A novella retelling of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, set aboard a spaceship headed for a distant planet.
Blair, an engineer, is one of 4000 people cryogenically frozen on a ship hurtling through space. He along with nine other people are awoken when the ship detects something that needs their attention. When they find a person who has clearly been murdered, they all soon realize that one of them must have done it.
It's bad enough that the ship is partially crippled, but now these crew members have to figure out who the murderer is among them. The story is quite short and moves at a fast pace, so there wasn't a ton of time for any character development or even build-up of the mystery. It was really more process of elimination as more people are killed, so that was a little disappointing. I wish the story had been more fleshed out, but I did enjoy the straightforward writing and the space setting, and the reasoning behind the murders was pretty unexpected. 4 stars
A retelling of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan. Alys is one of five sisters that her mother can't wait to see married off. When she meets Valentine Darsee at a wedding, sparks fly - but not in a good way. However, as she gets to know him, Alys realizes there might be more to Darsee than she originally thought.
I love P&P retellings, and this was a good one. The idea of a mother wanting to find wealthy husbands for her daughters translated well to the modern setting. I loved Alys' headstrong and independent nature; as a teacher, she is constantly impressing upon her students that they can have dreams besides only becoming a wife and mother. She herself doesn't think she will ever get married. At times, she could be a little too sanctimonious, particularly when disciplining her sisters. Her mother was wonderfully overbearing and her father had the heart and dry sense of humor of the original Mr. Bennet (my favorite character from the classic story). Kamal did a beautiful job of bringing the setting of Pakistan to life - the culture, religion, clothing, FOOD. It was totally immersive. My only quibble with the book was that it sometimes felt too close to the original, like just the names were changed. I wish Kamal had been a little more creative with the retelling. 4 stars
These both sounds like really great reads. I think I would especially like Ten Little Astronauts. I love scifi :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a very creative book!
DeleteI absolutely love a great Pride and Prejudice retelling and I can see how well it would have been translated into the Pakistan modern day environment. I do enjoy when authors stay true to the original but it sounds like it needed that unique spin to boost it to a five star read. Great reviews and so glad you enjoyed these ones.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! Glad to find another P&P retelling fan out there!
DeleteI feel like I'm the only person who has never read Pride & Prejudice. But a modern retelling is something I think I would enjoy based on your review!
ReplyDeleteWell, I have a copy you can borrow!
DeleteI didn't know Ten Little Astronauts existed, I need to read it! It does sound like that something might benefit from being a full novel, but it still sounds great. Unmarriageable sounds like a great one, too! I'll have to look into both of these. :)
ReplyDeleteI would highly recommend both!
DeleteNever heard of Ten Little Astronauts by Damon L. Wakes :D it looks good. Unmarriageable I've heard a lot of things about and have it on my wishlist
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy Unmarriageable as much as I did!
DeleteThese both sound so good. I loved the Agatha Christie novel so am definitely curious about the retelling. And of course I'm pretty much obsessed with P&P retellings. That is a shame that this one follows the original that closely though. I tend to prefer retellings that have shout-outs to the story they're retelling without mirroring it exactly.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! I like when I can recognize elements from the original without it being so strictly followed.
DeleteI think I might like the straightforward nature of 10 little astronauts as a good way to get into scifi as much as Agatha Christie. And Unmarriagable sounds fantastic!
ReplyDelete10 Little Astronauts was definitely a good sci-fi story.
DeleteI really enjoyed Unmarriageable as well. I always wonder if it's wise for retellings to incorporate the original work in the text or if it feels like you are taken out of the story, trying to figure out how much the characters know of the original work. That's usually what happens to me anyways.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Alys knew so much about the original work, it was kind of weird that her life was completely mirroring the book.
DeleteUnmarriagable is on my TBR, and I also am a fan of when the author pulls us into the setting. I do like my retellings to be recognizable, but with a fresh spin. Though, we all know I didn't read P&P, so it wouldn't be an issue for me here.
ReplyDeleteHaha, right!
DeleteTen Little Astronauts- I love that! Too bad it was kinda short, sounds like with a little more character development it could have been even better, but hey... 4 stars isn't bad! :)
ReplyDelete4 stars is really good! I think you would enjoy it.
DeleteI've never read the originals for these, but any retelling set in space sounds like a fun twist. I'm glad you enjoyed the P&P retelling too, sounds like the author did a great job of blending the new setting and culture with the original, although I get what you mean about it being too similar. I read a retelling like that once, it literally used some of the same dialogue and everything.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that is too close, I want there to be more distinction!
DeleteTen Little Astronauts sounds interesting. I don't think I've heard of a retelling before of a mystery/Agatha Christie novel. I would be a little disappointed to since it was a process of elimination instead of finding the killer with many options, but you gave it four stars so you must have really liked it still.
ReplyDeleteI love P&P! I would probably just read Unmarrigeable because it's a retelling of Pride and Prejudice and honestly, to read about the food.
They were both great reads!
DeleteHaha, so much food in this book!
I have not read one book by AC but I have seen every episode of Poirot. Figure that out. My brother got me into him (the series) and I loved it. I totally will have to get the P&P retelling as not only does it sound good but is one of my all time favorite books and I love re-tellings.
ReplyDeleteMary
I think you will really love this P&P retelling!
DeleteI also really enjoyed Unmarriageable and thought the author did a good job both capturing the spirit of the original characters and the feel of the new setting. I didn't mind that it wasn't more creative, but could still see a little more change making this a more impressive story.
ReplyDeleteI'd not heard of Ten Little Astronauts but I love retellings and Agatha Christie, so I'm definitely adding this to my to-read list :)
Awesome, I hope you enjoy Ten Little Astronauts!
Delete