Tuesdays at the Castle
Bloomsbury, 2011, ISBN: 9780599906447
Celie is the youngest daughter of the King and Queen. They live in a wonderfully accepting Castle, that helps (or hinders) people according to how well it likes them or not. Thankfully, Celie's parents (and ancestors) have been good people, and the castle has currently taken quite a shine to not only Celie's parents, but to her and to her siblings (good thing too, as her brother Rolf is in line to be king).
The book begins with tragedy - parents missing, presumed dead. The Council takes over, menacing envoys from neighboring greedy kingdoms appear almost magically soon after, and before one can blink, the three siblings are in a fight for their lives, and for the continued existance of the kingdom and the Castle.
This is a super-quick read, on the juvenile level (characters have crushes, but are gently teased for it, and exhibit those crushes by being overly nice or by blushing a lot). The siblings have a delightful relationship, and they are believably stubborn and amusingly defiant in the face of overwhelming opposition.
Very good addition to the collection of modern stories told with a fairy-tale feel. I'll put this one up there with Liar's Moon, Princess Academy, and Bella at Midnight. Keep an eye out for this author - this was a delightful read.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Cinder, Marissa Meyer
Cinder
2012, Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan), ISBN: 9780312641894
First in a proposed set of four, with Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood) supposedly out in 2013, Cress (perhaps the Princess and the Frog?) in 2014, and Winter (most likely Snow White, or perhaps The Snow Queen) in 2015. Of course, this far out, it's hard to say whether they'll actually happen, but it seems likely that we'll get to see at least Scarlet.
Ok - everyone knows Cinderella. She lives with her stepmom and two stepsisters (common variation has that one sister is kind and the other is mean), dad is deceased, and she gets treated like dirt. Somehow she finds herself at a royal ball, conveyed by the power of a fairy godmother, and usually an unusual coach. Prince sees her, she runs, leaves the shoe, and he uses it to find her. They re-unite, and live happily ever after.
Up until the "he uses it to find her" part, take the above summation and put it into a vaguely caste-based Indian/Chinese society, with strange biologial and biomechanical advances and social implications, and a rapidly diverging set of humans who colonized the moon about a century ago. Got it? Ok, that was the book. And, that's also the main problem with the book.
This wasn't a bad story. It was simply entirely predictable. In one way, that's an impressive feat. Character traits and actions ALL led immediately to one inescapable (and ultimately all confirmed) conclusion. That takes effort. On the other hand, because it was a fairy tale, there are very few surprises, and by keeping so close to the original fairy tale structure, that meant that the story had a certain sense of spoon-feeding that made it ultimately less compelling than it could be. I mean - it had an evil mind-controlling Queen of the Moon for crying out loud! There should be some oomph there!
I liked Cinder, I felt sorry for Kai, and I thought that Dr. Erland was sadly creepy. Iko was an amusing addition, but never really accomplished much - I felt like she could have been utilized better.
Ultimately, I'm really invested in the world, but less so with the characters. I am very glad that the series will be switching protagonists regularly - I feel like the world itself makes for a more compelling through-line character.
2012, Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan), ISBN: 9780312641894
First in a proposed set of four, with Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood) supposedly out in 2013, Cress (perhaps the Princess and the Frog?) in 2014, and Winter (most likely Snow White, or perhaps The Snow Queen) in 2015. Of course, this far out, it's hard to say whether they'll actually happen, but it seems likely that we'll get to see at least Scarlet.
Ok - everyone knows Cinderella. She lives with her stepmom and two stepsisters (common variation has that one sister is kind and the other is mean), dad is deceased, and she gets treated like dirt. Somehow she finds herself at a royal ball, conveyed by the power of a fairy godmother, and usually an unusual coach. Prince sees her, she runs, leaves the shoe, and he uses it to find her. They re-unite, and live happily ever after.
Up until the "he uses it to find her" part, take the above summation and put it into a vaguely caste-based Indian/Chinese society, with strange biologial and biomechanical advances and social implications, and a rapidly diverging set of humans who colonized the moon about a century ago. Got it? Ok, that was the book. And, that's also the main problem with the book.
This wasn't a bad story. It was simply entirely predictable. In one way, that's an impressive feat. Character traits and actions ALL led immediately to one inescapable (and ultimately all confirmed) conclusion. That takes effort. On the other hand, because it was a fairy tale, there are very few surprises, and by keeping so close to the original fairy tale structure, that meant that the story had a certain sense of spoon-feeding that made it ultimately less compelling than it could be. I mean - it had an evil mind-controlling Queen of the Moon for crying out loud! There should be some oomph there!
I liked Cinder, I felt sorry for Kai, and I thought that Dr. Erland was sadly creepy. Iko was an amusing addition, but never really accomplished much - I felt like she could have been utilized better.
Ultimately, I'm really invested in the world, but less so with the characters. I am very glad that the series will be switching protagonists regularly - I feel like the world itself makes for a more compelling through-line character.
Austenland, Midnight In Austenland, Shannon Hale
Austenland
2007, Bloomsbury, ISBN: 9781596912854
Midnight in Austenland
2012, Bloomsbury, ISBN: 9781608196258
These were a bit of a tangent for me, but I have to say that I enjoyed them more than I thought I would.
Shannon Hale is the author of several Juvenile fairy-tale-esque stories that I have enjoyed - most particularly Princess Academy, The Books of Bayern, and the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. (I recommend them all - they are amazing.)
With this duo, Hale sets off into a (presumably imaginary) world where rich young (or not so young) things bored or tormented by modern life and modern loves sequester themselves in the Regency version of an SCA convention, proceed to be romanced (carefully and properly) by handsome young actors in tight Regency pants, and enjoy a few weeks respite from the raging modernity by relaxing in a world where class and gender roles are rigidly imposed.
Ooookay. Sure. On the surface, that sounds a little kooky, but lets be honest here - this seems perfectly logical to me. There have been umpteen different revivals and restagings of Austen's works, women like being romanced, and just about everyone can have fun with a costume party if they let themselves.
In Austenland, our first protagonist is Jane Hayes. She works in marketing, and she's never had a "real" boyfriend. When her elderly aunt notices a certain DVD hiding in her potted plants, Jane is sent off on an adventure to clear the romantic preconceptions from her mind and heart once and for all, so she can settle into a rational life with realistic expectations of love that don't involve beautifully-worded protestations of infatuation or incidents of feet-sweeping-off-of. No one who reads this sort of book will be in the least surprised that this doesn't exactly go according to plan.
In Midnight in Austenland, after having settled our first protagonist (no spoilers) we're treated to a brokenhearted recent divorcee who, while extremely intelligent in many ways, is totally blinded to the reality of the trainwreck that was her marriage. This vacation to fantasy Austenland is an attempt to see herself as something more than an abandoned woman and a mother. Her hopes of finding herself are thwarted from the start as a series of unfortunate and perplexing events culminate in a possible murder! Are the actors simply outdoing themselves, or is something truly afoot?
These are not high literature. They are not classics, they are not treasures of the nation (I would argue strenuously that Rapunzel's Revenge IS) and they are not intellectual reads. They are pure, unadulterated Austen-flavored fluff. I enjoyed the hell out of both of them!
2007, Bloomsbury, ISBN: 9781596912854
Midnight in Austenland
2012, Bloomsbury, ISBN: 9781608196258
These were a bit of a tangent for me, but I have to say that I enjoyed them more than I thought I would.
Shannon Hale is the author of several Juvenile fairy-tale-esque stories that I have enjoyed - most particularly Princess Academy, The Books of Bayern, and the graphic novels Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack. (I recommend them all - they are amazing.)
With this duo, Hale sets off into a (presumably imaginary) world where rich young (or not so young) things bored or tormented by modern life and modern loves sequester themselves in the Regency version of an SCA convention, proceed to be romanced (carefully and properly) by handsome young actors in tight Regency pants, and enjoy a few weeks respite from the raging modernity by relaxing in a world where class and gender roles are rigidly imposed.
Ooookay. Sure. On the surface, that sounds a little kooky, but lets be honest here - this seems perfectly logical to me. There have been umpteen different revivals and restagings of Austen's works, women like being romanced, and just about everyone can have fun with a costume party if they let themselves.
In Austenland, our first protagonist is Jane Hayes. She works in marketing, and she's never had a "real" boyfriend. When her elderly aunt notices a certain DVD hiding in her potted plants, Jane is sent off on an adventure to clear the romantic preconceptions from her mind and heart once and for all, so she can settle into a rational life with realistic expectations of love that don't involve beautifully-worded protestations of infatuation or incidents of feet-sweeping-off-of. No one who reads this sort of book will be in the least surprised that this doesn't exactly go according to plan.
In Midnight in Austenland, after having settled our first protagonist (no spoilers) we're treated to a brokenhearted recent divorcee who, while extremely intelligent in many ways, is totally blinded to the reality of the trainwreck that was her marriage. This vacation to fantasy Austenland is an attempt to see herself as something more than an abandoned woman and a mother. Her hopes of finding herself are thwarted from the start as a series of unfortunate and perplexing events culminate in a possible murder! Are the actors simply outdoing themselves, or is something truly afoot?
These are not high literature. They are not classics, they are not treasures of the nation (I would argue strenuously that Rapunzel's Revenge IS) and they are not intellectual reads. They are pure, unadulterated Austen-flavored fluff. I enjoyed the hell out of both of them!
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