Book Review: The Summoning

The Summoning
Kelley Armstrong

After years of frequent moves following her mother’s death, Chloe Saunders’s life is finally settling down. She is attending art school, pursuing her dreams of becoming a director, making friends, meeting boys. Her biggest concern is that she’s not developing as fast as her friends are. But when puberty does hit, it brings more than hormone surges. Chloe starts seeing ghosts–everywhere, demanding her attention. After she suffers a breakdown, her devoted aunt Lauren gets her into a highly recommended group home.

At first, Lyle House seems a pretty okay place, except for Chloe’s small problem of fearing she might be facing a lifetime of mental illness. But as she gradually gets to know the other kids at the home–charming Simon and his ominous, unsmiling brother Derek, obnoxious Tori, and Rae, who has a “thing” for fire–Chloe begins to realize that there is something that binds them all together, and it isn’t your usual “problem kid” behaviour. And together they discover that Lyle House is not your usual group home either…



Star Rating:


Review:
I wasn't sure what I was going to think of this book. Frankly, in YA Fantasy Lit, anything that doesn't scream "vampire" is a nice respite. So right off the bat, this was a nice break from what is the usual voice in this genre right now. Then enter Chloe, protagonist. I actually liked Chloe, which is strange for me, since I am generally inclined to loathe protagonists (don't even get me started on Harry Potter...). She's quirky, but controlled. She's your typical teenage nerd girl - proud of who she is and dealing with the world in the way she best can all while pretending to be normal. And this is before anything weird happens. Armstrong gives the reader a chance to get to know Chloe a little bit before she changes, which builds a foundation... that is nice.

Even once Chloe is in Lyle House... she is not a dunderheaded protagnist. She makes choices, she doubts herself, she acts like a human. She is not helpless and while she is a little naive, it is not so much that you literally get angry at the book while she constantly makes the wrong choices. Because to the reader... she's not making the wrong choice. It is clear that Chloe has a process through which she makes her decisions, and when something goes wrong, it's because a piece of information is withheld, and the reader is as taken aback as the protagonist. That's awesome. Loved it.

These days, with a busy work schedule, I rarely finish a book in a day or two - I positively flew through this book. Besides work, I was in the middle of a performance when I read this book... and I almost missed a cue once while reading it because I was engrossed. Armstrong is fabulous at weaving a world that quickly snares the reader, and you've read fifty pages and lost nearly an hour when you were just sitting down to read a chapter.

I believe that young adults will eat in her Darkest Powers series, if this first book is any indication. Even as a book for adults... while it's not the most impressive read, it certainly was not a waste of time, and I know that I will read the next one. Chloe, although a teenager, was not entirely unrelatable as a character. And, if nothing else, the book is a quick read. But I enjoyed it, even as things were getting a little "out of hand" at the end. I liken the style of it to books like Blue Bloods and A Wrinkle in Time - it carries a similar charm mixed with strong female protagonists who have a fighting spirit and a storyline that doesn't always go where you want... or expect. In a good way.

Book Review: Sisters Red

Sisters Red
Jackson Pearce

Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris--the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts ferociously alongside her. But even as more girls' bodies pile up in the city and the Fenris seem to be gaining power, Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves. She finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax and Scarlett's only friend--but does loving him mean betraying her sister and all that they've worked for?



Star Rating:


Review:
As a lover of fairytales-retold, I adore the idea of this book, but found myself overall, disappointed. Pearce's attempts to tell an old story in a new and interesting way are only partially successful in that he falls back on too many of the same old cliches. It's one thing to be able to predict a movie ending (and, ironically, the movie that comes to mind is Red Riding Hood, whose greatest secret I had called before the first fifteen minutes passed) but it is entirely a different thing when you are able to call the ending of a book. I almost put it down several times - a dishonor which I have bestowed on very few books - simply because the events were only proving time and again that my theory was correct. It's no fun to already know the ending of a mediocre book.

That said, it does get two stars, because cheesy romance and 2/3 ridiculous cliched characters aside, Pearce did do some interesting things with the retelling - such as having the Hunters instead on exclusively weak little pixies. It also just may be the fact that I am good at finding the wolves crawling out of the woodwork - many others are may not be able to predict it as well as I did, and for them, this book will certainly be enjoyable.

Book Review: Terrier

Terrier
Tamora Pierce

Terrier is set two hundred years before Tamora Pierce's best known series, Tale of the Lioness, but remains in Tortall. Terrier is basically a rookie cop's story, in which the rookie comes across two truly ugly cases. "Beka is a slum kid who was brought into the household of the realm's top cop, the Lord Provost, eight years ago," Pierce said in an interview. "Now, at 16, she's returning to the slums of her childhood as a Puppy, which is what the Provost's Guards, or Dogs, call their rookies. Her life expectancy in this year is slim: Police work in this medieval-esque setting is hard and nasty, and even veterans don't always survive. Beka's lucky to have two of the best Dogs for her trainers, and she'll need them. Hers is a truly brutal world of tavern brawls, murder-for-hire, rivalry between thieves and murderers and those who profit from their work and those who will kill to keep their secrets. She's facing someone who is kidnapping children and killing them if their parents won't pay up and a man who slaughters the crews who dig treasure for him so they won't give away what they are doing." Pierce said that Beka is cool, tough and shy and has a powerful but subtle kind of magic. Beka is able to hear magically well, and is, like Alanna, guided by her cat - whether she wants to be or not!



Star Rating:


Review:
I liked Beka's story because it was one of Pierce's, but that was about the extent of my interest. I found some places to be tedious, as though it took Beka a very long time to find one little piece of information, but she discovered the whole plot in a moment. I understand that Pierce is working towards a trilogy, and so the things that bore me now are likely to be important later.

This book is written in the first person, and that must be expected before going into it. Traditionally Pierce writes in the third person, so the journal-reading experience is a new one for readers of hers.

There were many charming aspects. I liked Beka's friends - the rouges more than the Puppies and Dogs. You can tell from the start which are going to be important based on the way she writes about them, and I look forward to hearing all of their stories in the later books. I also loved Beka's cat, Pounce, and I remember Alanna's trusted cat-friend who turned out to be a deity and I cannot help but wonder if it is that same handing guiding Beka....

Pierce does not disappoint. I believe that Terrier is far from being her strongest work, but it is a good read nonetheless and should not be missed by any fan of her work.

Book Review: The Looking Glass Wars

The Looking Glass Wars
Frank Beddor

The Myth: Alice was an ordinary girl who stepped through the looking glass and entered a fairy-tale world invented by Lewis Carroll in his famous storybook. The Truth: Wonderland is real. Alyss Heart is the heir to the throne, until her murderous aunt Redd steals the crown and kills Alyss’ parents. To escape Redd, Alyss and her bodyguard, Hatter Madigan, must flee to our world through the Pool of Tears. But in the pool Alyss and Hatter are separated. Lost and alone in Victorian London, Alyss is befriended by an aspiring author to whom she tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Yet he gets the story all wrong. Hatter Madigan knows the truth only too well, and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts.



Star Rating:


Review:
I so very, very much wanted to love this book. I adore the Alice franchise, and I'm not a crazed fanatic of the exact words and chaos that comes from Carroll's tale as I am the possibilities it holds. I was thrilled when I discovered The Looking Glass Wars at my local Borders, and even more so thrilled when I learned that it wasn't a stand-alone book. I have seen more versions of Alice in Wonderland than I can count on one hand, and I even tend to enjoy the ones that impose a plot upon Alice's adventures.

This said, I had unfairly high hopes for Beddor's story. I will not lie and say it was an awful book, but nor will I give it more praise than it rightfully deserves. There were some moments in it that I loved. For example, the Inventor's Parade was a splendid idea (I particularly enjoyed the timeline at the end of the book which meshed real world events with those in Wonderland). There were things about Hatter Madigan I greatly enjoyed, and Alice as a child was delightful.

Then there were the things that were simply bad writing - rushing through scenes, Alice's transport back to Wonderland was far too quick a transition and completely unbelievable, even in a Wonderland-context. Sometimes the odds were far too impossible for Beddor's final conclusions to even be reached. Now, I know that attempting to look at Wonderland with a logical eye may seem foolish, but it isn't a matter of logic verses suspension of disbelief. It was simply bad writing, as though the author got bored and decided to simply skip to the point.

I give Beddor three stars, because the book was full of potential. Some of his ideas were nothing short of brilliant. On the other hand, though, I didn't see any characters that didn't appear in the Disney adaptation of the story save for the chessmen, which makes me wonder how much time Beddor spent with Carroll verses how much time he spent with media interpretations of Carroll. Nonetheless, The Looking Glass Wars is a worthy read for anyone interested in fairytales, in reflections of Lewis Carroll's work, or in a quick story that doesn't have too stringent of a plotline. Perhaps even a fan of steampunk fantasy would enjoy this, based on aspects like the Millinery and the Glass Eyes and other aspects like that. However, die-hard Carroll fans, stay away! This will only serve to enrage you.

Book Review: Blue Bloods

Blue Bloods
Melissa De La Cruz

Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she's starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are determined to get to the bottom of it.

Schuyler wants to find out the secrets of the mysterious Blue Bloods. But is she putting herself in danger?



Star Rating:

Review:

I surprised myself by loving this book.

I find that the summary on the back of the book is a little misleading - Blue Bloods follows not only the story of Schuyler Van Allen, but also the stories of Bliss Llewellyn and Madeline Force ("Mimi"). There are enough cliches to make it familiar, but few enough so that the pieces of originality stood out well. At the beginning, I was afraid that De La Cruz was going to dive into intense descriptions of clothes (hey-lo upper class, teenage NYC!), but she only did so when was appropriate, and in the voice of the one character who would actually care about something like that - Mimi. There isn't a single mention of a name-brand that Schuyler is wearing (excepting, of course, her modelling campaign, but her discomfort is clear the whole time).

The summary on the back of the book implies that this is a paranormal mystery, but the story itself seems to be more coming-of-age... except it's not about growing up... it's about becoming a vampire.

There were enough unique aspects in this book to make it feel fresh in a world that is torn between sparkly emo vampires (Meyer), and vicious, cunning vampires (Rice). She uses enough of the traditional aspects to remain true to the folklore, but explains away everything that doesn't fit. Even if she doesn't use aspects like garlic, etc., then I appreciate the fact she finds a justification for not using them. New aspects, such as the flashbacks and reincarnation? That's just cool.

However, there are points that are a little cheesy - Gabriel and Michael, for starters. Also, Oliver felt too flat after revealing his secret, as though knowing that sucked his character dry for me, and that was a little disappointing.

This book is great for people who want to read a light vampire flick, who aren't forcefully invented in "vampire" as the word is defined by another author, and as always with YA... people who can dissociate themselves from an adult mindset and recognize that the main characters may have souls as old as time, but their bodies and maturity level aren't quite as old.

I will be picking up the next book in this series, and I hope it delivers.

Book Review: A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones
George R.R. Martin

Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the St...moreLong ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the King's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but also the kingdom itself. A heroic fantasy of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and evildoers who come together in a time of grim omens.



Star Rating:


Review:
I had a difficult time starting this book. I read the first ten pages probably a gazillion times, on different eReaders. Once I got through the first chapter, I was hooked. This is exactly the kind of book I enjoy reading.

Martin takes the reader through a variety of different characters, each with their own subplots, each indispensable to the over arching plot of the book, and the overarching plot of the series. Each character speaks with his or her own voice, and has his or her own motivations. With as many characters as there is, one would think it difficult to keep track of all the different details, but Martin's writing was so smooth, I found it easy to follow everything - and difficult to put the book down!

His writing style was reminiscent of Tamora Pierce's, and his crafting of characters and scenery felt even Tolkien-esque. I found myself completely emerged in the threat of winter, even though where I live, it is unmistakably summer! I cannot praise him enough.

One thing Martin does dare - and I found it successful though others have not - is write a fantasy novel without traces of common fantastical elements - all these things are lost. There is no more magic, and dragons have not been seen in a millennium. Yet in the typical medieval setting, Martin maintains the feel of fantasy without these elements, and that is no small feat. Martin also shows enough of a battle to allow the reader to experience it, but without becoming monotonous.

I have read reviews that criticize Martin's use of sexual imagery, and the abuse of one character in particular. I acknowledge these remarks, but I do not find them to be enough to be a turn-off from the book. Any mention of a sexual encounter is brief and tasteful (unlike too many other fantasy books I have read) and it is relevant to the plot. Actually, I found it a bit refreshing to not be plunged into unnecessary erotica in the middle of a fantastic plotline! But that is my opinion, and I do not wish to belittle other people who were offended by it - their opinions are equally valid.

This is no book for children, and teens and young adult who are not advanced readers or bear a special love for works such as Tolkien will find the book tedious, I believe. For those of us with a love for fantasy and expert writing, A Game of Thrones is an absolute treat.

Book Review: Paranormalcy

Paranormalcy
Kiersten White

Weird as it is working for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, Evie’s always thought of herself as normal. Sure, her best friend is a mermaid, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours, but still. Normal.

Only now paranormals are dying, and Evie's dreams are filled with haunting voices and mysterious prophecies. She soon realizes that there may be a link between her abilities and the sudden rash of deaths. Not only that, but she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.



Star Rating:


Review:
This actually has nothing to do with the book itself, but as I was typing up the summary, I realized that Kiersten White spells it "faeries" and not "fairies" which makes me incredibly happy, as I've always done the same. ... Ahem. On to the review.

My approach to Paranormalcy, as a reader, has been different than any other book I have ever read. I bought it because I accidentally stumbled on to Kiersten White's blog and was immediately charmed by her vivacity and quirky sense of humor. I bought her book because I respected her as a person and enjoyed reading her posts everyday. This is the only book I've sought after "meeting" the author, as opposed to seeking the author after enjoying the book.

The first thing I latched on to was Evie, and her voice as the narrator. I am anything but a girly girl, and so, I didn't love her character (personal taste - no attack at all on the writing style). What I did love was her energy - Evie is full of life. High on life. Even in the darkest times, she's one of those people that seems to find a glimpse of hope to bring her happiness, to help her move forward. It's not the raw determination and vengeance sought by so many protagonists - it's innocence. I loved that about her.

However, despite the pleasure I found in the mood of the book, I did have to keep reminding myself - "This is YA Urban Fantasy. YA. Yes, the characters are going to be immature. They are written to appeal to a younger audience than myself." They were shallow and impulsive and downright silly at times, but I've worked with high schoolers long enough (and been one recently enough) to remember that level of innocence and the "drama llama" that comes with it. And adult reader cannot go into this book expecting a mature cast and serious story. This book is pure fun.

That said, there seems to be an underlying layer of seriousness - darkness - with the faeries. I very much enjoyed those characters, because of how mysterious they were. Even at the end of the book, you got the impression they were still hiding something, a clever trick to maintain interest for the next book.

White also gets brownie points for unique fantasy creatures, mixed among the usual choices (vampires, werewolves, mermaids). If I said what they were, though, I'd ruin the book.

Ultimately, I will be picking up Supernaturally at some point in the future. I think that even though the series is definitely intended for teenagers (and the young at heart), White accomplishes everything she intended to with the book.

Book Review: The Power That Preserves

The Power That Preserves
Stephen R. Donaldson

Twice before Thomas Covenant had been summoned to the strange other-world where magic worked. Twice before he had been forced to join with the Lords of Revelstone in their war against Lord Foul, the ancient enemy of the Land. Now he was back. This time the Lords of Revelstone were desperate. Without hope, Covenant set out to confront the might of the enemy, as Lord Foul grew more powerful with every defeat for the Land....



Star Rating:


Review:
After a long period of waiting for something to happen, I finally find myself liking a book in this trilogy. It took until the middle of the book, granted, but then I flew right through it. The pace picked up, the characters gained interest. It was good, but I'm sad that it was so long coming. However, saying that, I must emphasize again that Donaldson's style is a much vaguer, slower-paced style than I prefer to start with, so those who like that type of writing style will have probably liked this book from the beginning.

Donaldson leaves a lot unexplained, right from the beginning. A great deal of the start of the book leaves the reader following Covenant around in a short of delusional stupor, and later the reader will see glimpses into certain perspectives that are truly irrelevant to the story - or, if they are relevant, Donaldson did not clearly explain how.

I made a note to myself after about the first hundred pages pending an incident: "Given any sort of logic, we'd never see Triock again, but even though many of Donaldson's side-exploits seem to be pointless and end in people dying, people don't seem to die. But they still seem pointless." A little harsh, perhaps, but it remains true. It's said that "if you don't see the corpse, they are not dead," and that prove true of several characters in the trilogy, so many that it was becoming predictable, and a bit disappointing. I think perhaps that the point was that Covenant's ghosts were coming back to haunt him, but I'm not certain.

Ultimately, I didn't love the trilogy, but nor can I say I hated it. Much of my opinion on the book, I am consciously aware, has to do with my preference in books, and not the shortcomings of the writer. He has many fans, and has them for a reason.

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
J.K. Rowling

We now present the seventh and final installment of the epic tale of Harry Potter....



Star Rating:


Review:
What is there to say about a book which speaks for itself?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a very different adventure than the rest of the books in the series - as it should be. Times have changed, and so has Harry. It is important for the reader to know that going into the book. This is not just an adventure through a mysterious hidden chamber beneath the halls of Hogwarts - this book bears several heavy themes. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is not exclusively a children's book - it is more.

Rowling doesn't disappoint. I don't think she could if she tried. She is right on mark with her details, as always, and her characters continue to grow and change. Perhaps the greatest and most remarkably change we see is in the character of Neville Longbottom, who has finally found his voice. We always knew he was in Gryffindor for a reason... and Rowling finally reveals that it is for reasons greater than standing up to his friends.

I have read discussions about the relationship between characters, and how Dumbledore's childhood friendship was not about a quest, but more personal in note. While I see where these presumptions may have been drawn. I do not think that was Rowling's intent at all, and it saddens me to think that people have chosen to look for scandal in the book, rather than experience the magic that is already there.

In short, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows presents everything avid readers of the book could have wanted, and then some. Yes, the ending may be "disappointingly happy and cliche," as I have also read in various places, but in that, I believe Rowling has left us another piece fo advice - our futures are what we make of them. We can choose to see the world in its corrupted state and pity our existence in it, or else we can see the beauty between the lines, and revel in it.

Book Review: The Illearth War

The Illearth War
Stephen R. Donaldson

Thomas Covenant found himself once again summoned to the Land. The Council of Lords needed him to move against Foul the Despiser who held the Illearth Stone, ancient source of evil power. But although Thomas Covenant held the legendary ring, he didn't know how to use its strength, and risked losing everything....



Star Rating:


Review:
The Illearth War is just more of the same.  Whereas in my previous review I excused Donaldson for being tedious because it was the first book in the series and required a certain amount of introductory information, he has thusfar failed to add any level of excitement.  The reader's feeling of "leaving the story just as soon as something interesting has happened" becomes stronger, and more disappointing.

Some things felt too obvious, and perhaps it was intended to be that way, in order to let the reader feel like they know something about the book, only to throw them off later.  Things such as the High Lord's lineage, which are not stated immediately, but are obvious to even the casual reader.  As the reader, I kept waiting for there to be some sort of immense, plot-shattering surprise, and was frustrated when I did not find one.

A new aspect in this book that was not present in Lord Foul's Bane was shifting perspectives.  Despite being called "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever," the reader finds herself sucked into a new character's mind for the majority of the story:  Warmark Hile Troy.  While Troy is not incredibly unlikeable, his side of the story is nothing more than a grueling marching pace - literally, the reader spends half the book watching the Land's army march.  I found it to be draggy and unexciting, and perhaps this is a reader's fault, since I have been raised in the world of instant gratification and over-dramatacism... but the lengthy descriptions of Troy's inability to come up with a sufficient battle plan and the struggles of the army to march fast enough without dying becomes tedious.

There are some aspects of the book that are more interesting than in the first in the trilogy.  For example, instead of giving a long speech to explain an event, there is a point where Donaldson chooses to use a flashback.  This flashback is considerably more interesting than the alternative (and, unfortunately, a little more exciting than most the rest of the book).

Once again, as the reader, I found myself disappointed as, at the end, the action was only just beginning, but Covenant was being sucked back into his world and the book had ended, just as the "good part" was starting.  No resolution, yet again.

Book Review: Lord Foul's Bane

Lord Foul's Bane
Stephen R. Donaldson

He called himself Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever because he dared not believe in the strange alternate world in which he suddenly found himself. Yet he was tempted to believe, to fight for the Land, to be the reincarnation of its greatest hero.



Star Rating:


Review:
I didn't hate this book.  My thoughts on it almost all the way up were negative, but I didn't hate it.  This is why:

I am a character writer, and by association, a character reader.  Meaning that I am incredibly judgmental about the depth and quality of characters in the books I read.  I loathed Thomas Convenant.  He was - to me - the epitome of a despicable character.  From a writer's perspective, though, I understand that he wasn't supposed to be likable.  However, needing to follow him through the Land and listening to his constant whining became a tad intolerable for something who prefers her protagonists to be just a few steps away from Gary Stu (okay, maybe a couple bounding yards.  But definitely not several miles).  That said, here are my continuing thoughts on the book.

After this point, there will, inevitably, be a few spoilers.  Not book-wrecker spoilers (I don't think) but read at your own risk.

Firstly, I was very well tolerating Covenant in his own world, although I thought he was whiny and his walk to town was impossibly long and draggy.  It was the moment that his got hit by that car and summoned into the Land that his character clashed so heavily with all the good there.  The first moments of his encounter with Drool and Lord Foul are just fine - good pacing, clear enough character:  you know that this part is supposed to be foggy.  But then we find Covenant on Kevin's Watch with the delightful Stonedowner, Lena.  I like Lena.  I thought she was charming, dreamy.  Again, I do believe this is by design, because if you love Lena, then you really despise Covenant raping her.

It was the rape that unfairly set my mind against the book.  I hate rape.  Who doesn't?  But even within the first hundred pages, it just wasn't classy.

And it is after the rape that I think Covenant becomes truly despicable.  He lacks any element of empathy, a lack-of-trait which drives me mad.  He spends the entirety of the next hundred pages whining about his condition and complaining about how this whole thing is a dream.  For me, this would be tolerable except I find Atarian, his guide and Lena's mother, to be weak and depressing, therefore leaving us with two characters for just less than a quarter of the book whose woes take up more time than the beauty (and evil) in the surrounding Land.

As a reader, in this 100-page stint, I turned my attention to the Land.  Donaldson has crafted his world beautifully, an accomplishment that I envy.  I can imagine the changing scenery perfectly, and you can feel the impending shiver as evil stretches out and corrupts it.

Once Covenant is dropped with Saltheart Foamfollower, the pacing becomes a littler quicker (thank goodness!) and the characters around Covenant become much more interesting (even while Covenant himself remains intolerable).  Foamfollower is a particular favourite of mine, because I felt his character was very well-rounded and he was a changing character; the developments you see around Foamfollower are slightly heartbreaking.  He is the character with empathy, the one who tries so hard to make Covenant see.

Donaldson has crafted a few very interesting species in this story, as is expected in any epic.  I particularly like the Bloodguard and Ranyhyn.  Bannor's character (a Bloodguard) is wide open, yet shut tight.  I think that paradox makes him a enigma, and an interesting character.

Once the Questers left the remnant of Woodhelven, I found myself enjoying the book, and wanting to read it.  I won't spoil the ending, but I am happier, now, picking up the second book than I was in the first half of Lord Foul's Bane.

I will say that Donaldson's pacing bothers me a little - but I also have problems with that in The Lord of the Rings and therefore I am inclined to believe that it is my own problem with epic fantasy.  The slows are very slow and the fasts are so quick, I needed to go back in and read them several times to understand what had just happened.

twi-hards and pott-heads.

With the movie of Eclipse fresh out of the oven, the time again comes when any level-headed, perfectly rational, life-treasuring human being pulls the covers over their eyes and hides from the rabid fans.  Or perhaps I'm a bit unfair.   You see, there are three kinds of Twilight fans.  Type One: Rabid, insane people who stalk Robert Pattinson and ask him to bite their children. These are the ones that call themselves "Twi-hard".  Type Two: Those who argue for hours and hours over who's better:  Jacob or Edward.  They will occasionally stop talking to their friends over the issue, but only for a few days, and not forever (for those who hate those of the opposite team forever and always, see "Type One".)  Type Three: Those who read the books, appreciate them, go to the midnight premieres most of the time, and keep up with the news.  Certain types are, naturally, a little easier to abide by.  For me, I know only Twos and Threes.  I get to read about Ones in the newspaper and online, though.

What makes these young adult book series' such a phenomenon?  Is it just because they are what they are:  book series' for young adults whose hormones aren't stable and therefore it's not about the books- it's about the hotness-scale of the characters?  Is it because the writing is the most brilliant thing this side of Mars?  Or is it all about telling a good story?  I think it's a mixture of all three (of course, many Twilight fans will tell you it's all about Edward).

I am biased:  I picked up Twilight once when I was a senior in high school and didn't like the writing style, so I put it back down.  There are a lot of people who have done the same as me, but there are also those who can (and will) argue that Stephanie Meyer's writing style is easy to read and superior to any other they know.  Hey, awesome.  I'm glad that it works for y'all.

I choose not to talk about my opinions of the characters, or Meyer's plot (which seems entirely dependent on Bella procrastinating on picking either Edward or Jacob).  I'm not suicidal, see, so I will leave the story itself alone.  From what I have heard, however, the screenplay is fantastically close to the actual books (the Harry Potter directors could stand to learn something) and that is a nice relief to the fans.  However, the film cast and crew probably doesn't want to be killed by rabid fans by being incompetent.

Is it worth our time and effort to throw ourselves into these fictional worlds?  I'm not just talking about the world of Twilight- goodness knows I've been waiting for my letter to Hogwarts for ten years, and there are many out there that would die for a chance to see Hobbiton or have tried to build their own lightsaber.  The real question isn't whether it's worth our time and effort, the real question is:  why do we do it?  No series outside of fantasy has as big of a following, as many obsessive fans.

Fantasy has always been escapism.  It is true that young adults seem to pick it up more whole-heartedly (and no wonder- adults obsessing over fictional characters are judged much more heavily than teenagers), but there are people who come home after work and sink into an armchair with that tattered copy of Prisoner of Azkaban that they just finished last night, and they open it up to page one again...  "Harry Potter was a highly unusual boy in many ways..."  It certainly isn't just the "geek" community who dives into the fandom.  It's amazing that as everyone is wishing they could fly a tie-fighter instead of punching in data, we are escaping into our fantasy worlds and binding ourselves together as a community.

Oh yes.  I said it.  Twi-hards, you are equal to those wanna-be Jedi.  Pott-heads, you are equal to those who do not simply walk into Mordor.  So even though I do not like Twilight personally, I respect Stephanie Meyer just as much as I respect J.K. Rowling.  They are both gods, in their own right- weaving worlds of wonder for all of us to enjoy.  Whether it is Narnia, or Middle Earth, Tatooine, Forks, Hogwarts, Discworld, the Calla... I can go on.  We all exist in them in our imaginations to escape our world.  Fanfiction is the inner reaches of our souls trying to control those worlds we love.  Roleplaying gives us a chance to live in those worlds, even if only for a moment.

That said, I have a few confessions to make:

• I dressed up as Obi-Wan Kenobi for Halloween when I was a senior in high school.


• I own a time turner.


• I have every single Harry Potter book, including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quiddich Through the Ages, and Tales of Beedle the Bard.


• I own half of the New Jedi Order series.


• I have read Attack of the Clones by R.A. Salvatore 5 times.


• I own the special extended versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.


• I am dressing up as Luna Lovegood (see image above) this Halloween.


• I have read the Harry Potter series all the way through twice, and I have read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban at least 10 times (I stopped counting).


• I have music from A Very Potter Musical on my Zen.


• I own the Lord of the Rings trivia game... and rock at it.


• I learned proper English grammar by writing Harry Potter fanfiction.


• I online-roleplayed in the Potterverse for two years (until there were no more decent forums).


• I once spent a whole week pouring through my Harry Potter books to prove that Draco and Hermione were a more feasible couple than Draco and Harry, even though I don't ship Draco/Hermione.


• I own soundtracks to Lord of the Rings:  Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and a collectors edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.


• I've taken the online Harry Potter Sorting Tests enough to know that I don't fit in one house, I'm split between two (Ravenclaw and Slytherin) but if I was actually at Hogwarts, I'd be sorted into Ravenclaw.


• I have a toy lightsaber... and nobody else can touch it. *shifty eyes*


• I own the videogames: Knights of the Old Republic, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Force Unleashed, Lord of the Rings:  The Two Towers, Lord of the Rings:  Return of the King, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.


• I dominate at Harry Potter Scene It.


• I go to every single Harry Potter premiere I can get to.


• I went to 2am showings of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith.


• I spend the entire time watching the Harry Potter movies pointing out all the discrepancies from the books.  Somehow, this amuses my friends.

That is all I can think of at the moment.  What about y'all - do you have a list of "guilty secrets" that ties you to your favourite fictional worlds?  A cardboard cut-out of Edward Cullen, perhaps?  Arwen's pendant?  How many times have you walked into your closet, hoping you'd come out in Narnia?  I'd love to know about it!

let's review the situation....

Two things today. First, a book review.


Wicked 2: Spellbound
by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Where we left off in Legacy, Holly was possessed, the house was burning down, Jer was trapped in the Australian Dreamtime, and Nicole was again kidnapped by James and Eli. In Spellbound, things get even more complicated than that. The first half of the book goes as normal. The Cahors witches find a long lost cousin, Alex Currethurs. Alex is a great asset, but there's something a little off again. Suddenly, things change. History is being rewritten, and Nicole is pregnant.

As soon as history begins to change, things get confusing. Holder and Viguie jump back and forth between the present and different periods in the past. Even if this is frustrating for the reader, the authors cleverly write the epilogue so that you know everything will be explained in the next book, and there is something very, very wrong with Alex.

The authors are experts at suspense, and at long last Nicole and Amanda's characters have an added depth to them. Once again, they seem undecided as to whether people are to die, or live, and now an added complication is, if they are to live, which century are they to live in? Spellbound is a book that should be read slowly and thoroughly; it is very easy to miss important details.

. . .

Chapter Six is finished. It was full of twists and turns for me as a writer, things I wasn't expecting, but made too much sense to disregard.

Jylouna gets the three cleaned up and they hit the libraries in Central City. They learn that Jacob is a Dark One, a black mage. While this doesn't mean he's evil, everyone is feeling a little wary. They also learn that the Travelling Bard, infamous performer, is a puppet for the essence of Greed. Before they can do any more research, Matheus is arrested for helping Kesstrel escape (chapter two). Jyla tricks the guards at the prison into thinking she's going to interrogate Liselle and Matheus in order to help Matheus escape. Things go terribly wrong, and they trio are interrupted just in time to learn that the unnaturally high levels of magic in the prison is making the plantlife under it spring unnaturally to life. They race against the clock to get out of the prison before the plantlife makes it capsize. Liselle is stabbed and dies in the escape. Matheus and Jyla escape with Matheus' cellmate, Sean, a young but experienced Green Mage, an begin to make their way to the rendez-vous point.

As a writer, I had no idea that Liselle was going to die until I wrote it. I had no idea why foliage suddenly took over the prison until Sean explained it after they escaped. It was refreshing to have no control over a chapter... as though the characters wrote it themselves. I wasn't expecting that, especially not from that group, since Kesstrel and Jessica are among my strongest characters.

Final count? 11 pages single-spaced, 8749 words. Longest chapter yet. And I had a difficult time ending it, too.

{ listening to: "Let's Dance" - Benny Goodman || mood: hungry }