Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine by Kristiana Gregory

215252_SCH_RDEleanor_0.tif(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

June 24th

Such excitement…the horsemen announced travelers, and Count Geoffrey of Anjou arrived an hour later with some of his chevaliers.  Petra and I peered from the stairs down to the great hall and saw the visitors.  I decided we must put on our loveliest dresses right away.  the count is taller and even more striking than Father…Geoffrey the Handsome is our name for him.  When he pushed back his hood of chainmail, his hair fell to his shoulders in brown curls.  the tunic over his armor was blue with a golden crest.   He and Father greeted each other warmly…

The reason for Count Geoffrey’s visit?  He has invited Father to go to war.  He is just twenty-three years old and needs help invading Normandy.

And without thinking twice, Father said yes!  I worry he has made another terrible decision….

I’ve heard quite a bit about Eleanor of Aquitaine, but never actually knew much about her life and the times she lived in.  Well, finally Kristiana Gregory has remedied that in a book aimed at kids 8-13.  The early years of Eleanor are not quite as exciting as her later years, as we learn in the Historical Note, but it was nice to see things from her perspective.

I personally would have liked a little more description of daily life at the castle, but I can understand why Kristiana Gregory did not include more (it would have turned into a lecture).  In Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine we don’t really see Eleanor’s love of books and literature, even though she was a huge patron of the arts later in life.  Still, I loved seeing the strong relationship between her and her sister that lasted into adulthood.  Sadly, the book ended just when things were getting interesting, what with her marriage to Prince Louis and all.

Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine is well written and entertaining, but it’s certainly one of the shorter books in the Royal Diaries series.  Still, overall it’s a pretty good book and it’s a great one to get kids interested in history.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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*Only available as a used book.

My Interview with Diantha Jones

Diantha JonesDiantha Jones is the author of Prophecy of the Most Beautiful and many other books that I have yet to read, but she agreed to do an interview with me via email.  So join us for a lively discussion about inspiration, hog-tying time and what aspiring writers should really do.

1. Where did you get the idea for Prophecy of the Most Beautiful from?
When I decided that I was going to start my series, I already knew I wanted it to be about Greek mythology. I picked the Oracle of Delphi as my focus (because you’ve gotta have a focus when dealing with Greek myth or your brain will explode). From there, I decided that each book would be a different prophecy that fed into a larger overall prophecy. The name itself (Most Beautiful) just came to me one night while writing and I was like, oh yeah. That’s it, baby. Continue reading →

The Golden Compass (Book # 1 in His Dark Materials Trilogy) by Philip Pullman

Image Courtesy of Goodreads

From Goodreads

Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford’s Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however,nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the compass of the title. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called “Gobblers”—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person’s inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.

Cover Gushing Worthiness: I really like the cover of the Omnibus edition. I can’t say if it fully captures the spirit of The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, but it does capture the beauty of The Golden Compass perfectly. The colour combinations are beautiful as well as the of the daemons.

Review: I first heard about The Golden Compass when I was in Grade 12. Some of my friends who were in the Gifted program at my school read the book in Grade 10 and loved it. Then when I was in  Grade 12 as part of our school’s Film Society we went and saw the movie. One of the main things my friends said was the movie didn’t explore the nitty-gritty/controversial elements which made the book so great. I wanted to read the book for myself and I wasn’t disappointed.

The story of The Golden Compass takes place in a world quite similar to ours, but with a few differences. For one, each person has a daemon in the shape of an animal who is a part of their soul/acts as a companion. The world in The Golden Compass also seems a bit steampunkish, at least that’s what I thought when I read the book. The story begins with Lyra witnessing a conversation between her uncle Lord Asriel and the scholars of Oxford about a substance called “Dust.” Then a series of events occur starting with the kidnapping of children; including Lyra’s friend Roger the kitchen boy, eventually leading Lyra on an expedition to find the missing children and on the way she encounters Gyptians, Witches, armored bears, an Aeronaut and the Gobblers.

Plot wise I enjoyed the story a great deal. While I read the book I could understand how it could be seen as controversial. However the way I saw it, Pullman was suggesting that all things should be questioned, including religion. Nothing should be followed blindly is the message I took away. I grew to love Lyra’s world and all the fantastical elements in it. The Alethiometer  was a unique instrument and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to play a bigger part in the next two books. Two elements I liked in this book in regards to the creatures of Lyra’s world were the witches and the armoured bears. I think the armoured bears was such a great concept and it’s one of the things the movie actually got right. The concept of daemons too is an interesting one and it made you wonder what kind of animal you’d like if you were to ever have a daemon.

I thought the pacing of the book  was well suited for the plot, but in my excitement I couldn’t help but wish the story moved a bit faster. It literally had me on the edge!I have two complaints about the story and they are 1) The ending: I found the ending to be a bit anti-climactic. It left me with a feeling of “Oh…that’s it? Seriously?! No angry out bursts? Really Lyra?.” However I’m going to assume that the next book will pick up where this one left off.  2) Is in regards to the explanation of what Dust actually is. When I was reading the explanation for Dust, I realized I was never a science student for a reason. It was quite a scientific explanation and there’s nothing wrong with that, it was just difficult for me to understand it.

Character wise, I thought all of them were great. Lyra was an awesome protagonist. She was feisty, loyal, independent and likable. I can’t say that there was a whole lot of character development on Lyra’s part because we got the idea that she was already a well rounded character as the book started. I do think Lyra’s character will grow more  in the next two books. Mrs. Coulter certainly came across as a black widow like character. She reminded me of the Snow Queen from the fairy tales for some reason. Her appearance or rather lack of action at the end of the book came as a surprise to me. I thought she would be more involved for some reason, but again I’m sure she’ll appear in the next two books at some point. I’m still not sure about my feelings towards Lord Asriel. I need to see more of him to form a coherent opinion of him. However I will say that he does come across as being quite cold hearted and distant.

For the remaining secondary characters; I liked all of them. I wish we got to know more about John Faa, the lord of the Gyptians and Serafina Pekkala, the witch. From all of the beings present in Pullman’s world I thought the witches were the most underdeveloped.  I did enjoy some of the tidbits of information that was given to the readers though. Iorek Brynison was quite possibly one of the most fantastic characters I’ve come across in literature. There was a quiet wisdom about him and whenever he spoke Ian McKellen’s voice would pop up in my head. It was probably because it was McKellen who did the voice for Iorek in the movie. Lyra’s daemon Pantalaimon or Pan was such a sweet character. Pan’s protectiveness and inquisitiveness was a good balance for Lyra’s personality.

Overall I really enjoyed The Golden Compass. The book was a hundred times better than the movie. Even though I was disappointed in the ending and had difficulty understanding the concept of Dust, the world and the characters made up for that feeling inadequecy on my part and I cannot wait to read both The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

My Rating: 5/5

Would I recommend it? Absolutely

Catherine: The Great Journey by Kristiana Gregory

Catherine The Great Journey by Kristiana Gregory(Cover picture courtesy of Fantastic Fiction.)

4 January 1744, Zerbst

She leaned forward, taking my chin in her hand.  “You must tell no one what I’m about to say—not your brother, not even Mademoiselle.  Understand?”

I nodded.  Was she afraid that if others knew the truth they might convince me to run away, thereby spoiling her scheme?

“If the King approves of you…then you and I shall be driven by sleigh out of Prussia, all the way to St. Petersburg, to meet with Empress Elizabeth….She has selected you, my poor ugly daughter to be Peter’s fiancée.  Unless you spoil things, the two of you will marry and one day rule all of Russia.”

I know very little about Russian history, so Catherine: The Great Journey was eye-opening to say the least!  Did you know Catherine the Great’s real name was Sophie and that she was named Catherine when she was in Russia because of the bad connotations her name had there?  I sure didn’t.  That’s why it wasn’t only Catherine’s amazing character in this novel that appealed to me, but it was also the history added in.

So far Catherine is my favourite character in the entire Royal Diaries series.  Considering that by now I’ve read over half of the books in the series, that’s saying something.  In the young Catherine we see the effects of her abusive mother on her worldview, but also her innate thirst for knowledge that would carry on into her later life.  This is one princess who makes a point to learn the language of her country and be a good wife if only because of her ambitions to become czarina.  An ambitious princess?  Shocking, especially in this series aimed at young girls (8-13).  But is it satisfying and does it make sense within the context of the story?  Absolutely!

The rich descriptions of Russian life are insightful and interesting without Kristiana Gregory ever having to default to Professor Mode and start lecturing.  This is the kind of book you is enjoyable to read as an adult, despite being aimed at a much younger audience.  Not only do we get to learn about Catherine’s private struggles, but she is actually concerned and knowledgeable about the world around her, including her future country.  Amazing, isn’t it?

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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Spotlight: The Watchers by Stephen Alford

Spotlight is my new regular Saturday feature in which I highlight a book I really enjoyed or am eagerly waiting for.  In this case, it’s a great nonfiction book about spying in the reign of Elizabeth I called The Watchers.

The Watchers by Stephen AlfordIn a Europe aflame with wars of religion and dynastic conflicts, Elizabeth I came to a throne encircled by menace.  To the Catholic powers of Europe, England was a heretic pariah state and her queen was “Jezebel,” the bastard offspring of Henry VIII’s illegal second marriage.  The pope denounced her; the kings of France and Spain conspired to destroy her, their plans culminating in the Spanish Armada.  Many of the Queen’s own subjects plotted her overthrow—or her assassination.

[Full blurb available on my review.]

Since The Mad Reviewer is YA (or at least adult novels that can be read by teens), I don’t get to read nearly as much nonfiction as I would like.  That’s why I’m so glad Bloomsbury Publishing contacted me about reviewing Stephen Alford’s second book.

Although the writing style was a bit choppy at times because Alford jumped all over the place to fit all the spies into his narrative, The Watchers is one of the better nonfiction books I’ve read.  Despite some choppy sections, overall it’s well written and engaging, but most of all, informative.  The amount of research that went into The Watchers must have been staggering, and Alford has an entire section of the book dedicated to citing sources.  I thought I knew a bit about the reign of Elizabeth I and the role spies played in it, but I really had no idea.

What I thought was unusual was that Alford stayed pretty neutral throughout the book.  He explained things from the points of view of the Protestant English spies and from the points of view of the Catholics who worked to overthrow Elizabeth or simply survive.  We see the plots by Catholics to kill Elizabeth I, but we also get to see the horrors any captured Catholics (or suspected Catholics) faced.  Balance is important in nonfiction and Alford certainly achieved it.

If you’re looking for an informative but engaging read, I highly recommend picking up The Watchers.