Review: The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

Well hello, poor sad dusty neglected old blog.  It's been a while.  I never called, I never wrote.  Let's jump back into the swing of things with a review.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns--Rae Carson
September 2011 by Greenwillow
423 pages--Goodreads

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

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This book has been floating around in my periphery for a while, but it looked like just another generic fantasy adventure, so for the longest time I didn't bother picking it up.  Boy, was that a mistake.  I've been missing out on a fascinating world, endearing characters, and a plot that is at times an intensely satisfying slow-burn and at others a compelling page-turner.  From the very beginning of the novel, even when not much was happening, I couldn't put the book down.

As interesting as the plot is, where Carson truly shines is in getting you to care about the characters.  From surly, little Prince Rosario to the genuine, sweet Humberto and even the aloof and weak King Alejandro.  You can't help but want to know more about them, and spend more time watching them live out their stories.

I also really enjoyed the development of the mystery surrounding the Godstone, its powers and mythology, and Elisa's place as God’s chosen one.  The way Carson wove in the previous stone-bearers, especially the ones who had failed, was really interesting.

The book certainly isn't perfect.  Carson saves most of the world building for books two and three, leaving the setting a bit underdeveloped in this first installment.  And the spinning Godstone bellybutton amulet at the end was more than a little bit hokey.  But at that point, I just didn’t care.  I have fallen for this series hook line and sinker.  I’ve devoured book two and am well into book three.

Review: Stolen Songbird

Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
April 2014 by Strange Chemistry
469 pages--Goodreads

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

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I will start off by saying that ending was so much not okay.  I need book two right now.  What do you mean book two wont be out for a year and then I have to wait a whole nother year for book three?!  GAHAHGadfjaoeiwnodainvpaofiahs.

Now that I've gotten that out, I will say that I loved Stolen Songbird.  It was not a perfect book and it is not a book for everyone, but I could not put it down.  With the exception of the 30 or 40 pages I read before going to bed, I read the whole 400+ pages in one day.  Had I started later in the day or had the book been longer, I would have needed to stay awake all night to finish it to find out what happened.

This is one of the very few times a romance has taken center stage in a plot without me objecting as I read.  With many, many romances I roll my eyes at how shallow the characters are and how uninteresting their story is, but I cared about this one a lot.  And the romance didn't detract from the other important things going on.  I really wanted Tristan and Cecile to get together, and at the same time I really wanted to figure out Tristan's political machinations.  And I wanted to find out whether the rebellion would work or fail miserably.  And I loved seeing how Cecile integrated herself into Troll society 

I also loved the minor characters.  Marc, Tips, even Anais, but especially the twins.  I loved Victoria and Vincent and their good natured competitions and Cecile's friendship with them.  Along with engaging characters, Jensen presents us with a rich world with complex political and social structures without infodumping.  We are given answers just a little bit at a time as Cecile learns things or figures them out.

Stolen Songbird reminded me a lot of The Hollow Kingdom but with more adventure and romance.  And endearing characters.  And pages.  Basically take everything I liked about The Hollow Kingdom and add more of it and you get Stolen Songbird.  I did not expect to love it so much.  It is not the right book for everyone, but it was the right book for me right now.  It's full of mystery and intrigue, and I need answers.  Do you hear me, Jensen.  I need book two now!

Mini Review: Rump by Liesl Shurtliff

Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin--Liesl Shurtliff
April 2013 by Alfred A Knopf Books for Young Readers
272 pages--Goodreads

In a magic kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.

To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—he just might triumph in the end.

---

Rump was a cute and funny read. I enjoyed the tie-ins to other fairy tales. It was a bit too simple for me. There is some MAJOR scooby-doo-ing/villain-monologue-ing near the end of the book. And the major twist is based on Rump's real name being Rumplestiltskin, which we all know going into the story (thank you cover picture), so we all knew what was going to happen. The foreshadowing for this unsurprising twist wouldn't bother a younger audience, but it made Rump's constant worry about his name a bit tedious for me.

As a bonus, the audiobook was read by Maxwell Glick aka THE Mr. Collins of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, so that was awesome. Although, Glick used a sort of storytelling narration style that didn't quite fit with a first-person narrative, I still enjoyed listening to him read.  Cue the nostalgia.

Rump:  The True Story of Rumplestiltskin is a good quick read or bedtime story for young readers. 

P.S.--Small bone to pick with the cover:  Why is Red's hair not red?

Review: The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell

The Princess Curse--Merrie Haskell
September 2011 by Harper Collins
328 pages--Goodreads

In the fifteenth-century kingdom of Sylvania, the prince offers a fabulous reward to anyone who cures the curse that forces the princesses to spend each night dancing to the point of exhaustion. Everyone who tries disappears or falls into an enchanted sleep.

Thirteen-year-old Reveka, a smart, courageous herbalist’s apprentice, decides to attempt to break the curse despite the danger. Unravelling the mystery behind the curse leads Reveka to the Underworld, and to save the princesses, Reveka will have to risk her soul.

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The Princess Curse mashes-up  "The 12 Dancing Princesses," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Hades and Persephone" while also telling its own story.  Reveka is an awesome protagonist (even though I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce her name).  Her snarky disrespect is rather funny.  She's likable without being perfect and flawed without being infuriating.  She's practical and capable and just fun to read about.

Some readers have an issue with Reveka's goal of entering a convent, but during the middle ages, convents were on of the few places people could dedicate their lives to something other than just working really hard to stay alive.  A convent would be the only place she could become a master herbalist.  Also, I love how Reveka uses herbology (**SPOILER** and awesome underworld powers) to save the day.   

I wish we could have seen more of the underworld.  And dragons.  The fact that dragons were in this book needed to be more heavily advertised. 

The Princess Curse is a quick, enjoyable, curl up on the couch with cocoa read.  It left me longing for more (sequel? hopefully? write it please!).  This makes the second Christmas in a row I've read a fairy tale retelling.  TRADITION!!!!!!!!

Review: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

Palace of Stone--Shannon Hale
August 2012 by Bloomsbury USA
323 pages--Goodreads

Coming down from the mountain to a new life in the city is a thrill to Miri. She and her princess academy friends have been brought to Asland to help the future princess Britta prepare for her wedding.There, Miri also has a chance to attend school-at the Queen's Castle. But as Miri befriends students who seem sophisticated and exciting she also learns that they have some frightening plans. Torn between loyalty to the princess and her new friends' ideas, between an old love and a new crush, and between her small mountain home and the bustling city, Miri looks to find her own way in this new place.

---

When I heard that Shannon Hale was publishing Palace of Stone, my first thought was "No; Princess Academy's story is complete.  It does not need a sequel.  A sequel would diminish the story that already exists."  I still hold that position, but Palace of Stone isn't a sequel, weird as that sounds.  Yes, it takes place in the same world with the same characters, but it's not a sequel.  Rather than stretching the Mount Eskel story beyond what it has material for, Palace of Stone is its own story.  Hale explores new situations and new locations while holding onto the characters and spirit we love from the first book.

The political situation is excellently crafted.  Hale poses complicated situations that I think her younger readers will miss the nuances of, but I love them.  We Americans tend to be a overly gung-ho in support of revolutions, but Hale asks the hard questions.  Is it better to support the stability of a bad ruler while some people starve, or to incite rebellion which may improve things or may lead to complete anarchy and widespread starvation and violence?  This part of the plot is wrapped up a bit too easily and neatly, but Miri faces the issue's complexity enough that I'll take it.

Hale even makes a love triangle work!  This is no "Team Edward/Team Jacob" clone thrown in to garner sales from angsty teenage girls or to cover up lack of substance elsewhere in the plot. The triangle is used more as an external representation of Miri's torn allegiance between the familiarity of home and the excitement of new experiences in Asland, which is a much more interesting tension than a romantic one.

I love the characters; I love the world; I love the plot;  I love Hale's writing style.  Palace of Stone was exactly what I needed after a massive disappointment from a different book.

Review: Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Enchanted--Alethea Kontis
May 2012 by Harcourt's Children's Books
308 pages--Goodreads

It isn't easy being the rather overlooked and unhappy youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week. Sunday’s only comfort is writing stories, although what she writes has a terrible tendency to come true.

When Sunday meets an enchanted frog who asks about her stories, the two become friends. Soon that friendship deepens into something magical. One night Sunday kisses her frog goodbye and leaves, not realizing that her love has transformed him back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland—and a man Sunday’s family despises.

The prince returns to his castle, intent on making Sunday fall in love with him as the man he is, not the frog he was. But Sunday is not so easy to woo. How can she feel such a strange, strong attraction for this prince she barely knows? And what twisted secrets lie hidden in his past - and hers?

---

I loved all the references to well known and less known fairy tales, but Enchanted  wasn't as strong a retelling as I had hoped.  

First, there was the instalove.  It just didn't work, even for a fairy tale.  Retellings are a way to explore things that are skimmed over in the original tale, particularly the romance.  For me, retellings have to expand on the romance and have the characters more realistically fall in love over a longer span of time, at least a little bit.  Instead, Sunday kept love-at-first-sighting.  And she just wasn't smart in some scenes.  Really, Sunday.  You wake up in a dress that is not yours in a place you've never been before in the arms of a man who was not there when you passed out, and you're not at all worried?  Not even a little bit?  Not even when you first wake up before you get your bearings and realize it's the prince?  Really?  Come on!  You should freak out at least a little bit.  And Rumbold, you took too many liberties in that scene.

That wasn't the only aspect of the story that wasn't fully developed.  The climax was rushed.  So many fairy tales were pushed into that one scene that I wasn't sure exactly what was going on.  And why was the family suddenly okay with Wednesday and Sunday involving themselves with the royal family?  Weren't they supposed to hate them?  

I did like the scene where Sunday and her father swapped stories.  Honestly, Papa needed to be a bigger part of the story.  Familial relationships are sadly neglected in these types of stories.  I would have loved to see more of the father-daughter relationship.  And there should have been more Saturday.

In the end, I think Enchanted's biggest problem was trying to tell to much story in not enough time.  It wasn't the retelling for me.

Review: Ironskin by Tina Connolly

Ironskin--Tina Connolly
October 2012 by Tor Books
304 pages--Goodreads

Jane Eliot wears an iron mask.

It’s the only way to contain the fey curse that scars her cheek. The Great War is five years gone, but its scattered victims remain—the ironskin.

When a carefully worded listing appears for a governess to assist with a "delicate situation"—a child born during the Great War—Jane is certain the child is fey-cursed, and that she can help.

Teaching the unruly Dorie to suppress her curse is hard enough; she certainly didn’t expect to fall for the girl’s father, the enigmatic artist Edward Rochart. But her blossoming crush is stifled by her own scars, and by his parade of women. Ugly women, who enter his closed studio...and come out as beautiful as the fey.

Jane knows Rochart cannot love her, just as she knows that she must wear iron for the rest of her life. But what if neither of these things is true? Step by step Jane unlocks the secrets of her new life—and discovers just how far she will go to become whole again.

---

A steampunk fey reimagining of Jane Eyre, Ironskin worked so well until it didn't.  

The first two thirds of the book were great.  It was an adaptation like Cinder, where the base story was important to the plot without being a crutch; Connolly had her own story to tell.  She fundamentally changed Jane by giving her a loving childhood, but it worked for the story, especially with her rage curse.  Helen was too greedy* to deserve her name, but I could cope with it.  I liked how Adelle/Dorie's story was progressing as she developed her fey powers.  Grace Poole got a new and interesting back story. The only thing that really needed improvement was the development of the Jane/Rochart romance.

Then everything fell apart.  As we approached the climax, Jane and the other characters started doing things that didn't make any sense, didn't develop the plot, didn't heighten the suspense, and that were included only because Connolly was crutching on the original plot.  Why did Jane suddenly go back to the city during the siege?  Nothing was accomplished that couldn't have been done back at the estate.  The only way it made a particle of sense was to see it as a shoddy adaptation of Jane's post failed-wedding flight.  And things just got worse with the faces and the fey queen and demonic possession.  

After a strong start, Ironskin was a disappointment.  I'll just go watch this episode of The Autobiography of Jane Eyre instead.


*In an earlier draft I accidentally typed "Helen was too groovy."  Now I need a disco adaptation of Jane Eyre.

Review: A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz

A Tale Dark & Grim--Adam Gidwitz
October 2010 by Dutton Juvinile
252 pages--Goodreads

In this mischievous and utterly original debut, Hansel and Gretel walk out of their own story and into eight other classic Grimm-inspired tales. As readers follow the siblings through a forest brimming with menacing foes, they learn the true story behind (and beyond) the bread crumbs, edible houses, and outwitted witches.

Fairy tales have never been more irreverent or subversive as Hansel and Gretel learn to take charge of their destinies and become the clever architects of their own happily ever after.

---

A Tale Dark and Grimm was a very quick read; I finished in two days.  It was fun to hop through some lesser-known fairytales, and Gidwitz does not Disney-ify them.  They stay creepy and gruesome and Grimm.  This book might be a bit much for young, young readers, but most 10 year olds would like it.

I loved the narrator.  He pops in frequently to urge you to make sure the children can't hear the next part because it's just too scary for them.  He also points out some of the huge logical fails that fairytale characters make, such as why would Gretel have to cut off her finger for it to work as a key.  This book is a tribute to the Grimm tales, but it is a tongue in cheek tribute.

I wish Gidwitz had done more to flesh out Hansel and Gretel.  Their characters were never really developed.  They started as caricatures and never moved far beyond that.  I get that Gidwitz wrote the book to explore the stories rather than to explore the characters, but I still would have appreciated a bit more depth.  I never felt like I knew Hansel and Gretel as people.

A Tale Dark and Grimm is a fun, quick read with a beautiful cover (I'm a sucker for silhouettes).  It's definitely worth a try for any fairytale lovers.

Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind--Patrick Rothfuss
March 2007 by DAW Hardcover
662 pages--Goodreads

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

---

The Name of the Wind was fine, but not amazing.  It has a nontraditional premise, and I congratulate Rothfuss for pulling it off.  I mean, how many authors could write a trilogy where the main character sits in an in and tells the story of his life for three days straight.  And that's it.  And the publishers buy it and readers give it some of the highest ratings I've ever seen on Goodreads.  

One of my biggest problems with the novel is Kvothe's obsession with Denna.  She's just dull.  If she wasn't such a big part of the book I could ignore her, but Kvothe keeps mooning over her and it gets very boring.  Seriously, Kvothe; stop moping about your crush and go learn magic.  Denna did show some more depth near the end of the novel, so maybe there's hope for book two.  I don't need her to be a great or even a good person, but I need her to be a real person with goals and motivations.  For now she's just a pretty face.  

It's a very slow burning novel.  Not boring, but not terribly exciting either.  I liked Kvothe's time in the forest and the city.  And I want to see more of the female loanshark.  She's a much more interesting character than Denna.  Why can't we spend more time with her?

So, it's good, but not the best book I've ever read.  I will get around to reading book two eventually, but I don't feel a driving need to finish the series now.  Especially since book three isn't out.

Mini Review: Sweetly by Jackson Pearce

Sweetly--Jackson Pearce
August 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
310 pages--Goodreads

As a child, Gretchen's twin sister was taken by a witch in the woods. Ever since, Gretchen and her brother, Ansel, have felt the long branches of the witch's forest threatening to make them disappear, too.

Years later, when their stepmother casts Gretchen and Ansel out, they find themselves in sleepy Live Oak, South Carolina. They're invited to stay with Sophia Kelly, a beautiful candy maker who molds sugary magic: coveted treats that create confidence, bravery, and passion.

Life seems idyllic and Gretchen and Ansel gradually forget their haunted past -- until Gretchen meets handsome local outcast Samuel. He tells her the witch isn't gone -- it's lurking in the forest, preying on girls every year after Live Oak's infamous chocolate festival, and looking to make Gretchen its next victim. Gretchen is determined to stop running and start fighting back. Yet the further she investigates the mystery of what the witch is and how it chooses its victims, the more she wonders who the real monster is.

Gretchen is certain of only one thing: a monster is coming, and it will never go away hungry.

---

Sweetly is a slow paced novel, but it drew me in and wouldn't let me go, so I finished it in two days.  It's a compelling read. Each of the characters has depth, but I particularly like Gretchen's development.  The angle Pearce takes on the villain is also interesting.  Not something I expected, but something I'm still thinking about.  I like Pearce's writing.  She keeps that slowly growing unease feeling going the whole time and some parts just sent chills up my spine, particularly the prologue.  And so many different kinds of chocolate described in such detail I could practically taste them.

Sweetly is by no means flawless.  The Samuel romance thing felt a bit unnecessary, and how did Gretchen become such a marksman over the course of a week?  But I'm willing to forgive those things for the rest of the book.  And the cover is so wonderfully creepy.  I will definitely have to read Sisters Red and Fathomless (which happens to be on sale this month for Kindles).

Mini Review: The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy

The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle--Christopher Healy
April 2013 by Walden Pond Press
477 pages--Goodreads

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You remember them, don't you? They're the Princes Charming who finally got some credit after they stepped out of the shadows of their princesses - Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, and Briar Rose - to defeat an evil witch bent on destroying all their kingdoms.

But alas, such fame and recognition only last so long. And when the princes discover that an object of great power might fall into any number of wrong hands, they are going to have to once again band together to stop it from happening - even if no one will ever know it was they who did it.

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I won a copy of The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle in a giveaway from Walden Pond Press.  Thank you, thank you thank you.  This book is a lot of fun.

The characters reverte back to where they were at the beginning of the first book.  Frederick goes back to being a scardy-cat.  Liam loses his confidence.  Etc.  They do grow again, but I don't want them to start over at the beginning of each new book.  They could have kept their distinct personalities without losing all the progress they made in the first book.

I like the growth from Briar Rose.  In the first book, she was just a spoiled brat.  Now, she's starting to show that all she really wants is friendship; she just doesn't realize it yet.  I see a lot of potential for her in future books.  Lila is still the best.  I want a side book just about her adventures with Ruffian during her bounty hunter training.  Troll is even funnier this time around.  I love Gustav's nicknames for everyone, particularly Tassels for Frederick.

This series is just a whole lot of fun.  Clever in some places, like the henchman Redshirt who is thrown out a window a couple paragraphs after we meet him.  I can't wait for the next installment.  And we'll finish off the review with a couple more quotes, just for fun.

"The element of surprise can offer a hero great advantage in battle. The element of oxygen - also important."

"Some people say Rundark was born out of a mad alchemist's attempt to distill the essence of pure evil. others clam he emerged fully grown from an erupting volcano. although it's also possible that he was the son of a used cart salesman from Nebbish Villiage--they didn't keep very good records in Dar."

Mini Review: The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy

The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom--Christopher Healy
May 2012 by Walden Pond Press
419 pages--Goodreads

Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You’ve never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change.

Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it’s up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be.

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The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is just a fun book.  It's a bit cheesy, but it's funny and cute.  It's a zany sort of slapstick adventure with some word play thrown in.  Saving Your Kingdom is long for a middle grade novel, but it clips along at a quick pace.  The characters are just great.  They're a bit one dimensional, but there's enough characters that you get a lot of variety.  Ella the adventurous, Frederick the timid, Lila the awesome.  Troll is a lot of fun, and I love Gustav's direct bullheadedness.

I don't have much else to say, so I'll just finish with some of my favorite quotes.

"Neville and Horace stopped and eyed them smugly through the bars.  Eyeing smugly was something the pair excelled in.  They'd actually shared the title of Best Smug Eyers in their graduating class at bandit school."

"The rooftop level of the Bandit King's castle had been constructed as a convenient spot from which the robbers could spill boiling oil down onto anyone who tried to break into their headquarters, but it also served as a nice place to have duels, and occasionally, to sunbathe." 

"This was not Liam's finest hour.  The frustrations of the past several days had been slowly eating away at him and muddying his mind.  On a normal day, had Liam been confronted by a fire-breathing dragon, he would have come up with a brilliant tactic for defeating the beast.  He would have lured the dragon into a tight spot to trap it, or maybe found some clever way to make the huge chandelier overhead fall down onto the monster.  But this day?  This day he decided to kick the beast in the tail and yell, 'Take that, dumb dragon!'
"The dragon, as you might suspect, was not impressed." 

"On still another road, a green-haired man wobbled by on peppermint-stick stilts, a fiery-plumed bird of paradise perched on his shoulder.  But he's not in this story, so don't pay any attention to him." 

Review: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

The Rithmatist--Brandon Sanderson
May 2013 by Tor Teen
378 pages--Goodreads

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.

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I have liked everything I've read by Brandon Sanderson, and The Rithmatist is no different.  Well, it's less mindblowing than Way of Kings and Hero of Ages.  Like most of Sanderson's books, The Rithmatist took me a while to get into, but after the first few chapters I got sucked in and could not put it down.  

The Rithmatist has a very different feel from Sanderson's other novels.  It's simpler.  The characters aren't as intricately developed.  There's only one plot line instead of seventeen.  The world building is less rigorous.  We get a fuzzy sense of the Academy and the politics of the country, but not the hundred years of history that we usually do.  It's mostly a book of "Wouldn't it be cool if..."  There's no particular reason that Korea has taken over Europe and that America is an archipelago.  Its just cool and that's all.  But, not every book needs to be developed to the point of reasoning out the ecology of the animals and plants on a given planet, and Sanderson would lose some of his younger readers if he tried.

Oh, but the magic system.  I don't know how Sanderson does it, but he makes magical theory interesting.  Along with the snooping and sleuthing, I loved learning the principles of Rithmatics, the various strategies you can use, the limits to the system.  Somehow, the magical theory always ends up as one of the most fascinating parts of Sanderson's books.  I love seeing the unique challenges that a particular magic system presents and trying to find a way around it along with the characters.

As I said earlier, the character development is a bit toned down in this novel, perhaps a bit too far.  We do get some back story on how Joel and Melody's parents affected their personalities, but I wanted more.  Young readers can handle more complexity than that.  And we didn't get much of any development of our villains.  I can excuse that for the kidnapper, since we're not supposed to know who it is, but Professor Nalizar is just the  Snape figure we don't trust because...we don't.  Hopefully, we'll learn more about the Forgotten and get some villain complexity in the next book.

Can I just give a shout out here for platonic relationships?  Finally!  A young adult novel where a boy and girl can just be friends without being romantically interested in each other.  I have a feeling that that might change in later books, but at least for now, Joel and Melody are just friends.

The book is well paced, but I'm not perfectly happy with the way the ending.  I feel like there are some unacceptably loose strings.  But that only bothered me a little.  I will of course read book 2.  When it comes out.  In two years.

Review: The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

The Emperor's Soul--Brandon Sanderson

October 2012 by Tachyon Publications

175 pages--Goodreads

Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Though her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead.

Probing deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that Shai’s forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.

Brimming with magic and political intrigue, this deftly woven fantasy delves into the essence of a living spirit.

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The Emperor's Soul is Sanderson's usual storytelling, but condensed; rather than juggling three or four intertwined plots and dozens of characters we have one main character, one plot arc.  The story is straight forward, but not oversimplified.  From the intriguing beginning to the satisfying conclusion, we experience all of Sanderson's skill and style.

We once again get an excellently crafted magic system.  Soulstamping, like all of Sanderson's magic systems, has rules and limitations that make sense and pose challenges.  Shai is limited in what and how she can forge.  Sanderson never has his characters wave a magic wand to fix everything inexplicably.  It is much more satisfying when a character has to be creative to work around the limitations in order to find a solution, rather than just poofing everything to perfection.

And the characters are excellent, as always.  They are real.  Even with the limited amount of time we have to work with in this novella, Shai, Gatona, and the other characters are real, not one dimensional caricatures.  They each have motivations, desires, personalities, histories.  No one is evil just for the sake of being evil, and no one is angelically good.  Everyone has a purpose to what they do.  That skill in characterization is what keep me coming back for more.

My only regret is that The Emperor's Soul isn't loner.  Sanderson didn't cut the story short or leave dangling plot strings or anything like that.  Everything wraps up well and the story is just as long as it needs to be.  I just want more.  I enjoy Sanderson's storytelling so much, that only getting 200 pages leaves me wanting more.  I'll just have to go reread Mistborn.

Mini Review: Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev

Eyes Like Stars--Lisa Mantchev
July 2009 by Feiwel and Friends
352 pages--Goodreads

All her world’s a stage.

Bertie Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater.  She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents.  She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own.  That is, until now.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the actors of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book—an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family—and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

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I don't have much to say about this book.  I actually liked the premise a lot more than the actual book because the STUPID love triangle got in the way of including an actual plot.  We've got the manipulating bad boy, Ariel, who we know we can't trust but Bertie is inexplicably drawn to him and the nice guy Nathan, who would be just fine as a friend, but he's turned into a romantic interest to create tension and then nothing actually happens.  It was all completely contrived and unsatisfying because it crowded out an actual plot.  What little plot manages to squeeze in is jumbled, disjointed.

I did get a kick out of the allusions to Shakespeare's plays.

Theater buffs may like it, but I didn't care much for it, even though the cover is gorgeous.

Create-A-Cover--Fairytales

If you haven't checked out Fairy Tale Fortnight yet, get over to The Book Rat or A Backwards Story RIGHT NOW because it is awesome.  And because Misty and Bonnie have put together some great posts this year.  And because fairy tales are always fun.  

One of this year's events is a create-a-cover challenge, and I decided to give it a go.  This was my very first attempt at photoshoping, so they're not the most polished images ever, but I'm honestly just impressed that I figured out how to get photoshop to work at all.

I don't know what it is about hooded figures, but I love them.  There's just such an aura of mystery about them.  If you know of any hooded-figure-covers, send them my way.  And the dancer was too graceful not to put in a dancing hall.  Or a creepy, empty cathedral.

I got both (1,2) of the models from faestock.  She has some stunning photos, so you should check out her profile.  The woods are from ~frozenstocks.  And the empty hall is from *E-dina.

Head over to Misty's create-a-cover post to see what other people have created or to submit your own cover.  And while you're over there, check out all the other cool Fairy Tale Fortnight posts.  If you create your own cover(s), be sure to let me know in comments so I can check them out.

Review: Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon and Dean Hale

Rapunzel's Revenge--Shannon and Dean Hale
Illustrated by Nathan Hale
August 2008 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
144 pages--Goodreads

Once upon a time, in a land you only think you know, lived a little girl and her mother . . . or the woman she thought was her mother.

Every day, when the little girl played in her pretty garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the garden wall . . . a rather enormous garden wall.

And every year, as she grew older, things seemed weirder and weirder, until the day she finally climbed to the top of the wall and looked over into the mines and desert beyond.

Newbery Honor-winning author Shannon Hale teams up with husband Dean Hale and brilliant artist Nathan Hale (no relation) to bring readers a swashbuckling and hilarious twist on the classic story as you’ve never seen it before. Watch as Rapunzel and her amazing hair team up with Jack (of beanstalk fame) to gallop around the wild and western landscape, changing lives, righting wrongs, and bringing joy to every soul they encounter.

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Rapunzel's Revenge is a lot of fun.  I love the western/fairytale mash up, though that setting takes a little getting used to.  Rapunzel is great.  No damsel in distress, she is proactive in rescuing herself from towers, sea serpents, and giant henchmen.  I love the little touches of tomboyishness the illustrations give her, like leaves in her hair after she has been climbing trees.  Jack is also a lot of fun.  He is shameless, but lovable.  He's a scoundrel and a thief without being a jerk.  Like Han Solo, but less rude.  He and Rapunzel play well off each other.

I love the little chunks of humor sprinkled here and ther, things like Jack saying, "We'll have to wait until nightfall," and in the next frame the narrator textbox says "Night fell."  Little quirky things like that make the book not take itself too seriously.

This is not the book you're looking for if you want a complex villain or developed relationship between Mother Gothel and Rapunzel.  I love the mother-daughter dynamic in Tangled, but that is not part of this book.  And I'm okay with that; it's out of the scope of this particular retelling.

Some reviewers have said the plot is too slow before Rapunzel escapes from her tower.  I can agree that the story picks up that once Jack comes in and Rapunzel starts lassoing things with her hair, but I liked the backstory.  Either way, it's a graphic novel, so it's a quick read.  The plot does feel a bit disconnected as we move from one adventure to the next, but it each adventure is still fun.

Rapunzel's Revenge is a fun, quick read, and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

Review: The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

The Emerald Atlas--John Stephens
January 2011 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
417 pages--Goodreads

Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one orphanage after another for the last ten years, passed along like lost baggage.

Yet these unwanted children are more remarkable than they could possibly imagine. Ripped from their parents as babies, they are being protected from a horrible evil of devastating power, an evil they know nothing about.

Until now.

Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are on a journey through time to dangerous and secret corners of the world...a journey of allies and enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if an ancient prophesy is correct—what they do can change history, and it is up to them to set things right.

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It is so satisfying to get a good book.  A book that you just like.  A book you like so well that you just can't help but love.  The Emerald Atlas was that book for me.  I loved it.  It's a sort of Harry Potter meets Narnia meets Series of Unfortunate Events without shamefully ripping from any of the series; it just uses the elements we love best out of them.  It does draw on the prophesied destiny of the chosen one(s) trope, but it only felt a little overdone in that sense.  The characters keep it from feeling tiresome.

The characters are absolutely fantastic.  Stephens captures the sibling dynamic between Kate, Michael, and Emma perfectly.  They bicker and fight and get on each other's nerves, but they love each other desperately.  Each sibling is unique.  Kate is the traditional protective oldest; Michael is the annoying bookworm; Emma is the feisty one.   And great characterization is not limited to the core cast; every character is memorable from the quirky wizard Dr. Pym to the slovenly and dwarf king Hamish.  Captain Robby and Gabriel are solidly honorable.  Each character is a delight to read about.

As an added bonus, the audio book is narrated by Jim Hale, the same guy who narrates the Harry Potter books.  He is an excellent reader, but his narration gave the book this weird semi-British, semi-American effect because it takes place in America, but there are dwarves and it's read by a Brit...

The novel is well paced, thought it may take a bit of time up front to get into it.  The climax is exciting and the ending satisfying.  There is a bit of bad guy monologuing from the Countess and some deus ex machina rescues via Dr. Pym, but as it is a middle grade fantasy, I'll excuse that.

It's just a solid, fun adventure and I'm eager to get my hands on book two.

Review: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

The Way of Kings--Brandon Sanderson

August 2010 by Tor Books

1007--Goodreads

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soiless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

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This is a slow, slow burn that builds up to a wildfire.  With three separate prologues, Way of Kings takes a long time to get into.  Only Sanderson gets a 350 page grace period; I would have given up on any other author.  My patience was eventually rewarded, and the book ended phenomenally, but you really have to stick it out.  

The world building in Way of Kings is more in-depth than in his others.  The basic ecology of the planet is entirely different from what we're used to, so Sanderson spends a ton of time developing the world, the climate, the plants, the animals, and multiple cultures.  At times this is fascinating and other times it is tedious.  Way of Kings is the beginning of a ten-part, so there is a lot of exposition to go through.  His extensive world building will be a hurtle for some readers.  It's worth the investment, but it is quite an investment.

There is a huge cast of characters, but Sanderson excels at character development, so even when we only see a character for one chapter, we still feel like we know them well.  This is what I love most about his books.  His villains are especially well developed.  He gets you inside their heads so well that you can't help but love them even as they're stabbing you in the back.  Each character feels justified in their actions, which makes them far more compelling than villains who are bad just because they are bad.  

Kaladin's story was particularly interesting.  Similar to the prince in Elantris, he drops to the very bottom of society, becoming bait for enemy soldiers.  In that hopeless existence he manages to inspire and unite the other bridgemen.  Sanderson never has simplistic right-or-wrong plots.  Not only does he give you each character's perspective, each character faces impossible moral conundrums.  Should you save the few people you know and care about or should you save the much larger number of people?  Should you live honorably even if it could get you killed?  Do ends justify means?  Hard questions make for an interesting plot and real character development.

The magic system is only hinted at through most of the book.  Unlike in Mistborn where there is a teacher to explain the magic system, no one really gets how Stormlight works, so the characters discover the magic system along with the readers.  It's an "I have no idea what I'm doing, but this is keeping me alive, so let's figure it out" kind of thing.  I'm interested to see where he takes it in future books.

Like most of Sanderson's books, Way of Kings has a twist near the end that tosses into question everything we had understood previously.  Think the twist at the end of Well of Ascension, but perhaps a bit smaller.  It's one of those WHAAAAAAT?!?!? moments.

I got involved halfway through the book, and as always, the climax was great.  It's a good book, but one meant for readers who already like Sanderson's writing style.

Review: Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George

Princess of the Silver Woods--Jessica Day George
December 11, 2012 by Bloomsbury
336 pages--Goodreads

When Petunia, the youngest of King Gregor's twelve dancing daughters, is invited to visit an elderly friend in the neighboring country of Westfalin, she welcomes the change of scenery. But in order to reach Westfalin, Petunia must pass through a forest where strange two-legged wolves are rumored to exist. Wolves intent on redistributing the wealth of the noble citizens who have entered their territory. But the bandit-wolves prove more rakishly handsome than truly dangerous, and it's not until Petunia reaches her destination that she realizes the kindly grandmother she has been summoned to visit is really an enemy bent on restoring an age-old curse. 

The stories of Red Riding Hood and Robin Hood get a twist as Petunia and her many sisters take on bandits, grannies, and the new King Under Stone to end their family curse once and for all.

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I am rarely disappointed with Jessica Day George's books, and Princess of the Silver Woods was no exception.  It was just a good story.  I read it all day on Christmas and finished it early the next day.  

There is a lot of repeat from Princess of the Midnight Ball.  The villain and some of the plot elements are the same, making it more of a sequel to Midnight Ball, than a stand alone in the same world, like Princess of Glass is.  I loved how Glass had an extremely different take on the fairy tale than what we're used to, and I wish I could have seen more of that dynamic in Silver Woods.  

Sliver Woods blends Little Red Riding Hood with Robin Hood in an interesting and fun way.  Oliver (Robin Hood) is given a compelling back story that explains within the world of Westfalin of why he turned to banditry.  I loved the scene when Oliver sort of accidentally kidnaps Petunia.  He is endearingly awkward throughout the whole novel.  Sadly, archery plays no part whatsoever in this story.  How can you have a Robin Hood retelling without firing a single arrow?  Along with the lack of archery is a lack of merry men.  Going into more of the Robin Hood story would have given the story a different angle that would have made it feel less like a repeat of Midnight Ball.  The book is supposed to focus on Petunia and her story, but I feel like the band of thieves are a vastly under-utilized resource.  

The relationship between Oliver and Petunia is a bit insta-lovey, but that's how George's stories usually go, so I can accept it.  In the same vein, the villains are mostly two-dimensional, evil just because they are, which is less compelling.  Also, I started out already knowing who to distrust.  Even in retellings, I like to be surprised by the twists and turns of the story.

I'm being nit-picky about the book's faults.  That's a bit because what I like about the book is hard to quantify.  It's something like reading Ella Enchanted again for the first time.  It's returning to the land of fairy tales for a fun few hours of imagination.  It's getting a wide mix of personalities between the princesses: some spunky, some feisty, some vulnerable.  It's those face-palm, embarrassed-for-the-characters-because-I've-been-in-that-situation-before moments.  It's the thrill of reading through the climax on the edge of my seat even though I already know there will be a happy ending.  It's just that vibe that's so hard to articulate.  Silver Woods has issues, but I still really liked it.  It's a very curl-up-on-the-couch-with-Christmas-treats-for-a-few-hours kind of read.  It's meant to be light and fun and quick.  And it is. 

Side note:  Absolutely gorgeous cover!  Mysterious with a splash of red.