Archive for the ‘fantasy’ Category

I read about this intriguing livejournal post on the YALSA blog and had to share my own thoughts. I’ve heard this point of view before: Edward as the creepy, stalking, possibly emotionally (even physically) abusive “boyfriend” (can you call him a boyfriend if he’s dead?). I’ve read all of the Twilight books numerous times. I was into the books before they became popular. I’m not a fan of the movies, but I’ve seen both of them now.

What do I think? You can’t argue with the points made by the author of that post. Edward clearly exhibits some behaviors of an abusive person. C’mon, he’s so creepy. He does stalk Bella. He watches her sleep. He threatened and tried to commit suicide because he couldn’t live without her! Honestly, I had some of these thoughts before reading this, but didn’t realize how horrible, how awful this relationship between Edward and Bella really may be.

From the point of view of a fan–the reader gets lost in the book. It’s not amazing writing, it’s not even an always believable story, but there is something about it that sucks (ha) you in. Edward and Bella’s relationship is compelling to the type of person (young female) that gets drawn to this story. If you leave the story and take it for what it is on a superficial level, a novel, maybe you don’t see the fact that there is something seriously wrong in the way he treats Bella. Or maybe you do and you ignore it because sometimes he says great things or does something right. Or maybe you’re lonely and you can’t see beyond your own emotions.

Whatever the reason, I didn’t see this so clearly, and I’m glad for this post. I agree with many commenters on the YALSA blog. Education is always important. Equal access should be made to the Twilight books and to materials on abusive relationships. Communication is also important. Friends and families should discuss the content of these types of books–and recognize it for what it is: a story. And in your real life, if you know an Edward, it is not OK to be bossed around, abused–emotionally, verbally, or physically, or treated as a second-class citizen.

This is a very interesting topic and I hope it will be continued to be discussed across the blogosphere. I am very interested to hear others’ thoughts.

I’ve finally finished Fire by Kristin Cashore. I purchased the book several weeks ago when it came out–couldn’t wait to get my hands on it! I never reviewed Graceling here, but it has become one of my favorite books. Probably of all time! See, I’m a big fan of Tamora Pierce and her world of Tortall, filled with magic, knights, romance, and great stories and characters. Graceling, and now Fire, reminded me vividly of Pierce’s worlds, in a new and different way.

In Fire, Cashore takes us to the Dells, a strange country inhabited by creatures called monsters–they look like normal animals, but are every color of the rainbow, and have the power to control your mind with their beauty. Fire is a person, a young woman, that is the last living human monster, born of a human monster father, and a normal human mother. She is breathtakingly beautiful, with hair every color of orange, red, and pink (which is where her name comes from). Her mind is strong, and she has the mental power so hear others thoughts and control them, if their mind is not closed to her.

Fire’s story is complex and would be hard to describe in much detail here, so I’ll give you the basics. The Dells has had civil crisis for many years now, all the way back to when Fire’s father, Castrel, was alive, in power, and close confidante of the king. Castrel used his monster powers for evil with everyone, especially the king–but not with Fire. Through a series of events, the king died, and as did Castrel, and the king’s sons, Nash and Brigan were put into power.

This is where Fire’s story really begins, in her own lands outside the main cities of the Dells. She lives near her friend from childhood, Archer, and the man that really raised her, his father,, Lord Brocker. Every day, her life and safety is in jeopardy because of her heritage. Monsters can’t help but try to attack her when they see her beauty. So, she must hide her hair, and learn to protect herself. After being injured by an outsider to the area, Fire accompanies Archer and his men to visit the queen (the dead king’s wife) while he hopes to obtain more men to help protect their lands. While there, Fire encounters the new king, Nash, and his brother Brigan. This meeting of the brothers and Fire leads to the great adventure she has in this book: her journey across the Dells to the city, and her attempts to help lay down the upcoming war using her mental powers.

What is so great about Fire? First, the plot. The plot is interestingly complex and extremely suspenseful. It has all the greatness of an adventure novel, with a full-blown fantasy world tied in. Cashore creates a novel that can stand up to many of the great fantasy novels of our time, while also keeping the story engaging for readers that enjoy romance and books for young adults. The characters, despite their otherworldliness, are amazingly relatable. Also, the characters are well-written, with personality, faults, and greatness. You can’t help but love her characters and this strange world she’s put them in.

You don’t need to have read Graceling to read Fire. The stories are completely separate, but in a way their stories overlap and in the way Cashore writes and describes the Dells and the characters, you know it is one part of the puzzle. Graceling is another part, and I do recommend a read of it, before or after Fire (Graceling actually comes after Fire, chronologically).

Get this book and read it now, and you won’t be sorry you did! I especially recommend this book for fans of Tamora Pierce, Christopher Paolini, Garth Nix, and Shannon Hale’s Books of Bayern. I know you’ll love this one!

For More: Visit Kristin Cashore’s blog!

One of my favorite authors that I began reading in the past year is Shannon Hale. I started with Princess Academy, then read her book for adults, Austenland, and then moved on to the Books of Bayern, which began with The Goose Girl. I’m a big fan of all her work that I have read thus far. She has a way of visualizing little known tales and making them feel like new classics in their own right.

Book of a Thousand Days is the story of Dashti, a mucker maid, and her mistress Lady Saren, daughter of the leader of one of the areas of some ancient land that seems similar to ancient China/Mongolia. Saren is imprisoned in a tower with Dashti for years because she refused to marry a man chosen by her father. Dasthi keeps a journal telling the tale of their existence in the tower, while also hoping that Saren’s chosen, a khan leader of another district, comes to their rescue.

Book of a Thousand Days is much more than a fairy tale–it is a tale of growth and coming into your own. Dasthi begins as a shy, timid young woman, bending to her mistress’ will and serving her faithfully. Through the trial and tribulations of their confinement, and their adventures after they finally escape, she blossoms into a strong, confident young woman that cherishes the ones she loves and fights to keep them safe.

Any lover of lyrical, beautiful tales with a strong heroine, adventure, and romance, will enjoy Book of a Thousand Days. I also recommend the Books of Bayern series by Shannon Hale which share a very similar style of storytelling.

SUPER EXCITED NEWS!

One of my favorite books, Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, is becoming a movie! See here and here for more information. Best news? It will be adapted by Caroline Thompson, who wrote Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I am anticipating that they are going to get this book right and make it as awesome as it deserves. Go here to read more about Marr’s thoughts on the whole thing.

Wicked Lovely is a paranormal romance novel starring Ash, a normal high school girl that can see faeries. It was followed up with Ink Exchange and Fragile Eternity (which I wrote about here) with the 4th book, Radiant Shadows to be published next year.

I also read that they are making Aprilynne Pike’s Wings into a movie, starring Miley Cyrus. I haven’t read this one yet, but it is on my list!

I will keep you posted on any more film news on this and other awesome teen novels!

I’ve recently begun the Septimus Heap novels by Angie Sage–what looks like a great series for middle-grade and younger teens (or really, anyone of any age that loves fantasy as I do)!

The midwife declares Septimus Heap dead on the night of his birth, and then later that night his father, Silas, discovers a baby girl abandoned outside the town. The Heaps take in the baby girl and raise her as their own, over the years discovering more and more about her true identity. Throughout the course of the first book, Magyk, the reader wonders, what really happened to Septimus? What will happen to Jenna, the abandoned child? After years of living with the Heaps, Jenna is put in danger and Silas, along with a motley crue of other cast members (the “head” wizard of the land, Marcia, Nicko Heap, and more) must do all that they can to save her, while also attempting to restore order to a land that has been diminishing under the rule of the cruel head Custodian and the evil wizard DomDaniel.

I’d recommend this series for those who love fantasy with magic, wizards, stories of family ties, adventure, and suspense. I will be sure to post often as I continue throughout this series!

And finally, the long awaited sequel to last year’s The Hunger Games has been released to the demanding public! I picked up this book immediately and haven’t been able to put it down since. I’m not quite finished, but here’s what I have to say about it: when a book makes you cry, when you feel, dream, think about what’s happening in it, throughout your day and your night, you know it’s an excellent, moving novel!

I’d like to take a quick break from my absence to recommend an excellent book, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I just recently finished this young adult fantasy novel and can’t stop telling people about it!

The book is told from two alternating points of view, Grace and Sam. Several years ago, Grace was attacked by wolves and bitten, but saved at the last minute by one of the wolves. Ever since that moment, she has watched that wolf who saved her from her back yard, always noticing his intense yellow eyes.

Sam is that wolf, a werewolf, to be exact, and member of a pack that changes into wolves whenever the temperature drops to a low temperature (hence the title, Shiver). Ever since he saved Grace, he has watched her, and in the summer, when he is human, he has yearned to be close to her, but doesn’t know how.

Shiver is a deeply emotional, hypnotic story–grabbing and heart-yanking. I immediately fell in love with Grace and Sam. Their stories are told well, and fully. They are deep, complex characters.

The moment Grace and Sam finally meet changes both of their lives, and they know there is no turning back. Secrets, history, and violence haunt their new relationship–which they must fight to keep, and battle to remain together.

Read this. If you like fantasy, if you like werewolves, if you like young adult books. Read this now, and you won’t regret it. Simply a fantastic read. And I hope there will be more to come!

This is another book I’ve been meaning to read for quite some time. I even have the sequel already in my possession (Seeing Redd). This story is the imaginative retelling of Alice in Wonderland. At first glance, the reader may think, but I know this story! But you don’t, you really don’t, not the way Frank Beddor tells it!

Alyss is the princess of Wonderland, heir to the throne. Her mother rules the land as head of the Heart family, one of the 4 dynastic families of the country. Years ago, Alyss’ aunt, Redd, who should have ascended to the throne, was cast away from Wonderland because of her evilness and tendencies toward Black Imagination (more on that later). For years, she has sought her revenge on the royal family.

Surrounded by friends, Dodge, her childhood playmate, Hatter Madigan, her mother’s personal bodyguard, and Bibwit Hare, her tutor, Alyss lives in the royal palace, until the day of her 7th birthday when Redd seeks to exact her vengeance.

Alyss is whisked away along with Hatter into our world, where they are separated and she is forced to put aside her memories of Wonderland and live and grow with her adopted family, becoming Alice. And all the while, the new Queen Redd tortures her citizens into submission. How will this twisted tale of Alice in Wonderland be set to rights in the end?

The characters in this book are fascinating, and very different than what you would expect, coming from the original tale. Alice is a beautiful girl, with extensive powers of imagination (in this world, the power of imagination is used to create things from nothing–White Imagination being used for good, and Black Imagination being used for evil). Her tutor, Bibwit Hare (you may think of him as the white rabbit), is intelligent, resourceful, and courageous. Queen Redd is just as mad and crazy as ever, but there is a story to her sad existence, and while you may not pity her, there is certainly more depth to this than ever was before.

I’m very excited to pick up the next book, Seeing Redd, and then the third comes out this fall. What will come next for Alyss of Wonderland?

Let me start today’s blog post with this: Tamora Pierce is one of my favorite authors of all time. I’ve read all of her books, ALL, and I especially enjoy her series of books that take place in the fantasy realm of Tortall. Her latest novel, Bloodhound, is the second of a trilogy surrounding Beka Cooper. Beka is a Dog for the city of Corus, the capital of Tortall. Bloodhound follows the story of her second year in the service of the crown (a Dog is like a modern day policeman/detective), and her first adventure as a full-blown member of the patrol.

This time around, Beka travels to Port Caynn with her partner, Clary Goodwin, to investigate possible counterfeiting (or colemongering, as the locals would say). Accompanied by a scent-tracking hound, Achoo, she finds herself almost immediately in the midst of everything, surrounded by new friends and new enemies, including the fearsome Rogue of Port Caynn, Pearl Skinner, and the charming gambler, Dale Rowan.

As I began Bloodhound, I thought to myself that I certainly didn’t love Beka Cooper as much as Pierce’s other heroines. How could anyone top Alanna the Lioness, or Daine the Wild Mage? But after finishing, I’ve realized that Beka’s voice has found her own way into a little corner of my heart. Terrier, the first book in the series, and Bloodhound, are unique from Pierce’s other novels in that it is written in diary format. However, after a few pages, you don’t even realize that–this book is so action-packed, so funny, and so full of well thought out, descriptive characters, that you’d never think twice about the format.

I imagine that once this trilogy of books is complete, Beka Cooper will have her place amongst the heroines of Tortall (or so perhaps she has found that place already!), and I hope that readers will also find a place for her on their shelves. Any fan of fantasy with a strong, stubborn heroine that is far from perfect, but ever lovable, will enjoy Bloodhound.

Other Recommended Reads: Check out Tamora Pierce’s other novels of Tortall, including the Lioness quartet, which feature Alanna, the lady knight, and also Beka Cooper’s ancestor, George Cooper, King of the Rogues.

Hello dear readers! I am currently beginning The Obernewtyn Chronicles by Isobelle Carmody. I picked up the first one at Target quite some time ago and have finally begun. So far, so good! The Chronicles tell the story of Elspeth, an orphan living in a post-apocalyptic world that categorizes people with “mutations” as Misfits, unfit for interaction with “normal” human society. I am enjoying her story thus far, although I found it a little bit confusing at first. There is a lot of history thrown at you, and because of the odd, unique nature of the world, there is a lot to learn that the reader has to catch up with.

I think I’m going to enjoy the rest of these. The fantasy aspects are great, and I’m finding the plot very different from other fantasy novels I’ve read lately, so it’s refreshing. I’ll be sure to keep you all updated as I continue on with the series!