a while, but the pace means that they don’t last for long. There are also constant climaxes throughout the story owing to the games, and, something I absolutely loved because it’s the thing I don’t like about the fantasy genre – there is no long journey involved. When the scenery changes it’s only for a short while and compared to other books it’s instantaneous. It’s worth reading the book just for the mode of transport.

We always think of Gods as being in the sky. Bell turns this notion on it’s head.

The only thing I wasn’t too sure about was the element of luck, because although it’s completely rational (as Lex is supported by the Goddess of luck) it means that Lex’s tasks are comparatively easy. Not thinking realistically helps, as well as constantly reminding yourself that this is pure fantasy.

Where witches are made the prey for a king’s hunting party while simultaneously still vying for work, and teenagers are turned into fish for trying to trick magicians, you can be sure of a good story. Lex Trent Versus The Gods isn’t perfect, but it’s not far from it, and with a second book on its way I think it’s safe to say that what has been released so far bodes very well for the future.

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How can you describe a Discworld novel in a couple of sentences? Answer: you can’t.

Publisher: Corgi (Random House)
Pages: 328
Type: Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-0-552-13460-6
First Published: 1988
Date Reviewed: 21st December 2010
Rating: 4.5/5

When the king of Lancre is killed, the witch Granny Weatherwax and her coven (well ok, only Magrat calls it a coven, because she’s all traditional-like and believes in doing things correctly) find themselves left with his son. Luckily for them there’s a theatrical troupe in town that Granny thinks will make the perfect guardians even if the strange people do seem to still be alive after dying on stage. But one day the boy will have to return, and as it’s destiny the witches may as well not bother to go and find him.

I’ve never attempted to review a book from this series before because it is just so difficult. The overall plot may be easy enough to talk about but Pratchett goes off on so many tangents that often you can forget what the purpose of a particular scene’s events was.

“My name is unpronounceable in your tongue, woman,” it said.

“I’ll be the judge of that,” warned Granny, and added, “Don’t call me woman.”

“Very well. My name is WxrtHltl-jwlpklz,” said the demon smugly.

Personally I’ve found that the series gets funnier and funnier as it continues, and Wyrd Sisters doesn’t buck the trend. There were a good few times where I was in tears of laughter, so much so that when my phone rang I felt the need to inform the caller that I wasn’t upset. It has a lot to do with the number of characters. Each is vastly different, although you may not notice it while reading because the emphasis is on the humour. This means that there is a place for slight differences in the humour and for Pratchett to really enforce his stereotypes.

As always, inanimate objects get just as much time as people and animals, in particular a solo stone that hides behind a bush when anyone tries to count it. And a minor character is a storm looking to become the next hurricane.

The apple-seller gambit had never worked more than once in the entire history of witchcraft, as far as she knew, but it was traditional.

There are a lot of references to old stories and tradition but unlike the current trend of being very specific and thus dating a book, Pratchett is general and his references are ones likely to remain public knowledge for a long time, such as fairytales. The writing style is another cause for laughter because although Pratchett is not the most eloquent of authors, it doesn’t matter one bit. The book is joke after joke after joke and actually the categorising of the series as fantasy does it an injustice, you don’t need to like fantasy to like the Discworld novels.

If you’ve never read a Discworld novel I would advise starting with either this or Mort because although the first is good, it’s not the best. Wyrd Sisters has the advantage of little background history (which you don’t really require anyway) and as mentioned before, the different characters.

Pratchett’s humour can become wearing if you read too much of his work at once but if you space it out it can add something unique to your reading experience.

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