The Grand Tour: Book Review

The sequel to Sorcery and Cecelia, this book follows Cecelia and Kate as well as their husbands, James and Thomas, on their honeymoon journey across continental Europe. But it's not your usual romantic get-away when the newlyweds soon become embroiled in a mysterious plot where the freedom of all of Europe hangs in the balance.

I liked this book at least as much as the first one, (which I would give five out of five stars), and in some places I even liked this one better because I'm such a sucker for romance. I loved seeing the development of Kate and Thomas's relationship.

My biggest complaint for this book is that we see almost nothing of James and Cecy's relationship as a married couple. True, it made sense that Cecy wasn't about to put the intricacies of her relationship into a deposition, but I would have preferred if they were both diary entries if that was the only reason to withhold that part of the story. Aside from the romance, I also felt in many places that Cecy's deposition contained too much intimate information to believably be a witness statement. For instance, she makes particular reference to members of her family, like Aunt Elizabeth, as if the reader should know them. So, even if the writing was not changed, the deposition would have been far more credible as diary entries.

I just had to console myself by imagining that James and Cecy's private bedroom activities and conversation, unlike the sweet nothings and elliptical references from Kate, were deemed too adult to be included in a children's book. This actually seemed believable for the characters--Cecy being markedly less shy than Kate. Of course, there's also the fact that Kate's part is written by Caroline Stevermer who has written for adults, whereas Wrede is most notably a children's author.

I'm currently awaiting the third book, The Mislaid Magician, at the Sacramento Public Library. I was a little miffed that I couldn't get it from the Roseville Public Library, since it's so much closer. I could recommend they get it, but it's faster for me simply to stop being so lazy and go to the other library.

My one romantic quibble aside, the story itself is an excellent follow-up to the first. I highly recommend both the first and the second books of this series, and I only hope the third book is as good as the first two.

Nation: Book Review

I figure I should review this book before I forget about it. So I finished this book a few days ago. I was slow to get around to it even though I love Terry Pratchett because it wasn't Discworld and I had been told it was a little dark. Sometimes I don't mind dark, but I hadn't been in the mood for it. Still, I knew the darkest Pratchett would have humor and light, so I finally went for it.

I'm glad I did.

The story goes like this: In a parallel world much like Earth, a terrible plague hits 19th century England, killing the king (along with 138 of his successors). While they race to crown the next king before any other country can lay claim to their throne, halfway across the world, a tsunami strikes a small island, known to the inhabitants as Nation. Only one boy is left alive on his once thriving island, and he must pick up the pieces of his destroyed world while fate ties these two seemingly unrelated disasters and shows how sometimes you can go so far from home that you come back again.

I won't lie, some of the darkness I had been trying to avoid in this book scratched open fresh wounds. But in the end I think it helped me a lot to think about life and loss. At the same time there were still parts that made me laugh or smile. My favorite humorous line was "It was like a Jane Austen novel with less clothes."

Despite the incredible circumstances of the story, I found the main characters to be very real and human. Mau, is just about to attend the ceremony to make him a man when the wave hits and everyone he has ever known or loved dies. I deeply admired his spirit as he pulled himself out of grief and fought many real and metaphorical (often both) battles with the god of death, Locaha. His cry of "Does not happen!" embodied his determination and strong will. At the same time, he is a boy who was never proclaimed a man, and he's haunted (literally) by the voices of his granfathers. I might not have suffered nearly as much as Mau, but I could relate to his feelings of loss. And what recent graduate into this economy doesn't feel a bit lost at sea? Mau did all the things required of him to become a man, but when he returned home, there was no one to declare him one. A bit like having the degree but not yet achieving the profession.

I also understood Emintrude (Daphne) reinventing herself after she is shipwrecked on the island. For Mau she's a reason to stay alive, a pale-skinned "ghost girl." It's an irresistable romantic set-up (hence the above mentioned Austen reference). Still, Daphne is much more compelling as an individual character than a romantic interest.

As for the ending, I think I can say without revealing anything important, that the going far enough to come home again is a beautiful concept, but despite being home again, I feel I haven't yet done the journey to earn it. That image only made me feel that I have so much farther to go. Instead, what really spoke to me about the ending was that it essentially said the world can seem to end. But life still goes on.

Sorcery and Cecelia: Book Review

I ardently adored this book! On a random side note, though, it seems I cannot hear the name Cecelia without thinking of this song, so it's been stuck in my head for weeks. Rather annoying as I don't know all the words. But I just thought I'd pass on the disease to someone else if they click the link.

This epistolary novel is a correspondence between two cousins: Cecelia Rushton (a.k.a. Cecy) and Katherine Talgarth (a.k.a Kate). Kate is in London for the Season while Cecelia is left to languish in boredom at home. Or so she thinks until both cousins are unexpectedly drawn into a vicious intrigue among three powerful wizards concerning a chocolate pot that can mean the difference between life and death.

Now, I've always loved Jane Austen and I've always loved fantasy, but before this book, putting them together seemed as dubious to me as chocolate and onions. However, Patricia C. Wrede is a fond and nostalgic memory from my childhood because of Dealing with Dragons, so I have a great deal of faith in her skills, but the first few pages threw me off with their off-handed mention of wizards and the many names similar to Jane Austen's books. But I felt the novel soon took on it's own unique voice which is usually my primary concern whenever I read any type of Jane Austen spinoff. Though it helped immensely that this boook did not feature any actual Austen characters, particularly Mr. Darcy. The trouble with such spinoffs is it feels like all their possibilities have been played out to the fullest already and then some.

I was also relieved to find the language to be believable for regency times, but not too reminscient of Austen. A series of Jane Austen mysteries I've read before were enjoyable but often had the problem of stealing lines straight from Austen's novels. Rather than seeming like a clever homage, it got to be so common that it usually made it seem like the author couldn't think of any other regency turn of phrase.

The language in Sorcery and Cecelia, on the other hand, was either well researched or the authors at least read more than just Austen's books from that time period. There were many phrases I didn't recognize or was tempted to look up later, which is why I enjoyed Austen's books in the first place. I love being immersed in the language of a different time and Sorcery and Cecelia does this immensely well in my opinion. Regency scholars might disagree, but for the average layman like myself, the language was perfectly believable.

As for the fantasy element, I was admittedly skeptical of the idea of an enchanted chocolate pot but Wrede and Stevermer manged not to make it as ludicrous as it sounds and by the end I took it seriously enough. I suppose I could say it's the type of fantasy I've always preferred, character oriented and not epic. No orks invading the rectory. But I feel like the Regency romance aspect was only nicely flavored by the fantasy and not the other way around. I probably still would have liked the story even without the fantasy element, as amusing as it was, but I wouldn't without the regency element. Maybe that's just me.

As for the romance, I loved it. Parts of it were slightly predictable but in a charming way and not an annoying one. I suspect this is when you know who likes who, but you're not sure how they'll get together and that's what makes it worth reading. It made me feel warm and gooey inside just like a good Austen book.

The Sea of Monsters: Book Review

Percy starts getting dreams that his friend Grover is in trouble, and he and his friend Annabeth have to find the mythical Sea of Monsters to rescue him. This book is like a contemporary sequel to/highlights version of the Odyssey which I thought was rather clever. I laughed more in this book as well and I started to really love that all the heroes in these books are dyslexic (there's a reason for this which I also find amusing but reasonably credible).

I would highly recommend this book to a parent looking for biliotherapy for a dyslexic child, or to a deslexic child if they might be interested in the subject matter. I'm personally getting to really like the characters even if I find some of the situations less than credible. I'm not talking about the Greek gods either. Once again, I won't give any spoilers, but just some things Percy claimed to have done when he used to think he was normal and some aspects of his mother's personality didn't sit right with me. With crossovers between fantasy and the modern world, I think writers sometimes walk a fine line of credibility. The reason being, the real world, in my opinion, should still feel like the real world, but when some writers mix in fantasy, they think they can get away with the real world seeming less real. Unfortunately, when the real world doesn't follow its own rules, you've just created two fantasy worlds instead of one, and the real world is pretty lame as a fantasy world. I think Riordan sometimes falls into this trap, but not terminally so. Just enough for me to notice from time to time. Still, since this second book took place more in the alternate mythical world, I think it was easier for me to accept all the happenings.

Anyway, to sum things up, it's a good fast read that I highly recommend, but start with the first book The Lightning Thief!

The Titan's Curse: Audiobook Review

So, as promised, here's my Titan's Curse review. I am breaking through the over-idle sludge that my brain has become. Anyway, it's funny because reviewing children's audiobooks used to be part of my job. Now I'm just doing it. Not like it wasn't always fun. But reviewing audiobooks is sometimes difficult, because unless the reader or company has done something spectacularly bad or good, there's not much to say other than what you would put in a normal book review. The reader Jesse Bernstien did all right, but I do have a few bones to pick with him.

First, though, the story itself. This will be a NON-spoilers review because I don't think anyone reading my blog has read the books. So, this third book starts a bit in the middle of things, so it took me a bit for me to catch up. But once I did I wasn't too confused. There are several new characters, none of them as likeable as the already established character. Percy has both a new friend and a new rival in the same person, and because you see this rival from Percy's eyes, it's hard to like her as much as Percy. Unless, you didn't like Percy. But I do. He's likeable enough. I did have sympathy for Percy's rival but never a great deal of liking.

The other new characters are still on notice in my opinion. Only one achieved a full story arc, the rest I'm still waiting to see what happens. Once again I guessed the god parent of the two new undertermined half-bloods long before the story revealed it. But I will NOT say who, of course. That would be a spoiler. (Another big sorry to my sister for my initial slip with Percy). However, I will say I didn't get as many clues from the writing this time. It was more a literary hunch that was deepened by a fan picture I saw of one of the characrters. There was nothing obvious in the picture to give it away, but something about the way the character was drawn did it for me. And that's all I'll say. Here's the picture for anyone curious who isn't afraid it might spoil them.

My favorite part of this book was the role Dionysus got to play. A small but integral one. I have to confess, Dionysus, the real Dionysus from Greek myth, is one of my favorite gods. Yep, I've never touched alcohol and my favorite god is the god of wine. Weird I know. But Dionysus is also the god of insanity which I've always found intriguing. Anyway, for most of the Percy Jackson books Dionysus is shafted and portrayed as pretty useless. But he actually got to do something in this book and show why you shouldn't mess with him. So that made me happy.

Once again I felt some things that happened in the real world, particularly toward the end, were too unbelievable for me, but I did think the character development by itself was quite good. I liked Annabeth's family. Probably the major beef I have with this book is that it's unresolved at the end. It's true the series has a running thread which remains unresolved, presuably until the end of the series, but this one was more so. I wouldn't exactly call it a cliff-hanger, but I always feel like stories like this are just interesting space fillers to the next story. They're dependent stories. Whether they're good or not depends on the events of the rest of the series. So I have to withhold judgement about the end of this book.

However, I don't have to withhold judgement on Jesse Bernstien's reading. Mostly it was fine. No qualms with any of the major characters which is the first thing one looks for in an audio version. He also does both genders all right which is another important feature. But I had a huge problem with how he portrayed Dionysus and Luke's voices. Dionysus sounds like Homer Simpson, which almost ruined his moment of glory for me, and Luke sounds like some kind of deranged surfer dude. Bernstien also has some weird fixation with making a lot of periphial characters sound mentally challenged. It might be because I already read the first two books and formulated certain voices in my head, but once again, not all the voices were off. The only other problem I had was Annabeth's step-mothe,r who is described as Asian. But--and this is important-- she is NOT described as having an Asian accent. Just because you look Asian, doesn't mean you sound Asian. Or, more specifically, a non-Asian's impression of Asian. Usually I'm not overly sensitive about these things. Quite the opposite actually. I generally roll my eyes when people make a big deal out of it. I have to admit it's not like it was over-the-top. It just felt unecessary and rubbed me the wrong way.

Well, that's all I have to say about it. Hope it was interesting.

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth: Book Review

The story continues with our intrepid hero Percy being kicked out of yet another school when he's attacked by mythological monsters in the guise of homicidal cheerleaders. But upon returning to Camp Half-Blood his best friend Grover is in danger of losing his life-long dream to find the wild god Pan, and his equally best friend, Annabeth, is pegged for an almost certainly lethal quest: finding the heart of the Labyrinth. To help them both Percy must use all his skills and wits to stay alive in the not-so-mythical deadly maze.

This is the BEST Percy Jackson book I've read so far. Depending on the fifth book, it may be my favorite. The other Percy Jackson books I have certainly enjoyed, but there's something about the style of writing and pop culture references that made it seem very much a flash in the pan type of book and not sustainable over the years. This one, however, surpasses the campy fun of the first three and qualifies, in my opinion, as seriously well-written children's fiction.

The reason I feel is while Riordan still had amusing modernizations of the myths (such as homicidal cheerleaders) he seemed to take them more seriously. There's a reason Greek myths have endured this long and it's always best when writers use that to their advantage. There was far more psychological depth to the characters and their motivations, and I think he was more effectively balancing the humor with the serious. But at the same time it was still an exciting and stirring adventure.

And now for spoilers and horse chickens!

Here's where I'll discuss specifics of the novel. So if you haven't read it, you may not want to read this. But I add this for those who have read it and like to hear others thoughts on specific story elements. So here goes.

I was afraid this book would actually be my least favorite because of the love triangle with Percy, Annabeth, and Rachel. I usually hate love triangles (despite having one in my own novel...) Plus, I was originally really dubious of Rachel's character. I didn't like that she introduces herself as Rachel Elizabeth Dare (who does that?!) and they often refer to her by that full name. Plus, in the audio version of The Titan's Curse, her voice was REALLY irritating. But I read this book which I think did a lot to help her character grow on me since her voice was far less irritating in my head. Plus, I firmly believe she turned out to be a good character in the end.

But I'm still a firm Percy/Annabeth shipper.

I was worried about Annabeth's jealousy, but it wasn't too bad because even Annabeth seemed to realize at points that she was being unreasonable and tried to be friendly. That's all I really ask of a person. The other reason I hate love triangles is they often turn good characters into bad ones. I just find it irritating when girls are portrayed (or are in real life) uniformaly jealous and how that often overshadows every other aspect of their personality. But a little jealousy, as long as it's acknowledged and the person does make an effort to fight it, is a perfectly understandable human flaw.

Aside from the romance aspect, I also really enjoyed how Riordan seemed to feel he could finally try to say something important with his fiction. I thought the Sphinx in this book was a great satire on this country's test-obsessed school system "How will I be exceptional without my test scores?!" A little obvious, but still pure gold in my opinion. I had to smile.

The environmental message of the ranch they visited felt a bit heavy-handed to me, but I won't quarrel with the truth of it. I still also LOVED that he had hippalektryons! Horse chickens! Ever since I read as a child that these creatures were only ever found on Greek pottery but never in any stories, I desperately wanted to write a story with them in it. But it never fit into any of my own fiction. So, YAY! Thank you Riordan! You've brought the hippalektryon back to life.

Plus, I thought Pan's death was a very well-done and moving environmental message that we cannot wait for a god to come and fix this.

I also thought that Quintus was Icarus, but for the first time in a Riordan mystery, I was WRONG! Very refreshing. It still wasn't exactly Agatha Christie, but he managed to fake me out.

On a random note, the imagery of when Percy erupts the volcano with the power of his water pressure is amazingly beautiful, and I wish I could draw a picture of how I see it in my head.

So, yeah, eve if you read the spoilers without reading the book, then I still recommend you read it.

American Gods: Book Review

This was a difficult book to read, took me a long time, and I don't properly remember all of it, so this may influence my overall opinion.

Oh, how to summarize American Gods... Well, on the surface, it's the story of a man named Shadow who, after being released from prison, finds that his wife is dead, and a strange man named Wednesday draws him into an ancient conflict. Stranded in America by the original immigrants, the gods of the old lands are painfully fading. Scraping by on whatever worship or sacrifice they can capture through art or trickery. They are beset by the new gods of technology and consumerism. In one last effort at survival, Wednesday, with Shadow's often reluctant help, works to convince the gods band together to fight one last battle for survival.

But there's so much more to it than that. Much like Gaiman's sprawling Sandman series, this novel is made up of thousands of different threads. It's like a tapestry where a single thread might be beautiful, plain, or even ugly. But you must step back to see the whole picture.

When stories are told like this, I can never quite say that I personally loved or hated the whole. Part of the story will stick with me while other parts seem wholly unsatisfactory. However, it is more in the way that I find certain aspects of life that the book addresses to be unsatisfactory. So the portrayal is not necessarily incorrect. I can never say that any of it doesn't fit. All I can definitely say is that the novel is well written, expertly planned, and powerfully poignant. The complex and varied nature of the narrative fit the subject of gods well.

Still, it's a long, dark journey.

* * * * *

Now I'll address specific parts of the story for all those who have read it. If you haven't and don't want to know specific plot points, I would recommend you stop reading now.

So, the ending is freshest in my mind. I have to say it didn't have the resolution I generally crave in a story, so personally, especially after so long a book, it did not sit well with me. But, then again, that is life. I can't quarrel with the truth of it. And after reading it again and thinking about it I cannot say it is simple or without meaning. The coin in the air, for me, represented the fleeting nature of life. Not waiting to see it fall seemed to me a rejection of any predestination, not wanting to see the outcome life. Plus, I thought the gold of the coin could represent the sun, just as the silver coin was the moon. Since the moon guided Shadow in death, it makes sense that the sun would guide him in life. This is supported by his last location being Iceland during the time of the year when the sun practically never sets. Still, even in Iceland, someone wishes him a happy fourth of July. Even when he's not in America, some of it has come with him-importantly, the independence aspect.

I could go on, but I won't. It is well written in the sense that I could probably write an entire thesis on the last chapter alone. Now that I examine it, I think it may have been the independence part that bothered me. On one hand, it ties in nicely with one of my favorite lines toward the end:

"I think I would rather be a man than a god. We don't need anyone to believe in us. We just keep going anyhow. It's what we do."

So from the perspective of the novel, humans are independent of worship. At least, of a need to be worshipped. Though many would like to be worshiped. Still, for reasons I won't get into in this blog, I often don't feel Americans in general are nearly as independent as Shadow is represented at the end of this book. I don't mind that Gaiman is British. Oftentimes I think it takes an informed outside perspective to truly see a country. But I suppose I've also lived too long in America. I can't be happy with the entire tapestry anymore than I can all aspects of America.