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 }

save these questions for another day.

Time for a book review. Or, actually, a trio-book review, since in the last few days, I have finished three books! I don't know if I should be proud, or embarrassed.

Firstly:

Witch Season: Summer and Fall
by Jeff Mariotte

I feel responsible to let it be known that I read books for characters. Mariotte's novel is charming in a Young Adult Fantasy sort of way, making it an easy read. On the flip side, the characters are also relatively flat. Still, being the optimist I am, I found three characters to cling to. They are the characters of Daniel Blessing, Rebecca, and Josh.

Note: none of these are the main character. Not abnormal for me. I tend to loathe main characters, for some indescribable reason. The main character is a girl named Kerry Profitt. Strong-willed and stubborn, she is known by her summer friends as "Bulldog". Kerry's character has one of the traits that drives me batty in fantasy: blind trust. Despite this, we delve in with our heads held high!

Kerry's summer has been turned upside down. When she literally stumbles over Daniel Blessing on her doorstep, suddenly Kerry's normal life and peaceful summer job blossoms into six scared teenagers caught in the crossfire of a magical battle. Involvement with Daniel causes the six to be in danger, and when one of them is killed by the villain, Season Howe, the others reluctantly agree to join Kerry and Daniel in a hunt for Season Howe. But just when they have her at their advantage, Season kills Daniel Blessing. End Book One.

Begin Book Two. Kerry drops out of college and decides she is going to learn magic from Daniel's mother, Mother Blessing. This storyline encompasses the entire book. There are scattered random scenes with other characters to ensure they are not forgotten. At one point, Season resurfaces in Las Vegas where Josh is killed not by Season, but by agents of Mother Blessing. The others arrive there too late to do anything. At the end of Book Two, there is a brief battle between Mother Blessing and Season Howe where Kerry discovers that Season is Mother Blessing's own mother. Kerry decides to flee. End Book Two.

Overall analysis? Grim. The writing is simplistic, the characters remain fairly flat and unbelievable, and the twists are far too predictable. Plus, minus points for knocking off two out of three of my favourite characters.

Will I pick up Winter and Spring? Probably. Why? I like to know the ending of things. Which brings me to the next book, which I finished mere hours ago. If that.


Wicked 2: Legacy
by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie

Talk about authors who have absolutely no qualms about killing off characters. My respect to both of them, I haven't quite the stomach for it, at least not yet. The Wicked series started off to me as uninteresting, but Holly's sudden villainous streak coupled with the co-authors' devious and successful attempts to draw me in at the very end of the book caught me ordering this baby off Borders.com (many coupons attached, I am a college student after all).

Legacy outdid both Witch and Curse, as far as I'm concerned. The characters are becoming more complex, and I am enjoying watching both Amanda and Nicole's characters grow, while Holly falters and falls. It's a wonderful twist in a hero... having her fade to black instead of white. I am also enjoying observing Jeraud, a character whose intentions are always cloaked in mystery.

A few disappointments, as there are in any book. Holder and Viguie are constantly throwing Jer between life and death, as though they can't decide where he should be. It's frustrating for the reader, whoh can never be quite sure if the character is alive or dead. Another problem: while I respect the authors' ability to kill off the good characters, for a change of pace, I'd love to see a couple of villains die.

Of course, there is Spellbound for that, and the duology is sitting on my bedside table, just itching to be read.

. . .

No reading tomorrow. No writing tomorrow. And no watching five more episodes of NCIS: Season Six tomorrow. Netflix online is becoming a frustratingly wonderful addiction.

But no. Tomorrow is Antrim, and as I listen to the metallic buzz of my lightning lamp, I consciously realise that it is time for sleep. The time as I type is 12:36AM and my alarm is set for 5:30AM. Then I'm off to Antrim to see Bryan for the day. It may be our last together before the next college term starts, and in all rights, I should be sleeping right now, but I think the thunderstorm did more damage than good to the humid, stagnant air....

{ listening to: remnants of a rainstorm || mood: sweaty and yucky}