REVIEW | The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Cathrynne M. Valente

The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two by Cathrynne M. Valente

Publication Year: 2013

Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade
Series: Fairy Land #3

Awards: Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book, 2014
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: The Author

SYNOPSIS:  September is now 14 and she has waited a whole year for her birthday to roll around and her 3rd trip to fairyland to begin.  But her birthday comes and goes, and she is afraid she will never go back until, when she least expects it, an irascible Blue Wind shows up and grudgingly allows her to hitch a ride to the moon above fairyland.  After a happy reunion with L and Saturday, September and her friends must go on a journey to find a Yeti who is terrorizing the moon's citizens.  

THOUGHTS:

I should really give Cathrynne Valente credit for at least co-writing this post because a big chunk of it will be in her own words.

Why?  I love this series though they are not the most riveting books in the world and they take forever to read, especially for a middle grade book.  They sometimes feel like they are just a collection of creative ideas Valente had  - really, really creative with beautiful imagery - but with a barely-even-there plot.  They are dreamy and odd.  The characters took me a bit to warm up to though I must profess that I do now adore September, A-through-L and Saturday.  Here's the thing, though. The reason I love them. I'll be listening-reading along, feeling ever-so-slightly bored and then this will happen:

“A silent Library is a sad Library. ... A Library should be full of exclamations! Shouts of delight and horror as the wonders of the world are discovered or the lies of the heavens are uncovered or the wild adventures of devil-knows-who sent romping out of the pages. A Library should be full of now-just-a-minutes and that-can't-be-rights and scientifick folk running skelter to prove somebody wrong. It should positively vibrate with laughing at comedies and sobbing at tragedies, it should echo with gasps as decent ladies glimpse indecent things and indecent ladies stumble upon secret and scandalous decencies! A Library should not shush; it should roar!” 

And this...

 “Marriage is a wrestling match where you hold on tight while your mate changes into a hundred different things. The trick is that you're changing into a hundred other things, but you can't let go. You can only try to match up and never turn into a wolf while he's a rabbit, or a mouse while he's still busy being an owl, a brawny black bull while he's a little blue crab scuttling for shelter. It's harder than it sounds.” 

And this...

“Listen to me. Love is a Yeti. It is bigger than you and frightening and terrible. It makes loud and vicious noises. It is hungry all the time. It has horns and teeth and the force of its fists is more than anyone can bear. It speeds up time and slows it down. And it has its own aims and missions that those who are lucky enough to see it cannot begin to guess. You might see a Yeti once in your life or never. You might live in a village of them. But in the end, no matter how fast you think you can go, the Yeti is always faster than you, and you can only choose how you say hello to it, and whether you shake its hand.” 

And yet again, this...

 “September tried to show her sternness. It was becoming a habit. She could show her sternness and think about this another time, when it was quiet and no new red Moon turned somersaults in the sky.
But when she reached for her sternness, all September found in her heart was the bar of a trapeze, swinging wild, inviting her to catch it.
...She leaned up and kissed her Marid and hoped it was the right thing. Her heart caught the bar and swung out, swung wild, over the lights and the gasps below, reaching for a pair of sure blue hands in the air and willing them to find hers.” 

 And finally, a whole lot of this...

“Oh, aren't you just the rottenest wet blanket whoever spoiled a sport.” 

In other words, whenever I start to get a little bored or dismiss the books for having too little plot and flow, Valente hits me with a sentiment which is made of beautiful words and a unique perspective that makes my brain stretch.  And occasionally laugh out loud.  That's why I keep coming back to this beautiful middle grade series.

FINAL VERDICT: It's always good to visit with September and her friends and this installment has a lot of great imagery and thoughts about growing up. 3.5 out of 5 Stars

REVIEW | A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Publication Year: 2016

Genre: Fantasy
Series: Shades of Magic #2

Awards: None
Format: Audio (Library)

Narrator: Michael Kramer and Kate Reading

SPOILERS AHOY!  This is book two in a series so some spoilery type things about book one may be revealed. 

WHY?:  Loved the world and story in book one!

SYNOPSIS:  Four months have passed since the events in book one.  Kell's position in Red London has changed in a negative way and he and Rhy struggle to come to grips with their new linked existence while also trying to prepare for a big international tournament of magic called the Essentasch.  Meanwhile, Lila has found a "home" on a privateer ship in her new adopted world and is learning some magic of her own from the enigmatic and charming Captain, Alucard Emery.  Everybody is reunited for the games where it turns out Kell's life is in danger from an unexpected enemy.
  

THOUGHTS:

The tone of this book is a good bit quieter and more mundane than book one, at least for a majority of it.  For me that was mostly all right and I in fact, liked this one more than book one and ended it SUPER excited about the implications for book 3.  

Most of the book focuses on the fall out resulting from Kell bringing Rhy back from the dead in book one.  As a result, their lives are inextricably linked which only increases Kell's already strong feelings of being trapped and stifled.  He can't go off and have an adventure, and in fact is almost never allowed to roam too far from the castle, because if he dies, Rhy dies.  Also his suspicions that the King and Queen only treasure him as a commodity and not as a son as they pretend, are completely verified when they blame him for Rhy's "death" even though Rhy was more to blame in the situation and is angry for his parents treating Kell so poorly.  

Rhy's feelings are also complicated and not positive. He is not dealing well with the price that was paid to make sure he lived and he feels responsible and deeply guilty for further tying Kell down.  They are best friends, brothers if not by blood, and their friendship is being sorely tested.  

It's a really interesting dynamic and I could read about these two all week long and twice on Tuesday.  I appreciate that Schwab doesn't jump right into non-stop action and takes the time to really explore her characters and make sure all of that development weaves into the story she is telling.

I just wish she had stuck with Kell and Rhy.  And Alucard - I really loved the addition of Alucard and he and his love interest? Hubba Hubba!  That's a romantic entanglement I can get behind!  I also was enthralled by the developments in White London  - they are VERY interesting and the first scene in White London had me grinning like the cheshire cat.  

No, pretty much all the characters are great. All except, Lila, Lila, ugh, Lila.  I struggled with Lila in book one but by the end had started to warm up to her.  Unfortunately things took a major turn for the worse in book two.  Part of my issue with the character is a personal one - reckless, impulsive characters who act without assessing risk to themselves AND OTHERS, really stress me out.  This is Lila to a T.  She is also unfriendly, lacking in empathy, selfish, arrogant, mean and thin-skinned (she can dish it but can't take it).  All of these traits are realistic, considering she grew up on the streets but the fact is she's not an enjoyable person and yet everyone seems to love her.  She's Kell's love interest, Alucard is immediately taken with her, even the shopkeeper in the bazaar who she met in book one, "lights up" when she sees Lila again.  I really wish she didn't exist, lol, and obviously I didn't enjoy the sections of the book focused on her.  Except her first scene - which is awesome.

After this slow, leisurely start, focusing on the characters, the book really picks up speed with the start of the Essentasch which is essentially a magical Olympics.  Kell as the only one of his kind and the most powerful magician in the red world is not allowed to compete for his country but Rhy finds a way to sneak him in, knowing that he needs the challenge.  The tournament is also a vehicle for revealing more about the wider world outside of London and also about how magic works which is essentially elemental.  Magicians can usually only control one element while the more powerful may be able to control two or rarely even three.  Only Kell can control all four as well as cross between the different Londons.  The tournament is fun and it leads up to a seriously exciting climax!

To close I have a note about the audio format.  I pretty much hated the narrator for book one in the series so was interested to see that he was replaced and that there are now two reader, one for Lila's chapters and one for Kell's.  I liked these narrators so much better and they did a good job bringing the story to life. 

FINAL VERDICT:  An original fantasy story that takes its time to develop its characters but then wallops the readers with a seriously exciting finish and cliffhanger.  It only gets 3.5 stars because Lila.  3.5 out of 5 stars.

Other Opinions are Available: Speculative Herald | The Bibliosanctum | 

REVIEW | Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Publication Year: 2010

Genre: YA, Contemporary Romance
Series: NA

Awards: A Bunch of Local YA awards
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: Kim Mai Guest

WHY?:  I'm not entirely sure?  I usually don't like contemporary romance or contemporary YA and this is all of those things.  I think I was in the mood for something light and charming and stumbled upon it while lost (skulking) in the YA audiobook aisle at the library. Bingo!

SYNOPSIS:  Anna Oliphant lives with her recently divorced mother in Georgia until her father decides to give her an experience and enrolls her in a fancy private school for rich Americans (mostly) in Paris for her senior year of high school.  She's pretty bummed about it but her homesickness is lessened a little when she pretty quickly gets sucked into a circle of friends that includes the dreamy Etienne St. Clair.  

THOUGHTS:

As I mentioned above, I am not usually a fan of this type of book.  My YA reading is almost exclusively SFF and my romance reading is always historical.  So Anna and the French Kiss was a departure but so many people had raved about what a charming book it was and I thought I'd at least give it a try.  I don't have a ton to say about it but I did actually really enjoy it and would recommend it to any one looking for a light romance.

If I've learned anything from romance novels it is that clear and open communication is an absolute must.  Why is it so hard?  Well it makes one vulnerable  - for example if one said "I like you and would like to date you and I think maybe you like me, but you've mentioned this guy back home and I'm not sure how you feel about him and I'm also totally confused about where this puts me with my own girlfriend.  She's important to me, and I'm afraid of being alone but things aren't great with her and if they were I wouldn't like you, right?  What are your thoughts on the matter?"  and the other person ran screaming or reacted with disgust that would be incredibly humiliating.  Not to mention that the above monologue reveals, perhaps, some not so pretty things about ourselves.  So it is no surprise that we in the real world, as well as those in romance novels continue to keep our traps shut and therefore create SO MUCH DRAMA.  This is essentially Anna and the French Kiss.  An ode to our fragile egos and inability to make words about feelings.

Besides illustrating the universal truth of De-doo-doo-doo, De-Da-Da-Da by The Police, the main thing the book had going for it was that it felt very authentic and genuine  - Perkins nails the emotional roller coaster of being a teenager in crush mode.  For the most part I totally felt kinship with Anna....well except for the part where the most popular, cutest boy in the school returns her crush.  I've sadly never had that particular experience, lol.  In some ways I did feel more sympathy with the compassionate, stalwart, nurturing, ever suffering Meredith, even though we don't really get to know her but Anna is definitely likable while still flawed enough not to be annoying.  St. Clair as well.  Perkins does a great job creating a boy who is in fact most girls dream guy (British, great sense of humor, kind, easy to talk to, confident without being cocky and handsome) while making sure he had some flaws that helped make him feel real.  Dreamy but real.  

It's also very funny which is what really made this book work for me.  If it had been too earnest...  Thankfully, I laughed out loud often.  In short, it was charming and delightful and only gets a tad too angsty during the denouement. It has SUCH a smoochy, sentimental ending, as all good romances should of course, but I think part of my problem with contemporaries is that I have a harder time buying these perfect endings.

FINAL VERDICT:  If you are looking for a light romantic book that will make you laugh and is (mostly) not annoying, Anna and the French Kiss is for you! 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Other Opinions are Available: Dear Author | Nose Graze

REVIEW | EON and EONA by Alison Goodman

Eon and Eona by Alison Goodman

Publication Year: 2008 and 2011

Genre: YA Fantasy
Series: Eon #s 1 and 2

Awards:  Book one was nominated for a number of prestigious mostly Australian YA Fantasy awards (Aurealis, Victorian Premier's Literary Award, The Inky Awards, James Tiptree, Jr. Award Honor List)
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: Nancy Wu

WHY?: I recently read the first two books in Goodman's adult fantasy series, The Dark Days Club, and really enjoyed them so I was keen to check out other things she had written. Plus - Dragons!

SYNOPSIS:  Eon is chosen to become one of the nation's 12 powerful Dragon Eyes, who through  magical links with 12 mystical dragons, help keep the nation safe from natural disasters and other disturbances.  Even more miraculously, Eon is chosen by the Mirror Dragon who had been missing for 500 years and he is placed immediately into a position of power and in the middle of a political struggle for power.  The only problem is that Eon is actually a girl, living as a boy which in the feudal Asian world he/she lives in, means sure death if she is found out.  Will she be able to keep her identity hidden and master her dragon-given powers in time to help the ailing Emperor and his brave son?  Will she be able to hold on to the goodness at her heart in the face of the immense power that is given to her?

SPOILERS AHOY!  Because I am reviewing both books there will definitely be some spoilers down below for book one Eon.  Proceed with caution.

THOUGHTS:

Hopefully my ramblings on this thought-provoking series will be coherent.  I wrote pages of notes on the books which depending on your perspective is a good thing or a bad thing.  Any book that provokes lots of feelings and thoughts is usually worth taking a look at.  However, if many of those feelings and thoughts lean towards the negative end of the spectrum, can you really recommend the book?  In my case, I think these books have a ton of good stuff to offer the reader who likes to analyze characters so I think I do recommend them with the caveat that I spent much of book two in a cyclone of frustration.  Let me try to explain.

In book one we meet Eon, a young man on the eve of undergoing an important test which will have a profound affect not only on his life but also on those of his Master and all others in his household.  So, no pressure.  We learn quickly that it gets even more complicated because Eon is actually a 16 year old female, who has been trained by her master to live as a 12 year old boy.  On top of that Eon is also lame which in the society in which he exists is thought to bring bad luck and is tantamount to being a leper.  We also learn very quickly that she comes from an impoverished background but because she has the talent of being able to see into the spirit realm and see all twelve dragons there, a rare gift, her teacher/master adopted her, taught her to be a boy and has set her on the path to compete to be one of the powerful Dragon Eyes like he once was.

In this world, there is a spirit dragon that pairs up with each of the twelve zodiac signs in the Chinese calendar.  On a twelve year cycle each dragon and its paired human Dragon Eye is ascendant, i.e. the most powerful, and on the eve of the new year the old Dragon Eye retires, the apprentice dragon eye takes over and a new apprentice is chosen.  This is what Eon is competing for, to be the new apprentice Rat Dragon Eye.  There is a mysterious 13th dragon as well that disappeared from the spirit world 500 years in the past called the Mirror Dragon.  During the ceremony, the Rat dragon passes over Eon but the Mirror Dragon appears and chooses him, much to everyone's shock.

This is when the real adventure begins.  Eon is in the guise of a 12 year old boy but because there is no Mirror Dragon Eye he does not get the luxury of apprenticing for 12 years and must immediately take a seat on the Dragon Eye council as co-ascendant with the treacherous and sadistic Rat Dragon Eye, Lord Edo.  The beleaguered Emperor who is being sorely pushed by Lord Edo and his treacherous brother sees the re-appearance of the Mirror Dragon as a good portent and quickly recruits Eon to "fight" on his side.  Most of the first volume of this duology, focuses on Eon's struggles to figure out what is going on, who to trust and why he cannot call his dragon to him like the other Dragon Eye's can.  Without his dragon he is little more than a 16 year old girl, posing as a 12 year old boy, a hairsbreadth from a horrible death.

In Eona, Eon's secret is out and she is able to call her dragon but she still struggles with control and with knowing what to do amidst numerous forces buffeting her this way and that.  She is also somewhat addicted to the power of her dragon which brings her closer to Lord Edo and creates much distrust with her companions, Ryko, Lady Deela and Prince Kaigo among others.

Goodman does so many amazing and interesting things with this framework which, boiled down, is essentially a chosen one narrative.  Some of it works, some of it really did not for me.   First, here's what I really loved about the series.  The first book has a strong theme of identity, particularly of gender, in a very rigid society.  Eona's male personae of Eon is not just a costume she wears in a fun cross-dressing YA fantasy romp.  She truly lives as a male and thinks of herself as a male most of the time.  She is so convinced that her true gender is synonymous with weakness that she is unable to even conceive of the idea that their might be an advantage to living as a woman. And she is not the only character that illustrates the fluidity of gender.  Lady Deela is a trans-woman, revered by her people as a person with twin souls, both male and female and who is sent to the court of the emperor as a gift.  There her otherness is not so accepted, though the wise and open-minded Emperor gives her status and treats her well.  Deela's main guard Ryko is a eunuch, who takes the ancient Chinese equivalent of steroids to replace the testosterone and keep him muscular and he and Deela are secretly in love with one another.  Throw in the fact that Eon is lame which also places him outside of society's norms and that he is hiding his true gender and isn't entirely sure who he is and there is lots of fertile ground for the exploration of identity and false faces.  Goodman takes full advantage and produces a narrative that is thought-provoking and inclusive.

In Eona, the theme shifts to an exploration of free will and it unfortunately throws Eona just a teensy bit under the bus to do so.  Overall though both books have a strong feminist message and explore the  strongly emphasized themes well.

The other strength of this series is the world-building which is intricately presented and immersive.  The culture of the Dragon Eyes is fascinating and well developed.  The story as a whole, is interesting and provides plenty of opportunities for adventure and tension.

The place where I ran into some issues with this series is with the characters, who I found mostly pretty unlikable but not in an interesting way.  These issues mostly cropped up in the second volume but  were not completely absent in book 1. I spent much of both books, but particularly in Eona, wavering between wanting to defend Eon/Eona from her horrible "friends" and slap her silly.  She is, perhaps understandably, a pretty passive character.  She spends much of the two books being pretty passive, buffeted this way and that by all the events around her - always behind the eight ball and mostly clueless.  Understandable or not, I found it frustrating to read.  In the first book, I the reader figured out what the issue was between Eon and his dragon, hundreds of pages before Eon.  Reading about Eon being so COMPLETELY dense, despite the fact that he is pretty perceptive and intuitive about everything else, becomes tortuously frustrating. If this was to work, Goodman needed to be WAY more circumspect about the solution so that the reader is not watching Eon for hundreds of pages flail and dig his own disaster by being clueless.  It's frustrating and it discredits the character.
At the same time I would get frustrated with her allies for getting super angry with her for not knowing what she's supposed to be doing and for things that aren't in her control.  Cut her some slack, jeez - she's 16 years old and up to this point in her life, any independence on her part was awarded with a beating.  The fact that the books had me so frustrated with everybody was not, I think, a great thing though it's certainly better than all the characters being cookie cutter.

Part of the issue I think is that this takes the The Hunger Games approach to the chosen one trope and your mileage will vary as to how much you dig that.  I for one am boring and like my chosen one narratives to be heroic and the chosen one to be someone who is imperfect and somewhat back-footed but mostly proactive ala Harry Potter.  Books 2 and 3 of The Hunger Games Trilogy did not work for me because they imagined things too close to reality - so much so that when the heroine actually does something heroic it feels disingenuous.  So, I think what I am saying is that if you are one of the millions of people who understandably love the whole Hunger Games trilogy, I suspect you will not have the same issues that I did with Eon/Eona and the other characters.

The other more minor thing I struggled with is Goodman's penchant for detailed description. Goodman painfully draws out dramatic, action packed moments into pages and pages of overblown description.  I'm not sure how much of my annoyance at all the detail was the result of the reader who had a slightly overblown way of reading these tenser scenes.  My problem with this is especially  interesting because one of the major negative remarks about Goodman's Dark Days Club series was the slow pace with too much detail and I defended it there because I thought it fit with the Regency Era English setting.  Now I am feeling those critics' pain.  Every time she slowed things to a crawl describing every little detail of every thing that happens during scenes that are meant to be fast paced and action packed, I found myself screaming both internally, and sometimes at the cd player "get on with it!!"  I guess that's one way to create tension in the reader:).     

FINAL VERDICT: Overall, a pretty mixed opinion of this series but I would recommend it, especially to people who love The Hunger Games Trilogy. Even if you weren't, it's worth checking out but be prepared for some possible frustration with the characters. I liked the first book a good bit more than book one but the two are integral to one another so not sure that matter.  3.5 out of  5 Stars.

OTHER OPINIONS ARE AVAILABLE: Eon - Fantasy Book Cafe | Eona - Fantasy Book Cafe

REVIEW | Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase

Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase

Publication Year: 2005

Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Carsington Brothers #2

Awards: A Bunch!
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: Kate Reading

WHY?:  Historical romance is my jam and I was most impressed by Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels.  This book features a bluestocking heroine and takes place in Egypt - how could I resist?

PLOT: Cairo 1812. The recently widowed Daphne Pembroke has a secret.  Though she appears to be traveling with her scholarly brother while he works on translating some ancient Egyptian writings, it is in fact she who is the scholar while her brother serves as her cover.  Because women weren't supposed to be smart in those days.  When her brother disappears, the English consulate provides Daphne with the ne'er-do-well, Rupert Carsington as protector and to help find her missing brother.  Not content to sit and wait at home while others search, she drags Rupert across Egypt in pursuit of her brother and the meaning of a mysterious manuscript.  

THOUGHTS:
It has been a good long while since I read this book (weeks and weeks) so this review is not likely going to be super detailed.  However, I thought it was worth recording some brief thoughts because the one thing I can say about it is that I liked it a good bit less than I thought I would and should.

Daphne is an atypical female for the time.  Scholarly, strong-willed, rather adventurous and brave, impervious to physical discomfort.  She married her first husband, who was a scholar and a great deal older than her, because she respected him and thought that because of his scholarly leanings he would allow her to help with his work.  It is a very similar situation to that found in Middlemarch (by George Eliot) between Dorothea and Casaubon...and it has similar results.  Like that disastrous pairing, the marriage is not a happy one because her husband is quite close-minded on the abilities of a mere woman and feels threatened by his intelligent and thoughtful wife.  

Widowhood therefore suits Daphne and she has an understanding brother that is willing to shield her and be the masculine face for her work.  Her marriage left her with some scars however.  She is not anxious to pair off with another man anytime soon and she is self-conscious about how physically desirable she is because her husband found her...enthusiasm...in the bedroom off putting.  

When she meets Rupert Carsington, she is prickly, judgmental, condescending and bossy.  He of course falls immediately in lust with her.  Sigh....  I think this fact is at the heart of why I liked the book but it didn't entirely work for me.  Rupert is not scholarly but he's quite intelligent. It takes Daphne FOREVER to figure this out. Sure, Rupert prefers carousing and fisticuffs to scholarly pursuits and physically he's quite large and imposing, so Daphne treats him like a big dumb ox.  For most of the book.  And he loves it.  Daphne isn't necessarily unlikable for this  - she comes on strong because her experience with men has taught that is how she will get her way  - but it doesn't make her incredibly likable either.  On Rupert's side, he's the typical - "I am man, I have no tender emotions" - so it takes him forever to recognize that he is, in fact, in love with Daphne and not just wanting to get her into bed. 

Overall, I found the pairing sort of annoying and so despite the exciting setting, I was  a little bored.  The story also had great potential, with hints of mystery and historical archeology, but it also was not quite as exciting as I hoped.  

Despite all the grumbling, I do think part of my lack of real enjoyment was high expectations and the mood I was in at the time.  It has a lot of really great elements and I do think less persnickety readers will really enjoy Daphne and Rupert.  They are relatively unique characters which Chase takes pains to develop and she does do a good job of building the reasons why they work as a couple.  Really, I don't entirely know why this book didn't wow me and I think I am in the minority here.  Check out the SBTB review in the "Other Opinions are Available" section for some much more positive feels about this one.  

AUDIO NOTES:  The narrator, Kate Reading is a popular reader of historical romances and she does a fine job.  She is not however, my favorite, and that may also have played a role in my lackluster response to this one.

FINAL VERDICT:  Really a top notch historical romance though I was disappointed because of unreasonably high expectations, an off mood, and a cold dead heart.  I do however, recommend it and give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

 Other Opinions are Available: Smart BItches,Trashy Books | The Book Smugglers

REVIEW | The Twelve by Justin Cronin

The Twelve by Justin Cronin

Publication Year: 2012

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia, Horror
Series: The Passage #2

Awards: None
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: Scott Brick

WHY?: I enjoyed the first book in the series, The Passage, and wanted to know what was happening with those crazy kids from California.

SYNOPSIS:  Is there really any way to summarize this book coherently? Ahem. It's set about 5 years post book one, mostly. The gang from the first book are all split up.  Alicia and Peter joined the military at the settlement in Texas, Amy is living at a convent,  Michael's working on an oil rig, etc... Besides Peter and Alicia no one seems to still be pursuing what they learned about the Twelve in The Passage.  However, events are conspiring to get the gang back together again and engaged, whether they like it or not. There are even some surprise visitors from book one!  A lot of the action goes down in my state of residence (Iowa), which was ....exciting? terrifying?  

NOTE: SPOILERS AHOY!! There will certainly be spoilers for The Passage below and undoubtedly some for The Twelve as well.   Proceed with caution if you are Spoiler Phobic!

THOUGHTS:

Justin Cronin has created such a crazy dystopian epic and in The Twelve he continued to surprise me with where he took the story.  This is most definitely a good thing and when he gets in a storytelling rhythm, it is impossible to put this book down.  By the end of this second installment I was hooked to move on to the finale, "The City of Mirrors". With all that said, The Twelve didn't entirely work for me and I was often pretty frustrated with it.  It had some of the same problems as The Passage but exacerbated, so I can't give it full marks.  

Part of the problem may be mine.  It took me a long while to get into this book and part of that was because I needed a study guide for The Passage.  He devotes a bunch of pages to expanding the backgrounds for minor characters from the first book which I didn't entirely remember and, with the gang from book one split up in this book, I lost some of my context clues for who is who and what happened with what.  I don't know how folks who were reading this series in real time managed but perhaps they don't have the memory equivalent of a gerbil like I have.  

However, while I am happy to own up to my memory deficiencies, part of the dragging effect of the first part of the book can be laid solely on how Cronin decided to move forward.  In many cases, he did not move forward, but introduces a whole slew of new characters and goes back to fill in more story from just after the outbreak of the virus.  It's not that it isn't mildly interesting and I appreciate getting some more details on how things got from the outbreak to the future explored in book one. However, part one of The Passage was my least favorite part and we get a WHOLE LOT more of that here.  It also stops the flow that had started by the end of The Passage.  The gang of characters I had gotten to know intimately were on the cusp of the next stage of their quest and all of that.... gets chucked to the side.  Seriously, some of the main characters from book one unceremoniously die in the 5 year period between books.  It is not until the original cast are semi-reunited and moving back toward the goal that was established in book one that this read started working for me.  That doesn't happen until the 60% mark or thereabouts.  

The book still gets 3.5 stars though because once you hit that spot and the narrative gets moving, it really is spectacular.  Every time I expected Cronin to zig, he zagged and he is great with developing his main cast. And honestly, the first part of the book is in no way bad.  He's a fabulous writer and incredibly good at setting a scene and developing a character, even if they are only meant to stick around for a chapter or two.  (It is dangerous to get too attached to any characters in these books!) I simply prefer when he stays focused on what I think of as the main cast and story line. It's like he can't decide whether he is writing a literary opus or a propulsive horror/thriller story.   Anyway, I'm nervous and hopeful  and curious about where things ended and will definitely be picking up the final book in the trilogy. 

Finally, AND THIS WILL GET SPOILERY, I had a bunch of questions.  So what's up with Wallgast still being around and why is he just now revealing himself to Amy?  I vaguely remember there may have been some ambiguity around his death scene so he could have been turned instead of dying of radiation I suppose?  And does Amy escort him to heaven or something?  Or is that just a dream?  And what's up with Amy. Cronin makes a big deal of aging her appropriately, hints strongly that her and Peter may be in love and then almost immediately turns her into a full on viral? And poor Peter.  Dude is a girl magnet but has only seemed to really return the feelings of two women...both of which turn into monsters who feel unworthy of him and therefore push him away.  Sheesh.  Or am I completely reading that wrong?  Why did he even bother aging Amy etc.. if he was just going to...Oh never mind, I'll read the next book.

I should also comment on the audio version of the book.  Scott Brick is the narrator and he is a hugely popular reader but I don't love him.  He does okay but there is something about how he reads that rubs me the wrong way.  And there was one tiny thing that drove me crazy.  The character of Alicia is often called "Leesh" or at least that's how he said it in book one and how I imagined it.  In this book he calls her "Lish" which may be how it's written but it's different than the first book and sounds way odd to my ears.  Does anybody know an Alicia that goes by "Lish"?  Perhaps I am just sheltered. 

FINAL VERDICT:  When the book is focused on it's main cast and quest story line, it is really amazing but it gets bogged down by a lot or extraneous characters and story tangents. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Other Opinions Are Available: Tor.com | The Bibliosanctum | The Book Smugglers

REVIEW | Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Publication Year: 2016

Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction
Series: The Machineries of Empire #1

Awards: Nothing Yet
Format: Audio (from Audible)

Narrator: Emily Woo Zeller

WHY?:  This book was one of the hottest Science Fiction books of 2016 and got a lot of rave reviews.  I am nothing if not a follower.  It also really sounded like an interesting story.

SYNOPSIS:  This is a military science fiction novel at its core.  Military officer Kel Cheris is paired with the undead soul of a centuries old General to lead a fleet of spaceships to take back the Fortress of Scattered Needles from rebels.  Problem is this undead General has a reputation for being brilliant but also crazy and homicidal so Cheris must navigate the situation very carefully if she is to be successful and come out of the campaign alive.

THOUGHTS:

I think I want to start by talking a little about the reading experience.  I was confused.  A Lot.  Pretty much 50% of the time for the first 3/4 of the book. Lee has imagined a civilization that is complex and detailed and he doesn't spend a lot of time explaining it.  He just jumps right in and asks the reader to keep up and stop dragging him down.   Normally this would have made me frustrated to the point that I would have disengaged with the book but I didn't in this case.  I won't say I was flipping pages at a breakneck speed (or in audio land finding every spare minute to listen) but I was curious and interested and yes, engaged with the book.  

I wondered what would have happened if I was reading rather than listening - would it have been easier to follow? would I have been more prone to drop it?  I'm not sure.  It was definitely a more intricately plotted and detailed book than I usually like to listen to and as a result, I could only listen when I was doing something relatively brainless.  For example, I sometimes will get in some reading while doing data entry at work but this book required too much attention for that.  Pretty much, driving or walking the dogs were the only activities I could do simultaneously!  The narrator was great, though.

So, what kept me engaged, despite being utterly lost?  

1) When boiled down, the plot is actually pretty basic.  If you look at the synopsis above, that is really all that is going on, with a pretty significant side helping of political intrigue, and as long as you can follow that and are interested in the outcome of the siege and intrigued by the mysteries surrounding Jedao (the undead General) than it should keep you reading. It definitely kept me hooked.

2) Kel Cheris is a good solid main character and entry point into the crazy complicated world Lee has developed.  I liked her, I was rooting for her, and her relationship and interactions with Jedao are great.

3) Jedao and his story are fascinating.  He's an unreliable and mysterious presence in the story and I definitely felt driven to find out exactly what was up with him. 

4) Cheris and Jedao:  The two of them together have such a unique, crazy and interesting relationship.

I did also slowly learn to appreciate the world Lee has created.  The society is ruled by a governing body known as the Hexarchate (in Jedao's time it was called the Heptarchate) which has structured the daily lives of its citizens around an intricate calendar.  Following the calendar in just such a manner is somehow tied into and is crucial to their technology and any deviations create problems in the very fabric of the civilization.  The society is also structured by sorting its citizens into different guilds or factions based on their proclivities and talents.  In my simple mind I saw this as a more complicated version of the situation in the Divergent series, lol.  For example, Cheris is a Kel which are the soldiers and officers in the military.  Once you've "enrolled" in your caste or group, you are put into intensive training and even mentally or physically altered to increase effectiveness - for example a procedure is done to the Kel so that they will follow orders no matter what. There are people of course that could go more than one direction and there is an element of choice about which faction you end up in.  For example, Cheris is also very, very good at math, so good that she could have been in numbers nerds faction (I can't remember the fancy name Lee gives them) but instead chose the Kel.  Jedao was first a member of the Shuos  - the devious deep-thinkers that are the tacticians, spies etc... but he switches and became a Kel General and proceeds to never lose a battle.  

That's just a small peek into the incredibly creative and complex world that Lee has created.  In fact that's the ...um... easy parts.  The society and technology is fascinating and interesting to puzzle out but I found that if I didn't quite grasp the details of what was going on, I was still okay and had no trouble following the overall narrative.  I've seen it described as Military Science Fiction and Space Opera and it is in fact, a good blend of the two.

It also packs a number of surprises.  Much of the confusion throughout most of the book is not just because it is dense and complex it is because Cheris does not have all the pieces to the puzzle and therefore the reader doesn't either.  Jedao's and even the Hexarchate itself's motivations are confusing and suspect which sets up a big reveal in the last 1/4 of the book.  It doesn't necessarily all become totally clear but the important stuff does and it is a satisfying pay-off for much of the confusion earlier in the book.  It's a shocking, strange and kind of kick-ass conclusion.  

Ninefox Gambit is without a doubt a really impressive work of science fiction.  Lee's world is deep and fascinating and the plot is intricate and ultimately satisfying.  However, I can't give it full marks because of the frustration of confusion throughout much of the book.  The reading experience was not all it could be for me.  However, different readers mileage will vary - many may relish reading slowly and carefully and imprinting all the details.  I prefer to get pulled in and carried along on the tide of a story.  I got some of that but it was a bit of a choppy ride.

FINAL VERDICT:  A complex and intricately plotted military science fiction/space opera extravaganza.  Takes some concentration and can be confusing but is ultimately satisfying thanks to interesting main characters and great ending.  3.5 out of 5 Stars.

OTHER OPINIONS ARE AVAILABLE: NPR | The Book Smugglers | The Bibliosanctum

REVIEW | Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin

Please Look After Mom by Kyung-Sook Shin, Translated by Chi-Young Kim

Publication Year: 2008/2011 (translation)

Genre: Fiction
Series: NA

Awards: Man Asian Literary Prize (2011)
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: Mark Bramhall, Samantha Quan, Janet Song and Bruce Turk

WHY?:  I don't remember where I heard about it but it made a big splash a few years ago, people liked it and the premise sounded interesting.

SYNOPSIS:  Set in modern day South Korea the book tells the story of a mother's disappearance using 4 different perspectives - daughter, son, father, mother.  Each narrator reflects on their relationship with and their feelings for mother while also sketching a picture of the woman's life.

THOUGHTS:

The first thing to know is that this is not a thriller nor really a mystery though it is at times mysterious.  I think I was expecting this type of book and it was not that at all - it is a character study and a contemplation of what "mother" means  - what it means to the mother and to all those around her.  It is also a mild commentary on modern Korean life and the contrast that apparently still exists between rural and urban culture.  I found it very readable and interesting if a tad over-the-top at times.  

The book is told in 4 parts: from the eldest daughter's, eldest son's, husband's and then  finally Mom's perspective.  In each part they are reacting to the loss of the matriarch of the family, quite literally.  On a trip from their home into the city to visit their children, Mom fails to follow her husband onto a train in a busy subway station and then is never seen again.  The book starts right after this happens with the eldest daughter's perspective and then moves further away in time from Mom's disappearance as the book goes on and the perspective changes.

In this way, from multiple perspectives, the life of Mother is revealed.  The first and last section are interestingly and somewhat confusingly told in 2nd person (for example "you hand out flyers with your brother and worry...").  I think this is to place the reader into the role of having lost your Mother in such a way.  Feeling frantic and bewildered and regretful about harsh words from the past and how you took Mom for granted.  It is likely a universal experience for children, especially if they have chosen a life quite different from their parents which is the case here.  I think this may have been my first time reading a book told using 2nd person and it was a little awkward and at times confusing but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book or keep me from understanding.
  
Mom and Dad raised their family in a small rural village, where there is still a lot of manual labor, poverty and tradition.  All the children have moved to Seoul and have modern jobs and lives.  We get the impression, as the tale is told, that Mom is mostly happy that her children have a more comfortable and free life than she did but it doesn't stop their being disappointments, conflicts and misunderstandings.  And guilt. LOTS of guilt now that Mom is gone.

It's a neat way to tell the story of someone's life - from different perspectives, after they are gone.  Mom is perhaps a little too much of a super woman as she is portrayed but could part of that because her children and husband are exaggerating her goodness out of guilt and loss?  Are they reliable narrators?  Regardless, her life is so interesting as is the exploration of a changing, modernizing Korea. Not just interesting but really readable and emotionally engaging as well!

I listened to the audio and that worked well.  I do have to say that the second person sections, particularly the last section were a tad confusing at times and I don't know whether that might have been easier (or harder) in print.  It wasn't enough of a distraction for me to not really enjoy the audio and the readers. 

FINAL VERDICT:  A thoughtful and emotional book about family, particularly a mother's life and role, set in a fascinating modern-day South Korea.  3.5 out of 5 stars!

Other Opinions Are Available: NPR* | Danny Yee's Book Reviews

* Maureen Corrigan was the reviewer here and she did NOT like this book.  It made a lot of people angry.  

REVIEW | Armada by Ernest Cline

Armada by Ernest Cline

Publication Year: 2015

Genre: Science Fiction
Series: NA

Awards: None
Format: Audio (from Library)

Narrator: Wil Wheaton

WHY?: I loved Ready Player One. 

SYNOPSIS:  One day, while zoning out in class in modern-day Oregon, Zack Lightman spots an Unidentified Flying Object.  Problem is, he can identify it.  It was an enemy fighter plane from his favorite alien-fighting video game, Armada.  Zack thinks he's likely going crazy like his long dead father but just to make sure, he starts an investigation which eventually leads down a very giant rabbit hole and he soon learns that the planet is about to be invaded by aliens.

MY THOUGHTS:

I had a lot of fun with this book and really enjoyed it.  The plot is not exactly original - in fact it is purposely derivative - but Cline keeps it interesting and throws all kinds of curve balls to shake things up. He obviously has great affection for the tropes he is playing with and subverting.  The nostalgia for and trivia of the 1980s is there too for folks, like me, who really enjoyed that aspect of Ready Player One.  It's flat-out a science fiction adventure story and if you enjoy that kind of thing you will likely dig this.

The book isn't all plot though. Cline takes his time setting things up and letting the reader really get to know Zack.  Some readers may get a little bored here but I really loved it and appreciated the time taken to give me an understanding of and therefore connect me with Zack.  He's an excellent protagonist - hot-headed, brave, nerdy.  He is not written as a caricature of a nerdy gamer - he's a fully real and complex human who is easy to root for and identify with.

However the long set-up does lead into one of my criticisms.  I wish this had been more than one book.  I think it could have easily been a duology or even a trilogy.  Several important things in the back half of the book seemed to happen way too quickly.  Important characters are introduced but there was no time to get to know, or care much about them.  Zack is really the only character that feels important and real and ultimately that takes some of the wind out of the story's sails.  I think with some added plot points, there was enough meat here to have played the story out over a longer arc. As it is the first and second halves of the book feel like different books with a different setting and cast of characters. 

One other comment, that is not really a criticism but is a mild caution for Ready Player One lovers. Even more than Ready Player One, Armada felt like a book for video game enthusiasts.  I am not a gamer at all and that didn't stop me from really enjoying the book but I imagine it would be really, really amazing for gamers. My teenage nephews are both into video games and I immediately ordered this book and sent it to them.  

Finally, I listened to this book narrated by Wil Wheaton.  Wheaton was the perfect reader and does such a great job. His energy and skill played a role in how much I liked the book.  One of my favorite narrations of the year, I think.  

FINAL VERDICT:  Despite the plot being a little too squished, this is a fun character-driven Science Fiction adventure which should work for everyone who likes this type of story and should be especially awesome for folks who love video games. 

Rating Among Similar Books:

Rating Among All Books:

Character Rating:

OVERALL RATING: 

Other Opinions Are Available:  Nerdist | Cuddlebuggery | The Bibliosanctum

 

REVIEW | Zeus, Athena, and Hera - The Olympians Comic Series by George O'Connor

The Olympians Series: Zeus, Athena and Hera (Vols 1,2 and 3) by George O'Connor

Publication Year: 2010, 2011

Genre: Middle-Grade, Graphic Novel, Mythology
Series: The Olympians

Awards: None
Format: Hardcover (from Library)

Narrator: NA

WHY?:  I'm a Greek mythology nerd, hard core yo.  

SYNOPSIS: Each volume is a pretty straight-up presentation of the main myths surrounding each of the featured deities.  For example with Zeus, it's mostly about how he became King of the Gods (overthrew his dad and the rest of the Titans), with Hera it's mostly about Heracles (Hercules if you're Roman). 

These are the first three volumes in this series of graphic novels featuring Greek Mythology.  The intended audience, by the writing and the content emphasized, is middle grade but that didn't stop me from enjoying them.  

One of my very favorite books when I was a kid was D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Mythology and these comics reminded me of that beloved volume very much.  The format is of course different though D'Aulaires also included a lot of art and was very visual.  A lot of the mythology presented is very similar and it is kept mostly PG - considering the way the Greek Gods carried on that is quite a feat.

To be honest, I mildly enjoyed the first volume Zeus but wasn't wowed or too impressed.  The visuals are great and O'Connors imagining of how the Gods and Goddesses look is a lot of fun to discover.  The myth telling is relatively bland and not terribly unique, at least that's how it appeared at first in Zeus.  

It wasn't until the volume on Hera when I really developed some special appreciation for O'Connor's vision and where this series sets itself apart from classics like D'Aulaires.  First of all, O'Connor forthrightly takes on the inherent sexism in the myths.  As he points out in his really awesome notes sections that he includes at the end of each volume, most of what was written and passed down is the men's story told by the men.  Case in point is the depiction of Hera which is problematic at best.  Hera has always been portrayed as a petty, insanely jealous and generally unpleasant harpy of wife. A harridan. She does do some really cruel and petty things BUT the fact of the matter is that Zeus is a TERRIBLE husband.  He is constantly cheating on her and in fact ate his first queen (Metis - mother of Athena).  O'Connor deliberately interprets many of the myths surrounding Hera in a different and fairer way, using some scraps of evidence and stories that suggest that the Queen of the Gods was not historically seen in such a purely negative light.  His take on things is very cool and depicts Hera, the Goddess of Marriage and Childbirth, as she is meant to be, I think.  He also fixes some other more modern biases like drawing Andromeda, an Ethiopian princess, as African.  

Along with his explanatory notes and informal footnotes at the end of the volumes, which are a very cool addition, he also does some fun things to connect the volumes. For example in Athena he has a panel or two that shows a conversation between Zeus and Metis in the foreground and Demeter and Hera walking by in the background seeming to whisper to each other.  In Hera, we see this same scene but with the focus reversed - we hear what Hera and Demeter were whispering about.  Cool!

FINAL VERDICT:  I think this would make a nice introduction to Greek Mythology for a kid, especially a kid who loved the Percy Jackson series and is curious about the base myths that those books play with.  It was also fun for me as an adult Greek Mythology nerd and I especially appreciated the more feminist slant of the tales while maintaining the myth's integrity. Overall for these first three volumes: 3.5 out of 5 stars.