Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 87

Making lists. Come play along!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in this neck of the woods and I’m too busy/lazy to write up a review right now. I figured I’d do something fun an interactive instead.

So, here’s a little questionnaire I’m writing up for all of you lovely people to answer. Why? Because I want my to-be-read pile to be big enough to take over all the empty space in the continental United States.

Here you go. Enjoy!

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1. When I say, “What are your top three favorite/best books you’ve read this year? No, they don’t have to have been published this year, just read this year.” What springs to your mind?

2. Finish this sentence: The world would be a horrible place if _____________________ wasn’t writing books.

3. If I could live in one fantasy/SciFi world, it would be _______________________ and here is the reason why: (insert reason/s).

4. What book does everyone need to stop whatever they are doing to read RIGHT NOW?

5. What is the most emotionally jarring SpecFic book you’ve ever read?

6. Name a book/author that is tragically underrated that I need to read and talk about.

7. Name a “classic” SpecFic book that I should read…. an oldie, but always goodie.

8. What soon-to-be-released book are you most excited about?

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Dazzle me, my darling readers! Give me lists that make my library hate me. Let’s discuss the books we love and the reasons we love them. Let’s give thanks to the authors who spend so much time giving us the literature that has illuminated our imaginations so brilliantly.

EARLY REVIEW | Dreamwalker – C.S. Friedman

About the Book

All her life Jessica Drake has dreamed of other worlds, some of them similar to her own, others disturbingly alien. She never shares the details with anyone, save her younger brother Tommy, a compulsive gamer who incorporates some aspects of Jessica’s dreams into his games. But now someone is asking about those dreams…and about her. A strange woman has been watching her house. A visitor to her school attempts to take possession of her dream-inspired artwork.

Why?

As she begins to search for answers it becomes clear that whoever is watching her does not want her to learn the truth. One night her house catches on fire, and when the smoke clears she discovers that her brother has been kidnapped. She must figure out what is going on, and quickly, if she and her family are to be safe.

Following clues left behind on Tommy’s computer, determined to find her brother and bring him home safely, Jessica and two of her friends are about to embark on a journey that will test their spirits and their courage to the breaking point, as they must leave their own world behind and confront the source of Earth’s darkest legends, as well as the terrifying truth of their own secret heritage.

400 pages (hardcover)

Expected publication: February 4, 2014

Published by DAW

Author’s webpage

This book was sent for me to review by the author.

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First and foremost, you should know that this is an EARLY review. This book isn’t actually going to be published until February, 2014.

Secondly, this is a new ballgame for Friedman. If you’re looking for another Coldfire Trilogy, you should move on. This isn’t Coldfire, or Magister. This is something new and absolutely different, and it should be judged as such.

Dreamwalker really is something absolutely new and different by one of my favorite authors. Before now, as far as I know, Friedman never has written young adult novels. I know and love her books because she is so fantastic at writing antiheroes and dark fantasy in general. I can understand why she is nervous about a young adult release. A fan base that loves her for her dark fantasy and dark, edgy characters, might find Dreamwalker hard to digest.

Honestly, Friedman fans, if you can handle Tad Williams turning from epic fantasy to urban fantasy, you can handle Friedman writing young adult. You still have all the Friedman goodness here – like the carefully paced and intricate plot, the well-developed characters, and the fantastic prose. It’s just a different flavor.

One of the things that makes Dreamwalker a bit different than most other young adult books I’ve read, and probably a huge reason why I enjoyed it so much, was the maturity with which Friedman told the story. Jessica Drake might be sixteen, but she’s also basically raising her thirteen-year-old brother and has had to make difficult adult decisions for a few years. She thinks like an adult, even though she’s in high school. She’s capable of holding a conversation without fixating on the hot guy in biology class. That’s a massive accomplishment for any young adult author and I appreciate the fact that Friedman seems to realize that even though her characters are young, they still can function like normal human beings.  The ability to tell a story that focuses on teenagers, but portray them as something more than mindless, hormone-driven, sex crazed, warm bodies is what I look for in my young adult books, and Friedman does that well.

Jessica Drake is an interesting character. There’s plenty of teenaged angst in the book, but once you figure out what Jessica is angsty about, you’ll realize that  it would be impossible not to feel that way. The emotions are present but realistic. There’s a little hint of romance throughout the book, but it is never overpowering. Given the time that all the characters know each other, and the high octane situations they are in, it seems logical that the romantic notions take the back seat, despite a few moments sprinkled throughout the book that bring the tension to the fore.

Virginia Prime is an interesting place, and how Friedman developed the culture in that world was nothing short of fascinating. It’s interesting to see, and at times “hear” through discussions, how the different worlds developed based on different events happening/not happening. For example, on one Earth, the asteroid never hit, so dinosaurs are now pets of the aristocracy. In Virginia Prime, social standing is basically derived from “gifts.” Gifted children are given to guilds to train, and their families receive money. This causes some desperate and heart breaking situations, but it is all very well done and very believable. The flaws of our world, and Virginia Prime are natural effects of the order of life in both of those worlds, and Friedman makes them figure into the story flawlessly, while managing to keep readers interest throughout.

The magic is present, and while readers will learn a bit more about it, Friedman leaves most of the details open ended for readers to find out about in future installments of the series. This might frustrate some readers, but her real focus seemed to be on character and world development. Magic, while important, can easily be left for future books to flesh out without any real negative effects to Dreamwalker as a whole. While some of the magic is explained, quite a bit of it feels nebulous throughout the book. It’s there, but it is hard to pin down what it is all about or how it works. There is some explanation of guilds, and gifts, which gets a tad bit info-dumpy but not too bad and I’m honestly not sure how Friedman could accomplish educating the reader any other way. There are some vague notions of seers and their importance, and the Shadow Men, who are sort of suspended between being alive and dead. They are very important figures that are creepy in only a way that Friedman can manage, but also seem to open a door for Friedman to fill her series with a little of her tell-tale moral ambiguity and darkness that so many of her fans love.

The plot is interesting and fast paced, if a touch predictable at times. The emotion that Jessica feels is so realistic that, as she learns more about who she is and her place in the world(s), you can’t help but feel the confusion, anger, and worry along with her. Her brother is a nice addition to the book, and the few chapters with his perspective were always interesting. His viewpoint, though short and spontaneously placed, was welcome and added a nice new perspective as to what he was going through, and insights into the Shadow culture that readers wouldn’t otherwise have. There are a few other perspectives placed throughout the book, and while they are few and far between, they add a lot of world building that might not otherwise be there. Through them, readers learn what the wild animals and their weird behavior is all about, or that another Earth that has ceased to exist had some great alcohol that was imported before that world demolished somehow. Small facts like that might seem insignificant, but those are the details that, in my mind, really make worlds pop and keep my interest high.

I devoured this book. It is wildly different from Friedman’s other work, but that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I truly get a thrill out of authors who take a left turn and try something completely new and different. As far as I know, the Dreamwalker series is open ended (meaning, I have no idea how many books are going to be in it), but there are books being planned. This is more mature, more serious, and a bit darker than I’m used to young adult books being, but that’s also a huge reason why I loved it. No matter how different this is from the Coldfire Trilogy (and it is hugely different), it is still Friedman. She writes some incredible characters, and some very complex, nuanced plots with fantastic world building. It is all here. While this does feel a lot like the foundation book of a series, where Friedman is developing a lot and setting the stage for future books, that’s not all bad. She’s peaked my interest and I cannot wait to get my hands on more. This might be the first young adult book I’ve ever read that absolutely captivated me.

Dreamwalker is set to drop on February 4, 2014 by DAW. Keep your eyes peeled for it.

 

4/5 stars

A SPECIAL ‘Special Needs in Strange Worlds’

This week’s Special Needs in Strange Worlds just went live, and it is a really special one to me. I interviewed my oldest brother. He is disabled and happens to be the person who got me into the genre in the first place. I talk to him about why SFF appeals to him, and the place of disabilities within the genre, as well as other related important topics. It was a hell of an interview to carry out, and it is an interview that I really loved doing. I really hope that lots of people will read it, because I think it is a message that the genre as a whole needs.

Click here to read it.

In other news, I’ve done another SF Signal podcast. We talked about what books we want made into movies, and what books would be ruined if they were turned into movies. It was lots of fun.

Click here to listen. 

The Incredible Tad Williams!

Tad Williams is a name anyone even moderately familiar with SpecFic is familiar with. He’s been writing huge tomes for many years. His books are always well received and loved by his numerous fans, myself among them. Another reason why Tad Williams is an important genre author for me is because his are some of the first epic fantasy books I’ve ever read, and loved. I enjoy Williams’ books so much, I have yet to actually FINISH any of his series. You see, when I really, really enjoy an author’s books, I never want them to end, so I almost never actually finish reading them. That’s weird, I know… but lets be a little honest with ourselves, here. What do you really expect from an SFF reviewer if not “weird”?

When I think of Tad’s books, the first thing that springs to mind is how masterful his pacing is. His books tend to be on the longer side, but there’s never really a dull moment. Things always move forward at a very natural pace. Whether he is developing the world, or the characters, or the plot, or all three, something is always happening, and that something is always interesting. That’s contrasted to many authors who write long books, where portions of their books will be dull or slow. Williams’ never has that problem, and that’s one of the many reasons why I always know I’ll enjoy what he writes.

Williams also always challenges his readers, which I truly appreciate. His epic fantasy tends to take place in sort of pseudo European settings with royalty and castles, clashing cultures and power struggles. However, mixed in with all of this are intense interpersonal developments that readers take part in. All of his characters grow and develop so much as the plot progresses. The person they start out as is never the person they end as. This is how good authors should write, but very few manage this as well as Williams. Furthermore, the character development intermixed with the plot development and (often) political struggles can make readers feel very invested in the world and books, almost abnormally invested in them, and that’s truly wonderful. When something happens to a character, it also happens to the reader.

This can, at times, be uncomfortable. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, I think the hallmark of a good author is their ability to make the reader squirm a bit. His worlds always have a dark, uncomfortable edge to them. There are always plenty of misunderstandings, and each character has a dark side. With the plot twists and misunderstandings that fly around his books, as well as the personal development and incredibly compelling viewpoints he uses to tell his stories, readers are in for a real treat. You’ll feel frustrated, uncomfortable, and happy – but most importantly, you’ll feel challenged.

Recently, Williams has taken a left turn away from epics and huge books that take place in the hinterlands of epic fantasy. Now he’s working on his Bobby Dollar series, which is a completely different tone from his other books. This, however, just shows what an incredible author Tad Williams really is. It has to be hard for authors to take that step away from the sort of books they have been so invested in in the past. He’s not only decided to write a different style book, but he’s done it just as well as any of the other books I’ve read from him that I’ve loved so intensely. Bobby Dollar is an incredibly fun series that also manages to be deceptively layered and nuanced. The tone is lighter, but there’s a noir, darker edge that appeals to many readers. However, despite the different tone, everything that I love about Tad Williams’ style is there. It’s layered, nuanced, with a vibrant, challenging world and plenty of internal development and conflict.

That’s what is so amazing about Tad Williams. He challenges readers. He pushes us past our comfort zones and turns something that might be fairly typical into something that is 100% his and only his. He transforms his characters as he writes, and in the process, he transforms his readers. He’s a solid author with books that it is impossible to dislike.

He’s Tad Williams – THE SpecFic powerhouse author and one hell of a nice guy.

Two Serpents Rise – Max Gladstone

About the Book

The new novel set in the addictive and compelling fantasy world ofThree Parts Dead

Shadow demons plague the city reservoir, and Red King Consolidated has sent in Caleb Altemoc — casual gambler and professional risk manager — to cleanse the water for the sixteen million people of Dresediel Lex. At the scene of the crime, Caleb finds an alluring and clever cliff runner, crazy Mal, who easily outpaces him.

But Caleb has more than the demon infestation, Mal, or job security to worry about when he discovers that his father — the last priest of the old gods and leader of the True Quechal terrorists — has broken into his home and is wanted in connection to the attacks on the water supply.

From the beginning, Caleb and Mal are bound by lust, Craft, and chance, as both play a dangerous game where gods and people are pawns. They sleep on water, they dance in fire… and all the while the Twin Serpents slumbering beneath the earth are stirring, and they are hungry.

352 pages (Hardcover)

Published on October 29, 2013

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

— 

(Before I start my review I have to apologize. I got this ARC months ago and lost it for the longest time. Turns out I have a little two-year-old thief living in the house who hid this ARC, and a bunch of others, at the bottom of her toybox.)

Two Serpents Rise is the second book in Max Gladstone’s Craft Sequence series. If you haven’t read this series yet, you might want to fix that. One thing I can say before I say anything else is that Gladstone writes one hell of a unique, fascinating world and his books are full of thought provoking layers.

Two Serpents Rise tells the story of Caleb, a risk management analyst for Red King Consolidated. His unique position gives readers a fantastic view of all the things that makes Two Serpents Rise so unique. The fact that Gladstone focuses on a new character in this installment really allows him to explore a lot of world building that he probably wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

Caleb finds himself in the uncomfortable position of being in the center of the conflict that is the focus of the book. He has ties to the past, but also ties to the present. His internal debate due to this, and his struggle with finding his place in relation to everything, is nothing short of captivating. Gladstone shows his personal struggles well, and in a way that readers will find him easy to sympathize with. Caleb is one of those characters that has that perfect mixture of charisma and inner conflict that makes him absolutely real, vibrant, and addicting to readers.

The main focus of the plot is on demons in the city’s water supply. With a desert local, water is important. This also allows Gladstone to really explore his world in ways that he probably wouldn’t have been able to if he’d take the plot or book any other direction. The fact is it’s the world that keeps me hooked to this series. I am constantly amazed by how much intricate world building Gladstone can easily shove into one book. Two Serpents Rise deals with a lot, like human sacrifice, the war between the gods and the powerful Craftsmen, the Red King, who is more like a business owner than anything else, as well as local culture. Gladstone leaves nothing out.

Through Gladstone’s world building and various cultural explorations, readers will soon start to realize that he has an interesting spin on things, which is another reason why Two Serpents Rise worked so well. Things aren’t black and white. The good guys aren’t always so good and the bad guys aren’t always so bad. When lawyers and large corporations are so often shown in dark light, Gladstone shows how vital they can be to keeping order and their important role in society in general. It’s an unexpected perspective and one that I appreciated. It’s nice when an author is willing to take something that is so easy to show as negative, and put it in a positive light instead.

And that’s how much of the book was. There’s some justification behind human sacrifice, which is unexpected, but Gladstone makes it work. He explores a lot about contracts, and how important these binding ties can be. Caleb has to navigate through this complex world, with one foot in the past and one in the present, and readers really get a feel for how torn he is, and how torn so many of the people he interacts with are.

So far both books in these series seem to be pretty self contained, but it is pretty easy to see how it all ties together and I think more of the complexities that Gladstone has meticulously woven through the first two installments will make the next books he writes that much more powerful. He’s built himself an incredible foundation and he’s left enough open threads, and explored threads, to honestly be able to take this series anywhere.

Gladstone is a hell of an author, and this series seriously needs a wider readership than it currently has. For world building, he’s second to none. His plot is fast paced and interesting. His characters are vibrant and well realized. The main conflict is so riddled with past and present baggage, it is hard to think of it as anything but fascinating. In all honesty, Two Serpents Rise is one of those books that I want to read again and again just to make sure I have absorbed it all. It worked for me. On nearly every level, this book worked. Home run. Hit the ball out of the park. Threw the…. whatever… in the end zone thingie. Touchdown. Slam dunk. Etc. You get it.

While it isn’t necessary to read Three Parts Dead first, you might want to. It establishes the world nicely and will probably make much of what you read about in Two Serpents Rise a little less confusing.

Final thought: Bravo, Max. You wrote one hell of a book, and you’ve created one hell of a world.

 

5/5 stars

Parasite – Mira Grant

About the Book

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite – a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system – even secretes designer drugs. It’s been successful beyond the scientists’ wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives…and will do anything to get them.

504 pages (Hardcover)

Published on October 29, 2013

Published by Orbit

Author’s webpage

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

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I really, really don’t like zombies. They make me turn off almost instantly. I just get so absolutely sick of them. There is nothing about a zombie that interests me. Nothing. Period. Knowing that, you’ll probably realize that I never read Mara Grant’s Newsflesh series. I just don’t care enough. However, when I saw the details on this book, I decided to give it a shot. I’ve heard a ton about how amazing Grant is, and since this book isn’t dealing with the flesh rotting undead, I figured it was a must read.

Here’s the deal: If it walks like a zombie, talks like a zombie, smells like a zombie, and acts like a zombie, it probably is one, even if you call it a tapeworm.

Parasite is set in an alternative futuristic earth where good health is bought by people ingesting tapeworms that fix pretty much everything. And there abouts lies where I absolutely turned off mentally. Have any of you guys actually seen a tapeworm? Disgusting creatures and if you know what they do, you’ll probably know that you couldn’t pay most people enough money to actually willingly swallow/implant one of these things. Even thinking about it makes me gag.

There’s the real problem with the book. Before I can talk about anything else, I have to address the basic premise the whole book resides on. If I can’t suspend my disbelief enough to buy the fact that people would willingly implant a tapeworm, then what is the point? Yes, I understand that this is an alternative Earth. Yes, I get that people do weird things in the name of health, but I don’t think I will ever be able to believe that someone swallows a tapeworm because they actually decided to do it.

A little background and development bringing the reader through the social change that suddenly makes this absolutely disgusting practice acceptable and normal would have gone a long way to making me believe that any of this was actually possible. The thing is, the idea is there. The idea the whole book is based on is fascinating. Grant could have done so much with it, but the poor execution and exploration of the ideas posed in the synopsis just killed any zeal I had.

Parasite tells the story of Sally, a woman who wakes up after a horrible accident with amnesia. She is being studied and watched over by the drug company SymboGen. Sally is trying to find her place in the world, which is actually quite interesting, until she realizes that weird things are starting to happen around her. Shock of all shocks, Sally finds herself in the unique position of being in the middle of it all. I bet you didn’t see that coming.

The zombies that aren’t zombies come in at the point where wacky things start happening all around Sally. Their zombie-non-zombie-ness becomes really obvious toward the beginning when Sally is at the mall with her sister. These people “wake up” and start kind of shambling around like something you’d see on The Walking Dead. The way they are described, the way they act, the way they react, is exactly like a zombie. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, just call it a duck. Please. There is no need for pretense.

The sad truth of the matter is that I didn’t finish this book (I bet that won’t shock anyone). I honestly couldn’t make it past the halfway point. The entire premise just bothered me. I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to feel anything but frustration with the rather paint-by-numbers plot. The fact that everyone acts like a zombie but we can’t call them zombies because zombies have already been done before annoyed me.  Sally is an interesting character. Her narrative and inner dialogue is easy to fall into. She makes the world feel real, and she infuses the situation with plenty of fantastic atmosphere. Sally wasn’t the problem. The problem was everything else.

I know I’m being unnecessarily harsh here, but I can’t help myself. I had high expectations for this book. Mira Grant is a name I’ve seen lauded all over for her work with the Newsflesh series, but I couldn’t quite make it with Parasite. However, it isn’t all bad. Sally is a great character, and the premise is unique and interesting. It will appeal to plenty of people, and they will probably all love it. It just didn’t work for me.

And that’s fine. You can’t win ‘em all.

 

1/5 stars

Carol Berg: Queen of Grace

I cut my fantasy teeth on Carol Berg’s books, which automatically puts her in a special place in my heart, as fantasy is a genre that I love so intensely. Her Rai-Kirah books changed how I looked at the genre, and how I loved it. Even now, years after I’ve re-read it, I still think back on it and get chills. They aren’t the only Berg books that I have read and loved. The truth is, I’ve pretty much loved everything she’s written for one reason or another.

I remember having long discussions with two of my brothers about some of Carol Berg’s books and all the reasons she’s such an incredible author. No one else in my family really understood why we were so enthusiastic about her (no one else reads SFF, either), but we understood each other and our excitement. Our discussions would be so animated and lively. It’s rare that I have such enthusiastic discussions about an author whose work I love so intensely with anyone.

“Books don’t prattle. Books don’t make demands. Yet they give you everything they possess. It’s a very satisfying partnership.” -  Carol Berg

Carol Berg writes some intense characters, all of who seem to be flawed in some way, and riddled with internal struggles. Her characters are all unique in one way or another, whether they are older than the typical fantasy character, or broken, exiled, and damaged in some other way. Not only are they interesting, but she also infuses them with such intense emotions, readers can’t help but feel like her characters are part of them. Realism and emotional appeal makes Berg’s characters speak to each of us very deeply in very different ways.

Berg peppers her books with profound truths, often so hidden in the text you could easily miss them. If you notice them, you will realize that Carol Berg is one of those writers who never limits herself to writing on one level. Her stories are always interesting, but very deep. The internally struggling characters add another layer to the mix. Their struggles mixed with the main plot, make everything so much more compelling and profound than it otherwise would be. Berg often drips in layers of truth that make her books shine. Her books are never about some vague character in some vague place – they are about each of us and the relationships we form with ourselves and each other.

“The world goes on, little Seri,” he said. “A soldier never dies. His blood makes the grass green for his children.” – Guardians of the Keep

Carol Berg’s writing is some of the most lyrical and flowing I have run across. Her books all have some innate grace that serve as a marker against which I measure almost every other book I read. Berg’s books aren’t just books, they are art, and she’s a master of the wordsmithing craft. Her writing style gives all of her books a dreamlike quality that I love. Her stories are more real than real, and her characters are so vibrant, you live those moments as you read, and you learn so much about yourself as you do it.

Her world building is also second to none, often dealing with cultures or civilizations broken off or separated from each other and gross misunderstandings or interpretations between them all. This gives everything an added layer of appealing complication. She effortlessly makes her worlds realistic and incredibly well realized without giving readers huge portions of schoolbook text to wade through. The development is subtly, and naturally, woven into her dialogue or descriptions. As you become the characters, you also become part of the world. Often you don’t even realize it is happening, but it happens. While I read her books, her worlds are more real than my own. Only a master of world building can manage something like that in such a way that it takes no effort on my part to immerse myself so deeply.

Carol Berg is a powerhouse author. In my mind, she’s probably the first powerhouse genre author I ever read. She moved me profoundly in more ways than I care to admit to here. Her writing sinks under my skin and into the marrow of my bones. Powerful characters, fantastic worlds, and absolutely graceful writing are combined nicely with an author who, on a personal level, is one of the kindness and most sincere authors I have had the honor of interacting with. Carol Berg is a deep, thoughtful person and all of her books reflect that. She will dazzle you and make you profoundly uncomfortable (a sign of a good author). In the end, she will make you love her books, her style, and her grace.

Read her books. Read them now. They will change how you look at the genre. I promise.

Author’s Webpage

SF Signal Podcast

Last week I recorded another podcast with SF Signal. The topic of this one was “What SF/F character would you want to be and why?” I was on there with the infamous author Django Wexler, Patrick Hester, and Jeff Patterson (he also does The Three Hoarsemen podcast).

Check it out. It was a lot of fun.

Dude, It’s All About the Prose.

This morning I got an email that really stood out (partly because the rest of my email this morning has been, “I know you don’t review paranormal romance, but I think you should review mine because it is special.”) Here’s what it said:

Dear Sarah,

I love your website, and I think your reviews are some of the best on the net. I’m writing this email to ask you an important question. Why do so many reviewers compare the books they are reviewing to other books that have already been published or books that are more popular? I get that it is an easy line to draw but it really makes these books that people work very hard on seem like they aren’t as good as the books they are being compared to. Each book is unique, so why do reviewers feel the need to repress the unique qualities and highlight the similar ones instead? It’s really off-putting.

I would appreciate your insight.

(Name redacted)

I guess this is my reply to that email. First, I have to say that I sincerely enjoy getting comments, observations, and concerns in my inbox. It’s really neat to know that people are not only reading my website and the crap I say on here, but they are also thinking about the things I say, and care enough to approach me with their thoughts. Very cool.

The truth is, reviewers (myself included) do compare the book we are reviewing to other books often, but I don’t think it is always (or very often) a comparison used to degrade the book they (we) are reviewing. The fact of the matter is, there are only so many stories out there, but there are an infinite number of ways to tell that same story. For example, there are two books I’ve reviewed this week that I’ve compared to other books or stories. Both books remind me a bit of the David and Goliath story (the small guy/group pitted against the huge insurmountable obstacle/person/organization) and one of them also reminded me of The Hunger Games. I don’t put these comparisons out there to say, “This book is derivative and old even though it’s new.” I put those comparisons there so new customers or interested parties, will know what type of book they will devote their time to.

In fact, just because a book might remind me of another book doesn’t mean that the book is bad. Often times I will read a book that reminds me of another book just because it reminds me of another book (Hey, Interwebians, someone want to suggest a book like Love Minus Eighty for me to read? I am really Jonesing for another social SciFi like that one). What makes a book unique isn’t only, or always, its story, but its also the way the story is told. Prose plays a huge part in whether a book is captivating even if it reminds me of fourteen other books. I’ve read more sunset and landscape descriptions than I can shake a stick at, but the descriptions that haunt me are the well written ones. Even well written sunset and landscape discussions can propel me further into the book itself. It will make me want to know more about such a beautifully written, well realized world, and the people that inhabit it.

So, dude, it’s all about the prose.

Between the blunt peaks of the Sperrin mountains where the sun always sets, and the stony, gorseridden heights of the Antrim plateau to the east, the wide river valley of the Bann opens out for twenty miles, encompassing two counties. It is dark with woods and intaglioed with fields of barley and potato, kale and turnip, and the rich rolling pastures and meadows with their attendant hedges. Villages are spattered over all,  islands  in the green mantle of the world. There is no towns worth speaking of, and the sprawl of housing estates will not infect the land for another twenty years. It is a last breathing space, a final look around at the soon-to-be-felled woods, the rush-choked bottom meadows, the fields with the wild flowers that have seeded for a thousand years and which knew the feet of the druids. – Paul Kearny, A Different Kingdom

 

Descriptions like that, no matter how mundane a thing they are describing, are what makes a book amazing, no matter how common the story might be. The whole world comes to life, and no only that, but I almost feel like I am right there. There’s a definite sense of time and place, and a feeling of impending change. Have I read books about alternative realities/planes of existence before? Yes, by the bucket loads. The concept is far from new. The reason I’ll remember this one, is because the whole book is written in such a way that I feel like I’m transported there, living there, breathing that air and feeling that earth beneath my feet. It’s more real than real. However, in my review, I will undoubtably compare A Different Kingdom to another book that it reminds me of, not to degrade or demean the unique qualities of this one, but because it gives readers an idea of what they are getting into.

In all reality, I’d probably rate a well written grocery list at five stars if it held my attention for long enough. Anything can be unique, captivating, and fantastic, if it is written well. This is why, when I read, I put such a huge amount of importance in the prose. Prose can make a book or break a book. Paul Kearney could have said, “The land was green with lots of trees, villages, and forests, but that was all about to change.” That’s not very memorable and it does nearly nothing for me. It doesn’t transport me, or fill me with wonder. It doesn’t make me think, “Even though this book reminds me of a lot of others, it’s still absolutely incredible and the quality of the writing is nothing short of stunningly artistic.” He’s not only telling his own story, but bringing readers into his vision.

That sort of thing matters.

Prose are so important to me, that I tend to judge my email queries based on them, as well. An author who sends me a letter like this isn’t likely to get my time, or any attention.

Bookworm

Great website can you review my attached book plz

(name redacted)

Note: Yes, this was a real email I received.

Letters like that tell me a lot about the book you are trying to get me to read. This letter automatically makes me think that I’ll be devoting my time to a book full of mundane writing, bad spellings, and poor grammar choices. Bad writing, and a lack of attention to powerful prose, will probably just make the similarities between your book, and the books I’ve read that it reminds me of, more grating and hard to deal with. On the flip side, prose can make your book artistic so the similar elements to (insert thing you’ve read before here) feel catchy, unique, and absorbing, You’ll be able to tell which way I am using the comparison in my reviews.

Basically this rambling diatribe boils down to the fact that yes, reviewers compare books a lot, but it’s not always (or often) for bad reasons. Any book I can think of will be similar to another book I’ve read before. That’s what comes of reading about 150-200 books a year. It’s not the story itself that will always wow me. Often it’s the prose that pull me in first. Telling a good story is a craft that can be hard to perfect. One similar element I notice between all the authors whose books I tend to read is that each of them make words their tool and manipulate that tool to put forth something incredible for readers to devour, regardless of similarities to other works (which often go unnoticed under a truly skilled wordsmith’s ministrations). When it is obvious that authors knows how to wrap and warp words for their benefit, I know I have something special on my hands.

Masks – E.C. Blake

About the Book

Masks, the first novel in a mesmerizing new fantasy series, draws readers into a world in which cataclysmic events have left the Autarchy of Aygrima—the one land blessed with magical resources—cut off from its former trading partners across the waters, not knowing if any of those distant peoples still live. Yet under the rule of the Autarch, Aygrima survives. And thanks to the creation of the Masks and the vigilance of the Autarch’s Watchers, no one can threaten the security of the empire.

In Aygrima, magic is a Gift possessed from birth by a very small percentage of the population, with the Autarch himself the most powerful magic worker of all. Only the long-vanquished Lady of Pain and Fire had been able to challenge his rule.

At the age of fifteen, citizens are recognized as adults and must don the spell-infused Masks—which denote both status and profession—whenever they are in public. To maintain the secure rule of the kingdom, the Masks are magically crafted to reveal any treasonous thoughts or actions. And once such betrayals are exposed, the Watchers are there to enforce the law.

Mara Holdfast, daughter of the Autarch’s Master Maskmaker, is fast approaching her fifteenth birthday and her all-important Masking ceremony. Her father himself has been working behind closed doors to create Mara’s Mask. Once the ceremony is done, she will take her place as an adult, and Gifted with the same magical abilities as her father, she will also claim her rightful place as his apprentice.

But on the day of her Masking something goes horribly wrong, and instead of celebrating, Mara is torn away from her parents, imprisoned, and consigned to a wagon bound for the mines. Is it because she didn’t turn the unMasked boy she discovered over to the Night Watchers? Or is it because she’s lied about her Gift, claiming she can only see one color of magic, when in truth she can see them all, just as she could when she was a young child?

Whatever the reason, her Mask has labeled her a traitor and now she has lost everything, doomed to slavery in the mines until she dies. And not even her Gift can show Mara the future that awaits her—a future that may see her freed to aid a rebel cause, forced to become a puppet of the Autarch, or transformed into a force as dangerous to her world as the legendary Lady of Pain and Fire.

372 pages (hardcover)

Published on November 5, 2013

Published by DAW

Author’s webpage

This book was provided for me to review by the publisher.

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It won’t come as any real surprise to anyone who reads my website often that I tend to struggle with young adult books. I have a hard time with books that center around the hot guy who just moved to school, or the teenager who hates how her mom makes her dress. I just don’t care. However, occasionally, a young adult book comes along that is something else, something a bit deeper and a bit richer. It is these books, these young adult (tend to be more crossover than anything else) books that I enjoy.

Such is the case with Masks by E.C. Blake. Before I launch into my review, I should take a moment to talk about this amazing cover. These are the covers that I love. I get books that look like this and everything else falls to the side because I simply have to see what a beautiful cover like this is hiding. So, bravo to the cover artists, and bravo to the publisher for using it – it did its job.

Masks is the first novel in a brand new fantasy series and in some ways it feels like a first novel. There is a lot of time spent building up the society and culture, and the various reasons for why things are the way they are. The world building is pretty well done. Aygrima feels well rounded, and Blake instantly hits readers with how out of place and confused the teenaged protagonist Mara feels with it all. The emotional appeal to readers will help them overlook many of the aspects of the world that will undoubtedly feel very done before, like the evil dictator who has complete control over his population, or the small group of people who must stand against the rules and standards of life. Yes, at its heart, this is another David and Goliath story – small people pitted a huge titan of an enemy, complete with impossible odds. It’s been done.

The masks themselves are where most of the magic in the series lies. Masks are given to each person when they come of age in a sort of citizenship right of passage. These masks show when people are thinking negative or harmful thoughts about the empire. As you can expect, much of the world building and start of the book deals with the importance of these ceremonies, and leads up to Mara’s own masking which (I’m sure this will shock you) goes completely wrong. The book really takes off from there. Blake made a somewhat interesting choice with world and magic building in Masks. There are enough world building details here to keep people interested, but Blake has left a lot of the naunces, details, and developments open ended. I expect a lot more fleshing out in further installments of the series.

The magic and world is rather fascinating and well done. The real problem lies in some characterization issues regarding Mara, who has an unnatural ability to second-guess herself to an almost annoying extent. She also seems to find herself in the position of a victim a little too often. Some plot elements are a bit too convenient. Furthermore, as I mentioned above, the plot lacks a little luster that I look for in my young adult books, and the magic regarding the mask kept raising some questions which I hope to have answered in further installments of the series.

There’s a hint of romance and the possibility of a love triangle in future books, which is all very young adult, but it’s balanced by the world and the magic, which have a very adult feel to them. This makes Masks, in my opinion, an interesting crossover novel that can appeal to a wide range of teenagers, and some adults as well.

Masks is a good book that will appeal to fans of young adult fantasy. The main problem it faces is that it feels like it has been done before. It has a sort of Hunger Games feel to it that never quite went away. Masks lacks some details that some readers might miss – like how exactly the empire runs. Some of the characters blend together, but despite that, Masks will appeal to teens because it features a character just as tossed around and confused as they are.

 

3/5 stars