So, Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme: "Top Ten Book Nerds."
These are not in any particular order, and I think I might do only 5. Book Nerds -- I'd kinda like to see more cross my path. And more book nerds who don't end up in some angsty relationship with the bad boy, or the popular boy, where she then moans about how unpopular/ugly she is, and why would he choose her?? That romantic plot needs to be burned at the stake, please.
(I'm in a slightly bad mood at the moment. Everything I'm picking up lately has some sort of weak romance in it. Now I don't mind romance if done right, but I'm talking about the they-wanna-get-married-after-knowing-each-other-two days sort of romance, where it is obvious that these two characters a.) have nothing in common, or b.) plan on getting into a relationship that is unequal/somewhat creepy.)
Anyways.
1. Hermione from Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
Of course. Who isn't choosing Hermione? The thing about Hermione is that she has a confidence and an intelligence that isn't mocked or made a joke of. Harry, Ron, and Hermione form a solid friendship with each other, and Hermione is an equal part of that -- the other two often rely on her intelligence and her ability to figure out what's going on.
2. Meggie from Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)
Meggie... I haven't read Inkheart in years, but Meggie was one of my favorite characters growing up. Apart from the enviable ability to read things into existence, she was a tough, resourceful young girl and adventurous to boot. Many young girls go out on journeys to find lost fathers, lost friends, or other lost loved ones, but Meggie stood out from the crowd by her character and her tenacity.
3. Annabeth from Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan)
I haven't read this series in a long while, either. But who doesn't love Annabeth? I like her better than Percy, in some respects. She's incredibly patient with him. And she's going on these adventures for her own sake, not because she's in love with Percy -- she wants to go out and see the world, rather than just reluctantly tag along. She's quick, clever, and courageous, and she is a real hero. There may not be a prophecy where she's the Chosen One, but I'd read a story with her as the main character any day. (Plus, she reads things in Ancient Greek because she finds it easier than English. Don't tell me that's not epic.)
4. Matilda from Matilda (Ronald Dahl)
Okay, yes, I didn't finish reading the book. I did watch the movie all the way through. That counts for something, right? Matilda's love of books didn't consume her character; she was so much more than just the "avid reader". She used her powers to cause mischief for the bad guys and to have fun. I read way too many novels where the main character angsts about her newfound powers and what it means and how magic cannot possibly be real. Matilda acts on her own, without needing any Wise Old Mentor sit around explaining to her exactly what her powers are and what she needs to use them for.
5. Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
In all honesty, I didn't even like the Hobbit when I read it the first time. Surprising, I know, considering my love of fantasy. But when I read it a second time for an AP Lit project, I fell in love with it in a way I didn't the first time around. I can actually sympathize with Bilbo Baggins -- being dragged away from a comfy home and all the books for an adventure?! No thank you! And unlike an awful lot of other novels, Tolkien played this character card without dipping his novel in angst and cliches. Bilbo is remarkably adaptable, despite his yearning to go home. And he's realistic in his complaints. He doesn't whine and let everyone else do all the work; he grumbles and he saves their butts several times.
The other five nerd characters are still ideas in my head. I can't very well spoil them for you.
What about you? I'm sure you chose at least one of the above. Leave a comment about who your favorite characters are!
Showing posts with label All About Character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All About Character. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle
How far is too far?
At one of Manhattan's most elite ballet schools, wafer-thin ballerinas pull their hair into sleek buns and lace their pointe shoes high, waiting for their chance to shine. But beneath the pretty, polished surface, these girls are hiding some terrible secrets and telling some twisted lies.
Prvileged Bette is tiny and beautiful -- like a ballerina in a music box. But living forever in the shadow of her ballet-star sister and under the weight of family expectations brings out a dangerous edge in her.
Perfectionist June can turn a flawless plie and diligently keeps her weight below 100 pounds. But she's never landed a lead role. Tired of always being the understudy, this year she'll settle for nothing but the best -- even if she must resort to some less-than-perfect means to get there.
And new girl Gigi isn't your traditional ballerina. A free-spirited California girl, she's not used to the fierce competition. Still, that doesn't stop her from outperforming every dancer in the school. But even she's hiding a ticking time bomb, and the very act of dancing just might expose her secrets to everyone.
Being a prima isn't all satin and lace; sometimes you have to play dirty. With the competition growing fiercer with every performance, and harmless pranks growing ever darker, it's only a matter of time before one spark ignites... and even the best get burned.
~Print copy, 438 pages
Published by HarperTeen
So, my first review in awhile. Here goes.
The plot was alright. The pacing was pretty well off; the pranks grew steadily more menacing, while Gigi (the butt of most of the pranks) grew more and more tense and on edge. There were places it dragged a little, and there were places that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the plot, things that were brought up and never went anywhere or were mentioned again. One of these things was the (creepy) way Mr. K, the ballet instructor, took sexual favors from girls. But that wasn't even a minor part of the plot, just the basis for a nasty rumor about Gigi that wasn't even one of the worse pranks. And it was just casually tossed in there, and nothing happened with it.
Overall, plot was fine. Not the most engaging plot I've ever encountered, but definitely not the worst. A bit clumsy in places, but tension/pacing were good.
I didn't have any problem with the worldbuilding, really. It was done well. The book is set in Manhattan, in New York City. But most of the novel doesn't take place outside the walls of the Conservatory. There are several key points when the characters go outside -- most notably at the end -- but the intensity of the girls' ballet practice makes their choice to stay inside completely believable and necessary. I know little about ballet, I confess -- I did take a beginner's class this past spring, but that's about it -- but in my limited experience, the ballet part seemed believable. The technical part of the dancing, I mean, not just the world it's taking place in. But I like the sparse detail and the intense characterization; every detail helps convey that particular viewpoint character's mind. And they all view the details differently.
The thing about the characters isn't really an issue I see other people having with this novel. My main problem is the boy-centered obsessions between the girls, and that sort of thing isn't really my style. (You can find my opinions on romance here.) Gigi and Bette are almost exclusively fighting over priviliged ballet man, Alec. And even my favorite viewpoint character, June, is fighting to steal the boyfriend of her ex-friend, Sei-Jin. The jealousy plays a major role in the bitterness towards Gigi, of course, but more of the drama in this novel seems to come from Alec's attentions and the creepy French boy Henri's attentions towards Bette.
But June is also very centered on her family and her own eating disorder, which makes her my favorite. Suddenly, she isn't trying to be the girlfriend; she's fighting with herself, and her family, as she struggles to find out who she is. Gigi gets everything in this novel, even as she's harassed mercilessly for it; I don't mind her, in a way, because while she gets the man almost right off the bat, you can see the effect the harassment has on her. And Bette -- what I love about Bette is how much mystery there is surrounding her, even as her point of view is being told in first person. The clues are there; the interpretations are several, none confirmed. Bette was handled masterfully by the authors. She is the ultimate mean girl, but she is also crushed by her family, which makes her only slightly sympathetic; and the authors aren't afraid to rip everything away from her. But did she pull the pranks? Did she pull all of them? She is as mysterious as she is mean, desperate, and lonely.
The writing is pretty well-off in this novel. The tension and pacing, as I mentioned above, were good. I didn't notice any typos at all. And the handling of character and plot arcs are wonderfully done. I don't know what quality is missing, that makes the writing go from "good" to "superior", but I don't sense it. I don't know. Perhaps it is all of the romance, and all of the troubling boy-centered drama that I don't like. I don't like what that says about the characters, and what theme is coming across with it: that girls are only obsessed with boys? That boys are the center of a woman's world, even in a world where there are few boys at all to be worrying about?
And the relationship between Henri and Bette (I'm not confirming an actual relationship, I mean in general terms) is too... weird. Creepy. Henri was the boyfriend of a girl Bette played cruel pranks on, and he becomes really creepy in his attentions -- several times, he's described as pushy, aggressive, too eager, and manipulative. He's constantly threatening to expose her secrets, and yet she continually is described to be somewhat attracted to him. And at one point, Gigi encounters his sexual creepiness, too, which is waved off. Perhaps this rant should be under character, but I don't like the implications of this particular character. It's like nobody sees him for the creep he is, except for (sometimes) Bette.
What I love most about this novel, actually, is the ending. Not in an "I'm glad it's over" sense, but in the sense that it was masterfully executed. I won't spoil it... but it isn't happy, and it isn't tied up all neatly with a bow. There are loose ends and mysteries never solved, and it isn't happy at all. Because this novel isn't a fairy tale, and neither is the dance world it's set in. The ending perfectly conveys the atmosphere of competition that's promised in the summary.
I do like this novel, despite my dislike of romance. I knew when I picked it up that there would be drama of the boy kind. It seems like all novels inevitably have such drama in it, and I was just sick of trying to find otherwise. But I am glad I picked this novel up, even if I never read it again. I would recommend it to you, if you like contemporary fiction and jealousy and melodrama between girls.
At one of Manhattan's most elite ballet schools, wafer-thin ballerinas pull their hair into sleek buns and lace their pointe shoes high, waiting for their chance to shine. But beneath the pretty, polished surface, these girls are hiding some terrible secrets and telling some twisted lies.
Prvileged Bette is tiny and beautiful -- like a ballerina in a music box. But living forever in the shadow of her ballet-star sister and under the weight of family expectations brings out a dangerous edge in her.
Perfectionist June can turn a flawless plie and diligently keeps her weight below 100 pounds. But she's never landed a lead role. Tired of always being the understudy, this year she'll settle for nothing but the best -- even if she must resort to some less-than-perfect means to get there.
And new girl Gigi isn't your traditional ballerina. A free-spirited California girl, she's not used to the fierce competition. Still, that doesn't stop her from outperforming every dancer in the school. But even she's hiding a ticking time bomb, and the very act of dancing just might expose her secrets to everyone.
Being a prima isn't all satin and lace; sometimes you have to play dirty. With the competition growing fiercer with every performance, and harmless pranks growing ever darker, it's only a matter of time before one spark ignites... and even the best get burned.
~Print copy, 438 pages
Published by HarperTeen
So, my first review in awhile. Here goes.
Plot: 3/5
The plot was alright. The pacing was pretty well off; the pranks grew steadily more menacing, while Gigi (the butt of most of the pranks) grew more and more tense and on edge. There were places it dragged a little, and there were places that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the plot, things that were brought up and never went anywhere or were mentioned again. One of these things was the (creepy) way Mr. K, the ballet instructor, took sexual favors from girls. But that wasn't even a minor part of the plot, just the basis for a nasty rumor about Gigi that wasn't even one of the worse pranks. And it was just casually tossed in there, and nothing happened with it.
Overall, plot was fine. Not the most engaging plot I've ever encountered, but definitely not the worst. A bit clumsy in places, but tension/pacing were good.
Worldbuilding: 4/5
I didn't have any problem with the worldbuilding, really. It was done well. The book is set in Manhattan, in New York City. But most of the novel doesn't take place outside the walls of the Conservatory. There are several key points when the characters go outside -- most notably at the end -- but the intensity of the girls' ballet practice makes their choice to stay inside completely believable and necessary. I know little about ballet, I confess -- I did take a beginner's class this past spring, but that's about it -- but in my limited experience, the ballet part seemed believable. The technical part of the dancing, I mean, not just the world it's taking place in. But I like the sparse detail and the intense characterization; every detail helps convey that particular viewpoint character's mind. And they all view the details differently.
Characters: 4/5
The thing about the characters isn't really an issue I see other people having with this novel. My main problem is the boy-centered obsessions between the girls, and that sort of thing isn't really my style. (You can find my opinions on romance here.) Gigi and Bette are almost exclusively fighting over priviliged ballet man, Alec. And even my favorite viewpoint character, June, is fighting to steal the boyfriend of her ex-friend, Sei-Jin. The jealousy plays a major role in the bitterness towards Gigi, of course, but more of the drama in this novel seems to come from Alec's attentions and the creepy French boy Henri's attentions towards Bette.
But June is also very centered on her family and her own eating disorder, which makes her my favorite. Suddenly, she isn't trying to be the girlfriend; she's fighting with herself, and her family, as she struggles to find out who she is. Gigi gets everything in this novel, even as she's harassed mercilessly for it; I don't mind her, in a way, because while she gets the man almost right off the bat, you can see the effect the harassment has on her. And Bette -- what I love about Bette is how much mystery there is surrounding her, even as her point of view is being told in first person. The clues are there; the interpretations are several, none confirmed. Bette was handled masterfully by the authors. She is the ultimate mean girl, but she is also crushed by her family, which makes her only slightly sympathetic; and the authors aren't afraid to rip everything away from her. But did she pull the pranks? Did she pull all of them? She is as mysterious as she is mean, desperate, and lonely.
Writing/Theme: 4/5
The writing is pretty well-off in this novel. The tension and pacing, as I mentioned above, were good. I didn't notice any typos at all. And the handling of character and plot arcs are wonderfully done. I don't know what quality is missing, that makes the writing go from "good" to "superior", but I don't sense it. I don't know. Perhaps it is all of the romance, and all of the troubling boy-centered drama that I don't like. I don't like what that says about the characters, and what theme is coming across with it: that girls are only obsessed with boys? That boys are the center of a woman's world, even in a world where there are few boys at all to be worrying about?
And the relationship between Henri and Bette (I'm not confirming an actual relationship, I mean in general terms) is too... weird. Creepy. Henri was the boyfriend of a girl Bette played cruel pranks on, and he becomes really creepy in his attentions -- several times, he's described as pushy, aggressive, too eager, and manipulative. He's constantly threatening to expose her secrets, and yet she continually is described to be somewhat attracted to him. And at one point, Gigi encounters his sexual creepiness, too, which is waved off. Perhaps this rant should be under character, but I don't like the implications of this particular character. It's like nobody sees him for the creep he is, except for (sometimes) Bette.
Ending: 5/5
What I love most about this novel, actually, is the ending. Not in an "I'm glad it's over" sense, but in the sense that it was masterfully executed. I won't spoil it... but it isn't happy, and it isn't tied up all neatly with a bow. There are loose ends and mysteries never solved, and it isn't happy at all. Because this novel isn't a fairy tale, and neither is the dance world it's set in. The ending perfectly conveys the atmosphere of competition that's promised in the summary.
Overall: 4/5
I do like this novel, despite my dislike of romance. I knew when I picked it up that there would be drama of the boy kind. It seems like all novels inevitably have such drama in it, and I was just sick of trying to find otherwise. But I am glad I picked this novel up, even if I never read it again. I would recommend it to you, if you like contemporary fiction and jealousy and melodrama between girls.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Top Ten Tuesday #3, and another apology.
So, another apology: I haven't been doing things on this blog as often as I would like. I know I keep saying I'll keep up with it. This summer shall be a bit different, with this Top Ten meme. I have little to do and more will to do anything at all.
With that said, this Top Ten might be a little difficult. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is a freebie, so I thought I should mention my Top Ten Song-Book Character Matches.
(Or, the top ten songs that match a certain book character really well. Look at the title of this blog again, if you expected me not to take this opportunity to share great books AND music.)
As a side note, the music is written artist:song title, and each link goes to a video with lyrics. (Or most of them do, anyways.) If I don't list an author in my little summary, then it is either easily searchable or extremely popular.
1. Sebastian (Black Butler manga) -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Pirates Montage
Yes, it's a manga, not a book. But the difference between manga and novels is a post for another day. Sebastian, a demon butler, fits the suaveness of this piece really well. The adventure caught up in both the music and the manga fit together better than some puzzles. (Don't get me started on puzzles.)
2. Kelsier (Mistborn) -- Imagine Dragons: Ready Aim Fire
Kelsier is a true revolutionary in a dystopian future. The mood of both Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series (specifically the first one, which is the only one I've read) and this song fit really well, and the lyrics do, too.
3. Katniss's Mum (The Hunger Games) -- The Civil Wars: Kingdom Come
I don't remember Katniss's mum's name. I know. But I like this song for her because you cannot tell whether she is good or bad. She is a very gray character; she is not at all the sort of stereotypical mom you usually find in media, but neither is she the demonized "bad" mom that you might also find. She's not high on drugs, but neither does she take care of her children. She cares for them -- she takes care of Prim while Katniss is away in the Games -- but her grief after her husband's death has subsumed her character. And this song (which, I know, is from the Hunger Games movie soundtrack) captures that grayness.
4. Lia (Wintergirls) -- Helio: To Write Love on Her Arms
Lia definitely deserved to hear this song. She was dark and sick; mentally ill. This song is made for the TWLoHA project (To Write Love on Her Arms), which is meant to help self-mutilators and raise awareness. This song both fits her and would have been an inspiration to her. Lia's anorexia and her grief after her best friend dies combine in a spiraling way, and this song both acknowledges the pain and the mental illness, and tries to comfort.
5. Jennifer Strange (The Last Dragonslayer) -- Superchick: Not Done Yet
Jennifer Strange is a very tough character, but not in the muscles-and-kicking-butt sort of way. She sticks things out and is always fair, even if that means being forced to kill a creature who is the last of the kind. She is one of the only people in Jasper Fforde's world who wants to stick out and give a dragon the fair end of the deal. And this song represents that willingness, in the same easygoing way that Jennifer herself has.
6. Maddy (Gamer Girl) -- Britt Nicole: Headphones
Now, Maddy is not a music person, and the song, of course, tells you to put on your headphones. But both are about that escapist healing. Maddy disappears and grows through her manga drawing and her video game, which this song captures so perfectly. Put on your headphones, pick up a video game, find something to distract you and make you happy! (This book is by Mari Mancusi, in case you want to read it.)
7. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter) -- Owl City: Fireflies
Yes, I have to pair two famous, widely loved things. Luna and Owl City just go together. They both have that scatterbrained, chaotic splendor that makes them such compelling dreamers. Although they seem somewhat random (Fireflies? Nargles?), their randomness shows perfectly an undercurrent of emotion that speaks deeper than the practical characters around them.
8. Joe Zabbidou (Black Book of Secrets) -- One Republic: Secrets
Okay, this song is less Joe and more the people he deals with. He deals in secrets, and records them in a big, black book. (Hence the title.) F.E. Higgins wrote this quirky book, and it is quite a good read. The mysterious pawnbroker of secrets has a knack for making people feel that yearning to share what's on their mind, the same compelling that is behind this song.
9. Devon (After) -- Linkin Park: What I've Done
I wasn't overly fond of Amy Efaw's novel, After. Devon is a very unlikeable character, but I am not sure that is why I didn't like this novel. In any event, she is a very complicated young woman -- the book revolves around the aftermath, as she waits for the trial to convict her of putting her newborn in the trash. And, while the Linkin Park does not match the atmosphere of this novel -- Linkin Park has a darker, deeper, timeless quality to their music, where After has a much more contemporary feel to it -- I think the message behind this song does match an undercurrent to Devon. "Let mercy come/and wash away/what I've done" and all that.
10. Doctor Who -- Celtic Woman: A Spaceman Came Traveling
Okay, this is totally cheating. Doctor Who may be a TV show, but I feel that there is enough fanfiction written and published on this show that I can sneak this one in last. Really, this song is perfect for Doctor Who; the background singers are even wearing TARDIS blue! I can imagine a fanfiction somewhere about the Doctor showing up at the birth of Jesus.
Those are my Top Ten this week. What're yours? Leave a comment!
With that said, this Top Ten might be a little difficult. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week's theme is a freebie, so I thought I should mention my Top Ten Song-Book Character Matches.
(Or, the top ten songs that match a certain book character really well. Look at the title of this blog again, if you expected me not to take this opportunity to share great books AND music.)
As a side note, the music is written artist:song title, and each link goes to a video with lyrics. (Or most of them do, anyways.) If I don't list an author in my little summary, then it is either easily searchable or extremely popular.
1. Sebastian (Black Butler manga) -- Pirates of the Caribbean: Pirates Montage
Yes, it's a manga, not a book. But the difference between manga and novels is a post for another day. Sebastian, a demon butler, fits the suaveness of this piece really well. The adventure caught up in both the music and the manga fit together better than some puzzles. (Don't get me started on puzzles.)
2. Kelsier (Mistborn) -- Imagine Dragons: Ready Aim Fire
Kelsier is a true revolutionary in a dystopian future. The mood of both Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series (specifically the first one, which is the only one I've read) and this song fit really well, and the lyrics do, too.
3. Katniss's Mum (The Hunger Games) -- The Civil Wars: Kingdom Come
I don't remember Katniss's mum's name. I know. But I like this song for her because you cannot tell whether she is good or bad. She is a very gray character; she is not at all the sort of stereotypical mom you usually find in media, but neither is she the demonized "bad" mom that you might also find. She's not high on drugs, but neither does she take care of her children. She cares for them -- she takes care of Prim while Katniss is away in the Games -- but her grief after her husband's death has subsumed her character. And this song (which, I know, is from the Hunger Games movie soundtrack) captures that grayness.
4. Lia (Wintergirls) -- Helio: To Write Love on Her Arms
Lia definitely deserved to hear this song. She was dark and sick; mentally ill. This song is made for the TWLoHA project (To Write Love on Her Arms), which is meant to help self-mutilators and raise awareness. This song both fits her and would have been an inspiration to her. Lia's anorexia and her grief after her best friend dies combine in a spiraling way, and this song both acknowledges the pain and the mental illness, and tries to comfort.
5. Jennifer Strange (The Last Dragonslayer) -- Superchick: Not Done Yet
Jennifer Strange is a very tough character, but not in the muscles-and-kicking-butt sort of way. She sticks things out and is always fair, even if that means being forced to kill a creature who is the last of the kind. She is one of the only people in Jasper Fforde's world who wants to stick out and give a dragon the fair end of the deal. And this song represents that willingness, in the same easygoing way that Jennifer herself has.
6. Maddy (Gamer Girl) -- Britt Nicole: Headphones
Now, Maddy is not a music person, and the song, of course, tells you to put on your headphones. But both are about that escapist healing. Maddy disappears and grows through her manga drawing and her video game, which this song captures so perfectly. Put on your headphones, pick up a video game, find something to distract you and make you happy! (This book is by Mari Mancusi, in case you want to read it.)
7. Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter) -- Owl City: Fireflies
Yes, I have to pair two famous, widely loved things. Luna and Owl City just go together. They both have that scatterbrained, chaotic splendor that makes them such compelling dreamers. Although they seem somewhat random (Fireflies? Nargles?), their randomness shows perfectly an undercurrent of emotion that speaks deeper than the practical characters around them.
8. Joe Zabbidou (Black Book of Secrets) -- One Republic: Secrets
Okay, this song is less Joe and more the people he deals with. He deals in secrets, and records them in a big, black book. (Hence the title.) F.E. Higgins wrote this quirky book, and it is quite a good read. The mysterious pawnbroker of secrets has a knack for making people feel that yearning to share what's on their mind, the same compelling that is behind this song.
9. Devon (After) -- Linkin Park: What I've Done
I wasn't overly fond of Amy Efaw's novel, After. Devon is a very unlikeable character, but I am not sure that is why I didn't like this novel. In any event, she is a very complicated young woman -- the book revolves around the aftermath, as she waits for the trial to convict her of putting her newborn in the trash. And, while the Linkin Park does not match the atmosphere of this novel -- Linkin Park has a darker, deeper, timeless quality to their music, where After has a much more contemporary feel to it -- I think the message behind this song does match an undercurrent to Devon. "Let mercy come/and wash away/what I've done" and all that.
10. Doctor Who -- Celtic Woman: A Spaceman Came Traveling
Okay, this is totally cheating. Doctor Who may be a TV show, but I feel that there is enough fanfiction written and published on this show that I can sneak this one in last. Really, this song is perfect for Doctor Who; the background singers are even wearing TARDIS blue! I can imagine a fanfiction somewhere about the Doctor showing up at the birth of Jesus.
Those are my Top Ten this week. What're yours? Leave a comment!
Monday, July 14, 2014
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Sometimes, I worry that I'm not the hero everyone thinks I am.
The philosophers assure me that this is the time, that the signs have been met. But I still wonder if they have the wrong man. So many people depend on me. They say I will hold the future of the entire world in my arms.
When they see me, do they see a liar?
Once, a hero rose to save the world. He failed.
For a thousand years since, the world has been a wasteland of ash and mist ruled by the immortal emperor known as the Lord Ruler. Every revolt has failed miserably.
Yet somehow, hope survives. Hope that dares to dream of ending the empire and defeating the Lord Ruler. A new kind of uprising is being planned-- one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine: a teenage street urchin named Vin.
Where a hero rose to save the world and failed, can a young heroine succeed?
~Print copy, 659 pages
Published: 2006 by Tor Teen
So, I realize I've been a bit absent on this blog lately, but never fear. I have been ruminating. Mulling over. Cogitating. Pondering. And, as always, voraciously reading fiction in between staring at the ceiling and watching TV.
And so, a new idea for book reviews has surfaced in my mind: a way to satisfy my love of lists and make some form of organizational sense. Normally, I'd just freewrite my entire review, rambling on about plot and whatever happened to stick out while I was reading. Now, I've got A List of Areas, and a fraction of how much I liked this particular area. 1/5 being it was either entirely unremarkable or almost painful to read, and 5/5, of course, being absolutely amazing and remarkable and very much a pleasure to read.
So here goes.
There's a little bit of a misnomer about that summary. It glosses over the "criminal mastermind" part and elaborates on Vin. When in reality, this is the first in a series and Vin is... she's more like an apprentice. In this novel, at least.
That "brilliant criminal mastermind" is named Kelsier. He's a Leader. The driving force behind the whole book, really. He's creative and impulsive, a genius, a strategist of Big Plans. He is given a job by the leader of a rebellion to gather an army, but he takes it much further -- he takes it to big heights. He plans on killing the immortal Lord Ruler, with his magical ability and some metals. (I'll elaborate on that later.) And his crew of soldiers, noblemen, and craftsmen all look up to him.
Vin, on the other hand, is an urchin, one of many thieves in an underground thieving crew. Her abusive brother abandoned her in this nest of leery criminals and she's wielding the only ability she can to survive in such conditions: she can Soothe the emotions of other people. And it's this ability that catches the attention of Kelsier, who takes her on as part of his own "thieving crew".
The character arcs of these two alternating narrators are pretty amazing. Over the course of over 600 pages, Kelsier goes from the bragging survivor to the somewhat-more-levelheaded leader, from an ambitious thief to a thoughtful authority figure and inspiration for thousands of people. Vin stretches from survivor to dazzled noblewoman to someone who can finally trust the other members of her crew.
Vin, truth be told, had me a little underwhelmed at first. She's tough and distrustful at first, very down-to-earth. And then she becomes a spy for Kelsier in the rich world of the noblemen, and becomes... almost like them. Grown away from her roots, she becomes her fake persona, Valette. But she redeems herself in the end. She makes some fumbling mistakes, spends some time soaking in the wrong message, but in the end -- she's a character to root for. She redeems herself something powerful.
Kelsier, well, I won't go into him too much (spoilers, after all), but... he is the more spectacular figure. There is no doubt to anyone who reads this novel that Kelsier is that person, the Artemis Fowl of this story, if you will. Powerful, confident, and just a bit too arrogant, he steals from the rich and is sympathetic to the poor. He's the Hero. (Though not, of course, the one that failed a thousand years before the story takes place.)
Gracious wisdom, is the worldbuilding in this novel fantastic. It's fantasy, so of course it's well thought out... but it goes beyond that.
There are people called Mistings and Mistborn, who can swallow metals and "burn" them in their stomach in order to produce magical effects. Mistings can only swallow one of the eight Basic Metals for use. Mistborn -- like Kelsier and Vin -- can burn all eight, and then a couple more (the rare two Higher Metals). Both groups' magical abilities can range from Soothing and Rioting emotions to pulling and pushing metal objects around them.
It's all very organized. The metals are grouped into groups of four, according to whether they "push" or "pull" (Soothing emotions involves "pushing" the emotions down until the recipient is calmed; Rioting emotions involves "pulling" on certain emotions to excite the person). They're also grouped according to whether they are "external" or "internal" (Soothing and Rioting are external, because they affect someone else's emotions; but enhancing one's senses [pulling] and enhancing one's speed, strength, and endurance [pushing] are all internal, because they affect the Misting/Mistborn themselves).
And, of course, this is only one aspect of the worldbuilding. As impressive as the magic system is, the world itself is very vivid. The ashfalls from the nearby volcanoes and the mists at night are the dominant weather patterns. But it's not some backdrop: it highlights the brutality shown to the working class, the "skaa", who are seen sweeping the ashes away into the river; who struggle to keep the bare plants from dying under the dismal sunlight and frequent fallings of ash. It's for the skaa, who are abused and neglected at the hands of the noblemen, that Kelsier puts up this whole "kill the Lord Ruler" idea.
The strict class system, in which skaa are slaves and the noblemen are supposedly descendants of the Lord Ruler's allies back a thousand years before, is a tense one. The rebellion breeds under the Lord Ruler's nose, but he doesn't bother quenching it entirely. And the noblemen squabble amongst themselves regularly. But there is little overlap between the two groups -- noblemen are required by the Lord Ruler's law to execute any skaa women they bed. But some of them fall through the cracks, and what results is someone like Vin -- a skaa girl scratching out a living in a thieving crew, while possessing the Mistborn talent that is inherited only by the noblemen families.
All of this becomes a major part of the novel, tied tightly to the plot. And that's how worldbuilding is done -- tied so tightly to the plot that it becomes impossible to separate the two.
The plot is pretty darn beautiful. It all unfolds in just the right way. It's very well-thought-out, like the worldbuilding.
It all centers on the struggle between the Kelsier, Vin, and the skaa rebellion vs. the Lord Ruler. Vin is just a street thief, until Kelsier comes along and hires her for her Mistborn talents. The leader of the skaa rebellion has enlisted him to raise an army 10,000 strong to march against the Lord Ruler, but Kelsier wants to take it a step further -- he and his friends (a soldier, a nobleman, and a skaa woodworker) all map out a plan to throw the capital city in chaos, and he needs Vin's help to do it.
Of course, Vin is kind of an apprentice here. She almost takes a backseat; she's not a leading character like Kelsier, and ends up another team member with the secondary characters, spying on the noblemen for information while Kelsier does the job of throwing the city into chaos. But she slowly takes a bigger role as the book progresses.
But, like I said, this all unfolds just slowly enough. The pacing is just right, despite the hefty 600 pages. There look to be a few slow places, but at the end of the book I look back and realize tha those scenes were good -- they helped you catch your breath after all of the daredevil magic and action.
I was a little less enthusiastic on themes.
For one thing, despite Vin's redemption in the end, she still appears for most of the book to oscillating between prissy, spoiled noblewoman and hardened thief. And the idea behind it was a little sketchy, like, "Of course she'd be wowed by all of the beauty of this place; she's just a girl. So of course she'd just throw out this crazy idea of noble excess that she's held her entire life."
But I'm not really doing it justice. This idea is turned on its head at the end. Still, reading it, I feel like the former idea stretched on for too long a stretch, and the revelation that really, the opposite is the theme came a little too late. And she is still one of the only female characters in this book, besides maybe one noblewoman she's turned into an enemy and a couple of female skaa workers. So the idea makes it seem like women don't really have a place in such rebellions, unless they have special, rare magical talents.
Still, I think the other themes aren't too out there. The whole theme of "chaos can be a beautiful thing" is pretty good. Many books attempt it, but this one actually engineers the chaos, and harnesses it for social change. And the themes on class, how the clueless excess of the higher class can blind it to the oppression of a lower class, hit spot on. The nobles see the skaa as something less than human, something other than human, and that's a very familiar line of thinking when it comes to traditional race oppression in this world.
The subtler gender ideas in the novel don't appear to be deliberate. And the other thematic ideas presented more obviously are ones I agree with. But let's just say I prefer enjoying the magic and worldbuilding more than the themes.
Overall, I did really enjoy this novel. I would definitely recommend this book to others -- the world and the plot are fantastic. There were a few things that prevented me from making this a true, 5/5, fantastic novel -- mostly the lack of other females and my slight irritation with Vin's spying-on-the-nobility gig. But overall, a real nice novel.
The philosophers assure me that this is the time, that the signs have been met. But I still wonder if they have the wrong man. So many people depend on me. They say I will hold the future of the entire world in my arms.
When they see me, do they see a liar?
Once, a hero rose to save the world. He failed.
For a thousand years since, the world has been a wasteland of ash and mist ruled by the immortal emperor known as the Lord Ruler. Every revolt has failed miserably.
Yet somehow, hope survives. Hope that dares to dream of ending the empire and defeating the Lord Ruler. A new kind of uprising is being planned-- one that depends on the cunning of a brilliant criminal mastermind and the determination of an unlikely heroine: a teenage street urchin named Vin.
Where a hero rose to save the world and failed, can a young heroine succeed?
~Print copy, 659 pages
Published: 2006 by Tor Teen
So, I realize I've been a bit absent on this blog lately, but never fear. I have been ruminating. Mulling over. Cogitating. Pondering. And, as always, voraciously reading fiction in between staring at the ceiling and watching TV.
And so, a new idea for book reviews has surfaced in my mind: a way to satisfy my love of lists and make some form of organizational sense. Normally, I'd just freewrite my entire review, rambling on about plot and whatever happened to stick out while I was reading. Now, I've got A List of Areas, and a fraction of how much I liked this particular area. 1/5 being it was either entirely unremarkable or almost painful to read, and 5/5, of course, being absolutely amazing and remarkable and very much a pleasure to read.
So here goes.
Character: 4/5
There's a little bit of a misnomer about that summary. It glosses over the "criminal mastermind" part and elaborates on Vin. When in reality, this is the first in a series and Vin is... she's more like an apprentice. In this novel, at least.
That "brilliant criminal mastermind" is named Kelsier. He's a Leader. The driving force behind the whole book, really. He's creative and impulsive, a genius, a strategist of Big Plans. He is given a job by the leader of a rebellion to gather an army, but he takes it much further -- he takes it to big heights. He plans on killing the immortal Lord Ruler, with his magical ability and some metals. (I'll elaborate on that later.) And his crew of soldiers, noblemen, and craftsmen all look up to him.
Vin, on the other hand, is an urchin, one of many thieves in an underground thieving crew. Her abusive brother abandoned her in this nest of leery criminals and she's wielding the only ability she can to survive in such conditions: she can Soothe the emotions of other people. And it's this ability that catches the attention of Kelsier, who takes her on as part of his own "thieving crew".
The character arcs of these two alternating narrators are pretty amazing. Over the course of over 600 pages, Kelsier goes from the bragging survivor to the somewhat-more-levelheaded leader, from an ambitious thief to a thoughtful authority figure and inspiration for thousands of people. Vin stretches from survivor to dazzled noblewoman to someone who can finally trust the other members of her crew.
Vin, truth be told, had me a little underwhelmed at first. She's tough and distrustful at first, very down-to-earth. And then she becomes a spy for Kelsier in the rich world of the noblemen, and becomes... almost like them. Grown away from her roots, she becomes her fake persona, Valette. But she redeems herself in the end. She makes some fumbling mistakes, spends some time soaking in the wrong message, but in the end -- she's a character to root for. She redeems herself something powerful.
Kelsier, well, I won't go into him too much (spoilers, after all), but... he is the more spectacular figure. There is no doubt to anyone who reads this novel that Kelsier is that person, the Artemis Fowl of this story, if you will. Powerful, confident, and just a bit too arrogant, he steals from the rich and is sympathetic to the poor. He's the Hero. (Though not, of course, the one that failed a thousand years before the story takes place.)
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Gracious wisdom, is the worldbuilding in this novel fantastic. It's fantasy, so of course it's well thought out... but it goes beyond that.
There are people called Mistings and Mistborn, who can swallow metals and "burn" them in their stomach in order to produce magical effects. Mistings can only swallow one of the eight Basic Metals for use. Mistborn -- like Kelsier and Vin -- can burn all eight, and then a couple more (the rare two Higher Metals). Both groups' magical abilities can range from Soothing and Rioting emotions to pulling and pushing metal objects around them.
It's all very organized. The metals are grouped into groups of four, according to whether they "push" or "pull" (Soothing emotions involves "pushing" the emotions down until the recipient is calmed; Rioting emotions involves "pulling" on certain emotions to excite the person). They're also grouped according to whether they are "external" or "internal" (Soothing and Rioting are external, because they affect someone else's emotions; but enhancing one's senses [pulling] and enhancing one's speed, strength, and endurance [pushing] are all internal, because they affect the Misting/Mistborn themselves).
And, of course, this is only one aspect of the worldbuilding. As impressive as the magic system is, the world itself is very vivid. The ashfalls from the nearby volcanoes and the mists at night are the dominant weather patterns. But it's not some backdrop: it highlights the brutality shown to the working class, the "skaa", who are seen sweeping the ashes away into the river; who struggle to keep the bare plants from dying under the dismal sunlight and frequent fallings of ash. It's for the skaa, who are abused and neglected at the hands of the noblemen, that Kelsier puts up this whole "kill the Lord Ruler" idea.
The strict class system, in which skaa are slaves and the noblemen are supposedly descendants of the Lord Ruler's allies back a thousand years before, is a tense one. The rebellion breeds under the Lord Ruler's nose, but he doesn't bother quenching it entirely. And the noblemen squabble amongst themselves regularly. But there is little overlap between the two groups -- noblemen are required by the Lord Ruler's law to execute any skaa women they bed. But some of them fall through the cracks, and what results is someone like Vin -- a skaa girl scratching out a living in a thieving crew, while possessing the Mistborn talent that is inherited only by the noblemen families.
All of this becomes a major part of the novel, tied tightly to the plot. And that's how worldbuilding is done -- tied so tightly to the plot that it becomes impossible to separate the two.
Plot: 4/5
The plot is pretty darn beautiful. It all unfolds in just the right way. It's very well-thought-out, like the worldbuilding.
It all centers on the struggle between the Kelsier, Vin, and the skaa rebellion vs. the Lord Ruler. Vin is just a street thief, until Kelsier comes along and hires her for her Mistborn talents. The leader of the skaa rebellion has enlisted him to raise an army 10,000 strong to march against the Lord Ruler, but Kelsier wants to take it a step further -- he and his friends (a soldier, a nobleman, and a skaa woodworker) all map out a plan to throw the capital city in chaos, and he needs Vin's help to do it.
Of course, Vin is kind of an apprentice here. She almost takes a backseat; she's not a leading character like Kelsier, and ends up another team member with the secondary characters, spying on the noblemen for information while Kelsier does the job of throwing the city into chaos. But she slowly takes a bigger role as the book progresses.
But, like I said, this all unfolds just slowly enough. The pacing is just right, despite the hefty 600 pages. There look to be a few slow places, but at the end of the book I look back and realize tha those scenes were good -- they helped you catch your breath after all of the daredevil magic and action.
Theme: 3/5
I was a little less enthusiastic on themes.
For one thing, despite Vin's redemption in the end, she still appears for most of the book to oscillating between prissy, spoiled noblewoman and hardened thief. And the idea behind it was a little sketchy, like, "Of course she'd be wowed by all of the beauty of this place; she's just a girl. So of course she'd just throw out this crazy idea of noble excess that she's held her entire life."
But I'm not really doing it justice. This idea is turned on its head at the end. Still, reading it, I feel like the former idea stretched on for too long a stretch, and the revelation that really, the opposite is the theme came a little too late. And she is still one of the only female characters in this book, besides maybe one noblewoman she's turned into an enemy and a couple of female skaa workers. So the idea makes it seem like women don't really have a place in such rebellions, unless they have special, rare magical talents.
Still, I think the other themes aren't too out there. The whole theme of "chaos can be a beautiful thing" is pretty good. Many books attempt it, but this one actually engineers the chaos, and harnesses it for social change. And the themes on class, how the clueless excess of the higher class can blind it to the oppression of a lower class, hit spot on. The nobles see the skaa as something less than human, something other than human, and that's a very familiar line of thinking when it comes to traditional race oppression in this world.
The subtler gender ideas in the novel don't appear to be deliberate. And the other thematic ideas presented more obviously are ones I agree with. But let's just say I prefer enjoying the magic and worldbuilding more than the themes.
Overall: 4/5
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
All About Character: On Theodosia
Let me tell you a little something about characters: the story is all about them. People force me to read literary fiction in classrooms, but that is the reason no one my age reads any more (besides people like me). Literary fiction about how it is written, not the main subjects of the story.
And so, this is why I feel the need to talk about my favoritestories characters. Because sometimes, main character or not, "likeable" or not, I need to express the warmth and love that fills my mind when I read good characters.
R.L. Lafevers -- yes, the author of Grave Mercy -- wrote Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, which kickstarts the series of a young, curious girl prodigy whose main job is to take curses off of ancient Egyptian artifacts.
Theodosia... she's the girl I wish I was. At eleven years old, she juggles secret societies and vile magic and parents who simply don't understand. She doesn't whine or complain, even though this is the early 1900s and she is expected to behave in a more "polite" manner than sleeping in a sarcophagus and pattering about her father's museum. She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work, researching (in dusty old tomes) or collecting wax (it soaks up curses pretty well) or avoiding trouble (which, of course, always seeks her out).
What I love about Theodosia is her voice. Not old beyond her years, weighed down by her important duties; but not frivolous and empty-headed, like the girls in that boarding school her parents neglected to send her back to. She gets exasperated by the adults around her. She is wise enough not to elaborate on her role in keeping her parents safe from the magic her mother brings back from archaeological expeditions. She has her own scientific methods for getting rid of the curses.
Of course, I am neck-deep in Book 4. But I will focus on Book 1, the Serpents of Chaos. Theo, as she's sometimes called, has no qualms about looking peculiar. She's entirely unafraid of meeting new people, but loves her time researching in the museum's library. In fact, she creates a network of allies to help keep her (relatively) safe and informed.
I am not entirely sure I would be as level-headed if I were in Theodosia's position. This is what I love about her. She meets a secret society and holds a powerful Heart of Egypt amulet, and she doesn't bat an eye. The Serpents of Chaos, as they're called, steal the amulet, but Theo has A Plan. And it doesn't involve returning it to her mother, where it might get stolen again.
Of course, the other secret society she meets (for one secret society is just never enough) is on the side of "good." The Chosen Brotherhood takes curses off of objects as well, but none of them have the same ability to sense it as Theo does. And they help her out, a little, but Theo stands on her own. She creates her own plans, and implements them.
I guess, if I'm being honest, I love Theo's abilities as well. I mean, how amazing and dangerous and exciting is the ability to detect Egyptian curses? And she doesn't just guess; she's not new to this ability. She rolls up her sleeves and applies her First Level Test (wax) and Second Level Test (moonlight) to determine what the curses, she researches how to get rid of it, and performs spells with leftover bits and pieces (of gold wire, chips of red stone, colorful thread, and more). Fantasy stimulates my imagination more than almost any other type of fiction, and Ancient Egypt captures my attention more than almost any other time and place.
Theo has flaws, of course, but I find myself not caring. She can be a bit bumbling and naive. She can (and does) trust the wrong people, hate the right people, and sometimes botch up her relationship to her parents or her younger brother. But she's eleven. She is allowed to be human, in all of that complicated mess of dealing with other people.
Most of all, I think, Theo is unafraid to be all of the things mentioned above. She is unafraid of being the only one to see curses, of trusting the wrong people, of coming face to face with orders of men dedicated to chaos. She never apologizes for it. And I love her fearlessness, because fear never holds her back from the sort of adventure people love reading about.
If you have never had the pleasure of picking up this book, I recommend it. Theodosia is a complex, confident character, and whether you like Ancient Egypt or not, whether you read fantasy or not, this series is worth reading for her.
Have a blessed day.
And so, this is why I feel the need to talk about my favorite
R.L. Lafevers -- yes, the author of Grave Mercy -- wrote Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, which kickstarts the series of a young, curious girl prodigy whose main job is to take curses off of ancient Egyptian artifacts.
Theodosia... she's the girl I wish I was. At eleven years old, she juggles secret societies and vile magic and parents who simply don't understand. She doesn't whine or complain, even though this is the early 1900s and she is expected to behave in a more "polite" manner than sleeping in a sarcophagus and pattering about her father's museum. She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work, researching (in dusty old tomes) or collecting wax (it soaks up curses pretty well) or avoiding trouble (which, of course, always seeks her out).
What I love about Theodosia is her voice. Not old beyond her years, weighed down by her important duties; but not frivolous and empty-headed, like the girls in that boarding school her parents neglected to send her back to. She gets exasperated by the adults around her. She is wise enough not to elaborate on her role in keeping her parents safe from the magic her mother brings back from archaeological expeditions. She has her own scientific methods for getting rid of the curses.
Of course, I am neck-deep in Book 4. But I will focus on Book 1, the Serpents of Chaos. Theo, as she's sometimes called, has no qualms about looking peculiar. She's entirely unafraid of meeting new people, but loves her time researching in the museum's library. In fact, she creates a network of allies to help keep her (relatively) safe and informed.
I am not entirely sure I would be as level-headed if I were in Theodosia's position. This is what I love about her. She meets a secret society and holds a powerful Heart of Egypt amulet, and she doesn't bat an eye. The Serpents of Chaos, as they're called, steal the amulet, but Theo has A Plan. And it doesn't involve returning it to her mother, where it might get stolen again.
Of course, the other secret society she meets (for one secret society is just never enough) is on the side of "good." The Chosen Brotherhood takes curses off of objects as well, but none of them have the same ability to sense it as Theo does. And they help her out, a little, but Theo stands on her own. She creates her own plans, and implements them.
I guess, if I'm being honest, I love Theo's abilities as well. I mean, how amazing and dangerous and exciting is the ability to detect Egyptian curses? And she doesn't just guess; she's not new to this ability. She rolls up her sleeves and applies her First Level Test (wax) and Second Level Test (moonlight) to determine what the curses, she researches how to get rid of it, and performs spells with leftover bits and pieces (of gold wire, chips of red stone, colorful thread, and more). Fantasy stimulates my imagination more than almost any other type of fiction, and Ancient Egypt captures my attention more than almost any other time and place.
Theo has flaws, of course, but I find myself not caring. She can be a bit bumbling and naive. She can (and does) trust the wrong people, hate the right people, and sometimes botch up her relationship to her parents or her younger brother. But she's eleven. She is allowed to be human, in all of that complicated mess of dealing with other people.
Most of all, I think, Theo is unafraid to be all of the things mentioned above. She is unafraid of being the only one to see curses, of trusting the wrong people, of coming face to face with orders of men dedicated to chaos. She never apologizes for it. And I love her fearlessness, because fear never holds her back from the sort of adventure people love reading about.
If you have never had the pleasure of picking up this book, I recommend it. Theodosia is a complex, confident character, and whether you like Ancient Egypt or not, whether you read fantasy or not, this series is worth reading for her.
Have a blessed day.
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