Living in a dream
Fantasy fiction is amazing. I love exploring other worlds, worlds with magic and non-human beings. Most of the books I've read this summer are fantasy.
I'm not feeling particularly loquacious this evening, so these are very short reviews. I highly recommend all these books, though.
Graceling is a brilliant novel set in a world where some people are born with an extreme skill, or Grace. The main character is Katsa, who has the Grace of killing. She meets a prince who is Graced with fighting, and they embark on an adventure to discover why his grandfather was kidnapped.
I could not put this novel down. Katsa is a wonderfully complex character. The reader and Katsa go through her self-discovery together, with subtle foreshadowing that is brilliantly woven in. Each time Katsa has a revelation, the reader has a similar "Ah-ha!" moment, because the pieces come together. Prince Po is equally complex, but the POV is Katsa.
I definitely had a feminist interpretation of this novel. Katsa is very anti-marriage and anti-children (having them, that is), which I honestly found refreshing in a strong female character.
Libba Bray has written a beautiful trilogy called the Gemma trilogy. I first read the first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, in high school, but this summer was my first chance to read the third book. I've read the first several times in the last five years. Eventually I plan to buy all three; they're just that good.
The trilogy takes place in Victorian England. Gemma goes away to boarding school after the mysterious death of her mother. At school, she befriends three girls, and they discover a magical world they call the realms. The romance of the novels is both satisfying and frustrating, but I offer grudging respect for avoiding the "happy ever after" route. The girls all have feminist tendencies, especially Felicity. She's too stubborn for me to fully like her character, but I love her non-conformity.
My little, Christin, wasn't too crazy about the first one (I doubt she read the sequels). She knows a lot about mythology, and didn't care for how Bray changed around different myths and used them for her own purposes. So if that kind of thing bothers you, these books are not for you. Anyone else who enjoys fantasy or even historical fiction should read this trilogy.
I'm not feeling particularly loquacious this evening, so these are very short reviews. I highly recommend all these books, though.
Graceling is a brilliant novel set in a world where some people are born with an extreme skill, or Grace. The main character is Katsa, who has the Grace of killing. She meets a prince who is Graced with fighting, and they embark on an adventure to discover why his grandfather was kidnapped.
I could not put this novel down. Katsa is a wonderfully complex character. The reader and Katsa go through her self-discovery together, with subtle foreshadowing that is brilliantly woven in. Each time Katsa has a revelation, the reader has a similar "Ah-ha!" moment, because the pieces come together. Prince Po is equally complex, but the POV is Katsa.
I definitely had a feminist interpretation of this novel. Katsa is very anti-marriage and anti-children (having them, that is), which I honestly found refreshing in a strong female character.
Libba Bray has written a beautiful trilogy called the Gemma trilogy. I first read the first novel, A Great and Terrible Beauty, in high school, but this summer was my first chance to read the third book. I've read the first several times in the last five years. Eventually I plan to buy all three; they're just that good.
The trilogy takes place in Victorian England. Gemma goes away to boarding school after the mysterious death of her mother. At school, she befriends three girls, and they discover a magical world they call the realms. The romance of the novels is both satisfying and frustrating, but I offer grudging respect for avoiding the "happy ever after" route. The girls all have feminist tendencies, especially Felicity. She's too stubborn for me to fully like her character, but I love her non-conformity.
My little, Christin, wasn't too crazy about the first one (I doubt she read the sequels). She knows a lot about mythology, and didn't care for how Bray changed around different myths and used them for her own purposes. So if that kind of thing bothers you, these books are not for you. Anyone else who enjoys fantasy or even historical fiction should read this trilogy.