Category: Book Review
Torn by Amanda Hocking
(Cover picture courtesy of A Beautiful Madness.)
When Wendy Everly first discovered the truth about herself—that she’s a changeling switched at birth—she knew her life would never be the same. Now she’s about to learn that there’s more to the story….
Wendy shares a closer connection to her Vittra rivals than she ever imagined—and they’ll stop at nothing to lure her to their side. With the threat of war looming, her only hope of saving the Trylle is to master her magical powers—and marry an equally powerful royal. But that means walking away from Finn, her handsome bodyguard who’s strictly off-limits…and Loki, a Vittra prince with whom she shares a growing attraction.
Torn between her heart and her people, between love and duty, Wendy must decide her fate. If she makes the wrong choice, she could lose everything—and everybody—she’s ever wanted…in both worlds.
I rarely ever get involved in the typical fangirl Boy1 vs Boy2 debates about love triangles. It’s usually obvious which boy the narrator will choose and besides, I’m not really the type to get fanatical about anything. (Except Harry Potter because I was 9 when I read it. Looking back, I laugh at my fanaticism.) However, I will take a side in the Finn vs Loki debate: Loki.
In Torn, Wendy is even stronger than before, both power-wise and character-wise and we see her moving away from Finn. Why? Finn has chosen his duty as a tracker and bodyguard over his supposed love for her. I say ‘supposed’ because I mean he’s manipulative and a jerk, the kind of guy your mother warns you about and your father threatens violence toward. Besides, Finn has no sense of humour whatsoever whereas Loki is hilarious. Another hour of reading the last book in the trilogy, Ascend will see who wins.
What I really like about Torn is that unlike a lot of second novels in trilogies, it doesn’t drag on as it sets things up for the final battle. Amanda Hocking expands on the Trylle universe and gives us some backstory about Elora and the truth about Wendy’s father. At the same time, she’s not info-dumping and keeps Torn moving along at a fast pace without the usual sagging middle. Finally, an author who knows how to properly pace a novel while having an engaging world!
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
Switched by Amanda Hocking
(Cover picture courtesy of Macmillan.)
When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. Eleven years later, Wendy discovers her mother might have been right. She’s not the person she’s always believed herself to be, and her whole life begins to unravel—all because of Finn Holmes.
Finn is a mysterious guy who always seems to be watching her. Every encounter leaves her deeply shaken…though it has more to do with her fierce attraction to him than she’d ever admit. But it isn’t long before he reveals the truth: Wendy is a changeling who was switched at birth—and he’s come to take her home.
Now Wendy’s about to journey to a magical world she never knew existed, one that’s both beautiful and frightening. And where she must leave her old life behind to discover who she’s meant to become…
I had never heard of Switched before my best friend read it. Being my best (and only) friend, we like to share what we’re reading frequently so I soon heard all about the world of Switched. She lent me the entire trilogy, so I figured I’d give it a try. I most definitely had my doubts about the whole changeling premise and the love triangle, but they turned out to be unfounded.
Wendy is nothing like your typical YA heroine. She’s smart and resourceful and uses her head rather than her heart to make decisions, especially near the end of the novel. I honestly can’t thank Amanda Hocking enough for creating a realistic but strong female narrator who doesn’t fall in love with every single male she sees. And Wendy is powerful, yes, but she has to work hard to develop her powers, unlike many YA protagonists. She also catches onto the whole changeling thing fairly fast and accepts it, rather than going through the “magic doesn’t exist” phase until she encounters other magical beings.
This is not a vampire, zombie, werewolf or fairy novel. It’s a troll, or Trylle, novel. Trolls, of course, are nothing like the ones found in fairy tales and legends, but Amanda Hocking still stuck to the basics of the species: bad tempers, unruly hair, an unusual hatred of footwear, etc. The world Wendy is catapulted into is believable and fantastically built with all kinds of wonderful little details.
I would highly recommend Switched to anyone, male or female, who’s sick of weak YA protagonists, old clichés and traditional non-human fantasy beings.
I give this novel 5/5 stars.
Pandora by Anne Rice
(Cover picture courtesy of Books are a Garden.)
Anne Rice, creator of the Vampire Lestat, the Mayfair witches and the amazing worlds they inhabit, now gives us the first in a new series of novels linked together by the fledgling vampire David Talbot, who has set out to become a chronicler of his fellow Undead.
The novel opens in present-day Paris in a crowded café, where David meets Pandora. She is two thousand years old, a Child of the Millennia, the first vampire ever made by the great Marius. David persuades her to tell the story of her life.
Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to recount her mesmerizing tale, which takes us through the ages, from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. She carries us back to her mortal girlhood in the world of Caesar Augustus, a world chronicled by Ovid and Petronius. This is where Pandora meets and falls in love with the handsome, charismatic, lighthearted, still-mortal Marius. This is the Rome she is forced to flee in fear of assassination by conspirators plotting to take over the city. And we follow her to the exotic port of Antioch, where she is destined to be reunited with Marius, now immortal and haunted by his vampire nature, who will bestow on her the Dark Gift as they set out on the fraught and fantastic adventure of their two turbulent centuries together.
[Summary courtesy of Goodreads.]
Pandora is part of Anne Rice’s New Tales of the Vampires (although they’re not that new anymore) and there is virtually no difference in writing quality or style from her more popular The Vampire Chronicles. What is different, though, is that we finally see the stories of formerly minor characters who aren’t really connected to Lestat. Lestat, although he is a very interesting character, does get annoying after a couple of books, so a book from the point of view of Pandora was perfect for me.
Pandora is a woman during Pax Romana, or the golden age of Rome during the later years of Augustus. Anne Rice paints a picture of a strong-willed woman very much in control of her own life and doted on by a loving father who is far from the average pater familias. She is a free spirit, a dreamer and when she falls in love with Marius, the logical, cold Roman man, it makes for an interesting relationship. The dynamics are definitely not that of a traditional one!
As with all of her novels, Anne Rice has done the research and paints a believable picture of ancient Rome in its glory and during its fall. From the reign of terror of Sejanus to the murderous paranoia and sadism of Tiberius all the way to the spread and eventual acceptance of Christianity, Anne Rice takes readers on an amazing introspective adventure. Pandora is actually my favourite book about Anne Rice’s vampires not just because I love Roman history, but because Pandora herself is one amazing three dimensional character.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
*Unfortunately, Amazon only has Pandora available in a double book with Vittorio the Vampire unless you want to purchase a used novel.
FireSeed One by Catherine Stine
(Cover picture courtesy of Catherine Stine’s blog.)
The year is 2089. Temperate climate has replaced Arctic ice, and much of what is now the United States is a lethal Hotzone, cut off by an insurmountable border from its northern, luckier neighbors, Ocean and Land Dominion. It is rumored that roving Hotzone nomads will kill for a water pellet or a slice of insect loaf, and that the ZWC, a dangerous Hotzone activist group, has infiltrated the border to the northern Dominions.
Up in Ocean Dominion, all eighteen year-old Varik Teitur wants is to party on SnowAngel Island with his friend Audun and flirt with college girls he dreams of joining next year in his quest to become a doctor. Instead, he inherits a vast sea farm, following the death of his father, famous marine biologist Professor Teitur. Five weeks later, ZWC member Marisa Baron breaks into the farm’s secret seed vault and a fellow activist poisons the farm’s agar crops, the world’s food source. In order to save the last agar seedlings Varik is forced to journey to the Hotzone in search of Fireseed, a plant his father supposedly developed with magical hybridization properties.
Varik takes Marisa along. Aside from being a terrorist, she’s the beautiful daughter of Melvyn Baron, the biggest real estate mogul in Land Dominion, and the professor’s old rival. Oddly, she knows lots about Fireseed, and what Hotzone land Professor Teitur bought to test the crop, before becoming embittered and trashing the project. No one except Varik knows whether Fireseed once existed off the drawing board. Might the refugees in Vegas-by-the-Sea have answers, or the bizarre Fireseed cult in the Chihuahua desert? Varik, the reluctant hero, must risk burning in the Hotzone, as his mother did, to save the ailing agar, and the world.
(Summary courtesy of Amazon.)
[Full disclosure: Catherine Stine mailed me a copy of FireSeed One in exchange for an honest review.]
Despite the fact that FireSeed One takes place in a highly creative, well-built possible future, I have mixed feelings about it.
For whatever reason, I could not connect with any of the characters. Not a single one piqued my interest and I really didn’t care about what happened to any of them, even the main characters. I’m not sure why this was, but it felt like there wasn’t enough emotion in the writing; I didn’t truly feel the stress Varik was under, his growing love for Marisa, his worry about the augur seeds, etc.
This could be because the world of FireSeed One is so strange and takes a lot of getting used to your first time around, meaning that after a couple read-throughs, my opinion could change. Varik and Marisa are decent enough characters with highly believable backstories, so there is definitely a lot of potential here. It could also be because I am far from the age group Catherine Stine has targeted, as it is a ‘middle years’ novel. Who knows?
Despite my problems with the characters, I had no problems whatsoever with the world of FireSeed One. Catherine Stine has written about a future that’s both exciting and frightening, depending on where you live in said future. It won’t win any awards for including hardcore science, but the scenario she describes is very plausible, depending on whether you think climate change is real or not—a controversy I’m not going to get into. The abandonment of people in the Hotzone is also, sadly, plausible because I have very little faith in humanity if there are dwindling resources in a rapidly changing world.
FireSeed One is a great novel for older tweens and young teens and I suspect most people will connect with the characters much better than I did. So if you’re looking for a novel with decent characters, excellent world-building and a fast-paced plot, you’ll enjoy FireSeed One.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Writing the Popular Novel by Loren D. Estleman
(Cover picture courtesy of Amazon.)
Writing great fiction is, quite simply, hard work. It requires dedication to the craft, hours of thought and research, attention to detail and sentence structure, a clear understanding of the submission process, and so much more. In Writing the Popular Novel, Pulitzer Prize-nominee and award-winning author Loren D. Estleman draws on his vast experience to teach you the awareness and skills you need to turn your efforts into a rewarding, exciting experience.
Estleman offers invaluable instruction on the craft behind writing commercial fiction and provides you with a smart, honest look at today’s competitive publishing industry. This thorough guide features:
- A detailed overview of literary genres with information on how to decide which one is right for you.
- Instruction on how to conduct research and how to make the leap from research to writing.
- An in-depth look at dialogue, point of view, and other writing techniques.
- Tips on how to know who your target audience is and how to deliver a story that will keep them reading.
- A look at more than twenty opening lines from popular novels, with ideas on how to create your own.
- Advice on working with agents and editors to develop a successful, long-term career.
At once thoughtful and engaging, Writing the Popular Novel provides new and experienced writers with an unmatched resource for writing and selling their fiction!
Writing the Popular Novel was the first book on writing I ever picked up and I’m glad it was because it remains one of the best ones I’ve ever read. It’s comprehensive, concise, and gives practical advice on dealing with rejection from agents and editors.
One of the things modern writers (especially self-published ones) may not like is Loren Estleman’s views on self-publishing. But you have to take into account that this book was written in 2004, before self-published writers had access to all of the great resources that are out there now. More people are becoming accepting of self-publishing (myself included), but things weren’t nearly always like that. Self-published authors are still looked on with disdain now, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was in 2004, or even 2009.
Other than his little spiel about self-publishing, Writing the Popular Novel is just as relevant today as it was in 2004. Loren Estleman explains the five different points of view authors may use, how to write believable dialogue, using an outline, writing the climax of your novel and so many more practical things authors should learn about. He also debunks some of the most prevalent and annoying myths that frequently crop up in fiction, especially ones about guns. As someone who grew up in a rural area, I find myself laughing until I cry at some gun scenes in novels and short stories. Please don’t be the author that makes me do this; I (and other reviewers) will call you out on your faulty research.
With an entertaining style and practical, relevant advice, I would recommend Writing the Popular Novel to any writers, both new and experienced, traditionally published or self-published. If you’re going to buy only one book on writing, this should be the one.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.
*Unfortunately, it’s out of print right now so you’ll have to pick up a used book or see if it’s been made into an ebook.