Summary: This book is #5 in Ms. Alt's "Bewitching Mystery" series. The series protagonist is "Maggie" who is a Sensitive (apparently she can sense supernatural beings, as well as being Empathic). The series is set in a small town in Indiana, called Stony Mill. This book takes place in the summer, and Stony Mill's local Baptist Church is having a carnival to celebrate their expansion. The Groundbreaking ceremony is brought to a halt when a hidden room is discovered. A ghost that was in the room also escapes. The next day or so, the body of a young woman is found in the location of the groundbreaking. One of the construction workers, her (former?) boyfriend, is immediately suspected. The rest of the book revolves around Maggie and her fellow Sensitives trying to Solve the Mystery of The Murdered Woman as well as the Mystery of the Hidden Room.
Review: I picked this up mainly for the mystery, but also because it looked whimsical. It failed, unfortunately, on both counts. The Mystery takes a far, far distant second to the Main Issue - which is essentially Witchery. How the local Witches / Sensitives / Psychics / Whatever get along with the rest of the locals. Obviously the locals in Small-Town Indiana aren't real happy about Witches, etc. in their town. The mystery itself is given bare lip service and definitely takes a back seat to the Spooky Stuff. Oh, and Maggie's personal life.
Given the way the mystery was treated, (and since i knew from reading the back that someone would be murdered somewhere in the book) I had a pretty good idea who was the murderer even before there was a murder. Within a chapter of the murder I'd figured out who was the murderer, what was up with the Mystery Room, who the Ghost was, and why the Ghost Existed - along with What The Ghost Was Trying To Tell Them. I finished the book hoping there would be a twist at the end, but alas, no twist. I'd really figured it out halfway through the book. Had this been Ms. Alt's first or second attempt, it would've been forgiveable and I would've tried again, but since it's #5 in the series, I'm going to give it a miss. Don't get me wrong - I finished the book because it's got good characterization, and I was interested in the characters, but for me, that's not enough to carry a really weak, half-baked mystery.
If you like characterization and storyline and don't care whether the mystery is weak or not, then this is the book and series for you. For me, I give it 2.5 out of 5 bones.
Showing posts with label DogMom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DogMom. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Knot Gneiss, by Piers Anthony
I saw the latest Xanth offering at the Library and I didn't have very many other books to take home so I figured, "meh, why not". At least I wasn't paying for it, right?
The book is done in the standard formula: Querent goes to Magician Humfrey, Querent gets assigned a Task that is far too hard and complicated for their simple stupid Answer, they take it anyway because of course they're the Only One That Can Accomplish This Vitally Necessary Task, they collect a bunch of people along the way and finish their task with no time to spare.
In this case, it's a knot of Petrified Reverse Wood that must be moved / removed from the Gap Chasm and delivered to Humfrey.
This book dumps our subjects into Ida's Alternate Worlds a few times, but thankfully does not, for the first time in a LONG time, end with "good thing you did the Task because this was all another Demon Contest and if you'd failed the Land of Xanth would have no magic / belong to another Demon / fall apart / etc."
The ending was odd, to say the very least, and made me go, "wait...what just happened?"
I did think that the books have been getting more "stereotypical" in their handling of the gender relationships. This one was bordering on offensive - all men, bar none, are mindless one-dimensional boors, obsessed with one thing and one thing only - sex. This is of course unless they are friends of the protagonist and are required to be multi-dimensional. But husbands? Are always, always, always interested in one thing from their wives. While the concept of "a man still finding his wife to be HAWT" is very nice, the idea that that is all they think their wife is good for is obnoxious. The only thing that changes a man from Obnoxious One Dimensional Boor Husband into Loving Wonderful Multi-Dimensional Husband With Many And Varied Interests (really, what turns him into a human being) is HAVING CHILDREN. Because of course everyone knows this is the only thing that gives life meaning or higher purpose.
Women, on the other hand, are portrayed as HAWT, flirtatious, and only interested in giving their husbands What They Want so the women can get on with their interesting, multi-dimensional lives. Interaction of an intellectual, friend-to-friend sort must of necessity take place outside the marriage because the husband is a sex-crazed idiot. To this end, they are manipulative and scheming, and all too willing to leave their husbands behind - except of course for the obligatory Nightly Conjugal Visit (10 minutes or less "should be enough", right?) And, of course, any woman that makes it past age 20 or so without Having A Man is completely Washed Up And Useless. All women, naturally therefore, want only to Get A Man, and then Have Children - because only by Having A Man and then Having Children will her life have any meaning.
While these attitudes have been expressed in the Xanth series before, generally they were merely alluded to, or expressed in a more sarcastic or "jokey" manner. However, in this book, they were obviously more "intended", so to speak, and that's what I found offensive. They're getting more and more obvious, and more and more blatant.
In sum: Latest Xanth book is "meh" for the plot (what there is of it), offensive for the misandry and misogyny, the ending is arbitrary but thankfully does not have any Demon Contest inclusions, so I give it a "whatever" out of 5. 1.5 bones I suppose.
The book is done in the standard formula: Querent goes to Magician Humfrey, Querent gets assigned a Task that is far too hard and complicated for their simple stupid Answer, they take it anyway because of course they're the Only One That Can Accomplish This Vitally Necessary Task, they collect a bunch of people along the way and finish their task with no time to spare.
In this case, it's a knot of Petrified Reverse Wood that must be moved / removed from the Gap Chasm and delivered to Humfrey.
This book dumps our subjects into Ida's Alternate Worlds a few times, but thankfully does not, for the first time in a LONG time, end with "good thing you did the Task because this was all another Demon Contest and if you'd failed the Land of Xanth would have no magic / belong to another Demon / fall apart / etc."
The ending was odd, to say the very least, and made me go, "wait...what just happened?"
I did think that the books have been getting more "stereotypical" in their handling of the gender relationships. This one was bordering on offensive - all men, bar none, are mindless one-dimensional boors, obsessed with one thing and one thing only - sex. This is of course unless they are friends of the protagonist and are required to be multi-dimensional. But husbands? Are always, always, always interested in one thing from their wives. While the concept of "a man still finding his wife to be HAWT" is very nice, the idea that that is all they think their wife is good for is obnoxious. The only thing that changes a man from Obnoxious One Dimensional Boor Husband into Loving Wonderful Multi-Dimensional Husband With Many And Varied Interests (really, what turns him into a human being) is HAVING CHILDREN. Because of course everyone knows this is the only thing that gives life meaning or higher purpose.
Women, on the other hand, are portrayed as HAWT, flirtatious, and only interested in giving their husbands What They Want so the women can get on with their interesting, multi-dimensional lives. Interaction of an intellectual, friend-to-friend sort must of necessity take place outside the marriage because the husband is a sex-crazed idiot. To this end, they are manipulative and scheming, and all too willing to leave their husbands behind - except of course for the obligatory Nightly Conjugal Visit (10 minutes or less "should be enough", right?) And, of course, any woman that makes it past age 20 or so without Having A Man is completely Washed Up And Useless. All women, naturally therefore, want only to Get A Man, and then Have Children - because only by Having A Man and then Having Children will her life have any meaning.
While these attitudes have been expressed in the Xanth series before, generally they were merely alluded to, or expressed in a more sarcastic or "jokey" manner. However, in this book, they were obviously more "intended", so to speak, and that's what I found offensive. They're getting more and more obvious, and more and more blatant.
In sum: Latest Xanth book is "meh" for the plot (what there is of it), offensive for the misandry and misogyny, the ending is arbitrary but thankfully does not have any Demon Contest inclusions, so I give it a "whatever" out of 5. 1.5 bones I suppose.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Skulduggery Pleasant, by Derek Landy
This book was actually featured in the Unshelved Book Club Sunday Strip for June 22. When I saw it on the "recommended" table at the library, I remembered the strip and picked the book up. Was I ever glad I did!
The age rating says "ages 10 and up". It really is, too - it's got enough action and wisecracking to make it appeal to kids, teens, and adults, without being overly graphic or resorting to "adult" material.
SYNOPSIS: Stephanie is a normal 12-year-old girl with a rather not-normal uncle. The book starts with his funeral, and the reading of his will - in which he leaves the majority of his vast estate to Stephanie! Also present is an unusual character named "Skullduggery Pleasant", apparently a friend of Stephanie's uncle.
He rapidly becomes a friend of sorts to Stephanie, as well. She stays the night at her uncle's (now her) house, and gets attacked by a man asking for a "key". Skullduggery comes to the rescue and is revealed to be a walking, talking, magic-using skeleton! The rest of the book deals with Stephanie's introduction to the world of magic and sorcery, and of course, the battles against the Bad Guys.
The Bad Guys are after the Scepter of the Ancients, an amazingly powerful (and indestructible) weapon made by (duh) the Ancients. With the Scepter, they plan to take over the world, call up an ancient race of gods, and get the gods to rid the world of humanity. I never quite did figure out how they thought they would be exempt from this purging-of-humanity, but apparently being a Bad Guy necessarily means that you have major holes in your logic. :D
Skullduggery has an impossibly large ego, a healthy sense of self-worth, and is incredibly sarcastic. His interactions with Stephanie, no slouch in those areas herself, are really funny. If you're a devotee of the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher, you'll understand when I say that Skullduggery is rather a combination of Harry and Bob when it comes to wisecracking and sarcastic comments.
Overall, it's a fun read, and, dare I say, a "Pleasant" book. Check out the website at http://www.skullduggerypleasant.com/us
4.5 out of 5 bones.
The age rating says "ages 10 and up". It really is, too - it's got enough action and wisecracking to make it appeal to kids, teens, and adults, without being overly graphic or resorting to "adult" material.
SYNOPSIS: Stephanie is a normal 12-year-old girl with a rather not-normal uncle. The book starts with his funeral, and the reading of his will - in which he leaves the majority of his vast estate to Stephanie! Also present is an unusual character named "Skullduggery Pleasant", apparently a friend of Stephanie's uncle.
He rapidly becomes a friend of sorts to Stephanie, as well. She stays the night at her uncle's (now her) house, and gets attacked by a man asking for a "key". Skullduggery comes to the rescue and is revealed to be a walking, talking, magic-using skeleton! The rest of the book deals with Stephanie's introduction to the world of magic and sorcery, and of course, the battles against the Bad Guys.
The Bad Guys are after the Scepter of the Ancients, an amazingly powerful (and indestructible) weapon made by (duh) the Ancients. With the Scepter, they plan to take over the world, call up an ancient race of gods, and get the gods to rid the world of humanity. I never quite did figure out how they thought they would be exempt from this purging-of-humanity, but apparently being a Bad Guy necessarily means that you have major holes in your logic. :D
Skullduggery has an impossibly large ego, a healthy sense of self-worth, and is incredibly sarcastic. His interactions with Stephanie, no slouch in those areas herself, are really funny. If you're a devotee of the Dresden Files novels by Jim Butcher, you'll understand when I say that Skullduggery is rather a combination of Harry and Bob when it comes to wisecracking and sarcastic comments.
Overall, it's a fun read, and, dare I say, a "Pleasant" book. Check out the website at http://www.skullduggerypleasant.com/us
4.5 out of 5 bones.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Black Mountain, a Nero Wolfe novel
By Rex Stout.
Synopsis: Marko Vukcic, Nero Wolfe's oldest friend, is murdered in New York. Wolfe actually leaves not only his brownstone, but the country to go to Montenegro (at the time it was Yugoslavia) and find the murderer.
Review: I normally thoroughly approve of an author trying something new with their characters, and taking them in a new direction. And, while this was definitely in Wolfe's character, I just didn't enjoy this book very much at all. Yes, the mystery was there, but it was more of a MacGuffin than the point of the book. The point seemed to be "get Wolfe completely out of his element. A lot." The mystery was dealt with only tangentially, and the "adventure" of Wolfe and Archie in Montenegro dominated the book. It was "solved" as an afterthought, and required no mental effort whatsoever on Wolfe's part. As a Wolfe novel, it was disappointing. There was none of the usual banter, none of the "Archie hassles Wolfe", and in general, none of their usual behaviours. Since I read, and re-read the books for the people, rather than the MacGuffin / mystery, I wasn't impressed with this one.
It really didn't read like a Wolfe novel at all, but rather like another "adventure" novel in a different series Stout may have been working on - with Wolfe and Archie shoehorned in at the last minute.
1.5 out of 5 bones.
Synopsis: Marko Vukcic, Nero Wolfe's oldest friend, is murdered in New York. Wolfe actually leaves not only his brownstone, but the country to go to Montenegro (at the time it was Yugoslavia) and find the murderer.
Review: I normally thoroughly approve of an author trying something new with their characters, and taking them in a new direction. And, while this was definitely in Wolfe's character, I just didn't enjoy this book very much at all. Yes, the mystery was there, but it was more of a MacGuffin than the point of the book. The point seemed to be "get Wolfe completely out of his element. A lot." The mystery was dealt with only tangentially, and the "adventure" of Wolfe and Archie in Montenegro dominated the book. It was "solved" as an afterthought, and required no mental effort whatsoever on Wolfe's part. As a Wolfe novel, it was disappointing. There was none of the usual banter, none of the "Archie hassles Wolfe", and in general, none of their usual behaviours. Since I read, and re-read the books for the people, rather than the MacGuffin / mystery, I wasn't impressed with this one.
It really didn't read like a Wolfe novel at all, but rather like another "adventure" novel in a different series Stout may have been working on - with Wolfe and Archie shoehorned in at the last minute.
1.5 out of 5 bones.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Laurell K. Hamilton's books
This isn't a book review, per se, but it is a commentary or "review" about an author, so I'm putting it here anyhow.
I was listening to a bunch of Fear The Boot podcasts over the weekend (and if you're a Role Playing Gamer, you really need to check them out. GREAT programs. Skip 'casts 1 & 2, at least, though - they're not at all typical of their style and format. Listen to some later ones, then later on go do 1 & 2) and they mentioned something about Card Games (like Magic the Gathering) that struck a chord with me.
Their biggest complaint about Magic was that it built interest by "building up" rather than "building out". Explanation: every new expansion pack got BIGGER! BETTER! COOLER! MORE POWERFUL! instead of building interest in the game by developing a richer, more complex game or world.
And this brings me to LKH's books.
I think, after reading many not-so-positive reviews of Laurell K. Hamilton's latest books, and especially the Anita series, that this is the problem people are seeing with her material, as well.
Anita's getting more and more powerful, but unfortunately not really more mature. LKH is "building up". It's almost as though she's saying "what can I add to Anita to make people come back and check it out again?" instead of saying "how can I make Anita and her world richer and more interesting? How can I get people to care about Anita and her friends even more, so they feel they must come back?"
I don't really care about Anita-the-Superfreak anymore. Ho hum, she's got another Were animal. Whoopee. Y'know who I care about now? Nathaniel. Why? Because he's not a Super. He doesn't have superpowers, he's not a SuperPowerful Necromancer Vampire Human Servant Triumvirate Maker With A Vampire Servant To Call His Own and The One Who Will Go Up Against Belle Morte And Win And Probably Also Put The Mother Of All Vamps To Sleep Again - Maybe Permanently. Nope, he's just Nathaniel, who's doing the best he can with what he's got. A "normal" Were (as normal as anyone gets in these stories), doing normal Were things, and being the very best Nathaniel he can be.
I don't care about Anita anymore. Why bother? She'll get out of whatever situation she's in because she'll Develop Another Superpower or her current ones will get her out of it somehow. Again. Yawn.
LKH, please, we - your fans; remember us? - are begging you to please please please "build out". Make Anita more interesting, more vulnerable, more human, rather than just a SuperFreak with Really Powerful Enemies.
I was listening to a bunch of Fear The Boot podcasts over the weekend (and if you're a Role Playing Gamer, you really need to check them out. GREAT programs. Skip 'casts 1 & 2, at least, though - they're not at all typical of their style and format. Listen to some later ones, then later on go do 1 & 2) and they mentioned something about Card Games (like Magic the Gathering) that struck a chord with me.
Their biggest complaint about Magic was that it built interest by "building up" rather than "building out". Explanation: every new expansion pack got BIGGER! BETTER! COOLER! MORE POWERFUL! instead of building interest in the game by developing a richer, more complex game or world.
And this brings me to LKH's books.
I think, after reading many not-so-positive reviews of Laurell K. Hamilton's latest books, and especially the Anita series, that this is the problem people are seeing with her material, as well.
Anita's getting more and more powerful, but unfortunately not really more mature. LKH is "building up". It's almost as though she's saying "what can I add to Anita to make people come back and check it out again?" instead of saying "how can I make Anita and her world richer and more interesting? How can I get people to care about Anita and her friends even more, so they feel they must come back?"
I don't really care about Anita-the-Superfreak anymore. Ho hum, she's got another Were animal. Whoopee. Y'know who I care about now? Nathaniel. Why? Because he's not a Super. He doesn't have superpowers, he's not a SuperPowerful Necromancer Vampire Human Servant Triumvirate Maker With A Vampire Servant To Call His Own and The One Who Will Go Up Against Belle Morte And Win And Probably Also Put The Mother Of All Vamps To Sleep Again - Maybe Permanently. Nope, he's just Nathaniel, who's doing the best he can with what he's got. A "normal" Were (as normal as anyone gets in these stories), doing normal Were things, and being the very best Nathaniel he can be.
I don't care about Anita anymore. Why bother? She'll get out of whatever situation she's in because she'll Develop Another Superpower or her current ones will get her out of it somehow. Again. Yawn.
LKH, please, we - your fans; remember us? - are begging you to please please please "build out". Make Anita more interesting, more vulnerable, more human, rather than just a SuperFreak with Really Powerful Enemies.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Jennifer Scales and the Silver Elm
This is the third book in the "Jennifer Scales" series by MaryJanice Davidson. On the whole, it's not bad - it's an interesting story, well-written, and it's engaging. Plus, since it's written for a Young Adult audience, it's short. For all the shortness, however, it does resolve its crisis; there isn't anything left hanging as a "tune in next time", which made me happy.
*SPOILERS for the series. Possibly. Just FYI.*
Jennifer is back in form as a were-dragon. Her adventures take her to a lot of weird places, including a parallel time-line and a place known only to, and sacred to, the dragons.
They also take her into a realm of not only self-sufficiency, but (almost paradoxically) the realization that she isn't the only one affected by her decisions, she doesn't always know what's right, and maybe she should just shut up and pay attention once in a while to people that very likely do know more than she does, and very probably do have good, valid reasons for what they do. I'm not going to give away more than that; you'll have to read it.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. There were a couple things I wasn't thrilled with, though. The first was the opening scene. The "telling the end of the story first then doing a flashback to the rest of the story" schtick is getting old. Everyone is doing it these days, and I'm getting really tired of it. It was totally unnecessary, and I thought it was rather jarring. It didn't serve to get me interested in the story, it just annoyed me. Maybe it'll go over better with the YA readers.
Parts of the story seemed to be rather disconnected, jumping around from scene to scene with little to no real "segue" - or kludged in at the last second, almost like the authors said, "oh crud, we forgot that we had to resolve that...uh....cram it in there."
Other than those two things, though, I thought it was a good book. And really, the overall story arc and writing almost made up for those.
4 out of 5.
Other than that, though, I did enjoy it.
*SPOILERS for the series. Possibly. Just FYI.*
Jennifer is back in form as a were-dragon. Her adventures take her to a lot of weird places, including a parallel time-line and a place known only to, and sacred to, the dragons.
They also take her into a realm of not only self-sufficiency, but (almost paradoxically) the realization that she isn't the only one affected by her decisions, she doesn't always know what's right, and maybe she should just shut up and pay attention once in a while to people that very likely do know more than she does, and very probably do have good, valid reasons for what they do. I'm not going to give away more than that; you'll have to read it.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. There were a couple things I wasn't thrilled with, though. The first was the opening scene. The "telling the end of the story first then doing a flashback to the rest of the story" schtick is getting old. Everyone is doing it these days, and I'm getting really tired of it. It was totally unnecessary, and I thought it was rather jarring. It didn't serve to get me interested in the story, it just annoyed me. Maybe it'll go over better with the YA readers.
Parts of the story seemed to be rather disconnected, jumping around from scene to scene with little to no real "segue" - or kludged in at the last second, almost like the authors said, "oh crud, we forgot that we had to resolve that...uh....cram it in there."
Other than those two things, though, I thought it was a good book. And really, the overall story arc and writing almost made up for those.
4 out of 5.
Other than that, though, I did enjoy it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Ender's Game
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card, is a very well-written book. It's a good science-fiction novel, and a fun ride. Card is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors: he crafts well-constructed characters, puts them into a consistent world, and makes them come to life. Even in a setting that I normally wouldn't be captured by, I was totally lost in the story and really enjoyed seeing how it all came together.
Ender's Game is about a boy named Ender who has anything but a normal childhood. He's born on Earth in an era of strict population control: every family is allowed two children, tops. Except in certain circumstances, such as Ender's. Ender, you see, is really Andrew Wiggin, and he's a "Third". Thirdborn in his family, completely out of place and knowing it.
He is also, apparently, an off-the-charts genius and master strategist, even at age 6.
At age 6, the government comes for him and takes him to Battle School, where he learns how to first be a soldier, then a platoon leader, then a commander, and on up the chain of command. Ultimately he becomes the strategist and commander for the entire army as they go up against "the buggers" - an alien race that would annihilate the Earth (and had tried twice already).
Ender winds up commanding the fleet to destroy the Buggers at their homeworld, and there is Much Rejoicing. I have no real problem giving away the ending, because the book really isn't about the ending - it's about Ender and his journey to the ending of the story.
The thing I had the biggest problem with was Ender's age. At age 6 he is taken to Battle School and trains to become a soldier. By the time he's commanding the entire space Fleet he's the ripe old age of eleven. Come on. Nobody in that army has any genius? Nobody has any strategic capabilities? Nobody can command? With all the adults that were perfectly capable of outwitting, outsmarting, and manipulating Ender throughout the entire book, I would think that they'd also be able to aim their strategizing, their smarts, their wits, and their manipulations toward the Fleet.
Watching the story unfold the way it did was a bit...unbelievable. The adults were necessarily both incredibly stupid (because an entire world of them couldn't produce one capable military commander, so they had to resort to an eleven-year-old) and incredibly intelligent and crafty at the same time (because they also had to be able to manipulate said eleven-year-old into doing what they wanted). I just couldn't quite believe that.
However, in the end, of course, everyone gets what they want. Except, of course, for the buggers.
The book has a couple chapters of post-bugger narration, as well. Amusingly, it reads almost as though Card thought at the last minute that he should put some sort of "Postlude" in the book, and hastily wrote something. After a book that carefully, meticulously narrates every highlight, every important event in Ender's life for 5 years, suddenly we get the next fifty years or so in a chapter. Sort of a fleshed-out version of "and they lived happily ever after."
Card does something very few authors can easily get away with. He breaks the "fourth wall" of storytelling, but it's in a very subtle manner. References to Ender's age are dropped in very frequently. I believe it was done deliberately, to keep the reader from getting comfortable with "Ender-the-soldier" as just "Ender the soldier". As long as it's just "Ender-the-soldier", we can pretend that Ender's already Of Age; that he's really 18, or 20, or 50. And it's not like it's a huge pretense. It's an assumption that we naturally make: that 6-year-olds aren't soldiers, they're not master strategists - they're children. Card keeps mentioning Ender's age, not because the story or the characters require it (and they don't), but because I think he wants to keep the reader a little bit on edge; a little bit uncomfortable. Once you're off-balance a little bit, it's easier to slip in more unbelievability (such as the entire "adults are incredibly stupid and incredibly clever at the same time" mentioned above). I don't believe that's the only reason he did it, though. Card just seems to enjoy looking at things in a slightly different manner, and at a slightly different angle, and he wants the reader to do so as well. He's an excellent writer who succeeds very well at keeping the reader off-balance, and at forcing our perspective to a different angle.
Well done. 4 out of 5 bones.
Ender's Game is about a boy named Ender who has anything but a normal childhood. He's born on Earth in an era of strict population control: every family is allowed two children, tops. Except in certain circumstances, such as Ender's. Ender, you see, is really Andrew Wiggin, and he's a "Third". Thirdborn in his family, completely out of place and knowing it.
He is also, apparently, an off-the-charts genius and master strategist, even at age 6.
At age 6, the government comes for him and takes him to Battle School, where he learns how to first be a soldier, then a platoon leader, then a commander, and on up the chain of command. Ultimately he becomes the strategist and commander for the entire army as they go up against "the buggers" - an alien race that would annihilate the Earth (and had tried twice already).
Ender winds up commanding the fleet to destroy the Buggers at their homeworld, and there is Much Rejoicing. I have no real problem giving away the ending, because the book really isn't about the ending - it's about Ender and his journey to the ending of the story.
The thing I had the biggest problem with was Ender's age. At age 6 he is taken to Battle School and trains to become a soldier. By the time he's commanding the entire space Fleet he's the ripe old age of eleven. Come on. Nobody in that army has any genius? Nobody has any strategic capabilities? Nobody can command? With all the adults that were perfectly capable of outwitting, outsmarting, and manipulating Ender throughout the entire book, I would think that they'd also be able to aim their strategizing, their smarts, their wits, and their manipulations toward the Fleet.
Watching the story unfold the way it did was a bit...unbelievable. The adults were necessarily both incredibly stupid (because an entire world of them couldn't produce one capable military commander, so they had to resort to an eleven-year-old) and incredibly intelligent and crafty at the same time (because they also had to be able to manipulate said eleven-year-old into doing what they wanted). I just couldn't quite believe that.
However, in the end, of course, everyone gets what they want. Except, of course, for the buggers.
The book has a couple chapters of post-bugger narration, as well. Amusingly, it reads almost as though Card thought at the last minute that he should put some sort of "Postlude" in the book, and hastily wrote something. After a book that carefully, meticulously narrates every highlight, every important event in Ender's life for 5 years, suddenly we get the next fifty years or so in a chapter. Sort of a fleshed-out version of "and they lived happily ever after."
Card does something very few authors can easily get away with. He breaks the "fourth wall" of storytelling, but it's in a very subtle manner. References to Ender's age are dropped in very frequently. I believe it was done deliberately, to keep the reader from getting comfortable with "Ender-the-soldier" as just "Ender the soldier". As long as it's just "Ender-the-soldier", we can pretend that Ender's already Of Age; that he's really 18, or 20, or 50. And it's not like it's a huge pretense. It's an assumption that we naturally make: that 6-year-olds aren't soldiers, they're not master strategists - they're children. Card keeps mentioning Ender's age, not because the story or the characters require it (and they don't), but because I think he wants to keep the reader a little bit on edge; a little bit uncomfortable. Once you're off-balance a little bit, it's easier to slip in more unbelievability (such as the entire "adults are incredibly stupid and incredibly clever at the same time" mentioned above). I don't believe that's the only reason he did it, though. Card just seems to enjoy looking at things in a slightly different manner, and at a slightly different angle, and he wants the reader to do so as well. He's an excellent writer who succeeds very well at keeping the reader off-balance, and at forcing our perspective to a different angle.
Well done. 4 out of 5 bones.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Captain's Fury
SPOILERS AHOY, so if you haven't read the book yet, and you'd like to remain spoiler-free, just kinda wait on this till you're done. This is book 4 of the "Codex Alera" series by Jim Butcher. The entire series thus far:
Furies of Calderon
Academ's Fury
Cursor's Fury
Captain's Fury
REVIEW:
Now this is how to write an ongoing series! Each book has a setup, a crisis, and a resolution. ALL of these contribute to the ongoing story, without either hijacking it or being hijacked by it. We don't have to wait till the next book or two or three to see how Tavi's going to handle the Canim - we see it here, in this book. Lots of development of the ongoing plot, as well: Tavi discovers who he really is, who his parents are, and decides to own his heritage. Isana and Rari finally declare their love openly...and Bernard and Amalda do too. Lots of surprise twists in this book as well! Who ever heard of a Marat having furies? Interestingly, Kitai has them - and nobody can quite believe it (well, except her. The Marat pretty much accept everything, don't they?)
SYNOPSIS: Tavi gets involved in politics in this one - and not just "politics", but POLITICS. He fends off political attacks as well as assassination attempts, while trying to be the Captain of the Legionnaires he's been entrusted with. The Knights Pisces and the Battlecrows get some good workouts as they work to save lives with the rest of Tavi's Troops.
Isana is told by Rari that Tavi needs to know the truth. She tries to tell him, she really does, but ultimately she can't. She doesn't want him to hate and mistrust her. Rari eventually realizes that she didn't tell Tavi his heritage, so he does. Tavi is understandably upset that Isana's been lying to him (and suppressing his talents!) for his entire life, but eventually comes to accept her reasons.
He's still having problems with his talents' manifestation, though. He still can't call any Furies, although he can call the abilities of furycraft - enhanced strength, healing, precision, etc. However, until he can manifest Furies, he won't be accepted.
The conflict with the Canim comes to a head, and Tavi once again sees what needs to be done, and goes and does it. He smuggles Varg out of his incarceration, and gets him back to the Canim main force. The deal: if he returns Varg to the Canim, they'll build boats and go back home to fight the Vord. (One of the best lines of the book occurs during this operation. They're on board a ship for a couple weeks. Varg expresses his relief to finally be off the ship, saying, "it smells like wet human." *snicker*)
During the jail-break, Isana notices Kitai using Fury-power, and realizes that Kitai's "bonding" with Tavi has resulted in Kitai's ability to "share" his abilities. Kitai is the first, and only, Marat to ever have furycraft.
Unfortunately, one of the Lords of Alera has other ideas, and launches an attack that the Canim interpret as a betrayal. Now Tavi has to deliver the traitor to them, and anyone else that was involved. Tavi does so in inimitable style: he openly declares his heritage, challenges the traitor-Lord to the juris macta, and (of course) succeeds against the Champion that was sent to defeat him. Not with Furies, but with his brains.
His brains come to his aid shortly thereafter, as well, as he confronts Gaius Sextus after all is said and done. He suggests that a mass amnesty be declared for anyone that helped rid the country of the Canim, and that his name be slid in with the rest of the group, rather than a single amnesty being declared simply for him. He also suggests he go to the Canim homeland and help them defeat the Vord, to give himself time to further practice his furycraft and to give people a chance to "forget" him as he was and for Sextus to rally support for him in absentia. Sextus agrees this is a good idea and thus the stage is set for the next book.
COMMENTS: Excellent book. This is definitely a series that I want to own rather than just borrow from the library. That way, not only am I personally supporting the author and his work, but I can read them again and again, whenever I want to. (I recommend buying the hardcover, though - that way they'll last through more readings. I can see the paperbacks needing to be replaced within a couple years.) I want to read the next one, and the next, and so on - not because the book ends with a "tune in next time for the next exciting chapter in this plot!" but because Butcher writes in such a way as to make me care about what happens next. Each of the books is a single story in itself, and can easily stand alone. However, the elements of a Story Arc are definitely there, and I want to see how it ends! Not only that, but I want to see how the "stuff I've already guessed" gets handled by the characters.
VERY well done.
5 bones for this one! CRUNCH!
Furies of Calderon
Academ's Fury
Cursor's Fury
Captain's Fury
REVIEW:
Now this is how to write an ongoing series! Each book has a setup, a crisis, and a resolution. ALL of these contribute to the ongoing story, without either hijacking it or being hijacked by it. We don't have to wait till the next book or two or three to see how Tavi's going to handle the Canim - we see it here, in this book. Lots of development of the ongoing plot, as well: Tavi discovers who he really is, who his parents are, and decides to own his heritage. Isana and Rari finally declare their love openly...and Bernard and Amalda do too. Lots of surprise twists in this book as well! Who ever heard of a Marat having furies? Interestingly, Kitai has them - and nobody can quite believe it (well, except her. The Marat pretty much accept everything, don't they?)
SYNOPSIS: Tavi gets involved in politics in this one - and not just "politics", but POLITICS. He fends off political attacks as well as assassination attempts, while trying to be the Captain of the Legionnaires he's been entrusted with. The Knights Pisces and the Battlecrows get some good workouts as they work to save lives with the rest of Tavi's Troops.
Isana is told by Rari that Tavi needs to know the truth. She tries to tell him, she really does, but ultimately she can't. She doesn't want him to hate and mistrust her. Rari eventually realizes that she didn't tell Tavi his heritage, so he does. Tavi is understandably upset that Isana's been lying to him (and suppressing his talents!) for his entire life, but eventually comes to accept her reasons.
He's still having problems with his talents' manifestation, though. He still can't call any Furies, although he can call the abilities of furycraft - enhanced strength, healing, precision, etc. However, until he can manifest Furies, he won't be accepted.
The conflict with the Canim comes to a head, and Tavi once again sees what needs to be done, and goes and does it. He smuggles Varg out of his incarceration, and gets him back to the Canim main force. The deal: if he returns Varg to the Canim, they'll build boats and go back home to fight the Vord. (One of the best lines of the book occurs during this operation. They're on board a ship for a couple weeks. Varg expresses his relief to finally be off the ship, saying, "it smells like wet human." *snicker*)
During the jail-break, Isana notices Kitai using Fury-power, and realizes that Kitai's "bonding" with Tavi has resulted in Kitai's ability to "share" his abilities. Kitai is the first, and only, Marat to ever have furycraft.
Unfortunately, one of the Lords of Alera has other ideas, and launches an attack that the Canim interpret as a betrayal. Now Tavi has to deliver the traitor to them, and anyone else that was involved. Tavi does so in inimitable style: he openly declares his heritage, challenges the traitor-Lord to the juris macta, and (of course) succeeds against the Champion that was sent to defeat him. Not with Furies, but with his brains.
His brains come to his aid shortly thereafter, as well, as he confronts Gaius Sextus after all is said and done. He suggests that a mass amnesty be declared for anyone that helped rid the country of the Canim, and that his name be slid in with the rest of the group, rather than a single amnesty being declared simply for him. He also suggests he go to the Canim homeland and help them defeat the Vord, to give himself time to further practice his furycraft and to give people a chance to "forget" him as he was and for Sextus to rally support for him in absentia. Sextus agrees this is a good idea and thus the stage is set for the next book.
COMMENTS: Excellent book. This is definitely a series that I want to own rather than just borrow from the library. That way, not only am I personally supporting the author and his work, but I can read them again and again, whenever I want to. (I recommend buying the hardcover, though - that way they'll last through more readings. I can see the paperbacks needing to be replaced within a couple years.) I want to read the next one, and the next, and so on - not because the book ends with a "tune in next time for the next exciting chapter in this plot!" but because Butcher writes in such a way as to make me care about what happens next. Each of the books is a single story in itself, and can easily stand alone. However, the elements of a Story Arc are definitely there, and I want to see how it ends! Not only that, but I want to see how the "stuff I've already guessed" gets handled by the characters.
VERY well done.
5 bones for this one! CRUNCH!
Friday, January 4, 2008
Acorna's Children Trilogy
The Acorna's Children Trilogy is made up of "First Warning", "Second Wave" and "Third Watch" and, as you'd expect, involves the offspring of Acorna, the linyaari heroine of the "Acorna" series.
A few notes before I get into the synopsis. First, if you've never read the "Acorna" series, you likely won't understand these books. It assumes you've read the Acorna books and are already knowledgeable of the "culture". Second, I'm reviewing all three of these books at once because they're essentially one gigantic book, broken into thirds.
SYNOPSIS: An extremely rapid-moving plague breaks out, killing in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. Later it is discovered that the plague attacks those of childbearing age, and only those people. Khorii, Acorna's daughter, is able to see the "plague dots" - apparently the virus itself. The Linyarii are able to heal people and decontaminate the plague-affected areas, but in overworking themselves, Acorna and Aari (Khorii's parents) become infected with a mutated version of the plague that cannot be cured by the Linyarii. They are carriers of the mutant strain, and do not get sick, but they are in isolation for everyone else's sake.
Khorii looks for a way to cure them, and for the source of the plague, hoping the originators can eradicate it.
Meanwhile, her twin sister, kidnapped from the womb of Acorna, by Greymalkin, at the end of the Acorna series, has been raised these past 6 years by the "Friends" in an attempt (by them) to understand how they merged their race with the Ancestors (unicorns) to make the Linyaari. Her sister escapes from the Friends by stealing a crono, and meets up with Acorna, Aari and eventually Khorii, and together the twins (with Greymalkin's assistance) work together to solve the mystery of the plague.
The plague mutates again...they think...except that it's not a mutation. It's the next generation of development.
Through their time-travels, they discover that the "plague" is really a life-form that mutated when it was attacked by the Khleevi, and is now being spread throughout the galaxy by the last few "Friends". All the threads are tied up at the end, the plague is stopped, and Greymalkin falls in love with one of the Others / Ancestors in his time and goes back to be with her, neatly explaining (by inference) how the Linyaari people were started.
REVIEW: Uh-huh. I do not, as a rule, like books that have no resolution. I was unimpressed with "First Warning" when it came out, because it didn't resolve anything. "Here's all the problems, now wait a year or two for the next installment. Then another year or two for the conclusion...or maybe just another installment. You'll see when it comes out." My opinion: if I like the book / author / series enough to keep reading, I'm going to do so. You don't have to play little Hardy-boys-style cliffhanger games to get me to read the books. If they're not good enough to each stand on their own, then nothing you do is going to induce me to finish the series. In fact, that game has turned me off some perfectly good series before, including this one. The only reason I picked them up was because the library had all three books available.
I was disappointed, frankly. I usually expect better from Ms. McCaffrey. I really enjoyed the "Acorna" series, and was hoping for more. Unfortunately, these read rather like she was "pushing" the appeal and trying to get more mileage out of the series, rather than writing them because she had more story to tell. The ending was weak, the resolution was very deus-ex-machina, and felt rushed, as though she realized she needed an ending and wanted to tie everything up, so she just threw a solution at it and hoped it'd work.
As far as the Linyaari Origin Story...complete disappointment. These "Friends" wanted to figure out how they "combined" with the Ancestors to make the Linyaari and not once did they try it the time-tested old-fashioned way? Come on. I don't believe that for a second. Greymalkin was the only one to try it? Puh-leez.
It started out as a good story, but I think she pushed the franchise too far, and tried to get too many elements into the story. It was an entertaining ride, but a disappointing finish.
2.5 of 5.
A few notes before I get into the synopsis. First, if you've never read the "Acorna" series, you likely won't understand these books. It assumes you've read the Acorna books and are already knowledgeable of the "culture". Second, I'm reviewing all three of these books at once because they're essentially one gigantic book, broken into thirds.
SYNOPSIS: An extremely rapid-moving plague breaks out, killing in a seemingly indiscriminate manner. Later it is discovered that the plague attacks those of childbearing age, and only those people. Khorii, Acorna's daughter, is able to see the "plague dots" - apparently the virus itself. The Linyarii are able to heal people and decontaminate the plague-affected areas, but in overworking themselves, Acorna and Aari (Khorii's parents) become infected with a mutated version of the plague that cannot be cured by the Linyarii. They are carriers of the mutant strain, and do not get sick, but they are in isolation for everyone else's sake.
Khorii looks for a way to cure them, and for the source of the plague, hoping the originators can eradicate it.
Meanwhile, her twin sister, kidnapped from the womb of Acorna, by Greymalkin, at the end of the Acorna series, has been raised these past 6 years by the "Friends" in an attempt (by them) to understand how they merged their race with the Ancestors (unicorns) to make the Linyaari. Her sister escapes from the Friends by stealing a crono, and meets up with Acorna, Aari and eventually Khorii, and together the twins (with Greymalkin's assistance) work together to solve the mystery of the plague.
The plague mutates again...they think...except that it's not a mutation. It's the next generation of development.
Through their time-travels, they discover that the "plague" is really a life-form that mutated when it was attacked by the Khleevi, and is now being spread throughout the galaxy by the last few "Friends". All the threads are tied up at the end, the plague is stopped, and Greymalkin falls in love with one of the Others / Ancestors in his time and goes back to be with her, neatly explaining (by inference) how the Linyaari people were started.
REVIEW: Uh-huh. I do not, as a rule, like books that have no resolution. I was unimpressed with "First Warning" when it came out, because it didn't resolve anything. "Here's all the problems, now wait a year or two for the next installment. Then another year or two for the conclusion...or maybe just another installment. You'll see when it comes out." My opinion: if I like the book / author / series enough to keep reading, I'm going to do so. You don't have to play little Hardy-boys-style cliffhanger games to get me to read the books. If they're not good enough to each stand on their own, then nothing you do is going to induce me to finish the series. In fact, that game has turned me off some perfectly good series before, including this one. The only reason I picked them up was because the library had all three books available.
I was disappointed, frankly. I usually expect better from Ms. McCaffrey. I really enjoyed the "Acorna" series, and was hoping for more. Unfortunately, these read rather like she was "pushing" the appeal and trying to get more mileage out of the series, rather than writing them because she had more story to tell. The ending was weak, the resolution was very deus-ex-machina, and felt rushed, as though she realized she needed an ending and wanted to tie everything up, so she just threw a solution at it and hoped it'd work.
As far as the Linyaari Origin Story...complete disappointment. These "Friends" wanted to figure out how they "combined" with the Ancestors to make the Linyaari and not once did they try it the time-tested old-fashioned way? Come on. I don't believe that for a second. Greymalkin was the only one to try it? Puh-leez.
It started out as a good story, but I think she pushed the franchise too far, and tried to get too many elements into the story. It was an entertaining ride, but a disappointing finish.
2.5 of 5.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Nancy Clue / Hardly Boys / Cherry Aimless books
There are 3 books in this "series": The Case of the Not-So-Nice Nurse, the Case of the Good-for-Nothing Girlfriend, and the Ghost in the Closet. They're obviously a parody / pastiche of the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Cherry Ames series of books. As such, they're incredibly campy, overdone, and, quite frankly, rather annoying. Nancy, Cherry, Frank and Joe are impossibly naive and really quite stupid. Just like the originals, you may say. Well, yes, except that these are patently written for a more adult audience.
All the characters in these books are either homosexual, want to be homosexual, or are heterosexual solely for the purpose of generating the main characters. All of them. They exist in a bizarre world where it's perfectly normal to be homosexual, and where everyone is homosexual, only it's also not OK or normal and it's not talked about or admitted. Two of the main characters get married, for example, except one is pretending to be a man and everyone knows it. They're apparently legally married...or...not...I'm not really sure, actually.
In any case, even though I read all three of them, they didn't really work for me. The mysteries were OK, but were pretty much Hardy Boys level. The mixture of adult themes, adult behavior, and 8-year-old dialogue, "campiness" and writing were jarring, and got really annoying very fast. I didn't care for them.
2 out of 5.
All the characters in these books are either homosexual, want to be homosexual, or are heterosexual solely for the purpose of generating the main characters. All of them. They exist in a bizarre world where it's perfectly normal to be homosexual, and where everyone is homosexual, only it's also not OK or normal and it's not talked about or admitted. Two of the main characters get married, for example, except one is pretending to be a man and everyone knows it. They're apparently legally married...or...not...I'm not really sure, actually.
In any case, even though I read all three of them, they didn't really work for me. The mysteries were OK, but were pretty much Hardy Boys level. The mixture of adult themes, adult behavior, and 8-year-old dialogue, "campiness" and writing were jarring, and got really annoying very fast. I didn't care for them.
2 out of 5.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
The Professor's Daughter, a Graphic Novel
The Professor's Daughter, by Joanne Sfar, is a graphic novel. It's quite an easy read, really, but...it's confusing.
The premise, apparently: Imhotep IV is a mummy in modern-day society. He's alive and evidently he and "The Professor's Daughter" have fallen in love. Various hijinks result from this.
I think. Eventually his father, Imhotep III gets involved and...yeah. It's weird.
Really, the book reads like the middle of the story. It starts with Imhotep IV and the Professor's Daughter walking around the City. Wherever they are.
A Mummy...in a suit and hat...walking around. This garners no unusual looks, no attention whatsoever.
Eventually he unwraps himself, for reasons explained in the book, and he looks like...well, like anyone else, really.
It's a weird book. I didn't get it, I guess. I was more confused than entertained. It was cute, though.
2 out of 5, because it was cute. And when you think about it, that's pretty sad that a confusing book that I didn't get still gets a higher rating than the latest Xanth novel.
The premise, apparently: Imhotep IV is a mummy in modern-day society. He's alive and evidently he and "The Professor's Daughter" have fallen in love. Various hijinks result from this.
I think. Eventually his father, Imhotep III gets involved and...yeah. It's weird.
Really, the book reads like the middle of the story. It starts with Imhotep IV and the Professor's Daughter walking around the City. Wherever they are.
A Mummy...in a suit and hat...walking around. This garners no unusual looks, no attention whatsoever.
Eventually he unwraps himself, for reasons explained in the book, and he looks like...well, like anyone else, really.
It's a weird book. I didn't get it, I guess. I was more confused than entertained. It was cute, though.
2 out of 5, because it was cute. And when you think about it, that's pretty sad that a confusing book that I didn't get still gets a higher rating than the latest Xanth novel.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Masquerade, Book 2 of the Blue Bloods series
Yup, it's Book 2 of the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz.
The series starts out with an interesting premise - that there are vampires on earth, and that they are the "Fallen Angels" that rebelled against God at the beginning of creation, and followed Lucifer. They are then condemned to wander the earth, constantly reincarnating, and trying to redeem themselves and regain their places in Heaven. These are the Blue Bloods. And yes, all the aristocrats and royalty throughout history are the Vampire Blue Bloods.
Well....most of 'em are trying to redeem themselves. Some don't care, and want instead to rule the earth...or...something. Anyway, they don't drink human blood - they drink BLUE BLOOD, and they drink 'em dry. Since apparently some of the Blue Blood's blood must be preserved for them to reincarnate, when the "renegades" (or "Silver Bloods", as they're called) drain a Blue Blood dry, then that Blue Blood is lost forever, never to reincarnate.
It's an interesting premise, with a decent grasp of the "angelic" mythos. The author makes liberal use of the existing mythological hierarchy of angels, and introduces such beings as Abbadon, Azrael, Metraton, Michael and Gabriel to us. Lest you be disappointed by her treatment of Michael and Gabriel, though, I hasten to say that Michael and Gabriel left Heaven voluntarily in order to try to "guide" their fellow angels back to heaven. The first liberty that's taken with the mythos is that "Gabriel" isn't really "Gabriel", it's "Gabrielle", and she was supposedly the "eternal mate" of Michael. Angh.
So...setting that aside. This book suffers from "Second Book In A Series Syndrome", better known as "Two Towers-itis". The book makes no sense whatsoever as a standalone book - you absolutely must read the first book to understand it. It has no "book plotline" that crops up at the beginning of the book and is at least semi-resolved at the end - it exists solely to further push the overall story arc of "who are the Silver Bloods and how can the Blue Bloods win the fight against them". Which, I might add, it leaves entirely unresolved. It makes progress, much like Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes, but at the end, we're still somewhere on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, waiting to see what the Silver Bloods will throw at us next.
The treatment of the "fallen" is a bit...odd...as well. de la Cruz is flirting with the topics of incest as two of the "lifemated" angels, Azrael and Abbadon (angels of Death and Destruction, respectively), are reincarnated as twin brother and sister - and children of Michael. Eurgh. The ick-factor goes pretty high on some of the interactions between them. Metraton is presented as the father of all the other angels - or at least of Michael.
Azrael / Mimi isn't acting very much like she wants redemption, by the way. Therefore, I'm sure that her stint as a Red Herring / Silver Blood cover in Masquerade won't be her last flirtation with Doom. I expect she'll get accused at least once more as a Silver Blood before Redeeming Herself - either that or she'll get accused, her accuser will be brushed off with a "you accused her of that last time, too, and she wasn't then, stop persecuting her" and then she'll turn out to have thrown her lot in with the Silver Bloods after all.
And...sorry, but the Big Reveal at the end of the book wasn't exactly a surprise.
Overall, a bit of a disappointment after the promise of Book 1. Hoping that Book 3 will be better and be more than just a Plot Pusher.
2.5 / 5 bones for this one.
The series starts out with an interesting premise - that there are vampires on earth, and that they are the "Fallen Angels" that rebelled against God at the beginning of creation, and followed Lucifer. They are then condemned to wander the earth, constantly reincarnating, and trying to redeem themselves and regain their places in Heaven. These are the Blue Bloods. And yes, all the aristocrats and royalty throughout history are the Vampire Blue Bloods.
Well....most of 'em are trying to redeem themselves. Some don't care, and want instead to rule the earth...or...something. Anyway, they don't drink human blood - they drink BLUE BLOOD, and they drink 'em dry. Since apparently some of the Blue Blood's blood must be preserved for them to reincarnate, when the "renegades" (or "Silver Bloods", as they're called) drain a Blue Blood dry, then that Blue Blood is lost forever, never to reincarnate.
It's an interesting premise, with a decent grasp of the "angelic" mythos. The author makes liberal use of the existing mythological hierarchy of angels, and introduces such beings as Abbadon, Azrael, Metraton, Michael and Gabriel to us. Lest you be disappointed by her treatment of Michael and Gabriel, though, I hasten to say that Michael and Gabriel left Heaven voluntarily in order to try to "guide" their fellow angels back to heaven. The first liberty that's taken with the mythos is that "Gabriel" isn't really "Gabriel", it's "Gabrielle", and she was supposedly the "eternal mate" of Michael. Angh.
So...setting that aside. This book suffers from "Second Book In A Series Syndrome", better known as "Two Towers-itis". The book makes no sense whatsoever as a standalone book - you absolutely must read the first book to understand it. It has no "book plotline" that crops up at the beginning of the book and is at least semi-resolved at the end - it exists solely to further push the overall story arc of "who are the Silver Bloods and how can the Blue Bloods win the fight against them". Which, I might add, it leaves entirely unresolved. It makes progress, much like Frodo and Sam through the Dead Marshes, but at the end, we're still somewhere on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol, waiting to see what the Silver Bloods will throw at us next.
The treatment of the "fallen" is a bit...odd...as well. de la Cruz is flirting with the topics of incest as two of the "lifemated" angels, Azrael and Abbadon (angels of Death and Destruction, respectively), are reincarnated as twin brother and sister - and children of Michael. Eurgh. The ick-factor goes pretty high on some of the interactions between them. Metraton is presented as the father of all the other angels - or at least of Michael.
Azrael / Mimi isn't acting very much like she wants redemption, by the way. Therefore, I'm sure that her stint as a Red Herring / Silver Blood cover in Masquerade won't be her last flirtation with Doom. I expect she'll get accused at least once more as a Silver Blood before Redeeming Herself - either that or she'll get accused, her accuser will be brushed off with a "you accused her of that last time, too, and she wasn't then, stop persecuting her" and then she'll turn out to have thrown her lot in with the Silver Bloods after all.
And...sorry, but the Big Reveal at the end of the book wasn't exactly a surprise.
Overall, a bit of a disappointment after the promise of Book 1. Hoping that Book 3 will be better and be more than just a Plot Pusher.
2.5 / 5 bones for this one.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Royal Mess
The latest in MaryJanice Davidson's series about the Alaskan Royal Family. This one revolves around a previously unknown Royal - a woman who was the result of a liaison between the King of Alaska and a "fling" a few weeks before his marriage to the Queen of Alaska.
The usual irreverence, humor, and inevitable sex is contained in this far-too-short book. I've read novellas longer than this, and I regretted the humor and irreverence didn't last longer. I never have been much of a fan of sex scenes in books, so I can't speak to that one way or the other. However, these books are always a fun read, sex scenes or not, and I do enjoy them as brain-candy.
4 bones.
The usual irreverence, humor, and inevitable sex is contained in this far-too-short book. I've read novellas longer than this, and I regretted the humor and irreverence didn't last longer. I never have been much of a fan of sex scenes in books, so I can't speak to that one way or the other. However, these books are always a fun read, sex scenes or not, and I do enjoy them as brain-candy.
4 bones.
Questions for the movie answer man
Another good book by Roger Ebert. He answers questions that have been sent to him regarding his reviews, and movies in general. They're organized alphabetically by topic. Some answers are funny, some are serious, and they make for another easy-to-pick-up read. I didn't think it was quite as entertaining as the movie reviews, but that could be because a lot of the subject matter is rather specific to the industry, and I had no frame of reference for it.
3.5 bones for this one.
3.5 bones for this one.
I hated, hated, hated, HATED this movie
This book is a compendium of several of Roger Ebert's movie reviews. They're all of movies he gave 2 stars or fewer - so reading his reviews is like watching a slow-moving trainwreck. He's acerbic, witty, and pointed in his reviews. He never loses sight of the fact that they're HIS reviews, and HIS impressions of the movie. He doesn't recommend a movie, or say "you'll hate it" or otherwise insult our intelligence. And, of course, the worse the rating, the more entertaining the review.
However, the book is very entertaining, and is an easy "drop-in-and-out" book.
I loved, loved, loved LOVED this book.
4.5 bones for it. Well done, Mr. Ebert.
However, the book is very entertaining, and is an easy "drop-in-and-out" book.
I loved, loved, loved LOVED this book.
4.5 bones for it. Well done, Mr. Ebert.
Monday, November 19, 2007
I {heart} My in-laws, by Dina Poch
I saw this book on the shelf at the library under New Releases, Non-Fiction, and I thought, "hey, that looks like a good book." So I picked it up. After all, I {heart} my in-laws, so why not.
It's not exactly a diary about how much the author loves her in-laws. It's more how to get along with your in-laws, with advice and vignettes from people who have Been There, so to speak. How to get along with the seriously weird, annoying, overbearing, insert-bad-character-trait-here people you've managed to inherit along with a new spouse.
My personal opinion: Remember you marry the family, not just the PERSON, when you're considering marriage. If his family is a problem NOW, while you're still DATING, getting a ring and putting a deposit on a reception hall isn't going to improve matters. It's a fun read, though. Full of humor, and guaranteed to give you at least one instance of "wow...now that's bad."
Some good advice, if you've never thought to get any or think of things quite that way before. I suppose as "general relationship" advice it might work, and there may be some suggestions in there you've not thought of before. However, don't expect it to magically change anything. Most of it's generic self-help stuff, and obviously they can't cover every single problem (although they do, at times, appear to try). It's presented better than most, though - good use of humor and examples.
3.5 out of 5 bones.
It's not exactly a diary about how much the author loves her in-laws. It's more how to get along with your in-laws, with advice and vignettes from people who have Been There, so to speak. How to get along with the seriously weird, annoying, overbearing, insert-bad-character-trait-here people you've managed to inherit along with a new spouse.
My personal opinion: Remember you marry the family, not just the PERSON, when you're considering marriage. If his family is a problem NOW, while you're still DATING, getting a ring and putting a deposit on a reception hall isn't going to improve matters. It's a fun read, though. Full of humor, and guaranteed to give you at least one instance of "wow...now that's bad."
Some good advice, if you've never thought to get any or think of things quite that way before. I suppose as "general relationship" advice it might work, and there may be some suggestions in there you've not thought of before. However, don't expect it to magically change anything. Most of it's generic self-help stuff, and obviously they can't cover every single problem (although they do, at times, appear to try). It's presented better than most, though - good use of humor and examples.
3.5 out of 5 bones.
Monday, November 12, 2007
A Lick Of Frost
WARNING, WARNING, WILL ROBINSON! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Seriously. If you don't want to know what happens in the latest Merry Gentry book, don't read any farther. I'm gonna reveal a LOT about the book, and make some commentary.
OK, if you've read this far, it's your own darn fault if the outcome is spoiled for you.
SYNOPSIS: Starts out in a lawyer's office. Taranis has accused 3 of Merry's Men of raping one of the Seelie Court. Merry & her Men spend some time discussing it, and revealing some of Taranis' dirty laundry as well. Taranis shows up via mirror and glamourizes...well...pretty much everyone. Then he tries to kill Doyle and Abeloec. They survive, but they're horribly burned.
Taranis' own court turns against him, and votes him out of office, so to speak. They want Merry to be their next Queen!
Back in Unseelie Land, Andais does not take kindly to this news. She thinks Merry has been treating with the Seelie Court for quite some time, and is absolutely furious. Merry finally convinces her that the offer was as much of a surprise to her as it was to Andais, and Andais...sorta...forgives her. Sorta. As much as Andais does, really.
Merry's feeling run-down and fears she has a cold or the flu. VERY tired, feeling "off", that sort of thing. She fears that even IF the "Golden Court" elected her Queen, she wouldn't be "immortal" or Seelie enough for them, and they'd shortly change their mind and kill her.
We get introduced to the Faerie Hounds. Several Faerie have dogs now. They're the result of the Wild Hunt being released at the end of "Mistral's Kiss". They were all the large black Wild Hunt dogs until the fae touched them, then some stayed large black dogs (Doyle's), some became greyhound type dogs, including Merry's, and some became terrier-types, like Rhys's.
Some backing-and-forthing goes on with the goblins and more with Andais. Merry and her Men do what Merry and her Men are supposed to do, and they have a lot of fun doing it. Ash and Holly, the 2 goblin-sidhe she's agreed to "service", show up for their Night Of Fun, along with all the RedCaps. Merry talks to them a bit, and suddenly faerie is "created". Maeve Reed's house, where they are staying, pretty much turns into another sithen. Sort of. We find out that Merry's female hound is pregnant. And so is Merry, with twins - and she has been for a month. And the twins have six fathers: Doyle, Rhys, Galen, Frost, Mistral and Sholto. Anyone that had a dog or twelve were "anchored" so they weren't as affected. The ones that didn't...
Ash and Holly were brought into their powers. Holly is happy, because he now has more power to be a goblin. Ash is not, because he wanted a shot at being King of the Unseelie Court, and he found out they're a month too late to even try to be in the running. The RedCaps are changed. It's not certain TO what, but they're still RedCaps. And, unfortunately, Frost is affected as well.
He didn't have any dogs, and feared that he wasn't sidhe enough to "make" them. When faerie came, he didn't have anything to anchor him to "how he was", so he was Changed. He changed into the White Stag, and ran off. He may or may not ever come back, and may or may not ever see his child. Merry is devastated, and goes outside to get away from everyone.
Amatheon shows up, and tries to...um..."press his suit". Only it's not Amatheon - it's Taranis in disguise, who knocks Merry unconscious and kidnaps her. She wakes up in his bedroom, and is rescued by the Seelie Court, who essentially arrest him and take her out to meet the press and get medical attention.
COMMENTARY: It's a fun ride, as usual with the Merry Gentry books. However, there were some completely bad things about the book. For one thing, the composition is terrible. There were chapter breaks in the middle of the action, which would pick up in the next chapter right where it left off. News flash: if it's not a thought break, don't make it a chapter break! That kind of "cliffhanger" writing is fine for the Hardy Boys, but these are supposed to be grown-up books. We don't need a "tune in next chapter for the exciting conclusion" every other page. Really.
I liked that there was more plot / action / character development than sex in this one. Mistral's Kiss seemed to have the non-sex scenes in there SOLELY to drive us to another sex-scene; it's nice that this one actually has plot and the sex scenes are a part of the plot instead of the replacement for it.
However.
The biggest, most unbelievable part of the entire book was that Merry was feeling run-down and tired, and never ever once thought, "hey, I wonder if I'm pregnant." We find out early in the book that she'd been feeling tired for a couple days, and everyone, including her, assumed that she was coming down with a cold! She fears that she's not immortal now, as she thought she was.
Erm.
The entire point of Merry's Men is to get her pregnant. The focus of the entire series so far has been "get Merry Pregnant". And with all of these people participating in the activities, not one of them said, "Hey, you're feeling tired and out of sorts, like you're getting a cold or the flu, let's stop at Walgreen's and pick up an EPT"???? Come on. That plot device just did not work. Do they not have pregnancy tests in Merry's world? The only way to ever ever tell you're pregnant is if you Miss Your Period? Puh-leeze. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that. By page three, I was thinking, "she's not got a cold, you morons, she's pregnant. Duh."
And the "I've got a cold" theme came up way, way too often for me to just suspend disbelief and set it aside to enjoy the rest of the book. I'm forced to conclude that it's a good thing sidhe don't breed that often, because apparently they're all dumber than a box of hair.
Of course, it did have one positive effect. Because pretty much all my disbelief was occupied with "I can't believe it took a freaking VISION to tell her she's pregnant", I didn't have too much trouble believing the whole "six fathers for two babies" thing. It probably helps that I have read enough mythology to buy it, but really. That's a stretch. I think Hamilton painted herself into a corner, here - she made way too many likable characters, and then couldn't choose which would be Merry's King-Consort. So she didn't. (My personal opinion: she didn't want to alienate any of her fanbase by "eliminating" their favorite from the Father List.) You'll notice any of Merry's Men that have received more than 5 pages of action & dialog wound up on the Father List. The throwaways, the "red-shirts", if you will, didn't.
Not a bad book, certainly not the worst in the Merry Gentry series, but not exactly the greatest, either.
3.5 out of 5 bones for this one.
COMMENTARY ON OTHER SPECULATION: I've read a lot of other people's speculation about it, too. Here's some of my thoughts on that. The biggest lot of comments regarding this book expressed disappointment that Cel has been built up into a big threat "for nothing". Er...excuse me? Just because Merry's finally pregnant doesn't actually mean that Andais is going to give up her throne, and it's far from certain that it'll be to Merry in any case. She already said that! She's deeply offended that Merry was offered the Seelie throne, and has said that Merry is "too Seelie" to rule the Unseelie.
She knows that as soon as Merry takes the Unseelie Throne, Cel is dead dead dead. She's already demonstrated a significant soft spot for her son, and she absolutely hates Merry. No, I'm not seeing this transfer of power from Andais to Merry happening any time soon, if at all, and certainly not easily.
Cel's not eliminated as a threat, people, and it's stupid to think he is.
Seriously. If you don't want to know what happens in the latest Merry Gentry book, don't read any farther. I'm gonna reveal a LOT about the book, and make some commentary.
OK, if you've read this far, it's your own darn fault if the outcome is spoiled for you.
SYNOPSIS: Starts out in a lawyer's office. Taranis has accused 3 of Merry's Men of raping one of the Seelie Court. Merry & her Men spend some time discussing it, and revealing some of Taranis' dirty laundry as well. Taranis shows up via mirror and glamourizes...well...pretty much everyone. Then he tries to kill Doyle and Abeloec. They survive, but they're horribly burned.
Taranis' own court turns against him, and votes him out of office, so to speak. They want Merry to be their next Queen!
Back in Unseelie Land, Andais does not take kindly to this news. She thinks Merry has been treating with the Seelie Court for quite some time, and is absolutely furious. Merry finally convinces her that the offer was as much of a surprise to her as it was to Andais, and Andais...sorta...forgives her. Sorta. As much as Andais does, really.
Merry's feeling run-down and fears she has a cold or the flu. VERY tired, feeling "off", that sort of thing. She fears that even IF the "Golden Court" elected her Queen, she wouldn't be "immortal" or Seelie enough for them, and they'd shortly change their mind and kill her.
We get introduced to the Faerie Hounds. Several Faerie have dogs now. They're the result of the Wild Hunt being released at the end of "Mistral's Kiss". They were all the large black Wild Hunt dogs until the fae touched them, then some stayed large black dogs (Doyle's), some became greyhound type dogs, including Merry's, and some became terrier-types, like Rhys's.
Some backing-and-forthing goes on with the goblins and more with Andais. Merry and her Men do what Merry and her Men are supposed to do, and they have a lot of fun doing it. Ash and Holly, the 2 goblin-sidhe she's agreed to "service", show up for their Night Of Fun, along with all the RedCaps. Merry talks to them a bit, and suddenly faerie is "created". Maeve Reed's house, where they are staying, pretty much turns into another sithen. Sort of. We find out that Merry's female hound is pregnant. And so is Merry, with twins - and she has been for a month. And the twins have six fathers: Doyle, Rhys, Galen, Frost, Mistral and Sholto. Anyone that had a dog or twelve were "anchored" so they weren't as affected. The ones that didn't...
Ash and Holly were brought into their powers. Holly is happy, because he now has more power to be a goblin. Ash is not, because he wanted a shot at being King of the Unseelie Court, and he found out they're a month too late to even try to be in the running. The RedCaps are changed. It's not certain TO what, but they're still RedCaps. And, unfortunately, Frost is affected as well.
He didn't have any dogs, and feared that he wasn't sidhe enough to "make" them. When faerie came, he didn't have anything to anchor him to "how he was", so he was Changed. He changed into the White Stag, and ran off. He may or may not ever come back, and may or may not ever see his child. Merry is devastated, and goes outside to get away from everyone.
Amatheon shows up, and tries to...um..."press his suit". Only it's not Amatheon - it's Taranis in disguise, who knocks Merry unconscious and kidnaps her. She wakes up in his bedroom, and is rescued by the Seelie Court, who essentially arrest him and take her out to meet the press and get medical attention.
COMMENTARY: It's a fun ride, as usual with the Merry Gentry books. However, there were some completely bad things about the book. For one thing, the composition is terrible. There were chapter breaks in the middle of the action, which would pick up in the next chapter right where it left off. News flash: if it's not a thought break, don't make it a chapter break! That kind of "cliffhanger" writing is fine for the Hardy Boys, but these are supposed to be grown-up books. We don't need a "tune in next chapter for the exciting conclusion" every other page. Really.
I liked that there was more plot / action / character development than sex in this one. Mistral's Kiss seemed to have the non-sex scenes in there SOLELY to drive us to another sex-scene; it's nice that this one actually has plot and the sex scenes are a part of the plot instead of the replacement for it.
However.
The biggest, most unbelievable part of the entire book was that Merry was feeling run-down and tired, and never ever once thought, "hey, I wonder if I'm pregnant." We find out early in the book that she'd been feeling tired for a couple days, and everyone, including her, assumed that she was coming down with a cold! She fears that she's not immortal now, as she thought she was.
Erm.
The entire point of Merry's Men is to get her pregnant. The focus of the entire series so far has been "get Merry Pregnant". And with all of these people participating in the activities, not one of them said, "Hey, you're feeling tired and out of sorts, like you're getting a cold or the flu, let's stop at Walgreen's and pick up an EPT"???? Come on. That plot device just did not work. Do they not have pregnancy tests in Merry's world? The only way to ever ever tell you're pregnant is if you Miss Your Period? Puh-leeze. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that. By page three, I was thinking, "she's not got a cold, you morons, she's pregnant. Duh."
And the "I've got a cold" theme came up way, way too often for me to just suspend disbelief and set it aside to enjoy the rest of the book. I'm forced to conclude that it's a good thing sidhe don't breed that often, because apparently they're all dumber than a box of hair.
Of course, it did have one positive effect. Because pretty much all my disbelief was occupied with "I can't believe it took a freaking VISION to tell her she's pregnant", I didn't have too much trouble believing the whole "six fathers for two babies" thing. It probably helps that I have read enough mythology to buy it, but really. That's a stretch. I think Hamilton painted herself into a corner, here - she made way too many likable characters, and then couldn't choose which would be Merry's King-Consort. So she didn't. (My personal opinion: she didn't want to alienate any of her fanbase by "eliminating" their favorite from the Father List.) You'll notice any of Merry's Men that have received more than 5 pages of action & dialog wound up on the Father List. The throwaways, the "red-shirts", if you will, didn't.
Not a bad book, certainly not the worst in the Merry Gentry series, but not exactly the greatest, either.
3.5 out of 5 bones for this one.
COMMENTARY ON OTHER SPECULATION: I've read a lot of other people's speculation about it, too. Here's some of my thoughts on that. The biggest lot of comments regarding this book expressed disappointment that Cel has been built up into a big threat "for nothing". Er...excuse me? Just because Merry's finally pregnant doesn't actually mean that Andais is going to give up her throne, and it's far from certain that it'll be to Merry in any case. She already said that! She's deeply offended that Merry was offered the Seelie throne, and has said that Merry is "too Seelie" to rule the Unseelie.
She knows that as soon as Merry takes the Unseelie Throne, Cel is dead dead dead. She's already demonstrated a significant soft spot for her son, and she absolutely hates Merry. No, I'm not seeing this transfer of power from Andais to Merry happening any time soon, if at all, and certainly not easily.
Cel's not eliminated as a threat, people, and it's stupid to think he is.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The Woman Who Swallowed A Toothbrush, and Other Bizarre Medical Cases, by Rob Myers, M.D.
Long title, isn't it? And it pretty much sums up the contents of the book. I can't really give you a "synopsis", per se, because it's not real long on plot. It's a series of short vignettes about Weird Medical Stuff, and their reasons.
For example, the title case was a gal who was admitted to the emergency room with a sore throat and problems swallowing. Turns out she had a toothbrush lodged in there. Yup, she said she was brushing her teeth and slipped and fell and *WHAMMO*, toothbrush in the throat.
Only the toothbrush was lodged in there handle-side first.
Turns out she was bulimic, and was using it to induce vomiting, and stuck it in juuuuuuuust a little too far.
There's a story about a teen who came in with priapism, too. I'll leave it to you to think about how they solved that one. Oh, and the guy who showed up with mysterious symptoms that turned out to be lead poisoning. No, he wasn't eating Chinese-made toys - but he was chewing on electrical wire. That was his substitute for smoking. He decided after his chelation treatments (to remove the lead from his system) that he'd go back to smoking instead.
The book is a fascinating look at the human condition, really. I quite enjoyed it, although I will have to say it's not for everyone. If you're rather weak-stomached, I wouldn't recommend reading it while eating, for example. Especially not the one about the woman who had insects in her scalp. Really. Ew.
This book reads rather like a collection of stories from Jan Harold Brunvand's doctor. It's a lot of fun to read, well-written, and not too overlong on medical jargon, except where necessary (and then it's explained). You may think that it's actually a collection of Urban Legends, but the blurb in the back does say the cases are all based on fact, and most come from medical journals and professional publications. Some did come from personal anecdotes, however, and it may be that Dr. Myers was taken in occasionally by a "friend-of-a-friend" story, where someone told him that they knew someone who swears they know someone this happened to. There were a few times reading through it that I thought, "wow, I could swear I just read something similar on Snopes recently." I think, though, that most of that feeling is because the cases of necessity must be anonymized. Urban legends always happen to "someone in the emergency room", or "a guy walking down the road" - so these stories, by their nature, are going to 'feel' like Urban Legends.
But overall, it's an entertaining read, and well worth the time.
Even if it is kind of icky sometimes.
4 out of 5 bones. Crunch!
For example, the title case was a gal who was admitted to the emergency room with a sore throat and problems swallowing. Turns out she had a toothbrush lodged in there. Yup, she said she was brushing her teeth and slipped and fell and *WHAMMO*, toothbrush in the throat.
Only the toothbrush was lodged in there handle-side first.
Turns out she was bulimic, and was using it to induce vomiting, and stuck it in juuuuuuuust a little too far.
There's a story about a teen who came in with priapism, too. I'll leave it to you to think about how they solved that one. Oh, and the guy who showed up with mysterious symptoms that turned out to be lead poisoning. No, he wasn't eating Chinese-made toys - but he was chewing on electrical wire. That was his substitute for smoking. He decided after his chelation treatments (to remove the lead from his system) that he'd go back to smoking instead.
The book is a fascinating look at the human condition, really. I quite enjoyed it, although I will have to say it's not for everyone. If you're rather weak-stomached, I wouldn't recommend reading it while eating, for example. Especially not the one about the woman who had insects in her scalp. Really. Ew.
This book reads rather like a collection of stories from Jan Harold Brunvand's doctor. It's a lot of fun to read, well-written, and not too overlong on medical jargon, except where necessary (and then it's explained). You may think that it's actually a collection of Urban Legends, but the blurb in the back does say the cases are all based on fact, and most come from medical journals and professional publications. Some did come from personal anecdotes, however, and it may be that Dr. Myers was taken in occasionally by a "friend-of-a-friend" story, where someone told him that they knew someone who swears they know someone this happened to. There were a few times reading through it that I thought, "wow, I could swear I just read something similar on Snopes recently." I think, though, that most of that feeling is because the cases of necessity must be anonymized. Urban legends always happen to "someone in the emergency room", or "a guy walking down the road" - so these stories, by their nature, are going to 'feel' like Urban Legends.
But overall, it's an entertaining read, and well worth the time.
Even if it is kind of icky sometimes.
4 out of 5 bones. Crunch!
Monday, November 5, 2007
"Air Apparent", by Piers Anthony (Xanth Novel)
SYNOPSIS: Hugo (Humfrey and the Gorgon's son) has disappeared. A mysterious body is found in the cellar of the Good Magician's Castle in his place. The Book of Answers is completely scrambled - and it's up to Wira, Hugo's wife (who is blind) to fix it all.
THOUGHTS: Convenient plot device, the scrambling of the Book of Answers. That was the best explanation for the complete absence of any cohesion or consistency in this book - nobody had any idea what they were doing. Unfortunately, the book also read as though the author was included in that group.
It started out fine - laying out the problem of Hugo's disappearance and Wira's reaction. However, it went rapidly downhill. Several elements were introduced that hadn't even been hinted at before. Hugo and Wira have had a spell on them preventing the storks from receiving any signals from them? Really? Who set it? Why? None of that's explained. It's just introduced as a handy MacGuffin to get Hugo into the basement for some Rhed Whine (to celebrate the Good Magician lifting the anti-stork-geas).
Hugo's problems with conjuring bad fruit are explained too. He couldn't possibly be just "not quite bright", oh, no, he's the victim of a seed of a mediocritree, which has been lodged in his ear for his entire life. Wait, what? How did that get there? No, no, no...on second thought I don't want to know. Really. His history indicates he's pretty much always been a little...slow...so I really don't want to know how that seed got into his ear.
I must say, though, that the bathing rituals in Xanth seem to be a little lacking, if he's managed to get through over 40 years of life with a seed in his ear, and nobody has even noticed (including him).
The Point-of-view cuts from Wira's Story to Hugo's are terribly abrupt and completely interrupt the flow of the story. Every single time the story jumped from POV to POV, I got jolted out of the story and had to take a few paragraphs to try to figure out what the heck was going on. Not a good thing if you're trying to enjoy the book. I found it more irritating than enjoyable, overall.
I did, however, quite enjoy seeing more of Happy Bottom and Fray, as they took strong supporting roles in this book. Their adventures were quite enjoyable to read.
The ending...oh my gosh, the ending. Do yourself a favor. Don't bother. Really. The ending winds up linking all of Ida's moons into an endless loop, and breaking the Earth / Xanth interface link forever. Sort of. Except through the moons. Yeah, it makes no sense.
And -WHAT a shock- the whole story is just another Demon contest. Wow, that plot device hasn't been used for every single book in the Xanth series lately. Seriously, when was the last time a Demon contest wasn't involved somehow???
Overall, I obviously didn't enjoy this one very much, and I may be giving the Xanth books a miss from now on.
BOOK RATING: 1.5 bones out of 5. And that's just because of the bits with Happy Bottom & Fray.
THOUGHTS: Convenient plot device, the scrambling of the Book of Answers. That was the best explanation for the complete absence of any cohesion or consistency in this book - nobody had any idea what they were doing. Unfortunately, the book also read as though the author was included in that group.
It started out fine - laying out the problem of Hugo's disappearance and Wira's reaction. However, it went rapidly downhill. Several elements were introduced that hadn't even been hinted at before. Hugo and Wira have had a spell on them preventing the storks from receiving any signals from them? Really? Who set it? Why? None of that's explained. It's just introduced as a handy MacGuffin to get Hugo into the basement for some Rhed Whine (to celebrate the Good Magician lifting the anti-stork-geas).
Hugo's problems with conjuring bad fruit are explained too. He couldn't possibly be just "not quite bright", oh, no, he's the victim of a seed of a mediocritree, which has been lodged in his ear for his entire life. Wait, what? How did that get there? No, no, no...on second thought I don't want to know. Really. His history indicates he's pretty much always been a little...slow...so I really don't want to know how that seed got into his ear.
I must say, though, that the bathing rituals in Xanth seem to be a little lacking, if he's managed to get through over 40 years of life with a seed in his ear, and nobody has even noticed (including him).
The Point-of-view cuts from Wira's Story to Hugo's are terribly abrupt and completely interrupt the flow of the story. Every single time the story jumped from POV to POV, I got jolted out of the story and had to take a few paragraphs to try to figure out what the heck was going on. Not a good thing if you're trying to enjoy the book. I found it more irritating than enjoyable, overall.
I did, however, quite enjoy seeing more of Happy Bottom and Fray, as they took strong supporting roles in this book. Their adventures were quite enjoyable to read.
The ending...oh my gosh, the ending. Do yourself a favor. Don't bother. Really. The ending winds up linking all of Ida's moons into an endless loop, and breaking the Earth / Xanth interface link forever. Sort of. Except through the moons. Yeah, it makes no sense.
And -WHAT a shock- the whole story is just another Demon contest. Wow, that plot device hasn't been used for every single book in the Xanth series lately. Seriously, when was the last time a Demon contest wasn't involved somehow???
Overall, I obviously didn't enjoy this one very much, and I may be giving the Xanth books a miss from now on.
BOOK RATING: 1.5 bones out of 5. And that's just because of the bits with Happy Bottom & Fray.
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