Musings on the Written Word

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Warriors #1: Into the Wild

Book 19/20

Erin Hunter's Warriors #1: Into the Wild

Okay, so I'm cheating a little, here at the end, taking advantage of a YA quick read; I've actually been interested in the Warrior books since my father asked me if I had ever read them. I'm a huge fan of Watership Down and Tailchaser's Song, and I was hoping this series could be added to my list of animal-centric books.

Ms. Hunter has sent up a nice world, with her system of Clans and their inherent hierarchy, but this is no comparison to Tailchaser's Song. The influence is definitely there, but the execution isn't as nicely done. The naming of the cats - a sacred process, as all cat owners know - was kind of tossed aside here, with cats gaining a new name for each level they acheive. In the case of the Clan Leaders, it makes it easy to tell who's the boss, but it made it a nightmare when scenes involved the Apprentices - all who have names ending in "paw." And while I'm sure the naming guide in the front was meant to be helpful, it just threw a lot of names out there which were impossible to follow; you don't need the list to be able to read the story. Again, maybe it was the influence of Tad Williams (there's a character guide in Tailchaser's Song, but it comes at the end, which I think makes more sense). There's little in the way of mythology for Ms. Hunter's cats, which I think is a shame. It takes away a facet of their society, making it harder to believe that cats can form the same beliefs and ties that we can.

The writing itself grates, though. The dialogue tags of "meowed" and "mewed" were unnecessary - we know the characters are cats. Instead of blending into the tale, it threw me out each time I read that (or any of the other unneeded speech tags). You don't need to reinforce the feline theme when everything from the cover to the maps to the pictures topping each chapter sport cats; give your readers a little bit of credit. There were also a lot of poor word choices: dived rather than dove, and leaped rather than leapt. Yes, they're the same words, but "dived" and "leaped" just didnt' work well with the sentences, and I had to mentally swap them. There was very little the way of "cat language," as well. They had their own terms for a few things, but not everything, and, again, it took away from the world. Mr. Williams developed an entire language, and he sprinkled it through the book so that you knew exactly what he was referring to. It made the cats more realistic, colored them as existing in a world of their own, rather than our world through their eyes. It would have been nice to see that here, rather than the cats knowing what chaffinch is (I'm sorry, but my cats know "bird" and that's all they need). Obviously, Ms. Hunter has a background in wildlife, but it wasn't needed here; more creativity would have been appreciated.

Motives are a little cliche, and we all know Tigerclaw is going to figure prominently in the next book (or two), as well as Brokenstar, but it IS a young adult book. The plot itself was nicely laid out and presented, and Rusty/Firepaw/Fireheart is shown to grow throughout, which is a relief after Harry Potter's stagnation. Overall, it's a nice book, and I do plan to finish out the series. If nothing else, I'll have started a collection for my future children/nieces/nephews. *-*

Posted by Andria :: 12:52 PM :: 0 comments

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Heirs of Empire

Book 18/20

David Weber's Heirs of Empire

This completes the Empire from the Ashes trilogy, and is the only part of the book that I hadn't read previously. I would say it was my favorite of the three, but there were just so many cliches in this book, that it's really difficult to say that with any sincerity. When the scene with Harry and Stomold could have come out of Return of the Jedi, it plummets from the "unique" scale. I mean, we have the usual boy-girl twins (why does that always seem to be the case?), religious fanatics, a villain who's evil for the sake of being evil, technology as a god, and the miraculously simple solution to the "major problem." It falls flat after the awe and amazement I felt after reading Mutineer's Moon.

The shift between Birhat with Colin and Jiltanith and Pardal with the twins, Tamman, Sandy, and Brashan made things a little difficult, too. I realize the implication is that things were occurring simultaneously, but it was a jolt to be thrown from one world to another - or, in the middle, having one plot drop off the radar entirely, to be picked up towards the end. Then again, I know Mr. Weber is a fan of military conflict, and the war in Pardal allowed him more play there than simply trying to hunt down "Mister X." As usual, the descriptions of how the "primative" weapons were modified caused my eyes to glaze over; it really didn't contribute to the plot, save that you knew they were now superior to the weapons of the Holy Host. And I know that it was meant to leave you guessing as to how the Malagorans were going to fare in every battle, but you knew they were going to triumph. When you cast Sean as one of the primary POVs, you're kind of stuck with the realization that he's going to be kept around.

The use of the enhanced rottweiler puppies was interesting, and I just wish they'd been given more time on the page. While their enhanced intelligence was meant to be kept a secret, the Royal Family knew, and they could have had more interactions. It was nice to allow them a place in the battle to protect Jiltanith, but I would have preferred to have seen them play a bigger role somewhere else. It also would have been nice to delve a little more into the Narhani. They were cast into the role of demons by the Church of the Armageddon, yet they had no real input into the story itself, beyond that. Once Eve has been created, they kind of just fade away. After all of the work placed into releasing the Achu'Ultan in The Armageddon Inheritance, I was hoping they'd have more to say. Instead, they were stuck out on a distant planet and pretty much ignored.

The ending tied up quicker than I expected, and the ending on Pardal was pretty much non-existant. You leave at the height of battle and uncertainty to switch over to bomb-hunting, and then, the next thing you know, everything's been resolved, neat as a pin. It's entirely possible, given the time line, that things could have been cleaned up, but there should have been SOME conclusion out there. The kids were fighting a war against religious fanatics convinced that they were demons, and there was no fallout from their invading the Sanctum and, essentially, taking over "God"? Considering what a let-down the bomb provided, I think more time could have been spent on their end of the conflict.

On the other hand, I finally reached the passage I've been craving since PhilCon 2005, and it was worth the wait. *-*

Posted by Andria :: 12:43 PM :: 0 comments