YA Release Dates to Look Forward to

As you can probably guess, I read a lot of YA books, which by extension means I’m reading a lot of in-progress series at once.  But, I’ve made this helpful list for myself and for everyone else to keep track of some of the exciting new releases this year.

1.  The Enchantress by Michael Scott

Anyone that is a regular reader here knows that I love Michael Scott’s The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series.  The Enchantress is the last book in this series and I’m really curious about how Michael Scott will end his series.  With more Elders being forced to take sides and immortals constantly switching sides, the final book is probably going to keep me reading into the early morning hours.  After years of waiting, The Enchantress is going to be released on May 22 of this year, according to Wikipedia. Continue reading →

Seer of Egypt by Pauline Gedge

(Cover picture courtesy of EBooks Vault.)

Huy has risen from lowly origins to become the Seer to the King.  Yet Amunhotep’s patronage proves both a blessing and a curse to Huy, who feels imprisoned by his psychic gift and the life he must live to keep it.  Though rewarded by wealth and influence, he longs for the pleasures enjoyed by those around him, especially love, which seems forever lost to him.

When the King demands Huy’s presence at court, he obeys.  But he soon realizes that he is being asked to approve a lie aimed at supplanting the god Amun.  Afraid of losing the King’s favour, Huy jeopardizes Egypt’s future by concealing the truth.  The gods, however, agree to give him a chance to redeem himself.  Although the privileged life Huy knew is coming to an end, his contribution to Egyptian history is only just beginning.

If you’re a lover of fast-paced plots filled with excitement and romance, this is not a good book for you.  But if you love good characters, authentic historical details and vivid imagery, Seer of Egypt is a book that you must read.

Although its plot is not fast-paced by any stretch of the mind, its plot is quicker than that of the first book, The Twice Born.  Since Huy is an adult now and becoming more used to his ‘gift’, things really pick up, especially when Pharaoh Amunhotep II summons him to court.  Huy is forced to make a choice between lying and upsetting the balance of Ma’at or likely being executed, so he makes the choice 99.9% of readers would make.  But in doing so, he sets the stage for Egypt’s decay by helping the sun god achieve prominence over Amun.  Of course, Anubis is not pleased (to put it mildly) and Huy pays dearly for not trusting in the protection of the gods, but is given a second chance.

Huy is an amazingly brave, yet flawed character that most people can sympathize with.  His life is certainly not easy, what with his forced virginity and his opium addiction that gets worse as the novel progresses, but he sticks with what he knows is his duty.  He also finds himself alone when his best friend Thothmes marries his oldest friend, Ishat.  Yet he finds comfort in bringing up the future Pharaoh Amunhotep III, which certainly keeps readers interested and on their toes.

I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

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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.

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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.

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My Favourite Heroes

While there is no shortage of heroes in history and adult fiction, strong male leads are increasingly difficult to find in the YA genre.  Most young adult fiction is written by women for women, but there seems to be a growing trend in YA novels geared toward teenage boys.  With writers like Rick Riordan, Eoin Colfer and Anthony Horowitz topping bestseller lists, one can only hope that soon boys will get the representation they deserve.  Here is a list of my favourite YA heroes, in descending order.

1.  Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling.

You probably knew Harry Potter would feature somewhere on this list, didn’t you?  Well, there are many reasons the most famous character in YA literature is my favourite hero, not the least of which is the fact that the Harry Potter series was one of the first YA series I read.  Perhaps I am biased, but I can also justify my choice.  No matter how many horrible things happen to him, no matter how awful things get, Harry perseveres.  He does things 99% of teenagers would not be capable of doing; he shows courage he never knew he had.  But he is not perfect and his friends are usually there to help him through the tough times.  Harry is a flawed hero, which makes him my favourite. Continue reading →