tidesong

I’ve been a fan of Wendy Xu’s art since I saw it one year at Small Press Expo (SPX), a mini comics conference held in the DC area each year. I was excited to pick up Wendy’s middle grade graphic novel Tidesong for the art, of course, but I was also intrigued by the incorporation of water dragons, a gorgeous color palette, and a Studio Ghibli-esque feel. Tidesong did not disappoint – it’s a charming fantasy adventure with lots of heart.

 

Sophie is a young witch whose mother and grandmother pressure her to attend the Royal Magic Academy—the best magic school in the realm—even though her magic is shaky at best. To train for her entrance exams, Sophie is sent to relatives she’s never met.

Cousin Sage and Great-Aunt Lan seem more interested in giving Sophie chores than in teaching her magic. Frustrated, Sophie attempts magic on her own, but the spell goes wrong, and she accidentally entangles her magic with the magic of a young water dragon named Lir.

Lir is trapped on land and can’t remember where he came from. Even so, he’s everything Sophie isn’t—beloved by Sophie’s family and skilled at magic. With his help, Sophie might just ace her entrance exams, but that means standing in the way of Lir’s attempts to regain his memories. Sophie knows what she’s doing is wrong, but without Lir’s help, can she prove herself?

Sophie is descended from a long line of witches who can control the winds and the tides, and she is determined to make her family proud, but the pressure to perform is causing some problems. First, learning the family magic is tough, and her auntie Lan is hard on her. Second, when she goes rogue and tries it on her own, she traps young dragon Lir out of his dragon form and memories. Figuring out how to untangle the mess she’s created will take patience, a change of heart, talking it out, and teamwork.

 

Gosh, this book was cute! It also had solid messages and themes: dealing with family expectations (meeting them, bucking them, going your own way and owning your mistakes!), wanting to learn things right away and having to adapt and slow down when it isn’t easy, and how to respond in a healthy way to intrusive negative thoughts. Sophie is young, and while she thinks she’s ready for life’s challenges, she figures out pretty quickly that she still has quite a way to go. Her aunties Lan and Sage and family friend Eugenia make for by turns stern and supportive mentors, and the family chickens are an effective spy network. If that last phrase made you chuckle, this might be the book for you! It’s got humor and heart, and while the plot is fairly simplistic (no huge plot twists here!), it is worth the read.

 

Of course, I mentioned dragons, and I haven’t gotten around to those yet! The first few pages of the book are a retelling of the legend of how the Wu witches got their power (wouldn’t you know, they are descended from a dragon who fell in love with a fisherman!), and this inclusion at the start of the story sets the stage for a fairy tale- and mythology-tinged tale. The illustrations tell most of the story here – there’s no extended exposition about how the magic in Sophie’s world works, no questions about different magical creatures – they just are, and they are darn cute. Tiny, fluffy chickens with teeth, a mini dragon, and a kappa all steal the show at various points as insanely adorable sidekicks. This was what felt the most like a Ghibli film to me: strange and cute sea and land creatures bobbling about on each page.

 

Let’s talk about that art style! Xu is well-known for her previous graphic novel Mooncakes, and you can expect the same art style in Tidesong, both a bit more refined and a bit more open-feeling, if that makes sense. The cool color palette is appropriate for the setting (the sea! the seaside! an island village!) and the variation in panel sizes, shapes, and bleed on some spreads is evocative of whatever is happening in the story. This is a graphic novel that leans more heavily on imagery than on text, and it is 100% charming.

 

In all, Tidesong is a magical graphic novel with brilliant (and adorable!) illustrations. A must-have for middle grade graphic novel collections.

 

Recommended for: fans of the animated film Ponyo and Molly Knox Ostertag’s The Witch Boy, and readers ages 7 and up.

bo the brave

Bethan Woollvin’s picture books are always beloved by the littles in my life. Kids are enamored of Woollvin’s subversive reinterpretations of classic fairy tales, and her art’s distinctive color schemes and shapes. Their parents and grandparents are (usually) amused too.  When a publisher sent me Woollvin’s latest, Bo the Brave, I was sure I’d fall in love with it just like I did with Rapunzel and Hansel & Gretel and Little Red. And I did! And so did the two children (ages 3 & 5) I tested it with. It’s a winner!

Once, there lived a little girl called Bo. Bo wanted to be just like her brothers and capture a fearsome monster. Bo is small, too small to catch a monster—or so her brothers say. But Bo isn’t one to take no for an answer, so she sets off on a quest to catch a monster of her own. Can she defeat the furious griffin, conquer the hideous kraken, and triumph over the monstrous dragon? Or has Bo got the wrong idea who the real monsters are?

Author-illustrator Bethan Woollvin, the creator of the New York Times Best Illustrated Little Red, employs her signature style in this original fairy tale with a clever twist. Readers are sure to fall in love with Woollvin’s newest vibrant and sassy protagonist.

When Bo asks to come along on their quest, her brothers Erik and Ivar say no. At first Bo stews a bit, but then she decides to do something about it, and sneaks out to catch a monster of her own. Along the way Bo’s quest changes course – and new friends help her reimagine the world and her place in it. Bo, who christens herself “the Brave,” is my favorite sort of princess – one who doesn’t judge based on appearance, values friendship and good behavior, and is “smart, and strong, and brave!” She also has pink hair!

 

The best sorts of fantasy books start with a map – and Bo the Brave has maps for endpapers – a sign of delightful things to come, and at the end a delightful recap of the storyline. This book introduces the reader to several traditional science fiction and fantasy monsters: dragons, a kraken, and a griffin to start. But there are more hiding in the trees… for little ones and adults to identify on their own (and imagine their powers!).

 

Woollvin’s text emphasizes using your senses AND your thinking before making decisions or judging folks – and that’s an excellent lesson for readers of all ages. As an English teacher I love the idea of teaching inferences (based on behavior) to the younger set this way, and of course as a reader it’s fun to see the tired old monster-hunting script turned on its head! This, combined with Bo getting her chance to save the day after being told ignominiously that she’s too little to join her brothers, will resonate with young readers and have them asking for read aloud after read aloud.

 

And finally, the most important bit: ART. Woollvin’s signature style uses geometric shapes and uncomplicated human figures (with big eyes) to great effect. Add in a limited color palette of black, gray, teal, pink and orange, and the look is effective and engaging. Woollvin’s monsters’ different textures (scales, feathers, etc.) are created using simple methods: scallops, dots, and lines! The overall look is a cross between cute and uncanny, and I can’t think of a better way to describe the book as a whole, so… there you go!

 

Bo the Brave is a funny, unexpected tale about a girl determined to do great things, even when no one else believes in her. I’m super fond of it and I’m sure it’ll be a hit for holiday gifting! It’s A+ fun!

 

Recommended for: fairy tale and mythology fans ages four and up, clever and faintly subversive books for storytimes and read alouds, and anyone who likes seeing tired old tropes turned on their heads.

Fine print: I received a copy of this book for review consideration from the publisher. I did not receive any compensation for this post.

the tea dragon society

It’s been an age since I updated this blog! Too long. I’m out of practice and I have the anxiety to prove it (typing up reviews is v. therapeutic, who knew??)(I did, I just conveniently forgot to make time for it… ). But enough of that. Today I want to talk about one of my favorite bookish things: dragons!  Dragons are the best. THE BEST. Most of my favorite fantasy books have dragons in, and though I know correlation is not causation… DRAGONS are deeply awesome. So when a graphic novel is titled The Tea Dragon Society, well. Let’s take it as a given that I’ll be reading it (and expecting enchantment).

From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.

After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own. 

Greta is learning the old art of blacksmithing from her mother when she happens across a tea dragon in distress. She returns it safely to its owner, Hesekial, who offers to teach Greta tea dragon lore. But what is a tea dragon? Well, it’s an adorable little denizen of the fantasy world that O’Neill creates in this book. But it is also explained in-text, and I wouldn’t want to spoil that! So take it as read that tea dragons are slightly mystical, unbearably adorable, and the rest of this story is as well.

K. O’Neill’s The Tea Dragon Society started its life as a webcomic, and that’s how I originally came across it. In print, it’s a large format graphic novel with a gentle, LGBTQ+-positive story and absolutely gorgeous (and distressingly cute??) art. I read it for the 2018 Cybils awards, and it made the elementary and middle grade graphic novel shortlist—everyone loved it.

So what’s to love, aside from cuteness overload (but really, that’s all you need sometimes!)? Well, there are several things I’d put in the ‘plus’ column. First, the art is full of flowers, and I’m all in on flowers (see my instagram if you have any doubts). Then there’s inventive character design and characters of color. Add in LGBTQ+ rep, disability rep, and a fluffy story that will make readers feel just as happy as main character Greta… plus cool fantasy and magic world-building, and an open ending for future volumes, and there you have it. It’s basically perfect.

When I tried to think of negatives, all I could come up with was that there’s not a whole lot of urgency in the story or plot. That’s not… a fault. Oh well!

If you’re in the mood for quiet magic, soul-soothing beauty, and a moment or two of laughter, then The Tea Dragon Society is the book for you. It will make you wish that tea dragons are real and that you had a big mug of fragrant tea to sip from—even if it’s not tea-drinking weather!

Recommended for: fans of sweet middle grade graphic novels like The Prince and the Dressmaker and Nightlights, readers ages 8 and up with an eye for art, tea drinkers, and anyone who likes quiet, original fantasy in a beautiful setting.

the language of spells

I, like almost every other reader in the known universe, can be swayed by a pretty book cover. And when a pretty book cover also happens to have the words “language” and “spells” in the title, and a DRAGON on it, well. Shut the front door, as the saying goes. I came in to the reading experience ready to love Garret Weyr’s middle grade fantasy The Language of Spells. I cried-at-the-end ADORED it.

Grisha is a dragon in a world that’s forgotten how to see him. Maggie is a unusual child who thinks she’s perfectly ordinary. They’re an unlikely duo—but magic, like friendship, is funny. Sometimes it chooses those who might not look so likely. And magic has chosen Grisha and Maggie to solve the darkest mystery in Vienna. Decades ago, when World War II broke out, someone decided that there were too many dragons for all of them to be free. As they investigate, Grisha and Maggie ask the question everyone’s forgotten: Where have the missing dragons gone? And is there a way to save them? At once richly magical and tragically historical, The Language of Spells is a novel full of adventure about remembering old stories, forging new ones, and the transformative power of friendship.

Benevolentia Gaudium, or Grisha for short, is the youngest dragon alive, in a world where magic and dragons have become obsolete. Maggie (Anna Marguerite, properly) is a girl of eleven with a famous poet for a father and an even more famous, though dead, painter for a mother. Both Maggie and Grisha live in Vienna, and it is there that a friendship forms, a mystery unspools, and an adventure is undertaken. The Language of Spells is necessarily about magic, but it’s also a little bit about history, a lot about friendship, a smidgen about education, and a tiny bit about heartbreak. In other words, it is marvelous.

After reading the official summary I was under the mistaken impression that this book was about invisible dragons. It took me a few pages at the beginning to realize that that was *not* the case. No, instead it’s a coming of age story for both Grisha and Maggie, with a lot of fun dragon lore and magical creatures, historical bits, anecdotes about living in a hotel, and talking cats, among other delightful elements. It is (I would think) almost impossible not to fall in love with Maggie and Grisha. They’re very different characters, yet very kind to each other, and it has been too long since I read such a lovely portrait of friendship.

Theme-wise, The Language of Spells is about finding what is special or different about yourself and celebrating it (in Grisha’s case), making friends, and finding ways to solve problems and do the right thing (in Maggie’s case). It also has several fable-like messages woven in about judging people based on their “usefulness,” the innate dignity of rational beings, remembering the past, as well as some musings on freedom and happiness. It could have been quite complicated, but the author’s skill and touches of humor kept the tone cozy and the story moving.

As any good middle grade story is, this one is true (even if it does feature magic and dragons and talking cats), and at the same time absolutely heart-wrenching at the end. It’s the perfect read for a rainy day, with a cat at your feet and a mug of hot chocolate at hand. It’s also a great pick for a chapter-or-two-at-a-time storytime or bedtime, or independent reading for the 9–11-year-old crowd.

I can’t close out my review without mentioning the gorgeous art! At the beginning of each chapter there are illustrations by Katie Harnett (also the artist of the gorgeous cover!) which complement the text. The overall book design is just fabulous as well – the end papers, mustard-yellow boards, and gold foil on the dust jacket all make for a delightful keepsake of a book.

The Language of Spells has a timeless feel and quality to it, and is sure to earn a permanent spot on many shelves with its gentle, quiet brilliance.

Recommended for: fans of Catherynne Valente’s Fairyland books and Laura Ruby’s York, and anyone who likes cozy, imaginative books that are perfect for curling up with on wintery days.

Are you interested in other reviews of this book? Check out the TLC Book Tour! Or you can learn more via the author's website, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

Fine print: I reviewed this book as part of a TLC blog tour. I did not receive any compensation for this post, and I bought my own copy of the book.

ice wolves

I have, for the past several years, considered myself a dragon person. Not that I am personally a dragon (though I admit to entertaining thoughts about books as a hoard in place of gold), but that I will read practically any book that contains dragons. So along came this middle grade fantasy Ice Wolves by an author I already admired (Amie Kaufman), combining both shapeshifting dragons and wolves, and I knew it would be just my sort of comfort reading. And it was, along with fun, readable, and a solid start to a series with an interesting premise.

Everyone in Vallen knows that ice wolves and scorch dragons are sworn enemies who live deeply separate lives.

So when twelve-year-old orphan Anders takes one elemental form and his twin sister, Rayna, takes another, he wonders whether they are even related. Still, whether or not they’re family, Rayna is Anders’s only true friend. She’s nothing like the brutal, cruel dragons who claimed her as one of their own and stole her away.

In order to rescue her, Anders must enlist at the foreboding Ulfar Academy, a school for young wolves that values loyalty to the pack above all else. But for Anders, loyalty is more complicated than obedience, and friendship is the most powerful shapeshifting force of all.

Anders and Rayna are twins surviving on the streets of Holbard, the biggest city in Vallen. Holbard’s harbor is famous for being protected by magic, and so it has a diverse populace from all over the (fictional) world. Anders and Rayna steal to eat, run across the city’s rooftop meadows, and rely solely on one another – the only way of life they’ve ever known. As orphans of a dragon fire fight that destroyed part of the city when they were very young, they must make it on their own – coexisting with other street kids, but never joining them. When the city’s typical trial for twelve year olds to see if they can manage a wolf transformation upends their lives, Anders will have to step out of his more independent sister’s shadow, make his own way, make new friends, and concoct a daring rescue/escape plan.

Ice Wolves is an action-packed adventure with plucky orphans, a wolf school, mysteriously failing magics, secretive enemies, kidnappings, ice and fire fights, and scorch dragons and ice wolves. It’s definitely an electric mix, and the plot is fast-moving to match the subject matter. Anders is the focal point, and his frustrations and explorations introduce the reader to a world full of contradictions.

Anders himself is the typical unlikely hero who discovers something remarkable about himself, but cannot capitalize on it (and is the weakest link in his new environment). Meanwhile he’s trying, for the first time in his life, to be the twin with initiative and rescue his savvier sister. It’s a fairly standard setup for the middle grade fantasy genre, and I would not say it is groundbreaking…

EXCEPT, Kaufman’s writing is solid and the concept (dragon- and wolf-shifters at war!) is terrific. Ice Wolves will introduce young fans to a cool fantasy world based a bit on Norse history (marked by Holbard’s turf roofs, runic magic, and location far enough north that there’s plenty of snow). Kaufman also has Anders mull the moral quandaries of stealing to eat, saving and acknowledging society’s most vulnerable, his city’s class hierarchy, the divide between magical and regular humans, and misinformation campaigns spread by those in power. In addition, Anders and Rayna are brown, which challenges the white-as-default stereotype I read as a young fantasy fan (and which still pervades today). All while keeping the plot moving and including plot twists!

In all, Kaufman’s execution, world-building and attention to detail in Ice Wolves generate something out of the ordinary. The Elementals series is sure to make new fans of fantasy, dragons, and werewolves, and delight current ones.

Recommended for: fans of dragon books, those who like middle grade fantasy and science fiction along the lines of Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy or the How to Train Your Dragon films, and anyone with a soft spot for shapeshifting and adventurous orphans.

heartstone

At fourteen, I was that student determined to read every single book on the pre-college reading list that my freshman year English teacher handed out. I didn’t care that there were well over a hundred “classics” listed, and that you only had to read two for her class. I was determined to be well read by the time I graduated high school, through sheer determination if need be. Luckily, I started with Jane Eyre (which I loved to pieces). With a good experience at the start, I forged on. Not every book hit the right notes, but between the failures *cough*Lady Chatterley’s Lover*cough* I scoured my local library for books about magic and dragons. And so I discovered McCaffrey’s Pern and Wrede’s Enchanted Forest at the same time as Austen and Hardy and the Brontë sisters, and I loved both kinds of books with different but equal passion. Elle Katharine White’s Heartstone is a mashup for every reader who grew up loving both dragon books and Jane Austen.

A debut historical fantasy that recasts Jane Austen’s beloved Pride & Prejudice in an imaginative world of wyverns, dragons, and the warriors who fight alongside them against the monsters that threaten the kingdom: gryphons, direwolves, lamias, banshees, and lindworms.

They say a Rider in possession of a good blade must be in want of a monster to slay—and Merybourne Manor has plenty of monsters.

Passionate, headstrong Aliza Bentaine knows this all too well; she’s already lost one sister to the invading gryphons. So when Lord Merybourne hires a band of Riders to hunt down the horde, Aliza is relieved her home will soon be safe again.

Her relief is short-lived. With the arrival of the haughty and handsome dragonrider, Alastair Daired, Aliza expects a battle; what she doesn’t expect is a romantic clash of wills, pitting words and wit against the pride of an ancient house. Nor does she anticipate the mystery that follows them from Merybourne Manor, its roots running deep as the foundations of the kingdom itself, where something old and dreadful slumbers…something far more sinister than gryphons.

It’s a war Aliza is ill-prepared to wage, on a battlefield she’s never known before: one spanning kingdoms, class lines, and the curious nature of her own heart.

Elle Katharine White infuses elements of Austen’s beloved novel with her own brand of magic, crafting a modern epic fantasy that conjures a familiar yet wondrously unique new world.

I went into this book thinking it would have some vague Pride and Prejudice vibes, like Jo Walton’s dragonish comedy of manners, Tooth and Claw – but I was wrong. This is a straight up mythological creature retelling, with almost-identical plotlines, similar names (Aliza Bentaine instead of Elizabeth Bennett, anyone?), and even some of the same exact language in the epistolary sections. If you’ve read P&P, there will be few-to-no surprises. And that’s okay! But be aware  - it’s basically a fanfiction AU with dragons (and gnomes, and gryphons, and so on).

So, how was it? So-so quality-wise, and yet enjoyable. Heartstone is dialogue-heavy (to the point that sometimes you’re not quite sure who is speaking). It is also written from a first-person perspective (rather than the omniscient narrative of the original), without much set-up or description. It doesn’t feel like epic fantasy, which is usually heavy on worldbuilding. I’m sure this is due in part to the fact that most readers will already be familiar with the source material, and not need introduction to the characters, their situation in life, or their relationships to one other. There’s also the juxtaposition in this case of titles, manor houses, and a class hierarchy, and informal language. It’s a bit jarring at the start, and something along the lines of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (if you read that).

I didn’t like: the baby talk and dialect of the hobgoblins (when no one else seemed to have appreciable accents, even when noted in the text), that there was no resolution to the *spoiler* Elsian Minister’s plot *end spoiler*, and the necessary narrowing of perspective and characterization that a first-person tale necessitates.

In a case like this, where most of the work of plotting and characterization is either already set or expected, it is up to the author to surprise the reader, and if possible, to improve upon the source work. Heartstone didn’t accomplish either task, but it was an agreeable read, and I don’t regret spending my time with it. I think it will appeal greatly to anyone who, like me, loves both dragons and Austen.

Recommended for: devoted fans of both Jane Austen and dragons.

the witches of eileanan

The one like = one book meme has quieted down a bit now, but for a week or so it overpowered my twitter feed. I like the idea of the meme (one like on the original post equals one book recommendation from the poster, sometimes multiplied by the hundred), but in execution it made twitter an unreadable mess.  So, I was against it.  BUT THEN… one of the recommended books caught my eye. I can’t remember who recommended The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth, but I do know they were convincing enough that I downloaded a sample.  I got hooked. The rest is history.

Since the Day of Reckoning witches and magic have been outlawed on Eileanan. The great towers, once centres of learning, are now abandoned ruins. The penalty for practising witchcraft is death. Yet the Lodestar still calls to the Rìgh, king of Eileanan, making him uneasy. And there are those determined to restore witches and their craft to their rightful place in Eileanan.

In a hidden valley deep in the mountains, in the shadow of the peak of Dragonclaw, Isabeau the foundling grows to womanhood in the care of Meghan, an old wood witch. Meghan can call animals to her hand and knows the secrets of herb-lore. But Isabeau dreams of adventure…

Carrying a magic talisman that contains the last hopes of the persecuted witches, Isabeau is hunted through the land by the evil Banrìgh. Meanwhile the sea-dwelling Fairgean stir, children mysteriously disappear in the night, and Isabeau's guardian climbs Dragonclaw to seek guidance from the most ancient and dangerous wisdom in the land…

Isabeau the Foundling has been raised by the mysterious (is there any other kind?) old wood witch Megan, deep in the mountains. With her 16th birthday approaching, she is hopeful that she’ll be able to leave her sheltered life and head out on an adventure.  But the land beyond her mountain home is full of anti-witch sentiment, and though she has some power, her adventures won’t be without peril.  What ensues is an epic tale following many strands of story, centered around Isabeau, witches, and an uprising to bring magic back to Eileanan.

Why I picked the book up: I couldn’t pass up the idea of an Australian poet writing high fantasy.  Also, the dragon on the cover.  I’m a sucker for dragons.

Why I almost put it book down: Celtic (Scottish? Irish? Lots of ken, o’, and so on) dialect that makes the dialogue hard to read.  I’d stumble to a halt, figure it out, and continue on – but I felt the dialogue was a distinct disadvantage for the reader, especially early on.  I was also kind of “meh” about what I thought the plot was going to be (young girl discovering her power and then going on a quest, everything working out nearly perfectly) – I’ve seen that a lot in my reading life.

Why I kept reading: At first I read to see if the story would unfold as I predicted it would.  There were clues and names dropped in the first few pages that made me think I had it all figured out.  It was refreshing to find out that it wasn’t that predictable (for the most part).   I was also impressed early on by the largely female, multigenerational cast of characters.  There was diversity of personality and power among the characters as well. I felt a bit spoiled by all of the women in the tale – I am not used to reading so many female characters being badass at so many different points of life and in so many different ways.  That also lead to me shake my fist (on the inside) at all of the male-dominated books I’ve read in this genre all my life – I could have had this the whole time!

I also liked discovering the fairy/myth tale tie-ins throughout the story.  And dragons, duh.  Another plus: perspective switch-offs! The reader gets to “hear” the thoughts of many of the main players, even the villains.

Things that continued to annoy me: The Celtic dialogue and I never made friends.  It was a slog at times, but like I said, I was hooked and I worked valiantly to make my way through the book despite the brogue.  Related: everyone had a very similar accent. I tend to expect differences between the speech of those who live far from city centers, townfolk, and different species.  The only discernable difference in this book was a creature divide – dragons and animals didn’t sound like their human counterparts. 

Another pet peeve: the cover art is a lie (needs more dragons).  I’m sure the series as a whole is probably very dragon-ish, but this first book functions as a set-up, that there really isn’t that much about dragons (sad!). That leads to another disappointment – I didn’t realize that so little is wrapped up in this first book – I saw that it received awards and thought it must be at least a bit of a standalone.  Not so much.  I feel about as satisfied at this point as I did after I finished the first Wheel of Time book, if that tells you anything.

Finally, there were a couple instances where characters experienced sexual abuse and/or rape.  It wasn’t unpacked at all, and for such a female-centric story, I was disappointed (though not surprised, especially when I looked at the publication date) that that was the case.  There were other kinds of torture too, also presented without comment.  I felt that these instances of violence served primarily as a mechanism to shock the reader, and that they could have been replaced by almost any [insert terrible thing/suffering here].  As I said, disappointing but unsurprising.

I didn’t put it together until just now that I was reviewing a book that has deep Celtic roots on St. Patrick’s Day.  That’s… lucky.  If you don’t mind ‘reading’ the brogue, this might actually be the perfect holiday read for fans of fantasy (especially fans of Anne Bishop and Tanya Huff’s earlier stuff).

Recommended for: anyone interested in older epic fantasy that breaks the dude-hero stereotype, and those in the mood for an epic journey/adventure story with plenty of magic, magical creatures, and layers of motivations.

waiting on wednesday (69)

Today I’m participating in "Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Its purpose is to spotlight upcoming book releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Dragons have never gone away, per se, but I feel as though recently they've made a resurgence in YA fantasy.  In this past year I've read The Sweetest Dark, Seraphina, and (adult fantasy) A Natural History of Dragons. In 2014 I'm already looking forward to Joshua McCune's Talker 25, and I know there are other titles on my radar that I'm forgetting at this moment.  The truth is that you can never have too many dragon books.  And my latest find looks amazing.  Rebecca Hahn's debut A Creature of Moonlight will be released by HMH Books for Young Readers on May 6, 2014.

A stunning debut novel about a girl who is half dragon, half human, and wholly herself.

As the only heir to the throne, Marni should have been surrounded by wealth and privilege, not living in exile-but now the time has come when she must choose between claiming her birthright as princess of a realm whose king wants her dead, and life with the father she has never known: a wild dragon who is sending his magical woods to capture her.

Fans of Bitterblue and Seraphina will be captured by A Creature of Moonlight, with its richly layered storytelling and the powerful choices its strong heroine must make.

What books are you waiting on?

waiting on wednesday (66)

Today I’m participating in "Waiting On" Wednesday, a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. Its purpose is to spotlight upcoming book releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Twitter is my social media network (network? that sounds so... 1999) of choice.  When I go through my feed each day I discover new books, read the news I should know about, and see pretty pictures of food.  Yes, I mostly follow book people and food bloggers.  What of it?!  Let me give you a concrete example of how this works.  I was on twitter and saw a link to Epic Reads' Spring 2014 cover reveals.  I scrolled down and saw a beautiful cover and interesting tag line.  It happened to be for  Joshua McCune's debut novel.  Then I went over to his website and read a little more, and now Talker 25 is at the top of my wishlist for 2014.  Added all officially to my Goodreads account and everything!  It will be released by Greenwillow (HarperCollins) on April 22, 2014.  The power of twitter, everyone!

It’s a high school prank gone horribly wrong—sneaking onto the rez to pose next to a sleeping dragon—and now senior Melissa Callahan has become an unsuspecting pawn in a war between Man and Monster, between family and friends and the dragons she has despised her whole life. Chilling, epic, and wholly original, this debut novel imagines a North America where dragons are kept on reservations, where strict blackout rules are obeyed no matter the cost, where the highly weaponized military operates in chilling secret, and where a gruesome television show called  Kissing Dragons unites the population. Joshua McCune’s debut novel offers action, adventure, fantasy, and a reimagining of popular dragon lore.

What books are you waiting on?

tooth and claw

You know that fizzy feeling of happiness and completion when you finish a really good book, one that you know you’ll read again and again?  That.  I have it.  I’ve just read a smart, scathing comedy-of-manners, complete with status-obsessed mothers, impoverished young relatives, flighty males bent on spending their way through the family fortune… and DRAGONS.  Yes, this book and I were made for each other.  Jo Walton’s Tooth and Claw is freaking brilliant.

A tale of love, money, and family conflict—among dragons. A family deals with the death of their father. A son goes to court for his inheritance. Another son agonizes over his father's deathbed confession. One daughter becomes involved in the abolition movement, while another sacrifices herself for her husband. And everyone in the tale is a dragon, red in tooth and claw. 

Here is a world of politics and train stations, of churchmen and family retainers, of courtship and country houses… in which, on the death of an elder, family members gather to eat the body of the deceased. In which the great and the good avail themselves of the privilege of killing and eating the weaker children, which they do with ceremony and relish, growing stronger thereby. You have never read a novel like Tooth and Claw. 

Family patriarch Bon Agornin is dying, and his surviving children are gathered at his deathbed.  There is the cleric Penn, the married and self-satisfied elder sister Berend, the younger brother Avan, making his way in the world, and two younger sisters (Selendra and Haner) still living at home.  Their father’s death and bequests will change their comfortable world completely, and each of these dragons will find the future a rather dangerous unknown.

Others have described this book as Jane Austen, but with dragons.  I agree to a point.  Walton meticulously describes the familial scene and conflicts, within a larger, hierarchical society influenced by politics, connections, and acting in accordance with propriety and tradition.  However, Walton is not winking at the reader with caricatures from her own time as Austen did.  She’s taken the tropes of the Victorian novel and changed the essential biology and beings in play, making for a complex, wryly funny mash-up of genre.  It’s all beautifully written, too – I couldn’t put the book down.  Oh, and it’s just fun!

Of course, it’s not all ideas and power struggles – there’s a great story, too, with bits and pieces from different locations interweaving into a whole.  The action follows the siblings as they leave their father’s home, but there’s more focus on Selendra’s story arc than the others’, and her course is full of treasure, romance, close escapes and spirit.  I fell in love with most of the characters, but Selendra was my favorite (as she’s meant to be).   I don’t think I’m spoiling anything when I say that the reader is left satisfied at the end, as anyone reading a proper Austen novel would be, though there are moments when you can’t see how it’ll turn out right.

In all, Tooth and Claw is a clever, entertaining, and elegant little fantasy novel, and it fit this reader perfectly.  It’ll definitely be on my ‘best of 2013’ list at the end of the year.  Many thanks to The Book Smugglers for the recommendation!

Recommended for: fans of fantasy, those who like unusual and interesting plays on genre, and anyone who feels a spark of interest at the thought of a Seraphina/Pride and Prejudice mash-up.

the sweetest dark

Superman is back in the pop culture lexicon (did he ever leave, though?), so I think I can safely say that something is ‘my kryptonite’ and everyone will know that it kills me.  Right?!  Well, here goes nothing: LOVE TRIANGLES ARE MY KRYPTONITE.  I’m seriously allergic to them.  It used to be that I could tolerate this now-dreaded young adult romance cliché, but too many bad experiences have scarred me.  Or maybe I’ve just lost patience like the old grouch that I am (on the inside).  The sad truth is that there are *very* few exceptions to this rule, and Shana Abé’s The Sweetest Dark was not one of them.

Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: She hears songs that no one else can hear, dreams vividly of smoke and flight, and lives with a mysterious voice inside her that insists she’s far more than what she seems. 

England, 1915. Raised in an orphanage in a rough corner of London, Lora quickly learns to hide her unique abilities and avoid attention. Then, much to her surprise, she is selected as the new charity student at Iverson, an elite boarding school on England’s southern coast. Iverson’s eerie, gothic castle is like nothing Lora has ever seen. And the two boys she meets there will open her eyes and forever change her destiny. 

Jesse is the school’s groundskeeper—a beautiful boy who recognizes Lora for who and what she truly is. Armand is a darkly handsome and arrogant aristocrat who harbors a few closely guarded secrets of his own. Both hold the answers to her past. One is the key to her future. And both will aim to win her heart. As danger descends upon Iverson, Lora must harness the powers she’s only just begun to understand, or else lose everything she dearly loves. 

Filled with lush atmosphere, thrilling romance, and ancient magic, The Sweetest Dark brilliantly captures a rich historical era while unfolding an enchanting love story that defies time.

Lora has grown up in horrible circumstances – she was found mute and with no memory of her past on the street at age ten, and from thence deposited in an orphanage.  She heard music that no one else did, and was sent away for a stint in a mental institution.  She’s become very good at appearing normal ever since, but so far she hasn’t turned hard.  That doesn’t mean she isn’t damaged in other ways, though.  When the Great War starts and London is bombed, Lora gets her one golden opportunity – she’s sent to the coast to an exclusive school for girls far above her station.  It is there that she will find mysteries beyond the ordinary, and two very different young men.

I picked up The Sweetest Dark on Liviania’s recommendation – we’re practically reading twins, and so I usually try what she thinks is good (and vice versa).  She loved this book, so I read it.  Easy peasy.  There were certainly things I liked about the book.  Abé started off with quite a hook – a girl who hears things, and doesn’t know why, and a (separate) mysterious old story told in anonymous letters.  I was invested immediately, and intrigued by the gothic feel of the narrative – it reminded me a bit of Jane Eyre, actually.

As I’ve already said, the sticking point for me was the love triangle, which was introduced when Lora arrived at Iverson, the school-in-a-castle.  Part of the trouble was that I felt that one character was completely extraneous to the story.  The tension that the author wanted to create with him could have been contrived in other ways without the instant fascination/eyes-that-follow-Lora-everywhere-creep-factor.  Perhaps the easiest way to explain my unease with the love triangle is to say that it read like a FORMULA.  One that I’ve seen too many times.  And I thought the writing and descriptive passages were very well-done, and the story didn’t need that formulaic plot element.  So I felt cheated.  The headline would read, “Lovely WWI historical fantasy ruined by love triangle!”

But let’s go back to things I liked.  The world-building was standard-to-good, the inclusion of early methods of dealing with mental illness poignant (and horrifying) by turns, and Lora’s exploration of an old and mysterious house was quite satisfying.  The feeling of impending doom mixed with a unique paranormal element was pitch perfect.  And I did like the ending, bittersweet as it was.  Basically, if you take away the love triangle, I’d call this a super read.  So hopefully you like love triangles.  *grin*

Recommended for: fans of young adult historical fiction and fantasy, anyone with a thing for dragons, and those who liked Juliet Marillier’s Wildwood books or Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle series.

seraphina

I’ve been meaning to read Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina for months now – in fact, I’ve had it out from the library as an ebook at least three times.  Somehow, the time never seemed ‘right.’  When Seraphina won the Morris Award for best debut young adult novel of the year, I knew the time for procrastination was over.  I started this dragon-filled high fantasy one evening and read straight through until dawn, and it was worth it.

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high. 

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life. 

In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page.

Seraphina is new to her job as assistant music mistress in the royal palace of Goredd, but she already loves it.  After spending most of her life trying to remain anonymous, she’s on stage, performing music, and she’ll be noticed by those she’d rather avoid.  For not only are there typical royal politics in Goredd, there are dragon politics.  In two weeks a reaffirmation of the decades-long treaty between species will require everything Seraphina has and more, for she is not only a musician, but a keeper of secrets.

Seraphina is an excellent book.  It is also a gripping one (as my all-night reading binge will attest), and it explores important themes while remaining true to the good of the story.  Education and tolerance versus the traditions of the old guard, hiding and lying versus telling the truth, loving people as opposed to protecting them, and the purpose of art – these are all woven into the fabric of Hartman’s debut.  Having said all of that, the world building is the strong point of this book.  It is rich, interesting, layered and unexpected, and the accompanying plot is twisty.

Ultimately though, the ‘success’ of a book relies on more than world-building, plot, and big ideas.  Were the characters well-drawn?  Did I feel empathy towards them and witness growth?  These questions are funny in a way, because the dragons of Hartman’s world do their best to remain uncompromised by emotion.  They’re rather like the Vulcans of the Star Trek universe.

As for Seraphina, I believed in her as a character.  She’s painfully transparent, except she manages to hide a great deal of herself, and she’s lonely with it.  What is harder to accept are her various relationships with other characters.  As a reader, I was sucked in and I willingly followed the progress of Seraphina’s thoughts and emotions, but I trusted only her relationship with Orma – I saw weaknesses in the interactions with Glisselda, Lucian and others. 

The thing about being slow to believe in a major relationship in a book is that it makes you question your instincts.  If you love everything else, why is it such a sore spot?  I think it comes down to timing, feasibility, and the real (personal) effects of betrayal and truth-telling for the individual reader.  I loved the book, but I think there’s room for improvement.  I am looking forward to more (and even better) from Hartman.

Before I sign off, a quote from chapter sixteen which I think is both poignant and a great example of Seraphina’s voice:

The right note played tentatively still misses its mark, but play boldly and no one will question you.  If one believes there is truth in art – and I do – then it’s troubling how similar the skill of performing is to lying.  Maybe lying is itself a kind of art.  I think about that more than I should.

Recommended for: fans of fantasy, dragon-loving readers, and anyone who liked Patricia McKillip’s The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Jane Yolen’s dragon books, or Ann McCaffrey’s Pern.