The Demon's Lexicon & A Meme & Advice?
Since my brain likes to, at times, greatly resemble a sieve, I did not remember that Sarah Rees Brennan’s debut novel came out recently until lilian_cho posted about it today. I have only one truly salient thing to say on this matter: it does not matter if you do not like fantasy; it does not matter if you feel young adult fiction is beneath you; it does not even matter if you are in the midst of reading the most meaningful novel ever written; do yourself a favor and buy this book.
It's called The Demon's Lexicon. I just spent about five hours straight reading it. I finished it in one sitting. It's currently 5:30 am, and I have to go into work today. This is clearly a Bad Thing, but staying up this late and reading this book was totally worth it. [And yes, what I'm about to write is totally spoiler-free]
Sarah Rees Brennan, who you can find at sarahtales, wrote fan fiction years ago. It's all off the internet now, but it was brilliant stuff. Even though she was writing within the defined parameters of a given canon, she had a strong authorial voice and her characters were each unique, well-defined, and very much hers, for all they were clearly borrowed.
The thing is, though? No matter how utterly fantastic her fanfiction is, nothing can measure up to the brilliance of her original work. Brennan's potential really, truly explodes when allowed free reign. In The Demon's Lexicon she has created a world that is richly magical tied down with firmly realistic elements -- there are demons, but there's also fixing the sink; magicians, but also finances to worry about; &c. -- and it's this exact mix of the fantastic and the realistic that catches my eye. It's sort of the same reason why I really got into the Watchmen film, or Atwood's Oryx and Crake -- the world has a heavy dose of plausibility to it. It's not sugar-coated, but it's not excessively dark & gritty.
Brennan's characters are all incredibly likable and also very distinctive. I think they all do and/or say things that make you want to hit them, but they also all do and/or say things that make you want to hug them. The female characters are strong and brave and smart but not perfect, and manage to avoid most tropes. The relationships between the characters are complex, healthy, and Brennan doesn't resort to a sacharrine Disney-style romance. I'm not just interested in every character: I'm interested in how they interact with each other, and while I definitely favor certain dynamics, I found myself happy no matter what pair of characters or individual characters were the current focus of the book. The dialogue is at times witty and at times it hurts so good and at times strangely poetic. The descriptions are exactly where they need to be: not overly sparse, but not overly flowery either. Moreover, Brennan has an amazing ability to go from humorous to heartbreaking both smoothly and quickly. The flow of her writing really reflects how moments seem to flow in reality, which is perhaps the strongest point of the book.
Also, and this is perhaps the crowning glory: her characters act their age, even if they are used to extraordinary situations.
So. The Demon's Lexicon. Sarah Rees Brennan. Go read it!
Anyway, another thing I stole from lilian_cho:
Fandom meme: Comment and I'll LJ stalk you to find (up to) three fandoms you apparently love. And then you answer these questions about them!
01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?
Now I need some advice: I have a $750 plane credit with Delta to pretty much anywhere I want to go. It expires in August, and I am very poor otherwise. Suggestions?
It's called The Demon's Lexicon. I just spent about five hours straight reading it. I finished it in one sitting. It's currently 5:30 am, and I have to go into work today. This is clearly a Bad Thing, but staying up this late and reading this book was totally worth it. [And yes, what I'm about to write is totally spoiler-free]
Sarah Rees Brennan, who you can find at sarahtales, wrote fan fiction years ago. It's all off the internet now, but it was brilliant stuff. Even though she was writing within the defined parameters of a given canon, she had a strong authorial voice and her characters were each unique, well-defined, and very much hers, for all they were clearly borrowed.
The thing is, though? No matter how utterly fantastic her fanfiction is, nothing can measure up to the brilliance of her original work. Brennan's potential really, truly explodes when allowed free reign. In The Demon's Lexicon she has created a world that is richly magical tied down with firmly realistic elements -- there are demons, but there's also fixing the sink; magicians, but also finances to worry about; &c. -- and it's this exact mix of the fantastic and the realistic that catches my eye. It's sort of the same reason why I really got into the Watchmen film, or Atwood's Oryx and Crake -- the world has a heavy dose of plausibility to it. It's not sugar-coated, but it's not excessively dark & gritty.
Brennan's characters are all incredibly likable and also very distinctive. I think they all do and/or say things that make you want to hit them, but they also all do and/or say things that make you want to hug them. The female characters are strong and brave and smart but not perfect, and manage to avoid most tropes. The relationships between the characters are complex, healthy, and Brennan doesn't resort to a sacharrine Disney-style romance. I'm not just interested in every character: I'm interested in how they interact with each other, and while I definitely favor certain dynamics, I found myself happy no matter what pair of characters or individual characters were the current focus of the book. The dialogue is at times witty and at times it hurts so good and at times strangely poetic. The descriptions are exactly where they need to be: not overly sparse, but not overly flowery either. Moreover, Brennan has an amazing ability to go from humorous to heartbreaking both smoothly and quickly. The flow of her writing really reflects how moments seem to flow in reality, which is perhaps the strongest point of the book.
Also, and this is perhaps the crowning glory: her characters act their age, even if they are used to extraordinary situations.
So. The Demon's Lexicon. Sarah Rees Brennan. Go read it!
Anyway, another thing I stole from lilian_cho:
Fandom meme: Comment and I'll LJ stalk you to find (up to) three fandoms you apparently love. And then you answer these questions about them!
01: What got you into this fandom in the first place?
02: Do you think you'll stay in this fandom or eventually move on?
03: Favorite episodes/books/movies/etc.?
04: Do you participate in this fandom (fanfiction, graphics, discussions)?
05: Do you think that more people should get into this fandom?
Now I need some advice: I have a $750 plane credit with Delta to pretty much anywhere I want to go. It expires in August, and I am very poor otherwise. Suggestions?