Category: Fantasy
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
(Cover picture courtesy of Wikipedia.)
Months have passed since Gregor first fell into the strange Underland beneath New York City, and he swears he will never go back. But he is destined to be a key player in another prophecy, this one about an ominous white rate called the Bane. The Underlanders know there is only one way to lure Gregor back to their world: by kidnapping his little sister, Boots.
Now Gregor’s quest reunites him with his bat, Ares, and the rebellious princess, Luxa. They descend into the dangerous Waterway in search of the Bane, and Gregor knows what is at stake. If he does not fulfill the prophecy, his life, and the Underland, will never be the same.
Just like in the case of The Iron Daughter, this is a book that does not suffer from Book 2 Disease. In fact, I like it even more than the first book because there are many interesting new characters (Photos Glow-Glow, Zap and Howard, for instance) and a great plot that throws many twists and turns at you, especially at the end. Gregor also becomes a much more interesting character as he braves even more dangers to help protect a land he owes no true allegiance to.
What I like about this book is the fact that Suzanne Collins does not spare her characters any pain. Gregor, unlike a lot of heroes, gets injuries and these injuries actually leave scars. What a novel idea! People get scarred in real life (both mentally and physically) and Suzanne Collins injects this realism into her writing. Sometimes she goes overboard, but no one is perfect.
What is odd about Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (and really, the entire Underland Chronicles) is that it is written in a style more suited to tweens and young teens, but it contains just as much violence as The Hunger Games. I would definitely recommend this book for younger readers who are mature simply because of the violence, which is not something I would normally warn readers about. This really is an excellent book, but it does have mature content.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.
Worse, Meghan’s own fey powers have been cut off. She’s stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can’t help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.
Once I picked up The Iron Daughter and started reading it, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop until I was done. Not only is it even more spellbinding than the first book, The Iron King, the characterization is brilliant and the plot is superb. Unlike many second books, it does not suffer from Book 2 Disease.
In the beginning, Meghan manages to frustrate me as she pines for Ash, openly displaying her feelings for him at court. Ash had told her emotions were a weakness at court, so she should have hidden them, but she did not. What stopped me from hurtling the book at the wall was the fact that soon she figured out how to hide her feelings. I can also forgive her because Ash is her first love and your first love makes you do incredibly stupid things.
Despite this temporary nuisance, there is really nothing much to complain about. The plot zips by and I flipped through the pages as fast as I could. There is something about Julie Kagawa’s writing that keeps you spellbound and makes you (quite literally) gasp for breath after you’ve finished the last page. And of course her true talent lies in leaving readers desperate for the next book, if only to find out who Meghan chooses: Puck, her best friend or Ash.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
(Cover picture courtesy of Walmart.)
Ever since the extraordinary events of Inkspell, when the enchanted book Inkheart drew Meggie and her father, Mo, into its chapters, life in the Inkworld has been more tragic than magical.
The fire-eater Dustfinger is dead, having sacrificed his life for his apprentice Farid’s, and now, under the rule of the evil Adderhead, the fairy-tale land is in bloody chaos, its characters far beyond the control of Fenoglio, their author. Even Elinor, left behind in the real world, believes her family to be lost—lost between the covers of a book.
Facing the threat of eternal winter, Mo inks a dangerous deal with Death itself. There yet remains a faint hope of changing the cursed story—if only he can fill its pages fast enough.
After being entranced first by Inkheart, then Inkspell, I couldn’t wait to read the last book. But I was sadly disappointed. This may have been my own fault for having too high expectations, but perhaps not. It was an okay book, but I felt that a lot of what happened in Inkdeath came way out of left field.
Unlike in the other books, Meggie takes a back seat and the story really revolves around her father, Mo. This is not necessarily a bad thing because he is an excellent character, but it is sort of disappointing, especially to younger female readers who read the story because they felt a connection to Meggie. One of the things that came way out of left field is Meggie’s new love interest, Doria, who is a member of the robber’s camp. He never showed up until the last book and it was like Meggie completely forget Farid, her first love interest.
Despite the ‘Huh?’ factor, Inkdeath is not a bad book. The ending is actually satisfying and the plot zipped right along. The characters develop at a natural pace and Cornelia Funke brings the Inkworld to life with her spellbinding writing. In terms of pure writing talent, Cornelia Funke has no equal in the YA genre.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
(Cover picture courtesy of Rick Riordan’s website.)
Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school…again. And that’s the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he’s angered a few of them. Zeus’s master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.
Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus’s stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.
You’ve probably heard this before, but The Lightning Thief has a very Harry Potter-esque feel. It’s not quite on the same level, but it is a very good book. What I like most about it is that it can be read by teenage boys, who are extremely under-represented in the YA genre. Rick Riordan has tapped into this market and I hope more authors will follow his lead and write for boys, who actually do read.
With just the right amount of action and tension, The Lightning Thief is a worthwhile read. Percy Jackson is a very sympathetic protagonist and I love the fact that the series is told by him in first person, which brings us closer to him. Despite being half-god, he is not all-powerful and often needs to be rescued by his companions as he journeys across the country to find Zeus’s lightning bolt. But he is not entirely helpless either, which stops him from becoming an annoyingly incompetent character.
Even if you don’t know much about Greek mythology, you will get a lot out of this book. Rick Riordan has obviously done his research and I love the personality quirks of the gods we meet along the way, especially Mars. If there was only one reason to read this book, it would be because of the gods.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
(Cover picture courtesy of Children’s Books.)
Oaths sworn…
Loyalties tested…
Forces collide.
It’s been only months since Eragon first uttered “brisingr,” an ancient language term for fire. Since then, he’s not only learned to create magic with words—he’s been challenged to his very core. Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still, there is more adventure at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.
First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin, Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices—choices that will take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.
Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?
Okay, I have to admit that after I read Brisingr, I began to question Christopher Paolini’s writing abilities. The plot is so slow it’s almost non-existent, the characters are cardboard cut-outs and not much actually happens to get the Varden closer to Galbatorix. I honestly wish I had never read the series past Eragon.
The book starts out interestingly enough: Eragon and Roran are scouting out Helgrind to see where the Ra’zac are. But the plot slows down immediately after they rescue Katrina and Eragon stays behind to kill the last Ra’zac and figure out what to do with Sloan (who betrayed Carvahall to the Empire). He finds a way to help Sloan but make sure that he can never get in the way of Roran and Katrina again.
Then he spends many chapters travelling with Arya, who somehow manages to find him. I wouldn’t mind the fact that he got to travel with his love interest except for the fact that nothing happens between them. I won’t give anything more away, but let me say that the plot of Brisingr is basically the same as the first two books: Eragon travels, learns magic, pines for Arya, then a battle is thrown in at the end of the book to keep readers hooked. Christopher Paolini also throws in an apology at the back of the book for getting his fans’ hopes up about Brisingr being the last book. Then three years later, we get Inheritance, the actual ‘last book.’ But it has an open ending that leaves the potential for a fifth book open.
Despite all of his newfound power and strength, Eragon does not change much throughout Brisingr. He still pines for Arya and acts like a love-stricken child around her. Many characters do not change, but the few that do go completely out into left field. Nasuada, for example, begins treating King Orrin (her benefactor) rudely and bestows a completely unjust punishment on Roran to ‘keep discipline’ among the Varden, never mind that such a punishment would kill a normal human. A leader that relies on blind obedience and punishes initiative will end up like Pompey the Great did during the civil war with Caesar: an army near mutiny that will abandon you as soon as things start going badly. But of course this never happens to the Varden because that would be inconvenient for Christopher Paolini.
I give this book 1/5 stars.