Graceling, The Summoning
It has been a while since I posted a book review, so I'm going to give you two!
But, first, some tidbits for your amusement:
The Economist weighs in on the Canadian political situation, complete with awesome cartoon.
While CNN provides one of the most terrible photographs of him ever. He really needs to work on that evil overlord smirk.
People kept rec'ing Somigliana's The Silvering Divide to me when I was living in the abyss of essay writing, and now that I'm mostly free I have begun to read it. Very much enjoying.
I'm peeking at the fics I haven't read that were nominated for the sshg_awards in order to make informed voting decisions (I like to at least pretend to be a good citizen), and just read Wasting Away by Deathofme, and, well... It's tough to sell me on darkfic, but this one works by making you care about the characters. I can't remember the last time I read something dark in which I didn't want to bash my head against the desk because the characters were all either little more than irritating wet rags or pointlessly evil (if I were an evil bastard, I think I'd come up with something more evil and cunning than ye olde sexe slave routine). This fic is creative and compelling and chilling, with lovely writing. I thought I knew which fic I'd be voting for in that category, but now I am torn... Curses!
I hate being nominated in categories with good fics, because it kills my competitive streak.
So... books.
Out of all the books I've read this year, I would have to put Kristin Cashore's Graceling in the top three. It combines gorgeous prose, nail-biting adventure, intriguing romance, and a fabulous cast of characters-what more could a fantasy-inclined girl with a lifelong love of Tamora Pierce ask for? Creative and interesting magic? But it has that, too!
I love Katsa, and am desperate to read more about her. (Apparently there is a sequel in the works!) Her Grace for killing leads to a great deal of internal conflict on her part, but I love that she doesn't just angst pointlessly-she's and her cousin found a secret society that rescues unlawfully held prisoners from their captors. Because her tyrannical uncle has used her as an instrument of torture from childhood, she's scarred, and it takes more than five pages to move past that.
But she's also intelligent and curious, and I liked that when Po first comes into her life, she's most interested in fighting him and learning how his Grace works. And it takes a long time for her to trust him as a result of what she finds.
And the plot is... Oh, my, the plot. I can't tell you a great deal about it because every page is a revelation and I don't want to strip them from you. It's a beautiful, suspenseful book (with a healthy romance!) and I want everyone in the world to read it. I'm sure it's good for you!
I loved The Summoning only slightly less, and it was mostly related to style. Kelley Armstrong is a decent writer and did an excellent job of writing first person from a the point of view of a teenage girl, but it didn't have the moments of spine-tingling language of Graceling.
I've been dying to read a good zombie book for ages-I have a tendency to find them lame, but this... This was really fabulous. It's another look at a girl with a gift that she doesn't want-in this case, the ability to speak to and raise the dead-except Chloe doesn't know she has it, and her inability to deal with the ghosts she sees results in her being sent to a group home for troubled teens and diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Where she meets other teens like her, whose symptoms don't quite match their diagnoses, and so things begin...
It's a wonderfully twisty story, with sorcerers and werewolves and fire demons and zombies in the cellar, even if it did end on a horrible cliffhanger that leaves me aching for more-thankfully, Kelley Armstrong publishes things quickly and I only have to wait until June. I may die if I don't find out what happened to Chloe and Derek and Simon...
But, first, some tidbits for your amusement:
The Economist weighs in on the Canadian political situation, complete with awesome cartoon.
While CNN provides one of the most terrible photographs of him ever. He really needs to work on that evil overlord smirk.
People kept rec'ing Somigliana's The Silvering Divide to me when I was living in the abyss of essay writing, and now that I'm mostly free I have begun to read it. Very much enjoying.
I'm peeking at the fics I haven't read that were nominated for the sshg_awards in order to make informed voting decisions (I like to at least pretend to be a good citizen), and just read Wasting Away by Deathofme, and, well... It's tough to sell me on darkfic, but this one works by making you care about the characters. I can't remember the last time I read something dark in which I didn't want to bash my head against the desk because the characters were all either little more than irritating wet rags or pointlessly evil (if I were an evil bastard, I think I'd come up with something more evil and cunning than ye olde sexe slave routine). This fic is creative and compelling and chilling, with lovely writing. I thought I knew which fic I'd be voting for in that category, but now I am torn... Curses!
I hate being nominated in categories with good fics, because it kills my competitive streak.
So... books.
Out of all the books I've read this year, I would have to put Kristin Cashore's Graceling in the top three. It combines gorgeous prose, nail-biting adventure, intriguing romance, and a fabulous cast of characters-what more could a fantasy-inclined girl with a lifelong love of Tamora Pierce ask for? Creative and interesting magic? But it has that, too!
I love Katsa, and am desperate to read more about her. (Apparently there is a sequel in the works!) Her Grace for killing leads to a great deal of internal conflict on her part, but I love that she doesn't just angst pointlessly-she's and her cousin found a secret society that rescues unlawfully held prisoners from their captors. Because her tyrannical uncle has used her as an instrument of torture from childhood, she's scarred, and it takes more than five pages to move past that.
But she's also intelligent and curious, and I liked that when Po first comes into her life, she's most interested in fighting him and learning how his Grace works. And it takes a long time for her to trust him as a result of what she finds.
And the plot is... Oh, my, the plot. I can't tell you a great deal about it because every page is a revelation and I don't want to strip them from you. It's a beautiful, suspenseful book (with a healthy romance!) and I want everyone in the world to read it. I'm sure it's good for you!
I loved The Summoning only slightly less, and it was mostly related to style. Kelley Armstrong is a decent writer and did an excellent job of writing first person from a the point of view of a teenage girl, but it didn't have the moments of spine-tingling language of Graceling.
I've been dying to read a good zombie book for ages-I have a tendency to find them lame, but this... This was really fabulous. It's another look at a girl with a gift that she doesn't want-in this case, the ability to speak to and raise the dead-except Chloe doesn't know she has it, and her inability to deal with the ghosts she sees results in her being sent to a group home for troubled teens and diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Where she meets other teens like her, whose symptoms don't quite match their diagnoses, and so things begin...
It's a wonderfully twisty story, with sorcerers and werewolves and fire demons and zombies in the cellar, even if it did end on a horrible cliffhanger that leaves me aching for more-thankfully, Kelley Armstrong publishes things quickly and I only have to wait until June. I may die if I don't find out what happened to Chloe and Derek and Simon...