Making something really familiar feel fresh
It's been a slow start to reading for me in 2012, but I have this sense that it's going to be a great year for books and creatively, so I have nothing but great anticipation going into this year.
The book I'm reading right now is Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and it's flawed. Not every scene is absolutely necessary, it jumps about a little and parts of it feel a little like the author is still learning the nuts and bolts of craft, but it reads completely fresh in the genre and I think that's why it's getting so much buzz.
From the location to the plot points, it does not seem familiar to me and I've read a lot of YA over the past two years. The protagonist is interesting, but it's not her, it's what happens and how and the elements she introduces them and how. I'm guessing on all of this, but it seems as I read this book, that the author hadn't read a lot of YA going into the writing of this book and that's why it seems different.
And truly, I have no idea where she's taking me, which in itself, is exciting. It's not that she's reversing my expectations, it's that the story is progressing in a way that I can't predict and so I don't have any idea where a scene will play out.
Which is fun and I suspect why so many editors and agents love this book.
And on another note - Game of Thrones Season 2 - starts April 1st. Anyone else excited. Molly, I still have your copy of that...
The book I'm reading right now is Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and it's flawed. Not every scene is absolutely necessary, it jumps about a little and parts of it feel a little like the author is still learning the nuts and bolts of craft, but it reads completely fresh in the genre and I think that's why it's getting so much buzz.
From the location to the plot points, it does not seem familiar to me and I've read a lot of YA over the past two years. The protagonist is interesting, but it's not her, it's what happens and how and the elements she introduces them and how. I'm guessing on all of this, but it seems as I read this book, that the author hadn't read a lot of YA going into the writing of this book and that's why it seems different.
And truly, I have no idea where she's taking me, which in itself, is exciting. It's not that she's reversing my expectations, it's that the story is progressing in a way that I can't predict and so I don't have any idea where a scene will play out.
Which is fun and I suspect why so many editors and agents love this book.
And on another note - Game of Thrones Season 2 - starts April 1st. Anyone else excited. Molly, I still have your copy of that...
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