One of these things does not belong here:



Well, one of these things does not belong in a fantasy novel. Hint - it is small, electronic, and blue!

More on that later. So this is another one of many books...

A story about an orphaned girl, whose been tortured and basically given a rotten hand that's full of all jokers, most likely dealt by some sort of sleight of hand magician or something. Rough life. Blada-blada-blah. After mysteries are introduced and back stories told, she encounters a mysterious character who reveals she is "special" and, imagine that, has a unique power.

So as much as I hate to admit that this a FORMULA novel, I don't mind admitting that I LOVED it.

So yeah, it's AWE-some!

The reason these durn formulas exist is because they work. We like to read about special people, because we all like to hope that we are special too. The reality is that, while everyone is unique, we aren't all special. We don't all have superpowers or magical inclinations. Damn! It sucks. But we have to deal with it. What we don't have to do is read about it. Because let's face it, it dull to read about boring people. So I prefer not too.

Yelena and Valek are anything but dull. I'm was very impressed with Yelena. She nev-er plays the damsel in distress card, expects anyone to rescue her or even to just help her. She takes responsibility for her past and future actions, accepting punishment when she has to and planning ahead when she begins to have options.

When Valek enters the story, it isn't blatantly-hit-you-over-the-head-obvious that he will end up being a love interest. The relationship develops slowly. It simmers. He isn't the perfect boyfriend, over-achiever type. Yet he isn't the unpredictable and unreliable bad boy. He's mysterious and inscrutable. Makes you wonder what he's hiding with that quiet confidence. In other words: mmmmmm yea-ah!

The technology and culture can be confusing. There is talk of a 10 tiered wedding cake, switchblades, and even a TRAMPOLINE. But they use candles and covered wagons? Like a mish mash of culture. Can you even make a trampoline without modern equipment? Then again, they do have magic.

I realize this is just nit picking. However, unrelated metaphors or descriptions bother me because it takes you out of the story, out of the fantasy realm, and brings you back to Earth. And Earth is all well and good when I'm here. But when I'm reading, I prefer the blissful ignorance of the fantasy world.

The main reason I brought this is up is because I was happily reading along, despite the 10 tiered wedding cake and switchblade references bothering me; I stuck with it until the trampoline. I was so confused about whether or not they would actually be able to MAKE a trampoline with their level of technology, that I felt compelled to stop reading and look up the history of the trampoline, which by our standard wasn't actually invented and named until 1936, after the onset of automobiles and electricity. Regardless, I think a more accurate description for the culture would have been a trapeze tight net, if the passage was even necessary at all.

It disturbed me so much I actually had a dream about it. The characters in the book all had modern equipment like lightbulbs and cars but they completely ignored all of it and went about their business. Sorry about the long gripe but I have OCD when it comes to literature.

I don't like anything in my books that isn't supposed to be there, including names written inside the cover, book plates, highlighting, and trampolines in fantasy novels!

Imagine if Samwise and Frodo had stumbled upon a trampoline on their journey!? Uh, no. It's funny to picture but it just doesn't work in the context of the book.

Why not just give Frodo a gold medallion, some extra bling, and put him on a professional basketball team? Well, what do you know?



Anyway, there are already too many factors measuring into my reader's ADD. I get pulled away easily enough as it is, and I shouldn't need to worry about whether or not they should have trampolines. It was a completely unnecessary and distracting fiasco. But there is still a bright side: I feel like I learned something new.

Despite my gripes, I loved it. The characters really got into my head. It is actually unusual for me to dream about characters from a book. Usually, my mind is inventing it's own bizarre hogwash, so the dream is actually a compliment to the author and her character development.

Maria's prose is concise and creative. Apart from the aforementioned, her descriptions and metaphors are usually spot on and beautifully constructed. The characters are fully developed, each with backstories, subplots and their own unique quirks.

There's Janco, a military man who trains Yelena. He also rhymes while fighting - and I mean it. Anybody wanna peanut? And then there's Ari, Janco's best bud who also helps with the training. I really loved the scenes with these two. They're a breath of fresh air. There's also Rand, the gourmet chef addicted to gambling. I felt for him...at first. There's Reyad, resident jerk, whose apparent weakness is (view spoiler)[the phrase "Be gone". Really? That's it? Also, I saw the antidote mystery coming, but not the one involving the Commander. Never would have guessed! (hide spoiler)]

I'm excited for the sequels and will probably be going to get Magic Study very soon! I really hope all her books are as good, because they all look so damn interesting. Definitely will keep reading them. And I apologize for both my OCD and ADD. Great combo, huh? Fortunately, they both seem to apply mostly to reading and not necessarily all aspects of my life. *mischievous grin*

And now, I can't get the image of Frodo and Samwise bouncing on a trampoline out of my head!!!! Aaaaaaaah! Oh, the humanity! Or rather, hobbitmanity!?! ROFL.

My review for the second book: Magic Study

My review for the third book: Fire Study