Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, Jane Yolen

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey, Jane Yolen
ISBN: 9780399256646
Read November 20, 2013

YA: Sleeping Beauty re-tell from the perspective of the fairy "godmothers" although the sleeper is a fae also...

Weird.  I think that I would have enjoyed it more if I had been allowed to come to the realization that this was a Sleeping Beauty re-telling more gradually and naturally over the course of the story, instead of having it plastered on the cover.

Because to be quite honest, it ISN'T the story of Sleeping Beauty. Unless you accept that the story of Sleeping Beauty that we all know was mangled all out of shape and smushed into a container that didn't quite fit it all, and then dumped out somewhere quite different and mixed up with some extra bits from who-knows-where.

To that end, I have a hard time reviewing this.  Is it a good re-work of Sleeping Beauty?  For me, nope.  It was weird, focused on the fae end of things, didn't really have that mystical fairy-tale feel, and too many of the classic elements were missing or occluded.

Was it a good story of itself?  Actually, yes.  I liked Gorse, I liked the mythology of their strange Appalachian-seeming hippie-fae family, I liked all the sibling interactions, and I really really liked the bits in the dark with the Grey and the Prince.  Those bits strongly reminded me of The Perilous Gard (Elizabeth Marie Pope) which I read a while back.  I really like creepity fae that take advantage of darkness and odd motivations.

So I'm not sure about it.  My suggestion?  Try not to think about classic fairy-tales when you read it, and just enjoy a strange, somewhat nigglingly-familiar story about a clumsy and unlucky 13th child of the fae, and what happened a long time ago, when she was a child.

The Witness Wore Red, Rebecca Musser & M. Bridget Cook

The Witness Wore Red: The 19th Wife Who Brought Polygamous Cult Leaders to Justice.
Rebecca Musser & M. Bridget Cook
ISBN: 9781455527854
Read November 18, 2013

Nonfiction: Memoir of Rebecca Musser's escape from the FLDS and subsequent assistance with the Yearning for Zion Ranch raid, and the trials of the pedophilia and child abuse of the church leaders.  Includes short black and white picture segment.

Powerful addition to the stories of other women who daringly escaped from the FLDS as Warren Jeffs took his father's death as the opportunity to plunge the already secretive and enabling FLDS society further into abuses and illegal behaviors.

Also a powerful reminder of the ability of humans to contort, manipulate, and "train" young, gullible, or needy people into doing things that otherwise would seem impossible breaches of basic social contracts.  Brainwashing may not be the correct term any more, but it's alive and well in communities like that.  Manipulative actions aren't limited to charismatic sociopathic child abusers, and woe betide us all if we don't learn our lessons while we can, and spot abusers before they can harm so many others around them.

The Unicorn's Secret Series, Kathleen Duey, Omar Rayyan

The Unicorn's Secret Series, Kathleen, Duey, illustrated by Omar Rayyan

1) Moonsilver, ISBN: 0689842694
2) The Silver Thread, ISBN: 0689842708
3) The SIlver Bracelet, ISBN: 0689850581
4) The Mountains of the Moon, ISBN: 0689851375
5) The Sunset Gates, ISBN: 0689853475
6) True Heart, ISBN: 0689853718

7) Castle Avamir, ISBN: 0689853734
8) The Journey Home, ISBN: 0689853750

Read November 15, 2013

 

This is the third series of beginner-chapter horse books I've read from this author, and like the other two, the books are entirely unsuited to reading as stand-alone works.  However, that is about the only serious criticism I have of them.  (Other than the name of the character (Heart) which does cause some uncontrolled eye-rolling.)

Minor criticisms I have a-plenty: pacing issues (caused by the serial nature, mostly unavoidable, but still a bit irritating), characters appearing and disappearing from the story or being introduced and then left as plot-movers or ciphers, unrealistic story elements (our girl, somewhere between 6 and 10 years old, it isn't specified, is often shown girding or ungirding heavy equine plate and barding onto the yearling unicorn "in minutes," which is a little eyebrow-raising in more ways than one... ) and a bland overarching protagonist who is often shown as physically menacing, but his actual evil actions (burning books, killing unicorns, starving and jailing his serfs) are left mostly alluded to in the background of the story - despite being an important motivating factor to the heroine!

However, all of those are minor niggles, and for mass-market serial books, these are pretty close to solid gold.  The girl is strong and smart and brave and persistent.  There are older women who are kind and helpful, and secondary male characters who are also friends or allies.  Like in the Mustang series, a bully is given a chance to redeem himself and find a better place in life (in actual fact, those two characters and story arcs are so similar as to be identical except for the choice of vocation at the end).

Unreservedly recommended for anyone horse (or unicorn) mad; just make sure you have all of them on-hand before you get started, because there's no good place to pause the story until the very end.  Also excellent for younger ears as bedtime or regular storytime to be read to them, even before they're able to read it on their own. 

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, Jennifer Trafton, Brett Helquist

The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, Jennifer Trafton, illus. by Brett Helquist

ISBN: 9780803733756

Read November 15, 2013

Juv: quirky quest adventure.

Very similar in nature and tone to Tuesdays at the Castle, and very nearly as good. 

Persimmony Smudge is the exact opposite of her dutiful drudge of a sister Prunella (LOVE the names); she is a dreamer, an adventurer, a thinker.  

She is, in other words, the perfect person for an Adventure.  But somehow in all of her ten years, she's never had one, even though her father (missing for nearly those entire ten years) was a noted adventurer himself.  Her mother and sister are decidedly anti-adventure, but that only spurs Persimmony on to higher reaches of imagination.

Her imagination fails to match reality when she gets lost in the woods and overhears the feared underground Leafeaters plotting against the king.  Now she and fellow adventurers Worvil (the worried) and Theodore (the wise creater of magical pots) have to save the kingdom, despite the niggling fact that the twelve-year-old king is more than a little bit of a brat, and perhaps not actually worth saving after all.

Also, there's a very lovely big giant, who reminded me strongly and beautifully of the giant Time, fast asleep under Narnia, waiting for the end of the world.   

Great characters, madcap plotting, somewhat uneven pacing.

A Street Cat Named Bob, James Bowen

A Street Cat Named Bob, James Bowen.
ISBN: 978-1250029461

Read November 13, 2013.

 

Nonfiction: Cat-lover and drug-recovery memoir.

 

A sweet, slight story about how Bob the cat adopted Mr Bowen and helped him make the transition from drug-addled street-bum to productive and responsible cat person.  The narrative voice was engaging, yet blunt about his own shortcomings, as well as those of others he encounters.  Bonus for ending BEFORE the cat dies, and for Mr Bowen's straighforwardness about the difficulties of getting his life back on track without becoming maudlin or bitter. 

 

I would have enjoyed seeing snapshots of Bob or the duo working their beat.

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic, Emily Croy Barker

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic, Emily Croy Barker
ISBN: 9780670023660

Read November 11, 2013

Fantasy.

If this is a Guide, then it's one of those Guides that leads by negative example.  The beginning of the story is fairly bland, very wordy, very slow, (very much after the example of Harkness's Shadow of Night set) and frankly, kind of off-putting.  Nora is a real wallflower, with no character attributes to speak of, and she's certainly not a heavy thinker.  

Her shallow and passive acceptance of life takes a turn for the worse when she steps through (actually, even worse, dismisses the gate guardian of) a portal between worlds, finding herself magically back in a 1960s-inspired fantasy world of the rich and famous.

You guys, she LITERALLY DRINKS THE KOOL-AID.  Literally.  Like clockwork, all of the tropes of being taken by the fae occur (you can tick them off as they very obviously happen) and poor little Nora hasn't got even the foggiest glimpse of a clue.  

This is irritating, to say the very least.

Finally, Nora's clue-bat to the head appears in the daylight appearance of her half-dragon (maybe?) husband!! (yes, really) who attacks her because she gets jealous of his attentions.  She's rescued by a deus ex magician, a crusty old fellow, and then it rapidly degenerates into Pride and Prejudice, Now with Extra Magic Flavor! (tm)

Please don't get me wrong - it's at least as readable as the Shadow of Night sets, but there's just so much a girl can take of a clueless lead, and Nora really does her best to hit all the low notes.  

Finally, there's the interesting matter of the magic, which falls squarely into what I consider my anime-addicted husband's realm of things: unrestricted, unexplained, and unstoppable.  Need something?  Magic will fix it!  What's the cost?  Eh... *handwaves*  No good.  I prefer my magic to fall in with the Sanderson Rules - limited, expensive (or difficult) and explicated.  

The ending leaves the ONLY TWO other interesting female characters dead, and Nora safely back with her family in our own world (who think she was abducted by Norwegian hippies) while she pines for her magical love, having realized her feelings too late.  

Regardless of pique, I'll probably pick up the second, in hopes that we find out what happens with the crazy mouse-man from the very beginning.  Sadly, no one else is nearly as interesting. 

The Ghost Prison, Joseph Delaney, Scott Fischer

The Ghost Prison, Joseph Delaney, illus. by Scott Fischer.

ISBN: 978-1402293184

Read November 6, 2013

YA: illustrated medieval ghost story (set in same universe as The Last Apprentice, but not necessary)

Nicely illustrated short creepy about Billy's stint as a night watchman for the haunted castle dungeons.  Loved the excellent characterizations tucked into the short pages and haunting expressive pen-scribble illustrations. 

Only possible downside is the length - this one is VERY short - It's almost as tiny as a paperback book, and clocks in around 95 pages, with a fair number of those being full page illustrations.  Still, the story is fun, the creep factor is high, and it's perfect for a reluctant reader or a short car trip.

The Big Disconnect, Catherine Steiner-Adair

The Big Disconnect, Catherine Steiner-Adair

ISBN: 9780062082428

Read November 7, 2013

Nonfiction: scary stories about kids of various ages misusing tech and social media.

Hoped this would be more of an advice-giver, rather than a scary-story collection, but you win some and you lose some.  The subtitle is "Protecting Childhood and Family in the Digital Age" and the takeaway seems to be that it's pretty darn hard to do unless you are a Luddite or convert to Amish until your kid is about 30.  

There are some bits of advice, but sadly, the majority of the book really does just cover horrible events where kids are kids, do something stupid, and the nature of tech and media means that now they'll never live it down.

Harsh lessons, but no real advice or steps to follow to mediate or alter the potential.  Leaves this on the "interesting but not really worthwhile" reading list.

Expecting Better, Emily Oster

Expecting Better, Emily Oster

ISBN: 9781594204753

Read November 5, 2013

Nonfiction: statistics and hard numbers about fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth. 

I'm going to keep this short, lest I gush too hard; this is an EXCELLENT resource, and I am so grateful to Dr Oster for putting it together.  She has my eternal gratitude, and this book has a prominent place on my bookshelf.

If you're satisfied that "Doctor knows best" then this won't be much use.  If, on the other hand, you're a paranoid overthinker who plans and plots and researches anything possible, this book is a wonderful assist.  

Here's hoping she does a sequel on infant care and the mommy wars.

Treecat Wars, David Weber & Jane Lindskold

Treecat Wars, David Weber & Jane Lindskold

ISBN: 9781451639339

Read November 4, 2013

YA SF: Star Kingdom Novel #3, Treecats!  Stephanie Harrington!

I was in fine form for this one, as I had just gotten back from the very first Honorcon, in Greenville SC the previous day (it was great fun, lots of really awesome staff, volunteers, vendors, publishers, and authors, as well as a vibrant and happy audience).

Treecat Wars picks us right up after Fire Season left off, with Stephanie and Anders' beginning romance interrupted by the political and academic fallout of Anders' dad's stubborn and illegal activity.  All is not lost, as Anders is simply sent to Manticore - ONLY an hour's delay by com.  The two lovebirds work out their long-distance relationship, even when he gets to come back to Spinx, just as she's getting sent to Manticore herself for a plum assignment.

So Stephanie and Karl (and Lionheart) are off studying and trying to be ambassadors for Treecat Rights, Anders and Jessica are on Spinx, trying to run herd on a new crew of anthropologists, and to figure out what could be causing the treecat deaths and injuries they're finding on the edges of the burned-out forest.  

I seriously love these books.  They're a bit formulaic, and they are YA, but the themes (long distance relationships, falling out of love, being with someone who you know loves you more than you love them) are treated respectfully and thoughtfully.  The only real downside is one that's shared by the larger Honorverse - the good guys are really really good, and the bad guys are really really bad.  Rarely is there a conflicted character, and even if a good character is on the "wrong" side, it's still clear that they're a good guy.

Finally, I'd like to give a shout-out to the covers for these books - Daniel Dos Santos has done a great job with this one, as he has done for the previous two.  Really fantastic work with expressions (facial and body) and with overall color tones.  

I'm hoping that this isn't the last of these books.  I would very much love to keep following Stephanie and Lionheart (and all the others - especially Jessica and Dirt Grubber!) on their adventures. 

Saving Thanehaven, Catherine Jinks

Saving Thanehaven, Catherine Jinks.
ISBN: 9781606842744
Read November 4, 2013

Juv-YA: TRON-like world of programs come to life inside computers.

Noble is a knight, sworn to save the princess from the evil wizard, but he's never really thought much further than that. When he meets Rufus on the way in, he's introduced to the concept of free will, and from that moment on, he's pretty much screwed.

Readers will catch on to Rufus much more quickly than the programs will, but even knowing what he's up to - he's pretty impressive. Like a human sociopath, Rufus changes his tone and watches what he says and pretends to care, before moving on to the next target.

Speaking of that, the title and bookends are a little misleading - the beginning of the story is set in Thanehaven, and Noble is very much a man, er, program, of his time, er, game. The action doesn't stay there very long, however, and in no time flat, we've moved through a couple more games, and been introduced to the weird world of visualized computing hardware and software.

If you watched the TRON reboot and wondered what the other programs did in their daily lives, this one is for you. If you got a little huffy about how there could be a world inside of programs and algorithms, I would suggest you steer clear. As far as I could tell, the analogies are apt, and the information is correct, but I can easily see computer-geeks getting very bent out of shape by the implications of the locations as they are envisioned.

My major quibble surrounds the lives in the real world - naturally we aren't able to see much, but the real Rufus in particular seems unaware that bricking his friend's computer for a perceived slight is a smidge of an overreaction. I would have liked to have a bit more attention given to that situation.

Overall, an enjoyable short read that is surprisingly funny, with a metaphysical twist at the end for a punchy garnish.
(also published on Amazon.com)

Eight Million Gods, Wen Spencer

Eight Million Gods, Wen Spencer

ISBN: 9781451638981

Read October 22, 2013

Fantasy: Modern-Mythic Japan via hypographic expat American.

Eh... I really wanted to like this, and the ideas were awesome, but the second half just completely fell apart.  There was a real sense that it was rushed to printing, with no chance to look into even basic things like plotholes, dropped characters, and logical progression of abilities.

Nikki is in Japan after having narrowly escaped her mother, who is hell-bent on putting her into an institution due to her hypographia, which manifests as writing horrible graphic death scenes for characters which pop into her head fully-formed.  

The world turns out to be more complex than she imagined, as she enters a world of Kami and yokai, and learns that instead of having a mental disorder, she's really a Seer - and all those horrible deaths she's written?  Totally true, actually happening to real people.  Ugh.

Here's where things get interesting, and also fall apart.  Characters appear and then vanish for a time, intentions are set up and then left stagnant, and even important character developments (TRUE LOVE!!!1!!) happen in the space of a paragraph.  

 

That's not even counting the actual climax of the book, where everything established so far gets tossed aside for an ending that is not only confusing, but seems totally implausible in the world as given to us so far.  An unreliable narrator will only get you so far with this, and the overly chipper finale just made the entire journey seem even more unrealistic.

Specific disgruntlements:

WTF happened with Atsumori?  Dropped like a hot rock, no closure whatsoever, and he was my favorite character.  

When you name a character "Scary Cat Dude" you need to have him be a scary cat dude in an ACTION SCENE - not just locked in a cage.

Power-creep progression.  Nikki begins the story not able to handle stress without uncontrollable, unfocused writing, sometimes for hours.  Then she can handle stress without writing by frantically clicking a pen, and getting to the writing ASAP.  Next she can handle stress without writing at all, then or later.  Not satisfied with that, then she moves into handling stress just fine, and can guide the "uncontrollable" writing to focus on a specific person.  Next?  Guiding the writing to specify time or scene desired.  Still not enough, as then we're told that she can write multiple options for reality and then choose the best.  Seems that's not quite enough, so then she writes in blood and causes the writing to manifest.  Finally, not happy with the already earthshattering graphically-based powers laid onto the heroine, Nikki finishes up by IMAGINING a scene, and causes the imagined scene to manifest, therefore wiping a main character entirely out existence in the modern world.  Well then.  That settles that.  Makes all of her stress and worry and panic from previously in the book (as well as previously in life) seem a bit silly.  

Sadly not a keeper, and not really a recommended title either.  Which is a shame, because Atsumori and Inari really deserve better.

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, Claire Legrand

The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, Claire Legrand.
ISBN: 9781442442917
YA: Ghost Story

Read October 21, 2013

Creepy as hell, and buggy to boot.  Needs to be made into an animated version by the Coraline crew, or the Nightmare Before Christmas people in charge of Oogie Boogie, or whoever from Anastasia did the excellently nasty sequence celebrating Rasputin.

Victoria is the perfect child, and is very aware of her perfection - works for it.  Strives for it.  Her only imperfection is Lawrence, who is decidedly imperfect, but she's decided that he's permissible as a "project," until he goes missing.  

Victoria's town is likewise perfect, the streets, the people, the school.  Until she begins hearing rumors of vanishings, and notices that so many people have the same nervous tics, or odd looks in their eyes, or weird personality changes.

Victoria's departures from perfection stem from her independent mind, and her stubborn streak.  She is about to discover that those two qualities may get her into a lot more trouble than her perfectionist streak ever prepared her to handle.  She's going to have to learn more about friendship and loyalty in order to make it out alive.

This book was DAMN CREEPY.  There are some seriously disturbing things in there - several children are turned into misshapen poppet-like creatures with just a few limbs and features remaining to them, who, (if that isn't bad enough) are cannibalized unknowingly (and then later knowingly) by the other children, and the tortures and punishments are inventive and horrid.  Also, if you don't deal well with bugs, maybe this one isn't your best bet.

However, it never QUITE goes too far over the gruesome line - just far enough to really make the reader sweat - will Victoria and Lawrence make it out?  The ending is terrific, but in true ghost-story fashion, the epilogue will bring those terrors right back for another round, and make the reader wonder if all that anguish and effort really accomplished anything after all.

Recommended for DAYTIME reading.

Katie and the Mustang Series, Kathleen Duey

Katie and the Mustang Series, Kathleen Duey
(individual books are untitled)

Book 1: ISBN: 9780142400906
Book 2: ISBN: 0525472738
Book 3: ISBN: 0142400920
Book 4: ISBN: 0142400939

Read October 14-18, 2013

This is the second series of early-chapter horse books I've read by Kathleen Duey.  I have to say that I like the Irish set more than these.  For some reason, the main character in this story struck me as less active and more emotionally fragile than in the previous set.  As the "girl power" themes are part of why I liked the others as much as I did, I found the lack here to be disconcerting.

I also thought that the themes and main ideas here were a little more mature and harder to grasp - Katie is escaping from an abusive home and traveling ALONE on the Oregon trail with a farm-hand she barely knows (problematic by itself), and then as the series progresses, there are issues of "ladylike behavior" and the existence of ignored or persecuted Mormon pioneers, and the presence of a traveling circus (deemed to be dangerously not respectable people).  Further, and more pertinent to the horse-mad reader, Katie refuses to attempt to tame the mustang, despite the hardships of the Oregon Trail, meaning that there are no thrilling instances of the horse being ridden, and the bond between them remains fragile and tenuous, despite the author's best intentions.  This will likely frustrate the seriously horse-crazed, and the postscript of incoming foals who aren't even included in the book will do little alleviate that frustration.

However - because I didn't find them as good as the others, doesn't mean that they're all bad.  I do think that I would prefer to read the other set aloud, and let a horse-mad reader discover these on their own.   If I had to recommend a set from this author, I'd go with the original Irish Hoofbeats Series, or perhaps the Unicorn's Secret Series, which I'll be working through shortly.