THRILLERS

Napoleon's Pyramids

By William Dietrich. Harper Collins, $24.95

Set during the Napoleonic Wars, specifically Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, this exciting historical thriller follows a young American named Ethan Gage through the adventure of a lifetime. Gage is a bright guy, a protégé of Ben Franklin who's been living in Paris. When he wins a strange medallion in a card game and is soon after accused of murder, he escapes from the city as a member of the Emperor's army. Gage is soon on his way on a trip up the Nile to the Great Pyramids and an abundance of adventure.

Final word: Fans of intelligent swashbuckling adventure will revel in the battle scenes and mathematical puzzles hidden in this story. It's a grand escape.

Peter Mergendahl

FANTASY

UN LUN DUNBy China Mieville. Ballantine/DelRey, $17.95

The author of award-winning novels Perdido Street Station and Iron Council creates an alternate London in his latest book. The title is a phonetic spelling of Unlondon, a strange land made up mostly of "moils": things and people "mildly obsolete in London." Thus, buildings are built of rotary-dial telephones, black-and-white TV sets, vinyl records and the like. The city's inhabitants include streetcar conductors, the ghosts of forgotten people and philosophers.

Unlondon is in danger of being destroyed by the Smog, a smoke- and chemical-filled monster that has seeped in from the smokestacks, factories and automobiles of London. Zanna, a 12-year-old London girl, has been prophesied to be the Chosen One, who will save the city. But in a fun turnaround, it's her best friend and sidekick, Deeba, who becomes the true heroine.

Final word: While this is correctly being marketed to adolescents, adult readers will find much to enjoy, including subtle themes and metaphors apparent only to more mature readers.

Mark Graham

CHILDREN

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

By Brian Selznick. Scholastic Press, $22.99, ages 9 to 12

Don't miss Selznick's literary masterpiece about an orphaned boy's quest to fix a broken-down mechanical windup man his late father found. What makes this hefty (500-plus pages), fast- paced book so remarkable is that Selznick weaves together elements of mystery and picture books, as well as early film.

The book opens like a silent reel, with 40-some black-and- white sketches leading readers into the written story, and continues to shift back to pictures, momentarily going to black at the end of dramatic scenes.

Throughout, readers feel as if they've been immersed in a magical film, in this case one inspired by the life of silent-film maker Georges Méliés.

Hugo is the orphaned son of a clock maker hiding away in the walls of a Paris train station in 1931. After his alcoholic uncle disappears, Hugo secretly takes over his job fixing clocks in the station, but one day a shopkeeper catches him stealing from his store and his anonymity is lost. Hugo's most treasured belonging, his father's sketchbook, is taken, and his life becomes mysteriously entwined with the surly shopkeeper and his bookish goddaughter.

Final word: Caldecott Honor artist Selznick raises the bar for children's books, transforming the reading experience into something new and thrilling.

Jennifer Miller

REGIONAL

Holdsworth's vibrant prose and fluid style easily carry readers through this memoir of his transported life in Wyoming. His love affair with wilderness began during his youth in Salt Lake City and later transferred to Wyoming, where "the snow falls and wind blows." He writes of the wind destroying a century-old black willow tree and of near death for himself and his dog in a frozen stream. He also moves seamlessly onto other topics: the difficult birth of his son and how fatherhood changed his view of risk-taking; mountaineering expeditions; portraits of small Wyoming towns, as well as the story of an ill-fated Mormon handcart journey across the mountains.

Final word: Holdsworth's vivid imagery and lively characters give an immediacy to his themes, both grand and intimate.

Joan Hinkemeyer

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