Book Review: The Queen's Fool

The Queen's Fool
Philippa Gregory

It is winter, 1553. Pursued by the Inquisition, Hannah Green, a fourteen-year-old Jewish girl, is forced to flee Spain with her father. But Hannah is no ordinary refugee. Her gift of "Sight," the ability to foresee the future, is priceless in the troubled times of the Tudor court. Hannah is adopted by the glamorous Robert Dudley, the charismatic son of King Edward's protector, who brings her to court as a "holy fool" for Queen Mary and, ultimately, Queen Elizabeth. Hired as a fool but working as a spy; promised in wedlock but in love with her master; endangered by the laws against heresy, treason, and witchcraft, Hannah must choose between the safe life of a commoner and the dangerous intrigues of the royal family that are inextricably bound up in her own yearnings and desires.



Star Rating:


Review:
I am of mixed feelings about The Queen's Fool. I found the characters to be inconsistent and weak, but even as I say that, I feel as though I am being unfair to the author - I am not learned on Tudor England, and perhaps the view she offers is realistic. Nonetheless, I found all the main characters a bit pathetic, which led to a lot of skimming and page turning. The book, much like a plot in an English court, requires patience and waiting for things to move along, as they do at their own very slow pace.

The fictionalized content in this book is greater than the other two I have read (The Constant Princess and The Boleyn Inheritance) since the protagonist herself is a work of fiction. Hannah, being a "seer," leads this particular book on the edge of a fantasy, being as often her episodes are what drives the entire plot forward. Gregory repeats herself often, then changes her mind, then repeats herself again - I'm not sure if all the characters are disloyal and ambivalent, or if it was the author herself who could not make up her mind.

That said, it wasn't a terrible read. It served for entertainment, and despite my dislike of the character and the speed of the storyline, Gregory does have a way of drawing her reader right into the world of Tudor England and enchanting us with the scenery and bringing to life the way things were. For that, she gets three stars.

Book Review: The Boleyn Inheritance

The Boleyn Inheritance
Phillipa Gregory

Three Women Who Share One Fate: The Boleyn Inheritance

ANNE OF CLEVES
She runs from her tiny country, her hateful mother, and her abusive brother to a throne whose last three occupants are dead. King Henry VIII, her new husband, instantly dislikes her. Without friends, family, or even an understanding of the language being spoken around her, she must literally save her neck in a court ruled by a deadly game of politics and the terror of an unpredictable and vengeful king. Her Boleyn Inheritance: accusations and false witnesses.

KATHERINE HOWARD
She catches the king's eye within moments of arriving at court, setting in motion the dreadful machine of politics, intrigue, and treason that she does not understand. She only knows that she is beautiful, that men desire her, that she is young and in love -- but not with the diseased old man who made her queen, beds her night after night, and killed her cousin Anne. Her Boleyn Inheritance: the threat of the axe.

JANE ROCHFORD
She is the Boleyn girl whose testimony sent her husband and sister-in-law to their deaths. She is the trusted friend of two threatened queens, the perfectly loyal spy for her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, and a canny survivor in the murderous court of a most dangerous king. Throughout Europe, her name is a byword for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust. Her Boleyn Inheritance: a fortune and a title, in exchange for her soul.



Star Rating:


Review:
Where I loved The Constant Princess, it took me a little while to get into The Boleyn Inheritance. Part of my problem with this was the separation of narrative - I was immediately drawn to three different characters, none of whom I found immediately interesting. It was not until about halfway through the book, after Kitty Howard was already on the throne, that I began to care in the least about Anne of Cleves, whose fight to survive entrapped me, and I knew already Kitty's fate (even though I have not thoroughly studied the Tudor dynasty, there was really only one end which Kitty could have met).

Gregory admits that she has taken certain liberties with the narrative of all three women - instead of presenting Anne as "ugly", Kitty as "stupid", and Jane as "evil," she has allowed all three of them speculative, complex backstories. History has a habit of laying out people in the plainest, briefest way imaginable - good historical fiction takes those cold, hard facts and builds the complexity that is a human being around them, and that dance is one whose steps Gregory has mastered.

I think that the flow in this novel was not as masterful as her previous ones, because the first half of the book moved incredibly slowly. I understand that Gregory's aim was to make this story about the "inheritance" and not about the queens themselves, but even them I feel as though those book could have been two. Nonetheless, Gregroy did a fantastic job creating sympathetic characters out of those who have been stereotyped and have little definitive fact known about them. For me, it is the characters that mean the most, and I believe that Gregory did an honor to three women who have had only dishonor shown to them. After all... all the people who know the REAL truth about any of these ladies is long dead....

I give her three stars, only because the first 200 pages were a struggle for me to get through. It's still good historical fiction, but it isn't comparable to some of her other works.

Book Review: School's Out - Forever

School's Out - Forever
James Patterson

Adventure, fighting, backstabbing and love abound" (VOYA) in this action-packed follow-up to the #1 New York Times blockbuster MAXIMUM RIDE: THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT, now available in paperback. The heart-stopping quest of six winged kids--led by fourteen-year-old Max--to find their parents and investigate the mind-blowing mystery of their ultimate destiny continues when they're taken under the wing of an FBI agent and attempt, for the first time, to live "normal" lives. But going to school and making friends doesn't stop them from being relentlessly hunted by sinister spies, who lead Max to face her most frightening match yet: a new and better version of herself.



Star Rating:


Review:
Yes, yes, I know. Everybody loves Max. I think that phrase is written across all three of the Patterson books I own. I'm still trying to love Max. I still don't.

The series is not bad. I liked the first book better than I liked School's Out - Forever. I think that they idea of these kids going to school is a little far-fetched and ridiculous, and as much as the travelling annoyed me before, their goals seemed more realistic to their situation. And I simply couldn't get past Anne, their caretaker. The lack-of-FBI-esque qualities that abounded in her character made me want to chuck the book across the room, and several times I found myself telling the page "Ha! And FBI agent would NEVER say that." Obviously later on the lack of traits becomes explained, but the lack of even trying bothered me enough that it distracted me.

I have issues with the characters in general, still. The older children are less frustrating - Fang and Max, namely. Total, the dog, bears a Toto (coincidence? I think not) like resemblance to me but he's annoying, and Angel is simply too bossy/innocent... she gets away with too much. That leaves "comic relief" to fall to Gasman and Izzy... and thus it makes them seem less vital to the story, other than being part of the flock. I do, however, give kudos to Patterson's method of handling the situation with Izzy's parents.

I still believe that for grades 8 through 12, the Maximum Ride series should be a huge hit. The characters are relatable, and there is less need for suspension of disbelief. Patterson's pacing is amazing, though. As much as I may find the series disappointing (and that, too, is a danger of a series with so much hype), I can move through the books very quickly, making them a good choice for a light read.

Read my review of: The Angel Experiment.

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: The Angel Experiment

The Angel Experiment
James Patterson

In James Patterson's blockbuster series, fourteen-year-old Maximum Ride, better known as Max, knows what it's like to soar above the world. She and all the members of the "flock"--Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gasman and Angel--are just like ordinary kids--only they have wings and can fly. It may seem like a dream come true to some, but their lives can morph into a living nightmare at any time...like when Angel, the youngest member of the flock, is kidnapped and taken back to the "School" where she and the others were experimented on by a crew of wack jobs. Her friends brave a journey to blazing hot Death Valley, CA, to save Angel, but soon enough, they find themselves in yet another nightmare--this one involving fighting off the half-human, half-wolf "Erasers" in New York City. Whether in the treetops of Central Park or in the bowels of the Manhattan subway system, Max and her adopted family take the ride of their lives. Along the way Max discovers from her old friend and father-figure Jeb--now her betrayed and greatest enemy--that her purpose is save the world--but can she?



Star Rating:


Review:
This book (and series) has a lot of hype around it, and hype can either improve or destroy my perception of a book. I tried, really tried hard to love Maximum Ride, but I didn't. I just didn't. It wasn't the character - Max was well-formed and so was her flock. I think it was the plot. The plot was everywhere. And part of my frustration with the plot went along with the fact that, for one reason or another, when I read "The Angel Experiment," I related that to the character Angel and not the obvious fact that these kids look like angels. So negative five points to me. But I still didn't love it. However, some of the best series start off with a questionable first book, and you just have to be confident that everything will come together.

I really did like the concept, though. Genetic experiments gone wrong are my favorite type of science-fiction. I will be reading more, because there are a lot of unanswered questions, but I'm not compelled to pick up the next book immediately and read it. The questions just aren't that pressing to me. The book is, as most of my read, geared towards a younger audience and perhaps things like the questionable maybe-it-will-happen? romance will compel readers to fly (no pun intended!) to book two. Or it may be that I'm just tired of the "omg who is she totally into?" sub plot.

There's a lot of running in this book, which serves its purpose, but grows tiresome. Stylistically, Patterson does keep it moving, and if there's going to be a lot of running (and flying!) around, then it really needs to be written with great flow, which Patterson definitely accomplishes.

This is great for a light, easy read. It's enjoyable, even if I didn't find it compelling. Max is a strong female lead who accepts help but doesn't grovel for it. She definitely stands on her own two feet, and it's always nice to see a protagonist like that!

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: 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.