Lowly’s Book Blog

Every now and then I need to review a book that I simply didn’t like. These reviews usually get the most response so I am ready and waiting.

Zira was raised in a temple, training to become a warrior priestess. But on the eve of her sixteenth birthday she discovers that she is actually the daughter of the country’s former ruling family. Suddenly her life changes. She must marry for a political alliance. And with the assistance of her friends she leads the fight against the usurper.

Sorry, but this book was simply too trite. All the way through I felt the author was a Tammy Pierce wannabee. And the romance was laid on just too thick for the age group that would be likely to accept this fantastical tale.

But I have to read some bad books, it helps to appreciate the good ones.

This is another book that was read long ago. Therefore some of the details are unclear.

Two brothers, opposites in every way, live on the shore of Lake shimmer. When Thomas hears the call from the lake, he throws himself in without thinking. Nick, who is older and more practical, jumps in as well in an effort to save his brother. And there begins an adventure…

Seacastle is the first of a series of books written for young readers. Each book is written by a different Australian author, but all have a linking theme as the race of the Shimmaron try to reunite. Children must help them find each other and repair their ship in order to go home.

This is a very pleasant fantasy book for readers aged 8-10.

Recognize the author’s name? A few weeks ago I heard a radio interview with the daughter of Spike Milligan about a new children’s book she had written. During the interview she talked about her father’s wonderful imagination and his ability to tell stories that kept his children enthralled. Reading this book is as delightful as listening to a Goon Show! Thank goodness another Milligan is continuing the family tradition.

Hocus Pocus is a very happy island, filled with magic, friendly giants and absolute silliness. That is until it is invaded by a mysterious pong and green slime. Then adults start to disappear! It is up to Lucy, Joe and Grandfather to solve the mystery.

I absolutely adored the silliness. This book was fun to read. Half of my fun was imagining Spike Milligan reading the voices. But children will love this book as well. There is certainly enough naughtiness to delight any 8 year old. And the whole idea of a wizzlepop competition …

Sometime in the next week or two I am going to need to report on the pile of books I have collected together for the Reading Challenge. So this weekend is dedicated to clearing this collection, well, starting to.

This book has also been short listed for the CBC Younger Readers award. Not surprising considering all the hype that was around when the Key to Rondo was released last year.

This time the two children move through the music box simply in order to preserve the illusion that the Key has been destroyed. The idea was to go into Rondo only until the Blue Queen’s spies spotted them and reported back and then return to their normal existence. But wouldn’t you know it, Leo and Mimi got caught up in another quest. This time they were out to rescue Wizard Bing from the cloud castle.

This is very much the next book in the series. Rodda maintained the delightful links to folklore that made her first Rondo book so wonderful. But somehow served up the second time, it doesn’t seem as exciting or as fresh.

I am absolutely certain that thousands of children will eagerly devour the book cover to cover. And the hardcover will help convince parents and grandparents that the children are reading quality literature. And don’t get me wrong, this is still quality literature. Rodda knows that newly confident readers love series. They can comfortably stay in one imaginary place and read forever. It is just that I am greedy. I wanted more from the second book.

Publishers are a curious breed. This book was marketed at Marchetta’s first book for adults. The Penguin website calls it adult fiction even today, so regretfully, I never included this book on my reading list.

But I was delighted to see this book listed on the CBC short list. That means that someone at Penguin sent this book to the judges for consideration as a children’s book. Personally, I see the book as ageless, and that may count against it when it comes to the book prizes this year.

This is a classic fantasy book, but with one major difference. Fantasy novels are almost exclusively a series – trilogy, quartet, cycle, saga, all these terms are used to describe them. But Finnikin is complete, a satisfying tale all by itself. When I finished, I felt there was nothing more to be said.

Anyway, Finnikin is a young man in exile. His homeland was invaded, the leaders murdered, many thousands of people died, many thousands became refugees. Finnikin, once the son of the Captain of the Guard, is now apprentice to the First Man. In exile this means a diplomatic position where he visits the refugees, compiling lists of the living and the dead and collecting their stories. But a message comes that the two of them must visit a distant cloister to collect a young novice who claims to have news that the heir to the throne is alive. And thus begins the adventure.

Evanjalin is determined to gather together the most powerful men of the kingdom in exile and return home to restore the true royal family. With the help of Finnikin and Sir Topher she rescues the Captain of the Guard, the Priestking and the Guard. And as their band grows, so does the hope of the exiles.

To say much more would spoil the excellent story. And I would hate to discourage anyone from this book. 

Marchetta is well known for her adolescent angst fiction. Many of you will have looked for Alibrandi and saved Francesca. Even those who traveled the Jellicoe Road will remember her work fondly. But fantasy is a major departure for this author. And she handled this new genre with great skill. I have to believe that she reads fantasy nearly as avidly as I do.

I also applaud her gradual finish. Oftentimes fantasy authors reach the big climax battle, then end the book within a dozen pages. Marchetta took her time to look at the aftermath of the invasion, its effect on those who stayed behind. How was it possible to re-establish a complex culture after 10 years of occupation. All these issues were addressed as she gently drew the book to a close.

It was truly a joy to read this book. 

It would have been very difficult for children in England at the end of WWII. How many families were still intact? Talk about Post Traumatic Stress, what about those children who lived through the bombing raids? There were no counsellors available for them.

Alice Makin is one of these children. She has survived the war, but can she survive the peace. Her escape is her imagination, and there she can be really happy. But when a new boy joins her class at school, strange things start happening. Strange and fantastic things that used to just happen in her imagination. What is happening, and more importantly, when will it end?

This is a light-hearted fun novel about the power you have to control your own environment. In a time when children are continuously reminded of the bushfires, stranger danger and all the other disasters they may encounter, a happy positive book is a refreshing change.

As you may have noticed, much of my reading in the past few months has been for upper secondary and adults. It really is time to get back to my young adult literature. So last night I picked this wonderful text from the pile.

I think by now everyone has heard of the legend of Beowulf. I remember trying to make sense of it in a English Lit course at Uni (and thank goodness I was studying German at the time). Hollywood has also made it’s corruptions.

This book is based on a 1918 translation into modern English. This preserves the epic tone of the story, but the action is relayed completely through graphic means. The reader ‘watches’ the battles rather than reads about them. 

Hind indicates in his notes that he thinks of Beowulf as the original comic superhero. The stories have been around for well over 1000 years, and Hind returns to the original tale rather than the more common Hollywood and pop culture tendency to combine all the battles into one epic fight, and all the evil into Grendel and maybe his mother. He is also very good with the historical content within his graphics, using runes liberally and even in his interpretation of Grendel.

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book.

Finally, the end of this wonderful series. I am always looking for new fantasy that I can recommend, and this series will certainly be a welcome addition to the shelves.

We left Kylar after he rescued Logan and together they fought to drive the invaders from their country. Unfortunately, political circumstances prevented Logan’s restoration to power and now the impoverished, broken country is under the rule of a selfish queen, only interested in her own comfort and status. Kylar knows that he has to commit one more assassination, but Logan has forbidden it. 

That summarizes the first few chapters effectively, but there is much, much more in this incredible book. The final battle scene is one of the most incredible that I have read in modern fantasy literature. Most of the time fantasy authors keep their good and evil beings clearly separated, but Weeks creates characters that are both good and evil. 

It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed reading a fantasy trilogy quite this much. Thank you!

The story so far… A young boy fights his way out of poverty by becoming an assassin, or even more than an assassin, a wetboy, who can use magical talents to help him. His homeland has been invaded and an evil Godking has taken control. His master has died, but not before handing on his sword to the apprentice. And his best friend has apparently been killed in the coup.

At the start of this book life for Kylar seems without purpose. He has only his beloved Elene, and together they move to a far city to set up life together. Kylar’s understanding of poisons will make it easy for him to make a living as a herbalist, using his knowledge to help heal instead of destroy. Elene insists that he give up the life of a wetboy and sell his sword Retribution. Kylar tries, he honestly tries, but before long his is wandering the city at night, setting wrongs to right. The underworld of this new city soon come to respect the Night Angel. But then Kylar hears that Logan is alive and only the Night Angel can save him…

This of course is the main story, but there are several subplots that hold the reader’s interest equally. Personally, I was very fond of the three mages, and I am waiting to see where they fit into the story as it leads to its conclusion in the next book. Like all middle books in a trilogy, this one moves the players around the board, setting the scene for the final resolution in the next.

But the silly publicist never sent me the final book in the trilogy! AAHHHH!!

There are times when I simply hate publicists. The nerve of some people that send you books one and two of a fantasy trilogy and refuse to send the third. How on earth is a reviewer supposed to give a fair review. It is a bit like all those movie reviewers that saw Lord of the Rings part 2 without ever reading the books and then condemned the film for its violence. I am sorry, but to be fair, I need the whole story as soon as it is available.

Now that is out of my system, I have just finished the best fantasy trilogy that I have read in a very long time. Brent Weeks is a new author to the genre, in fact I suspect a new author altogether. But he has created a spellbinding sword and sorcery fantasy series that has provided the bulk of my reading for the past week. Even a week before Christmas with all the chores that need doing, the book comes first.

At the start of the Way of Shadows, Azoth is a little boy surviving in the slums. As a necessity, he is part of a gang, but being small and untalented he knows that he will not survive long if he doesn’t find a way out. He meets Durzo Blint, a wetboy (highly skilled assassin) and eventually becomes his apprentice. But this apprenticeship does not come without a price, and the price is that Azoth must completely disappear. The new personality created is Kylar Stern, the son of a distant minor nobility. The Way of Shadows is about Kylar’s apprenticeship, his training and his eventual revenge on the bullies of his youth.

But like any opening book of a trilogy, the story is much bigger. All kinds of characters are introduced, opposition wetboys, Madame K, the evil king, three mad mages, and Logan, Kylar’s opposite, but best friend. And I liked them all! Weeks has a wonderful way of creating his characters that immediately engages the reader. Many times as I was reading this opening book I was reminded of Jimmy the Hand and Pug from Feist’s Riftwar Saga. 

Yes, this book is a traditional fantasy opening. It follows all the cliches, but still manages to give them a freshness. Durzo is a hard taskmaster to young Azoth/Kylar, frequent beatings and rare praise. But the reader can clearly see that there is more to Durzo’s story. We just can’t see it yet. We can forgive his tough treatment because it is totally in line with the tough character. But it is also much more than an opening novel of a trilogy. It introduces the characters, and hints at the grand task ahead, but there is still more than enough adventure within the pages of this book to keep the reader entranced.

Thank goodness the second book was published the following month so the reader could go straight on rather than waiting for a year or more for part 2.