Category: Book Review
Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge
(Cover picture courtesy of Passages to the Past.)
Thirty-five centuries ago the sun had a daughter: Hatshepsut. Youngest daughter of the Pharaoh, she was a lithe and magical child. But when her older sister died, it became her duty to purify the dynasty’s bloodline. She was to wed Thothmes, her father’s illegitimate son, who was heir to the throne. But fearing his son’s incompetence, Hatshepsut’s father came to her with startling news. She was to be Pharaoh, ruler of the greatest empire the world had ever known–provided, of course, that the unprecedented ascension by a woman did not inspire the priests to treason or instill in her half-brother and future consort sufficient hatred to have her put to death.
This is the premise for Child of the Morning, based closely on the historical facts. Hatshepsut assumed the throne at the age of fifteen and ruled brilliantly for more than two decades. Her achievements were immortalized on the walls of her magnificent temple at Deir el-Bahri, built by her architect and lover, Senmut.
Sensuous and evocative, Child of the Morning is the story of one of history’s most remarkable women.
(This summary is from Amazon because my edition does not have a blurb at the back.)
When I first read Child of the Morning, I was enchanted by it. Hatshepsut the tragic, pious she-pharaoh who wanted nothing more than to please Amun spoke to me. Pauline Gedge brought her to life for me and made ancient Egypt so much more accessible. Yet something about her portrayal of Hatshepsut didn’t feel right to me at all. Upon further study of her life, Pauline Gedge’s Hatshepsut does not sit well with me.
Pharaoh Hatshepsut reigned for 20-22 years after the death of her brother-husband Thutmose II. With the help of some great advisors (most notably the enigmatic Senmut), she ruled Egypt justly and kept peace for the better part of two decades, which was no easy feat. Personally, I don’t think Pauline Gedge’s dreamer could have achieved half of what the real Hatshepsut did. But maybe this is just my personal preference mixed with my prejudiced views of history. I do prefer an Iron Lady to an Aida, I must admit.
Other than my disapproval of Hatshepsut’s portrayal, Child of the Morning is excellent light historical fiction. The plot does not speed along, but it is nice and steady. Pauline Gedge has a talent for spellbinding writing and she inserts many authentic details from Egyptian life into her novel.
So what do you think of Hatshepsut? Was she an Iron Lady or a dreamer, as Pauline Gedge portrays her?
I give this book 4/5 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.
Specials by Scott Westerfeld
(Cover picture courtesy of Regular Rumination.)
Tally thought they were a rumor, but now she’s one of them. A Special. A super-amped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.
But maybe being perfectly programmed with strength and focus isn’t better than anything she’s ever known. Tally still has memories of something else.
But it’s easy for her to tune them out—until she’s offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heart-beat, or carry out the mission she’s programmed to complete. Either way, Tally’s world will never be the same.
For all of Scott Westerfeld’s amazing writing talent, I did not enjoy Specials nearly as much as I enjoyed Uglies or Pretties. It was not because it lacked plot—it actually had an excellent plot—but I found that I really could not relate to Tally anymore. I related to her as an unsure ugly and an airheaded pretty, but I could not relate to her as a cruel special. True, her mind has been altered along with her body to become more predatory, but practically nothing of the old Tally remains. Despite all of her faults, I understood and empathized with the old Tally.
Aside from Tally’s completely 180, Specials is not a bad book. The plot zips right along at a consistently quick rate and the stakes are higher than ever before. Tally has to make incredibly difficult, life-changing decisions as she tries to fight the new lesions that control her mind. Friends turn into enemies and the walls of deceit that were built up through the centuries begin to crumble in the last book in the Uglies trilogy.
If you have read the other two books, then you will likely enjoy Specials. It’s exciting and Tally does great things, but there is also a lot of tragedy, especially near the end. I actually liked the ending and it leaves a lot of room for readers’ imaginations to take flight without completely leaving them hanging.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
(Cover picture courtesy of Once Upon a Reader’s Blog.)
To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.
As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in the mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City—whatever the cost?
Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the New York Times bestselling trilogy The Mortal Instruments.
In City of Glass, I have found something incredibly rare: a good ending to a series. I’m completely serious here; there are very few ends to series that leave me feeling satisfied. But City of Glass is definitely one of these books.
It’s exciting, with consistent pacing and much more character development than in the first two novels in the trilogy. Cassandra Clare’s writing has noticeably improved and she is in her element as she ratchets up the tension near the end while resolving little subplots along the way. What separates her from other YA authors is that she can throw truly unexpected twists at readers, yet have them make sense in the context of the story.
Unlike in the last two books, Clary is given much more depth. She finally takes control of her life rather than just helplessly pining after Jace throughout the novel. As she harnesses her special drawing talent with Runes, she also becomes powerful and independent. When Jace pushes her away, she finally has enough of loving someone she cannot have and begins to take an interest in Sebastian, a mysterious and handsome young Shadowhunter around her age. Yet not everything is as it seems, which makes this a great book.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Emperor: The Field of Swords by Conn Iggulden
(Cover picture courtesy of GetGlue.)
For Julius Caesar, the time has come to enter the political battleground that has become Rome. Having proved his valor in the slaves’ revolt, Caesar is strengthened by the love of a beautiful older woman—and by the sword of his loyal friend Marcus Brutus. But it is Caesar’s next move that will change history. With an army made in his own image, Caesar begins a daring charge through Gaul, across the English Channel, and to the wilds of tribal Britain.
Here, in a series of cataclysmic clashes, the legend of Julius Caesar will be forged. And while Caesar and Brutus battle the armies of the wilderness, their political adversaries in Rome grow ever more powerful. For when the fighting is over, the greatest danger to Julius Caesar will await him on the Tiber—with a man who wants Rome himself.
The Field of Swords is truly riveting historical fiction of the first order and Conn Iggulden managed to write it without changing history around as much. Surprisingly, the third book in his Emperor series is my favourite out of all four because it is by far the most exciting in terms of plot and character development. It covers the most famous part of Caesar’s life: the Gallic Wars.
War is one of my favourite parts of historical fiction because of all the details of ancient warfare fascinate me. History textbooks do not even begin to cover how physically, mentally and emotionally draining it was on the men and those who had to lead them. Warfare was not a glorious event and Iggulden perfectly hammers this point home.
I absolutely love the character development in this book. Caesar becomes more independent as all of his old tutors and friends die off, leaving him with Brutus as his only friend. How could his only friend orchestrate Caesar’s death? Well, there is a very telling scene near the end of the book when Caesar suffers from an epileptic fit and is unable to lead his men in battle. Brutus dons Caesar’s armour and leads his men into battle.
“You led them?” Julius said. Though his voice was strengthening, he still seemed confused.
“No Julius. They followed you.”
Thus the seeds of jealousy were planted in Brutus’ heart.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.