That Girl with the Library Card

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

2012-01-29T05:03:00.000-05:00

It's an absurd premise. A psychiatrist switches her patients from anti-depressants to placebos. A blues musician unwittingly summons up a sea monster. Murder, marijuana, sex, and sword-swinging action all combine in characters on the far side of normal. To describe the plot turns in any more detail would deprive readers of the joy of being pleasantly surprised. Instead I'll just say that Christopher Moore has a genius for flawed, weirdly, strangely flawed characters who, despite their odd behavior and failings, are genuinely endearing, like pothead constable Theophilius Crowe, insane former actress Molly Michon, and a whole supporting cast of loveable wackos. I've read some of Moore's works in the past and have always enjoyed them, and this was no exception. If you like humor, you'll like this one.

Plugged

2012-01-28T20:13:00.002-05:00

Not Eoin Colfer's first foray into noir, but Plugged is decidedly more adult than his Half-Moon Investigations and its grade-school protagonist. Our protagonist is a former soldier and current bouncer Daniel McEvoy, who's just trying to get along in life without remembering any more of his past than he has to. When a dame he fancies gets bumped off and a friend goes missing without a trace, McEvoy is roused to action to find justice, even if it takes unconventional methods. Through several convoluted plotlines, McEvoy encounters unforeseen allies and enemies and eventually unravels all of the conspiracies that have been working around him. Overall a fun read, especially if you like Colfer's other works. Daniel McEvoy is likeable enough, for all his rough and gritty past and personality. The humor in the book is great, especially when it comes to some of the minor characters like the upstairs neighbor. Everything really ties together too. Right near the end I was worrying about an unresolved plotline when it seemed like the book was ending, and all of the sudden it pulled together perfectly. As long as you don't mind strong language for the sake of characterization, this is a good read.

Abarat: Absolute Midnight

2012-01-18T18:57:00.002-05:00

Too big. That's my main thought and main complaint with the third book in Clive Barker's Abarat series. Now, this is the third book is a series, and it's a good series, so if you don't want spoilers, stop reading now because in the next paragraph I'll get specific. For all three books, mind, so skip to the final paragraph for spoiler-free thoughts on Absolute Midnight if you've not yet read it.

Right from the first I was confused and overwhelmed. Suddenly Candy's reunited with everyone. I seriously thought I'd missed a book in between this and the last one. Events began to get big and tumultuous, but I was glad when Candy and Malingo went to exorcise the princess, because that felt like the sort of strange buddy-buddy adventure they'd been having since book one, and I just really enjoy the dynamic between the two. The internal strife Candy has over losing Princess Boa is interesting, a unique problem that, to my mind, didn't get the page time it deserved. But I guess there wasn't enough room. Onward to bigger and better things! Christopher Carrion gets a bit woobified (see TV Tropes), but there's been groundwork for that since book one, so I could buy it. He's kind of like Prince Zuko in a way. Mater Motley makes for a pretty great villain anyway, and the fact that she consorts with demons from beyond time and space is pretty darn sweet, although I have to wonder how they're going to wrap things up. Didn't quite care for Gazza. He joins the group really abruptly, switches allegiances after one good look at Candy, and doesn't seem to have any personality beyond standard-issue shounen hero and his devotion to Candy. Yeah, I'll take Malingo any day, because at least his devotion comes from believable backstory, and he's known Candy for more than, like, two days. I don't oppose romance in books as a rule, we all know that, but this just wasn't built up.

Like I said, the whole book felt too epic, too sweeping, too big. We're rushed from event to event, following over half a dozen characters, juggling a crapton of plotlines. The book is, like, six hundred pages long, but that somehow seems too short. Holy peas. For me, the allure of the first two books was that it's one girl on her own in a strange, magical world, having to make her way and figure things out and rely on her wits. She's got a bit of a specialness to her, but she still has to work for things. The best part of the series is Candy. She's awesome, and I regret that the scale of the books has increased to a point where she has to be super special to keep things moving along. Then again, as we may also know, I don't really like epic high fantasy except in very special cases, so it's YMMV.

Spoiler-free conclusion: If you liked the first two books, Absolute Midnight is worth reading. The art is still great, and there are a lot of fun and exciting moments. For all its pitfalls, the book is still good, and I'm excited for the next one.

Swamplandia!

2012-01-13T20:32:00.003-05:00

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell is a strange but engaging book. Set in the swamps of Florida, it's narrated by Ava Bigtree, a thirteen-year-old girl who aspires to be an alligator wrestler like her mother. When her mother dies and the family's alligator park Swamplandia! loses its star performer, Ava's strange but idyllic life starts to fracture. Her sister starts talking to ghosts, her father comes up with schemes to keep the park running, and her brother runs away to the mainland. And Ava herself must go on a journey deep into the swamps with a mysterious companion.

The strange is described as commonplace, and the commonplace treated as strange. It's this reversal that gives Swamplandia! a lot of its mystical atmosphere. This keeps you guessing as to whether this book includes supernatural elements or not. Is this a kind of magical realism with ghosts and the underworld? Are those things just childish daydreams? The style keeps you interested as mysteries are slowly presented, followed, and (mostly) wrapped up.

I'm having a hard time giving my thoughts on this one, and I think that's because what I expected and what I got were two different things. It's no fault of the author's; at most it's the fault of whoever wrote the back cover copy combined with me reading into it what I wanted. This is mostly a realistic fiction novel with the occasional touch of, like, magical realism, whereas I was expecting more of the latter, perhaps verging into the fantastic. Overall, this is a very good book, and it's not even in a genre I usually enjoy. Everything was written with a deft, assured hand, and even parts that might have turned me off were handled well. Good book.

Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s

2012-01-07T23:45:00.002-05:00

Non-fiction, but very much a story all the same. Ethan Mordden's history of Broadway musicals by decade continues in Open a New Window, and this is one volume I've read a couple times because it contains chapters about some of my favorite older shows. The more familiar you are with Broadway history, the more you'll get from this book, but if you're willing to take things as they come this series makes a decent introduction to the shows and the people who made them.

Among other productions, Mordden discusses that musical comedy gem She Loves Me, a personal favorite of mine, and this book is where I first learned of it. There's sections on 1776, Hello, Dolly!, Cabaret, and Fiddler on the Roof, as well as dozens upon dozens of less-known shows. Though not purposely obfuscating, Mordden doesn't hesitate to throw around show business names and jargon. Indeed, it's his familiar and even gossipy style that keeps the book from being a dry textbook history. His anecdotes and opinions ring with authority and keep you interested. The series runs the decades from the 1920s to the 1970s, and he has written many, many other books on Broadway, opera, Hollywood, and related subjects.

On the Beach

2012-01-07T00:59:00.004-05:00

On the Beach by Nevil Shute isn't an easy book to read. Oh, stylistically it's fine. A simple, flowing writing style that paints word pictures and subtly evokes emotions, not bashing you over the head. Understated is probably a good word. No, the difficulty in this book comes from the subject matter. Spoiler alert: everyone dies. Well, what do you expect from a book about the repercussions of a nuclear war that covered the world in deadly fallout?

Set in Melbourne, Australia, the book deals with the lives of a handful of people who must come to terms with the inevitable end. So far south, they are among the very last in the world to suffer from the radiation sickness that has killed the rest of humanity. Three of our protagonists are naval officers working on a submarine, the last one in commission, and the sub's missions into irradiated zones lend the book some tense excitement, that quiet terror of entering a dead land. Little eerie mysteries must be resolved, hopes dangled in front of the dying world only to be yanked away, because there's no happy ending, just meeting your end with a quiet dignity. It's hard to read this when the book makes no bones about how things are going to end up. But you read on because of how skillfully the concept is handled and because of how well-drawn the characters are. Though On the Beach is apparently Shute's best-known work, I discovered him through A Town Like Alice and was charmed by his writing. It's his character work, really, that impresses. There's a pervasive sense of dignity in both of those works.

The Goose Girl - 1/35

2012-01-06T01:42:00.002-05:00

I've already reviewed The Goose Girl on here, so I'm going to give over the discussion to what drew me in and kept me going in this reread.

First of all, it took me days to get through part one. The first eighty-two pages are not bad. They're just quite slow and the rest of the book is so much better. It's good, it sets up the story and builds the world. Part one introduces the old stories of the types of speaking and shows Ani learning bird language. We get to enjoy Hale's wonderful prose, lushly painting this world for us. The forest scenes in particular are beautiful. We also get to know Ani before she undergoes all her character development. But the beginning just isn't exciting, not until the very end.

The most satisfying thing about this book is watching Ani grow to be able to earn her happy ending. She starts out as a rather boring, spineless doormat. Not a character who you hate, but she's also not someone you root for right from the get-go. You're lukewarm towards her for a while, her situation, not her character, keeping you interested. But that's the point, because that's who she is until she finds herself having to take charge of her life. Ani starts out really awkward, and we get to read the natural evolution of her character as she has to fend for herself, learn the dignity of work, becomes able to trust others again, and falls in love. And what I love about the end is that she is not inspired to take action for herself, for her own personal happily ever after, but because she knows that, whatever the personal risk, she has to prevent war from breaking out.

The culture of Bayern is well-developed. This isn't a bland fairy tale kingdom. We see traditions and festivals and get a feel for internal politics when it comes to the relations between the city and the Forest folk. The characters besides Ani are fleshed out as well. Selia's behavior and motives are natural, if not in the least sympathetic. Ungolad is mysterious but not one-dimensional. All of the workers ring true as people, and the scenes with them are a lot of fun. And Geric has a distinct personality that shows through, even for as little relative page time as he has.

Happily enough I picked up Enna Burning, the next book in the series, when I was out the other day. So, award-winning or not, I'll be reading it again soon enough. Finished On the Beach today too, so I'll review it soon, though it doesn't seem to have won any awards. I want to get a headstart on the challenge, you see. Oh well! Next up is Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s, an old favorite of mine.

Award-Winning-Books Reading Challenge

2012-01-01T17:20:00.004-05:00

Read 35 award-winning books in 2012?

Looks like first up is The Goose Girl, which, luckily for me, has won several awards. I'll start pulling together a list of other award-winners to tackle throughout the year. But yeah, thirty-five books in a year? Cake, bro. Platinum level participation is go.

Before starting The Goose Girl, I read The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore, which was a funny and engaging Christmas book. It had zombies and angels and warrior babes, and it reminded me to seek out more of his books. Apparently this story used characters from some of Moore's other books, so I might as well start with those.

2011-12-30T02:48:00.000-05:00

I have tons an' tons of books to read, but I don't know which to read next. I finally finished The Once and Future King after being stuck on it for weeks; it's good, but rather a slow mover, doncha know. This is in comparison to Chuck Palahniuk's Snuff (which I got for Christmas instead of Terry Pratchett's Snuff and have since returned, though not before reading it on a whim. Now that one was interesting. Very graphic, but, interestingly enough for a novel dealing with the filming of a porno, it didn't really eroticize anything. Very much dealt with the characters and their motivations for being their. His style's very punchy, very quick, and I loved the Hollywood trivia. And the reveal at the end completely switched around how I felt about the book until that point, moving it from interesting to darn good (an improvement, in case you couldn't tell). And the book I read after that was Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. I'd read it once before, but it's good on the reread. Lord Peter is a strong and complex character, and this is the novel that introduces Harriet Vane. And the whole sequence with the seances is quite funny. I can't say I enjoyed Have His Carcase very much, but Gaudy Night, which centers around Harriet, is a wonderful mystery-romance novel. One of my favorite books. I remember enjoying Busman's Honeymoon, but that's another I've only read once.

So! What to read next? I have On the Beach, but, uh, depressing. Oryx and Crake is probably too serious for how I'm feeling. I have one of the Maze Runner books and two by Neal Shusterman, but I'm not sure if I want YA just now. The steampunk collection Hin got me is tempting, but I don't want short stories either. Maybe it's time to reread The Goose Girl like I'd been planning. Plenty of time to read after this weekend, after all. So, it's decided!

Everwild

2010-10-19T21:51:00.003-04:00

I never knew there was a sequel to Everlost until recently. But that's what Everwild is. Go read the first book, or at least its review, since I think I did a decent explanation in the review entry. Anyway, Everwild takes place a fair amount of time after the first book. Nick is the Chocolate Ogre who opposes Mary Hightower, and Allie and Mikey are journeying on their own. We get a bunch of new characters, too, including other skinjackers besides Allie and an ecto-ripper. What surprised me a lot about this book is how heavy on the romance it was. I mean, it's not like Shusterman never has any romance in his books that I've read, but it becomes much more of a driving force in this novel. The interaction with the living world also increases, as do the stakes of everything. Near the end are some moments where I couldn't quite believe that the antagonists were actually going to get away with what they did. The mysteries of Everlost increase. What is west of the Mississipi? Also, Allie's time in Memphis totally did not pan out how I thought it would. But the upshot of this all is that Shusterman has crafted a page-turner that works and continually surprises the reader. Check this series out.

Leviathan

2010-10-19T21:41:00.000-04:00

So apparently I didn't review this book back when I originally read it. Whoops! It's high time I corrected that mistake, because all of you out there in Readerland deserve to know about this great series. Well, I just read Behemoth, the second book in this series by Scott Westerfeld, but for this entry I'll only talk about Leviathan, the first book. That's what's in the subject line of this article, after all.

Especially after reading Behemoth, but even before, this book really has that feel of a first book in a trilogy. A lot is set up and many new concepts are explained. There's conflict and a resolution at the end of this book, but it doesn't really feel like anything was completed. It's not bad, just makes you really hungry for more. Now, in the world of Leviathan, it's similar to our world prior to WWI, but the big difference is in the war machines. Germany and Austria-Hungary use giant mechanical war machines and are known as Clankers because of their reliance on machines. Great Britain and its allies are Darwinists and use science to create modified animals, including great living airships that are whole ecosystems unto themselves. Personally, I think the Clankers have the cooler way of it, but Westerfeld gives the two sides equal treatment. So who are our main characters? Alek, an Austro-Hungarian prince on the run, and Deryn, a girl disguised as a boy so she can serve on a British airship. I like Alek. He's a bit spoiled because of his upbringing, but he's also kind and willing to learn. Deryn seems like she'd be a bit annoying to be around because she's a bit superior and cocky, but her point of view sections round Deryn out a bit. The supporting characters are all decent, but special mentions go to Volger and Dr. Barlow for the layers of depth each possesses.

I'm gonna end this review here, since it's harder than I thought to talk about Leviathan without letting what I know from Behemoth influence things.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

2010-10-13T15:40:00.003-04:00

This is not the sort of book I'd normally read. But I was feeling woefully under-read when it came to Literature and the sort of books that you're supposed to read, so I checked a bunch out of the library, including Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. And I was hooked very quickly. Right from the beginning, Christopher, the narrator, is distinguished by his voice and the very deliberate way he tells the story. The story, we are informed, is about who killed Wellington the poodle, a dog of whom Christopher was very fond. Because of his specific way of looking at the world, Christopher places solving the crime as a matter of great importance, and his detecting soon leads to unraveling an even deeper secret. Throughout the book there are digressions about prime numbers, colors, constellations, maths problems, and other things. In some ways I'm reminded of Life of Pi. Even though this book is about a struggling family, it worked for me, I think, because of Christopher's matter-of-fact way of narrating things. There was never any sense of being supposed to pity the Boones. However, I still did sympathize with his parents. We never get a name for what's going on with Christopher, but even though he's smart in many ways, it's also clear that he's high-maintenance, and that can't be easy on parents. In the end, though, this is a hopeful book with an uplifting conclusion, and I'm glad I read it.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

2010-10-13T02:56:00.002-04:00

So I've seen the Scott Pilgrim movie, and it was pretty cool. I have to say that the art style of the graphic novel is very appealing to me. The characters are cute-looking, but it's not jarring when paired with fight scenes and such. For a series that apparently focuses on Scott fighting Ramona's evil exes, Ramona's introduction takes a while. Scott seems like somewhat less of an unappealing jerk in the graphic novel than he does in the movie. Also the fact that he's not played by Michael Cera in this version is good. Don't get me wrong, I like Michael Cera, though he will always be George Michael Bluth to me, but he just doesn't seem like a Scott Pilgrim to me. I have much less to say about this than I thought, probably because, having seen the movie, it's hard to comment on just the first part of the story. Well, maybe I'll read the rest of this series.

Monsters of Men

2010-10-10T00:36:00.002-04:00

This entry has spoilers. The book is good, the entire series is good, just take my word for it and read these books.

Monsters of Men was everything I hoped and more than I expected. A brutal, gut-wrenching finale to the series that didn't pull a single punch. Complications were introduced and resolved, but layered on top of one another. Every time you had some hope, something would go wrong, but before things were truly doomed, the heroes would pull through. That is what makes this series so great, that it's hopeful, even when hope's hard to come by. The ending, too. When I thought to myself about how I thought the series should end, my thought was that for it to end happily, with everything resolved, would be betraying the spirit of the story. Rather, it had to end with hope for the future, with the main conflict resolved but still a ways to go with fixing everything.

The relationship between Todd and Viola, always paramount, was well handled. Trust that was tested in The Ask and the Answer was strengthened even as new pressures were put upon it. The development with Todd's Noise and Viola's illness kept things believably tense between the two without sacrificing the devotion they have. The new viewpoint character was a total shocker, but it makes perfect sense. I knew that 1017 was going to show up, but I didn't expect his role to be so big. Not, perhaps, as interesting to read about as Todd and Viola, whom I'd already come to like, but still a new and wholly different perspective on this world and the conflicts. And, really, it was great to see more of how the Spackle lived and fit into the world. The Mayor stayed an interesting villain for the most part; he kept his chessmaster smarts pretty much the whole time. Near the end, when Ben came back, I was afraid of woobiefication, something coming up that would seem like the reader was supposed to think the Mayor wasn't so bad after all, he just needed love or whatever, but during the final confrontation when he revealed how the Noise was driving him crazy, I was able to buy that as motivation and think the ending was satisfactory. I also could respect the aftermath of that encounter, where we got another gut punch like this series is so good at serving up, but without losing that final hope for the future. Like I said earlier, that's what I love about this series, that despite all the bad stuff that happens, it keeps pushing the fact that you gotta have hope.

The pacing was kind of my only issue. A lot needed to happen, and because of the type of characters that Mistress Coyle and the Mayor are, there was a lot of one-upping and politics and whatnot that kind of seemed to drag on in between the more main events. But that didn't stop me from reading the entire thing in about three hours just now, so yeah. Uh, so perhaps I could have said more or been more coherent if I had put this entry off, but, well, I didn't exactly plan to read this book tonight, I should have been in bed a couple of hours ago, but I teased myself by reading the first prologue pages and then just had to finish it. Unlike Mockingjay, this was a worthy conclusion to the series, although I guess I do have to admit that I probably still like the first book in this series best, just because I absolutely love the dynamic between Todd and Viola, and the second and third books don't have them together as much. But yeah, that's all. Off to find fanfiction for this series. /o/

The Maze Runner

2010-10-05T02:50:00.002-04:00

This three a.m. post brought to you by my guilt for not updating more often. And so, let us discuss... The Maze Runner. By James Dashner (which is a really cool name), this YA novel takes place in a frickin' creepy place called the Glade. The Glade is surrounded by a maze, and aside from the several dozen teenage boys who inhabit the Glade, there's no one. One day a fellow name Thomas arrives in the Glade. Like all of the other boys, he can't remember anything but his name. Freaked out by this, Thomas is determined to find an answer to the mysteries of the Glade and the maze that surrounds it. As he becomes accepted by the other Gladers, Thomas begins to put together the pieces of the puzzle. Things only get more complicated when a lone girl arrives at the Glade, and Thomas is sure that he's seen her before. Now, with his new friends and allies, he must solve the maze - if that's even possible.

Okay, now that you've got an idea as to what this story's about, may I just say that where this book scores its biggest hit is in the creepy ambiance that you always feel when you're reading it. The Glade's not natural, the maze is more horrifying the less you know of it and the secrets behind it, and even the end of the book, with its sucker punch lead-in to the next book, just amps up the quiet horror of everything. As for characters, while I can't say that The Maze Runner has the most brilliant characterization or fascinating characters that I've ever seen, the cast of this book is definitely above average. Thomas is a bit... not bland, just... he definitely feels like he's supposed to be the hero, that is, you can tell the author constructed him to fit that role as you read. Not a bad character by any shot, though. Chuck was another character who was obviously supposed to fill a role as a sort of morality pet (or a similar trope; it's late, and I dare not make a full-fledged foray into TV Tropes to get exactly the right trope) or whatever to remind Thomas of what he's fighting for. Alby, Newt, Minho, and Teresa were all quite satisfactory to my mind. Teresa didn't fall into the trap of being all Girl Power and acting stupid and coy just because she's the token girl or whatever. Basically I just thought she was a pretty convincing female character. The Keepers of the Glade were all interesting to read about, and even though they didn't all get equal screen time, you still got the feeling that there were characters outside of the main characters who mattered in this little society.

Overall, The Maze Runner is a gripping read. Mystery with a bit of a horror feel and the promise of more to come in the sequel. If you're looking for a satisfying YA novel, check this out.

Alien Secrets

2010-10-02T02:41:00.002-04:00

Alien Secrets by Annette Curtis Klause is a book I remember from grade school or so. Puck, the novel's protagonist, is a young girl, good-hearted but curious and not at all docile. Really, I think she's quite well-written, with Klause balancing Puck's troublesome tomboy aspects with her respect for people who prove themselves worthy of trust and her schoolgirl crush on a college-age older guy. Okay, so that this isn't all being said in a vacuum, have some plot. See, after being kicked out of school, Puck is being shipped off from Earth to reunite with her parents on an alien planet. On the ship she meets an alien from the same planet to which she is headed, a fellow named Hush who has been entrusted with a symbol of his people's freedom. However, someone on the ship is out to steal the artefact, and if that's not bad enough, Puck is pretty sure that one of the other passengers is a murderer. With cunning and courage, Puck has to make friends and unmask enemies, all without ending up lost in hyperspace forever. Anyway, with that sketch out of the way, I have to say one of the things that stuck with me about this novel was the grown-up atmosphere of it all. That is, nothing objectionable, but this book does not talk down to the reader. If you're a kid reading this, you're in Puck's shoes, trying to understand what's going on with the all-adult crew and passengers. There's real danger, and Puck's not treated with kid gloves just because she's, well, a kid. The mystery is pretty well set up, and the climax of the novel is definitely exciting. Overall, this is a very solid read, and a good YA novel for those who are looking for something outside the norm.

The Princetta

2010-09-21T00:29:00.002-04:00

So we all know the story about the rebellious princess who runs away from home because no one *~understands her~*. She's a special snowflake, and once she's out of the restrictions of royal life, she blossoms like the rare exotic flower she is, and finds true love with scenes bordering of stuff from a Harlequin novel, blah blah blah. The Princetta by Anne-Laure Bondoux takes the idea of a runaway princess and plays it out a bit more naturalistically. Our heroine, Malva, is the princetta of Galnicia, which seems to be sort of based on Spain. The whole world of the story is a skewed version of our own, but with enough alterations to make it its own place. Anyway, Malva is not content to live the life her parents have planned for her. And, to be fair, her dad's kind of a jerk, mocking her writings and making her burn them. I mean, jeez. And so Malva and her handmaiden Philomena escape with the help of Malva's tutor, the Archont. Free to explore the world, Malva makes her goal Elgolia, a mythical land she hears about in a sailor's tale. But her quest is hindered by the vastness of the world and the enemies it holds, as well as by the rescue mission mounted by her parents which includes among its members the young sailor Orpheus, who provides the second viewpoint of the story.

So I really like that while Malva is a rebellious princess, she's also not stupid and is mostly not so stubborn that she ends up shooting herself in the foot. Realistic consequences ensue from Malva's decision to run away. She's not perfect, and she suffers, and she learns from what she endures. The whole sequence in the Archipelago was well-done, and while Malva and Orpheus are the main characters, the supporting characters on the Fabula were all sufficiently developed that their struggles and sacrifices were moving. The ending, too, was original and executed well. I honestly didn't expect it, but it worked for the type of story which this is.

The Anubis Gates

2010-09-21T00:06:00.002-04:00

The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers is almost everything I hoped it would be. Time travel, mystery, magic, romance, action. But it's just not enough. Almost, but not quite. Well, I enjoyed this book. There's nothing where the author left something hanging. It's more that events seemed to whiz by too quickly. Everything made sense, but I hungered for more detail. The Antaeus Brotherhood. More background on the Master. A little more time focusing on Brendan's time as a beggar. Especially more interactions between Brendan and Jacky. I mean, if you're going to have a preordained romance, then give us some scenes where the characters get to know each other on more than a superficial level. Another hundred pages would have been wonderful. This book's only about four hundred, after all. There is plenty of action in those pages, however. Time travel, the mystery of the Egyptian magicians, Dog-Face Joe, Horrabin, Darrow, Dr. Romany and all the rest. You know, on reflection, I really think that the length is the biggest flaw in this novel, since it's excellently plotted. There's just not enough time to show instead of tell some events, particularly in the home stretch of the story, with the events leading up to Brendan's return to England and what happens from there.

Well, that was probably confusing, but it'll make sense when you read it again, just like the book it talks about. This was my second time reading this book, and, like with Diana Wynne Jones, the second read clears up a lot of things 'cause you're able to pick up clues and make connections that would fly past you the first time. So, anyway, I do recommend The Anubis Gates.

Mockingjay

2010-08-31T20:55:00.002-04:00

The Hunger Games books are very good. I don't deny that. However, I just wonder if I might have outgrown them in the past couple years since I first read The Hunger Games. Now, I enjoyed Mockingjay, I really did. But... Well, bear with me. I'd like to give my thoughts and impressions, but they'll be disjointed as I try to figure out why I'm not such a fan of the series anymore. I suppose I lost patience with the romance drama pretty quickly. Really, some of my favorite moments are when Katniss is either called on her issues or when she has enough clarity to realize that she's messed up without angsting about it at the same time. I mean, one of the reasons I liked Katniss in the first book was that you don't really see a rational, calculating heroine who acts pragmatic even to the point of shocking coldness. In Mockingjay, I liked the parts where Katniss wasn't dealing with her boytoys but instead focusing on the business of training and being an awesome action girl. The main reason I liked the first book so much was because of the how the action all really culminated in the arena. Indeed, maybe it's just my own misconceptions about how the series should have played out, because the less focus on the actual games, the less riveted I was. Well. Um. This is kind of embarrassing, but the last book I read before Mockingjay was The Host, right? (I sometimes post reviews out of order; it was.) I feel weird saying this, but I actually liked The Host better than Mockingjay. There wasn't an angst overload, the romance actually stayed fairly low-key but still drove the plot when needed, the pacing was better. Just... Yeah. I suppose I'll put it this way. If you're someone who thought that Catching Fire was better than The Hunger Games, then you'll really enjoy Mockingjay. As for me, it just wasn't what I was hoping for. Still an objectively good book, though. I can't honestly say that I hated it, after all.

Flora's Dare

2010-08-31T15:28:00.002-04:00

This sequel to Flora Segunda takes all that was great about the first book and ups the ante in a harrowing high-stakes adventure. Picking up shortly after the first book, we find Flora in the midst of her quest to become a ranger. Her ambitions are put to the test when she discovers the eldritch abomination that's causing the earthquakes that are plaguing Califa. Now Flora has to master Grammatica and ally with her family's enemy, all while avoiding her new curfew - and all this without the help of Udo, her best friend, who has gotten into some trouble of his own. This sequel keeps its main story nicely self-contained while further exploring mysteries and secrets introduced in the first book and introducing some more of its own. Flora's family's past and the politics of the republic are fleshed out, as are the nature of Grammatica and Nini Mo's adventures and plenty of other aspects of the fascinating world that Ysabeau S. Wilce has crafted. Well, really all I wanted to say was that I was once again impressed by the detail and depth that has been poured into this series, and I cannot wait for a third book to be released.

The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya

2010-08-31T14:25:00.003-04:00

In this collection of short stories by Nagaru Tanigawa, we see four different episodes from the early months of the SOS Brigade's existence. The SOS Brigade (Save the world by Overloading it with fun: Haruhi Suzumiya's Brigade) is an organization created by, of course, Haruhi Suzumiya, a Japanese high school girl who is bored with how ordinary life is. In the first book, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, we were introduced to Haruhi, everyman Kyon, alien interface Yuki Nagato, time-traveler Mikuru Asahina, and esper Itsuki Koizumi. Now, in this third book which is second chronologically, we find out how the SOS Brigade fills its days. In the story "The Boredom of Haruhi Suzumiya" we find that apparently baseball is diverting enough for Haruhi, since she enters the brigade and a few of their friends in a baseball tournament where losing quickly comes to mean the end of the world as we know it. "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" details a fateful Tanabata holiday, laying the groundwork for later parts of the series and also showcasing time-travel in action for the first time. "Mysterique Sign" has the SOS Brigade solving a supernatural case a disappearance - though of course Haruhi is once again left out of the loop. And "Remote Island Syndrome" (one of my personal favorite) gives us a bona fide murder mystery in a closed circle situation. When the SOS Brigade goes to a remote island for a short vacation, fun in the sun turns sour when the master of the mansion is found dead. Trapped by a storm with a murderer lurking, it's up to Kyon, Haruhi, and the others to figure out whodunnit.

This is a mixed bag of stories. "Mysterique Sign" and "Boredom" are fun, though not especially favorites of mine. I like "Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody" because of how it brings in time travel and how it shows us more of both Haruhi's past and how her mind works. And also because it brings us this gif of Mikuru doing the Macarena. (Well, close enough. It amuses me, anyway). "Remote Island Syndrome" is my favorite story in this novel. I do like murder mysteries, of course, but besides that, we also get a lot of SOS Brigade bonding where the characters get to have fun like normal high school students (including getting drunk a couple times, because of course Haruhi would embrace alcohol with the same enthusiasm with which she embraces everything else). I have to confess that I think that the anime adaptation of this particular story is better than the written version, partly because of some changes made to how the mystery plays out and also because this story is given two episodes, which allows things to unfold more vividly. Still, "Remote Island Syndrome" is one of the better stories in this collection and in the series overall, in my mind. Anyway, this is an excellent translation and a great buy for any fan of the series.

The Host

2010-08-31T01:21:00.003-04:00

I am firmly in the anti-Twilight camp. The first book was, at best, on the level of an amusing beach read, and the second book was one that I very nearly hurled across my bedroom. I didn't even touch the latter two books, and everything I've read about them assures me that I made the right choice. But I'd heard good things about Stephenie Meyer's book The Host, and so a couple weeks ago I asked my cousin if she had a copy I could borrow. It sat on my to-read shelf for a while before I picked it up on a whim today. It's a little over six hundred pages; I finished it in six hours. Basically, this book is surprisingly good.

Okay, so a little bit about it. Imagine that someone wrote up a one paragraph summary of the Animorphs series, ran it through Babelfish a couple of times, then posted it as an unattributed writing prompt to a romance writers' group. Basically, there are these aliens, called "souls", that have taken over Earth. They're pretty peaceful and conquered by subtle assimilation, but it still sucks for humans because they basically disappear. Seriously, just think Yeerk. ... Actually, I did that a little too much while reading because I would occasionally think, why don't they just morph? Anyway. Our heroine is a soul named Wanderer, who's had a ton of hosts in the past but is now stuck in Melanie, a rebellious host whose consciousness hasn't faded away. Wanderer wants to fit into her new life on Earth, but Melanie's memories interfere, and eventually the two of them band together to look for the other free humans that Melanie left behind. From there, the novel explores what it means to be human and the sacrifices that it takes to earn freedom.

I think my favorite feature of the book was that it was not focused on romance to the exclusion of everything else. There's just as much importance placed on friendship and trust (think nakama), and the relationship between Wanderer and Melanie is especially well-done. And even the romance aspect is well-done. The love interests are flawed without being repulsive, and the complex feelings of all the characters involved are handled adeptly. I think this novel was helped by having something larger at stake than just the romantic feelings of the characters. The whole matter of souls and freedom allowed for the drama quotient to be upped in a way that felt natural. The book is really freaking long, but the pacing is fine, so while a lot happens, the book never seems to drag. The basic writing style is good, too. No adjective abuse, just nice and descriptive prose. I particularly liked the worldbuilding and the imagination that went into the development of the souls and the other aliens and worlds that were described. There might be stuff to nitpick in this book, but it was overall a good enough read that I don't feel compelled to go searching for flaws. Basically, this book is surprisingly good, and even if you wrote Meyer off after suffering through Twilight, The Host is definitely worth checking out. It's above average, with some moments that really shine.

Legally Blonde

2010-08-30T15:23:00.000-04:00

Anyone who knows me will be completely unsurprised at my reading choice this time around: Legally Blonde by Amanda Brown. Yes, the book on which the movie was based (which in its turn spawned a musical adaptation which I love). However, anyone who's seen the Reese Witherspoon film or the new musical will be surprised at how different the book is from its adaptations. It's not that anything is changed on a huge scale, but everything has been altered in little ways, so it's sort of a Twilight Zone feel. You know the story, but you sort of don't.

Well, for those of you who aren't women, I should explain the plot. Sorority girl Elle Woods is in her senior year of college and is totally expecting her boyfriend Warner Huntington III to propose. However, Warner is headed to Stanford for law school, and he needs a girlfriend who's more serious than Elle. But while Elle Woods might appear to be a ditzy blond Delta Gamma, she's got innate smarts and the passion to get what she wants. Wanting Warner back, she aces the LSATs and gets into Stanford herself. Of course, it takes more than showing up at Stanford Law to win Warner back. In over her head, Elle has to deal with a completely new lifestyle (shockingly enough, being Homecoming Queen does not win Elle instant popularity) and figure out what she really wants. However, with help from new friends and an internship with a prestigious law firm, Elle gets the opportunity to shine.

Anyway, one of the things I like the most about the Legally Blonde story is that behind its silly premise, there's actually a lesson to be learned. Don't judge people on appearances. You can be more than what everyone tells you you can be. Especially in the musical version, the story seems like an inversion of the Beautiful All Along trope; Elle's always smart (4.0 average, kickin' LSAT score), but it takes everyone a while to realize that because all they see is her blonde hair and matching outlook on life.

Anyway, Legally Blonde is a fun, breezy read. Short chapters, fast pace, nothing that demands intense concentration. It's just an amusing books that's put together well. If you're looking for a light, fun girl power book, this is it.

(Also, I need a better tagging system. I tried to go through and systematically tag everything, but it's tricky to know how to classify things.)

Troy High

2010-08-22T22:20:00.003-04:00

Troy High by Shana Norris is fun. That is, I think, the best word for it. It's a stand-alone novel with a fast pace and a simple story. The basic idea is that it's a modern retelling of the Iliad. Two rival high schools, with football teams named the Trojans and the Spartans. Incidentally, my grade school's mascot was the Trojans, which you can bet we made jokes about when we were old enough to understand the sort of jokes that might be made. In any case, Trojans and Spartans are bitter enemies. Our heroine, Cassie Prince, is a rare exception, since her best friend, Greg Mennon, is a Spartan while she is a Trojan. Cassie, based on Cassandra the Seer in the Iliad, is the only who sees that trouble might be afoot when Elena Argos, a recent transfer from Lacede, home of the Spartans, decides to dump her old boyfriend Lucas Mennon for Perry Prince. This transfer of affection is perceived as an insult to Spartan pride, and the rivalry between the two schools gets even more heated. Pranks escalate, and Cassie is torn between loyalty to her brothers, the star players for the Trojans, and loyalty to Greg, her best friend whom she has also realized she has feelings for.

The reason this story works, I think, is that Elena is not a one-dimensional, catty popular girl. She's the start of all the trouble, and she is rather a typical cheerleader, but she's genuinely nice to Cassie, which makes Cassie's continued loyalty to Elena and the Trojans that much more believable. Greg's a good guy, but he also falls prey to the rivalry, so, again, the loyalty issue is complicated in a way where you don't think Cassie is dumb for not doing one thing or the other. The story zips along, without too much dwelling on teen angst, and Cassie has a natural narrative voice which doesn't jerk you out of the story. Troy High is not exactly going to become a classic of western literature like its source material, but it's definitely a fun read that I highly recommend.

The Hourglass Door

2010-08-22T22:06:00.003-04:00

The Hourglass Door by Lisa Mangum is above average romance/adventure fare. Abby Edmunds is a totally normal high school senior with a normal life: she spends time with her boyfriend, applies for colleges along with her best friends, and assistant directs the school's production of Much Ado About Nothing. But at play practice one day she meets the new Italian exchange student, Dante Alexander. As is expected in books like this, she is immediately attracted to him. However, what kept me reading was that Dante was not a brooding, mysterious bad boy, or, rather, there was more to him than that. He and Abby develop a friendship and chemistry between the two of them that is fairly legitimately built up as lacking in Abby's relationship with Jason, her neighbor/childhood friend/boyfriend. Also to the book's credit is that Jason isn't depicted as some dumb lug; he's a truly nice, thoughtful guy who cares about Abby and she about him, even if there's no spark of romance there. The historical/time travel elements of the plot are handled well enough, although we don't get much resolution because, of course, this is a series and not a stand-alone novel. I'll keep an eye out for the second book, and I hope that we get to visit sixteenth-century Italy, because we know that Renaissance Italy is a favorite setting of mine, just as I love to see theatre and drama in books. Well, overall, The Hourglass Door was a decent read, even if it's not anything to rave about.

Flora Segunda

2010-08-17T15:57:00.000-04:00

Flora Fyrdraaca lives in a magical house with a magical butler, but both house and butler have seen better days. Though the Fyrdraaca family is one of the big names in the city of Califa, you wouldn't know it to see Flora trying to manage the household and her mentally damaged father on her own while her mother, the Commanding General of the Army, is off on business. Then one day, shortly before her fourteenth birthday, Flora stumbles upon the house's banished butler in a lonely library that Flora has never seen before. The butler, a magical spirit named Valefor who used to be in charge of making sure the Fyrdraaca family lived in luxury, is now a pale shadow of his former self. But, he tells Flora, with her help he can be restored, and she'll be relieved of the burden of keeping up the house without magic. Tired of running herself ragged and tempted by a small taste of the Valefor's magical powers (including delicious foods he can whip up), Flora agrees, bringing her best friend Udo along for the ride. Of course, nothing goes quite the way Flora plans, and so there are all sorts of zany magickal hijinks and whatnot.

Okay, so. What makes this book so great? Well, first off, it's stunningly original and detailed in its worldbuilding. Sure there's hints of inspiration from real world cultures, but there's no way you could say, "Oh, it's like Victorian England but with magic," or anything so simple as that. Indeed, the dominant real-world inspiration seems to be Spanish, such as the Catorcena, the celebration of the fourteenth birthday, when a child becomes an adult. The fashions are another thing entirely, with everyone, men and women, wearing skirts or kilts for the most part. That's a simple but quick indicator that this isn't Western Europe as we know it. And the world-building and glimpses of history we see all fit together tightly. And I particularly like the detail given to the adventures of Nini Mo and her rangers.

Ah, this is why I shouldn't be lazy about writing these reviews, all the things I want to say become less fresh in my mind. But let's see. Well, the plot makes sense, moves quickly, and packs in a lot of action. The system of magic is clever and mysterious, but never seems to break its own rules. What I really loved was the depth given to all the characters. Flora's parents, in particular, have multiple facets and parts of their histories that aren't explored but which still affect their behavior and the story. That is, the first book doesn't give it all away. Flora is a fine protagonist. She's flawed but personable, doesn't always succeed, gets called out when she deserves it, and is an active heroine. Valefor and Udo both are good supporting characters and act as foils for Flora and each other. Well. Anyway, there's a second book in the series, and I have ordered it from the library, so we shall see how Flora's story continues to unfold since, like, all the best series, there is still plenty more to learn about our heroine and her world, more than could be covered in one book.

For the Win

2010-08-09T22:33:00.002-04:00

For the Win by Cory Doctorow. Take one part MMO, one part economics lesson, and one part underdog story. That's For the Win in a nutshell. In the not too distant future, online gaming is even more popular than it is now. People make their living from the games, not just the companies who run them but players who work as gold farmers and the like. In some parts of the world, gold farming is run like sweatshop labor, and it's still the best living the kids playing are bound to see. However, there are brave workers who want to see a change in the system, for gamers to be treated fairly and paid fairly. Online and offline, the forces gather, preparing for a revolution and a change for the better. Wrapped up in this sprawling story are Wei-Dong, an American gamer who lives in privilege, Mala, an Indian girl whose prowess at gaming has earned her respect and income, and Matthew, a Chinese gamer who once farmed gold for a boss and is now trying to strike out on his own, as well as many others. Truly a global tale, this book succeeds for several reasons: the realistic, if not always likable, characters; the believable depictions of online gaming (I'm not a huge MMO player (but I love Puzzle Pirates) but I've played a few in my time and hang out with many who play religiously, and all of the stuff in this book rings true); the economic knowledge that understanding of the plot hinges on is explained simply but thoroughly; and the story walks the line between being realistic and hopeful in its outlook. I was constantly reminded of Neal Stephenson's writing, particularlyThe Diamond Age, but while the books are similar in the large casts and casual integration of semi-advanced and/or obscure subjects, Doctorow's book is a lot less grim, less of a crapsack world.

I'll finish up by saying that this book should be read by all gamers and anyone with a social conscious. Just like any good Terry Pratchett novel, Cory Doctorow's For the Win has a message hidden within its gripping story, something for you to think about long after you've closed the book. All in all, this is a great novel.

The Grimm Legacy

2010-08-09T22:25:00.000-04:00

So, The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman is one of those books that totally looks like it's going to be hokey and I'm going to read it, cringe, and put it away. To my extreme delight, this book was a Kiki Strike - a surprisingly enjoyable story that I never expected. So, the basic premise of this book is that Elizabeth Rew, a normal girl who's an outcast at her new school, gets a job at the New York Circulating Material Repository, which is a library for things. Only, along with the mundane materials, there is a whole vault of magical items from the Grimm fairy tales. So, Elizabeth gets the job, but things aren't all candy and bunnies: magical items have been disappearing from the collection, and other library pages are under suspicion. There's also some well-executed teen romance drama which adds another layer to the shifting loyalties of the characters.

The whole thing works primarily because Elizabeth is a realistic, likable viewpoint character. She's got a good narrative voice, descriptive, but not in a way that makes you wonder why a high school girl is talking like that. She is also, and I love her character so much for this, not a complete idiot. I mean, she's a teenage girl who doesn't let her hormones drive her every action, who doesn't trust people who are blatantly untrustworthy, and who actually trusts authority figures. Glory be! From her point of view, we get to see the Repository and all of the various interesting magical items in the Grimm collection. The author, Ms. Shulman, makes good use of common and obscure fairy tales from which to pull items that feature in the story. The secondary characters were all nicely developed. Every time I thought I'd predicted what one of them was up to, whether they were a traitor or not, things would get more complex. Even the romance wasn't particularly formulaic, and the whole book had a sense of humor about it, not overtly so, but enough to keep the story light. I think the plot was the weakest part of the book, not that it was at all bad. It just felt that the story was more in the characters and their relationships with each other (and not just limited to the romantic relationships). I also got very slightly lost towards the end of the book when they confronted the bad guys. Not enough that it wasn't fun, but more where I was like, "I'm not sure what's going on, but whatever, it's cool, I'll go along with this." A nice thing about this book was that, while there's room for a sequel, it never felt like this story was just a set-up for something else. The Grimm Legacy easily holds its own as a standalone story.

Perchance to Dream

2010-08-05T02:00:00.003-04:00

We start with a correction to the Twilight Zone entry. Richard Matheson did not write a novel called Perchance to Dream; his novel is called What Dreams May Come. I suppose the similar names (both phrases being from Hamlet's famous soliloquy), along with the fact that today's book does share a name with Charles Beaumont's short story, caused the mix-up.

Well! Without further ado, let us move on to the book of the entry, Lisa Mantchev's Perchance to Dream. A sequel to Eyes Like Stars, this novel wraps up the story begun in the first book. Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is off on a quest to rescue her pirate lover Nate from the clutches of Sedna the sea goddess with her fairy allies and the spirit Ariel. Other characters include an enigmatic thief and Bertie's father, as well as a troupe of traveling players. The sea goddess herself even makes an appearance. Well, look, I have to be honest. As much as I did enjoy this book, it was not as good as the first. Eyes Like Stars. If you'll allow me to get theatrical here, I think it was the way the first book kept close to the Aristotelian unities of time, place, and action. The action was compressed to within just a few days, it all took place within a few locales in the theatre, and there was really only one main plot. (It doesn't completely keep with the unities, but that is totally understandable as a book is not a play, and, anyway, the unities are kind of boring. But you can't go wrong with keeping things simple at times!) Perchance to Dream throws Bertie and her company into the wilder world outside the theatre, but while I eventually got into the groove of what was going on, the way the magic of words was introduced and used kept confusing me, and I just kind of went along with the flow instead of really absorbing what was going on. Waschbar and the Scrimshander were both important characters, but they were really abruptly introduced. I just felt that the novel's breakneck pace and piles of new information made it a bit of muddle. Diana Wynne Jones can pull that sort of thing off, but she's a rare writer. However, for all that I'm complaining, I still genuinely liked this book. I'll also give Ms. Mantchev props for handling the romance. It could have so easily turned into something like Twilight, except for Bertie's more sensible outlook. And I have to admit that I actually gained sympathy for Ariel, whom I was not particularly fond of in the first book. Really, all of the characters shone by the end of this book, even the Scrimshander, who took even longer to win me over than Ariel did. Wikipedia tells me there will be a third book. With luck, it will slow down the pacing and focus more on the characters in a single theatrical setting, what made the first book so great.

The Prince of Mist

2010-08-04T00:54:00.001-04:00

The Prince of Mist could be called The Shadow of the Wind lite, except that would be doing a disservice to both books. The Prince of Mist could perhaps be said to be a precursor, an introduction to Zafon's masterwork, except that also seems to belittle the shorter but no less enthralling earlier book. The Prince of Mist is one of those children's books that is not a children's book, because it can be enjoyed by anyone, and associating it only with children would be doing it a disservice, though heaven knows that child readers are no idiots. I suppose I could best compare The Prince of Mist to The Westing Game in this regard. Child characters and a writing style a child could comprehend, but a very intricate plot and unexpectedly dark plot material. Haunted statues, a devilish man with dark magic, a sunken ship that went down with dozens of forsaken souls on board, a house built by a rich man whose family was soon after struck by tragedy, all of this is trademark Zafon, and everything comes together in a tight plot that will tug at your heart and make you glad to have a light on while you read. This is an excellent tragedy, and it's all the better for having characters you as the reader will identify and sympathize with. Max is a well-executed normal boy protagonist, Alicia is neither too haughty nor too sensual to be unlikable, and Roland is just shy of being too cocky, and so you don't end up hating him. I mean, when I started reading, I was sure I could peg the character types, but it was pleasant to find that instead of just being types, the three main characters were actually individual personalities. But still, first novel or not, I should not have expected less from Zafon.

Well, this was more reflection than review. Ah, get used to it, I guess? Okay, okay, here's a bit about the actual plot. With World War II looming, Max and his family move from the city to a seaside town. The town is sleepy, but the house Max's family moves into is wreathed in a tragic past. Max's new friend Roland tells him and his sister Alicia about the Fleischmann family who lived there until their son Jacob died. Meanwhile, Max discovers a garden full of freakin' creepy statues including one of a scary clown. I mean, jeez, Zafon, dead children aren't enough for you, you have to freaking have clowns in this book? Master of horror, indeed. Tragedy circles ever closer around Max, Alicia, and Roland, and connected to it all is a mysterious character called the Prince of Mist.

Anyway! If you haven't read anything by Zafon, either this book or The Shadow of the Wind is good to start with. And you should start with one of them. Right now. Because Zafon is amazing.

The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories; or, my reading material as a child probably explains how weird I am today.

2010-08-04T00:28:00.004-04:00

Growing up, browsing the family bookshelf for new reading material was not exactly my favorite activity. After all, it meant that I had exhausted my usual supply of books and was taking a gamble on the contents of the eclectic collection we kept in the living room. The Book of Questions and Imponderables were favorites from a young age, the one being very easy and occasionally thought-provoking and the other stimulating my mind in unusual ways. The New York Public Library Desk Reference was another favorite, holding an extremely varied assortment of facts that I, as an aspiring scholar, sopped up in the hopes of taking a short cut to scholarship. There were other books, too. A collection of great vampire stories and Murder for Christmas, both of which looked interesting but contained material either too dense or too frightening for a young girl, a book on military survival which I absorbed during a phase when I fancied myself an adventurer, business law, a book on card games, self-help and home improvement, an Idiot's Guide to Planning the Perfect Vacation, a book on the history of the world and one on the civil war, the first two Hitchhiker's Guide books and a few volumes of boys' adventure stories from the turn of the century. I would come back to these and others over and over throughout the years, gleaning a little more knowledge each time. But there were two books that I have come to love better than all the others, two books that I grew up with, that I read more and more of as my tastes expanded. What were these magical volumes? The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories and Rod Serling's Twilight Zone.

Rod Serling's Twilight Zone is the one I favor less of the two, though it's still very good, holding such gripping tales as "The Tiger God," "The 16-Millimeter Shrine," and "The Purple Testament." But The Twilight Zone: The Original Stories holds the stories that have stayed with me, even haunted me. And it's these stories that I want to talk about.

We start off with "One for the Angels," a beautiful story about Lou Bookman, a small-time salesman who's not ready to die, not until he's made a big sales pitch, a pitch for the angels. However, when Death shows up, the stakes will be higher than Lou ever imagined. While the story itself is a bit predictable, the charm in this opening story is in the telling.

"Perchance to Dream" is more what you think of when you think of the Twilight Zone, a chilling mindscrew. Phillip Hall is unable to sleep because death awaits when he does. This story's horrifying because, when you think about it, what do you do when your dreams become deadly and there's nothing you can do to avoid eventually dropping off into sleep?

In a funny little coincidence, the next story, "Disappearing Act, was written by Richard Matheson, who also wrote a novel called Perchance to Dream, the name of the previous story. But that's tangential. "Disappearing Act" is another chiller about the inevitable, this time about a man whose very existance is disappearing around him.

"Time Enough at Last" should be in the same vein as the previous two stories, except that this one is well known enough that it's even been parodied. When the world ends, Henry Bemis finally has time to read a book, only he's broken his glasses.

"What You Need" was an early favorite of mine, with more complexity to its characters and plot than the shorter stories that preceeded it. I think what I like about it is how it slowly unwinds itself to its conclusion that you don't even expect until you read it.

"Third from the Sun" is another story that is probably familiar to most people. It's got a bleak feel to it, as the family covertly prepares to leave behind the only life they've ever known. And the twist to the story is skillfully kept until the reveal at the end.

"Elegy" is straight up creepy, in a sort of uncanny valley way. It seems innocent enough, and that just makes the final revelation all the more horrifying. Really, a lot of these stories are Fridge Horror, to invoke the trope. You read them, are mildly chilled, and then you're up thinking all night about all of the truly horrific implications.

"Brothers Beyond the Void" features a theme seen a fair amount in sci-fi. "People are alike all over," huh? It's really very depressing.

The next story, "The Howling Man," is one that I haven't fully read yet. As I said, I've slowly come to read and enjoy more and more of these stories over the years, so it's not surprising to me that I still haven't read a couple all the way through.

I cannot believe that more people haven't heard of "It's a Good Life." It is one of my favorite Twilight Zone stories to reference, but no one gets it! And this isn't even fridge horror, it's horror all the way through, despite the veneer of happiness that the characters put up. Because you can't say the wrong thing around Anthony or he might make everything worse. Think Haruhi Suzumiya as a child. Yeah.

"The Valley was Still" is a Civil War story incorporating witchcraft and a Faustian bargain. Not a favorite of mine, but certainly a good entry in this collection.

"The Jungle" is a story I only read once. It's dark and different, and perhaps I'll like it better after reading it again.

"To Serve Man." Oh, come on, everyone knows this one. It's still interesting to read how the story plays out, though, even if you know the ending. Spoilers: Soylent Green is people.

"Little Girl Lost." Good grief, it's only in writing this that I realize just how many Twilight Zone spoofs The Simpsons have done. The little girl gets trapped in another dimension after crawling under the couch. Not especially terrifying, more intellectually interesting.

"Four O'Clock" is on the surface rather a funny little story. It's one of the shortest in the book, and it sets up its premise with skill. The twist at the end is almost expected. It's another case when you're going to be more disturbed when you think back to the story later, rather than right when you read it for the first time.

The next story is, like "One for the Angels," more of a fairy tale than a horror story. "I Sing the Body Electric!" is a fanciful story by Ray Bradbury about a family of three children and their widowed father who purchase a wonderfully fantastic robotic grandmother. It's touching and heartfelt, and I'm sure I cried while reading it. There's no twist ending, no darkness lurking at the edges. This is just a sweet story about love and family and growing up. It was a favorite of mine from the first time I read it, and it continues to hold a very special place in my heart.

If the previous story features a warm grandmother, "The Changing of the Guard" has the grandfatherly figure of Professor Fowler, an old teacher at a boys' school. As with "I Sing the Body Electric," there's a bit of the supernatural, but rather than acting as an alienating force, it instead reaffirms the innate humanity of the professor and all of the students whose lives he touched.

"In His Image" goes right back to the mindscrewing. I would say that this story most reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones' novel Hexwood because both require several readings before you have even an inkling of what just occurred. I could try to say more about it, but instead I'll just tell you that it confuses and invigorates the mind, puzzles and horrifies, and the resolution is fitting if not completely satisfactory, but in a good way.

"Mute" is one of the stories in this anthology that I had trouble reading until fairly recently. A bit confusing, not a lot of action. It's less supernatural than some of the other stories, with more of a focus on humans and their innate abilities.

I don't think I've ever gotten through, or even attempted, "Death Ship" yet.

For all that "The Devil, You Say?" involves Faustian bargains, it's actually really a fun story. When a man sells his soul in order to be able to have a successful small town paper and then passes the burden on to his son, the son has to scramble to outwit Satan and return his life to normal, all while pursuing the girl of his dreams.

"Blind Alley" presents a much bleaker take on a deal with the devil, wherein the perils of greed are outlined much more starkly and with a chilling sense of futility. I don't have much else to say, as this is one of the stories that I've only read once.

I've never read "Song for a Lady" yet either.

"Steel." A boy and his robot. Only Kelly and Pole are not boys, they're down on their luck robot fighters, and the robots are fighting machines, and the story is basically just a lot of bleak build-up to the inevitable finish. Very little sci-fi, very depressing story.

"Nightmare at 20,000 Feet." Look, if you don't know this story already, shame on you. Go absorb some pop culture!

"The Old Man" is a post-apocalyptic story about human nature and mob rule. It's short and plot-driven, and the twist at the end is really the only remarkable thing about it.

"The Self-Improvement of Salvadore Ross" brings to mind the earlier story "What You Need." Salvadore Ross learns that he can barter the intangible and the seemingly unchangeable in order to better himself and win the heart of the girl he loves. However, this wouldn't be a Twilight Zone story if there weren't a catch.

Here we are. We've reached the story that I find the most chilling of everything in this entire collection. Charles Beaumont's "The Beautiful People." The terrifying thing about this story, to me, is losing yourself and being helpless to stop it. I've had quite a few surgeries in my time, and something about the sinister possibilities of hospitals and surgical procedures just chills me to the bone. You know what book this story reminds me of? Well, yes, Scott Westerfeld's Uglies, sort of, but more than that it reminds me of Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I mean, this story is definitely a good one, but it's also personally one of the most chilling, haunting things I've read.

The next story, in contrast, has left pretty much no impression on me. I know that I've read "Long Distance Call" before, but I had to flip through it to read the end before I remembered much about it. It's like something out of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, that childhood standby of tame tales and grotesque pictures.

The anthology ends with a classic story by Ambrose Bierce, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." This is another famous one where the twist ending is well known. I don't have much of an impression of it because I never read it after the first time.

Overall, some of these stories are really wonderful and have enriched my imagination. I'll say that my favorites would be "One for the Angels," "What You Need," "Elegy," "I Sing the Body Electric!," "In His Image," and "The Beautiful People," with "It's a Good Life" and "The Changing of the Guard" getting honourable mentions.

Well! I hope that this post intrigued you and made you want to read these stories. There wasn't too much summarizing, more my impressions, really, but I hope this was still interesting to read. I'll do my best to post more updates.

Another summer of a hundred books, plus some books I'm anticipating

2010-04-08T22:55:00.005-04:00

This summer I'm doing the one hundred books thing again. I think it will be fun and also give me more motivation to post here because I am incredibly lazy when I don't have some sort of deadline imposed on myself. But, yeah, since I'm graduating, I'll need some sort of project to keep me busy, especially if the internships and whatnot don't all pan out. I'll do my best!

So here's a list of series I like and which need to have sequels, along with status of said sequels.

Leviathan - Westerfeld's website puts Behemoth at October 2010.
Hunger Games - Mockingjay is slated for late August of this year, according to Amazon.
Chaos Walking - Monsters of Men in late September, going by Amazon.
Malice - Amazon lists Havoc, the sequel, as being released in October of this year.
Suzumiya Haruhi series - Suzumiya Haruhi no Kyogaku, The Surprise of Haruhi Suzumiya has finally been announced, though Haruhi knows when we'll see an English version, especially since Baka-Tsuki can't translate anymore. However, Boredom has an English release in July, again going by Amazon.
Green Rider - Fourth book manuscript finished and in editing, according to author's website.
Kiki Strike - Very little information available, but it appears that book three is at least in the works. Kirsten Miller also has a book called The Eternal Ones coming out in August that I feel compelled to check out.
Theatre Illuminata - Book two, Perchance to Dream, is coming out in May.
Stravaganza - City of Ships is listed as coming out in June.

Two Funny Literature-Related Links

2010-02-28T23:02:00.003-05:00

First of all, I bring you guys the Lyttle Lytton Contest. This contest, which focuses on writing intentionally unintentionally bad first sentences to novels, never fails to leave me in tears before I'm halfway through a page. "Jennifer stood there, quietly ovulating." That is the sort of wonderfully cringe-worthy fiction that this contest attempts to chronicle. Go over there, read and laugh at all the entries, then come back here and share your favorites in the comments, and I'll join in too.

Second, Disney is apparently releasing a new, updated Harriet the Spy movie that makes Harriet a blogger who gets in a blogging contest with a popular girl in her high school and stalks a celebrity. Yeah. I know. However, the post that alerted me to this promised that all was not lost. Even from seemingly dark news can come incredible hilarity, like this Jezebel article that playfully suggests other possible updates to children's books, such as "From The Mixed-Up Tweets Of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" and "Little Blog on the Prairie." Both the Jezebel article and the Fandom Lounge post have plenty of comments with further title suggestions. Can you guys come up with any more? My ideas: "The Monster at the End of This Youtube Video" and "Where the /b/tards Are." XP

Shiver

2010-02-26T12:53:00.002-05:00

Five Reasons You Should Read Shiver By Maggie Stiefvater

1. Creativity - The concept of werewolves isn't an original one, but Stiefvater's treatment of the condition is. These werewolves transform when the temperature drops too low, not during a full moon (though that bit of werewolf lore is addressed). Also, the ending is creatively done, foreshadowed during the book, and executed in a gripping fashion.

2. Humor - The characters in Shiver seemed fun and real, and a big part of this was that Sam and Grace both had senses of humor. Amazing how that goes a long way towards making characters more likable and the story in general seem more inviting and realistic. Three words: washer and dryer. All I'm gonna say.

3. Prose - Stiefvater has talent. The prose is Shiver was straightforward when it needed to be and poetic when that served the mood. And, by gum, the mere fact that Sam could think in song lyrics at times and not annoy the everlovin' crap out of me? That's an achievement all on its own.

4. Characters - I liked both Sam and Grace, and I cared about their romance and problems. Grace is a normal girl, and compared to some paranormal romance protagonists (Bella Swan, I am looking at you), she remains sensible when dealing with her boyfriend. Sam, whom I initially thought I'd dislike because he seemed like he would be a tragic, emo, misunderstood soul, turned out to be a well-rounded, fairly cheerful (as much so as a werewolf guy in his situation would reasonably be), and reasonably clear-headed individual.

5. Plot - Perhaps I should say "plots," as there is plenty going on in this book. Besides just the Sam and Grace romance, there's the mysterious death of Jack Culpeper, and Grace's relationships with her parents and Olivia and Rachel. These different plot threads are juggled skillfully, and they all pull together in the end to satisfying conclusions.

To sum it up, this is an overall great book. It takes a normal romance story, raises the stakes, adds excitement and supernatural elements, and wraps it up in a beautifully written package.

Also, right before posting this, I realized I needed to check the spelling of the author's last name, so I got up, walked over to my bookshelf, and looked. Walking back to my computer, I realized I could have just googled it. I'm... really not sure how to feel about this.

Incarceron

2010-02-12T17:59:00.002-05:00

So Incarceron seems to be following the trend of dark sci-fi/fantasy in sorta post-apocalyptic settings that I've been seeing a lot of in the books I read lately. This book reminds me particularly of The Maze Runner (which, um, I forgot to review when I read it a couple weeks back, oops), but also of stuff like The Hunger Games, the Chaos Walking books, and sort of like Leviathan, too (another book that missed a review). So, yeah, there's a talking point. Have any of you guys out there noticed this YA fiction trend, or is it all in my head?

But anyway, let's talk about Incarceron on its own merits. So I started reading the book at about four o'clock in the afternoon the day I got it, and I finished it at 10:30. Six and a half hours, during which I also attended class for an hour and forty-five minutes, got dinner, took an online test, and played Civilization II. So, uh, yeah, I freaking blazed through this book, all things considered. Shades of The Knife of Never Letting Go. So, yeah, this was a pretty gripping read (unlike the books in the previous review).

Basically, Incarceron is a prison. One that sounds like some sort of Transformer or other type of giant robot, but anyway. It's this mega prison that was designed as sort of a grand experiment in prisoner reform. However, if things had really worked out like that, we wouldn't have a story. Instead, we meet Finn, a young man who's a member of a gang inside Incarceron. He and his band are just one of the many groups who struggle to survive inside the intelligent, malevolent prison. Then one day he finds a key, a link to the outside world. Enter Claudia, daughter of no less important a person than the very Warden of Incarceron. (Heh, the name still amuses me. "Incarceron destroy puny humans!") Claudia, once she's clued into the fact that Incarceron isn't the paradise it's supposed to be, is totally cool with helping Finn and his friends escape. However, she's not a total altruist. She's got problems of her own in the outside world, and she thinks Finn is the key to solving them.

So first of all, the characters. I like Finn. He's a pretty decent guy, for all that he's spent his life in a giant freaking prison. Compared to his companions, he's not at all a ruthless thug. Good, solid hero character with a nice bit of mystery in his past. (Isn't that always the case?) As for Claudia, what I liked about her character is that she's somewhat selfishly motivated. She doesn't want to help the prisoners just because she's a good person (and she is, we do see that), but she's got her own reasons for wanting Finn to be freed. And it makes sense, given her upbringing. Her father raised her to be the perfect queen and to have a chance in the court lifestyle. But, yeah, I just liked that because I have a fondness for characters with human weaknesses (see also Galinda in Wicked the musical). But anyway, besides the main characters, the supporting cast is also well drawn. Kiero is pretty complex in his own right, leaving you perpetually unsure of his true loyalty, and the Warden is similarly inscrutable. Well, next there's the setting, and I have to admit, the first chapter from Claudia's viewpoint threw me 'cause I didn't know why we were suddenly back in Regency times (or whichever period the Era is actually mimicking). But it the important thing is that this works. Incarceron is freaky and nightmarish, but you get, like, a Stepford Suburbia feel from the outside world that's just as bad. The worlds play off and reveal things about each other that just intensifies the mystery and subtle horror. And as for the plot, well, it's good. Good foreshadowing for the most part, unfolds at a nice clip for all the revelations, high stakes for the conflict, and, strewth, does it ever leave off at a cliffhanger point.

Well, I wanted to say more about this book at some point, but this review has been languishing on my desktop for long enough, so I'll just post it. Currently rereading the Chronicles of Prydain and Airman, so there won't be reviews for those.

The Fionavar Tapestry

2010-02-08T17:05:00.004-05:00

So Guy Gavriel Kay is supposed to be this amazing fantasy author. Perhaps he is. But what matters to me is whether an author can captivate my imagination, and he could not. Others may enjoy his books, and, like with the ASoIaF guy, I can acknowledge that this guy can write well, but it just doesn't work for me. Anyway, enough with the apologizing, here's what I thought. So I read all of The Summer Tree and most of The Wandering Fire. I got so far because at parts Kay really did succeed in making me interested and care about the fate of these characters and this land. Although I have to wonder, if Fionavar is the first of all the worlds, why's it stuck in the middle ages when Earth is all whoosh jet planes? But I digress. Anyway, you've got these five university students from Toronto who are whisked away to a magical world on a suspiciously frivolous cause, just to be special guests at a festival. But of course they all have magical destinies, because no one in a fantasy novel ever doesn't have one of those. Hm, this reminds me of why I read so little high fantasy. Anyway, the five characters are Dave, Jen, Kevin, Kim, and Paul, and I only gave a crap about two of them for more than a couple pages at a time. Paul's a whiny emo kid because his girlfriend died. And you know what? If you can't make me care about tragic sundered love, you're doing it wrong. Kevin's a two-dimensional horndog who only cares about doing the ladies. Jen... I didn't really have a problem with her, but she didn't get, like, any fleshing out before she disappeared from the main plot for a while. I liked Kim well enough. She seemed to deal with her Destiny without totally going all mystical. And when Dave finally showed up, I really enjoyed the portion of the book with him and the Dalrei. That was fun. I dunno, there were snatches of the book where the characters seemed realistic and like interesting people, but too often the narrative was third person omniscient, not in anybody's head. And furthermore, the viewpoints jumped around so much, and more often than not the characters would have revelations about their Destinies, and though the reader was watching the character, the reader would not be clued into what any of this was about. And look, all of them are special? All of them have magical destinies? It's like a forum roleplay, where players keep trying to one-up each other in terms of power levels and specialness. "My character has a magic sword!" "My character can turn into a dragon!" "My character is the reincarnation of a dead hero!" "My character can completely manipulate the time flow and is immortal and can nullify any bad magic!" I mean, seriously.

Well, this was a vitriolic little review. Bad weekend. Got my wisdom teeth taken out and then couldn't even recover peacefully 'cause of the ruddy blizzard knocking our power out for a little under two full days. So I'm not in the mindset to be charitable to this series. The Fionavar Tapestry isn't bad, but it's certainly something that you need to have the right taste for.

With luck I'll finish some of the half-written reviews I have on my computer and post them soon.

Eyes Like Stars

2010-01-27T22:15:00.000-05:00

Eyes Like Stars - Lisa Mantchev

So I read this the other day and was pleased with the funny, engaging story. So we've got Beatrice Shakespeare Smith, called Bertie, a seventeen year old girl who lives in the Theatre Illuminata, right? Yeah, in this theatre, the characters from the play are alive, able to hang out and interact with Bertie, and her best friends include four mischievous fairies and Nate, a pirate character. It's a pretty fun life, but Bertie is always getting into trouble because of her antics. Then one day it's the last straw, and the Theater Manager says that she'll have to leave unless she can find a way to make herself invaluable to the theatre. Bertie manages to figure out a plan, but the hard part comes in the execution, and that doesn't even take into account the sabotage and secrets that she comes up against.

So, yeah, it's a book about the theatre. So y'all know I like it, 'cause I totally dig the theatre. Plenty of references to theatre (and I swear I saw a reference to getting eaten by a grue, what) which made for some very nice moments of recognition when I picked them up. That's always fun. And the inclusion of familiar Shakespearean characters and seeing the interpretations of them gave another dimension to the book. Hm, well, we never actually leave the theatre in this story, and the Theatre Illuminata is such a magical place, I could never place the time period, which I thought was great because it just added to the magic and mystery of the story. And I quite liked Bertie herself. She's a familiar character type, the spunky girl who causes chaos but who has a good heart. She's smart, offbeat, somewhat girly instead of overwhelmingly tomboyish, and very creative. So when she decides on her plan on how to remain at the theatre, we buy that she's able to pull it off. Also nice is that her actions do have consequences, and even though things are mostly okay at the end, there's still a big burden of guilt regarding her one slip-up that she'll need to fix in the next book. Oh, and I do like that the story was mostly self-contained even while setting up for a sequel. I don't like reading one story stretched over multiple books. Give me story arcs that are as self-contained as possible but which contribute to a larger whole.

Anyway, Eyes Like Stars was a very enjoyable read. It's fairly substantial, but if you're like me, you'll blaze through it because it keeps your interest the whole way through.

Oh, and since I forgot to mention this in the last post, thanks to everyone who commented on the discussion post from earlier in the month. We came up with some great thoughts. ^_^

Avalanche

2010-01-27T16:14:00.000-05:00

Avalanche by Arthur Roth is a book I remember reading in grade school. I recently found it again after a post on the LiveJournal community whatwasthatbook. Very useful comm, that one. I had good memories of the book, so I requested it from the library to read again.

So anyway, in Avalanche, fourteen year old Chris Palmer is trapped in an avalanche. What it says on the tin, basically. And what follows is a narrative that tracks Chris's time trapped beneath the snow as he tries to stay alive long enough to be rescued. There's not a lot of action, but the book is full of surprisingly interesting introspection and character development. In his mind, through memories and dreams, Chris untangles the troubled relationships he has with his mother, father, and his brother Terry. Chris, with a weak heart and scarlet fever as a child, has never felt good enough when compared to his athlete brother, and he feels that his father resents him for not being like Terry. In between flashbacks to the past, we see Chris struggle to deal with hunger, cold, and fear as the days go by.

One thing I liked about this book was that, despite it being for a younger age group, it didn't gloss over any of the darker aspects of the story. You get every carefully considered detail of what Chris does as he works to survive in the snow, and Chris even entertains the thought of taking his own life when he gets too overwhelmed. I mean, that's not something you usually see in a book that middle school kids might read. But, yeah, I liked this book. A clean, simple style, plenty going on, and Chris is a well-rounded character, with flaws and talents both, realistic, basically. Well, this is a short book, but it's very engaging and a quick read.

Whose story?

2010-01-15T23:15:00.003-05:00

A short note before getting to the meat of this post. As you can see, updates have been scarce as of late. I've been reading, to be sure, but I simply had no motivation to post reviews. I'm going to try some different things, more musings on fiction and more casual reviews where I'll mainly just discuss the book instead of keeping to a format. So, to start that off, let's talk about characters.

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In Directing I a couple years back, my director told our class something important about play analysis that has stuck with me ever since: when you're going to be directing a show, you need to decide which character the show belongs to. That means you have to decide who has the journey of character development that you want to follow. Even in an ensemble piece, my director stressed, you need to decide whose play it really is. Now, this advice has been stuck in my mind ever since, as I've always wondered if it applied to novels as it did to plays. It gives me an interesting perspective from which to analyse stories. Whose story, I ask myself, is this?

Sometimes it's obvious who the main character is. In A Doll's House, Ibsen's tense drama that gave rise to naturalism in drama, you would have to be very creative in order to justify the play being anyone else's besides Nora's. This play is all about Nora's inner struggle. Similarly, plenty of books have obvious main characters. Who is The Goose Girl about but Anidori? Her journey from a weak-willed girl to a strong-minded woman with the courage to take her destiny in her own hands in the whole point of the novel. No one else gets nearly as much focus as Ani does.

However, there are cases where it's trickier to decide whose story is the most important one. Taking another stage example, look at Wicked. Knee-jerk reaction is to characterize this as Elphaba's play; after all, she's the Wicked Witch of the West, the one who is "wicked". But some, myself included, might argue that Galinda has at least as big a journey of character development, possibly even a bigger one than Elphie. After all, we see Galinda go from a mean-spirited rich girl to a well-meaning ditz in just the first act, and from then she has to make choices about her future and her friendship with Elphaba. There's a real human struggle in her path, choosing between what's right and what's easy, and she doesn't always make the right choice either. In my book, that's certainly fuel for the possibility of making Wicked Galinda's show. And what about in books? Well, let's take another of my favorite series and look at The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Haruhi's the title character, Kyon's the narrator. Again, Kyon seems the obvious choice since we're inside his head, but it's Haruhi's development as a character that we're following, watching as she goes from a frankly terrifying amoral hellion into a determined but good-hearted girl who's always looking for more fun and adventure. She learns the value of her friendships with the members of the SOS Brigade and calms down and learns to enjoy life instead of moping about how it's not exciting enough. So again, whose story is this?

However, what about books like The Ask and the Answer? Two points of view in that one. Sure, Todd was the sole POV character in The Knife of Never Letting Go, but it made complete sense for there to be only one viewpoint in that book. At first we're not supposed to know that there's even a girl in the picture, and then we're following Todd's complete confusion as he tries to figure out this person with no Noise and who doesn't even seem to be able to sleep. Viola would lose a lot of her mystery if we were in her head, and consequently the reader wouldn't be able to identify with Todd quite as well. A large, large part of the novel's success as a moving story rides on seeing the relationship between Todd and Viola develop as Todd comes to understand her better. But then we come to The Ask and the Answer, where both characters get viewpoints. So is it still just Todd's story? Seems to shortchange Viola quite a bit that way, since we suddenly understand her so much better than we did in the first book just by being inside her head.

So, is this problem of whose story negated in novels by the author's ability to utilize multiple viewpoints? I actually don't have an answer. Can you say that just because each character gets a viewpoint section that one's not more important than the other? Especially with books series that have tons of viewpoints, like Green Rider or A Song of Ice and Fire, it becomes harder to weigh the characters equally. So is it a necessity that even in novels there can only be one truly main character in a work? I'm not at all sure, but I'm certainly going to continue to keep this in mind when writing my own stories and when reading the works of others. If nothing else, it continues to provide me with an excellent perspective from which to analyze media.

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Well, I'm interested in people's thoughts on this issue, so if you have anything to say, please leave a comment! I'd like to know if other people have ever thought like this as well, or if this has given you a new way to look at stories. Also, expect either a book ramble or another discussion post within the next few days. I have an idea for a top ten female protagonists post that I've been working on for a while. Still need a few more girls for my list, though.

Forest Born

2009-11-23T12:23:00.003-05:00

Title: Forest Born
Author: Shannon Hale

What it's about: In this fourth book of Bayern, we meet Rinna, the little sister of Razo. Rin's a good girl, always helping and never causing trouble, but deep inside herself, she feels that there's something wrong. When Razo comes back to the family's home in the forest, Rin decides to go with him when he returns to the capital. There she meets Isi and Enna. But before Rin can become too used to her new life, trouble strikes, and it's up to Rin and the other girls to preserve the peace.

What I thought: Some of Shannon Hale's other books that I read have taken a while to really get going. The Goose Girl, for instance, is very slow-paced at the beginning (though it's a wonderful story, don't get me wrong). But with Forest Born, everything moved quickly. I got through the nearly four hundred pages in a day, and this with having plenty of other things I needed to do, too. But the fast pace doesn't mean that there was no substance. I actually wouldn't be surprised if this became my favorite Bayern book after a couple more readings. You know, one thing that always interests me in a book is seeing a group of characters I've grown fond of from an outsider's point of view. Allow me to use an example. In Cinda Chima's The Warrior Heir, we meet Jack Swift, become familiar with his family, friends, struggles, etc. Jack's our buddy by the end. Then, in The Warrior Heir, we've suddenly got a new main protagonist character who's introduced to Jack's group, and so that's a whole different point of view of these characters, seen by a new person. Seph definitely sees things differently than a reader who's familiar with Jack's story would, and it makes you think, you know? And same with Rin in Forest Born, really. She sort of knows Enna, has met Dasha a few times, but has never known Isi. So we see Isi from a neutral point of view and are better able to see how her character has developed because Rin's narration tells us things that are unclouded by knowledge of previous events. Okay, so. That's pretty cool. Best part of the book, though? When they get to Castle Daire and actually meet the antagonist. Strewth, what an occurrence. I totally wasn't expecting it, and so it was really such a dramatic punch. And learning about Rin's true gifts and how they worked, that was really cool, too. Rin was realistic and likable overall, really. She had her faults and inner struggle, but those were actually pretty realistic ones for a teenage girl, and especially one growing up with the gifts that Rin had. And I gotta say, I just liked overall seeing the dynamic of friendship between the four girls. Isi and Enna are total besties, and Enna and Dasha's teasing was always amusing. Seeing a vulnerable side to Enna was interesting, too, as she's really a very strong character most of the time, and so her showing weakness is rare. This book definitely had its dark moments, too, which is something I like about these books, how Ms. Hale is not afraid to have things of consequence happen. But anyway, this was a great story, and it makes me want to reread the other Bayern books. Ah well, maybe over Christmas break!

Overall: A wonderful entry into the series.

The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi

2009-11-21T14:58:00.002-05:00

Title: The Sigh of Suzumiya Haruhi
Author: Nagaru Tanigawa

What it's about: Haruhi Suzumiya's club the SOS Brigade has been in existence for around six months now, and the school's cultural festival is coming up. Haruhi decides that she wants the Brigade to do something exciting for the festival and comes up with the idea of creating a movie. Haruhi is, of course, the director, and she plunges into the task with the same reckless enthusiasm that powers all of her endeavors, leaving Kyon and the other three Brigade members no choice but to follow along helplessly in her wake. However, as Haruhi and the Brigade film the movie, Haruhi's vision for the film starts to get confused with the real world, and supernatural phenomena start creeping up everywhere. Kyon and the others have to figure out what to do before reality is permanently altered!

What I thought: And to think that I used to rank this book as one of my least favorite in the series. Well, I think that seeing the anime adaptation of Sighs when it aired this summer helped my perception of it. Great adaptation. But the book is great too. We get to hear a little more about the various theories about the nature of Haruhi and her powers, for one thing, and there's some nice foreshadowing for book four, The Vanishment of Haruhi Suzumiya. Kyon's references come across clearly and are very amusing, and you gotta love Haruhi's baseless rhetoric. All in all, this is an amusing story that continues to develop the world of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Overall: Great story, great translation.

Two Pieces of Business

2009-11-15T15:05:00.003-05:00

First of all, as you can see, there's been a name change. I've been debating this for a while, and I've decided to take the plunge. I figure it'll be easier to promote this blog with a more normal name. Of course, what can I promote if there's no content? That brings us to the second part of this entry.

Just for you lovely people, I created a Twitter account. You can see it linked on the sidebar, and you can check that for book-related tweets about whatever I'm reading. Doesn't quite make up for full reviews, but at least if you're looking for new books, you can check what I'm currently reading and get ideas.

Expect updates to get a bit more frequent once winter break rolls around. I'm drowning in school work at the moment. I also have a project planned for break, or for some time soon, at any rate, which should lead to a ton of book reviews. Well, until next time, folks! And with luck, "next time" will be an actual review. Bye!

Catching Fire

2009-10-29T02:39:00.001-04:00

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins

What it's about: This sequel to The Hunger Games starts off not too long after the first book ended. We're thrown right into the tense atmosphere in District 12 following Katniss' and Peeta's win. Katniss has quickly learned that her defiance of the Capitol has caused trouble, and if she doesn't watch her step, she could lose everything she holds dear.

What I thought: Definitely a good book. I personally prefer The Hunger Games out of the two, but that's not to say that Catching Fire is in any way a bad book. It's got a good amount of drama and action, with more worldbuilding and plenty of character development and introspection on Katniss' part. The final third of the book was totally unexpected and was just what the book needed, and the conclusion left me eager for the final volume to see how things would wrap up.

Overall: If you liked The Hunger Games, you'll definitely want to check out this great sequel.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

2009-10-28T21:22:00.002-04:00

Title: The Knife of Never Letting Go
Author: Patrick Ness

What it's about: On a far-off planet, there is a village of only men and one boy. Todd Hewitt is that one boy. He's never known anything but his life in Prentisstown, where men can hear each other's thoughts through a phenomenon known as Noise. Then one day Todd finds a place where there is a strange silence, an absence of Noise like he's never encountered. He goes to investigate and ends up being dragged into a world of secrets larger than he ever dreamed possible.

Minor spoilers ahead. tl;dr version: This book is awesome buy it now.

What I thought: My gosh, this book... It took me about three chapters to get into this. At first I was a bit skeptical, but over the course of the day as I read it, I became more and more engrossed, to the point where I just spent three hours late into the night reading until the gut-wrenching conclusion. Okay, so, first thing. Noise. What a concept. It's a strange but interesting one with many possible ramifications, and to my mind Ness does a satisfactory job of covering all the bases that this opens up. It certainly makes for a very interesting dynamic between Todd and Viola, and as that dynamic is one of the most important things in this book, that's a good thing. Todd's a well-drawn character. He's far from perfect, but what we get from his narration is that he's a guy with good intentions, struggling like you or I would to deal with these strange circumstances into which we've been thrown. Viola is certainly an interesting character, too, and she seems especially enigmatic because of the combination of her initial silence, the fact that she doesn't have Noise, and because she's a girl and Todd isn't good with girls, at first, anyway. Anyway, you know, this is a pretty grim story. Y'all know me, I like my light and happy tales, but I loved this book, mainly because its characters don't give up. Despite all the odds facing them down, they try their best. But, like, Todd isn't a Determinator or one of those stupid shounen heroes who believes in the you who believes in you; this is just a guy knowing that some things are hopeless but you have to try anyway, and who knows, maybe you'll just make it. And the friendship, the bond between Todd and Viola is just heartwarming. So despite the grim and even horrific things in the story, you're compelled to read onwards because of these characters. Anyway, the writing style itself is good too. Ness really gives Todd an unmistakable voice, and the prose is of good quality. So, yeah, amazing book, and I'll probably gush about its sequel next.

Overall: Stop reading this, go to Amazon, and order this book. Now. Do it. Do it. Do it. This and The Ask and the Answer are probably my two favorite books I've read all year. This includes stuff like The Hunger Games. The Chaos Walking books are just that good.

Excuses, excuses...

2009-10-19T14:28:00.004-04:00

Just a quick update to say that, no, I have not forgotten about this blog or my sacred duty to review every book I ever read ever. It's just that, argh, real life. However. I will review The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer, so help me, because those books are amazing and gripping and wonderful and why isn't the final book out yet? Also! Only two more people ahead of me for a copy of Catching Fire at the library! I will definitely review that too! However, updates will stay slow for the rest of the semester because 1) NaNoWriMo, 2) twenty-one credits, and 3) independent study game design project. Nyoro~n. But please stay tuned! And you can bet that I'll be reading up a storm during the second half of December. Well, bye, folks!

The Courageous Princess

2009-09-23T23:07:00.002-04:00

Title: The Courageous Princess
Author: Rod Espinosa

What it's about: Princess Mabelrose lives in the tiny kingdom of New Tinsley. Her life is a happy one, with loving parents and freedom to grow and play. Then one day she's kidnapped by an evil, powerful dragon who intends to keep her prisoner. Not one to put up with this sort of treatment, Mabelrose steals some things from the dragon's hoard and escapes, meeting new friends and allies in her quest to get back home.

What I thought: So, yeah, this is a graphic novel, and it has a simple charming style. It's not really in manga style, nor is it like American comic books. It reminds me most of Rapunzel's Revenge, actually, a graphic novel written by Shannon Hale that I reviewed a couple months ago. Anyway, the story starts out simple enough, with the (by now) cliche of a spunky princess who rescues herself, but Mabelrose becomes pretty well-developed as a character. I liked her because she had a good mix of strengths and weaknesses. She wasn't perfect, but she also didn't success just because of a deus ex machina. Basically, this is a pretty well constructed fantasy story, and I only wish that the library or Amazon had the next two volumes for sale.

Overall: A fun adventure in graphic novel format.

What Dreams May Come

2009-09-23T19:23:00.002-04:00

Title: What Dreams May Come
Author: Richard Matheson

What it's about: Main character Chris dies, but the story just begins. Even though he discovers there's an afterlife, he can't let go of thoughts about his wife Ann. Then something happens that puts Chris' eventual reunion with Ann in jeopardy, and he must hope that the love the two of them share is strong enough to win the day.

What I thought: What I liked best was the descriptions of the afterlife. Very detailed, made me wish more of the story focused on explaining this place. The relationship between Chris and Ann was very well developed, too, and while there was a lot diabetes-inducing stuff, it was balanced out with character flaws for them both. You know what didn't really work for me? The actual plot itself. That is, when Chris had to go save Ann, that whole bit was interesting too, but it just felt like it hadn't been a big enough conflict to really justify the story, and the ending seemed like a letdown. You know, these complaints actually mirror the ones I had for Bid Time Return. I guess that's just Matheson for you. But overall this was pretty good.

Overall: If you like unconventional love stories, this is worth checking out.

The Third Policeman

2009-09-23T18:21:00.001-04:00

Title: The Third Policeman
Author: Flann O'Brien

What it's about: An unnamed narrator goes on a search for a black box that belonged to the man he murdered. He's joined by his soul named Joe, and his search takes him to a two-dimensional police station that's staffed by three policemen with interesting foibles. Our friend learns a lot about bicycles, atomic theory, and the nature of the universe.

What I thought: You wanna know just how far out this book is? I got high from reading it. Okay, well, seriously, this book is a trip and a half. It's very readable in that the language is simple and unpretentious. The main thing that gave me trouble was just wrapping my mind around the sheer weirdness of O'Brien's imaginings. However, they're very creative things that he comes up with, connecting bicycles with atomic theory, the idea of a two-dimensional police house, that whole underground place. I mean, what is this I don't even. The digressions about de Selby are very amusing, too. But, jeez, holy extended footnotes, Batman!

Overall: Very weird, and not the easiest thing to read. However, this is entertaining and worthwhile overall.

The Angel's Game

2009-09-09T21:48:00.003-04:00

Title: The Angel's Game
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

What it's about: Aspiring novelist David Martín is approached by a mysterious figure who offers him an enormous sum of money to write a book. David, who is hungry to prove himself, takes the offer and begins work. However, he soon discovers that the figure who offered him the job is more than he seems and that he may only be a small piece in a larger mystery that weaves itself through Barcelona and even the very house he, David, now lives in.

What I thought: A discussion of The Angel's Game cannot take place without mentioning its predecessor, The Shadow of the Wind. First off, I'm gonna say that I prefer The Shadow of the Wind over this book. That is not to say that The Angel's Game is not an excellent book, however. The same macabre sense of mystery and nostalgia pervades The Angel's Game and pulls you into its world. My main complaint was that... Well, while at times in The Shadow of the Wind it seemed that Zafon was almost beating you over the head with exposition of past events, this time around it seems that things are left a little too mysterious to fully make all the connections during the first read-through. The events near the end and until the epilogue move at a frenzied pace, and you more feel the events than totally process them. And it's a fun ride, but it feels a bit lacking. The whole Faustian feel of things was a good theme, but it didn't feel played out well enough. I was expecting something like The Shadow of the Wind, with history repeating itself, and I did get that from this book too, but, well, while I'm not saying that the parallels should be exceedingly obvious (while it worked for Shadow, it's not for every book) and while the last scene in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books definitely worked, but... I guess it ties back into the lack of explanation I was mentioning before. Maybe someone out there in readerland feels differently about this. Please do say so if you disagree with my assessment. I will say that I very much liked the character of Isabella and her interaction with David. She reminded me of Fermin, although the two are quite different. Fermin's older, while Isabella's a young thing; Fermin's worldly and dapper, while Isabella is somewhat naive and temperamental. But there's that role of confidant that both take up, with wisdom and assistance for the main character. Also, I will mention that I liked the connections between The Angel's Game and Shadow. Oh, one other thing. I remember reading somewhere, maybe on Wikipedia or Amazon or some other place, that this book would explain more about the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Well, it did, but I still feel that we didn't learn enough. I suppose Zafon will write more books set in his shadowy version of Barcelona and thus satisfy the curiosity of myself and other readers.

Overall: I can't say it's as good as The Shadow of the Wind, but The Angel's Game is another excellent offering from Zafon.

Wee Free Men

2009-09-06T16:27:00.003-04:00

Title: Wee Free Men
Author: Terry Pratchett

What it's about: Tiffany Aching, with the help of the Nac Mac Feegle and her own common sense and determination, must rescue her brother from the land of the fairies and keep the fairy queen from causing havoc in the real world.

What I thought: For some reason, this book didn't draw me in as much as some of Pratchett's other books. It's a good, solid Discworld story, with plenty of clever humor and philosophical tangents that make sense in the context of the story. Tiffany's a likable protagonist with realistic foibles and flaws. I guess it just didn't click with me. Truth be told, I'm most attached to the characters of the Watch, and when it comes to Discworld witches, I wish there would be more books with Agnes Nitt. But Tiffany's a good protagonist, and I'm gonna order A Hat Full of Sky and see what she gets up to next. Maybe she'll grow on me.

Overall: A decent entry into the Discworld series. If you like the witches, check this out.

Bid Time Return

2009-09-05T22:28:00.003-04:00

Title: Bid Time Return
Author: Richard Matheson

What it's about: Dying screenwriter Richard Collier is spending the last days of his life trying to write a book. He travels without direction, letting a coin flip determine where he goes. Richard ends up in the Hotel del Coronado, a place with a long history, and there he sees the photograph that will change his life. Elise McKenna, a famous actress, performed at the Hotel del Coronado in 1896, and a photograph taken of her then remains on display. Richard sees it and falls in love with the woman. Though he knows that it's an impossible love, he immediately begins to research Elise, and soon decides that he will do anything, even circumvent time itself, to be with her. Richard's attempts at time travel eventually succeed, and he meets Elise. But can true love really win out against the relentless flow of time and history?

What I thought: The whole book has the quality of a dream. From the clipped narration style at the beginning to the luxurious descriptions of the world of 1896, there's something not quite real about the whole story. However, the dictation style of the story does give it an immediacy and passion that draw you in. This is a wonderful love story that just pulls you along, and my only complaint would be that the ending is a bit... abrupt and less dramatic than I would have liked. But it works, and the whole book works, and if you liked The Time Traveler's Wife, you'll like this one.

Overall: Lovely story.

The Dark Reflections Trilogy

2009-09-05T22:28:00.000-04:00

Titles: The Water Mirror, The Stone Light, and The Glass Word
Author: Kai Meyer

What it's about: Set in a very much alternate Earth, our story begins in Venice, where the orphan Merle and her friend Junipa are going to work as apprentices to a great magic mirror maker. The master mirror maker, Archimbaldo, is mysterious but kindly, curing Junipa's blindness by giving her mirror eyes, and his housekeeper Eft is a friend to Merle. Across the street is another craftsman and his apprentices. Despite the traditional rivalry between the apprentices of the two households, Merle is taken with Serafin, the former street thief turned delivery boy. The two quickly get entangled in the war with the Egyptian Empire, however, and are separated. However, while Merle loses Serafin, she gains a companion in the Flowing Queen, the mysterious protector of Venice, and Vermithrax the stone lion. Soon the three of them are off to Hell to solicit aid in protecting Venice from the Egyptians.

What I thought: Confusing summary, I'll bet. What I liked about this series was how serious and dark it turned out to be, and also how you could tell that the author had put a lot of effort into developing this world. On the flip side, it seemed as though there was more development done than we were shown, and I feel that the series as a whole would have been better if it had moved just a bit slower. As it was, the relationship between Merle and Serafin seemed a bit hasty, and some plot points, while making sense, seemed a little confusing because the build-up wasn't completely there. Ah, but don't think I'm condemning the series. Not for a minute! This is great fantasy. The bleak city of Venice, the mysterious, alien, powerful Egyptian Empire, the fact that Hell is a desolate, inhuman wasteland that's actually visitable by mortals, and then even the Iron Eye and the realm it is built to mimic. This is all wonderfully conceived. Merle is a great, realistic character with plenty of development and personality. She questions, she makes mistakes, she doesn't let destiny just push her along. And the series' conclusion makes sense and is well executed. I didn't like it all that much personally, but I can't say it wasn't good.

Overall: A very solid fantasy trilogy.

The Big Sleep

2009-08-24T15:56:00.003-04:00

Title: The Big Sleep
Author: Raymond Chandler

What it's about: Private investigator Philip Marlowe is on a case. He's supposed to investigate the blackmailing of the daughter of General Sternwood, an old man with two daughters. It's a simple enough matter. Tail the fellow who's doing the blackmailing and then advise the general about whether to pay up or take other action. But things get a little tricky when the suspect gets murdered and one of the Sternwood daughters shows up on the scene.

What I thought: Ah, now this is a mystery! It's everything you could want in a detective novel. There's a hard-boiled protagonist, mysterious dames, crime lords, menacing henchmen, plenty of cigarette smoking and consumption of liquor, the works. But it's not flat. Marlowe is unexpectedly deep, and honorable, too. Unlike Sam Spade, who I always though of as rather a jerk, Marlowe is philosophical and principled. He's loyal to his client, works with the law as best as he can without compromising the client, doesn't pack heat unless it's necessary, things like that. The review on the back of the book called Marlow a "slumming angel," which I find an immensely poetic and accurate description of his character. The California of The Big Sleep is depicted in shadowed words, as a fallen place. Marlowe presents a principled figure beaten down by the shady circumstances which surround him. Ah, but I digress. On the subject of the mystery itself, it's well constructed, with a convoluted plot that nonetheless works itself out in its beautifully depressing ending.

Overall: An archetypal detective novel that's a classic and a must-read.

Alchemy

2009-08-24T15:31:00.002-04:00

Title: Alchemy
Author: Margaret Mahy

What it's about: So Roland's a normal high school student. Good grades, well-liked, great girlfriend. Life's going pretty well, a nice change from his younger years when his father left his family and his mother had to struggle to raise him and his two brothers. But then Roland's teacher confronts him about some shoplifting he did. Instead of reporting Roland, however, Mr. Hudson makes a curious deal with him: befriend class outcast Jess Ferret and report to him on her. Roland agrees because it seems a lot better than harming his reputation, but Jess Ferret turns out to be more than your normal unpopular girl. There's something strange about her, and it seems to be connected to a suppressed strangeness in Roland himself.

What I thought: I read this book once quite a few years ago and remember finding it really strange and hard to read. It's actually not. This is a good piece of light fantasy. Roland's a well developed character, complex, but not in a way that a seventeen-year-old boy wouldn't be. The climactic encounter of the book is weird, but in a Diana Wynne Jones sort of way, in that while it's describing very out of the ordinary things, you're able to follow what's going on and it all makes sense and doesn't feel like the author's just pulling crap outta thin air. This book mixes the mundane and the arcane in a very enjoyable manner, basically. You get domestic scenes followed by discussion of alchemy and the powers of the world, and it works. There's some interesting insights, too, on the nature of the world and how people view it.

Overall: Definitely a unique book and worth a try for open-minded fantasy fans.

The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant

2009-07-30T17:59:00.003-04:00

Title: The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant
Author: Douglass Wallop

What it's about: Joe Boyd, a middle-aged fan of the Washington Senators baseball team, is depressed because his life has never amounted to anything much. All he has is his wife, his job as a real estate salesman, and his devotion to his baseball team - a team that's notorious for losing. One night, Joe is approached by a fellow who calls himself Applegate and who offers Joe a chance to save the Senators and help them win the pennant from the Yankees by becoming young again and playing for the team himself. Joe agrees, but with a condition. He wants an escape clause built into his contract with the devil. Only if Joe renounces the contract at a certain time will he be able to return to his old life. Joe becomes Joe Hardy, a young, talented ballplayer, and at first everything seems to be swell, but as anyone familiar with Faustian tales like this one knows, an infernal deal always has its downsides, and soon Joe has to face them.

What I thought: This here is the novel that the musical Damn Yankees is based on, and since I've been researching musicals again lately, I thought I'd give it a read. Despite being an older book, this is a solid story. Joe is an everyman sort of protagonist, the kind of normal fellow anyone can identify with, but he's not pathetic, not a Homer Simpson type. Joe's good enough at what he does, and he and his wife have a good life - things are just stuck in a rut. And you can see Joe's good qualities throughout the course of the novel, which makes him a likable fellow. Applegate is our antagonist, and he's everything a devil should be, very smooth and ruthless, with other quirks besides, like his gluttony (although I suppose that since gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, it shouldn't be so surprising). Lola was a character who seemed to have a good amount of depth and importance, but, and this could have been my fault in the reading, she didn't seem to get the development she needed. Or, well, she got what she needed, but I still thought she could have had more... Just, I thought more could have been done with her. But, you know, this is a fun book, and now I'm curious to see how the musical adaptation looks. I've got the cast recording, the libretto, and the motion picture version all on order from my library.

Overall: A light, easy read that'll keep you entertained for an hour or two.

The Year of Secret Assignments

2009-07-28T14:48:00.002-04:00

Title: The Year of Secret Assignments
Author: Jaclyn Moriarty

What it's about: Lydia, Emily, and Cassie are three best friends in high school. For an English class assignment, they're assigned pen pals at Brookfield High, a rival school. Initially the project is just a silly diversion for the girls, but as they start to connect with their pen pals, complications crop up.

What I thought: This was one of those books that I picked up with a healthy dose of skepticism. Surely, thought I, a book with a goofy-looking cover that is told in epistolary form with all sorts of cutesy fonts and a focus on the adventures of a group of teenage girls, surely this is going to be like something off of the Disney Channel, with cliched, dramatic plotlines and cardboard characterization. But no. I was oh so pleasantly surprised, right from the very first page. Lydia's quirky writing style had me hooked and interested. And as the other two girls were introduced, I couldn't help liking Emily for her innocently self-centered outlook and Cassie's flippant sarcasm. Of course, I'm doing the girls injustice with those descriptions; they're deep, well-developed character who can't be described fully in anything less than the course of, well, the novel. And that's what happens, because this book is really all about the character development of the girls and their Brookfield pen pals. I found the relationship between Emily and Charlie to be cute, and I was of course moved by the result of Cassie's correspondence. My main beef was that while the climax of the story was certainly exciting and dramatic, it seemed just a little too... pat. Rushed? Mm. It still worked and wasn't enough to make the book bad, it was just not quite as awesome as I would have thought it could be. Still, don't let that dissuade you from reading The Year of Secret Assignments.

Overall: A highly engaging piece of teen fiction.

Shadowed Summer

2009-07-23T00:12:00.001-04:00

Title: Shadowed Summer
Author: Saundra Mitchell

What it's about: So, it's summer, and fourteen year old Iris and her best friend Colette are prepared to spend it up to their usual tricks of make-believe and such. Two things promise to make that hard: Colette's budding attraction to neighbor boy Ben, and the fact that Iris is seeing the ghost of a young man who died many years ago. The ghost is Elijah, a guy whose disappearance was never solved. He's the town's big mystery. And so Iris, Colette, and Ben decide to solve it. However, there are those who don't want the mystery to be solved, and all the while Elijah's ghost is pestering Iris.

What I thought: Two things I especially liked about this book. First off, the characters acted like actual kids. Not that pseud0-mature Disney Channel behavior, but like actual kids. And second, the inclusion of some actual supernatural elements, particularly at the end, really ramped up the suspense. I also liked what the actual resolution to the mystery was. Pretty clever and tragic. The writing style was enjoyable, too. Very much got across the small town feel. Reminded me a bit of To Kill A Mockingbird. Er, you know, with the narrator who's somewhat precocious but still definitely a kid in her essence, as well as in how it depicted the slower, close-knit feel of the community.

Overall: A very solid story that's worth checking out.

Scrapped Princess

2009-07-22T01:47:00.003-04:00

Title: Scrapped Princess

What it's about: Pacifica Casull is a fifteen-year-old girl who just happens to be the Scrapped Princess, the girl whose very existence will poison the world when she hits her sixteenth birthday. Everyone, seriously, everyone is out to kill this girl, the daughter of the royal family who was supposed to be killed when she was born. Only she survived, and now her foster siblings, Shannon and Raquel, are keeping her safe. As they journey to find a safe haven, they encounter many friends and foes and even some unlikely allies. And before the journey's done, Pacifica and those close to her will learn the shocking truth about their world.

What I thought: I am posting this as a public service announcement, y'all! Scrapped Princess is an amazing anime, and even though it's not a book, if you're a fan of well done stories, you can't pass this up! This series has great music and animation, very deep themes, well-developed characters, and an exciting plot that'll move you and keep you guessing until the end. It's heavy on the character development and on illustrating bonds of family and friendship. And the main characters are all great. Pacifica is not your typical heroine, but it's impossible not to like her for her plucky attitude and slightly spoiled nature. Plus, the series has a great sense of humor. It's not a humorous series, but it understands that just because you're fighting for your own survival while the entire world desires your death, that doesn't mean that life doesn't go on in its own mundane way and that funny things don't happen. That's the beauty of this series. There are so few books, movies, anime series, or fictional series in general that hit the balance of grim, deep, seriousness and the genuine goodness and happiness of life, and Scrapped Princess is one of them. So, seriously guys, check it out. Only 24 episodes, and the plot of the series is overall so well-structured that it just flies by.

Overall: Go. Watch. Now.

Good news, everyone!

2009-07-20T01:25:00.003-04:00

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

Well, I have now ordered Sense and Sensibility from the library, so that I can become familiar with the original story before reading this new book. Check out the article; there's even a video trailer for this book. Lulz. And apparently there's going to be a film of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Do want.

And for those of you who want more book reviews, I think I'll try to review Shadowed Summer next. I read it a couple weeks back, but it was very good and deserves a review. I just can't remember if I took it back to the library or not. This is why I hate it when my room's a mess. In any case, the past couple reviews were backlog books. I've been playing video games and rereading old favorites lately, not much new stuff. One book that I do have checked out that looks interesting is The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty. If I can drag myself away from TV Tropes and other distractions, I'll probably finish that some time this week.

Shift

2009-07-19T18:04:00.003-04:00

Title: Shift
Author: Jennifer Bradbury

What it's about: Chris and his best friend Win decide to go on a bike trip across the United States in the summer after their senior year of high school. However, when the trip ends and college begins, something's wrong. Win hasn't returned home, and the FBI wants Chris to explain why.

What I thought: So I originally thought this was going to be, like, a thriller novel. Instead, it's a very deep story about friendship and growing as a person. The story is told by flashbacks of the bike trip interspersed with events from the story's present and the search for Win. What I liked the best was the realistic and complex characters, and the effective use of humor. Also, this book is just a really good example of a story about friendship, not something you see all that often. I was pulled into this book slowly at first, but by the time I hit the halfway point, there was no way I could put it down until I'd finished.

Overall: This review sadly doesn't do the book justice. I highly recommend it.

Night Watch

2009-07-19T01:00:00.004-04:00

Title: Night Watch
Author: Terry Pratchett

What it's about: In this installment of the Discworld's City Watch arc, His Grace Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of Ankh-Morpork's City Watch, is anxiously awaiting the birth of his child when he's called away to deal with a persistent serial killer. Carcer Dunn is a deadly psychopath, but Vimes and his watchmen have him cornered atop one of the buildings of Unseen University when a freak accident sends Vimes and Carcer hurtling back thirty years through time, to a period of significant importance to both him and to the city itself. Now Vimes has to pursue his man in the Ankh-Morpork of the past, as well as navigate the old Watch through a time of coming crisis. If he's lucky, he'll come through this all alive, and so will one of the old Watch's newest recruits, a young lance constable named Sam Vimes.

What I thought: While rife with Pratchett's trademark wit and black humor, this is a book that's actually very deep, serious, and full of emotion. Vimes has to relive events that shaped him into the man he is in the present, and he has to struggle with changing and doing what he can and knowing his limits. The allusions to the People's Republic of Treacle Mine Road and its fate in the framing sections taking place in the present help to up the emotional impact when we see the republic take shape and start to grow. The Ankh-Morpork of the past is a dim, gritty place that we only even saw a shadow of in Guards! Guards!; after all, by that point, at least, Vetinari was in power and making the city run more efficiently and peacefully. So this view of the city's past is interesting, as are all the cameos of characters we know from the rest of the series, like Vetinari and young Nobby. We also quickly come to care for characters who've never been seen before and will never be seen again, just because of Pratchett's dynamic writing style that quickly develops and creates empathy for even the more minor characters through small details and observations that make these characters seem like real people, not just names with quirks. A lot of people name this as Pratchett's best, and I think they may very well be on to something.

Overall: A poignant addition to the Discworld series.

Only You Can Save Mankind

2009-07-09T01:01:00.003-04:00

Title: Only You Can Save Mankind
Author: Terry Pratchett

What it's about: Johnny Maxwell is a normal English boy who enjoys playing the occasional computer game. Fighting aliens is fun - until the aliens ask to surrender. A confused Johnny agrees to accept the surrender and to help the aliens reach safety, but upholding the bargain is harder than he thought it would be when plenty of other gamers are ready to fight aliens. Johnny has to rely on old friends and new if he wants to keep the ScreeWee safe.

What I thought: Very much a good read, with a lot of themes recognizable from the Discworld books. A good helping of What Measure Is A NonHuman? and just some general philosophizing about the nature of war, reality, and decency. The usual fare, and not too heavy-handed. Quite a lot of good humor. Quick read, though. Got through it in maybe three hours of on-and-off reading.

Overall: A good, solid book from the master.

The Chronicles of Prydain

2009-07-08T03:04:00.003-04:00

Title: The Chronicles of Prydain
Author: Lloyd Alexander

What it's about: Yes, I'm cheating and putting the five book series into one entry. But anyway, it's the story of a young man named Taran who lives in a land based on Wales that's being menaced by this evil guy named Arawn. Taran gets roped up into adventures, and despite being a bit of an idiot, his resolve and good heart serve him well in befriending new companions and learning about himself and what it means to be a hero, as well as in saving Prydain. The series is made up of five books: The Book of Three, wherein we're introduced to Taran, Eilonwy, Gurgi, and Fflewddur Fflam, among others. The Black Cauldron, which is probably the most well-known of the five, since Disney made an animated feature based on it, has the companions reuniting to find and destroy the titular artifact so it can't be used to make undead soldiers. The Castle of Llyr comes next, and it deals with saving Eilonwy and also starts to emphasize the feelings between her and Taran. In Taran Wanderer, the plot a bit different, with Taran looking to learn about his heritage instead of going off to defeat some evil guy, but book five, The High King, returns to that formula for a very epic conclusion to the saga. Full of allies coming together, battles with high stakes and the first instances in the entire series of characters other than Taran having viewpoint sections, and highlighting the growth of Taran and the other characters, this book presents an exciting, satisfying conclusion to a wonderful fantasy series.

What I thought: Much better than I'd dared to hope it would be, this series charmed me from the beginning and then grew on me from there. Taran starts out as your typical impulsive idiot hero, but he's got his moments of clarity, and you can see how he makes up for his lack of common sense with plenty of heart and determination. Eilonwy is an interesting character as well, an action girl who's also a bit of... well, airhead and ditz seem a little strong, but she's definitely a chatterbox, and while most of the time she's the voice of reason for Taran, she has her moments. But that all just serves to make her more unique and likable. Gurgi and Fflewddur both took a little longer to grow on me, but both the loyal forest creature and the garrulous bard found places in my heart as the books passed. I liked how the series progressed, with the first two books establishing characters and conflicts, and then the next one developing side conflicts and showing character growth in an alternate environment. And then the fourth book was quite different from the previous three, focusing more on Taran's spiritual journey than anything else, but it still managed to be entertaining. And the final book was a perfect, gripping conclusion to this series, with plenty of excitement and emotion. I'm already looking forward to when these books aren't so fresh in my head so I can read them all again.

Overall: Wonderful classics.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

2009-07-07T01:50:00.002-04:00

Title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Author: Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

What it's about: "It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains." And with that we have the striking first line of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a unique adaptation of Jane Austen's classic work. While preserving most of the original text and the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, this version also adds in a zombie subplot. A plague has beset England, causing zombies to walk the earth, and the five Bennet sisters are trained warriors who keep their part of the countryside safe. Elizabeth must deal with the conflicts of her proud warrior's nature with the desires of her heart.

What I thought: While I had feared this book would be gimmicky, it actually stands up pretty well. It helped that I was familiar with Pride and Prejudice, I think. The zombie scenes are pretty well integrated into the flow of the story, and there's a lot of new background given to various characters. For instance, it's established that Elizabeth and her sisters trained in the deadly arts under a Shaolin master in China. Elizabeth also has more of a violent streak than in the original story. The language is always kept close to Austen's original style. And the drawings in this edition are pretty much the cherry on top.

Overall: If you like Pride and Prejudice and silly zombie stuff, this will be heaven.

Stravaganza: City of Masks

2009-06-01T01:38:00.002-04:00

Title: Stravaganza: City of Mask
Author: Mary Hoffman

What it's about: Lucien, a boy sick with cancer, finds that he can "stravagate", or travel to another world, when he falls asleep holding a special notebook his father bought for him. Lucien's travels take him to Bellezza, an alternate version of the city of Venice during the 16th century. In Bellezza, Lucien finds himself completely well, learns more about stravagation, and has adventures with Arianna, a girl from a nearby island. He also becomes entangled in the city's politics and finds that danger comes hand in hand with excitement in this new world.

What I thought: So I tried reading this book several years ago, but it didn't hook me. Now, maybe because of the time I spent in Italy, I find it much more engaging. Actually, I'm surprised it didn't hook me the last time I read it, because this is pretty much just the sort of story I'm always looking for. Interesting, realistic characters have adventures in a glamorous other world of magic and intrigue. What's not to like? And the book is quite detailed. You can tell that Hoffman put a lot of work into creating Bellezza and stravagation. Well, there's plenty of twists and turns and excitement, and it's all well plotted out. Some stuff I could predict, but other bits I could not, which all balances out well. Reminds me that I'd been contemplating writing a little essay on my thoughts on foreshadowing. But anyway. Great book.

Overall: Captivating tale of adventure and intrigue.

The Dragonfly Pool

2009-06-01T01:31:00.002-04:00

Title: The Dragonfly Pool
Author: Eva Ibbotson

What it's about: Just prior to World War II, Tally Hamilton is sent away from her home in London to attend a boarding school. However, Delderton is unlike any other school. The students are quirky, the classes don't cover traditional sources of study, and the teachers are as odd and talented as they are caring. Despite her initial misgivings, Tally soon fits in at Delderton, and she even convinces the school to form a folk-dancing team in order to travel to a cultural festival in the small nation of Bergania. There she meets Karil, the crown prince. But even as Tally and Karil become friends, the threat of the Nazis casts a shadow over the lives of everyone.

What I thought: This is like The Star of Kazan, only even better. There's the same charming prose, with loving descriptions of the natural world. Actually, the beginning of the book, with its setup of Tally's life in London had be fearing this book would simply retread the path of The Star of Kazan. However, I was happily wrong. The action is concentrated on Tally and her friends at Delderton, and I am happy to say that the supporting cast is well drawn, with likable, memorable characters. There's also plenty of excitement and action, with higher stakes than in the other book. I also thought that the friendships between the characters were well-done, with plenty of depth. And I quite liked Tally. You know how when there's a character who's just generally nice, caring, optimistic, etc., there's the potential for her to be an annoying Mary Sue type? I had this worry for Tally, but Ibbotson is so good that the reader is charmed along with the other characters.

Overall: A wonderful piece of historical fiction. Charming and heartwarming.

Nation

2009-05-28T00:17:00.003-04:00

Title: Nation
Author: Terry Pratchett

What it's about: A giant wave in the south Pacific devastates the island home of Mau and wrecks the ship Daphne's traveling on. The two young people have to survive and make sense of the tragedy, while coping with the arrival of more and more refugees and rebuilding the Nation.

What I thought: The above summary is a rather simple one, but as anyone familiar with Terry Pratchett's books knows, he can make the simplest of premises into a complex, funny, and touching tale. He's done it time and again in the Discworld and now he takes his magic a little closer to home, writing about the culture clash of the island nation with European culture. As always, he makes accurate philosophical observations that make you think without seeming preachy. The book has a touch of magic and mystery to it, and there's plenty of good suspenseful moments. Really, Nation is just another excellent example of the genius of Terry Pratchett.

Overall: Discworld fan or not, this is definitely a book worth picking up.

Hurray for books!

2009-05-26T20:22:00.002-04:00

So I'm done with my anime kick and back to reading. However, what I've been reading were previously reviewed Discworld books: Feet of Clay, Going Postal, and Making Money. I went to the library this evening, though, and picked out a couple of books, at least three of which I'm sure I haven't reviewed yet. (I don't remember about Conrad's Fate.) I also spotted an article in my local newspaper about zombies in teen lit, and I just ordered the three zombie books it reviewed. Also on order from the library still is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and I'm now hold 17 out of I don't even know. So, keep an eye out for reviews of Stravaganza: City of Masks, The Dragonfly Pool, and Nation, and even more to come after those!

Julia Child

2009-05-20T13:48:00.004-04:00

Title: Julia Child
Author: Laura Shapiro

What it's about: This is a biography of Julia Child, the French Chef. It details her development into a woman who loved food and cooking, hitting both her good and bad points. Even if you're not a big fan of cooking, Julia Child had a very interesting life that's worth reading about.

What I thought: This book does well in part because the author uses a lot of Julia's quotes from primary sources like her letters. These quotes really help the reader get a feel for Julia's personality and what made her so beloved. The book is fairly short and an easy read, but it has plenty of depth in it. There are many loving descriptions of both Julia and food, and the fondness for the subjects is what makes this such an enjoyable book.

Overall: Entertaining non-fiction.

Explanation for lack of updates

2009-05-15T23:43:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the lack of posting, folks. It's a combination of me rereading old books that I've already reviewed (including Starclimber and High King's Tomb) and, this is the bigger reason, I've been watching so much anime you wouldn't believe. Since school let out I've watched Toradora!, all three seasons of Zero no Tsukaima, and I'm on the second season of Shakugan no Shana. Why, yes, I'm on a tsundere kick. Heh. Perhaps I'll post reviews for those series here. Sure, it's a book blog, but anime can tell stories, too. I gotta say, Toradora! had some pretty good storytelling in it, at any rate. Well, nope, this ain't dead. When I read some new stuff, I'll post about it. I don't know how much longer I can go without books, anyway.

The Zombie Survival Guide

2009-05-04T23:40:00.002-04:00

Title: The Zombie Survival Guide
Author: Max Brooks

What it's about: In these troublesome days of swine flu and a Democrat in the White House, it is easy to overlook the very real threat posed by the undead. But despite how we think a zombie uprising could never happen, Max Brooks' chilling book proves just how wrong we are - deadly wrong, that is. Drawing on historical evidence of zombie uprisings, Brooks dictates the best survival strategies for coping with these inhuman abominations. He tells about the best strategies for surviving a siege, for escaping, and for taking matters into your own hands and hunting down the menaces yourself. Everything from zombie physiology to the best weapons to how to recognize the early warning signs of a zombie infestation is covered in this comprehensive tome. Don't be caught unawares! Order your copy today and you just might survive.

What I thought: Even though this book is fiction (at least, I hope) it makes the idea of a zombie apocalypse seem chillingly real. Brooks narrates everything in a serious tone - there's nothing tongue-in-cheek here. This book is very detailed, truly covering everything that needs to be said about surviving a zombie uprising. It's entertaining because a lot of thought went into this book, and it will provoke you to thought in turn. I know it had me analyzing the campus, trying to figure out which buildings would be most secure if zombies started attacking. Heh.

Overall: A fascinating book that'll provide both chills and food for thought.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

2009-05-03T14:06:00.002-04:00

Title: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Author: Nagaru Tanigawa

What it's about: Average high school first-year Kyon is jolted from his average life when he becomes involved with the escapades of Haruhi Suzumiya, an eccentric girl who has no interest in the ordinary. Yearning for excitement, Haruhi creates a club called the SOS Brigade, whose mission is "to find aliens, time travelers, and espers and to have fun with them!" She forcibly recruits Kyon and three other members to form her brigade. However, these other members have their own agendas for joining, and they reveal to Kyon the secret about Haruhi. Now it's up to him and the others to keep Haruhi happy, lest she destroy the universe as we know it.

What I thought: All right, so why am I reviewing this again when I reviewed it last May? Because this version is the official English translation, not a fan version. Personally, I was very pleased with the quality. The language is very natural, with all of Kyon's snark and witty remarks kept intact. The artwork is preserved, and even the little sound effects and captions are translated. One thing untranslated is the honorifics. No -chan or -san or anything like that. However, this translation at least doesn't go the awful route the dub did and substitute "Miss" for "-san". Ugh. Really, this is just a minor quibble, and I can see why these weren't kept. Well, in any case, this is a good translation of a great story, and I encourage any fan of humorous sci-fi and high school stories to check this out.

Overall: Highly recommended.

Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star

2009-04-20T11:22:00.003-04:00

Title: Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Author: Brandon Mull

What it's about: Taking place after Fablehaven, this book sees Kendra dealing with the consequences of the fairy queen's aid. She has to use her new abilities to help her grandparents seek out the magical relic hidden somewhere on Fablehaven's grounds. Meanwhile, she and Seth are undergoing instruction from three magical specialists who are also at Fablehaven to help. The Society of the Evening Star is on the move, also, and it's getting harder to know who to trust. It's once again up to Kendra and Seth to save the day.

What I thought: Just like in the previous book, there's plenty to spark one's imagination. The humor and genuinely dark elements are well-balanced, and you can see how Kendra and Seth grow as characters. I particularly liked the action sequence near the end and how elements from the previous book come into play here.

Overall: A very nice follow-up to Fablehaven.

The Secret Under My Skin

2009-04-20T11:10:00.002-04:00

Title: The Secret Under My Skin
Author: Janet McNaughton

What it's about: In the future, technology is scorned and people live harsher, simpler lives. However, Blay Raytee learns that the world is more complex than what they told her in the government work-camp where she lives. She is chosen to assist the community's new bio-indicator, a young woman named Marrella, and this gives Blay the opportunity to learn about how the world works, both with politics and with science. Her new life gives her the chance to discover who she is and how she fits into the world.

What I thought: The world of the story is very well-developed. I thought the plot lacked punch. The climactic events seemed small compared to what they could have been. However, the world and the characters were engaging, and I enjoyed reading Blay's story.

Overall: Not bad, but it didn't especially wow me.

Tiger Moon

2009-04-20T10:52:00.003-04:00

Title: Tiger Moon
Author: Antonia Michaelis

What it's about: A young woman, married to a man she does not love tells a tale to her husband's servant while she waits to be taken to the marriage bed. She tells of a hero sent to rescue a princess captured by a demon. The hero, an unlikely thief named Farhad, is joined by a white tiger named Nitish, and they quest for a gem that will allow them to barter for the princess's freedom. As the young woman tells her story, the tale starts to blend with reality, and a true hero emerges.

What I thought: Luxuriously described setting and well-drawn characters. A bit of a darker fairy tale, but with all the magic and mystical elements you could wish for. The two stories weave together nicely, and there's a touch of humor about it all.

Overall: Something different, and not bad at all.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox

2009-04-19T23:36:00.001-04:00

Title: The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Author: Mary Pearson

What it's about: After the accident, Jenna Fox can't remember anything. Not who she is, what her life was like, and not about the accident that brought her to this state. She has to start from scratch, looking at her life from an outsider's point of view and piecing together answers to the mystery of her life. However, ignorance, as they say, is bliss, and when Jenna finds her answers, will she wish that she'd never looked?

What I thought: First person, present tense narrative that starts fractured and grows in clarity and coherence as the book goes on, an interesting technique that mimics Jenna's recovery. Jenna is an interesting character, and her predicament is not predictable, not completely. The clues are cleverly laid, and the reveal is quite gripping. It's also the sort of thing I'd expect to be the climax of the story, but it works better where it is.

Overall: Entertaining and thought-provoking.

The Book Thief

2009-04-19T23:33:00.000-04:00

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak

What it's about: Liesel Meminger is a foster child living in Nazi Germany. As the events of World War II push on, Liesel has her own small troubles adjusting to her new life to worry about. She learns to read, and she makes new friends, including her foster father, her neighbor, and a Jewish refugee. Her story is told by Death, who sees Liesel three times and who is affected by what he sees.

What I thought: Oddly enough, one of my first thoughts was to compare this book to To Kill A Mockingbird. It's the slice of life quality, how it depicts life in a time of change in a small town that seems isolated from the bigger world until that bigger world intrudes on it. Life in this book is not white-washed, but nor is it depicted as bleaker than it is. This is reality, the triumphs and the failings. It's something I noticed in Zusak's other book I Am The Messenger, and it's something I quite like when done well. This book is told in an interesting fashion. Death is the narrator, and he doesn't always treat things in a strictly linear, chronological fashion. Nonetheless it works. By the time I got to the end, it had actually moved me to tears. It's because of how good Zusak is at building relationships between his characters, and at developing the characters themselves, for that matter. Liesel's relationships with her father, with Rudy, with Max, with Rosa, and with Ilsa are all different, but they all affect her, and the emotional payoff at the end is all the better for it.

Overall: Can't recommend it highly enough.

Also, ugh, I'm behind on reviews again. Why is it that I can read so fast, but I can't manage to bang out a review when I'm done? Hm, I might just do what reviews I can manage and put the rest of the books on my list of books to read again and then review in the future.

Firestorm

2009-04-15T23:38:00.002-04:00

Title: Firestorm
Author: David Klass

What it's about: By all appearances, Jack is a normal high school boy. Only he's suddenly discovering strange abilities and being chased by sinister figures. On his own, unsure of who he can trust, Jack learns that it's up to him to save the future of our world by finding the Firestorm. Accompanied by a talking dog and a ninja trainer, Jack has to complete his mission while figuring out just what is going on.

What I thought: For a book that's supposed to teach a lesson about ecology and stuff, this book rocked pretty hard. The message was an integral part of the story and thus didn't get in the way because it was the way. And the writing style was a little jarring but it suited the story. All sentence fragments and present tense and half the time you weren't sure whether it was narration or mental communication. And the occasional aside to the reader, too. This was pretty action-packed, and Jack's reactions to everything were very realistic, just how you'd imagine someone to act if he was torn away from his old life and thrown into a mission where friggin' everyone wants to kill him.

Overall: A real page-turner with a satisfying conclusion that also leaves you eager for the sequel.

The Hunger Games

2009-04-11T22:12:00.000-04:00

And here we come to the first of four first-person, present-tense, vaguely futuristic/dystopian kinda novels that I read in a row. This was probably the best of the four, though that's not to say the others weren't good.

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins

What it's about: In the future, the former U.S. is divided into twelve poor districts and the Capitol that rules them. To keep the people in line, the Capitol makes two kids from each district fight to the death in the Battle Royale-style Hunger Games. Our protagonist Katniss is taken to fight when she volunteers to go in her sister's place, and she and the boy from her district are taken to the Capitol to be prepared for and to fight in the games.

What I thought: First off, this is a book that makes first person present tense narration work. If you think about it, when the book has a protagonist who could die at, like, any second, you lose a lot of the suspense if it's in past tense. And the first person really got me inside Katniss's head and personality. And she's one interesting personality. Tenacious, self-centered in the way plenty of people are, clever and calculating, Katniss is a great character to follow in a story like this. Her personality gave her relationship with Peeta an interesting dynamic. I've also got to say that the world of this story really worked for me and made the battle to the death scenario believable. The whole book wasn't just a fight to the death in the arena; there was an overlying plot about the country's politics, and yet that was interesting, too. This was a well-crafted, suspenseful book.

Overall: I can't recommend this enough. I'm so excited for the sequel.

Fablehaven

2009-04-04T00:11:00.002-04:00

I stumbled on this series by chance when reading an interview on Shannon Hale's blog. Hale was interviewing Brandon Mull, and she talked about liking his Fablehaven books. Well, I'm a huge fan of Hale's, so I decided to give this book a try since she recommended it.

Title: Fablehaven
Author: Brandon Mull

What it's about: Kendra and Seth have to spend three weeks with their reclusive grandparents. But what at first seems like it will be a boring visit soon turns out to be riddled with mystery and fantasy, because their grandparents' estate is Fablehaven, a magical creatures reserve filled with naiads, satyrs, fairies, and much, much more. But while Fablehaven is a place of wonder, there's also plenty of danger lurking in the recesses of the forest. Kendra and Seth have to use all their skills and everything they've learned at Fablehaven if they want to save the day.

What I thought: For a book that seemed like it'd be for kids, this story is surprisingly savvy. I liked Kendra as a protagonist because she wasn't dumb; she understood the importance of following the rules and thinking things through, even if she was sometimes too timid. The world of Fablehaven was interesting and well-developed, combining lots of different myths. The book doesn't skimp on danger, and the adult characters don't withhold knowledge from the kids for no reason, to create a false sense of suspense. There's definite character growth, and though this is part of a series, Fablehaven has a nicely self-contained story.

Overall: Definitely a series to keep an eye on. I'm reading the sequel right now, and it has me hooked.

The Last Siege

2009-03-30T00:19:00.002-04:00

Title: The Last Siege
Author: Jonathan Stroud

What it's about: Emily, Simon, and Marcus decide to explore the old castle near their neighborhood. Usually just a tourist attraction, over the days of winter, it becomes a stronghold for the three unlikely friends. However, the games of playing the castle's defenders soon becomes a reality as the three have to withstand a siege if they want to keep their freedom.

What I thought: For whatever reason, I read the description of the book as it suggesting something supernatural involving the siege that goes on in the later part of the book. Not a far stretch, given the sort of stuff Stroud has also written, like the Bartimaeus Trilogy or even Heroes of the Valley. But despite this being an entirely realistic book, it held my attention. Stroud's very good at evoking atmosphere; I could feel the creepiness of the abandoned castle at night. And the interaction between the three characters is realistic and interesting to watch develop and play out. Marcus's motivations also add to the suspense of the story, keeping you guessing the whole time.

Overall: Suspenseful, with a satisfactory conclusion.

Heroes of the Valley

2009-03-23T20:24:00.003-04:00

Title: Heroes of the Valley
Author: Jonathan Stroud

What it's about: So Halli's the descendant of one of the great heroes of the valley, men who once drove away the man-eating monsters called Trows. He's the second son, however, and and an unhandsome young man, too. He also has a penchant for pranks, causing trouble, and getting into fights. So he's not particularly well-liked among the people of Svein's House. When Halli causes trouble with a member of another House at the great gathering, he sets in motion a series of events that turn everything he believed about his world upside down.

What I thought: Definitely not a story with a heroic gloss to it. Nonetheless, this book isn't so dark and depressing as to turn off a reader. The descriptions were vivid, and Halli was an interesting protagonist. He's not your usual idealistic boy hero; his love of legends makes him rather an annoyance to the rest of his House. Still, not unlikable. Aud, also, is not a perfect character, which makes her interesting and a good match for Halli. Really, I was very impressed with the climax of the book. It's very dark and atmospheric, and, well, pretty darn creepy. Also the interspersed legends of Svein add flavor to the book. If you liked The Sea of Trolls, then you'll like this, and vice versa.

Overall: Good read.

Rapunzel's Revenge

2009-03-22T15:01:00.002-04:00

Title: Rapunzel's Revenge
Author: Shannon Hale, Dean Hale
Illustrator: Nathan Hale

What it's about: Not your traditional fairy tale (but then what else could be expected from Shannon Hale?), this graphic novel takes the long-haired heroine and puts her and her story into a western environment. After being locked in a tree tower by her plant magic-using foster mother, Mother Gothel, Rapunzel rescues herself and sets out for revenge. Along the way she meets up with Jack, a drifter with a pet goose, and the two team up to bring Mother Gothel down.

What I thought: Kick-butt heroine? Check. Inventive, well-developed setting? Check. Adventuresome plot? Check. Really, this is just a plain fun read. The art and the writing complement each well, and the end product is a fun story with a mix of humor, adventure, and fantasy.

Overall: Good, fun read. Check it out, folks.

The Land of the Silver Apples

2009-03-22T14:51:00.002-04:00

Title: The Land of the Silver Apples
Author: Nancy Farmer

What it's about: When a midwinter ceremony goes wrong, Jack, his sister, and the Bard head for a monastery in order to find a way to drive out the evil spirits. However, there's more than meets the eye there, and Jack is soon drawn into another quest in a fantastic land. Accompanied by friends new and old, he must rescue those trapped in the land of the silver apples and lead his company back to freedom.

What I thought: Another gripping tale mixing mythologies into an exciting adventure. Characters from the first book get more development, and the characters newly introduced in this book can't be found lacking in development and personality either. Same good quality of writing and descriptions, nice mix of humor and seriousness, and the way the story flows is interesting, with danger and unexpected occurrences.

Overall: A worthy sequel to The Sea of Trolls.

Last book in this series apparently comes out some time this year, too. Rawk.

Gamer Girl

2009-03-20T12:43:00.003-04:00

Title: Gamer Girl
Author: Mari Mancusi

What it's about: High school sophomore Maddy's life isn't exactly great. Her parents are divorced, her mom makes them move in with Maddy's weird grandma, and Maddy's immediately labeled as a freak at her new school. About the only good things in her life are her manga and her online existence as Allora, an elf character in the online game Fields of Fantasy. In Fields of Fanasy, Maddy as Allora meets SirLeo, a chivalrous knight character who becomes her friend when she still doesn't make any friends at her new school. But even if she'd like to, Maddy can't ignore her real life problems. She'll have to overcome obstacles online and off if she wants to be happy.

What I thought: Okay, I really liked this book. I don't think it's for everyone, but basically, it was really fun for me to be able to read about a protagonist who really fit the gamer/anime nerd mold. Most of the time, you read a book with a nerdy girl as the main character, she's a lit. nerd. Jane Austen or one of the Brontes or someone like that is her favorite author, or if she's a fantasy nerd, it's Tolkien. This book has very up to the minute references to things that a legit nerd like yours truly could appreciate. Mentions Facebook, Edward Cullen (in a derogatory manner, happily enough), Fields of Fantasy - a total play on WoW, and more manga references than you can shake a magic wand at. There are conversations between Maddy and SirLeo that are written as in-game instant messages, but this author doesn't bother with a lot of chat speak. A few instances of "lol, kk, ty", but no real abbreviations of words like you find in other books that include IM convos. Pretty nice, because I know that I, as a reader, find that distracting.

As a character, Maddy was engaging. Not too much of a bratty teenager, good sense of humor, relatable. Good character development over the course of the story. The romance plot wasn't too predictable, actually. At times, I was like, oh, of course, it's this guy, but there were enough other leads to actually make me genuinely unsure of the ending. And it worked out pretty well. Good development of the supporting characters, too. The club members, Maddy's family, and all the rest. All in all, this is an easy, enjoyable read that will really strike a chord with any nerdy readers out there.

Overall: Lots of fun, especially if you're an anime/gamer nerd.

And, bleh, I got behind again. I'll just have to do some short reviews to at least get them up. We'll see how that works. And when I was at the book store and bought Gamer Girl, I also picked up Heroes of the Valley, which I'll be reading and reviewing next.

Character development in musicals

2009-03-04T15:00:00.002-05:00

So while this blog is mainly for book reviews, I had also planned to use it to post my thoughts on writing and storytelling and such. And the other night I was thinking about stories as told through theatre - and drama definitely has a written component, when talking about traditional drama, at least. So I wrote down my thoughts, using Wicked as my main example. So, spoiler warning there, if anyone really wants to see that show and doesn't want even very vague spoilers.

There's something interesting about having a storyteller's mind: I can always find depth in a story. I know those who disparage musicals because they don't have much substance to their stories; I disagree because sometimes you can create your own depth by interpreting the clues the librettist gives you. I find that a lot of my enjoyment of a show comes from dissecting the characters in my head, trying to understand their motivations and the fullness of their personalities. People say that there's not much to Wicked; I think that if you ponder it, both of the female leads are very deep. I've always liked Galinda because her character is particularly engaging to me in how she develops. She starts as the vapid queen bee of Shiz University, but as she and Elphaba open up to each other, we see that she has a sweet side, as well as more perception and smarts than she lets on. Galinda clings to her status and tries to keep her world from changing. Her acquaintance with Elphaba forces her to eventually grow and take responsibility, a bit too late, but that just makes the outcome of the musical all the more tragic. If you think about it, Galinda has the sadder ending to her story. She thinks her friend and her love interest are both dead, everyone hates Elphie, and Galinda herself helped to bring this all about by not being strong enough at first. Her new position of power doesn't make up for this. See, I think Elphaba's pretty interesting, too, but I don't think many people see the depth of Galinda's character. Did I think of all this when I was seeing the play? No, not really. I watched the play, absorbed what I was given, and did some rudimentary analysis, but I carry my impression around, and I can always go back and think about the story and characters at my leisure. Just one example of how a storyteller's mind allows me to take great pleasure from something in a way that might not occur to everyone.

The Sea of Trolls

2009-03-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

Title: The Sea of Trolls
Author: Nancy Farmer

What it's about: Jack is a young Saxon lad apprenticed to the local bard. He learns much from the man, about music and the life force that exists in the world. Then one day Jack and his sister Lucy are kidnapped by Northmen. Only Jack's skill as a bard keeps the siblings safe. But even that's not enough when they come up against the cruel queen of the Northmen. Jack will have to call on all his skills as a bard and all of his allies if he's to succeed in his quest.

What I thought: This is a very creative adventure story that draws on a lot of Norse mythology and tells an enjoyable tale. There's a definitely fairy tale sort of vibe to this, and though it's written somewhat simply, the author doesn't shy from describing violence and creating complex characters. The occasional bleakness doesn't overshadow the sense of wonder and adventure, however. This is a very fun adventure story that's steeped in Norse mythology and makes for an engrossing read.

Overall: Highly recommended.

Many Waters

2009-02-28T00:18:00.004-05:00

Title: Many Waters
Author: Madeleine L'Engle

What it's about: Twins Sandy and Dennys Murry are bamfed back to Biblical times when they mess with one of their father's space-time experiments. Finding themselves in a well-known story from the book of Genesis, they lend their aid to the family who saved their lives and end up learning about themselves and about love.

What I thought: Simple but rich descriptions and a novel premise make this a book I've always been fond of. Religious lore is heavily drawn on, but there's no preachy moralizing, so it's all good. The characters are well-drawn, and the depictions of antediluvian life are interesting.

Overall: Probably makes the most sense if you read it in sequence with the rest of L'Engle's Time Quartet books.

Starclimber

2009-02-27T15:52:00.003-05:00

Title: Starclimber
Author: Kenneth Oppel

What it's about: Matt Cruse and Kate de Vries have adventures... IN SPACE! They get selected to be part of the first voyage into space. However, space travel is like nothing they've done before, and the journey is fraught with risk. Factor into that some personal drama in that Kate's parents are more concerned than ever with getting her married off, and you've got one monumental trip.

What I thought: So. I was super-duper excited when this book came in. I'd preordered it and everything. And I blazed through it in under eight hours, while having to contend with two classes and a midterm, no less, so I think that tells you a little about how gripping it was.

So I thought it was interesting that there was much less of a focus on flight in this book than in the previous two. Not a bad thing, of course. I liked how there was a real sense of fragility for the trip, which gave it more realism and suspense. The space-dwelling life forms didn't really strain my disbelief, which I was glad about. I thought that the characterization was quite good. One complaint that I'd read others having with the previous two books was that Matt was always up against some older alpha male type he had to prove himself to. Shepherd was the closest thing to this role, but the way the two interacted worked for me. It was good to see Captain Walken again, too. I really liked the whole makeup of the crew for the Starclimber. The group was varied, which made for some really great interaction. Also of interest to me was how the relationship between Matt and Kate. Things get more serious between the two, and while Matt has always had a jealous streak that sometimes made me want to facepalm, in this book you could see where he was coming from. Kate's selfish streak, more charming than anything in previous books, becomes more of a real concern. She's an interesting character. Reminds me of Suzumiya Haruhi in how she acts sometimes. Anyway, the romantic drama plays out well. I also like that we were introduced to Matt and Kate's families and the small inclusion of the sufrage subplot.

Overall: A real wow of a sequel. Great, great book. Already can't wait to reread it.

Airman

2009-02-23T15:27:00.002-05:00

Title: Airman
Author: Eoin Colfer

What it's about: Set around the 1890s, this book is about Conor Broekhart, a young man who dreams of building a flying machine. He lives with his family on the Saltee Islands, a small kingdom near Ireland. Conor's life is what any boy would dream of until he's falsely implicated in a plot to kill the king and then thrown in prison. However, he still has his dreams, and Conor works to gain his freedoms and right the wrongs committed against him.

What I thought: I haven't read any of Colfer's books in years, and I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this one is. I thought Conor might turn out to be a Gary Stu character, but instead, despite all his talents and such, he turns out to develop quite believably. The story's pace seemed almost a little too fast, but it was still enjoyable. There was plenty of swashbuckling and clever plotting, and this was an overall good piece of historical fiction.

Overall: A very good book. If you like Kenneth Oppel's stuff, this is worth a read.

Enna Burning

2009-02-23T15:21:00.001-05:00

Title: Enna Burning
Author: Shannon Hale

What it's about: After The Goose Girl, it looked like a happy ending for Isi, Enna, and all of Bayern. However, Tira, Bayern's neighbor to the south, starts a war, leaving Bayern in dire straits. Enna wants to help, and she gets her chance when she discovers the talent to speak with fire. But controlling the elements comes with a price, and if Enna's not careful, she might find herself in over her head.

What I thought: Where The Goose Girl is pretty much a straightforward fairy tale with added depth, Enna Burning takes a much darker turn. The characters from the first book are built on and given more depth, and the world of the story is developed further. Enna's an interesting character, and the choices she makes are tricky and realistic. I thought the flow of the story was interesting. Unlike the first book, what felt like the climax happened rather early, I thought. However, just because it didn't end with a bang doesn't make this bad. The story flowed to a slower, but still very interesting, ending.

Overall: Not a fairytale, but a very enjoyable tale nonetheless.

Evernight

2009-02-21T00:50:00.002-05:00

Title: Evernight
Author: Claudia Gray

What it's about: Evernight boarding school is a creepy place, but it's home for Bianca Olivier, whose parents have accepted teaching jobs at the elite school. Bianca is out of her element among the sophisticated students, but she finds a friend in Lucas, another new student who's somewhat rough around the edges. The two form a bond, but will that be enough to survive the sinister secrets of Evernight?

What I thought: Though this is a vampire novel, it's no Twilight. Evernight was surprisingly engaging and well-written. The twists came naturally; I was surprised by them, but they were justified well enough. Bianca was a good protagonist, not made out to be a caricature of a clumsy loser like Bella Swan, but a more realistic portrayal of an awkward teenage girl. She develops pretty well over the course of the story. The supporting cast is well-developed, too, as is the vampire lore and Evernight itself.

Overall: You wanna read about vampire, read Evernight. Definitely a solid book.

Man, I fell out of the habit of reviewing again. Nyoro~n. Got the flu, and though I read a ton, I pretty much lacked the motivation to review the books. I will try to get River Secrets, Love Among the Walnuts, and Enna Burning reviewed, though.

'Night, Mother

2009-02-06T16:50:00.003-05:00

Title: 'Night, Mother
Author: Marsha Norman

What it's about: One night, Jessie tells her mother that she plans to commit suicide that evening. What follows is the final conversation between the two women.

What I thought: Rather moving and very disturbing. This play gets very emotionally charged, especially at the end. Jessie's a rather interesting character. I mean, anyone who's that calm when planning to commit suicide... But, uh, very depressing.

Overall: Good play, but not exactly a fun read.

Princess Academy

2009-02-06T11:59:00.002-05:00

Title: Princess Academy
Author: Shannon Hale

What it's about: The village of Mt. Eskel is a secluded one where the people live a simple life mining linder stones to sell to traders. Miri, a young village girl who doesn't work in the quarry, has never thought about life outside of her mountain. Then one day the traders are accompanied by an emissary from the king. The priests of the kingdom have divined that the prince's bride will be a girl from Mt. Eskel, so all the eligible girls must attend an academy to recieve polish so that the prince can choose his bride from among them. Now Miri and the other girls have to adapt to learning an overwhelming amount of new things, all taught by a strict tutor. But despite the hardships, Miri learns many important things, including more about who she is as a person.

What I thought: This was the first of Shannon Hale's books that I read, and I thought it was great. As with The Goose Girl, the world of the story is well-developed, with plenty of little touches of culture that make the story and its inhabitants seem more real. Quarry-speaking was an interesting invention, and I liked the imagery that ran through this. Miri was a good protagonist, someone relatable and clever. In regards to the ending, I don't believe I was able to predict it when first I read this, so I think that also says something good for this book.

Overall: A very nice stand-alone read, good for getting into Hale's books.

The Dragon Heir

2009-01-31T23:47:00.000-05:00

Title: The Dragon Heir
Author: Cinda Chima

What it's about: So the conflict between the magical guilds is ramping up. The rebels are facing a tough fight, and not all of their possible allies are interested in taking part. Madison Moss, for example, just wants to go to art school and forget about wizards. Easier said than done, though, since Seph McCauley, the guy she's crushin' on, is a very powerful wizard and stuck in the middle of things. Despite all the pressure, though, Maddie does her best to stay uninvolved. Meanwhile, Jason Haley wishes he could get deeper into the fight. After a successful raid of magical artifacts, he's stuck in the town of Trinity, the not-so-hidden rebel base, guarding the find and wanting some way to become more powerful so he can help the cause. Personal agendas are rife amongst good guys and bad, and as the final battle approaches, Jason, Maddie, and their friends have to make tough choices and sacrifices.

What I thought: Very nice sequel, which takes stuff mentioned in previous books and builds on them to a successful conclusion. A lot of good character development, and the story gets pretty dark in tone. I thought the ending was a little rushed, the "where are they now?" bits, I mean, but overall, it was an engrossing read.

Overall: It... was an engrossing read.

And with this book, I read eight novels in January, plus half of The Goose Girl. I had listened to the first half on audiobook, and I decided I'd just read what I had left. Well, in February, I shall read no less than, and hopefully more than, eight books! Well, I also read some plays this month, too. A lot of plays and drama. 'Cause I'm in three different theatre classes this semester. Maybe I'll review some of them.

Graceling

2009-01-15T23:08:00.000-05:00

Title: Graceling
Author: Kristen Cashore

What it's about: Katsa is a girl graced with incredible combat and killing skills. Her uncle, the king, uses her abilities for his dirty work. Then Katsa and her allies uncover a conspiracy in another kingdom that could lead to trouble for all seven kingdoms, and she and a Graced prince named Po head out to shed some light on the matter.

What I thought: The concept of the Graces was very interesting. People with various exceptional skills, sometimes reviled, sometimes revered. Katsa's personality was interesting to watch develop, and there was some very nice worldbuilding.

Overall: While I can't say this'll be a favorite of mine, it was above-average, to be sure.

So that's three reviews for January. I've also reread the two Kiki Strike books, but they've already been reviewed. We're up to five books this month now. I'm probably gonna reread The Warrior Heir and The Wizard Heir so that I can read The Dragon Heir, which I bought last weekend. I'll see you then!

Dreamquake

2009-01-13T21:50:00.002-05:00

Title: Dreamquake
Author: Elizabeth Knox

What it's about: This is the sequel to Dreamhunter; Laura has now found out more about the Place and put her father's plan into action. Meanwhile, the rest of her family is looking into the sinister plot taking place in the highest levels of the government. The mystery is well on its way to being unraveled.

What I thought: Pretty good conclusion to the series. There's a mystery that gets wrapped up, some romance, more development of Rose as a character, and some very satisfying explanations for everything.

Overall: If you liked Dreamhunter, you'll like this book.

Dreamhunter

2009-01-11T22:53:00.002-05:00

Title: Dreamhunter
Author: Elizabeth Knox

What it's about: In a world similar to ours during the early 1900s, there is a place - called "the Place" - where certain people - dreamhunters - can go, fall asleep, and catch dreams. The next time a dreamhunter with a dream sleeps, those in the surrounding area will also have the dream, and these special dreams are extraordinarily pleasant. So anyway, there's Laura Hame and Rose Tiebold, two cousins who've just turned fifteen, and they're about to take the test to see if they can become dreamhunters. Little do they know that there is something more sinister than they realized going on in the world of dreamhunters, nor do they realize the parts that they will play in the coming days.

What I thought: The story is very imaginative, and the groundwork for the satisfying finish in the second book of the series is laid very painstakingly in this first book. The characters are interesting and very realistic, and the book has just the right amount of humor to keep it from being too heavy.

Overall: This is a very imaginative fantasy story.

Oh, so I realized why I failed at updating this sucker so much over the break. Over the summer I had my goal of 100 books, right? Well, I'm a lazy sod, and without a goal, I can't motivate myself as well. So, the goal is now fifteen books a month during the school year, or perhaps ten. I'll see which of the two I can make in January, and that'll be the standard for the rest of the months. We've got Dreamquake and Graceling coming up for reviews soon, too. I'll also post short reviews of all the books in my review backlog.

Problem Sleuth - MS Paint Adventures

2008-12-18T16:45:00.002-05:00

Not quite a webcomic, not quite a game, it's Problem Sleuth, an MS Paint Adventure! Modeled after text-adventure games, this bit of interactive storytelling focuses on Problem Sleuth, a detective fellow who is trapped in his office. Following reader-submitted prompts, the story goes from Problem Sleuth's attempts to leave his office to a much trippier quest to save the universe (both sides) from an evil mob boss. This story has successfully captured the sort of logical chaos that I only wish I had been able to get down in my novel this past November. Jeez. If you're looking for a hilarious way to pass the time, you can't overlook Problem Sleuth.

A Metropolitan Murder

2008-12-17T02:59:00.005-05:00

Title: A Metropolitan Murder
Author: Lee Jackson

What it's about: It's around 1850 in London. The underground system is still under construction. On one of the train cars, a young woman is found dead, and the man who found her is thought to be the murderer. However, he flees the scene. Meanwhile, Inspector Decimus Webb is on the case, and his inquiries bring him in contact with Clara White, a young woman who is now employed as a maid to a wealthy family but who has a darker past. What role does she play in the murder, and can the case be solved before any more lives are lost?

What I thought: A vivid, well-crafted story that's almost more an exploration of life in the Victorian era than a mystery. The story is gritty but not without touches of humor here and there. The narrative style is an unusual but interesting one.

Overall: Definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of historical mysteries.