Sheepfarmer's Daughter
(The Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy, Book 1)
Elizabeth Moon
Baen
Fiction, Fantasy
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Paksenarrion Dothansdotter, born to a humble family of northern sheepfarmers, has dreamed of a soldier's life ever since a cousin returned from
service with tales of glory and the wonders of the world beyond the pasture fences. Now eighteen, with her father demanding she marry a local pig farmer, Paks decides
to stop dreaming and follow her heart. She runs away from home to sign on with Duke Phelan's mercenaries, one of the more honorable units operating in the realm. As
childhood dreams of war collide with the hard drudgery of a soldier's life, a greater threat grows over the land - one that will draw this sheepfarmer's daughter deep into its heart, where dark powers and unexpected miracles await.
REVIEW: This started fast, establishing Paks as a strong-willed young woman who, instead of pining for glory and whining about her harsh life with an abusive
father, sets off down the road to make her dream come true. Unfortunately, that's about all there is to her, and the story. She wants to be a solder, then within two chapters, she's a recruit. Problem solved. This is followed by long chapters of training and marching here and there across Moon's fantasy landscape, a journey in which Paks is usually little more than a pair of eyes for the reader to peek through (and a pair of ears to receive long lectures explaining the world, its geography, its politics, and its myriad gods and saints, among other infodumps.) Paks quite literally has no other purpose in this world, no other ambition or want save being a soldier, and nothing stops her from fulfilling it. Yawn. Naturally, she's uncommonly talented at it - she's not a prodigy by any means, but she quickly moves to the head of the new recruits, and her inexperience doesn't keep her from succeeding at pretty much every task she's assigned. It isn't until round about the halfway mark that things start to go wrong, and further still before any great threat arises... but, then, this comes with a revelation (denied repeatedly, and bordering on ridiculously, by Paks herself) that divine will may be guiding her destiny. So, not only is she the perfect soldier, but she's quite literally blessed. No wonder she can't fail. After this, and a few pointless sidetracks into other characters, it ends on an awkward half-finished note - but it's the ending that finally made me understand the snail's pace and grinding, infodump- and battle tactic-heavy tedium of the preceding story: Sheepfarmer's Daughter is not a book per se, but merely one-third of a longer story, The Deed of Paksenarrion. Even though I'd almost, finally, possibly formed some manner of interest in Paks by then, I was so ticked off to realize that I'd been duped this way that I don't foresee myself following her any further. Besides, I'd long since reached my limit on random names - people names, city names, god names, saint names, and more - that I couldn't begin to keep straight anymore.
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Alanna: The First Adventure (Tamora Pierce) - My Review
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Thursday, May 21, 2015
Sunday, May 17, 2015
The Unwanteds (Lisa McMann)
The Unwanteds
(The Unwanteds series, Book 1)
Lisa McMann
Aladdin
Fiction, YA Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: In the harsh land of Quill, where barbed wire stretches across the sky and great walls defend against jealous enemies, only the strong survive. Every year, High Priest Justine and her Governors conduct the Purge, eliminating thirteen-year-old Unwanteds lest they become a disruptive influence and a drain on dwindling natural resources. Though both twin brothers Aaron and Alex Stowe committed the creative crime of drawing in the dirt, only Alex is shackled and sent to the Lake of Boiling Oil beyond Quill's gates. Alex doesn't want to believe his own brother reported the infraction, but there were no other witnesses... though it won't matter for long, as the dreaded Death Farmer awaits him and his fellow Unwanteds.
Beyond the walls of Quill, however, Alex and the others find something quite unexpected. The "Death Farmer" Mr. Today is no monster, but a wizard. He created the colorful domain of Artimé as a haven for Unwanteds, teaching them the forbidden arts of singing, dancing, and more - along with powerful magic channeled through their talents. Everything the children thought they knew about the world and Quill turns out to be wrong... but the danger of discovery is more real than ever, and the magic they learn may well save their lives when the Quillians who wanted them dead come to finish the job.
Meanwhile, Alex's twin Aaron's future in Quill seems secure, his rise through the ranks swift. If only he could forget about his brother - and his strange, haunting dreams that Alex is still alive...
REVIEW: The cover likens this series to The Hunger Games meeting Harry Potter, a not entirely inaccurate summary, though for me it falls a little short of the mark. Quill seems modeled on modern-day North Korea more than Panem, with an isolated dictatorship actively encouraging citizens to rat each other out for the glory of the state (and personal survival, as water supplies continue to dwindle), while many aspects of Today's realm of Artimé feel sillier than anything Rowling concocted for Hogwarts. Perhaps the silliness is meant as a counterweight to the grimness of Quill (and later sections where actual death is on the table, not the faked version of the Purge), but it starts to strain credulity in too many places. One of the core main characters, Meghann, was branded Unwanted over an infraction for singing and dancing... but how would she even know what either was in Quill, where all forms of artistic expression are outlawed? This isn't the only thing the kids seem awfully familiar with that they really shouldn't be, given their origins. The narration, perhaps to skirt around such flaws, tends to drift into omniscient, despite often hopping into a character's thoughts (then zooming out just so the audience isn't privy to important conversations.) Maybe it's because of this style, but I had a hard time connecting with McMann's characters, whose motivations sometimes seemed to come and go out of the blue. Alex in particular seems bound and determined to be stupid and mess things up, and I grew increasingly exasperated by his inability to figure out very simple things. Aaron, on the other hand, quickly establishes himself as a cunning social climber, every inch the ideal Wanted in Quill. The two sides of this story - the whimsical Artimé, with its talking statues and its flying tortoises and its "squirrelicorns" (squirrels with unicorn horns) and "platyprots" (rather useless platypus/parrots) and obnoxious sapient blackboards, and the bleak Quill, with its barbed-wire sky and paranoia and obsession with killing off its own populace - just never quite seem to click together like they should. A climactic confrontation at the end becomes a mess, wherein it's hard to figure out just who resolved what issues, though at least it's not entirely clean-handed - there is death dealt out here, not always by the enemy and not always on what one may deem honorable terms. Since this is the first in the series, though, certain characters are guaranteed safe passage, even if all of them (even the bad guys) are not the same people as they were at the start. (I also took issue with the misleading cover: the statue Simber is described in the text as a winged cheetah, and the cover quite clearly depicts a lion. There's no mistaking a cheetah for a lion, even in stone. And the fact that this bugged me shows just how irritable I was growing by the end.) Overall, despite some promising pieces and an interesting setup, I just plain felt disappointed by the execution here.
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Among the Hidden (Margaret Peterson Haddix) - My Review
Sandry's Book (Tamora Pierce) - My Review
Magyk (Angie Sage) - My Review
(The Unwanteds series, Book 1)
Lisa McMann
Aladdin
Fiction, YA Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: In the harsh land of Quill, where barbed wire stretches across the sky and great walls defend against jealous enemies, only the strong survive. Every year, High Priest Justine and her Governors conduct the Purge, eliminating thirteen-year-old Unwanteds lest they become a disruptive influence and a drain on dwindling natural resources. Though both twin brothers Aaron and Alex Stowe committed the creative crime of drawing in the dirt, only Alex is shackled and sent to the Lake of Boiling Oil beyond Quill's gates. Alex doesn't want to believe his own brother reported the infraction, but there were no other witnesses... though it won't matter for long, as the dreaded Death Farmer awaits him and his fellow Unwanteds.
Beyond the walls of Quill, however, Alex and the others find something quite unexpected. The "Death Farmer" Mr. Today is no monster, but a wizard. He created the colorful domain of Artimé as a haven for Unwanteds, teaching them the forbidden arts of singing, dancing, and more - along with powerful magic channeled through their talents. Everything the children thought they knew about the world and Quill turns out to be wrong... but the danger of discovery is more real than ever, and the magic they learn may well save their lives when the Quillians who wanted them dead come to finish the job.
Meanwhile, Alex's twin Aaron's future in Quill seems secure, his rise through the ranks swift. If only he could forget about his brother - and his strange, haunting dreams that Alex is still alive...
REVIEW: The cover likens this series to The Hunger Games meeting Harry Potter, a not entirely inaccurate summary, though for me it falls a little short of the mark. Quill seems modeled on modern-day North Korea more than Panem, with an isolated dictatorship actively encouraging citizens to rat each other out for the glory of the state (and personal survival, as water supplies continue to dwindle), while many aspects of Today's realm of Artimé feel sillier than anything Rowling concocted for Hogwarts. Perhaps the silliness is meant as a counterweight to the grimness of Quill (and later sections where actual death is on the table, not the faked version of the Purge), but it starts to strain credulity in too many places. One of the core main characters, Meghann, was branded Unwanted over an infraction for singing and dancing... but how would she even know what either was in Quill, where all forms of artistic expression are outlawed? This isn't the only thing the kids seem awfully familiar with that they really shouldn't be, given their origins. The narration, perhaps to skirt around such flaws, tends to drift into omniscient, despite often hopping into a character's thoughts (then zooming out just so the audience isn't privy to important conversations.) Maybe it's because of this style, but I had a hard time connecting with McMann's characters, whose motivations sometimes seemed to come and go out of the blue. Alex in particular seems bound and determined to be stupid and mess things up, and I grew increasingly exasperated by his inability to figure out very simple things. Aaron, on the other hand, quickly establishes himself as a cunning social climber, every inch the ideal Wanted in Quill. The two sides of this story - the whimsical Artimé, with its talking statues and its flying tortoises and its "squirrelicorns" (squirrels with unicorn horns) and "platyprots" (rather useless platypus/parrots) and obnoxious sapient blackboards, and the bleak Quill, with its barbed-wire sky and paranoia and obsession with killing off its own populace - just never quite seem to click together like they should. A climactic confrontation at the end becomes a mess, wherein it's hard to figure out just who resolved what issues, though at least it's not entirely clean-handed - there is death dealt out here, not always by the enemy and not always on what one may deem honorable terms. Since this is the first in the series, though, certain characters are guaranteed safe passage, even if all of them (even the bad guys) are not the same people as they were at the start. (I also took issue with the misleading cover: the statue Simber is described in the text as a winged cheetah, and the cover quite clearly depicts a lion. There's no mistaking a cheetah for a lion, even in stone. And the fact that this bugged me shows just how irritable I was growing by the end.) Overall, despite some promising pieces and an interesting setup, I just plain felt disappointed by the execution here.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Among the Hidden (Margaret Peterson Haddix) - My Review
Sandry's Book (Tamora Pierce) - My Review
Magyk (Angie Sage) - My Review
Friday, May 15, 2015
Insubordinate Spirit (Missy Wolfe)
Insubordinate Spirit
Missy Wolfe
Globe Pequot Press
Nonfiction, History
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: With religious and political tensions reaching dangerous levels in mid-1600's England, the persecuted Pilgrims, led by John Winthrop Sr., set out to the New World to found a colony rooted in their own beliefs. They thought they could create a utopian society where God's grace would at last shine favorably upon them above all others - but found themselves in the middle of more problems than they bargained for, with native troubles and nearby Dutch traders and schisms within their own ranks. Into this mess traveled one Elizabeth Winthrop, young bride (and soon widow) of John's most wayward son. As she struggled to raise a family on the edge of untamed frontier, colonial America reached a pivotal moment in its political and religious history. Using recently-rediscovered correspondences and period documents, author Missy Wolfe examines the life and times of Elizabeth and other prominent figures in 1600's America.
REVIEW: This book was seriously misrepresented by the Barnes and Noble description. It made Insubordinate Spirit sound like a biography of Elizabeth Winthrop, with some background on the era and region. A biography, I figured, might make history seem more personable, giving me a character to follow through a time period that, as an American, I probably should know more about. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a dry, meandering narrative with all the personability of a textbook, awash with names and dates and various locations and native tribes that I couldn't begin to keep straight... in which Elizabeth herself really only figures into maybe a fourth, at most, of the text. Wolfe couldn't even elaborate on matters with direct impact on her life. Her second husband, Robert Feake, suffered from a degenerative mental illness that "defies modern diagnosis"... and apparently modern description, as Wolfe can't even hint as to what, exactly, the symptoms were. Did he hear voices? Grow abusive? Paint himself pink and glue mice to his head? How am I supposed to relate to this woman and her struggles if I don't even know what she's struggling with? Elsewhere, Wolfe recounts detailed descriptions of the torture deaths of Native Americans, so the problem isn't an author's inability to add detail to her narrative. Beneath the leaden cloak of names and events were occasional glimmers of interest and insight, but these were quickly smothered as the book wandered off to some other person or place, sometimes with little seeming connection to what came before and always keeping me at arm's length, if not further. In the end, this just felt too much like a textbook for me to enjoy; sure, there's information here, but it's the kind of book one picks up to research an essay, not to read for pleasure.
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Beyond the Western Sea (Avi) - My Review
Newport Tower: Unsettled History (B. Lynn Bryant) - My Review
Missy Wolfe
Globe Pequot Press
Nonfiction, History
**+ (Bad/Okay)
DESCRIPTION: With religious and political tensions reaching dangerous levels in mid-1600's England, the persecuted Pilgrims, led by John Winthrop Sr., set out to the New World to found a colony rooted in their own beliefs. They thought they could create a utopian society where God's grace would at last shine favorably upon them above all others - but found themselves in the middle of more problems than they bargained for, with native troubles and nearby Dutch traders and schisms within their own ranks. Into this mess traveled one Elizabeth Winthrop, young bride (and soon widow) of John's most wayward son. As she struggled to raise a family on the edge of untamed frontier, colonial America reached a pivotal moment in its political and religious history. Using recently-rediscovered correspondences and period documents, author Missy Wolfe examines the life and times of Elizabeth and other prominent figures in 1600's America.
REVIEW: This book was seriously misrepresented by the Barnes and Noble description. It made Insubordinate Spirit sound like a biography of Elizabeth Winthrop, with some background on the era and region. A biography, I figured, might make history seem more personable, giving me a character to follow through a time period that, as an American, I probably should know more about. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a dry, meandering narrative with all the personability of a textbook, awash with names and dates and various locations and native tribes that I couldn't begin to keep straight... in which Elizabeth herself really only figures into maybe a fourth, at most, of the text. Wolfe couldn't even elaborate on matters with direct impact on her life. Her second husband, Robert Feake, suffered from a degenerative mental illness that "defies modern diagnosis"... and apparently modern description, as Wolfe can't even hint as to what, exactly, the symptoms were. Did he hear voices? Grow abusive? Paint himself pink and glue mice to his head? How am I supposed to relate to this woman and her struggles if I don't even know what she's struggling with? Elsewhere, Wolfe recounts detailed descriptions of the torture deaths of Native Americans, so the problem isn't an author's inability to add detail to her narrative. Beneath the leaden cloak of names and events were occasional glimmers of interest and insight, but these were quickly smothered as the book wandered off to some other person or place, sometimes with little seeming connection to what came before and always keeping me at arm's length, if not further. In the end, this just felt too much like a textbook for me to enjoy; sure, there's information here, but it's the kind of book one picks up to research an essay, not to read for pleasure.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Beyond the Western Sea (Avi) - My Review
Newport Tower: Unsettled History (B. Lynn Bryant) - My Review
Thursday, May 14, 2015
The Most Magnificent Thing (Ashley Spires)
The Most Magnificent Thing
Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
Fiction, YA Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: An inventive girl decides to build the Most Magnificent Thing she's ever built... but it keeps coming out wrong.
REVIEW: This is perhaps the perfect examination of the creative process for anyone, young or old. Despite extensive plans and experience, the unnamed girl's project refuses to cooperate - making her increasingly upset that nobody else can see the wonderful vision in her mind. But all creativity is ultimately a compromise between dream and reality, intent and execution. The pictures are fun and tell the story well.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Chloe and the Lion (Mac Barnett) - My Review
Little Red Writing (Joan Holub) - My Review
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Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
Fiction, YA Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: An inventive girl decides to build the Most Magnificent Thing she's ever built... but it keeps coming out wrong.
REVIEW: This is perhaps the perfect examination of the creative process for anyone, young or old. Despite extensive plans and experience, the unnamed girl's project refuses to cooperate - making her increasingly upset that nobody else can see the wonderful vision in her mind. But all creativity is ultimately a compromise between dream and reality, intent and execution. The pictures are fun and tell the story well.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Chloe and the Lion (Mac Barnett) - My Review
Little Red Writing (Joan Holub) - My Review
What Do You Do With An Idea? (Kobi Yamada) - My Review
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Eyes Like Sky And Coal And Moonlight (Cat Rambo)
Eyes Like Sky And Coal And Moonlight
Cat Rambo
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Collection/Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: A commoner woman reminisces about her brushes with a great mage... a case of mistaken identity sweeps a girl off to a magical tower... a centaur secretly records his life of slavery... powerful sorcerers devastate the land with their petty rivalries... These and many more short stories are gathered in this collection by author Cat Rambo.
REVIEW: I got this one as a freebie download for my Kindle. The introduction, however, nearly turned me off to reading it, a rather pretentious little piece by another writer. Overall, especially given my iffy luck with shorts, I found these generally enjoyable. Even the ones I wasn't too fond of had interesting ideas and imagery. Several deal with the same world, but Rambo tells entirely different tales in it with each story, so they read fine as stand-alones. A decent collection of fantasy stories, though some feel rather downbeat.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds Are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Very Best of Charles de Lint (Charles de Lint) - My Review
Here, There be Dragons (Jane Yolen) - My Review
Cat Rambo
Amazon Digital Services
Fiction, Collection/Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: A commoner woman reminisces about her brushes with a great mage... a case of mistaken identity sweeps a girl off to a magical tower... a centaur secretly records his life of slavery... powerful sorcerers devastate the land with their petty rivalries... These and many more short stories are gathered in this collection by author Cat Rambo.
REVIEW: I got this one as a freebie download for my Kindle. The introduction, however, nearly turned me off to reading it, a rather pretentious little piece by another writer. Overall, especially given my iffy luck with shorts, I found these generally enjoyable. Even the ones I wasn't too fond of had interesting ideas and imagery. Several deal with the same world, but Rambo tells entirely different tales in it with each story, so they read fine as stand-alones. A decent collection of fantasy stories, though some feel rather downbeat.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds Are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Very Best of Charles de Lint (Charles de Lint) - My Review
Here, There be Dragons (Jane Yolen) - My Review
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