He is Lannes Hannelore, restorer and repairer of ancient books. But he has a secret he hides from the world. He is a gargoyle, and the face and body he shows the world is no more than a seeming of magic that hides him from those that would hate, hunt or hurt him for his difference. Hiding in plain sight because of an enslavement to a witch who kept him imprisoned in stone for years, he vows never to be taken again.
she woke up in a burning hotel room covered in blood with three dead men. Her memories are gone, and she cannot even remember her own name. Fleeing the scene of the crime, she finds that she has a gun, though it is empty of bullets. All she has is a note, saying, "RUN". She knows no one, and has nowhere to go, so when Lannes finds her on the street, she is suspicious of his motives, but before she can run again, she collapses in his arms.
Lannes finds himself drawn to this woman, so obviously in trouble, and discards his hiding from the world, though not his seeming, to help her discover who she really is and how she wound up in that hotel room. But first he must overcome her distrust and let her allow him to help. He starts with picking the broken glass out of her feet and letting her lock herself into the bathroom to take a shower and change her clothes at the home of his friend, Frederick. But when someone or something opens the door to the house and leaves her another note, telling her to look up a man named Orwell Price and leaving her another directive to "RUN", he decides that the house isn't safe enough and moves Frederick, who is getting on in years and whose hands tremble badly, into a hotel while he and the woman go in search of Price.
Lannes calls one of his brothers, who works for the Detective Agency known as Dirk and Steele, to find Orwell Price. When they find him, however Price shoots Lannes, and something takes the woman over, killing Orwell Price for reasons of revenge. Lannes, who has been lightly reading the mind of this woman, feels the outside presence come in and take her over. When it is gone, she is once again bereft and covered in blood, and blames herself for killing him.
Lannes and the woman flee and he calls his brother to send aid for the both of them. When he passes out in a shopping center parking lot, a woman says she is here for them and takes them to her home. The woman assumes she was sent by Lannes' brother, but the woman has lied and says that the presence taking her over wants to kill Simon, as in Simon Says. But before either Simon or the woman who takes over the woman can finally kill her, she has taken poison and kills herself, dying.
Following a trail of clues, they meet up with the men sent by Lannes' brother, Koni and Rictor, both of whom are somewhat more than human. Koni is a bird-shifter and Rictor seems to be immortal. However, they both seem to recognize her and don't trust her. Lannes has begun calling the woman Lethe, for the River of Forgetfulness in Hades, and the two of them are attracted to each other, and slowly falling in love. But the illusion Lannes wears prevents Lethe from ever truly knowing him, until he can drop it and reveal to her exactly who he is,
But when Koni and Rictor tell Lannes that the girl he calls Lethe is a great-granddaughter of the witch who imprisoned him and his brothers for so many years, can he ever trust her enough to reveal his true self? And will Lethe ever discover who the woman taking her over is, and who the man Simon, who wants to kill her, really is and why he wants her dead? Will Lethe ever recover her memory and find her real family, and will she want to stay with Lannes if she does?
This was a great mystery, with dark things and murderous spirits appearing left, right and center. The idea of a murderer who can take over anyone and be wearing anyone's body has been used before in films, and it was used to excellent effect here, but in this case, it was doubled.
That being said, I didn't get into the Romantic Subplot as easily. Lethe's attraction to Lannes came off more as someone looking for comfort rather than love, and the revelation of her ancestry really came out of left field for me, coming as they did at the end of the story. It smacked of shoe-horning the plot thread in. I was more comfortable with Lethe being a human telekinetic rather than what she was actually revealed to be. It just seemed to have no point to the plot.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the book, and while I can't give it the highest marks, I do rate it rather high on my "enjoyability scale", though more on the strength of the mystery plot than the romantic one.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Ninth Grade Slays by Heather Brewer
Ninth Grade has started for Vladimir Tod, and it doesn't look like it's going to be any better than 8th grade was. Same bullies picking on him, same teachers riding his case. But no, wait, it looks like it's actually going to be worse.
For one thing, although he likes Melissa, and she seems to like him, he hasn't been able to get up the courage to talk to her, either in person or on the phone. Then, he hears that a vampire slayer has been sent to kill him, though by whom, he doesn't know, And when a man starts following him and one of his classmates, Eddie, takes of picture of him flying down from the church steeple where he likes to just hang out and read, he is sure that the town of Bathory is going to come after him with torches and pitchforks.
Luckily, that doesn't happen, as the picture is very indistinct, but it doesn't make Vlad very happy. At least he's still got Henry to hang out with, although Henry's cousin Joss will be visiting for a few months. Vlad is torn between wanting to make friends with Joss and being afraid that Henry will prefer hanging out with Joss to be him. But Joss is a stand-up guy and helps Vlad out with the bullies who make his life a misery, so they quickly become friends. Also, although Vlad killed the head of the Council, the Council has declared him human, which means nobody will kill him for it.
And Vlad is also overjoyed to get a letter from his uncle, Otis, inviting him to visit Russia with him for the purpose of Vlad being trained in how to control the minds of others, which Vlad is having problems with. Though the trip is long, the man who Otis is taking him to meet, Vikas, not only is going to train Vlad, but he also trained both Otis and Vlad's father, and the three men were great friends.
During the visit, Vlad finds out much more about his father, and is stunned to find out that his mind is much more powerful than he ever thought. But training with Vikas has its drawbacks, as when Vikas subtly implies that it is okay to use his powers to take revenge on those who wronged him. Otis warns him against such an attitude, and Vlad agrees. But Vikas also tells Vlad, finally, what a Pravus is.
Actually, it's singular. The Pravus is something like a messiah to the Vampires. Well, Messiah or Conqueror. The Pravus is destined to rise to the head of Vampire society and rule it. But at the same time, he will utterly enslave humanity. While controlling vampire society doesn't sound bad, Vlad feels disquieted by the second part of the prophecy. Henry and Joss are his friends, and Nelly raised him. He could never enslave them!
But back in the United States, Vlad still feels followed by the man he saw following him earlier, and then Joss drops a bombshell on him. He's the Vampire Slayer, and he kills them because vampires killed his little sister while he stood by and did nothing, paralyzed by fear. By killing vampires, he hopes to wipe out the people who killed his sister and assuage his sense of guilt. But he tells Vlad to ask for his help, as he's had no luck in finding the vampire. Does Vlad know anything?
Vlad is shocked and horrified and runs away. But when he finds out the identity of Joss's employer, he's even more shocked and horrified. It's the Vampire D'Ablo, who Vlad thought he killed last year! Can Vlad make him believe that he is being used by D'Ablo, and if he tells Joss the truth about himself, will Joss stand by him as a friend, or move to kill him? And when Vlad loses the Lucis, the only weapon capable of killing a Vampire as old and powerful as D'Ablo, is there any hope he can survive?
Another year with Vladimir Tod, and he's once again in trouble, with people showing up who want to kill him, out his secret, or just bring him to harm. I enjoyed this book, though, because it only deepened the mystery surrounding Vlad.
In the last book, Eighth Grade Bites, Vlad needed to find out who or what a Pravus was. But now he has a new question. Having learned what and who it is, is he the Pravus of the prophecy, and if he is, how will he end up there from where he is now? And how can he prevent himself from enslaving humans?
This book was easy to read, with the problems and solutions flowing easily and organically from the situations Vlad encounters in the pages of the book. But, of course, the situation is not wrapped up neatly by the end of the book and carries over into the next.
One of the things I like most is that Vlad, just like a real teenager, grows up during the course of the book, maturing slightly and growing in wisdom as he deals with the unique problems of being a half-vampire in a world where vampires live but are not generally known about or acknowledged. And in addition to dealing with the issues that come from requiring blood to live on, he also has to deal with the issues that every teen has to deal with: acceptance and finding a place for yourself in the adult world.
I enjoy this series very much, although my one niggle concerns the use of the President of the Council who is Vlad's foe, D'Ablo, which of course sounds like Diablo, which is a word meaning Devil. Figuring out that this guy is going to be Vlad's main antagonist is a no-brainer with a name like that. Other than that, though, the books are extremely enjoyable and are pure fun to read. Any teen and anyone who enjoys stories about Vampires or the Supernatural, will enjoy this book.
For one thing, although he likes Melissa, and she seems to like him, he hasn't been able to get up the courage to talk to her, either in person or on the phone. Then, he hears that a vampire slayer has been sent to kill him, though by whom, he doesn't know, And when a man starts following him and one of his classmates, Eddie, takes of picture of him flying down from the church steeple where he likes to just hang out and read, he is sure that the town of Bathory is going to come after him with torches and pitchforks.
Luckily, that doesn't happen, as the picture is very indistinct, but it doesn't make Vlad very happy. At least he's still got Henry to hang out with, although Henry's cousin Joss will be visiting for a few months. Vlad is torn between wanting to make friends with Joss and being afraid that Henry will prefer hanging out with Joss to be him. But Joss is a stand-up guy and helps Vlad out with the bullies who make his life a misery, so they quickly become friends. Also, although Vlad killed the head of the Council, the Council has declared him human, which means nobody will kill him for it.
And Vlad is also overjoyed to get a letter from his uncle, Otis, inviting him to visit Russia with him for the purpose of Vlad being trained in how to control the minds of others, which Vlad is having problems with. Though the trip is long, the man who Otis is taking him to meet, Vikas, not only is going to train Vlad, but he also trained both Otis and Vlad's father, and the three men were great friends.
During the visit, Vlad finds out much more about his father, and is stunned to find out that his mind is much more powerful than he ever thought. But training with Vikas has its drawbacks, as when Vikas subtly implies that it is okay to use his powers to take revenge on those who wronged him. Otis warns him against such an attitude, and Vlad agrees. But Vikas also tells Vlad, finally, what a Pravus is.
Actually, it's singular. The Pravus is something like a messiah to the Vampires. Well, Messiah or Conqueror. The Pravus is destined to rise to the head of Vampire society and rule it. But at the same time, he will utterly enslave humanity. While controlling vampire society doesn't sound bad, Vlad feels disquieted by the second part of the prophecy. Henry and Joss are his friends, and Nelly raised him. He could never enslave them!
But back in the United States, Vlad still feels followed by the man he saw following him earlier, and then Joss drops a bombshell on him. He's the Vampire Slayer, and he kills them because vampires killed his little sister while he stood by and did nothing, paralyzed by fear. By killing vampires, he hopes to wipe out the people who killed his sister and assuage his sense of guilt. But he tells Vlad to ask for his help, as he's had no luck in finding the vampire. Does Vlad know anything?
Vlad is shocked and horrified and runs away. But when he finds out the identity of Joss's employer, he's even more shocked and horrified. It's the Vampire D'Ablo, who Vlad thought he killed last year! Can Vlad make him believe that he is being used by D'Ablo, and if he tells Joss the truth about himself, will Joss stand by him as a friend, or move to kill him? And when Vlad loses the Lucis, the only weapon capable of killing a Vampire as old and powerful as D'Ablo, is there any hope he can survive?
Another year with Vladimir Tod, and he's once again in trouble, with people showing up who want to kill him, out his secret, or just bring him to harm. I enjoyed this book, though, because it only deepened the mystery surrounding Vlad.
In the last book, Eighth Grade Bites, Vlad needed to find out who or what a Pravus was. But now he has a new question. Having learned what and who it is, is he the Pravus of the prophecy, and if he is, how will he end up there from where he is now? And how can he prevent himself from enslaving humans?
This book was easy to read, with the problems and solutions flowing easily and organically from the situations Vlad encounters in the pages of the book. But, of course, the situation is not wrapped up neatly by the end of the book and carries over into the next.
One of the things I like most is that Vlad, just like a real teenager, grows up during the course of the book, maturing slightly and growing in wisdom as he deals with the unique problems of being a half-vampire in a world where vampires live but are not generally known about or acknowledged. And in addition to dealing with the issues that come from requiring blood to live on, he also has to deal with the issues that every teen has to deal with: acceptance and finding a place for yourself in the adult world.
I enjoy this series very much, although my one niggle concerns the use of the President of the Council who is Vlad's foe, D'Ablo, which of course sounds like Diablo, which is a word meaning Devil. Figuring out that this guy is going to be Vlad's main antagonist is a no-brainer with a name like that. Other than that, though, the books are extremely enjoyable and are pure fun to read. Any teen and anyone who enjoys stories about Vampires or the Supernatural, will enjoy this book.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure, Volume 2 by Shigekatsu Ihara
Hareta and Piplup battle their way across the land of Sinnoh, racking up more badges and running into Team Galactic seemingly everywhere they go. In HeartHome City, Hareta and Mitsumi enter their Pokémon into a famous contest there. In fact, they encounter Jun again, who is certain that his Pokémon will win the contest.
But none of the judges seem all that entranced with either Hareta or Jun's performance, especially when Piplup Pecks the lead judge, and Jun's Staravia blows off the man's hat, revealing his bald head. Mitsumi is in the Master Class, and as Hareta cheers for her, he meets a scary-looking guy who claims to be an old friend of Mitsumi's, but when he tells Mitsumi about it, she doesn't know who he is talking about.
Hareta fights with several other Gym leaders, winning badges, and then runs into Team Galactic again. Befor he can win or lose, he is helped by a young woman and her Garchomp. The member of Team Galactic he was fighting was running to give something to his boss, something that will help his boss capture Dialga, but he runs away when the woman helps Hareta.
The woman, whose name is Cynthia, says she is also researching Legends concerning Dialga, but there is a nearby town named Celestic Town which holds a site associated with Dialga, where they might be able to learn more. After asking Hareta to pass on a message to the town's leader, Cynthia's Grandmother, Cynthia says she would like to battle Mitsumi, telling Mitsumi that Mitsumi is an "up and comer". Mitsumi is flustered, but acts like she doesn't know what Cynthia means, and takes off with Hareta.
In Celestic Town, Hareta and Mitsumi visit the shine and witness an old Lady telling some members of Team Galactic to get out of her town. Hareta recognizes their leader as the man he bit on the ass, and the man tells him he already gave the relic to his leader, who intends to get Dialga. But the old lady won't help him, and so the leader ensures that no one can get to the relics by planting a bomb that will blow them up!
Hareta calls out all his Pokémon and gets to the bomb and tries to disarm it. However, when it is tampered with, the bomb speeds up, so there is only 30 seconds left on it. But using Piplup's Brine attack, he sends the bomb up high in the air, where it explodes more or less harmlessly. In thanks for saving the relics, the old Lady, who turns out to be the Leader of the Town and Cynthia's grandmother, tells Hareta all about the relics.
Unfortunately, the creepy man who was supposed to be Mitsumi's friend shows up with some members of Team Galactic, and he turns out to be Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic. Mitsumi and he know each other, but she says she is no longer his friend, nor ever could be.
Cyrus reveals his motivation. He wishes to control time and become a God, ruling the world. Hareta attacks Cyrus and his followers and Mitsumi backs him up, but one of the members of Team Galactic calls her a vile traitor, making the old lady wonder if Mitsumi was once a member of Team Galactic. Cyrus takes off, and Hareta follows him and fights him, while Mitsumi squares off against Team Galactic member Jupiter. Hareta loses and is knocked into the lake. Jun shows up and takes off with Mitsumi to stop Cyrus and Team Galactic.
Meanwhile Hareta is rescued by Byron, the Father of Roarke, the Gym Leader from the first volume. Byron inspires Hareta to train more in hopes of stopping Cyrus. Byron sends Hareta to Iron Island to train, but there Hareta encounters more Team Galactic members, and is helped by a Pokémon Trainer named Riley and his Pokémon, Lucario. He gives Hareta a Pokémon Egg, which eventually hatches into a Pokémon named Riolu. And Hareta's Shinx evolves into Luxio.
When Byron returns to the Island to pick up Hareta and his Pokémon for a return battle, he can see how much stronger Hareta and his Pokémon have grown. But before they can battle, there is an explosion in Sinnoh. What could have happened? And does Cyrus have anything to do with it?
So continues Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Since I already covered, in my last review, how much this series is just a re-tread of the original Pokémon series, I'll continue on with another track here: The concept of Time in the series.
In this series, time makes no sense. Hareta is supposedly fighting against Cyrus, trying to beat him to Dialga, so he's supposedly on some kind of time table. Yet Hareta thinks nothing of going to Iron Island for days (and how long he spends there isn't really stated outright, but I'm sure it was at least a few days) to train and level up his Pokémon. I know that in a game, players need to level up their characters, but honestly! In a story, it just makes no sense. It's as if Cyrus is going to wait for Hareta to get stronger just so he can battle him. Again, this might make sense in a game, but in a story, it just looks ridiculous.
Games are based on different kinds of timelines than written or visual stories. In a game, the endgame may not happen until the main character gets there. In a written story. It makes no sense for Hareta to take as long as he wants training. While this manga may adhere more to the timeline of the game than that of an actual written story, it was a bad choice to make. The idea that he can't just take forever to deal with Cyrus is never acknowledged. You know, if they had stated that Hareta thinks, "I know I have to deal with Cyrus, but he's too strong for me right now, so I have to train as much as I can to get better... but I can't take too long or he'll succeed without me to stop him!" I would have felt better about the whole thing. The whole time constraints thing is just never mentioned, as if not mentioning it makes it go away. Well, it didn't for me.
And some people may say, "Hey, it's just a manga for kids, lighten up!" And that may be so, but I am used to holding manga to a higher standard, and in this case? EPIC FAIL. Manga for kids doesn't have to be dumb, stupid or brainless. But maybe I am asking too much for this less-than-spectacular series.
But none of the judges seem all that entranced with either Hareta or Jun's performance, especially when Piplup Pecks the lead judge, and Jun's Staravia blows off the man's hat, revealing his bald head. Mitsumi is in the Master Class, and as Hareta cheers for her, he meets a scary-looking guy who claims to be an old friend of Mitsumi's, but when he tells Mitsumi about it, she doesn't know who he is talking about.
Hareta fights with several other Gym leaders, winning badges, and then runs into Team Galactic again. Befor he can win or lose, he is helped by a young woman and her Garchomp. The member of Team Galactic he was fighting was running to give something to his boss, something that will help his boss capture Dialga, but he runs away when the woman helps Hareta.
The woman, whose name is Cynthia, says she is also researching Legends concerning Dialga, but there is a nearby town named Celestic Town which holds a site associated with Dialga, where they might be able to learn more. After asking Hareta to pass on a message to the town's leader, Cynthia's Grandmother, Cynthia says she would like to battle Mitsumi, telling Mitsumi that Mitsumi is an "up and comer". Mitsumi is flustered, but acts like she doesn't know what Cynthia means, and takes off with Hareta.
In Celestic Town, Hareta and Mitsumi visit the shine and witness an old Lady telling some members of Team Galactic to get out of her town. Hareta recognizes their leader as the man he bit on the ass, and the man tells him he already gave the relic to his leader, who intends to get Dialga. But the old lady won't help him, and so the leader ensures that no one can get to the relics by planting a bomb that will blow them up!
Hareta calls out all his Pokémon and gets to the bomb and tries to disarm it. However, when it is tampered with, the bomb speeds up, so there is only 30 seconds left on it. But using Piplup's Brine attack, he sends the bomb up high in the air, where it explodes more or less harmlessly. In thanks for saving the relics, the old Lady, who turns out to be the Leader of the Town and Cynthia's grandmother, tells Hareta all about the relics.
Unfortunately, the creepy man who was supposed to be Mitsumi's friend shows up with some members of Team Galactic, and he turns out to be Cyrus, the leader of Team Galactic. Mitsumi and he know each other, but she says she is no longer his friend, nor ever could be.
Cyrus reveals his motivation. He wishes to control time and become a God, ruling the world. Hareta attacks Cyrus and his followers and Mitsumi backs him up, but one of the members of Team Galactic calls her a vile traitor, making the old lady wonder if Mitsumi was once a member of Team Galactic. Cyrus takes off, and Hareta follows him and fights him, while Mitsumi squares off against Team Galactic member Jupiter. Hareta loses and is knocked into the lake. Jun shows up and takes off with Mitsumi to stop Cyrus and Team Galactic.
Meanwhile Hareta is rescued by Byron, the Father of Roarke, the Gym Leader from the first volume. Byron inspires Hareta to train more in hopes of stopping Cyrus. Byron sends Hareta to Iron Island to train, but there Hareta encounters more Team Galactic members, and is helped by a Pokémon Trainer named Riley and his Pokémon, Lucario. He gives Hareta a Pokémon Egg, which eventually hatches into a Pokémon named Riolu. And Hareta's Shinx evolves into Luxio.
When Byron returns to the Island to pick up Hareta and his Pokémon for a return battle, he can see how much stronger Hareta and his Pokémon have grown. But before they can battle, there is an explosion in Sinnoh. What could have happened? And does Cyrus have anything to do with it?
So continues Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Since I already covered, in my last review, how much this series is just a re-tread of the original Pokémon series, I'll continue on with another track here: The concept of Time in the series.
In this series, time makes no sense. Hareta is supposedly fighting against Cyrus, trying to beat him to Dialga, so he's supposedly on some kind of time table. Yet Hareta thinks nothing of going to Iron Island for days (and how long he spends there isn't really stated outright, but I'm sure it was at least a few days) to train and level up his Pokémon. I know that in a game, players need to level up their characters, but honestly! In a story, it just makes no sense. It's as if Cyrus is going to wait for Hareta to get stronger just so he can battle him. Again, this might make sense in a game, but in a story, it just looks ridiculous.
Games are based on different kinds of timelines than written or visual stories. In a game, the endgame may not happen until the main character gets there. In a written story. It makes no sense for Hareta to take as long as he wants training. While this manga may adhere more to the timeline of the game than that of an actual written story, it was a bad choice to make. The idea that he can't just take forever to deal with Cyrus is never acknowledged. You know, if they had stated that Hareta thinks, "I know I have to deal with Cyrus, but he's too strong for me right now, so I have to train as much as I can to get better... but I can't take too long or he'll succeed without me to stop him!" I would have felt better about the whole thing. The whole time constraints thing is just never mentioned, as if not mentioning it makes it go away. Well, it didn't for me.
And some people may say, "Hey, it's just a manga for kids, lighten up!" And that may be so, but I am used to holding manga to a higher standard, and in this case? EPIC FAIL. Manga for kids doesn't have to be dumb, stupid or brainless. But maybe I am asking too much for this less-than-spectacular series.
The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Compiled by Stephen Briggs
I've only read a few of the Discworld novels through, and those have generally been the later ones... Night Watch, The Wee Free Men, Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith and Thud, Plus two of the very earliest, The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic. And I've seen the movie Hogfather and own it on DVD, along with Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters. And yes, I have my favorite passages from all the Discworld Novels I have read.
But this book collects the very best passages from each novel into one place, so you can enjoy both the wit and the wisdom in the Discworld novels without having to read every novel at once.
This isn't a book to sit down and read all at once, but slowly and at leisure, enjoying the silliness and truth of each passage. I found myself enjoying the passages from some of the books I haven't read, and laughing outright at more. Such as this one, from "Soul Music". " 'mumblemumblemumble' said the Dean defiantly, a rebel without a pause." and "The Patrician was a pragmatist. He never tried to fix things that worked. Things that didn't work, however, got broken."
The plot of each book, in broad outline, is listed before the quotes from the book, and some of the quotes are annotated as well, but without the books before me, I can't tell if the annotations are in the original text of the books or not. But if you have a favorite saying or passage from Discworld, it's sure to be in here. And if there are books you haven't read, you might just discover some new favorite passages and sayings from this book.
For all of the wit and wisdom without all of the tedious plot and boring parts, you can't beat this book with a stick. Well, yes you can, but it wouldn't be very productive. This book will give you more enjoyment than any other activity than reading the original books, and if you've read them, bring back to mind the best things you loved about them.
But this book collects the very best passages from each novel into one place, so you can enjoy both the wit and the wisdom in the Discworld novels without having to read every novel at once.
This isn't a book to sit down and read all at once, but slowly and at leisure, enjoying the silliness and truth of each passage. I found myself enjoying the passages from some of the books I haven't read, and laughing outright at more. Such as this one, from "Soul Music". " 'mumblemumblemumble' said the Dean defiantly, a rebel without a pause." and "The Patrician was a pragmatist. He never tried to fix things that worked. Things that didn't work, however, got broken."
The plot of each book, in broad outline, is listed before the quotes from the book, and some of the quotes are annotated as well, but without the books before me, I can't tell if the annotations are in the original text of the books or not. But if you have a favorite saying or passage from Discworld, it's sure to be in here. And if there are books you haven't read, you might just discover some new favorite passages and sayings from this book.
For all of the wit and wisdom without all of the tedious plot and boring parts, you can't beat this book with a stick. Well, yes you can, but it wouldn't be very productive. This book will give you more enjoyment than any other activity than reading the original books, and if you've read them, bring back to mind the best things you loved about them.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Extreme Pumpkins and Extreme Pumpkins II by Tom Nardone
Tired of carving the same old pumpkin year after year? Want to really shock, horrify and disgust your neighbors? Or are you just the kind of person who loves Calvin's (of "Calvin and Hobbes") snowmen and want to accomplish the same thing with Pumpkins at Hallowe'en? Well then, these two books are your ticket to accomplishing that.
With Pumpkins ranging from the black, but still sedate "Punk Rock Pumpkin" to the cannibalistic "Property Defender Pumpkin" and even, yes, "the Cannibal Pumpkin", these aren't the same old Pumpkins you are used to seeing on your neighbor's property and front steps.
For one thing, forget the kitchen knives, these babies often require power tools in their construction. And forget the candles! That is *so* last millenium! These pumpkins are lit with everything from kerosene-soaked rolls of toilet paper to road flares, to those light sticks that keep kids safe as they are trick-or-treating.
Couldn't find a nice-looking pumpkin? There are suggestions for that, from the bumpy (pimply nerd pumpkin) to the extremely tall (pumpkin hat), long stemmed (pumpkin with a nose, anyone?), Cracked Pumpkins (crime scene victim) and more!
Want to play a prank on someone? From the blood-filled Pumpkin to the one filled with coins, you'll have the recipies for pranks galore! Imagine the look on that not-so-special someone's face when they stick a knife in their pumpkin and it starts bleeding! Or the expression of a child who cracks open their pumpkin and change starts falling out with the seeds!
Despite the extreme recipies and the use of power tools, the books are also filled with cautions and reminders to always be careful when you cut into, immolate or otherwise turn a pumpkin into an instrument of terror. And each book also provides the web address of Tom Nardone, http://www.extremepumpkins.com so that interested readers can go and find more ideas and more extreme pumpkins to rock their world and those of people on their block.
Each book is filled with 20 designs ranging from the humorous (Mooning Pumpkins, Godzilla Pumpkin amidst a small town) to the disgusting (Rotting Beard Pumpkin, Worm-filled Pumpkin- using fishing lures) and everything in between, along with instructions on how to carve it, move it and even get rid of it afterwards.
These are amusing books that, even if you aren't going to carve the pumpkins in question or something like them, will amuse you highly. And they may just give you your own ideas about the pumpkin you are about to carve the next time that Halloween rolls around!
With Pumpkins ranging from the black, but still sedate "Punk Rock Pumpkin" to the cannibalistic "Property Defender Pumpkin" and even, yes, "the Cannibal Pumpkin", these aren't the same old Pumpkins you are used to seeing on your neighbor's property and front steps.
For one thing, forget the kitchen knives, these babies often require power tools in their construction. And forget the candles! That is *so* last millenium! These pumpkins are lit with everything from kerosene-soaked rolls of toilet paper to road flares, to those light sticks that keep kids safe as they are trick-or-treating.
Couldn't find a nice-looking pumpkin? There are suggestions for that, from the bumpy (pimply nerd pumpkin) to the extremely tall (pumpkin hat), long stemmed (pumpkin with a nose, anyone?), Cracked Pumpkins (crime scene victim) and more!
Want to play a prank on someone? From the blood-filled Pumpkin to the one filled with coins, you'll have the recipies for pranks galore! Imagine the look on that not-so-special someone's face when they stick a knife in their pumpkin and it starts bleeding! Or the expression of a child who cracks open their pumpkin and change starts falling out with the seeds!
Despite the extreme recipies and the use of power tools, the books are also filled with cautions and reminders to always be careful when you cut into, immolate or otherwise turn a pumpkin into an instrument of terror. And each book also provides the web address of Tom Nardone, http://www.extremepumpkins.com so that interested readers can go and find more ideas and more extreme pumpkins to rock their world and those of people on their block.
Each book is filled with 20 designs ranging from the humorous (Mooning Pumpkins, Godzilla Pumpkin amidst a small town) to the disgusting (Rotting Beard Pumpkin, Worm-filled Pumpkin- using fishing lures) and everything in between, along with instructions on how to carve it, move it and even get rid of it afterwards.
These are amusing books that, even if you aren't going to carve the pumpkins in question or something like them, will amuse you highly. And they may just give you your own ideas about the pumpkin you are about to carve the next time that Halloween rolls around!
Hawkspar by Holly Lisle
She has no name that she remembers, and she is a Penitent of the Ossalene Order, a minor priestess. But even though she started there as a slave, she still yearns to escape. With every shower she takes, she makes magic and allows her plea to be released to the sea. "Help me. Find me. I need to escape." Her only friend is Redbird, a similar Penitent in the Ossalene Order, also a former slave and one of the women who look to her as a leader to escape this life they do not want.
But when she is called before Hawkspar, owner of the Hawkspar Eyes of War and Time, and Oracle, this young woman fears that she is fated to die for her plans of escape, for her making of magic. But Hawkspar surprises her by telling her that the older woman, considered a Goddess, and the most powerful of the Ossalene Order, supports her and wishes to help her. The woman reveals that they are both of the Tonk people, stolen away from their people as slaves and brought to the Order. But Hawkspar is old and dying, and she needs someone to succeed her and to save the entirety of the Tonk people, who will die without the young Pentitent's help. She intends to declare the young woman her heir and ensure that the other seru (Holy Wearers of the Sacred Eyes of Ossal) support her in this: Windcrystal, Onyx, Sunspar, Tigereye, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Amethyst and Raxinan. But Windcrystal and Sunspar do not support her, and Ruby and Emerald back them up, requesting that she be subjected to a test to see if the Goddess Vran Vrota supports her, the Test of the Rats, where live, starved rats are put into a cage with her. If they eat her, or hurt her, she is disqualified as a suitable choice.
The Penitant, called Mouse by her friend Redbird, is subjected to the test, and passes, whereupon Hawkspar puts the four seru who did not agree with her to test as well, and all the seru but Windcrystal are devoured. So Mouse is confirmed as Hawkspar, and goes under her council to be taught as well as she can how to use the Eyes, and when the old Hawkspar passes on, she is given a drink that makes her pass out, her eyes are cut out, and the Hawkspar eyes, magical creations, are put in place.
The next days are full of pain and complete blindness, but slowly her body links to the eyes, and though all she sees is blackness, it is a weighted blackness that does allow her to see, in a strange way. Her first act as Oracle is to humiliate a prince who thinks to bribe the Ossalene order for a seeing into the future about the outcome of a war he wishes to wage. She advises him, after a long period of imprisonment, that he will lose the war and to go home.
Instead, he attacks the other nation and does, indeed, lose. But he and some of his men escape and come after the Ossalene Order. Hawkspar carefully makes plans to gather away the other Tonk girls into hiding in a series of underground tunnels. Not just to hide, but to escape, for after all these years, someone has finally heard her and is coming to rescue her and her companions. But has it come too late? For she is now the Oracle Hawkspar, and her friend Redbird has become one of the Obsidian eyes who keep discipline in the Order and act as spies for the Seru, keeping watch on the slaves and lesser priestesses.
Aaran is a Tonk Tracker working on a ship, trying to find kidnapped Tonk youths. Long ago, when he was young, Aaran's sister was taken and the woman he loved killed in a slaver raid. Since then, he has worked aboard ships, searching out any news of her and trying to find out if she still lives. Now, he hears the pleas of Mouse and knows he must go to rescue her and the other Tonk women who are with her. But in addition to his Tonk Magic, he is also one who knows of the Haegedwar magics of the Feegash, who attempted to conquer Hyle and the Tonks and reduce their people to slavery. Thankfully, a woman named Talyn and an Eastil man threw back their conquerors and now, although the Feegash seem defeated, other nations seem to be nibbling at their borders.
But when Aaran tells his captain he wishes to rescue these Tonk women, the Captain, Haakvar, declares it madness and refuses to use his ship to rescue these women. Aaran feels he has no choice but to leave and buy a ship of his own, and sail off in search of Hawkspar and her fellow former slaves. Haakvar does everything he can to make Aaran give up the mission, and when Aaran persists, tells the other Tonks that Aaran is a madman and not to sail with him. In reply, Aaran decides to take any crew at all who will ship with him, not just Tonks, and buys a formerly sunken and restored ship to sail with. In return for the ship and the maps and journals of a journey the shipbuilder made to the same area many years ago, he will seek a wife for the man to replace his wife who has died.
But the journey is long, and the islands are filled with many perils, including cannibals, storms and dangerous wildlife. Even if he can arrive in time before the Ossalene compound can be attacked by the men of the former Prince, they will have to sail home, and defeat a conspiracy against the Tonk people. Not only must they defeat it forever, but remove the threat to their people and their way of life, or their culture will die out in a mere hundred years.
As they sail together, Aaran finds himself falling for Hawkspar, but afraid of her strange eyes. And she is falling for him, even as she fights the spirit of Ossa, the mage and ruler who crafted the eyes so very long ago, whose spirit is bound to all the eyes of the Seru, and to those of Hawkspar most of all. If she uses the eyes too much, or too often, his spirit could free the bounds of its cage and take over her body forever. And just using the eyes also carries risk. Just being able to see the flow in the river of time means she can be obsessed with simply watching it... and forget to eat or drink, and so die that way.
But with the help of Aaran and his sailors, the women she helped escape the Ossalene Temple, and their fellow Tonk, Hawkspar will have to fight the many prongs of an enemy who wants nothing less than the complete obliteration of the entire Tonk people... and who has the allies and troops to make it happen. But how can one young woman, Goddess or not, unweave the web the Feegash have cast around not only Hyle, but all the nations of the world? And then, how can they make all the other nations believe that they are in the right, and not simply madmen and barbarians.
This novel is a sequel to the book Talyn, which I read a few months back, and takes place approximately 50 years in the future. Talyn, though, is still alive, and she makes an appearance at the end of the book, and is mentioned a few times as the savior of the Tonk people. Though the Tonks are now free, they are having other problems with other nations, problems that they don't realize are connected until they encounter Hawkspar and believe the results of her visions and sight into the stream of time.
Though at times the story is hard to read because of the pain and torment experienced by the main character, Hawkspar, it is also easy to read style and prose-wise. Hawkspar is a young woman thrust into a position of power and although she is prepared as well as she can be for her role, she still has a lot to learn and must learn it quickly and incredibly painfully. The story will not only keep you entertained, but drag you along as it ruthlessly powers its way through the lives of the characters and the incredible plot that is massed against the Tonk people by their enemies, the Feegash. In addition, we finally learn *why* the Feegash wish to exterminate the Tonk people and witness the treachery against the majority of the Tonk by some of their own, who collude with the enemy for reasons of money and power.
The two main characters are interesting and each in their own way bold. But while Aaran quickly falls in love with Hawkspar, he also comes to fear the power of her eyes. But his love is stronger than his fear, and while they spend much of the time apart even when they are physically close because of Hawkspar's belief that she must die to free the Tonk, in the end they decide that even if she must die, it is better to be close as much as possible so that they will have sweet memories of each other.
I really enjoyed this book, and think it is definitely a worthy successor to Talyn, as it not only expands the characters and the conspiracy against the Tonks, it also expands the world that they live in and shows us how large that world truly is for the first time. It will be interesting to see if Holly Lisle writes any other stories set in this world, or shows us the lives of peoples other than the Tonks. Certainly, there are hints of a story for a third book, as Hawkspar's tribe is one of the "Drifted" tribes of Tonks whose whereabouts are lost to the rest of their people. Seeking out these tribes could easily make enough of a story for a third book set in this world, and I would definitely read it.
But when she is called before Hawkspar, owner of the Hawkspar Eyes of War and Time, and Oracle, this young woman fears that she is fated to die for her plans of escape, for her making of magic. But Hawkspar surprises her by telling her that the older woman, considered a Goddess, and the most powerful of the Ossalene Order, supports her and wishes to help her. The woman reveals that they are both of the Tonk people, stolen away from their people as slaves and brought to the Order. But Hawkspar is old and dying, and she needs someone to succeed her and to save the entirety of the Tonk people, who will die without the young Pentitent's help. She intends to declare the young woman her heir and ensure that the other seru (Holy Wearers of the Sacred Eyes of Ossal) support her in this: Windcrystal, Onyx, Sunspar, Tigereye, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Amethyst and Raxinan. But Windcrystal and Sunspar do not support her, and Ruby and Emerald back them up, requesting that she be subjected to a test to see if the Goddess Vran Vrota supports her, the Test of the Rats, where live, starved rats are put into a cage with her. If they eat her, or hurt her, she is disqualified as a suitable choice.
The Penitant, called Mouse by her friend Redbird, is subjected to the test, and passes, whereupon Hawkspar puts the four seru who did not agree with her to test as well, and all the seru but Windcrystal are devoured. So Mouse is confirmed as Hawkspar, and goes under her council to be taught as well as she can how to use the Eyes, and when the old Hawkspar passes on, she is given a drink that makes her pass out, her eyes are cut out, and the Hawkspar eyes, magical creations, are put in place.
The next days are full of pain and complete blindness, but slowly her body links to the eyes, and though all she sees is blackness, it is a weighted blackness that does allow her to see, in a strange way. Her first act as Oracle is to humiliate a prince who thinks to bribe the Ossalene order for a seeing into the future about the outcome of a war he wishes to wage. She advises him, after a long period of imprisonment, that he will lose the war and to go home.
Instead, he attacks the other nation and does, indeed, lose. But he and some of his men escape and come after the Ossalene Order. Hawkspar carefully makes plans to gather away the other Tonk girls into hiding in a series of underground tunnels. Not just to hide, but to escape, for after all these years, someone has finally heard her and is coming to rescue her and her companions. But has it come too late? For she is now the Oracle Hawkspar, and her friend Redbird has become one of the Obsidian eyes who keep discipline in the Order and act as spies for the Seru, keeping watch on the slaves and lesser priestesses.
Aaran is a Tonk Tracker working on a ship, trying to find kidnapped Tonk youths. Long ago, when he was young, Aaran's sister was taken and the woman he loved killed in a slaver raid. Since then, he has worked aboard ships, searching out any news of her and trying to find out if she still lives. Now, he hears the pleas of Mouse and knows he must go to rescue her and the other Tonk women who are with her. But in addition to his Tonk Magic, he is also one who knows of the Haegedwar magics of the Feegash, who attempted to conquer Hyle and the Tonks and reduce their people to slavery. Thankfully, a woman named Talyn and an Eastil man threw back their conquerors and now, although the Feegash seem defeated, other nations seem to be nibbling at their borders.
But when Aaran tells his captain he wishes to rescue these Tonk women, the Captain, Haakvar, declares it madness and refuses to use his ship to rescue these women. Aaran feels he has no choice but to leave and buy a ship of his own, and sail off in search of Hawkspar and her fellow former slaves. Haakvar does everything he can to make Aaran give up the mission, and when Aaran persists, tells the other Tonks that Aaran is a madman and not to sail with him. In reply, Aaran decides to take any crew at all who will ship with him, not just Tonks, and buys a formerly sunken and restored ship to sail with. In return for the ship and the maps and journals of a journey the shipbuilder made to the same area many years ago, he will seek a wife for the man to replace his wife who has died.
But the journey is long, and the islands are filled with many perils, including cannibals, storms and dangerous wildlife. Even if he can arrive in time before the Ossalene compound can be attacked by the men of the former Prince, they will have to sail home, and defeat a conspiracy against the Tonk people. Not only must they defeat it forever, but remove the threat to their people and their way of life, or their culture will die out in a mere hundred years.
As they sail together, Aaran finds himself falling for Hawkspar, but afraid of her strange eyes. And she is falling for him, even as she fights the spirit of Ossa, the mage and ruler who crafted the eyes so very long ago, whose spirit is bound to all the eyes of the Seru, and to those of Hawkspar most of all. If she uses the eyes too much, or too often, his spirit could free the bounds of its cage and take over her body forever. And just using the eyes also carries risk. Just being able to see the flow in the river of time means she can be obsessed with simply watching it... and forget to eat or drink, and so die that way.
But with the help of Aaran and his sailors, the women she helped escape the Ossalene Temple, and their fellow Tonk, Hawkspar will have to fight the many prongs of an enemy who wants nothing less than the complete obliteration of the entire Tonk people... and who has the allies and troops to make it happen. But how can one young woman, Goddess or not, unweave the web the Feegash have cast around not only Hyle, but all the nations of the world? And then, how can they make all the other nations believe that they are in the right, and not simply madmen and barbarians.
This novel is a sequel to the book Talyn, which I read a few months back, and takes place approximately 50 years in the future. Talyn, though, is still alive, and she makes an appearance at the end of the book, and is mentioned a few times as the savior of the Tonk people. Though the Tonks are now free, they are having other problems with other nations, problems that they don't realize are connected until they encounter Hawkspar and believe the results of her visions and sight into the stream of time.
Though at times the story is hard to read because of the pain and torment experienced by the main character, Hawkspar, it is also easy to read style and prose-wise. Hawkspar is a young woman thrust into a position of power and although she is prepared as well as she can be for her role, she still has a lot to learn and must learn it quickly and incredibly painfully. The story will not only keep you entertained, but drag you along as it ruthlessly powers its way through the lives of the characters and the incredible plot that is massed against the Tonk people by their enemies, the Feegash. In addition, we finally learn *why* the Feegash wish to exterminate the Tonk people and witness the treachery against the majority of the Tonk by some of their own, who collude with the enemy for reasons of money and power.
The two main characters are interesting and each in their own way bold. But while Aaran quickly falls in love with Hawkspar, he also comes to fear the power of her eyes. But his love is stronger than his fear, and while they spend much of the time apart even when they are physically close because of Hawkspar's belief that she must die to free the Tonk, in the end they decide that even if she must die, it is better to be close as much as possible so that they will have sweet memories of each other.
I really enjoyed this book, and think it is definitely a worthy successor to Talyn, as it not only expands the characters and the conspiracy against the Tonks, it also expands the world that they live in and shows us how large that world truly is for the first time. It will be interesting to see if Holly Lisle writes any other stories set in this world, or shows us the lives of peoples other than the Tonks. Certainly, there are hints of a story for a third book, as Hawkspar's tribe is one of the "Drifted" tribes of Tonks whose whereabouts are lost to the rest of their people. Seeking out these tribes could easily make enough of a story for a third book set in this world, and I would definitely read it.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure, Volume 1
Hareta is a normal kid, except for his rapport with Pokémon. This only increased when Professor Rowan sent him to be raised by Pokémon in the wild, allowing him to understand all sorts of Pokémon.
But now Professor Rowan needs Hareta's help, and sends his assistant, Mitsumi, to see Hareta and ask his help. With her, Professor Rowan sends three Pokéballs, each bearing a single rare Pokémon to travel with Hareta. Hareta agrees to help Professor Rowan seek Dialga, the Pokémon who controls Time.
Hareta finds himself with Piplup as his Pokémon, a prideful bird-like Pokémon who at first won't fight because he feels Hareta isn't worthy of him. But Hareta's pure innocence and joy in testing himself bring Piplup around, and the two face off against an Onix who seems almost to have been hypnotized. Hareta and Piplup win, and find that two Pokémon trainers, part of a group called Team Galactic, had something to do with Onix being hypnotized. Hareta fights them, and bites one of them on the buttocks, something that will allow him to recognize the two when he sees them again.
Hareta gets his first badge when he fights the gym leader of Oreburgh City, Roarke, and then goes around racking up more badges along the way by dint of refusal to back down and his bond with Piplup. Along the way, he meets another trainer named Jun who seems intent on being Hareta's rival and who is romantically interested in Mitsumi. But Hareta only has Piplup to fight with, and Jun has many. Hareta takes some time off to go catch himself some more Pokémon to fight with, and when Hareta meets a very rare Pokémon named Munchlax, it sets all the other Pokémon trainers in a frenzy to catch it. But will Hareta allow the Pokémon who helped him be captured?
I found this book... tiresome. It's so much like the original Pokémon series as to be ridiculous. It's as if they took the original series, threw it in a pot, stirred a few times, poured it out and voila! New series!
Some of the details have been changed, but the overall story is the same. Instead of Ash and Pikachu, there's Hareta and Piplup. Professor Rowan instead of Professor Oak (both of them are even named after trees!). Mitsumi instead of Misty (and how close are their names to each other?) Instead of Ash's rival Gary, we get Jun, who seems to be afflicted with Brock's attraction to women. And instead of Team Rocket, there is team Galactic, both of whom are played for laughs. It's like the original series seen through a mirror sweated up with steam, or through a dirty window. In short, it's insulting to even call this a new series.
If you want something almost exactly the same as the original Pokémon, with only a little different, this series is for you. Otherwise, there is nothing new here, with the exception of a few new types of Pokémon. I'd say I wasn't going to read any more, except that I read both 1 and 2 shortly after the other, so that isn't quite true. But I almost certainly won't be reading any more after this.
But now Professor Rowan needs Hareta's help, and sends his assistant, Mitsumi, to see Hareta and ask his help. With her, Professor Rowan sends three Pokéballs, each bearing a single rare Pokémon to travel with Hareta. Hareta agrees to help Professor Rowan seek Dialga, the Pokémon who controls Time.
Hareta finds himself with Piplup as his Pokémon, a prideful bird-like Pokémon who at first won't fight because he feels Hareta isn't worthy of him. But Hareta's pure innocence and joy in testing himself bring Piplup around, and the two face off against an Onix who seems almost to have been hypnotized. Hareta and Piplup win, and find that two Pokémon trainers, part of a group called Team Galactic, had something to do with Onix being hypnotized. Hareta fights them, and bites one of them on the buttocks, something that will allow him to recognize the two when he sees them again.
Hareta gets his first badge when he fights the gym leader of Oreburgh City, Roarke, and then goes around racking up more badges along the way by dint of refusal to back down and his bond with Piplup. Along the way, he meets another trainer named Jun who seems intent on being Hareta's rival and who is romantically interested in Mitsumi. But Hareta only has Piplup to fight with, and Jun has many. Hareta takes some time off to go catch himself some more Pokémon to fight with, and when Hareta meets a very rare Pokémon named Munchlax, it sets all the other Pokémon trainers in a frenzy to catch it. But will Hareta allow the Pokémon who helped him be captured?
I found this book... tiresome. It's so much like the original Pokémon series as to be ridiculous. It's as if they took the original series, threw it in a pot, stirred a few times, poured it out and voila! New series!
Some of the details have been changed, but the overall story is the same. Instead of Ash and Pikachu, there's Hareta and Piplup. Professor Rowan instead of Professor Oak (both of them are even named after trees!). Mitsumi instead of Misty (and how close are their names to each other?) Instead of Ash's rival Gary, we get Jun, who seems to be afflicted with Brock's attraction to women. And instead of Team Rocket, there is team Galactic, both of whom are played for laughs. It's like the original series seen through a mirror sweated up with steam, or through a dirty window. In short, it's insulting to even call this a new series.
If you want something almost exactly the same as the original Pokémon, with only a little different, this series is for you. Otherwise, there is nothing new here, with the exception of a few new types of Pokémon. I'd say I wasn't going to read any more, except that I read both 1 and 2 shortly after the other, so that isn't quite true. But I almost certainly won't be reading any more after this.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer
Vladimir Tod is the most picked on kid at school. Everyone else seems to hate him, pick on him, and push him around. The one saving grace in his life is the girl he has a major crush on: Meredith. But even she seems to like his best friend, Henry, better than him. Oh, and did I mention Vladimir is a vampire?
Unlike most vampires, Vlad is also half-human, and has spent the last few years of his life living with Nelly, a nurse who was a friend to both of his parents. His parents died in a fire, leaving Vladimir alone, and now he must live alone with Nelly, with no one knowing his true race except for Nelly and his friend, Henry, who only knows because Vlad once bit him and drank a small amount of his blood. He survives with regular infusions of blood from the hospital Nelly works in, usually out of date blood that is going to be destroyed anyway, and lots and lots of sunblock.
Now, Mr. Craig, Vlad's English teacher, is missing, and the man who takes over for him is named Mr. Otis. Vlad has a strange feeling about Mr. Otis, and when he sees the Sub over at Mr. Craig's house, he investigates, finding only a strange sigil on the porch under the welcome mat in front of the house. But something looks familliar about the sigil, and Vlad soon realizes that it is very close to the Sigil marked on his father's stuff. Soon, he's convinced that Mr. Otis is behind the attacks on people around Vlad's home town of Bathory.
But Mr. Otis turns out to be Vlad's uncle on his father's side, and he's there to take Vlad to the council, who wishes to see Vlad for themselves. Despite the presence of another operative who wants to kill Vlad outright, Vlad will have to learn more about Vampires and Vampire society if he wants to get any older, and he has to learn what a Pravus is, and why he might be one. But since the council also wants to kill him, can Vlad trust his uncle, or will his Uncle betray him to the council for a price?
I did like this book, which mingles the outsider-y feeling of being the picked on kid in school with being a different kind of outsider, a vampire. Vlad is just a normal 14-year old, hanging with his friend, getting interested in girls, and falling in love for the first time. Unfortunately for him, the girl he likes is interested only in his best friend, and the vampire part of him isn't all that well under control.
Vlad knows his father was born in a place called Elysia, but during the novel, he comes to realize that Elysia is not a fixed place, but what vampires call their society. Elysia also exists in Bathory, and Vlad is lucky that he hasn't come to the attention of the council before this, for his father was second in command on the Council, but gave it all up for life with Vlad's human mother. And that, to the council, was reason enough to kill them. But nobody seems to know what really happened to Vlad's mother and father, not even Vlad's uncle or the head of the council.
Which means, of course, that it will be up to Vlad to find out what happened. And to find out what a Pravus is. I confess to being curious about that myself. I wonder if it is anything akin to being a Dhampir, a half-vampire, but maybe not, since Vlad seems to be more vampire than human.
Yes, I did like this book, and I want to see more. I liked the little touches, like the town Vlad lives in being named Bathory, since Erzbet, the Countess of Bathory, was supposed to also be a vampire, with the exception that she bathed in the blood of young maidens to keep herself looking young rather than drinking blood. These little touches made me smile in the story and look forward to reading more.
Unlike most vampires, Vlad is also half-human, and has spent the last few years of his life living with Nelly, a nurse who was a friend to both of his parents. His parents died in a fire, leaving Vladimir alone, and now he must live alone with Nelly, with no one knowing his true race except for Nelly and his friend, Henry, who only knows because Vlad once bit him and drank a small amount of his blood. He survives with regular infusions of blood from the hospital Nelly works in, usually out of date blood that is going to be destroyed anyway, and lots and lots of sunblock.
Now, Mr. Craig, Vlad's English teacher, is missing, and the man who takes over for him is named Mr. Otis. Vlad has a strange feeling about Mr. Otis, and when he sees the Sub over at Mr. Craig's house, he investigates, finding only a strange sigil on the porch under the welcome mat in front of the house. But something looks familliar about the sigil, and Vlad soon realizes that it is very close to the Sigil marked on his father's stuff. Soon, he's convinced that Mr. Otis is behind the attacks on people around Vlad's home town of Bathory.
But Mr. Otis turns out to be Vlad's uncle on his father's side, and he's there to take Vlad to the council, who wishes to see Vlad for themselves. Despite the presence of another operative who wants to kill Vlad outright, Vlad will have to learn more about Vampires and Vampire society if he wants to get any older, and he has to learn what a Pravus is, and why he might be one. But since the council also wants to kill him, can Vlad trust his uncle, or will his Uncle betray him to the council for a price?
I did like this book, which mingles the outsider-y feeling of being the picked on kid in school with being a different kind of outsider, a vampire. Vlad is just a normal 14-year old, hanging with his friend, getting interested in girls, and falling in love for the first time. Unfortunately for him, the girl he likes is interested only in his best friend, and the vampire part of him isn't all that well under control.
Vlad knows his father was born in a place called Elysia, but during the novel, he comes to realize that Elysia is not a fixed place, but what vampires call their society. Elysia also exists in Bathory, and Vlad is lucky that he hasn't come to the attention of the council before this, for his father was second in command on the Council, but gave it all up for life with Vlad's human mother. And that, to the council, was reason enough to kill them. But nobody seems to know what really happened to Vlad's mother and father, not even Vlad's uncle or the head of the council.
Which means, of course, that it will be up to Vlad to find out what happened. And to find out what a Pravus is. I confess to being curious about that myself. I wonder if it is anything akin to being a Dhampir, a half-vampire, but maybe not, since Vlad seems to be more vampire than human.
Yes, I did like this book, and I want to see more. I liked the little touches, like the town Vlad lives in being named Bathory, since Erzbet, the Countess of Bathory, was supposed to also be a vampire, with the exception that she bathed in the blood of young maidens to keep herself looking young rather than drinking blood. These little touches made me smile in the story and look forward to reading more.
Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai by Ryo Takamisaki
Ash Ketchum and his friends Brock and Dawn have come to Alamos Town for a Pokémon contest with their Pokémon. When it seems they have come to the town from the wrong side, missing the bridge that leads into the city, they are given a balloon ride into the city by Alice, a music student that works as a tour guide. While on the way into town, they see the Space-Time Towers, a building constructed by Godey, the same genius architect who built Alamos town in the first place.
In addition, he also constructed a fabulous garden where both humans and Pokemon find peace. On the way through town, the Pokemon get into a fight, but Alice calms them with a tune she plays on a grass flute. Soon after, an Aipom brings her a message that the garden has been ransacked. As she wonders who would do such a thing, Baron Alberto, the ruler of the town, tells her he suspects a Pokémon named Darkrai, the master of Darkness, who has been spotted near and in the garden. Alice refuses to believe Darkrai is responsible, but Darkrai appears and tells them to get out. Soon, more buildings are destroyed, and Alberto blames it all on Darkrai, who he tries to battle with his Pokémon, LickiLicki, but Darkrai refuses to fight, telling all of them to get out of town.
But soon it's too late, and the bridge out of town is filled with a mist that comes in off the mountains around. Anyone entering it to try to leave finds themselves exiting it at the same place that they enter the fog. There is now no way to leave. Team Rocket shows up and things start to get really strange. Baron Alberto merges with his Pokémon, LickiLicki, giving him the appearance of a Pokémon. All the Pokémon fall asleep and things become stranger and stranger.
Then, the true source of the problems appear: Dialga, the Pokémon who controls Time, and Pakia, the Pokemon who controls the boundaries of Space, appear. Their endless, eternal battle has somehow managed to rip a hole in the dimensions, allowing them to fall into Alamos Town. Unless they can be convinced to take their battle elsewhere, the entire town, and everyone in it, will be destroyed.
Alice's friend Tonio, who has been studying the life and works of Godey, thinks that there is a clue hidden in his words to save the town. But in the meantime, Darkrai, who had been trying to protect the townspeople by getting them to flee, fights Dialga and Pakia to save the town. But though Darkrai is stronger than most Pokémon, Dialga and Pakia are almost Pokémon Gods! How can it save the town from two such immensely strong Pokémon?
While it might be able to fend them off for a while, it will be up to Ash, Alice and Tonio to discover Godey's Oracion amd save the city from Destruction. But can they save Darkrai along with it?
This was another nice Pokémon story, even if it involved Ash, the GrandDaddy of "Gotta Catch 'em all!" (I mean, even his name is Ash L. Ketchum or "Ash'll Catch 'em"!) The mystery of Darkrai is well-presented, although I admit that I haven't followed the story enough to figure out why he's travelling with Brock and Dawn rather than Brock and Misty May. Brock is up to his usual trick of falling in love with every passing woman who's even close to being Adult, but Dawn seemingly exists to be shocked and have an emotional response to the things that are going on. Otherwise she doesn't actually do much. But I suppose that's the fate of women in a series aimed primarily at boys. Unless they are actually villains (like Jessie of Team Rocket), they exist in two forms: the motherly type (like Nurse Joy) or sisterly types, those who are an annoyance or just stand around not doing much. Neither poses a risk to the main male character, or ever comes close to eclipsing him by being competent or better at what he does than he is.
But for a Juvie book, it's not bad, and there's no cursing, or really bad stuff going on besides the possible destruction of the city, which is averted by Ash and his friends. It's not a bad story, and the mystery and destruction provides some mild thrills for the readers. Not bad at all.
In addition, he also constructed a fabulous garden where both humans and Pokemon find peace. On the way through town, the Pokemon get into a fight, but Alice calms them with a tune she plays on a grass flute. Soon after, an Aipom brings her a message that the garden has been ransacked. As she wonders who would do such a thing, Baron Alberto, the ruler of the town, tells her he suspects a Pokémon named Darkrai, the master of Darkness, who has been spotted near and in the garden. Alice refuses to believe Darkrai is responsible, but Darkrai appears and tells them to get out. Soon, more buildings are destroyed, and Alberto blames it all on Darkrai, who he tries to battle with his Pokémon, LickiLicki, but Darkrai refuses to fight, telling all of them to get out of town.
But soon it's too late, and the bridge out of town is filled with a mist that comes in off the mountains around. Anyone entering it to try to leave finds themselves exiting it at the same place that they enter the fog. There is now no way to leave. Team Rocket shows up and things start to get really strange. Baron Alberto merges with his Pokémon, LickiLicki, giving him the appearance of a Pokémon. All the Pokémon fall asleep and things become stranger and stranger.
Then, the true source of the problems appear: Dialga, the Pokémon who controls Time, and Pakia, the Pokemon who controls the boundaries of Space, appear. Their endless, eternal battle has somehow managed to rip a hole in the dimensions, allowing them to fall into Alamos Town. Unless they can be convinced to take their battle elsewhere, the entire town, and everyone in it, will be destroyed.
Alice's friend Tonio, who has been studying the life and works of Godey, thinks that there is a clue hidden in his words to save the town. But in the meantime, Darkrai, who had been trying to protect the townspeople by getting them to flee, fights Dialga and Pakia to save the town. But though Darkrai is stronger than most Pokémon, Dialga and Pakia are almost Pokémon Gods! How can it save the town from two such immensely strong Pokémon?
While it might be able to fend them off for a while, it will be up to Ash, Alice and Tonio to discover Godey's Oracion amd save the city from Destruction. But can they save Darkrai along with it?
This was another nice Pokémon story, even if it involved Ash, the GrandDaddy of "Gotta Catch 'em all!" (I mean, even his name is Ash L. Ketchum or "Ash'll Catch 'em"!) The mystery of Darkrai is well-presented, although I admit that I haven't followed the story enough to figure out why he's travelling with Brock and Dawn rather than Brock and Misty May. Brock is up to his usual trick of falling in love with every passing woman who's even close to being Adult, but Dawn seemingly exists to be shocked and have an emotional response to the things that are going on. Otherwise she doesn't actually do much. But I suppose that's the fate of women in a series aimed primarily at boys. Unless they are actually villains (like Jessie of Team Rocket), they exist in two forms: the motherly type (like Nurse Joy) or sisterly types, those who are an annoyance or just stand around not doing much. Neither poses a risk to the main male character, or ever comes close to eclipsing him by being competent or better at what he does than he is.
But for a Juvie book, it's not bad, and there's no cursing, or really bad stuff going on besides the possible destruction of the city, which is averted by Ash and his friends. It's not a bad story, and the mystery and destruction provides some mild thrills for the readers. Not bad at all.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Tom Clancy's Netforce: The Archimedes Effect by Steve Perry and Larry Segriff
When enemy agents somehow make it through the defenses at two army bases and wreak havoc without actually doing much damage, the army wants to know *how* exactly these agents are breaking through the deepest security the army can manage without breaking a sweat. Feeling that one of their own might be involved, the army turns to NetForce, the government agency formed specifically to fight Internet Crime and track down internet Criminals.
Since this is the future, the Net has penetrated far more deeply into the typical American life than it has currently, and in just about every other country as well. But recently, NetForce has been put under the jurisdiction of the Army, and Colonel Thorn, the nominally civilian head of NetForce, has been made a general to put him on an equal footing with many of the army brass he'll be encountering. Nonetheless, Thorn can see what is coming, and he knows that the end has come for the organization he created. Soon it will be completely subsumed into the army, and many of the people working for NetForce will be let go, or go on their own, when it becomes clear that NetForce plus the army's specialists will be a redundant series of personnel.
Thorn sets Jay Gridley, top Net Force computer man and programmer, on the track of the criminals. He's paired with Rachel Lewis, the Army's top computer programmer. Jay has already found out that the bases were cracked with the help of a supposed game distributed over the internet. The game is one where you supposedly are fighting off an alien invasion on the moon, and the alien bases, with the look of the architecture changed, are mocked up on actual army bases and their extant security. When a gamer "solves" how to get through the base's security and gets inside, the game shoots off a squirt of information showing the programmer of the "game" how they managed it.
The programmer then passes on the information to the operatives who break into the army base. What's more puzzling is that no real destruction or theft accompanies the break-ins. It's as if whoever is doing this wants it to be known that they can actually do it, i.e. defeat the security of army bases, possibly to sell that information to interested parties who would do more than just break in, do a little damage and leave.
And that's exactly what Rachel Lewis intends. Although a member of the army herself, she hates the army because of what it did to her father. Her father was an ex-army man when her boyfriend, also in the army, raped her before she could consider offering herself to him. When her father found out, he took his gun and killed her rapist. The army caught him and was going to try him when her father took his own life. She joined the army to blacken its eye and inflict upon it the same damage she feels that the army inflicted on her own life.
But Jay Gridley is just as good... or better, than she is at programming. How can she throw him off her track? The answer is by keeping him off guard and coming on to him. Knowing he's married and has a child, she figures that whether his gives in to her or not, his own body's reaction and the guilt and lust he'll feel will keep him reeling emotionally and keep him from thinking as effectively as he would if she was all business.
But Jay isn't the only trouble Rachel has with her plan. Her main operative, a man named Carruth, uses his very expensive and very rare personal weapon and ammo to kill two D.C. Metro cops hassling him. Instead of getting rid of the gun, however, he keeps it because he likes it so much. But when he's forced to use it on one of the army base jobs, it leads NetForce to his door, and makes Rachel see him as more of a threat than an asset. By the time she is forced to take him down, NetForce, and Jay Gridley, are on to her. But can they find her when she disappears and goes off the radar after killing Carruth? Or will Rachel end up being "The Big One that Got Away"?
I always love the NetForce books, but this one is definitely the last. By the end of the book, it is clear that NetForce will vanish to become little more than a footnote in some history text, while all the people in it leave and go on with their lives. Most of the subplots of the book are the various unattatched people getting married or meeting and falling in love, and by the end of the book, proposing marriage, and presumably end up living a long, happy life together.
It's as if the authors deliberately set out to find every loose end and tie them up into a bow during this book so that no one could find a loose end and go "What about this?" and thus force them to write another book. The overall effect is that NetForce goes out with a whimper, being more or less forcibly subsumed into the military. While I always doubted that the series would go out with a bang, it was nice, and at the same time, disturbing to read. Life is rarely, if ever, that neat and it made me feel as if I'd catapulted headlong into Uncanny Valley- serious book edition!
Aside from the sadness of the series ending, and the uncomfortableness I felt at how each loose end is so quickly and neatly tied up, the other problem I had with the book is how Jay Gridley is really the only NetForce operative we see in action in the entire book. All the peripheral NetForce characters (except for a few scenes with Thorn) are all shown outside of the office. Perhaps this was to show how their jobs had become more or less supernumary positions, but it also made me strangely uncomfortable, like the whole of NetForce had been reduced to only two people: Thorn and Jay Gridley. Because aside from a few scenes with Jay in Thorn's office and Thorn dealing with Generals, that's all we see of NetForce.
Still, for a last hurrah, it wasn't bad. The main story was excellent, and the action scenes still rocked. I just felt that the story really didn't need the imprimatur of the NetForce name on the book, or in the characters. It would have worked perfectly find as a *not* NetForce novel, and that's why I feel strangely lukewarm about it on the whole. It didn't *feel* like a NetForce novel, and as such, I'd only recommed it with a strong caution on the whole thing. In fact, I'd rather *not* have read it, as it went a long way towards destroying the strong liking I had for the series up until this point.
Since this is the future, the Net has penetrated far more deeply into the typical American life than it has currently, and in just about every other country as well. But recently, NetForce has been put under the jurisdiction of the Army, and Colonel Thorn, the nominally civilian head of NetForce, has been made a general to put him on an equal footing with many of the army brass he'll be encountering. Nonetheless, Thorn can see what is coming, and he knows that the end has come for the organization he created. Soon it will be completely subsumed into the army, and many of the people working for NetForce will be let go, or go on their own, when it becomes clear that NetForce plus the army's specialists will be a redundant series of personnel.
Thorn sets Jay Gridley, top Net Force computer man and programmer, on the track of the criminals. He's paired with Rachel Lewis, the Army's top computer programmer. Jay has already found out that the bases were cracked with the help of a supposed game distributed over the internet. The game is one where you supposedly are fighting off an alien invasion on the moon, and the alien bases, with the look of the architecture changed, are mocked up on actual army bases and their extant security. When a gamer "solves" how to get through the base's security and gets inside, the game shoots off a squirt of information showing the programmer of the "game" how they managed it.
The programmer then passes on the information to the operatives who break into the army base. What's more puzzling is that no real destruction or theft accompanies the break-ins. It's as if whoever is doing this wants it to be known that they can actually do it, i.e. defeat the security of army bases, possibly to sell that information to interested parties who would do more than just break in, do a little damage and leave.
And that's exactly what Rachel Lewis intends. Although a member of the army herself, she hates the army because of what it did to her father. Her father was an ex-army man when her boyfriend, also in the army, raped her before she could consider offering herself to him. When her father found out, he took his gun and killed her rapist. The army caught him and was going to try him when her father took his own life. She joined the army to blacken its eye and inflict upon it the same damage she feels that the army inflicted on her own life.
But Jay Gridley is just as good... or better, than she is at programming. How can she throw him off her track? The answer is by keeping him off guard and coming on to him. Knowing he's married and has a child, she figures that whether his gives in to her or not, his own body's reaction and the guilt and lust he'll feel will keep him reeling emotionally and keep him from thinking as effectively as he would if she was all business.
But Jay isn't the only trouble Rachel has with her plan. Her main operative, a man named Carruth, uses his very expensive and very rare personal weapon and ammo to kill two D.C. Metro cops hassling him. Instead of getting rid of the gun, however, he keeps it because he likes it so much. But when he's forced to use it on one of the army base jobs, it leads NetForce to his door, and makes Rachel see him as more of a threat than an asset. By the time she is forced to take him down, NetForce, and Jay Gridley, are on to her. But can they find her when she disappears and goes off the radar after killing Carruth? Or will Rachel end up being "The Big One that Got Away"?
I always love the NetForce books, but this one is definitely the last. By the end of the book, it is clear that NetForce will vanish to become little more than a footnote in some history text, while all the people in it leave and go on with their lives. Most of the subplots of the book are the various unattatched people getting married or meeting and falling in love, and by the end of the book, proposing marriage, and presumably end up living a long, happy life together.
It's as if the authors deliberately set out to find every loose end and tie them up into a bow during this book so that no one could find a loose end and go "What about this?" and thus force them to write another book. The overall effect is that NetForce goes out with a whimper, being more or less forcibly subsumed into the military. While I always doubted that the series would go out with a bang, it was nice, and at the same time, disturbing to read. Life is rarely, if ever, that neat and it made me feel as if I'd catapulted headlong into Uncanny Valley- serious book edition!
Aside from the sadness of the series ending, and the uncomfortableness I felt at how each loose end is so quickly and neatly tied up, the other problem I had with the book is how Jay Gridley is really the only NetForce operative we see in action in the entire book. All the peripheral NetForce characters (except for a few scenes with Thorn) are all shown outside of the office. Perhaps this was to show how their jobs had become more or less supernumary positions, but it also made me strangely uncomfortable, like the whole of NetForce had been reduced to only two people: Thorn and Jay Gridley. Because aside from a few scenes with Jay in Thorn's office and Thorn dealing with Generals, that's all we see of NetForce.
Still, for a last hurrah, it wasn't bad. The main story was excellent, and the action scenes still rocked. I just felt that the story really didn't need the imprimatur of the NetForce name on the book, or in the characters. It would have worked perfectly find as a *not* NetForce novel, and that's why I feel strangely lukewarm about it on the whole. It didn't *feel* like a NetForce novel, and as such, I'd only recommed it with a strong caution on the whole thing. In fact, I'd rather *not* have read it, as it went a long way towards destroying the strong liking I had for the series up until this point.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Sword by Da Chen
Miu Miu is a young girl growing up in a small village in China. On her fifteenth birthday, her mother shares with her a secret: that Miu's father, a noted swordsman, was killed by the Emperor when her father had made him a special, magical sword, so that her father could never make a sword equal to the one he'd made for the Emperor.
Miu Miu is told she will be married to the son of her father's old apprentice, a boy named Tong Ting, who will take his revenge on the Emperor. But Miu Miu is made of sterner stuff, and demands to take revenge on her father's behalf. Her mother goes to the rest of the family after Miu Miu convinces her that the young woman will not falter or fail in her efforts to retain justice, and the rest of the family agrees after her mother bribes them into acceptance.
Miu's father's last sword is revealed, meant to be wielded by a woman, and Miu Miu takes it and goes off to find Tong Ting and make her destiny. But her going is noticed by the monk who taught her martial arts, and he watches her leave with concern. Miu Miu travels to the capital to find her promised husband, and finds Tong Ting acting as a young Bravo. Once she fights him, not knowing who he is, he discovers that she is a woman, and they soon discover who they are to each other, falling quickly in love.
But they have a job to do, and each has a destiny to fulfill. First, they must find a way to sneak Miu Miu's sword into the section of the capital where the Emperor lives, as no weapons are allowed to be carried there by any save his fiercely loyal guards. Then, once they have done so, utilizing their skills and cunning, they must find a place to ambush the Emperor, and Miu Miu's job will be to slay him.
But any man strong and cunning enough to become and stay Emperor may also have enough strategems to foil an attack, even by ones so skilled and cunning as Miu Miu and Tong Ting. If their planned assassination goes bad, can they give the Emperor and his guards the slip long enough to go into hiding? And if she fails, will Miu Miu's family be able to forgive her?
I enjoyed this book, which matched a fantastic fantasy story with one that could have come from any point in history. Miu Miu is a strong female character, who goes out of the accepted bounds of female behavior. To do so, the family declares her dead. But when she fails in her mission and returns to her family sickened unto death by the Dragon-Emperor's poison, and has the audacity to survive, her family sentences her to death for failure. Falure to kill the Emperor or failure to die trying.
Though Miu isn't able to kill the Emperor, the impression left is not of a failure, but an uncommonly brave and skilled young woman thrust into a mission she felt she was ready for, but was not. And at the end, she turns from the destiny she failed at to a new one she is more suited for: living as the wife of Tong Ting, and questioning if she was really meant to kill the Emperor in the first place.
This combines the best of historical and fantasy novels for kids into a moving and exciting tale that both boys and girls will enjoy. Anyone who is into fantasy, manga, anime and historical tales will enjoy this novel, and girls will enjoy it the most, I think.
Miu Miu is told she will be married to the son of her father's old apprentice, a boy named Tong Ting, who will take his revenge on the Emperor. But Miu Miu is made of sterner stuff, and demands to take revenge on her father's behalf. Her mother goes to the rest of the family after Miu Miu convinces her that the young woman will not falter or fail in her efforts to retain justice, and the rest of the family agrees after her mother bribes them into acceptance.
Miu's father's last sword is revealed, meant to be wielded by a woman, and Miu Miu takes it and goes off to find Tong Ting and make her destiny. But her going is noticed by the monk who taught her martial arts, and he watches her leave with concern. Miu Miu travels to the capital to find her promised husband, and finds Tong Ting acting as a young Bravo. Once she fights him, not knowing who he is, he discovers that she is a woman, and they soon discover who they are to each other, falling quickly in love.
But they have a job to do, and each has a destiny to fulfill. First, they must find a way to sneak Miu Miu's sword into the section of the capital where the Emperor lives, as no weapons are allowed to be carried there by any save his fiercely loyal guards. Then, once they have done so, utilizing their skills and cunning, they must find a place to ambush the Emperor, and Miu Miu's job will be to slay him.
But any man strong and cunning enough to become and stay Emperor may also have enough strategems to foil an attack, even by ones so skilled and cunning as Miu Miu and Tong Ting. If their planned assassination goes bad, can they give the Emperor and his guards the slip long enough to go into hiding? And if she fails, will Miu Miu's family be able to forgive her?
I enjoyed this book, which matched a fantastic fantasy story with one that could have come from any point in history. Miu Miu is a strong female character, who goes out of the accepted bounds of female behavior. To do so, the family declares her dead. But when she fails in her mission and returns to her family sickened unto death by the Dragon-Emperor's poison, and has the audacity to survive, her family sentences her to death for failure. Falure to kill the Emperor or failure to die trying.
Though Miu isn't able to kill the Emperor, the impression left is not of a failure, but an uncommonly brave and skilled young woman thrust into a mission she felt she was ready for, but was not. And at the end, she turns from the destiny she failed at to a new one she is more suited for: living as the wife of Tong Ting, and questioning if she was really meant to kill the Emperor in the first place.
This combines the best of historical and fantasy novels for kids into a moving and exciting tale that both boys and girls will enjoy. Anyone who is into fantasy, manga, anime and historical tales will enjoy this novel, and girls will enjoy it the most, I think.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team by Makoto Mizobuchi
Ginji is a regular anime schoolboy. Though he's full of pep and vigor, he couldn't care less about studying. He'd rather play his videogames than spend any time on schoolwork. But one morning, he wakes up not as a human, but as a Pokémon, a Torchic, to be exact, which is a fire-based baby chicken Pokémon.
His first concern is, of course, to get changed back into a human. But when he encounters a Mudkip whose training ground was destroyed by an earthquake, he finds out that the Mudkip was training to become a member of the Pokémon Rescue Team. There's only one problem: the Mudkip is a coward, so much so that when they hear cries for help coming from a great hole in the ground, he's ready to run away and find someone else to help.
But Ginji won't allow him to, and forces him to jump down into the hole along with Ginji. After several encounters with angry Pokémon, they find a Caterpie and must rescue it from a hungry Spider-type Pokemon. They work together to rescue it, despite the Mudkip's fear, and manage to take care of the Spider-Pokémon. Afterwards, Mudkip is angry that Ginji forced him to use his powers and got him hurt, only to realize that Ginji is even worse off than he is, and realize he's a hero.
The Mudkip wants to form a Pokémon rescue team with Ginji, but Ginji only wants to become human again. The Mudkip suggests they go see Xatu, a Pokémon that can see the future. Along the way, they are approached by a Gengar for help. He also needs to go see Xatu, but he's afraid of the monsters in the Mountains on the way to Xatu. Since Ginji and the Mudkip are on the way to see Xatu anyway, they agree to escort the Gengar through the mountains.
Once in the Mountains, they must defeat Zapdos, angry at being awakened. But the Gengar seems to have a hidden motive for his trip, thinking of Ginji and the Mudkip as its "partners in crime". When Xatu reveals that Ginji is not a Pokémon, but a human, and has a dark future, the Gengar accuses him of being the reborn spirit of a human who touched the tail of a Ninetails for fun. The Ninetails cursed him, but his Pokémon, Gardevoir, took the curse to spare him. Instead of staying to help the now-cursed Gardevoir, the human ran away, and the Ninetails put a curse on the human, saying in 1000 years, the human would be reborn as a Pokémon. Ginji, therefore, must be that human!
Ginji figures the only way to get the curse taken off him is to go and see the Ninetails himself, and the Mudkip goes with him. But the Gengar runs ahead of them, causing trouble for them with every passing Pokémon, and blaming the recent disasters the land has been experiencing on Ginji, but when they finally reach the Ninetails, they learn Ginji has nothing to do with the destruction... it is due to an awakening Groudon. Can they fight it, and get the curse removed from Ginki so he can go back to being a human, and not a Torchic?
This was actually not bad of a manga. Though it was inspired by the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team/Blue Rescue Team game,it was refreshing to have the storyline not being about "Gotta Catch 'em All!" for a change. The story was well-told, if with some familliar and over-used elements (Ginji being a student who apparently doesn't care about studying or doing well in school). But his bravery stands him in good stead in the world of Pokémon. I also found it somewhat suspect that he pardoned the Gengar for bringing him so much trouble so easily (if that had happened to me, We'd have had words before I came to forgiveness), but that fitted in well with Ginji's character and the apparently universal requirements of manga and anime heroes.
The story is short, fitting in to one volume, and cute, with nothing offensive and no bad language. As such, it is suited for all ages. For kids interested in Pokémon, this would be a great story to give them, and is a welcome change from the usual run of Pokémon stories. Recommended.
His first concern is, of course, to get changed back into a human. But when he encounters a Mudkip whose training ground was destroyed by an earthquake, he finds out that the Mudkip was training to become a member of the Pokémon Rescue Team. There's only one problem: the Mudkip is a coward, so much so that when they hear cries for help coming from a great hole in the ground, he's ready to run away and find someone else to help.
But Ginji won't allow him to, and forces him to jump down into the hole along with Ginji. After several encounters with angry Pokémon, they find a Caterpie and must rescue it from a hungry Spider-type Pokemon. They work together to rescue it, despite the Mudkip's fear, and manage to take care of the Spider-Pokémon. Afterwards, Mudkip is angry that Ginji forced him to use his powers and got him hurt, only to realize that Ginji is even worse off than he is, and realize he's a hero.
The Mudkip wants to form a Pokémon rescue team with Ginji, but Ginji only wants to become human again. The Mudkip suggests they go see Xatu, a Pokémon that can see the future. Along the way, they are approached by a Gengar for help. He also needs to go see Xatu, but he's afraid of the monsters in the Mountains on the way to Xatu. Since Ginji and the Mudkip are on the way to see Xatu anyway, they agree to escort the Gengar through the mountains.
Once in the Mountains, they must defeat Zapdos, angry at being awakened. But the Gengar seems to have a hidden motive for his trip, thinking of Ginji and the Mudkip as its "partners in crime". When Xatu reveals that Ginji is not a Pokémon, but a human, and has a dark future, the Gengar accuses him of being the reborn spirit of a human who touched the tail of a Ninetails for fun. The Ninetails cursed him, but his Pokémon, Gardevoir, took the curse to spare him. Instead of staying to help the now-cursed Gardevoir, the human ran away, and the Ninetails put a curse on the human, saying in 1000 years, the human would be reborn as a Pokémon. Ginji, therefore, must be that human!
Ginji figures the only way to get the curse taken off him is to go and see the Ninetails himself, and the Mudkip goes with him. But the Gengar runs ahead of them, causing trouble for them with every passing Pokémon, and blaming the recent disasters the land has been experiencing on Ginji, but when they finally reach the Ninetails, they learn Ginji has nothing to do with the destruction... it is due to an awakening Groudon. Can they fight it, and get the curse removed from Ginki so he can go back to being a human, and not a Torchic?
This was actually not bad of a manga. Though it was inspired by the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team/Blue Rescue Team game,it was refreshing to have the storyline not being about "Gotta Catch 'em All!" for a change. The story was well-told, if with some familliar and over-used elements (Ginji being a student who apparently doesn't care about studying or doing well in school). But his bravery stands him in good stead in the world of Pokémon. I also found it somewhat suspect that he pardoned the Gengar for bringing him so much trouble so easily (if that had happened to me, We'd have had words before I came to forgiveness), but that fitted in well with Ginji's character and the apparently universal requirements of manga and anime heroes.
The story is short, fitting in to one volume, and cute, with nothing offensive and no bad language. As such, it is suited for all ages. For kids interested in Pokémon, this would be a great story to give them, and is a welcome change from the usual run of Pokémon stories. Recommended.
Fairy Tail, Volume 2 by Hiro Mashima
Natsu is a fire wizard, and Lucy is a Celestial Wizard, able to call upon spirit creatures based on the signs of the Western Zodiac. Happy is Natsu's cat, who can both talk, and fly, albeit the last with the right spell cast on him. Both are members of the Fairy Tail Magical Guild, whose symbol is a stylized Fairy. Natsu is an old hand in the Guild, and Lucy has just joined.
When they are hired to burn a book for a fortune in Jewels, they are only too happy to accept the job, but getting the book is going to be much, much harder than it looks. For the first part, Natsu and Lucy are not the first people to try and steal the book, so the owner, Duke Everlue, has hired additional guards for his estate.
When their plan to get Lucy hired on the estate fails, they have to sneak in, whereupon they are set on by the maids and two guards that Duke Everlue hired from the Southern Wolf Guild, the Vanish Brothers. As Natsu defeats the brothers, Lucy absconds with the book, figuring out that there is a secret hidden within the work.
In the end, we learn that Duke Everlue wanted a story written about himself, and that he threatened the writer, Kemu Zaleon, with the death of his family if he didn't write the book. However, Zaleon hid a spell in the book that told of his true feelings and the truth of what Duke Everlue did to him. But can they return the book to the author's son and reveal his true work?
Next, on their return to the Fairy Tail Guildhouse, Natsu and Lucy are tapped by the guild member Ezra for a mission, along with Natsu's frenemy Gray Fullbuster, an ice wizard who also happens to be an exhibitionist. It seems Ezra overheard members of the Shadow Guild, the Eisenwald Wizard Guild, talking about obtaining something called Lullaby.
Although she didn't know what it was, she knew it could be nothing good if the Death God of Eisenwald, Erigor, wanted it. While he's not actually a God, it means that he. as a wizard, accepts jobs to assassinate people. That's what got the Eisenwald Wizard Guild kicked out of the League of Guilds, and when they refused to disperse and continued as a guild, they began operating as a Shadow Guild. Now it's up for the team of Ezra, Natsu, Gray and Lucy to ensure that the Eisenwald Guild doesn't carry out its fiendish plan- whatever that is- and to retrieve the Lullaby- whatever that is, before it can be used. But can they really take on a guild of Wizards whose powers are more than equal to their own?
This manga was... only okay. I've read Hiro Mashima's Rave Master series, and the main characters in this one are almost exactly the same, in character design, to the main characters in Rave Master. Oh, the costumes may be different, but their faces and bodies are exactly the same, which leads to a "Haven't I Read This Before?" feeling as you turn the pages.
Added to a story that's only okay, and I had a hard time mustering up the enthusiasm to read the book. The characters are identical, the story is nothing to write home about and nothing we haven't seen hundreds of times before, and the book just comes off as same-y and lacklustre.
If you enjoy the art of Hiro Mashima, you've probably already read the 18+ issues of Rave Master. There is nothing new here, either thematically or artistically. I may read the first one, but after that, I'll have to decline, as neither the story nor the characters hold my attention. It's just same-old, same-old, and as such, isn't worth my reading time.
When they are hired to burn a book for a fortune in Jewels, they are only too happy to accept the job, but getting the book is going to be much, much harder than it looks. For the first part, Natsu and Lucy are not the first people to try and steal the book, so the owner, Duke Everlue, has hired additional guards for his estate.
When their plan to get Lucy hired on the estate fails, they have to sneak in, whereupon they are set on by the maids and two guards that Duke Everlue hired from the Southern Wolf Guild, the Vanish Brothers. As Natsu defeats the brothers, Lucy absconds with the book, figuring out that there is a secret hidden within the work.
In the end, we learn that Duke Everlue wanted a story written about himself, and that he threatened the writer, Kemu Zaleon, with the death of his family if he didn't write the book. However, Zaleon hid a spell in the book that told of his true feelings and the truth of what Duke Everlue did to him. But can they return the book to the author's son and reveal his true work?
Next, on their return to the Fairy Tail Guildhouse, Natsu and Lucy are tapped by the guild member Ezra for a mission, along with Natsu's frenemy Gray Fullbuster, an ice wizard who also happens to be an exhibitionist. It seems Ezra overheard members of the Shadow Guild, the Eisenwald Wizard Guild, talking about obtaining something called Lullaby.
Although she didn't know what it was, she knew it could be nothing good if the Death God of Eisenwald, Erigor, wanted it. While he's not actually a God, it means that he. as a wizard, accepts jobs to assassinate people. That's what got the Eisenwald Wizard Guild kicked out of the League of Guilds, and when they refused to disperse and continued as a guild, they began operating as a Shadow Guild. Now it's up for the team of Ezra, Natsu, Gray and Lucy to ensure that the Eisenwald Guild doesn't carry out its fiendish plan- whatever that is- and to retrieve the Lullaby- whatever that is, before it can be used. But can they really take on a guild of Wizards whose powers are more than equal to their own?
This manga was... only okay. I've read Hiro Mashima's Rave Master series, and the main characters in this one are almost exactly the same, in character design, to the main characters in Rave Master. Oh, the costumes may be different, but their faces and bodies are exactly the same, which leads to a "Haven't I Read This Before?" feeling as you turn the pages.
Added to a story that's only okay, and I had a hard time mustering up the enthusiasm to read the book. The characters are identical, the story is nothing to write home about and nothing we haven't seen hundreds of times before, and the book just comes off as same-y and lacklustre.
If you enjoy the art of Hiro Mashima, you've probably already read the 18+ issues of Rave Master. There is nothing new here, either thematically or artistically. I may read the first one, but after that, I'll have to decline, as neither the story nor the characters hold my attention. It's just same-old, same-old, and as such, isn't worth my reading time.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Marked by Moonlight by Shari Kohler
Claire Morgan is a teacher, and quite a good one, but in her personality, she's always been a meek and mild mouse, afraid to do anything or be assertive because of her abusive father, who controlled her and her mother with harsh words and physical abuse since before she was born.
But when she goes out of her comfort zone and heads to the home of her student, Lenny Alvarez, because she is worried about the young man missing his SAT test, she is attacked by a feral dog and badly bitten. But the dog is shot by someone in the shadows, and she manages to escape. What she doesn't know is that the "dog" is actually Lenny, who has been turned into a werewolf by some unknown Alpha. His killer, the werewolf hunter Gideon March, finds the purse she left behind and tracks her down to her apartment, planning to kill her as well.
But his snooping into her stuff comes at a cost. When it comes time to kill her, and put her out of her misery before she can change into a werewolf, kill someone and thereby lose her soul, Gideon can't do it. She's not just some random victim, she's Claire Morgan, and he can't bring himself to destroy her. But if he wants to save her, he's first going to have to convince her of what really happened to her, and get her to agree that werewolves exist and agree to be saved. But despite his wanting to save her, he's never done this before, never even wanted to.
And the organization which backs Gideon won't like him trying to save Claire, and his sister, who wants to be in the organization so bad she can taste it, won't approve either. Especially when they realize that Gideon and Claire have become lovers, something neither would approve of. But is there really any chance to save Claire and return her to being simply human, before she loses her soul with her first kill?
Claire has to face up to some hard truths: that she's changing in ways more extreme than just her eyes turning silver and not putting up with behavior that she would have meekly accepted before. Her only chance for escape from a future hellish existence is to find the werewolf who changed Lenny and kill him before the full moon. But when one of the oldest werewolves in the world takes an interest in Claire and promises her a different way out, will she take the sure thing, or the hard road to getting what she wants? And can she even trust Marcus to have her best interests in mind?
This is Shari Kohler's first novel, but despite that, the storyline hung together well. There were no big holes in the story's logic, and nothing that forcibly drove me out of my willing suspension of disbelief. Yet, I didn't find the sex scenes between the main characters very hot at all, and the question of their attraction to each other seems to come (so to speak) from Claire being in heat for most of the book. We know that Gideon finds *her* attractive, but I found it problematic that the heroine was apparently responding to a force beyond her control.
Later on, we learn that there really *is* an attraction there for her, but during most of the novel, I felt that Gideon was taking advantage of her being in heat when he had sex with her. This was more of a niggle than an outright problem because he clearly refrains at first, not wanting to force her, and she practically has to beg him to make love to her. But still, labelling what she was feeling as basically a hormonal reaction made me a bit uncomfortable when it came to the sex. Yes, this was wiped out later, but it did blunt some of my enjoyment of the story as I was reading it.
Nevertheless, I would still recommend this novel to those who enjoy paranormal romance, but for a paranormal romance, it never really rose above middle of the road for me. It just didn't have the sexy heat I have come to look for in my romances.
But when she goes out of her comfort zone and heads to the home of her student, Lenny Alvarez, because she is worried about the young man missing his SAT test, she is attacked by a feral dog and badly bitten. But the dog is shot by someone in the shadows, and she manages to escape. What she doesn't know is that the "dog" is actually Lenny, who has been turned into a werewolf by some unknown Alpha. His killer, the werewolf hunter Gideon March, finds the purse she left behind and tracks her down to her apartment, planning to kill her as well.
But his snooping into her stuff comes at a cost. When it comes time to kill her, and put her out of her misery before she can change into a werewolf, kill someone and thereby lose her soul, Gideon can't do it. She's not just some random victim, she's Claire Morgan, and he can't bring himself to destroy her. But if he wants to save her, he's first going to have to convince her of what really happened to her, and get her to agree that werewolves exist and agree to be saved. But despite his wanting to save her, he's never done this before, never even wanted to.
And the organization which backs Gideon won't like him trying to save Claire, and his sister, who wants to be in the organization so bad she can taste it, won't approve either. Especially when they realize that Gideon and Claire have become lovers, something neither would approve of. But is there really any chance to save Claire and return her to being simply human, before she loses her soul with her first kill?
Claire has to face up to some hard truths: that she's changing in ways more extreme than just her eyes turning silver and not putting up with behavior that she would have meekly accepted before. Her only chance for escape from a future hellish existence is to find the werewolf who changed Lenny and kill him before the full moon. But when one of the oldest werewolves in the world takes an interest in Claire and promises her a different way out, will she take the sure thing, or the hard road to getting what she wants? And can she even trust Marcus to have her best interests in mind?
This is Shari Kohler's first novel, but despite that, the storyline hung together well. There were no big holes in the story's logic, and nothing that forcibly drove me out of my willing suspension of disbelief. Yet, I didn't find the sex scenes between the main characters very hot at all, and the question of their attraction to each other seems to come (so to speak) from Claire being in heat for most of the book. We know that Gideon finds *her* attractive, but I found it problematic that the heroine was apparently responding to a force beyond her control.
Later on, we learn that there really *is* an attraction there for her, but during most of the novel, I felt that Gideon was taking advantage of her being in heat when he had sex with her. This was more of a niggle than an outright problem because he clearly refrains at first, not wanting to force her, and she practically has to beg him to make love to her. But still, labelling what she was feeling as basically a hormonal reaction made me a bit uncomfortable when it came to the sex. Yes, this was wiped out later, but it did blunt some of my enjoyment of the story as I was reading it.
Nevertheless, I would still recommend this novel to those who enjoy paranormal romance, but for a paranormal romance, it never really rose above middle of the road for me. It just didn't have the sexy heat I have come to look for in my romances.
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli and Todd Klein
Miss Finch is an exacting woman who comes to London and must be entertained for an evening by the friends of the author. Needing another, they invite him to the theatre with them and a sushi dinner afterwards.
By the time he gets to his friends' house, the theatre programme has been cancelled and instead they go to a circus called "The Theatre of Night's Dreaming". On the way, Miss Finch complains about the number of diseases and intestinal parasites that can be carried in uncooked fish and gives the author and his friends a long and exhaustive talk about them, making herself no friends in the process.
But when the talk turns around to what she does for a living, she tells them that she is a bio-geologist, studying why animsls are the way they are. She has just come back from studying Komodo Dragons, who, she tells them, grew to that size to prey on Pygmy elephants. She also, it turns out, doesn't like to see animals abused in any way, and is opposed to even the idea of a circus. But with no other choice for entertainment, goes along with them.
The Circus is a typically shabby affair, made up of acts to shock, and acts based on skillful, and not-so-skillful, illusions. But when Miss Finch is dragged off to "The Cabinet of Wishes Fulfil'd", they see her in the next tableaux, a half-naked pagan huntress who easily controls the two huge sabertooth tigers who accompany her. And when she makes the decision to stay as she is and go back to the dawn of prehistory with her pets, the others somehow realize that they will never see her again, and that they can tell anyone and everyone what happened to Miss Finch (which, as the story is quick to point out, is not her real name), but that they will never be believed.
This is a story that is intriguing and chilling and will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page. The idea that we are all something more in our soul than that which we show on the outside of us, and which one is the real person, is the intriguing one... and this is only what I got out of the story. The true point lends itself to the viewpoint and mindset of the person doing the reading. And what you put into the story is also what you take away.
Even now, thinking about this story makes shivers run down my spine. A tour-de-force, and well worth the reading. This graphic novel is short, but it will leave an impression you'll never forget.
By the time he gets to his friends' house, the theatre programme has been cancelled and instead they go to a circus called "The Theatre of Night's Dreaming". On the way, Miss Finch complains about the number of diseases and intestinal parasites that can be carried in uncooked fish and gives the author and his friends a long and exhaustive talk about them, making herself no friends in the process.
But when the talk turns around to what she does for a living, she tells them that she is a bio-geologist, studying why animsls are the way they are. She has just come back from studying Komodo Dragons, who, she tells them, grew to that size to prey on Pygmy elephants. She also, it turns out, doesn't like to see animals abused in any way, and is opposed to even the idea of a circus. But with no other choice for entertainment, goes along with them.
The Circus is a typically shabby affair, made up of acts to shock, and acts based on skillful, and not-so-skillful, illusions. But when Miss Finch is dragged off to "The Cabinet of Wishes Fulfil'd", they see her in the next tableaux, a half-naked pagan huntress who easily controls the two huge sabertooth tigers who accompany her. And when she makes the decision to stay as she is and go back to the dawn of prehistory with her pets, the others somehow realize that they will never see her again, and that they can tell anyone and everyone what happened to Miss Finch (which, as the story is quick to point out, is not her real name), but that they will never be believed.
This is a story that is intriguing and chilling and will linger in your mind long after you turn the last page. The idea that we are all something more in our soul than that which we show on the outside of us, and which one is the real person, is the intriguing one... and this is only what I got out of the story. The true point lends itself to the viewpoint and mindset of the person doing the reading. And what you put into the story is also what you take away.
Even now, thinking about this story makes shivers run down my spine. A tour-de-force, and well worth the reading. This graphic novel is short, but it will leave an impression you'll never forget.
The Phoenix Endangered by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory
Tiercel Rolfort and Harrier Gillain are two teenagers from Armathalieh, living a thousand years after Idalia and Kellen. But Idalia and Kallen are still remembered throughout the land as "The Great Wildmage Idalia", and "Kellen the Poor Orphan Boy". When Tiercel began having visions of a woman in a lake of fire, and the local wildmages couldn't tell him why he was having such problems, he and Harrier went to find a stronger wildmage who could help him.
Eventually, his search led him to the Elves, and to Jermayan, the last living elf mage. Jermayan had married Idalia, reborn as an elf, and was now dying. With him would die his dragon, Ancaladar the Black. But Jermayan transferred his bond to Tiercel, and Tiercel discovered he was fated to be a High Mage. His friend Harrier shared his propensity for magic, but was fated to be a Knight Mage of the Wild Magic. He recieved his copies of the three books every wild mage has, and the companionship of a unicorn named Kareta.
The elves point the two mages south, where a Wild Mage named Bisochim has gone to the dark, and seeks to bring back the Endarkened to restore True Balance to the land. As a member of the desert tribes, he gathers the tribes to him, trying to save them from being used by the light as tools against him, but the leader of one of the tribes, Shaiara of the Nalzindar, realizes that something about Bisochim is wrong, and instead leads her tribe into the hottest, driest part of the desert, to a city called Abi'Abadshar, where she hopes to shelter with her tribe until the trouble caused by Bisochim is gone.
Meanwhile, Harrier has been resisting reading the books of the Wild Magic, and Kareta keeps pushing him and pushing him to read them. When he finally does begin to read them, it doesn't seem to him like magic is anything he will ever need or want to do, but when they finally break away from the Elven lands and continue to head south, they discover a man half-dead, who can only be saved by Harrier's Healing Magic.
The price is hard, knocking him out for close to two days, but the man recovers, and Harrier receives his own instruction from the Wild Magic, to become an apprentice. The man he saved is a Telchi warrior, outcaste from his people for breaking a given oath to a man who did not deserve his oath in the first place. He has long been searching for an apprentice, and Harrier feels the hand of fate lying heavy on him when he finds that out.
Surrendering to the price the magic asks of him, he becomes the Telchi's student, and returns with him to Tarnatha'Iteru, one of the great Iteru, or Well, cities in the Marinda Desert. But when the city hears of other cities attacked and destroyed by the Desert Tribes allied with Bisochim, only the two of them stand between the Tribes and the Destruction of Tarnatha'Iteru. But can they hold the city against that many tribesmen with only a single high mage and Knight-Mage? Or will the city fall against the hordes of determined tribesmen?
Bisochim, too, is troubled by doubts. When he took the tribesmen with him to the comfortable oasis he made in the hottest, most inhospitable part of the desert, he didn't expect them to come close to killing each other when their tempers were incited by the close quarters and enforced company. And when he sent them out to look for the Nalzindar, he didn't expect the young men and women to destroy the Iteru-cities. But he has his own reasons for his actions, involving the woman he loves, Saravasse, who has ceased to love him since he accidentally killed her and brought her back to life. But can he win if she only laughs at the things that cause him pain, and refuses to speak to him the rest of the time?
This was an interesting novel, and one that I enjoyed. And yet, I didn't find it quite as compelling as the original "Obsidian" series, possibly because here, the spotlight is shared between two main characters, both of whom are equally important to the story, but who are both floundering under their new responsibilities. In short, despite the fact that they are on opposite sides of the magical aisle, in character, they are remarkably similar, and for a while, at the beginning of the book, I was finding it hard to get into, especially with the seemingly unrelated story of the Nalzindar tribe.
Soon, however, the story picked up, and once they left the Elven lands and found the desert, I felt the story got much, much better. Unfortunately for the story, I didn't find the desert tribes as interesting as I did the elves in the former series, and I got a strange feeling of Deja Vu, as if I had read parts of this, or the presented themes, before. And it did remind me of the second book in the Obsidian series, where we meet a woman who will be thematically important in the third book. Here, Shaiara fills that role. I'll have to keep reading to see if my suspicions are borne out, though.
So, yes, this was an enjoyable novel, but parts of it were more of a slog than a joy to read. I do recommend it, but not as highly as some of Mercedes Lackey's other series. I suppose I'll just have to read the next book to see if I truly end up enjoying this series.
Eventually, his search led him to the Elves, and to Jermayan, the last living elf mage. Jermayan had married Idalia, reborn as an elf, and was now dying. With him would die his dragon, Ancaladar the Black. But Jermayan transferred his bond to Tiercel, and Tiercel discovered he was fated to be a High Mage. His friend Harrier shared his propensity for magic, but was fated to be a Knight Mage of the Wild Magic. He recieved his copies of the three books every wild mage has, and the companionship of a unicorn named Kareta.
The elves point the two mages south, where a Wild Mage named Bisochim has gone to the dark, and seeks to bring back the Endarkened to restore True Balance to the land. As a member of the desert tribes, he gathers the tribes to him, trying to save them from being used by the light as tools against him, but the leader of one of the tribes, Shaiara of the Nalzindar, realizes that something about Bisochim is wrong, and instead leads her tribe into the hottest, driest part of the desert, to a city called Abi'Abadshar, where she hopes to shelter with her tribe until the trouble caused by Bisochim is gone.
Meanwhile, Harrier has been resisting reading the books of the Wild Magic, and Kareta keeps pushing him and pushing him to read them. When he finally does begin to read them, it doesn't seem to him like magic is anything he will ever need or want to do, but when they finally break away from the Elven lands and continue to head south, they discover a man half-dead, who can only be saved by Harrier's Healing Magic.
The price is hard, knocking him out for close to two days, but the man recovers, and Harrier receives his own instruction from the Wild Magic, to become an apprentice. The man he saved is a Telchi warrior, outcaste from his people for breaking a given oath to a man who did not deserve his oath in the first place. He has long been searching for an apprentice, and Harrier feels the hand of fate lying heavy on him when he finds that out.
Surrendering to the price the magic asks of him, he becomes the Telchi's student, and returns with him to Tarnatha'Iteru, one of the great Iteru, or Well, cities in the Marinda Desert. But when the city hears of other cities attacked and destroyed by the Desert Tribes allied with Bisochim, only the two of them stand between the Tribes and the Destruction of Tarnatha'Iteru. But can they hold the city against that many tribesmen with only a single high mage and Knight-Mage? Or will the city fall against the hordes of determined tribesmen?
Bisochim, too, is troubled by doubts. When he took the tribesmen with him to the comfortable oasis he made in the hottest, most inhospitable part of the desert, he didn't expect them to come close to killing each other when their tempers were incited by the close quarters and enforced company. And when he sent them out to look for the Nalzindar, he didn't expect the young men and women to destroy the Iteru-cities. But he has his own reasons for his actions, involving the woman he loves, Saravasse, who has ceased to love him since he accidentally killed her and brought her back to life. But can he win if she only laughs at the things that cause him pain, and refuses to speak to him the rest of the time?
This was an interesting novel, and one that I enjoyed. And yet, I didn't find it quite as compelling as the original "Obsidian" series, possibly because here, the spotlight is shared between two main characters, both of whom are equally important to the story, but who are both floundering under their new responsibilities. In short, despite the fact that they are on opposite sides of the magical aisle, in character, they are remarkably similar, and for a while, at the beginning of the book, I was finding it hard to get into, especially with the seemingly unrelated story of the Nalzindar tribe.
Soon, however, the story picked up, and once they left the Elven lands and found the desert, I felt the story got much, much better. Unfortunately for the story, I didn't find the desert tribes as interesting as I did the elves in the former series, and I got a strange feeling of Deja Vu, as if I had read parts of this, or the presented themes, before. And it did remind me of the second book in the Obsidian series, where we meet a woman who will be thematically important in the third book. Here, Shaiara fills that role. I'll have to keep reading to see if my suspicions are borne out, though.
So, yes, this was an enjoyable novel, but parts of it were more of a slog than a joy to read. I do recommend it, but not as highly as some of Mercedes Lackey's other series. I suppose I'll just have to read the next book to see if I truly end up enjoying this series.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Dead is the New Black by Marlene Perez
Daisy Giordano is the odd one out in her family. Her mom is a psychic, and her two sisters are psychics, too. But Daisy doesn't have any powers, and her two sisters look down on her for it, thinking that she's a norm. Because of her lack of psychic powers, Daisy often feels left out from the special bond that her mother and sisters share. Her dad was a "norm", too, but he disappeared one day. Daisy's best friend at the time, Samantha Deveraux, spread the rumor that her father had run off with another woman, and that so hurt Daisy that she never forgave Samantha.
But the start of her junior year is weird. Samantha comes back from summer vacation looking like a dead girl, complete with a mini-coffin on wheels that she totes around with her everywhere. The only thing that Daisy can count on any more is her best friend Ryan, who's a Quarterback on the football team and super-hot. Daisy might be interested in him... if he wasn't already her friend... and interested in Samantha.
Things get even stranger when a girl is found dead, and Daisy's mom is called in to help on the case. Her mom, stumped, enlists the mind-reading powers of Daisy's older sister, Rose, to help her in the case. Poppy, Daisy's younger sister, is dismissive of Daisy's ability to do anything to help her mom solve the case, which makes Daisy angry. She'll just have to show them that she can help her mom, too, by investigating and solving the mystery before anyone else does!
But when the cheerleaders begin succumbing to a strange illness that none of the doctors at the local hospital can identify, Daisy finds herself recruited for the team by none other than the head cheerleader herself, her ex-best friend, Samantha! Daisy is suspicious of Samantha's motives, and also her stunning change practically overnight. Is it possible that Samantha could be the culprit she seeks? And what about that Ankh necklace she's been sporting? Does that have something to do with the whole thing? And now Samantha has given them to all the cheerleaders as gifts. Nothing suspicious there, right?
Daisy gets her friend Ryan to help her, and before she knows it, they are kissing, and she has to check to see that her feet are still firmly fastened to the ground! But when they wander into a meeting of the secret supernatural council that really controls the town of Nightshade, they find that the council believes it is a special type of vampire that is attacking the girls... a soul-eating, life-sucking vampire!
But who could it be? And can Daisy find out while struggling through Cheerleading practice, the big game and homecoming? And is there any chance for her and her hottie friend Ryan to find true love, or even "right now" love?
I loved this book. The heroine's voice is fresh and expressive without being whiny, spoiled or neurotic, and the author makes you really feel what is going on with the character and immerses you in her troubles and concerns so that you as the reader identify with Daisy. At the same time, the story is intriguing and engaging, drawing you in from, literally, the very first sentence. Not only did I finish this small book in about an hour and a half, but I am looking forward to reading the forthcoming sequel, "Dead is a State of Mind", but the one after that, "Dead is so Last Year".
For a book that is entertaining without being vapid, smart without being boring, and speaks in a voice that is authentically teen without insulting any teens reading the book, you can't do better than "Dead is the New Black" by Marlene Perez. Read it, and you'll be glad you did!
But the start of her junior year is weird. Samantha comes back from summer vacation looking like a dead girl, complete with a mini-coffin on wheels that she totes around with her everywhere. The only thing that Daisy can count on any more is her best friend Ryan, who's a Quarterback on the football team and super-hot. Daisy might be interested in him... if he wasn't already her friend... and interested in Samantha.
Things get even stranger when a girl is found dead, and Daisy's mom is called in to help on the case. Her mom, stumped, enlists the mind-reading powers of Daisy's older sister, Rose, to help her in the case. Poppy, Daisy's younger sister, is dismissive of Daisy's ability to do anything to help her mom solve the case, which makes Daisy angry. She'll just have to show them that she can help her mom, too, by investigating and solving the mystery before anyone else does!
But when the cheerleaders begin succumbing to a strange illness that none of the doctors at the local hospital can identify, Daisy finds herself recruited for the team by none other than the head cheerleader herself, her ex-best friend, Samantha! Daisy is suspicious of Samantha's motives, and also her stunning change practically overnight. Is it possible that Samantha could be the culprit she seeks? And what about that Ankh necklace she's been sporting? Does that have something to do with the whole thing? And now Samantha has given them to all the cheerleaders as gifts. Nothing suspicious there, right?
Daisy gets her friend Ryan to help her, and before she knows it, they are kissing, and she has to check to see that her feet are still firmly fastened to the ground! But when they wander into a meeting of the secret supernatural council that really controls the town of Nightshade, they find that the council believes it is a special type of vampire that is attacking the girls... a soul-eating, life-sucking vampire!
But who could it be? And can Daisy find out while struggling through Cheerleading practice, the big game and homecoming? And is there any chance for her and her hottie friend Ryan to find true love, or even "right now" love?
I loved this book. The heroine's voice is fresh and expressive without being whiny, spoiled or neurotic, and the author makes you really feel what is going on with the character and immerses you in her troubles and concerns so that you as the reader identify with Daisy. At the same time, the story is intriguing and engaging, drawing you in from, literally, the very first sentence. Not only did I finish this small book in about an hour and a half, but I am looking forward to reading the forthcoming sequel, "Dead is a State of Mind", but the one after that, "Dead is so Last Year".
For a book that is entertaining without being vapid, smart without being boring, and speaks in a voice that is authentically teen without insulting any teens reading the book, you can't do better than "Dead is the New Black" by Marlene Perez. Read it, and you'll be glad you did!
Friday, October 03, 2008
Deepwood by Jennifer Roberson
Alisanos is the Deepwood, a magical forest home to demons, gods and more wild and magical creatures than anyone can know. It is a dangerous place, even to those creatures who were born and live forever within its confines.
Any human who wanders into Alisanos can never return, and most are never seen again. Those that are seen are transformed into something different, and the longer they spend within Alisanos, the greater the transformation. But Alisanos is not in some distant land. It lies slumbering within the human lands, and could awake at any time, changing its position by miles in mere moments, swallowing up those who felt... or thought... that they were safe.
That is exactly what happened to Audrun, Davyn and their children. While Davyn escaped Alisanos completely, the others vanished into its depths, along with some of the Karavaners they had taken refuge with. Now the Karavan is scattered and damaged, some dead, some vanished into Alisanos, and the rest trying desperately to survive without wandering into Alisanos themselves.
Audrun was several months pregnant with Davyn's child when she passed into Alisanos. She have birth to a normal, full-term child, but cannot escape the fact that her new child has been claimed by Alisanos. Rhuan, the guide who was protecting her, has many secrets to keep, not the least of which being that he is the son of one of the many Gods of Alisanos, but is also half-human. But he must reveal all his secrets to Audrun if both of them are going to be able to survive.
He isn't the only child of Alisanos who has had to conceal the truth of his heritage to survive. Brodhi, Rhuan's cousin, was also among those in the Karavan. Now, with Alisanos changed in position, it is up to him to bring news to the messenger's guild that he is a part of. And when the conquering lord of the lands assigns him to bring soldiers to the Karavaner's new home, he must find a way to deal with them without getting himself... or anyone else, killed.
Meanwhile, Ilona, hand-reader and true seer, must deal with a suit from Rhuan's father, who wants her to have another child for him to replace Rhuan, who he regards as ill-suited to follow him as a primary, or God, of Alisanos. Rhuan is in love with Ilona, and wants nothing more than to get back to her and propose to her, but he must keep Audrun and her child safe. And when she undoes his braids to clean wounds in his scalp, his heart sinks, for she has just declared herself married to him by so doing, no matter that she is already married to Davyn. Can she convince the Primaries to return her child to her after it is stolen, and to let her out of this strange relationship with Rhuan?
And Davyn, parted from his family by Alisanos, can he find them and bring them out of the depths of Alisanos? Or will be become the only human in a family of monsters?
I didn't realize this when I purchased the book, but this is actually the second book in what appears to be a series. The book starts with the aftermath of the storm that apparently woke Alisanos and in waking it, made it move. But everyone is left to deal with the aftermath of the storm, which shatters not only the peace formerly enjoyed in the land while Alisanos slumbered, but causes death and destruction in the forest and outside of it alike.
This was a somewhat confusing story at first, since there are so many widely scattered story threads involving different characters. But this mirrors the fact that there is much chaos in the aftermath of the storm. As the characters begin to link up, and the story begins to make more sense, it is like someone is braiding the storylines together into a cohesive whole. Though by the end of the book, not all of the characters are back together, you begin to hope they will be soon, as you have, surprisingly, come to care about them during the course of the book.
In the end, I did like this book, as the anguish of Audrun over her missing family and missing child is tempered with the fact that she will never be able to leave Alisanos, either for her sake or the sake of her children, including her missing, just-born daughter. All of her family have been touched by Alisanos, and not just in ways visible to others. Their hearts, their souls, and their memories have all been affected. But will they be able to remain together?
I want to read more, and I want to read the first volume as well. This is good stuff.
Any human who wanders into Alisanos can never return, and most are never seen again. Those that are seen are transformed into something different, and the longer they spend within Alisanos, the greater the transformation. But Alisanos is not in some distant land. It lies slumbering within the human lands, and could awake at any time, changing its position by miles in mere moments, swallowing up those who felt... or thought... that they were safe.
That is exactly what happened to Audrun, Davyn and their children. While Davyn escaped Alisanos completely, the others vanished into its depths, along with some of the Karavaners they had taken refuge with. Now the Karavan is scattered and damaged, some dead, some vanished into Alisanos, and the rest trying desperately to survive without wandering into Alisanos themselves.
Audrun was several months pregnant with Davyn's child when she passed into Alisanos. She have birth to a normal, full-term child, but cannot escape the fact that her new child has been claimed by Alisanos. Rhuan, the guide who was protecting her, has many secrets to keep, not the least of which being that he is the son of one of the many Gods of Alisanos, but is also half-human. But he must reveal all his secrets to Audrun if both of them are going to be able to survive.
He isn't the only child of Alisanos who has had to conceal the truth of his heritage to survive. Brodhi, Rhuan's cousin, was also among those in the Karavan. Now, with Alisanos changed in position, it is up to him to bring news to the messenger's guild that he is a part of. And when the conquering lord of the lands assigns him to bring soldiers to the Karavaner's new home, he must find a way to deal with them without getting himself... or anyone else, killed.
Meanwhile, Ilona, hand-reader and true seer, must deal with a suit from Rhuan's father, who wants her to have another child for him to replace Rhuan, who he regards as ill-suited to follow him as a primary, or God, of Alisanos. Rhuan is in love with Ilona, and wants nothing more than to get back to her and propose to her, but he must keep Audrun and her child safe. And when she undoes his braids to clean wounds in his scalp, his heart sinks, for she has just declared herself married to him by so doing, no matter that she is already married to Davyn. Can she convince the Primaries to return her child to her after it is stolen, and to let her out of this strange relationship with Rhuan?
And Davyn, parted from his family by Alisanos, can he find them and bring them out of the depths of Alisanos? Or will be become the only human in a family of monsters?
I didn't realize this when I purchased the book, but this is actually the second book in what appears to be a series. The book starts with the aftermath of the storm that apparently woke Alisanos and in waking it, made it move. But everyone is left to deal with the aftermath of the storm, which shatters not only the peace formerly enjoyed in the land while Alisanos slumbered, but causes death and destruction in the forest and outside of it alike.
This was a somewhat confusing story at first, since there are so many widely scattered story threads involving different characters. But this mirrors the fact that there is much chaos in the aftermath of the storm. As the characters begin to link up, and the story begins to make more sense, it is like someone is braiding the storylines together into a cohesive whole. Though by the end of the book, not all of the characters are back together, you begin to hope they will be soon, as you have, surprisingly, come to care about them during the course of the book.
In the end, I did like this book, as the anguish of Audrun over her missing family and missing child is tempered with the fact that she will never be able to leave Alisanos, either for her sake or the sake of her children, including her missing, just-born daughter. All of her family have been touched by Alisanos, and not just in ways visible to others. Their hearts, their souls, and their memories have all been affected. But will they be able to remain together?
I want to read more, and I want to read the first volume as well. This is good stuff.
Daemons are Forever by Simon R. Green
Edward Drood is a member of the Drood Family, a family that has existed since before humanity got civilized, and serves as the protector of humanity. To assist them in this endeavor, each member of the family recieved a golden torc that could become armor. Armor to make them stronger, faster and invulnerable to harm. But Eddie, known as Shaman Bond to the outside world, discovered the price that the family was paying to receive the armor: they were sacrificing one of every set of twins born to the family to an otherworldly intelligence, who, in turn, gave the family its armor. In addition, the family had stopped being humanity's protectors, and become its controllers, blackmailing government officials into doing what the family wanted.
But Eddie put a stop to that, banishing the Heart that accepted the sacrifices, and making a deal with Strange, a far more benificent entity, to provide armor for the family. However, the disappearance of the torcs has thrown the family into chaos, and Eddie, with his girlfriend Molly, Witch of the Wild Wood, has determined to return his family to their roles as protectors of humanity. But he needs to find an enemy to take on, to show the enemies of his family that they are back, and they once more have armor.
He decides on a set of demons called the Loathly Ones, and recruits four outsiders to become tutors for the family: Subway Sue, a luck vampire, The Blue Fairy, a half-elf, mister Stab, a serial killer who was once Jack the Ripper, condemned to live forever with nothing but killing for the murders he once perpetrated, and Janissary Jane, a demon fighter who has lived longer than any other demon fighter in existence. The family trains with and listens to them, and Eddie gives out the first 50 new torcs to the family, then goes to the Nazca Plain to take on the structure that the Loathly Ones are building there.
But the mission, while successful, is also a failure. Most of the Droods in the attack are killed, and the family, naturally, blames Eddie. But Eddie has received the Merlin Glass from the Family armorer, and uses it to find the kind of military leader the family needs, that is related to the family. In the far future, it finds Giles Deathstalker, but he is too far in the future for the glass to reach. Instead, they must use an invention called the Time Train to reach him.
By the time they get him back, even though the time train could have gotten them back only a few months after they left, a year and a half has passed, and the Loathly Ones are close to their goal of bringing one of the elder gods to this world, which will result in the world's obliteration. They also discover that one of the Loathly Ones has infected Sebastian, one of the family, and been using him to spy on the Droods.
In fighting him, Molly is infected by the Loathly Ones, and now Eddie, Giles Deathstalker, and the rest of the Droods, must fight to throw the Loathly Ones back where they came from, allowing Humanity to live and be free. But can anything save Molly from her infection, or will she have to die as well?
I have long enjoyed Simon R. Green's books, from the "Hawk and Fisher" series to the more recent "Nightside" series. Eddie Drood was a peripheral character in the Nightside series, and he kept his membership as part of the Drood family to himself, and for good reason, as lots of people had good reason to hate the Droods. In this book, we find out more about the family, and are given another reason to dislike Eddie's family: They are the people who actually summoned the Loathly Ones to Earth, to fight against Hitler in World War Two. But even then, it is implied that there is a traitor in the family who pushed for the family to use them, when there were plenty of other, safer, saner alternatives.
Eddie is a study in contrasts. Much of the time, he is stuck in his family's way of doing things, even as he longs to change the family and what they are doing, and not to mention the way they are doing it. By the end of the book, though, he has shown that he is the best choice to lead the family, by finally putting an end to the Loathly Ones. And while he often comes across as autocratic and controlling, he truly has the best interests of his family at heart.
His girlfriend, Molly, is just as strange as he is, having recieved her powers from pacts with various forces, both good and evil. She is even more capricious than Eddie, but serves well as a foil to Eddie's more over the top impulses. And her infection at the end makes her more sympathetic, even as Eddie conceals the knowledge of her doomed state from her.
Even while I like the books of Simon R. Green, I had an awfully hard time getting into this book. Unlike his former heroes, Eddie is not as interesting or sympathetic as, say, John Taylor, his former hero from the "Tales of the Nightside" novels, and neither is his family. So while the book was enjoyable, I never really got invested in the story as I felt I should have. So, I'll recommend it, but with a caution, and look forward to more Nightside novels.
But Eddie put a stop to that, banishing the Heart that accepted the sacrifices, and making a deal with Strange, a far more benificent entity, to provide armor for the family. However, the disappearance of the torcs has thrown the family into chaos, and Eddie, with his girlfriend Molly, Witch of the Wild Wood, has determined to return his family to their roles as protectors of humanity. But he needs to find an enemy to take on, to show the enemies of his family that they are back, and they once more have armor.
He decides on a set of demons called the Loathly Ones, and recruits four outsiders to become tutors for the family: Subway Sue, a luck vampire, The Blue Fairy, a half-elf, mister Stab, a serial killer who was once Jack the Ripper, condemned to live forever with nothing but killing for the murders he once perpetrated, and Janissary Jane, a demon fighter who has lived longer than any other demon fighter in existence. The family trains with and listens to them, and Eddie gives out the first 50 new torcs to the family, then goes to the Nazca Plain to take on the structure that the Loathly Ones are building there.
But the mission, while successful, is also a failure. Most of the Droods in the attack are killed, and the family, naturally, blames Eddie. But Eddie has received the Merlin Glass from the Family armorer, and uses it to find the kind of military leader the family needs, that is related to the family. In the far future, it finds Giles Deathstalker, but he is too far in the future for the glass to reach. Instead, they must use an invention called the Time Train to reach him.
By the time they get him back, even though the time train could have gotten them back only a few months after they left, a year and a half has passed, and the Loathly Ones are close to their goal of bringing one of the elder gods to this world, which will result in the world's obliteration. They also discover that one of the Loathly Ones has infected Sebastian, one of the family, and been using him to spy on the Droods.
In fighting him, Molly is infected by the Loathly Ones, and now Eddie, Giles Deathstalker, and the rest of the Droods, must fight to throw the Loathly Ones back where they came from, allowing Humanity to live and be free. But can anything save Molly from her infection, or will she have to die as well?
I have long enjoyed Simon R. Green's books, from the "Hawk and Fisher" series to the more recent "Nightside" series. Eddie Drood was a peripheral character in the Nightside series, and he kept his membership as part of the Drood family to himself, and for good reason, as lots of people had good reason to hate the Droods. In this book, we find out more about the family, and are given another reason to dislike Eddie's family: They are the people who actually summoned the Loathly Ones to Earth, to fight against Hitler in World War Two. But even then, it is implied that there is a traitor in the family who pushed for the family to use them, when there were plenty of other, safer, saner alternatives.
Eddie is a study in contrasts. Much of the time, he is stuck in his family's way of doing things, even as he longs to change the family and what they are doing, and not to mention the way they are doing it. By the end of the book, though, he has shown that he is the best choice to lead the family, by finally putting an end to the Loathly Ones. And while he often comes across as autocratic and controlling, he truly has the best interests of his family at heart.
His girlfriend, Molly, is just as strange as he is, having recieved her powers from pacts with various forces, both good and evil. She is even more capricious than Eddie, but serves well as a foil to Eddie's more over the top impulses. And her infection at the end makes her more sympathetic, even as Eddie conceals the knowledge of her doomed state from her.
Even while I like the books of Simon R. Green, I had an awfully hard time getting into this book. Unlike his former heroes, Eddie is not as interesting or sympathetic as, say, John Taylor, his former hero from the "Tales of the Nightside" novels, and neither is his family. So while the book was enjoyable, I never really got invested in the story as I felt I should have. So, I'll recommend it, but with a caution, and look forward to more Nightside novels.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
By Schism Rent Asunder by David Weber
A thousand years before, Humanity was running from the alien Gbaba, who had wiped out not only the colonies that Earth had seeded amongst the stars, but their homeworld itself. To survive, the last remnant of humanity split off into seed colonies that would need to hide their incredible technology to keep the colonists safe from the Gbaba. One of the head scientists on the project for a particular seed colony intended to start a colony from the basics, and keep humanity free of technology by forbidding it to them, and wiping their memories of their former lives.
Langhorne was able to do this with the help of the other scientists, but he would never have allowed his own memory or that of the other scientists to be wiped. When he wanted to Lord it over the other colonists, known as Adams and Eves, and have them think of him and his fellow scientists as Archangels who ruled the church he'd created to keep the Adams and Eves in line, one of the scientists, Pei Shan-wei, rebelled against him, along with the scientists who were not entirely sanguine about the whole idea. A tremendous war was fought, and Pei lost, and was written into the book of Holy Writ as a figure akin to Satan.
Now, almost a thousand years later, the Church that Langhorne created is almost wholly corrupt, run by a secret body (secret to the worshippers of the church) called the Group of Four. The Church controls the world through proscriptions against certain kinds of technology and no land dares fight the power of the church.
However, one other thing survived the great war: a cybernetic body called a PICA, into which was loaded the personality and memories of a young woman named Nimue Alban. She is Pei Shan-wei's secret weapon to overthrow the body of the church and lift humanity to the stars once more.
Nimue had to take on a male persona, because men had far more privileged positions than women, most of whom spend their lives marrying and giving birth to children. With her cybernetic body, this was no problem, and she soon looked just like a man. She then searched for a place a little more open to change than the rest, a place where there was still some innovation being worked on, and settled on the island nation of Charis. Charis was a nation of merchants and shippers, and its location far from church lands mad it perfect to begin her campaign against the church.
But the church already has its own plans for Charis, for it had been a nation of innovators and free thinkers (as far as one could be under the rules of the church), and planned to simply detroy it, and all its people, as an example of what happens to those who push change too far. And when Nimue rescued the Crown Prince, Cayleb, from an attack, she became his bodyguard, presenting herself as a seijin, rather like a wandering martial-artist/philosopher, named Merlin Athrawes. Slowly insinuating herself into the corridors of power, she told Cayleb that she had "visions", including one of the attack she fought off, that could help both him and Charis. She soon proved this when she passed on information that increased the power of Charisian merchant ships and enabled them to increase manufacturing of high-quality goods to make the nation even richer.
She also passed along military information on how to build rifles and artillery pieces, knowing that the church was going to move against Charis in the near future. This was proven true when the church bribed and blackmailed five other nations into using their navies to attack Charis all at once in a massive convoy. But since Nimue was able to use tiny spy sattellites to spy on the entire world, she, in the guise of Merlin Athrawes, was able to spread the alarm. And the new ships Charis had been constructing took on the combined navies and won, at a place called Armageddon Reef. It was not without cost, though, as King Haaralhd, Cayleb's father, perished aboard the flagship of the fleet.
Now, Cayleb is King, and it is obvious that although he won the battle off Armageddon Reef, the Church will not give up attacking the island nation of Charis. Not all his people support him in his fight against the corrupt church, and these Loyalists are turning to acts of terrorism, helped along by agents of the Church. He needs allies, and he needs them quickly. But where can he turn for help?
Merlin has an idea, and the notion that Sharleyan, the Queen of the fellow Island nation of Chisholm, would make the perfect ally, not to mention wife, of Cayleb. Even though her nation was blackmailed into allying with the nation of Corisande, whose ruler, Hektor, was responsible for the death of her father, by the church, Cayleb has treated her only with courtesy He even returned the Chisholmian ships which survived the battle at Armageddon Reef to her nation. Now, he sends his most trusted advisor to her with a proposal of marriage.
Sharleyan, already wondering how her nation is going to survive the war between the Church and Charis, realizes that if the Church of God Awaiting can destroy Charis for no reason whatsoever, they can also do the same, to any other nation they desire. This frightens her, and her awareness of the rot afflicting the church also disgusts her. So when the proposal comes, she is more than ready to agree to the marriage without even having met Cayleb. When she accepts, she sails for Charis in the company of many of her advisors, leaving her most trusted advisor at home to administrate Chisholm while she is absent.
In the meantime, though, the church is not lying inactive. The former archbishop of Charis had been called back to Zion, Capital of the Church lands and home to the former home of the Archangels, now the premiere building of the church. Erayk Dynnys, the former ArchBishop of Charis, has been charged with Heresy. The Church will torture and execute him, but not severely, as long as he still supports them at the end. However, his faith has returned during his imprisonment, and when invited to speak before his death, instead of a confession, he speaks out on the rot within the church and is tortured to death most harshly. His wife and two sons, who have been hiding out within the capitol, escape and return to Charis.
Meanwhile, the Church seeks other ways to bring Charis down while they build another, better, larger navy to attack Charis. They attempt to have Charisian ships confiscated in the Kingdom of Dohlar, knowing that the Charisians prosper by means of all the trading they do, but the troops there botch the attack, turning it into a slaughter that engulfs both the Chisholm ships in port and the Dohlarian troops attempting to subdue them. While some of the Charisian ships get away, the survivors from the other ships are nearly massacred by the Dohlarian troops, egged on by the men from the Office of the Inquisition who accompanied them. Only fourteen Charisians survive to be taken into custody, and the church blames the slaughter on the Charisians, making it seem that they provoked the attack, but the Charisians are enraged by the news, and use part of their massive new fleet to blow the Dohlarian port section and gunnery batteries to bits with their new cannons, and ensuring that not a single building within two miles of the port survives still standing. While no one is to be killed, of course, it cannot be guaranteed that the destruction will be without bloodshed.
Back in Charis, Cayleb and Sharleyan have met and married, and turn their attention to Emerald, another island nation besieged by Charis. The ruler of Emerald, Narhman Baytz, has had his country surrounded by the Charisian fleet, cutting him off from any other nation. In addition, there is bad blood between the two nations because of Emerald's attempts to have Cayleb assassinated, twice. But Cayleb stretches out the palm of peace and has Emerald join the Empire of Charis, now consisting of Charis and Corisande. Nahrman is not killed, but will have to rule under the oversight of Cayleb and Sharleyan, and instead of being killed, he is installed as the director of the Intelligence service. Not thinking that he and his nation would ever come out of the conflict so well, Nahrman swears loyalty to Cayleb and Sharleyan, making the new Empire even stronger.
Next on Cayleb's agenda is Chisholm, and as he and his fleet sail towards another battle there, the Church prepares to put Charis under interdict, and excommunicate Cayleb and his advisors, bringing them one step closer to declaring Holy War for the first time in its history.
I really enjoyed this book, which mixes Sci-Fi with strong historical elements. Even though the novel is set in the far future, the historical feeling is there due to the lack of futuristic technology on the part of the nations doing the fighting, so you often get the feeling that you are reading something set sometime between the Renaissance and the Napoleonic Wars, in time, anyway. And the presence of Nimue/Merlin and her access to advanced technology, satellites, and so on barely impinges on the rest of the action.
And oh boy, is there action! Lots of naval battles, diplomatic maneuvering and churchy stuff abounds. But there is still plenty of non-action stuff to even it out. If I had any problem with the novel it's that it reminds me a bit too strongly of Weber's other space series, the Honor Harrington series, with noble titles and names just too closely paralleling those used in Honor Harrington for me. White Haven= Gray Lock, and so on and so forth. The other thing were the tricked out names of the character, and my mind always got busy translating them. So when I saw that the ruler of Emerald Island was Norman Bates (Nahrman Baytz), I completely lost my willing suspension of disbelief for disbelief of an entirely different sort.
On the other hand, the book is good. The story is well-told, exciting and more than keeps your interest with exciting action and suspense as you wonder how the Kingdom, now Empire, of Charis is going to survive. And the plot thread where you realize that Pei Shan-wei had other ways for knowledge to survive the great war she fought against her fellow scientists was amazing and enlightening, and provided a welcome explanation for why the Kingdom of Charis was always so innovative.
While the first book ended in the aftermath of a battle (Off Armageddon Reef), this book ends with Cayleb sailing off to another one, yet it is not a letdown, for both Kingdoms have been preparing for this, and I can't wait to read the next book. As the sides jockey uneasily towards conflict, what will be the outcome for the planet? Can Merlin and the Charisians win the war and restore peace, technology and culture to the planet before the Gababa find them and slay them all? Or will humanity continue to moulder away, protected from all they could be by the words of a single man who thought he knew best?
The answer to that is unknown, but I'll be waiting to read the answer, however long it takes!
Langhorne was able to do this with the help of the other scientists, but he would never have allowed his own memory or that of the other scientists to be wiped. When he wanted to Lord it over the other colonists, known as Adams and Eves, and have them think of him and his fellow scientists as Archangels who ruled the church he'd created to keep the Adams and Eves in line, one of the scientists, Pei Shan-wei, rebelled against him, along with the scientists who were not entirely sanguine about the whole idea. A tremendous war was fought, and Pei lost, and was written into the book of Holy Writ as a figure akin to Satan.
Now, almost a thousand years later, the Church that Langhorne created is almost wholly corrupt, run by a secret body (secret to the worshippers of the church) called the Group of Four. The Church controls the world through proscriptions against certain kinds of technology and no land dares fight the power of the church.
However, one other thing survived the great war: a cybernetic body called a PICA, into which was loaded the personality and memories of a young woman named Nimue Alban. She is Pei Shan-wei's secret weapon to overthrow the body of the church and lift humanity to the stars once more.
Nimue had to take on a male persona, because men had far more privileged positions than women, most of whom spend their lives marrying and giving birth to children. With her cybernetic body, this was no problem, and she soon looked just like a man. She then searched for a place a little more open to change than the rest, a place where there was still some innovation being worked on, and settled on the island nation of Charis. Charis was a nation of merchants and shippers, and its location far from church lands mad it perfect to begin her campaign against the church.
But the church already has its own plans for Charis, for it had been a nation of innovators and free thinkers (as far as one could be under the rules of the church), and planned to simply detroy it, and all its people, as an example of what happens to those who push change too far. And when Nimue rescued the Crown Prince, Cayleb, from an attack, she became his bodyguard, presenting herself as a seijin, rather like a wandering martial-artist/philosopher, named Merlin Athrawes. Slowly insinuating herself into the corridors of power, she told Cayleb that she had "visions", including one of the attack she fought off, that could help both him and Charis. She soon proved this when she passed on information that increased the power of Charisian merchant ships and enabled them to increase manufacturing of high-quality goods to make the nation even richer.
She also passed along military information on how to build rifles and artillery pieces, knowing that the church was going to move against Charis in the near future. This was proven true when the church bribed and blackmailed five other nations into using their navies to attack Charis all at once in a massive convoy. But since Nimue was able to use tiny spy sattellites to spy on the entire world, she, in the guise of Merlin Athrawes, was able to spread the alarm. And the new ships Charis had been constructing took on the combined navies and won, at a place called Armageddon Reef. It was not without cost, though, as King Haaralhd, Cayleb's father, perished aboard the flagship of the fleet.
Now, Cayleb is King, and it is obvious that although he won the battle off Armageddon Reef, the Church will not give up attacking the island nation of Charis. Not all his people support him in his fight against the corrupt church, and these Loyalists are turning to acts of terrorism, helped along by agents of the Church. He needs allies, and he needs them quickly. But where can he turn for help?
Merlin has an idea, and the notion that Sharleyan, the Queen of the fellow Island nation of Chisholm, would make the perfect ally, not to mention wife, of Cayleb. Even though her nation was blackmailed into allying with the nation of Corisande, whose ruler, Hektor, was responsible for the death of her father, by the church, Cayleb has treated her only with courtesy He even returned the Chisholmian ships which survived the battle at Armageddon Reef to her nation. Now, he sends his most trusted advisor to her with a proposal of marriage.
Sharleyan, already wondering how her nation is going to survive the war between the Church and Charis, realizes that if the Church of God Awaiting can destroy Charis for no reason whatsoever, they can also do the same, to any other nation they desire. This frightens her, and her awareness of the rot afflicting the church also disgusts her. So when the proposal comes, she is more than ready to agree to the marriage without even having met Cayleb. When she accepts, she sails for Charis in the company of many of her advisors, leaving her most trusted advisor at home to administrate Chisholm while she is absent.
In the meantime, though, the church is not lying inactive. The former archbishop of Charis had been called back to Zion, Capital of the Church lands and home to the former home of the Archangels, now the premiere building of the church. Erayk Dynnys, the former ArchBishop of Charis, has been charged with Heresy. The Church will torture and execute him, but not severely, as long as he still supports them at the end. However, his faith has returned during his imprisonment, and when invited to speak before his death, instead of a confession, he speaks out on the rot within the church and is tortured to death most harshly. His wife and two sons, who have been hiding out within the capitol, escape and return to Charis.
Meanwhile, the Church seeks other ways to bring Charis down while they build another, better, larger navy to attack Charis. They attempt to have Charisian ships confiscated in the Kingdom of Dohlar, knowing that the Charisians prosper by means of all the trading they do, but the troops there botch the attack, turning it into a slaughter that engulfs both the Chisholm ships in port and the Dohlarian troops attempting to subdue them. While some of the Charisian ships get away, the survivors from the other ships are nearly massacred by the Dohlarian troops, egged on by the men from the Office of the Inquisition who accompanied them. Only fourteen Charisians survive to be taken into custody, and the church blames the slaughter on the Charisians, making it seem that they provoked the attack, but the Charisians are enraged by the news, and use part of their massive new fleet to blow the Dohlarian port section and gunnery batteries to bits with their new cannons, and ensuring that not a single building within two miles of the port survives still standing. While no one is to be killed, of course, it cannot be guaranteed that the destruction will be without bloodshed.
Back in Charis, Cayleb and Sharleyan have met and married, and turn their attention to Emerald, another island nation besieged by Charis. The ruler of Emerald, Narhman Baytz, has had his country surrounded by the Charisian fleet, cutting him off from any other nation. In addition, there is bad blood between the two nations because of Emerald's attempts to have Cayleb assassinated, twice. But Cayleb stretches out the palm of peace and has Emerald join the Empire of Charis, now consisting of Charis and Corisande. Nahrman is not killed, but will have to rule under the oversight of Cayleb and Sharleyan, and instead of being killed, he is installed as the director of the Intelligence service. Not thinking that he and his nation would ever come out of the conflict so well, Nahrman swears loyalty to Cayleb and Sharleyan, making the new Empire even stronger.
Next on Cayleb's agenda is Chisholm, and as he and his fleet sail towards another battle there, the Church prepares to put Charis under interdict, and excommunicate Cayleb and his advisors, bringing them one step closer to declaring Holy War for the first time in its history.
I really enjoyed this book, which mixes Sci-Fi with strong historical elements. Even though the novel is set in the far future, the historical feeling is there due to the lack of futuristic technology on the part of the nations doing the fighting, so you often get the feeling that you are reading something set sometime between the Renaissance and the Napoleonic Wars, in time, anyway. And the presence of Nimue/Merlin and her access to advanced technology, satellites, and so on barely impinges on the rest of the action.
And oh boy, is there action! Lots of naval battles, diplomatic maneuvering and churchy stuff abounds. But there is still plenty of non-action stuff to even it out. If I had any problem with the novel it's that it reminds me a bit too strongly of Weber's other space series, the Honor Harrington series, with noble titles and names just too closely paralleling those used in Honor Harrington for me. White Haven= Gray Lock, and so on and so forth. The other thing were the tricked out names of the character, and my mind always got busy translating them. So when I saw that the ruler of Emerald Island was Norman Bates (Nahrman Baytz), I completely lost my willing suspension of disbelief for disbelief of an entirely different sort.
On the other hand, the book is good. The story is well-told, exciting and more than keeps your interest with exciting action and suspense as you wonder how the Kingdom, now Empire, of Charis is going to survive. And the plot thread where you realize that Pei Shan-wei had other ways for knowledge to survive the great war she fought against her fellow scientists was amazing and enlightening, and provided a welcome explanation for why the Kingdom of Charis was always so innovative.
While the first book ended in the aftermath of a battle (Off Armageddon Reef), this book ends with Cayleb sailing off to another one, yet it is not a letdown, for both Kingdoms have been preparing for this, and I can't wait to read the next book. As the sides jockey uneasily towards conflict, what will be the outcome for the planet? Can Merlin and the Charisians win the war and restore peace, technology and culture to the planet before the Gababa find them and slay them all? Or will humanity continue to moulder away, protected from all they could be by the words of a single man who thought he knew best?
The answer to that is unknown, but I'll be waiting to read the answer, however long it takes!
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