Sarah Jamila Stevenson's Blog: Blog - Sarah Jamila Stevenson, page 26
January 15, 2018
Happy New Year--and Happy Writing!
Words of wisdom from Lawrence Ferlinghetti's typewriter in the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., augmented with a few extra for those of us who need them.
May your 2018 be the best writing year yet!
XO,
Sarah and Tanita
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
December 21, 2017
Thursday Review: THE BOOK OF DUST by Philip Pullman
Synopsis
: This was one of my "waiting on" titles of 2017—the His Dark Materials trilogy is one of my favorites (and one I wish I'd read as an actual young adult), and I've enjoyed other books by Pullman as well. The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage is the first in another trilogy, it seems, and it's a prequel to the adventures of Lyra in His Dark Materials. To my mind, it was worth the wait. This story also concerns Lyra, but she isn't the main character this time. In fact, she's just a baby—a mysterious baby, as it turns out, who is being cared for by the nuns of a village priory outside Oxford. In that village lives our main character: a boy named Malcolm, whose parents run an inn. Malcolm lives at the inn, so all kinds of interesting gossip reaches his ears, and thus it is perhaps not such a huge surprise that he witnesses the unfortunate death of a spy and ends up with the spy's secret message in his very own hands…
Observations : I don't want to give away too much of the story, because it's too delightful to watch it unfold (plus you can always read the cover blurb). I will say that I was happy to return to this alternate world very like our own, and root for a hero with curiosity, tenacity, and an innate sense of right. Malcolm is truly good, and his love for the baby Lyra and determination to keep her safe drive the story and keep the reader hanging on every word.
Of course, any story that involves good vs. evil would be incomplete without a truly bad baddie, and Pullman has a talent for pushing just the right buttons to make the reader really uncomfortable—the enemy here takes the form of a truly frightening individual, and the philosophical underpinnings of WHY he is evil are possibly even more frightening.
Conclusion : I can safely say that, despite a few quibbles here and there with the style, I enjoyed this almost as much as the original trilogy, and sank gratefully and willingly back into the vivid world of Lyra's Oxford. Now I'm anxious for the second book…
I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library's ebook collection. You can find THE BOOK OF DUST: LA BELLE SAUVAGE by Philip Pullman at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
November 2, 2017
Happy NaNoWriMo 2017!
Hey, it's November, and that means it's National Novel Writing Month! As per usual for me lately, I don't even have a wisp of a dream of a hope of participating--but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE NaNoWriMo. I've been a participant (and a completer) a handful of times in the past, and I'm here to encourage you to GO FOR IT if you can. You never know what greatness might occur; what jewels in the rough; what bezoars in the poo, or whichever metaphor you prefer.Don't believe me? Well, two of my three PUBLISHED novels started during NaNoWriMo. I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as either a panster or a plotter, but the evidence seems to tip me into the former category, doesn't it? When you let the words flow, sometimes that's what you need to find your voice and loosen your imagination.
So. No excuses (unless you're like me and have enough work this month for at least two months' worth of stress)--grab your computer and get going!
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
October 26, 2017
Throwback Thursday: Sarah as Ramona
Sarah, Age 6, and Ramona, Age 8I adored the Ramona books, but I also saw her as this kind of trickster figure without any impulse control. Reading about her exploits left me in awe and cringing at the same time. I guess that was the idea--if, for instance, I could READ about Ramona cracking an egg all over her head during lunch at school, I wouldn't actually DO it. Of course, I would never have done such a thing as a kid, and obviously the very idea was alarming enough that I remember that scene TO THIS VERY DAY.
Ramona is still a classic, which amazes me; but there are so many wonderful kids' chapter books being written and illustrated now, too--I admit to being out of touch with reading for that age group, but I always rely on my work as the Cybils blog co-editor to keep me abreast of some of the really fun-looking books outside of my preferred comfort zone. On that note, the Cybils blog reviews have begun running, and will continue throughout the award period (that is, until the winners are announced in February), so make sure to swing by and check out reviews of the nominated titles. I started by excerpting a review of easy reader King & Kayla and the Case of the Secret Code, and you can check that out here.
Meanwhile, Tanita is already queuing up reviews of Cybils Speculative Fiction nominees, so it's going to be fun times around here as I read her assessments and frantically start adding to my TBR pile.
No wonder we love fall so much...
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
October 9, 2017
Monday Miscellanea: A Blog Tour, the Cybils, and More...
...not MUCH more. But more!First of all, today is the second day of the blog tour for Sara Lewis Holmes' newest book The Wolf Hour--go check out her guest post/interview at Charlotte's Library for a peek at some favorite quotes from the book. Edited to add: Also don't miss Maureen Eicher's post at By Singing Light - reposted today - as well! (And if you missed our interview with Sara, you can read it right here.)
Next, if you haven't nominated books for the Cybils Awards yet, there's still plenty of time! Nominations are open through the 15th for the general public, and after that there's a submission window Oct. 16-25 for authors, publishers, and publicists--check out the info on that here.
Lastly, have you registered for Kidlitcon yet? I'll be on vacation with my mom, but YOU could be there--and the program is amazing with a stellar lineup of authors and bloggers, and panels on topics as diverse as Children's Books for Reading Development, Sports Books for the Unathletic, and Immigrants and Refugees in Kids' and YA Books.
That's it for this fall Monday...and fall is definitely in the air, bringing cooler breezes and wafting pollen into my sinuses. But it's still my fave season, sneezes and all.
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
October 2, 2017
Cybils Nominations Are Open!
Book lovers! It is that time of year! The time when we all hustle over to the Cybils website to nominate our favorite children's and YA publications of the past year for the 2017 Awards!
If you're new to the Cybils Awards, here's a brief intro:
The Cybils Awards aims to recognize the children’s and young adult authors and illustrators whose books combine the highest literary merit and popular appeal. If some la-di-dah awards can be compared to brussels sprouts, and other, more populist ones to gummy bears, we’re thinking more like organic chicken nuggets. We’re yummy and nutritious.The nominations are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC (that's YOU!) from October 1-15, and you can nominate one title for each category. There are lots of categories and we really want to be able to recognize and plug the best books of the year for ALL genres and age ranges. Unfortunately, Audiobooks is on hiatus this year, and you'll find a couple of other minor changes, but with more than 10 categories, there are plenty of opportunities to send worthy book suggestions to our Round 1 judging panels. You can get all the relevant information right here.
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
September 28, 2017
Thursday Review: LITTLE MONSTERS by Kara Thomas
Synopsis
: Kacey Young has only been living with her dad and stepfamily for a year or so, after escaping from an unpleasant home life with her mother. Things are still delicately balanced, but it feels like she's finally found a real home—her stepbrother Andrew has become one of her best friends, and she's finally won over her 13-year-old half-sister Lauren. Kacey's friends, though, are another matter entirely. At the beginning of the book, it seems like Kacey, Bailey, and Jade have become an inseparable trio, even if Bailey's always suggesting ways for them to get into trouble in their small Wisconsin town. Kacey goes along with it—even if she'd rather not, sometimes. And that's where we see the cracks start to form in their seemingly perfect unit. One night, Bailey and Jade go to a raging party without inviting Kacey along…but Bailey never comes home afterward.
In this page-turning thriller, everyone's got something to hide—and the person who's got the most to hide is sometimes the one you least suspect.
Observations : As with a lot of my reviews of suspense novels, I've tried to keep this one brief to avoid spoilers. But I can say a few things! One of the intriguing structural choices for this story was the decision to alternate sections from Kacey's first-person viewpoint with diary excerpts from another character's point of view. This sets up an immediate opposition and tension, with the reader wondering who's hiding what, and who they can really trust as a narrator. It kept me sort of suspicious of everyone until the last few chapters. In a way, that distanced me from Kacey as the primary narrator of the story, but not so much that I didn't want to keep following along.
The fact that all the major players DO have something to hide makes this an intriguing and gripping story—obviously, in a good whodunit, lots of possible motives are at play, and if they're woven in well, it keeps the reader guessing. And in this one, Kacey's murky past keeps her right in the center of things, including the suspicions of everyone around her.
Conclusion : I often turn to a good thriller when I'm looking for a fast read that's immersive and emotionally tense, to distract me from stress and busy-ness. This fit the bill perfectly and, as a fun bonus, there's a mixed-race Asian American character! (Though his identity was not really explored in the story. Pretty sure it would be a THING in a small town. Oh well.) Recommended for suspense fans.
I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library's ebook collection. You can find LITTLE MONSTERS by Kara Thomas at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
September 25, 2017
Starring Sara Lewis Holmes
It's Day One of The Wolf Hour blog tour!
Welcome, my little lambs, to the Puszcza. It's an ancient forest, a keeper of the deepest magic, where even the darkest fairy tales are real. Here, a Girl is not supposed to be a woodcutter, or be brave enough to walk alone. Here, a Wolf is not supposed to love to read, or be curious enough to meet a human. And here, a Story is nothing like the ones you read in books, for the Witch can make the most startling tales come alive. All she needs is ...
A Girl from the village,
A Wolf from the forest,
& A Woodcutter with a nice, sharp axe.
So take care, little lambs, if you step into these woods. For in the Puszcza, it is always as dark as the hour between night and dawn -- the time old folk call the Wolf Hour. If you lose your way here, you will be lost forever, your Story no longer your own. You can bet your bones.
And with a bit of a shiver, come in! We bid you Welcome!
Sara Lewis Holmes has been a very dear friend since 2007, when Tanita joined she and five other women in a year-long poetry challenge which culminated in a National Poetry Month Crown of Sonnets way back in 2008. This poetry effort then turned from a trial experiment for one poem into a yearly, year-long delight of poetry and wordplay. We expected good things when we reviewed Sara's second book, and when Sara joined our writing group, we were pleased to indulge ourselves in talking craft and sharing stories. Today, we celebrate the release day of Sara's fourth book, and we're excited to tell you all about it! Well... all about it within reason, anyway. We're focusing on writing details, and the craft of fiction today, and working hard to present NO SPOILERS here, so you may find this interview vague on points of plot. -- No worries, though! You'll have all the plot you'd like when you pick up your own copy. So, without further introduction, we're thrilled to welcome author and poet Sara to the Wonderland Treehouse!
Finding Wonderland: Hi Sara! Let's get right into it - THE WOLF HOUR is a "Once upon a time" type of tale, but stories don't always actually start that way for writers. What was the starting point of this story for you? What initially inspired you to write this book, and which character(s) sprang to mind first?
Sara Lewis Holmes: I’m more like a magpie than a spider when it comes to story. I don’t spin a carefully symmetric web of plot and character out of my guts, as much as I would love to say I do. Rather, I collect shiny baubles over the years, hoarding and obsessing over them until I figure out how to make a story out of all the strange beauty.
For THE WOLF HOUR, those glittering pieces included: a conversation with a stranger about why some stringed instruments howl when played, the image of a child clinging to a tree rather than be forced to lessons, a rotund china pig given to me by my mother-in-law, and a former piano teacher whose entire house bloomed with pink.
Those elements were in my magpie’s nest of a journal but it took an encounter with a wolf to set them free. Not a real wolf, although I’d seen one, in a carefully fenced wolf park, and listened to one howl in a chilling YouTube video, and read about many in both fairy tale and fact—-but one whose voice stole into the forest of words crowding my head, and told me that if I wanted to write about wolves, he would be my guide. His name was Martin, and he had been raised by books, and knew everything about everything—-except the human heart. I could not help but love him, and be terrified for his future, too.
Finding Wonderland: Okay, we LOVE that you based this story on actual items that you were GIVEN! Story magpies! How cool a concept! So, let's talk readers --
Despite their often bleak or violent content, fairytales are traditionally seen as stories intended for children. What's the optimum age of your target reader for THE WOLF HOUR? Who is this book for? Who, if anyone, is it not for?
Sara Lewis Holmes: Age and readership questions are hard. Do you like to shiver and chew your lip ragged as you read? Do you like a story that twists and turns and doesn’t go where you expect it to? Do you enjoy a story that KNOWS it’s a story, and might even challenge you to think about your own Story and whether you like your place in it? If you do, even if you aren’t in the 8-12 age range for this book…read on!
Finding Wonderland: Ah. So, what books are for you? What are a few of your favorite fairytales, and why do you love them?
SLH: East of the Sun and West of the Moon has to be the most lovely title ever for a fairy tale. And in it, the girl rescues her prince, instead of the other way round. Also, there’s a princess with a nose that is “three ells” long! I’m also fond of works that focus on the told nature of stories, such as William J. Brooke’s three part TELLER OF TALES book series, as well as the 2000 American/British TV miniseries, ARABIAN NIGHTS, adapted by Peter Barnes. Like a hall of mirrors, these “stories within stories” crack open my view of the world. Finally, I’d add that all fairy tales are, to a fault, weirdly defiant of the world’s conventions. They are like poetry in that way, and I love their wildness.
Wonderland: I'm going to have to look up what how long an 'ell' is!
Often, setting is itself a character in a novel, acting as an active metaphor. Would you say that you consciously, or unconsciously used THE WOLF HOUR'S setting to speak to the reader? Do you consider this novel a "fairytale mashup”?
SLH: The Wolf Hour, in legend, is the hour between darkness and dawn; it’s the hour more people are said to be born into this world and more people leave it than any other —-and, if you are like me, you are often awake then, wondering if you will ever get your Story right. So I would say that part of the “setting” of my novel deals with such fairy tale time—-how twisty it is, and how “once upon a time” can stretch to many, many days and nights, and how being in charge of your own time means being in charge of your own story. Easy to say, difficult beyond measure to do.
The other part of the setting is the deep, dark forest. In Polish, the word for such a place is “Puszcza,” and yes, I absolutely wanted the reader to feel that such a place was both desirable and dangerous. I wanted the reader to feel its call, as Magia does, and to discover the Stories that dwell there. I think it’s those various Stories that make me say THE WOLF HOUR is not a re-telling but “a fairy tale mashup.” It’s a story about the power of stories, and how everyone tries to cast you in the story that is easiest for them to hear—-but not necessarily the one you want to live in. How do you fight that?
Wonderland: How one combats someone trying to recast their Story is something few tales look at quite so directly, so this is very interesting.
Those of us who know you through your work know that you delight in Shakespearean stories, and acting as a tool for self-understanding. How did your appreciation for the Bard and your interest and skill in theater help to shape this novel?
SLH: Reading Shakespeare taught me that disguise is uncommonly common, death is a persistent beast, and love is found in unexpected places. His plays are filled with a more than a touch of unbelievable—-a trait I admire in novels such as COSMIC by Frank Cottrell Boyce, THE WHITE DARKNESS by Geraldine McCaughrean, and NATION by Terry Pratchett—-not to mention most fairy tales. The Bard was also a master of the “story within a story” trope, which I find irresistible, as I mentioned earlier, and he absolutely inspired me to make up words as needed, and to not be afraid to pair utter despair with low comedy. (I think of the pigs in THE WOLF HOUR as a villainous take on his “rude mechanicals.”)
Finally, I am ever grateful to the brilliant artists at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA, who hold a Shakespeare camp for adults every summer and stage the most compelling theater I know. Their work informs mine in ways I cannot explain, but I do know that they remind me that Magic Happens. Every Day.
Wonderland: All hail the magic, indeed. We never quite know how it works... but sometimes, it's enough that it does.
So, softball question: If you could write yourself into a fairytale, which one would it be? Would you prefer a role which gave you Power or Guile?
SLH: Puss in Boots is a master class in Guile, or How to Make Something from Nothing. As a writer, I identify. However, if I had to pick some boots to fill, I prefer seven-league boots. The power to travel great distances without burning carbon fuel would be both practical and fun.
Wonderland: Ooh, good answer. Definitely, we writers must use all we've all got to get ourselves as far along as we can!
So, while you studied the Bard, my studies were in 19th c. British and American lit... and the 19th century canon uses a lot of intrusive narrator/direct address authorial comment to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the characters, but authorial insertion is largely absent from modern novels. What prompted you to use that 'Dear reader' sort of narrative technique in THE WOLF HOUR? Do you think more novels would benefit from that sort of "breaking the fourth wall" technique, in order to allow readers to come closer to the action?
SLH: My editor, Cheryl Klein, and I talked at length about the challenge of signaling to a reader HOW to read this story. I needed to convey that all was not going to proceed as normal, and that the path ahead would be scary and often double-back on itself before coming to a conclusion. After all, the novel is ABOUT how to find and live in your own story…and how unbelievably hard that can be. So we decided that a direct reader address would set the right tone for the three-stranded tale that would follow, and that the voice would re-occur at the beginning of each section, to both invite the reader forward, and to chillingly warn them of the darkness ahead. This is a choice, obviously, that most novels don’t need, so I wouldn’t recommend it often. (I found it enormously fun to write, however.)
Wonderland: Many American kids have never heard of Scottish author Andrew Lang's 12-volume "Coloured" Fairy Books. Which one is your favorite? Do you own them all? How were you introduced to them?
SLH: The only one I own is The Green Fairy Book, and it sits on my desk along with my other favorite fairy/fantasy books. I was introduced to the Lang Fairy Books by finding them mysteriously lined up in the non-fiction section of the children’s room of Lawson McGee Library in Knoxville, TN. I mostly went to the non-fiction section to hunt down books on magic tricks and codes and secret languages, so it was a surprise to find stories here, too. Especially stories that couldn’t be true: tales of iron shoes that tortured their owners; of Winds who offered you soaring rides along with their down-to-earth advice; and of children who were loved less than coin shine and left to die. Casual cruelty and stunning beauty lived side by side. Animals and people fought and slept and morphed from one form to the other. Nothing made sense, and everything did. And most of all, these tales seemed to offer a glimpse into the dangers of “adult” life. I was utterly fascinated.
Wonderland: I can see why! So, from language hints, we can tell The Wolf Hour takes place in a specific geographical setting, in a fairytale Poland. First, what prompted your fairytale Eastern European setting, especially now? Additionally, how did you select the stories that you used, and what prompted you to choose them?
SLH: Originally, the humans in the novel were a default English family, but I questioned if that was laziness on my part. Stories are everywhere, and even though most of our American fairy tales come to us filtered through Western European tellings, stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs are told the world over. So why not draw on my Polish heritage and research and feature a fairy-tale Polish family encountering these tales instead—-although perhaps in a form they hadn’t seen before? (Miss Grand, however, DOES retain her English name, which might tell the reader a thing or two about the specific tellings of the Stories she controls.)
Additionally, when I chose the Stories to “mashup,” I was looking for those tales which featured a Wolf. (To my surprise, there were not as many as you would think.) And then I let those stories “live” in the forest—-in the Polish Puszcza—-where they could cause trouble for Magia and the townfolk of Tysiak—-at least until they could confront those tales, and face up to their own hunger in creating them. Hunger, by the way, is a big theme in the book—-hunger for what you can’t have, hunger for the truth, hunger for safety, and hunger for home. (You see now why I needed stories in which a Wolf swallows people and Pigs employ a giant cooking pot?)
Wonderland: Ah! What a fun way to explore your own heritage and metaphor at the same time. SO, to wrap up our time with a cheater question - and I'm kind of cheating, because AF and I are in your writing group... but, every writer comes to the end of the first (few hundred) drafts with bits of the story that end up on the cutting room floor. What were the bits of THE WOLF HOUR which you needed to cut that you wish you could have kept?
SLH:In an early draft, I had one more fairy tale that was active in the Puszcza—-that of the Little Lambs whose Mother tells them to keep the door locked while she is away. Then the Wolf comes to their cottage, and to fool the wooly wee ones into letting him in, he dips his paws in white flour and pretends to be her. Holy Horrors, that fairy tale scared me when I was a kid! I still remember the picture of the rangy wolf with his snowy paws on the door’s transom to this day. But…the novel didn’t need another cast of characters, so those Lambs only make a teeny-tiny appearance now---for when the Story voice addresses the readers, this is its endearment for them: my Little Lambs. I hope we will all be frightened (and saved) together.
"Fairy tales are precarious places for girls and wolves. In a brash, dazzling break with tradition, Sara Lewis Holmes arms a woodcutter's daughter and a sensitive wolf pup with a means of defense against the old familiar roles that threaten to swallow them whole. The story of how they come together to rewrite fate is bewitchingly delicious; you'll gobble it up." -- Christine Heppermann, author of Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty
Thank you, Sara, for your quirky, funny, thoughtful comments, and thank you, Readers, for joining us on the first stop of The Wolf Hour tour!
Friends, you do not want to miss this dreamy, scary, funny, unusual retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs, all tied up in a very Sara sort of collision. Readers who enjoyed last year's THE GIRL THAT DRANK THE MOON may find this is right up their alley. Stay tuned for more chat with Sara Lewis Holmes through October at Charlotte's Library, with Maureen at By Singing Light, with Laura at Writing the World for Kids, with Tricia at The Miss Rumphius Effect & Liz Scanlon's blog.
Images used in this interview courtesy of the author. You can find THE WOLF HOUR by Sara Lewis Holmes at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
September 18, 2017
Monday Miscellany, a.k.a I Don't Have a New Review
I did run across a couple of items of interest, though, which I thought I would share. First, the program for this year's Kidlitosphere Conference in Hershey, PA has been finalized, with a ton of fantastic authors and presenters including keynote Rachel Renee Russell, author of Dork Diaries, Jordan Sonnenblick, Tracey Baptiste, Laura Atkins, and many many more. Second, in the process of desperately googling ways to make my novel notes more coherent, I found a really cool resource for writers who use Evernote (I don't, but after this I'm thinking about it!). In honor of last year's NaNoWriMo, the Evernote blog did a post about several writer-oriented templates, from character worksheets to plotting outlines. They look really fun to play around with for those who a) use Evernote and b) like to fiddle with their notes and stuff.
As per usual for me these days, I don't think NaNoWriMo is in my future this year, due to work-related circumstances, but I am starting a new project...which is also good news!
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
September 11, 2017
Monday Review: RED QUEEN Trilogy by Victoria Aveyard
Good covers, too
Synopsis
: I was drawn to Victoria Aveyard's trilogy--Red Queen, Glass Sword, and King's Cage--because I saw some echoes of the project I'm currently working on and was immediately intrigued. In the world of protagonist Mare Barrow, there are two types of people, Reds and Silvers; and the color of your blood determines your worth, your skills, and your fate. It's a world that is very possibly our own world, drastically changed on a fundamental level by centuries of destruction and eventual recovery. But the focus is not on the past here, but on the grim present, where those with Silver blood rule the Reds and subjugate them with hereditary powers: abilities to manipulate metal, to control fire, even to conquer minds. As regular red-blooded humans, Mare and her family live a rather hardscrabble existence—not on the level of the Hunger Games, but not too far off. Young people who aren't able to land a job or apprenticeship are drafted into the legions of their country of Norta and sent to the border to die fighting the neighboring Lakelanders. When Mare's best friend Kilorn finds out he's to be drafted, her whole life feels like it's falling apart—she's already lost brothers to the war, and her father was left without the use of his legs.
After Mare is sent to the Silver capital in a job as a servant, she is hoping to help keep her family safe and fed, but instead, something completely unexpected happens: she finds out she has some powers of her own. And she might not be the only one. It's a discovery that could tear apart the fabric of their strictured society—but not if the Silvers can help it.
Observations
: The synopsis above is how the story starts, but these events set in motion a movement of Reds that fuels the entire trilogy. Mare is whisked into a world of Silver nobility and made into a pawn for multiple sides of the struggle, while still hoping to keep her family safe. Not only that, she discovers that the Silvers themselves aren't universally amoral and evil—and her feelings for a Silver prince make things particularly complicated. Mare's story ramps up throughout the second and third books, and we find out that the struggles between Red and Silver aren't confined to Norta—things are changing throughout the world as they know it. This trilogy is definitely a sweeping epic on a grand scale, and the author doesn't ignore complex social ramifications and the interplay between countries, even if the action is primarily focused on one locale.
It's really impressive and tightly plotted, but the characters and their struggles remain central—the books don't get hijacked by the speculative fiction elements, which are wonderful and intriguing but (appropriately) are ultimately less important than the all-too-human motivations and emotions of the players themselves. These players—Mare, her allies, her enemies—nobody is wholly good or evil, and that makes for a believable and very gripping story with a lot of twists and turns. Conclusion : Of course I WILL recommend this to fans of The Hunger Games, but also to any fans of postapocalyptic or dystopian fiction, as well as fantasy about paranormal powers. The blurb on Amazon calls it Graceling meets The Selection, so I guess there's that, too.
I received my copy of this book courtesy of my library's ebook collection. You can find RED QUEEN , GLASS SWORD , and KING'S CAGE by Victoria Aveyard at an online e-tailer, or at a real life, independent bookstore near you!
This work is copyrighted material. All opinions are those of the writer, unless otherwise indicated. All book reviews are UNSOLICITED, and no money has exchanged hands, unless otherwise indicated. Please contact the weblog owner for further details.
Blog - Sarah Jamila Stevenson
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