Stuff As Dreams Are Made On…

I hadn’t read a graphic novel in what seems like ages, so it was really nice to kick of Dewey’s Graphic Novel Challenge with Neil Gaiman’s Books of Magic. It’s one that has been sitting on my shelf now along with a few other graphic novels just waiting to be read…but unfortunately, they always get looked over. But today I wanted a break from normal reading, so I broke this one out and I was so happy with it.

The Books of Magic follows Timothy Hunter, a young boy who is skateboarding one day when four men in trench coats approach him. Needless to say, he’s a bit suspicious of these men, but they offer something to him that few teenage boys could refuse…an honest magic trick – they turn his yo-yo into an owl. With that, they ask him if he is interested in becoming a magician; a true magician, not one who deals only in illusions. It is his choice to make, but they feel that he could be one of the world’s greatest and most powerful magician’s ever. If he chooses magic, he must leave the world he knows and not look back. In order to make this choice, they bring him through the history of magic.

Timothy is first taken back in time to the days of the first practicioners of magic. He visits ancient Egypt, Atlantis, he meets Merlin, angels and demons, the Salem witch trials and more. He then spends time traveling around the world in it’s current day meeting the modern practioners of magic and slowly learning that their is a price on his head as it leaks out in the magic community just how much power this one boy could hold. After this adventurous volume we follow Timothy into the land of Faerie where he’s nearly tricked into slavery at a fairy market, thrown into the clutches of Baba Yaga and meets the beautiful queen Titania. There’s also a guest appearance by Dream from The Sandman in this section! And finally, Timothy travels into the future, first in the near future continuing til the end of time where he meets Death from The Sandman. Throughout all of this, he must sort out his feelings of what is magic? What does it cost? And is it worth it to me?

The story is wonderfully written by Neil Gaiman. I read all 190 pages of it in one sitting unable to put it down. He writes comics just as well as he does novels and the art was just amazing for the book. The artist for the first book (the past) was John Bolton, the second book (the present) was Scott Hampton, the third (Faerie) was Charles Vess, and the final book (the future) was Paul Johnson. I’ve seen collaborations between Bolton and Gaiman and Vess and Gaiman before but the other two artists were new to me. Of course I’m extremely partial to Charles Vess’ work as he’s one of my favorite living artists and that book was just beautiful. It was perfect that he illustrated the section that took place in Faerie and I’m sure it wouldn’t have been done any other way. There was also a wonderful introduction by Roger Zelazny at the beginning of the book who is obviously another fan of Gaiman’s.

I’ve heard that there are some other books out there that tie into this one…In a very strange coincidence, Debi happened to review one of them today! It’s called The Books of Faerie. I’ll definitely have to check that one out as I’d like to read more about Tim Hunter’s experiences.

Well I finally did it after all these years – I read my first Jane Austen book! And it really wasn’t all that painful of an experience. I actually enjoyed it. Persuasion was Jane Austen’s final novel and from what I gather, it’s not her most popular work, but it was one that I can see as being important during it’s time….and very entertaining. I chose to read it simply because it was one of Austen’s works that I hadn’t seen a film version of. I hate reading a book when I’ve already seen a movie version and know the basic plot. Now I can’t wait to watch the older BBC version of Persuasion as I love their Austen films.

I’m not going to go to deep into the plot of Persuasion (if you want a good synopsis/more thoughts you can read this wonderful review of Eva’s or this excellent review of Bookfool’s) but the book centers on a young lady named Anne Elliot who was in love with Frederick Wentworth but then persuaded out of that love by a family friend, Lady Russell. Eight years later, she wants to rekindle that love. There’s lots more involved with other family members and houses being rented out, etc. but Anne’s story is what kept me reading.

This is a book about learning to follow one’s heart and being true to yourself. The word “persuasion” is used repeatedly in the book as nearly all of the characters are persuaded by some outside force to do something that does not benefit them. Austen shows us that true happiness is achieved by being independent, breaking away from societies persuasions…certainly something that still carries meaning today.

I’ll definitely be reading more Austen. I wouldn’t say that she’s become one of my favorite authors after reading this, but I enjoyed it enough. I have Northanger Abbey sitting on my shelf and I’ll most likely pull that one out around RIP III time as I’ve heard it has a more gothic feel to it. Sorry for the short review, tired here :p

It’s hard to describe exactly how much I enjoyed Witch Ember by John Lawson. I don’t even know if “enjoy” is the right word to use, but it was an amazing book. I’ve been struggling with how to write this review and how to sort out my feelings and do the book justice. I certainly wouldn’t call this a cheerful book (it’s full of despair), but it’s a book of fighting for what’s right and never giving up despite seemingly never ending tumultuous struggles. It’s a book about standing up for what you believe in, fighting for those less fortunate, overcoming injustice, and it’s all set in one of the most intricate dark fantasy worlds that I’ve read.

Witch Ember is the story of Esmeree, a girl who is born with a large ember in her chest and is destined for great things, but also destined to be proclaimed a witch and a heretic in achieving those great things. An ember is a stone…a magical stone that is said to be a fragment of the gods. Some are born with them, though most are small. Esmeree’s is large and with it comes great power. She doesn’t achieve this power immediately though and doesn’t realize what she has when she is young.

In her town there is great poverty except for a choice few and most of the children are parentless. They are left to the streets to fend for themselves and make their living as thiefs and prostitutes. I have to admit that I had a serious problem with this and almost put the book aside at first, but I’m glad I didn’t. There are no graphic sex scenes with children, but the language is explicit and a lot is inferred. As I continued reading though, I saw where he was going with it. Esmeree remembers her childhood and wants something better for herself and her friends. She wants something better for the world. That disgust we feel as a reader is surely multiplied a thousand-fold by Esmeree.

She takes what she knows and becomes a Sellaria, a woman who is studied in the fine arts of love-making and courting. With this title, she gains a little more power but in doing so is secretly thrown into a scheme to betray other “witches” with her own powers. She slowly begins to realize the extent of her powers and sees that she must fight for her cause and fight for what is right, while all along trying to balance her belief in God, her own powers, and the label of heretic that comes with those powers as the Medianists seek her out for her acts of heresy so that they can conduct an inquisition and hopefully bring her to her demise.

There’s so much more to this book than just that, but this is the very basic plot. Lawson has created some of the most amazing and inventive dark fantasy creatures that I’ve read including the Fee, a species of creatures made of twigs, branches, wicker, and leaves; the Rrakks, a truly terrifying group of creatures with no eyes that collect children as a source of power; and my favorite was the Asp who is a man covered in blue tattoos wearing different masks to show his emotions with a wonderful personality.

His writing is absolutely superb and I’m curious to know if he’s written more than just these two books. He seems like an extremely well seasoned writer and I’m surprised he’s not with a bigger publishing company. Throughout the book there are some poems, songs, and myths that seem like they could be taken from ancient folklore. They’re so well written. I never lost interest in this book, he held me in suspense or kept me so connected to the characters that I continued to feel connected to their journey. Here’s a favorite passage taken from when Esmeree tells the Asp that she is planning for the future, thinking of what is to come…

...”A soul questing for perfection, Esmeree, is a soul in pain. You must follow the whims of your spirit. Live in the moment, and follow your heart. Live not in fear but in love.”

“Love?”

“Love is a mirror of the divine, Esmeree. Fear not the future, for it will come whether you prepare for it or not.”

Great passage, huh? How true!

This is certainly an adult book which is something that some may want to keep in mind before reading this one. There’s quite a bit of disturbing scenes in here, a good many of them involving children, and there are many sexual scenes though not many actual sex scenes if that makes any sense at all. But it really didn’t bother me aside from the beginning like I mentioned earlier, and as I got further into the book and saw his reasoning in including that it made the book that much more powerful. So if you tend to read the same types of books as me, I don’t think this is something that you can’t handle.

Overall this was an absolutely amazing book and I’m bumping it up to favorite read of 2008 so far. I have his second book also which I’ll be reviewing a little later. Highly, highly recommended.

Edit to add: You can find out more about Mr. Lawson’s books, read a chapter from the book, and buy autographed copies through his website at www.witchember.com .

An amazing phenomenon has happened in the last few years…the “young adult” category of books has grown huge! Go into any bookstore and there’s a whole land of adventures awaiting young readers where there used to be only the lands of well known authors like C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, John Bellairs, etc. Of course all of these books can be enjoyed by us adults as well! Of all the recent young adult series I’ve read, my favorite has been the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. Dare I admit that I enjoy these books even more than I did the Harry Potter books, a series I adored??

For those who haven’t read the first two books in the series, do it! But for a short summary, Fablehaven is one of a few dozen preserves in the world for magical creatures. Each preserve is run by a human caretaker (as far as I know) that is entrusted with its secrets. But there are secrets that even its caretakers aren’t aware of. For in order for the preserves to remain safe and for its many inhabitants to remain safe, no one can be trusted with all of the knowledge and secrets of the preserves and artifacts hidden within. There are dark forces and dark beings that seek power and destruction…power that can be obtained by uniting the five artifacts that are hidden within five of the preserves, one of which is Fablehaven.

Fablehaven is run by Stan and Ruth, and their grandchildren, Kendra and Seth have come to know the secrets of Fablehaven and have gone through many trials and dangerous situations in the first two books. And they’ve walked away with some pretty special abilities! The second book in the series leaves us with the feeling that no one can be trusted, and in this third book, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague (due out April 21^st) we see that there is indeed reason for that.

Without sounding too cheesy, Grip of the Shadow Plague is by far the most “gripping” of the three novels. I barely have any fingernails left! Shadows are falling over Fablehaven. The preserve that was once beautiful and filled with beautiful creatures is turning dark.  Nipsies, which are normally little tiny human looking creatures are now gray with red beady eyes. Fairies once filled with beautiful colors are turning dark and evil. The brownies are laying deadly traps, and Seth and Kendra’s once dear friends are turning against them. What’s even worse is that those who can help them are slowly being turned into shadows with no substance. Fablehaven is literally at the brink of collapse. Can it be saved?

At the same time, The Knights of the Dawn are recruiting Kendra to join their ranks. The Knights are a society sworn to protect the preserves from The Society of the Evening Star, a society that seeks to bring down the preserves and gain the artifacts hidden within. All of the Knights wear masks which doesn’t seem right…there are known traitors in the Knights…it’s hard to trust anyone. Kendra is sent on a mission to another preserve with another new recruit named Gavin, a delightful new character (and possible love interest?), which proves to be panic inducing for both the characters and the reader.  

With this book, Brandon Mull has most certainly solidified himself as a major writer in young adult literature. I thought he had with the first two, but this book will definitely do it! This one takes the series to a whole new level and goes places that the other two hadn’t yet gone. He faces issues of loss in this book and handles them well with strong, supporting characters. What I love more than anything is that his two main heroes are two young children! And they’re wonderful characters. Those who loved to hate Seth will continue to love to hate him for his shenanigans and Kendra is just growing up to be amazing!

 What more can I say? I was waiting in anticipation for this book for a year and it still exceeded my expectations. Job well done! Go get it! It comes out on April 21st! It would be great for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

Tomorrow I’ll have an interview with Brandon Mull posted! So stay tuned.

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.”

That’s the beginning of Zora Neale Hurston’s masterpiece, Their Eyes were Watching God. This isn’t a book that you would normally find on my blog, but thanks to Becky’s book club, I decided to read it and I’m so glad that I did. It’s a true modern classic both in the tale it tells and the way in which it is told. Hurston’s writing is some of the finest that I have read. I commented on Becky’s blog that I could’ve filled a whole quotes journal with quotes from this book. She writes with such heartfelt grace and pours such soul into her characters. She has ways of describing scenes that are unimaginable yet perfect. No one else but Hurston could ever come up with the some of the phrases that she so beautifully puts together.

She alters between the vivid, more literary descriptions given in her narrative and the African American dialect of the south right after the abolition of slavery used in the dialogue. The latter took some getting used to for me at first before it began to flow, but once I got used to it, it really brought the characters to life. The story centers around Janie who is born right after slavery is abolished. Janie is an incredibly strong woman who has much to overcome despite being born a “free” black woman. She is married to two men who still treat her somewhat like a slave before meeting a man who truly treats her well despite a few flaws in my opinion. But even with this marriage, she is doomed to struggle and forced to keep her strong exterior.

This is a novel of fighting…of overcoming things that most of us can’t even imagine having to overcome. I shouldn’t speak so generally. I should just speak for myself. When I read novels like this, it really makes me think of how far the world has come and how far we still have to go. Janie was a black woman in the late 1800′s. She was fictional of course, but there were many women like her. While many faced few problems, black women passed their lives silently each day letting things slip by that shouldn’t have…and it still happens today. Janie did of course grow a voice for herself and black women have grown a much bigger voice for themselves today. But they still remain a minority. There is still that word – minority. Hurston has certainly written a powerful, beautiful, meaningful, and thought provoking novel here and I’m sure it has made many think as much as it has me.

I leave you with another quote that I absolutely loved: “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.”

I’ve always been a huge fan of dragons and dragon stories. There’s something about these incredible beasts that just captures the imagination like no other. So many authors have entranced our minds with tales of dragons or included dragons in their stories and they’ve all added their own spin on dragon-lore. You might call Anne McCaffrey the queen of Dragon literature. She’s written more than just a series…it’s more of a saga…it’s called Pern. And it’s fantastic. The first trilogy that she wrote is The Dragonriders of Pern and the first book is Dragonflight.

It would be hard for me to give a synopsis of this story. There is so much involved in this story even though it’s not all that long. It’s a traditional fantasy set in the world of Pern. Dragonriders look after the world, protecting it from destructive threads that fall from the atmosphere as a red star passes. In return, the cities of the world support the dragons, their riders, and their Weyr (the caves in which they live). However, it’s been so long since the red star has passed that the cities no longer believe that it is a threat and will not pay their tithes. Meanwhile, the dragon queen is dying and has laid a new queen egg and the dragonriders are on a search to find a new Weyrwoman, a companion to the queen who will soon be hatched. They find her in Lessa, a young girl from the town of Ruatha. Lessa is an amazingly strong character with a very determined mind that frustrates her mate and the Weyrleader, F’lar to no end. But she will prove to be an assett to the cause. She has gifts that have not been seen in Pern in a long time.

The dragons that McCaffrey has created are simply amazing. Ramoth, Lessa’s queen is simply beautiful (from what I pictured). She goes into such vivid detail when describing her dragons and we as readers share the same bonds that the humans share with their dragons. And when we witness the first hatching, we can’t help but hold our breath and then feel warm and excited. Truly breathtaking stuff here!

If you’re into fantasy and haven’t read these yet, I’d consider it a must read. It’s most certainly a staple of fantasy literature and the defining series of dragon literature. And she’s still publishing these Pern books! In fact, if I’m right, I think her son has even tried his hand at a Pern book or two. I’ll most certainly be returning to the other two books in this series and I’m sure I’ll continue on from there. I know this is one of Deslily’s favorite series and you can read her review of this one here and she gives such a better review than I ever could!

The love letter. The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of the love letter are timeless words of romance, nostalgic thoughts, sonnets, kisses, all that stuff. But Joshua Knelman and Rosalind Porter have treated us to something a little different with Four Letter Word: Invented Correspondence from the Edge of Modern Romance. This is a collection of fictional love letters written by 41 different authors, and what an amazing and diverse set of authors it is! There are a few of those timeless and romantic letters in here, but for the most part the reader plays the part of a voyeur as love is examined in all it’s forms.

The letters are not always sweet, just as love is not always sweet. Love is sometimes heartbreaking. Sometimes love is not reciprocated. Sometimes one party is not aware that the other party even knows they exist. Sometimes love is a little psychotic. Sometimes love is not between humans…one of the stories is a love letter from Bigfoot to Santa Claus where Bigfoot writes “Bigfoot heart sad like kitten who choke to death on pretty ribbon“. Now how sad is that?

There’s something in this book that everyone can relate to. The letters in this book are heavy on memories with a strong feeling of melancholy. There were two stories in particular that struck me right to the core and I had to put the book down for a second after reading them. Both were written about Hurricane Katrina. The first was written by Joseph Boyden who is a professor of writing at the University of New Orleans where I went to get my undergrad degree. His story is written as a series of missing persons ads posted in the classifieds of the Times Picayune (our local newspaper) in the days following Hurricane Katrina as a man searches for his wife who slipped from his hand and fell into the flood waters. As the days pass, his ads get more detailed and he writes messages to her. I did the same thing after Katrina with Megan, though I knew she wasn’t in flood waters. She had evacuated to a place where a lot of trees had fallen and cell phones didn’t work, so the only way to find anything out was through these online classifieds…so I posted every day on these classifieds looking to hear if she was ok, worrying sick until I finally got a phone call from her a week later once phones worked again.

There’s another story by Audrey Niffenneger about Hurricane Katrina. A woman’s lover was in New Orleans during Katrina and she hasn’t been able to get in touch with her, so she writes her a letter knowing that there’s nowhere to send it, just to get her feelings out. It’s a beautiful story. Megan did this. When we did meet up again after the evacuations she gave me a journal that she wrote in where she just wrote letters to me every day while we couldn’t get in touch with each other.

So these stories reminded me of the power of love. Not necessarily the happiest moments of our relationship, but how strong love is, and I think that’s the point of this book. Love is a really powerful force. It’s not always happy. It can be blissful when things are good and it can be devastating when things are down. Love can be between two people be it a couple/student & teacher (this one’s popping up in the news a lot, huh?)/parent & child, between a person and a city…it can be unhealthy, it can save a life, it can ruin a life, it can tear down barriers, it can do all of these things. But it’s something that unites us all.

I can’t think of a single person that I would not recommend this book too. It’s that good. There’s something in it for everyone. There were a couple of stories that weren’t for me and with 41 different authors, I doubt that everyone will like everything. But there’s sure to be something for everyone. Favorites of mine included an amazing story by Neil Gaiman, Audrey Niffenegger, Joseph Boyden, Tessa Brown (Another incredible story), Chris Bachelder, Gautam Malkani, Hari Kunzru (great story), and Mandy Sayer, who I have to read more of!

I got this book from the library…my first book from the library of 2008, and now I’m really wishing I would’ve bought it as I’m guessing I’ll want to go back to it again and again. Hope you enjoy it if you read it!

Amberlight, ah Amberlight…the book that frustrated me to no end but paid off in the end! That’s a good thing…it kept me reading. Let me start off this review by saying that if you decide to read this book, see it through…it’s a great read. My initial frustrations with the book were getting into the flow of Sylvia Kelso’s language which is truly beautiful, but takes quite a bit of concentration to read at first. Once you get used to her style though, it becomes easy to get lost in her poetic grace. Here’s the opening paragraph:

” High moon over Amberlight, commanding the zenith, radiant, imperial, the city’s fretted-ink porticoes and balconies gnawing that torrent of aerial snow. Domes shed it, men’s towers drip with it. Under the vertical black rampart of the citadel wall, the qherrique outcrops glow to their depths with it: cabochon slabs girdling the hill’s waist, broad as cathedral floors, zones of luminous milk slanted between ragged frames of earth and grass. Qherrique. Pearl-Rock. Moon-Stone. The core and crown of Amberlight.” 

The whole book isn’t that heavy, but it gives an example of her skill with words. So what is this Qherrique, and what is Amberlight?  Amberlight is the city in which the book takes place…a beautiful city in which women rule the main houses and men serve the “traditional” roles seen in our society. Qherrique is a mysterious and powerful substance that is mined by the women and has many uses. It’s embedded in the walls of the houses, fuels the electricity, cars and weapons, and speaks to the women in a spiritual way. Needless to say it’s a very sought after substance by other colonies and has caused wars in the past.

At the beginning of Amberlight, a strange man who is unknown by anyone in Amberlight is found beaten, raped, and passed out in the streets and is taken in by Tellurith, head of Telluir house. He awakens and remembers nothing of who he is, what he is doing in the city or what has happened to him. The council grows suspicious of this stranger as Tellurith, a member of the council, begins to grow feelings for him. What will awaken with his memories? Where did he come from and why is he in Amberlight?

This is another book published by Juno, the same publisher that published Carole McDonnell’s Wind Follower. The  publisher focuses on fantasy with strong female characters and this is no exception. Tellurith is a wonderful character. She’s strong, brave when she needs to be, vulnerable like any human at times, and passionate as hell. She also frustrated me to no end at times, but I can’t really talk about that without giving away serious spoilers. But the book ended with me being satisfied. I just wish it would’ve come sooner so that I wouldn’t have been ripping my hair out! Well done Ms. Kelso!

Watership Down was my last read for the Four Legged Friends Challenge and it had come to be last because I had been putting it off thinking that it wouldn’t be a favorite of mine or that it might be too drawn out at 476 pages. Trust me when I say that it ended up being one of my favorite reads so far this year. I didn’t want to let these characters go by the time I was finished the book…and they’re all rabbits!

Watership Down is a touching and warming story of companionship filled with adventure. It’s the story of a society of rabbits who find that their warren is being taken over by man, so they flee to find a new place to live. We follow their journey as they face many foes and trials. Richard Adams created a cast of characters that was unreal. Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, Pipkin, Clover…these are just a few of the characters that will stick with me for a long time. He did an amazing amount of research on rabbit life and habits and portrayed them well here. The book is really quite educational. He also created a whole rabbit language and mythology that’s interlaced throughout the book so we see a whole society represented here. The folk tales that the rabbits told were some of my favorite chapters in the book. Nymeth wrote a review on the book awhile back talking more about this…check it out! Her review is excellent!

I know this book has been debated upon endlessly and countless academic papers have been written upon it’s meaning, so I couldn’t help but smile when I read the new introduction by the author. Richard Adams explained that he wrote this book for his daughter. He would read her bed time stories and he said that sometimes the stories were such crap that he knew that he could write something better, so he did. It started as a story that he would tell his daughter during long car rides in the car. And then he says this: “I want to emphasize that Watership Down was never intended to be some sort of allegory or parable. It is simply the story about rabbits made up and told in the car.” So when it comes down to it, I guess you can search for deep meaning in the book, but it is what it is…a wonderful story. I really enjoyed it and hope that others will too. Pick this one up!

So as I said, this is the end of the Four Legged Friends Challenge for me! I read:

1. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
2. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
3. Surrender by Sonya Hartnett
4. Varjak Paw by S.F. Said
5. Watership Down by Richard Adams

Big thanks to Kailana for hosting it! It really was a great challenge…My favorite book would be this one, Watership Down with The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane coming in a close second. Least favorite, Surrender. Just didn’t do it for me.

This is going to end my affair with the Stainless Steel Rat for a little while…at least for a few books. I’ll probably be back for one or two more adventures by the end of February though It’s hard to stay away from these – they’re so much fun! was probably my least favorite of the three that I’ve read so far, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t good. I just loved the first two so much that it’s hard to top them!

This one opens up with James DiGriz’s world going hazy. Everyone around him is slowly disappearing and we learn that this is because there is a time war going on. His mission (there has to be a mission!) stop the time war and literally, save the world! The rat travels back 30,000 years to a very strange planet called “Earth” to the year 1975. As you can imagine, it’s quite comical at times and there’s some really good social commentary to be had here. DiGriz has to find a man by the name of “He” who is the culprit behind this time war, a man in search of ultimate control. The fate of the world, his existence, his wife’s existence, and his planet lies on his shoulders. Can he stop He in time before his world is erased?

I think that this one was a little awkward for me because of all of the time travel stuff. This novel was so short and I just got sort of confused with some of the time travel elements…I found myself just nodding my head along with some of the plot. But I really enjoyed the story for the most part. Napoleon Bonaparte even showed up in it!

So with this book read, I’ve finally completed my 4th book of the year. Sad, huh? The end of January and I’ve only read 4 books…2 of them being under 200 pages. I have some serious catching up to do with all these challenges and review copies. Next up is one that counts as a challenge book and a review copy! The next book in the Fablehaven series! Yay! I’ve been looking forward to this one since last May.

One last thing, I went and saw Juno tonight, and if you haven’t seen it yet I highly recommend it! It was such a wonderful movie–funny, sweet, heartwarming, snort inducing, filmed really well, great soundtrack and the acting was just phenomenal. I know that it’s nominated for a bunch of awards and I’m really hoping that it takes them all home!