Gaiman's writing, like the fantastic tales of Roald Dahl, takes childhood to the scary places. This book is no exception to that. This story vacillateGaiman's writing, like the fantastic tales of Roald Dahl, takes childhood to the scary places. This book is no exception to that. This story vacillates between the reality most of us recognize and a mythic reality. It's quite an engaging story....more
This is a fun read. Accept that the environment is collapsing under human behavior and that witches are keeping the planet's armosphere functioning. AThis is a fun read. Accept that the environment is collapsing under human behavior and that witches are keeping the planet's armosphere functioning. Accept that witches are born to a season--spring, summer, fall, and winter--and that their magic is strongest in their own season, and their personalities are like their seasons (e.g. winter witches are cold, blunt, and logical). If you are up to speed, then you are all set up for the arrival of the protagonist, the rare once-a-century uber powerful witch called an "ever" who can work magic in every season. Yes, yes, she is a bit of a MarySue in terms of power and good intentions, but she isn't the first "ever" and little is understood about her powers because of the rarity. She doesn't understand, for example, why she keeps accidentally killing the people she cares about. That's not a very MarySue thing to do, is it?
If you like YA witchy tales, give this one a go. It's fun....more
Here is the history of a large family, both by blood and by bond, coping with the forces of war, politics, and the Spanish flu, while simultaneously dHere is the history of a large family, both by blood and by bond, coping with the forces of war, politics, and the Spanish flu, while simultaneously dealing with a "coyote" who takes up residence nearby.
A bit of magical realism makes this story just unpredictable enough to keep it going.
One thing I wonder is why 100 chapters? The last time I saw this was in _Life of Pi_, and I felt like it completely disrupted the flow of the text to insert all the short chapters just before the conclusion. I felt the same about this book. I am not a fan of the 100 chapter book. It seems an artificial structure. Is this something in the contracts that publishers are pushing on authors? Are writers trying to meet a chapter quota? It feels like it, and the writing suffers. I will probably avoid any more books with exactly 100 chapters....more
I listened to this on Audible, but before I was half way in, I bought a hard copy. I want to slow down and savor this one. I want to connect the dots.I listened to this on Audible, but before I was half way in, I bought a hard copy. I want to slow down and savor this one. I want to connect the dots. I want to disentangle, to decode, to completely digest this satisfying book.
I love_Alice in Wonderland_ and this book takes the reader, not to Neverland, but to the Starless Sea, an otherworld of multiple stories and characters who are mythic in every way and all at the same time.
I loved the protagonist in this book. I liked all the side characters, so much in fact that I was a little sad when one of them apparently faded into the background as the protagonist went down the proverbial rabbithole and she remained topside. I loved the protagonist's mother, the 'librarians,' the animals, the art, the love stories. I was delighted by an ending I could not have predicted. I love it when an author can do that. I am old and have read a lot of books; with most YA fiction I can map out the plot in the first 25 pages, and any seasoned reader knows the formula for romance, mystery, and heroic adventures. As Stoppard's Player King said, "I have been here before and I know which way the wind is blowing." This tale makes explicit nods to such patterns, and then turns away and ventures into the unknown, yet still manages to bring us home again. This story both surprised and delighted me.
I loved _Night Circus_. This was even better. I think I have become a diehard Erin Morgenstern devotee....more
This is definitely aimed at young (inexperienced) readers. The foreshadowing is less shadowy and more like a spotlight.
I liked the authors choiceMeh.
This is definitely aimed at young (inexperienced) readers. The foreshadowing is less shadowy and more like a spotlight.
I liked the authors choice to have a male narrator but female protagonist. That was a good idea. I also liked the characterization of the little town.
I won't read the next one in the series. I was bored by this one. But I am an old, curmudgeonly reader with very high literary expectations. I will definitely recommend this book to my young friends who are afire with the joys of urban fantasy novels....more
Oh, I came back. I finished it. I didn't remember the story at all. Too funny. I read it to appease my massage therapist who insisted I would love it.Oh, I came back. I finished it. I didn't remember the story at all. Too funny. I read it to appease my massage therapist who insisted I would love it. I didn't hate it so much on the second time through. I think it's hilarious I read this before and don't remember a lick of it.
--------
Lame.
I believe that a novel should contain a full story arc. Certainly in a series it is permissible for an author to leave unanswered questions that leave room for future novels, future story arcs. Those story arcs may take 100 pages to complete or 1,000 pages to complete. Whatever it takes, that's how long the book is. It breaches the time-honored contract with the reader to cut a single story arc into five chunks and sell each of those as an individual novel, and that is apparently what has been done here. The publisher should be slapped. The author should be severely chastised. I am certainly going to shun the author. This is outrageous.
What we have here is the introduction of a character, Mac, an apparent dumb blond from the American South who, just like her older sister, has the ability to see fairies, which are nefarious beings in this book, bent on destroying humans and stealing the planet. In the heroic tradition, Mac has one helper, Barrons, a bookstore owner by day and an apparent (I'm making an inference here) druid at all times. We get hints of future conflict, hints of rising action, hints of increased tension between the protagonist and her assistant, and then the book ends. Yes. It just ends. It's like seeing Luke Skywalker arrive at the Deathstar an then having the credits roll. It's like Having Frodo volunteer to take the ring to Mordor and turning the last page to discover that's the end of the book. It's like Ordering a Whopper and being given only the top bun. You'd feel ripped off, right?
I feel ripped off.
I am not going to read the rest of this series for several reasons. (1)I have already paid for the story and the author did not deliver. Shyster! I am talking to you, Ms. Moning. What you have done here is dishonest and unscrupulous! (2) The book is full of filler. As someone who scores writing for a living, much of this book grated on my nerves. Does the protagonist really need to stop every three seconds and spend a page talking about how she knows she shouldn't do something, that every fiber in her character says she shouldn't do it, all the background we have on the character says she shouldn't do it, that she doesn't know why she's going to do it, but she's going to do it? That's not only filler, that a glaring sign of shitty character development. If it doesn't follow that the character would do it, then DON'T have her do it. If it makes sense that she would do it, then just do it. Don't spending 45 pages of the book hemming and hawing over whether or not the character should act. (3) Overuse of one tension building tool makes for a bumpy read. This author repeatedly has a character say something along the lines of, "If I'd known then what I know now..." An author can do this a couple of times in a book at judicious moments to compelling effect, but when that's the only tool in the tension building toolbox, it does more to unravel tension than bind it tighter. It starts to feel stale. It gets lame.
There is probably a decent story buried in this series somewhere, but since Bantam is only selling you the first 20% of it, I think you're getting ripped off it you buy it. The whole story should be in one book, and I guarantee you that book is not worth $35, which is probably what it will cost to buy each of the five books.
I sincerely hope that someone in the process of publishing this book was punished for this. I am spitting mad, and I'm certainly not going to take this again.
So long, Ms. Moning. We shan't encounter each other again....more
This is the closest thing to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell that I've ever read, and I absolutely adored that book. This one is just as enjoyable. ItThis is the closest thing to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell that I've ever read, and I absolutely adored that book. This one is just as enjoyable. It certainly has its own vibe, but it becomes a rich world, visual and magical in a way similar to that story. I've put the "steam punk" label on this, but that's not really fair to the book. It's sort of fin de siecle but not exactly steampunk. There are clocks, but no clockwork. There are trains, but little steam. There are gowns but no one mentions bustles. This is a fantasy novel that happens to sit in the same time period that steam punk tends to occupy, so if you like steam punk, I encourage you to give this one a go.
The premise is interesting. Two wizards match magical skill in a battle set in the venue of a traveling circus. They do not choose to battle; that choice has been made for them. Of course, they get to know the people of the circus, the performers, the managers, and the patrons, and the affinity they have for one another becomes a tense source of conflict tugging against the thread of battle already drawn between the two players. It's a lovely story, complex and nicely structured, with wonderful characters and delicious descriptions.
I recall a scene in Angela's Ashes where young Frank sits in a bathtub reading Shakespeare and likens the experience to having jewels in one's mouth. I recall a scene in Angela's Ashes where young Frank sits in a bathtub reading Shakespeare and likens the experience to having jewels in one's mouth. That's the way I feel when I read Bradbury. That's the way I felt reading this book. Some books I read, skimming paragraphs, clinging to a fast moving plot. This book is more like a walk in an enchanted garden; it's more pleasurable to slow down and savor the prose.
This is fantasy, and it's the kind of fantasy that requires the reader to keep one foot in the realm of imagination. Readers who are adept at following trippy films or books like the Gemma Doyle series will have no problem following this story. As with the first book, some knowledge of Shakespeare and theater convention helps. If you paid attention in high school English, you should be fine.
This book sees the protagonist, 17-year-old Beatrice Shakespeare Smith, off to rescue her friend (and boyfriend?) from the sinister forces who kidnapped him in the first book. With her she brings her troupe of comic fairies and her tricky childhood friend (or other boyfriend?). She encounters answers to many of the questions raised in the first book.
One of the qualities this book has that I heartily approve is that the protagonist has a spine. She is certainly a pretty girl, as the doting boys confirm, but she owns herself. She is strong, but not perfect as her many errors attest. She encounters relationships that are, though fantastical, as messy as relationships are in reality. Good fiction tells us the truth about ourselves, and I think this book goes a bit beyond being just another trite love triangle. This isn't quite on a level with Gatsby or Beloved but the wordcraft and some of the ideas resolved here make this a pretty darn good book. ...more
It's another witchy mystery. These are very well written. Mystery, as I've said, isn't my genre, but this is certainly right in that vein. These reminIt's another witchy mystery. These are very well written. Mystery, as I've said, isn't my genre, but this is certainly right in that vein. These remind me of Agatha Christie. If she'd added supernatural elements (ghosts, demons, curses, etc.) then it would be very like this series.
Things are looking better for Bill. This book opens more plot lines in the ongoing Sookie Stackhouse drama. The author has thrown a major wrench into Things are looking better for Bill. This book opens more plot lines in the ongoing Sookie Stackhouse drama. The author has thrown a major wrench into the works for the Stackhouse-Northman marriage, and we discover a little more about Sookie's otherworldly parentage. The author leaves us with more questions than ever. Who would pursue a demon? Is Sookie done with vampires? What's on the other side of that door? How will Sookie use her family heirloom? This is more of the same from Charlaine Harris, and it's fun to read if you're into this paranormal stuff. ...more
I'm assuming that people who will read this one have read the first two. Another good one. I'm assuming that people who will read this one have read the first two. Another good one. ...more
Dang. She did it again. I thought I had caught all the clues in this one, that I had determined where this was going, but no. She surprised me again. Dang. She did it again. I thought I had caught all the clues in this one, that I had determined where this was going, but no. She surprised me again. The ending on this one made me dive right into the third one. What a great series. I love these characters. Yes, they have unrealistic paranormal traits, but they also have the quirks and idiosyncrasies of real people, so they have a good deal more verisimilitude than other urban fantasies I've read (and also liked, but not as much as this). I am in love with this series. The characters. The conflicts. The Writing. Love, love, love.
I'm already through chapter one of the third one....more
Thanks to Metz for loaning me this one. It's a very manly contemporary tale of Ragnarok. Violence. Explosions. Guns. Killing frost giants in single coThanks to Metz for loaning me this one. It's a very manly contemporary tale of Ragnarok. Violence. Explosions. Guns. Killing frost giants in single combat. Evisceration. Helicopters. Snowmobiles. Thor. Freya. Odin. It's all good. ---------- Ugh. Okay. we're in military combat now in the last 200 pages of the book and I am slogging through it like a waterlogged trench monkey through mud. It is sooo not my schtick. I'm really tempted to skip to the end. The teen guys in my class who like gruesome battle scenes, mythology, and military trivia are going to love this. This is definitely a book for the Halo/God of War crowd.
LOVED it! Funny. Action-packed. Fantastic characters. Great settings. Wonderful prose. While I'm writing this review, I'm opening another browser windLOVED it! Funny. Action-packed. Fantastic characters. Great settings. Wonderful prose. While I'm writing this review, I'm opening another browser window to order the rest of the series.
Loading...
