Friday, September 28, 2007

Endurance

Book 15/25

S.L. Viehl's Endurance

This is the third book in the StarDoc series, and, unfortunately, it made it clear that I need to read the books one after the other, simply to keep track of various characters. It's been months since I finished Beyond Varallan, and even longer since I finished StarDoc, and I found myself a little confused as to who some of the characters were, as well as recognizing some of the previously-described alien species. It didn't make the book unreadable, just a little foggy around the edges.

Cherijo continues to mystify me. Her choice of loves has absolutely no reason behind it, which borders too close to "true love" for my stomach or taste. She has every reason to feel differently about Duncan Reever (anyone who locked me in a machine to have an ID branded into my arm is not going to rank very high in my book), yet she maintains that she does love him, even through his punishments of her. I don't know that it's realistic to expect someone to feel the same after they've been thrown into an isolation pit. It grates a little too much on a victim mentality, for me; I don't view Cherijo that way.

The story itself was an improvement over Beyond Varallan; there was one plot line that stuck, which was nice. It was also refreshing to get a glimpse into the Hskskt from their world; not exactly from the "villain's" point of view, but enough to give them a redeeming value. I think Ms. Viehl is a little overfond of sentient "inanimates," but it adds a layer of ability to Cherijo that explains some of her connection to Reever. The pel was an interesting concept, though I think the tul could have been given some more explanation. For a book focusing on medical care, their role in the meningitis cases kind of ended up glossed over. I would have liked to have seen some of the disease process.

Which reminds me, I do have to admit that, now that I'm in classes for Vet Tech, the medical terminology is MUCH easier to understand, and I can grasp everything that's going on without batting an eye. *-*

I don't want to throw in any spoilers, but the ending was a disappointment (I've touched on one of the reasons why). It was predictable, unfortunately. There was no doubt about any identities or diagnoses, and you knew all would end well. It was a let down from before, where the outcome was more uncertain, the emotions swinging more towards the negative end of the spectrum. Also, I want to know what malfunction would incite someone to accept a "drone" from the person who has been hunting them and ruining their lives. That seems like the most brainless idea I can think of, and I don't know why there wasn't more suspicion.

All in all, I did enjoy the book, and I'm looking forward to picking up Shockball soon (hopefully). The creatures Ms. Viehl comes up with still leave me in awe, and I'd love to see her notes on each of them. There's a lot of room to explore in the StarDoc universe, and it's nice to see that she does exactly that.
Posted by Andria :: 12:17 PM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- His Dark Materials

Book 14/25

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials

For those who are not aware (i.e., have not stepped into a bookstore in the past month or so), His Dark Materials is the name for the entire trilogy, which contains The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. I had debated reviewing each book separately, but I didn't exactly read them separately. Instead, I went directly through the entire book, and this particular version included "lantern slides" from Mr. Pullman of additional material. I can't really say the "slides" were of much interest, though. There's no organization to the thoughts or explanations (were these paragraphs/ideas he cut during editing? Material that occured to him after publication? Random thoughts?), and they left me feeling more confused than anything.

That said, I am in complete awe of Mr. Pullman. I don't know why these books are shelved in the Independent Reader section, because I think they deserve to sit on the Fantasy shelves. The worlds Mr. Pullman has created are magnificent, the story is powerful, and it just isn't the fuzzy, world-is-wonderful drivel I expect in a children's book. Lyra and Will are on par with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, if not a step ahead. The blurbs on the cover insisted this was a dramatic telling of the coming-of-age, but I found so much more in these stories than that simple plot. This was the best vision of reality clothed in fantasy that I've seen in a long time, and I'm glad I chose to buy the entire collection at once. Honestly, I think the only reason this is labeled a book for younger audiences is because of the age of the main characters. The language, the concepts, the events - they speak to any age (to be honest, I felt some of it was meant for a more mature age, as I doubt children are ready to comprehend what was happening between Mrs. Coulter's daemons and her partners).

I haven't seen parallel worlds done this well, ever. Mr. Pullman has literally layered everything, one on top of the other, and then changed the hues to make each world unique. The idea of a consequence to the use of the subtle knife was also a nice touch; it put responsibility into the pictures without beating it over the heads of the readers. The concept of Dust/Shadow Particles has still left me a little baffled as to what he was attempting to describe, but the idea had me intrigued. The idea of a daemon as a part of oneself was a new way of looking at familiars or Companions or any of the dozens of the other animal/creature-human bonds that have been done.

I'll admit, I was concerned, at first, when they began to get into the religious aspect of Dust and the naming of Lyra as Eve. I started to think I'd fallen into another Christian-worship book where good and evil were going to be easy to identfy. I was pleasantly surprised to find Mr. Pullman adopting a belief system that parallels my own - it's something I've never seen before in a book for young audiences. The idea of the dead returning to nourish the world, the battle of the Church against everyone else; it was delivered beautifully.

The books aren't perfect, of course, and the inconsistency with the daemons was my biggest frustration. Upon crossing into Lyra's world, John Perry immediately sees his, but Will crosses back and forth and never sees his until after the battle; Pan is visible in Will's Oxford, but Mary's is only visible if she "looks" properly. There didn't seem to be one rule for how the daemons behaved, and that was frustrating. If one person couldn't see their daemon in a particular world, it stands to reason that everyone should follow that pattern; at the very least, explain why there are exceptions. In addition, Mrs. Coulter is hard to believe. In fact, I didn't believe any part of her character through to the end. She was evil for evil's sake, but not quite (I'm not sure the same could be said for her golden monkey). Her motivation escaped me, especially in The Amber Spyglass. She wasn't a strong antagonist, really, and she was too predictable. Actually, with the exception of Mary, all of the adults had a similar bent to them. I don't know if this is a remark on how children view adults or simply that Mr. Pullman wanted his children to shine.

To say much more would be to risk spoilers, and I don't want to do that. This book was beautiful and amazing, and I am looking forward to seeing The Golden Compass this holiday season with both excitement and dread. *-*

Posted by Andria :: 11:53 AM :: 0 comments

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Thursday, September 27, 2007

Wildwood Dancing

Book 13/25

Juliet Marillier's Wildwood Dancing

This is the first young adult book Ms. Marillier has written (and not the last, I am delighted to find, though next October feels like a lifetime away), and I was eager to get my hands on it. I have, of course, read all of her other available books (they're actually fighting for space on my bookshelves), and I wanted to see how she would handle a younger audience. When I glanced at the blurb and found she had chosen Transylvania for her setting (a dramatic change from her previous books), I was even more hooked.

As usual, Ms. Marillier's language and characters are flawless; she painted a view of Transylvania at odds with what most authors I've seen attempt. Instead of focusing on the occult side of the region, she introduced the language and beauty of the forests, as well as the local tales. Vampires did make their appearance, of course, but the Night People title granted them a...I don't want to say softer image, but it painted them as more than just undead bloodsuckers. They became creatures of depth, existing on and off the same plain as the fairies and myths found in the Dancing Glade. I don't know whether that was simply Ms. Marillier's take on the mythos, or if that is the belief in the region, but it was one I enjoyed.

This is the first book since Daughter of the Forest where Ms. Marillier chose to reintrept a fairy tale, and I was a little disappointed; her story ran alongside the original a little closer than I would have hoped, particularly with "The Frog Prince" (which, I'm afraid to say, was obvious was going to happen from the second Gogu was introduced). The reasons behind the escape to the Dancing Glade were changed, but the rest felt too similar, down to the wine and the man enclosed in the room. If you know the fairy tales, you know exactly what's going to happen, which was a frustration; I prefer when she keeps you at the edge of your seat, wondering which direction the story will lead. I wish I could say Gogu's revelation was a surprise, but it was obvious as to what his true identity was as soon as the Old Crone explained the rules of the Game.

It's a beautiful story, but I was let down. It just didn't feel like any of the characters earned their endings. Yes, Jena had to work to repair the wrongs she'd done, but it was so easy. A betrayal that great shouldn't be able to be healed in a single evening. As for Tati, I honestly felt betrayed myself. She had given up all hope, let herself fall into a despair that brought her close to death. The fact that she refused to believe in Sorrow should have brought about a consequence of some kind. I don't know if Ms. Marillier chose Tati's path because this was a book aimed for a younger audience, or if she simply felt Tati's suffering warranted a particular ending. Either way, I was very disappointed - not to mention surprised that Tati just dropped out of thin air. This book doesn't lend itself well to a sequel, and it would have been nice to have more of her story, especially with how close she and Jena were.

I don't think Ms. Marillier excelled with this audience the way she has in her other books. The blood and tears and anguish weren't as sharp as I've come to expect, and it was disappointing. I knew there would be changes, but it felt that this story was too soft (especially after reading Phillp Pulman's His Dark Materials, which was actually shelved an audience DOWN from Wildwood Dancing). The book itself is still beautiful, and the characters have a depth and history that I've come to love her for, but it wasn't as gripping, for me, as her previous work. It won't keep me from placing the book on it's proper shelf, or from buying the next young adult book next autumn (forgive me - the title escapes me), but it was a disappointment, nonetheless.

Posted by Andria :: 10:22 AM :: 0 comments

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---------------oOo--------------- Warriors #4: Rising Storm

Book 12/25

Erin Hunter's Warriors #4: Rising Storm

One of these days, I'm going to figure out how to read a series WITHOUT gross pauses between books. Unfortunately, today isn't that day. Erin Hunter's Warriors series, though, is an easy enough read that I didn't feel lost trying to remember what had happened in the previous three books (the same cannot be said for S.L. Viehl's Endurance, which I'll get the review done for eventually).

The complaints I've previously had with the Warriors series continue in this book (i.e., grammar, word choice, those infernal dialogue tags), but they were less noticeable, for me in Rising Storm; most likely because it felt like there was an actual story this time, not the simple passage of time of Fireheart learning how to exist in the forest. Various stories were finally woven together (though not as completely as I would have liked), and characters began to gain some new dimensions. Cinderpelt was able to come into her own and confront her guilt; Bluestar began to show a serious breakdown in herself as she contemplated Tigerclaw and her abandoned kittens; oddly enough, Whitecloud emerged as a full character, rather than simply a background in the Clan. In addition, it was nice to see Cloudpaw's discovery of the two-legs. I don't know that he really demonstrated any learning from his experience, but it was there - a nice reminder for Fireheart of what he gave up.

That said (and my apologies on being brief - this is what happens when you wait over a month to get your reviews done), the book was also kind of a letdown. Bluestar was my biggest disappointment; she dissolved into a completely useless creature. While I understand Ms. Hunter's desire to illustrate the honor and loyalty the Clan is meant to show to its leader, Bluestar has become a non-existant. What little she does is tainted with signs of illness (mental and physical), and the Clan remarks on it constantly. I know that Ms. Hunter is moving towards Bluestar's death (the same way it was obvious a fire was going to be involved in this book), but she's working towards it so completely that I'm hoping for the Clan leader's death, soon. She's no longer an admirable character; in my opinion, she's barely retained anything to call her a cat.

Ms. Hunter did grab my curiosity with the illness infecting Shadow Clan, though. This is most likely due to my own studies, but I was intrigued by the symptoms presented, how swiftly it killed, and that Cinderpelt was able to find a cure for it (which ruled out rabies). I would have liked to have seen more done in that realm, if nothing else to illustrate the need for competent medicine cats (particularly with Spottedleaf's return to Fireheart's dreams). Unfortunately, the Clan in-fighting continues to take precedence, as did the cliffhanger ending (the worst Ms. Hunter has used, thus far). It's a shame; I think there was a lot of potential there.

All in all, though, Ms. Hunter has made me a permanent reader, and I was delighted to find that there are several more series in this world for me to explore. Hopefully, I won't end being as piecemeal about it as I have this first block of six books.

Posted by Andria :: 10:07 AM :: 0 comments

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