Tagged: masq1
Queste by Angie Sage
(Cover picture courtesy of Queste Wiki.)
There’s trouble at the Castle, and it’s all because Merrin Meredith has returned with Darke plans for Septimus. More trouble awaits Septimus and Jenna in the form of Tertius Fume, the ghost of the very first Chief Hermetic Scribe, who is determined to send Septimus on a deadly Queste. But Septimus and Jenna have other plans—they are headed for the mysterious House of Foryx, a place where all Time meets and the place where they fervently hope they will be able to find Nicko and Snorri, who were trapped back in time in Physik. But how will Septimus escape the Queste?
Queste, like all the books in the Septimus Heap series, is filled with nonstop action, humor, and fantastical adventure as Septimus continues his journey of Magykal self-discovery.
As you may remember, I wasn’t overly fond of Magyk, the first book in the Septimus Heap series. Still, I kept on with the series because it showed potential and now that I’ve read the fourth book, I’m certainly glad I did. With each book, Angie Sage’s writing got better, the characters became three dimensional and the world-building improved greatly.
Queste follows Septimus and Jenna as they try to bring Nicko and Snorri back to the present. The only problem is that Septimus has drawn the Questing Stone and must go on a Queste. Questing had been abolished because too many Apprentices died while on their Questes, but a loophole exploited by a villainous ghost revives them. In Queste, Angie Sage created a lot more suspense than she did in her previous three books. It suits the maturing writing style throughout the series, which allows fans to grow up along with the books.
Angie Sage rotates between different points of view, which can be confusing in the wrong hands, but she handled it well. Queste is a bit more dark than the other three books, although it still has some of that humour Angie Sage is known for. I would highly recommend this book for kids ages 8-12 who love fantasy.
And yes, I would even recommend it to adults and teens who love a bit of light reading once in a while.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
I, Claudius by Robert Graves
(Cover picture courtesy of Bookyurt.)
Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus lived from 10 B. C. to 54 A. D. Despise as a weakling and dismissed as an idiot because of his physical infirmities, Claudius survived the intrigues and poisonings that marked the reigns of Augustus, Tiberius, and the mad Caligula to become Emperor of Rome in 41 A. D. I, Claudius, the first part of Robert Graves’s two-part account of the life of Tiberius Claudius, is written in the form of Claudius’s autobiography and stands as one of the modern classics of historical fiction.
I love both Roman history and historical fiction, so when I got the classic I, Claudius for my birthday, I was incredibly excited. But did it live up to all of the hype?
Actually, yes.
I, Claudius is written from Claudius’ point of view and really did a lot to repair the reputation of one of the most unlikely emperors in the history of Rome. Claudius was often portrayed as an inept fool who survived only because he was the butt of the Imperial family’s jokes, but Robert Graves’ classic really did make people start to examine the real Claudius. Due to my interest in Roman history, I was lucky enough to be introduced to this Claudius through Mike Duncan’s History of Rome podcast. Both Mike Duncan’s incredible podcast and I, Claudius do Claudius justice and shed a lot of light on the complicated politics of Imperial Rome.
One thing I didn’t like, and this is more of a personal matter, is the fact that Robert Graves seemed to subscribe to the Livia-poisoned-everyone theory. Did the Augusta poison people? Almost certainly. But did she really have Augstus, Agrippa, Lucius, Marcellus, Gaius and Claudius’ grandfather poisoned (and many, many others)? Almost certainly not. However, this particular theory makes for excellent fiction and some of the incidents related by Claudius are probably embellishments, but that’s why it’s called historical fiction. These things could have happened, but they likely did not.
Claudius himself is a great character. Because of the autobiography format of the novel, we get to see him as he grows up through his eyes. The writing style is as if Claudius is writing many years later, so there is quite a bit of foreshadowing of certain events and we do get insight into some incidents we never would have gotten otherwise. My only real complaint was that the book ended just when things were going to get good: his ascent to the purple, so to speak. That’s also why I’m eager to read the much overshadowed sequel to this classic novel, Claudius the God.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Rotten Romans by Terry Deary
(Cover picture courtesy of Pop Classics.)
Horrible Histories
It’s history with the nasty bits left in!
Want to know:
- What Roman soldiers war under their kilts?
- How Ancient Britons got their hair nice and spikey?
- Why rich Romans needed a vomitorium?
Discover all the foul facts about the Rotten Romans—all the gore and more!
Terry Deary is one of those authors that has a wicked sense of humour that can make history both hilarious and interesting. He has probably helped thousands, if not millions of kids actually enjoy history, myself included. The Horrible Histories series is a great starting point to get kids interested in history.
However, it is only a start. Rotten Romans is a book that perpetuates some of the oldest myths about ancient Rome, including the long-debunked vomitoriums. He calls the emperor Elagabalus, ‘Heliogabalus’ which is very confusing because I have never seen him called that anywhere. Ever. I don’t agree with how some of the emperors are portrayed, but that’s very subjective. And that’s also the beauty of history: different people will interpret historical figures differently.
The cartoons in Rotten Romans are even better than they are in Awful Egyptians. Martin Brown was in top form, especially in his cartoon of Caesar’s assassination in which the assassins (since there were so many in on the plot) are lined up and one shouts, “Oi! Wait your turn!” while Caesar is bleeding to death on the floor. The cartoons are probably my favourite part of the book.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Goddess Interrupted by Aimée Carter
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Becoming immortal wasn’t supposed to be the easy part. Though Kate is about to be crowned Queen of the Underworld, she’s as isolated as ever. And despite her growing love for Henry, ruler of the Underworld, he’s becoming ever more distant and secretive. Then, in the midst of Kate’s coronation, Henry is abducted by the only being powerful enough to kill him: the King of the Titans.
As the other gods prepare for a war that could end them all, it is up to Kate to save Henry from the depths of Tartarus. But in order to navigate the endless caverns of the Underworld, Kate must enlist the help of the one person who is the greatest threat to her future.
Henry’s first wife, Persephone.
As you may or may not remember, I was sort of disappointed in The Goddess Test. It just didn’t live up to its full potential, but I saw that the sequel did have potential, so I went ahead and bought Goddess Interrupted anyway. This time I went into the novel with a completely open mind (with no expectations about how the tests would go) and I think that was what made the difference.
I found Kate a much more sympathetic character in this second book and Henry is actually trying to move on from Persephone. They actually start to *gasp* fall in love for real, not the fake teenage love that happened in the first book. The secondary characters like Ava, Kate’s mother and even Persephone herself get a lot more page time and their backgrounds are fascinating. Persephone is probably my favourite character in the novel, not because she’s especially sympathetic, but because she’s very complex.
The plot, as in the first book, was very good and the cliffhanger Aimée Carter puts at the end of the novel is brilliant. No doubt even fans who have a ‘meh’ attitude toward the book will be anxious for the last book in the trilogy, The Goddess Inheritance. Which, by the way, releases on February 19, 2013 according to Amazon.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
My Status Update Journey by Marcus Matherne
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
The author of this book also wrote the next paragraph. I wonder if you be able to pick up on that. If not, you might not be qualified and/or prepared to read the inside of this book. Seriously, if you read the next paragraph and you fail to consider that I’m purposely trying to over-hype the book for the potential sale, don’t buy the book. Oops, let me rephrase that. Don’t buy the book for yourself – buy the book for someone else. This book is so captivating! You’ll be on the edge of your seat from the first word all the way through to the last. You’ll be guessing with each turn of a page. What topic will Marcus cover next? Every page is incredible! You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be touched, moved, and inspired. This book will bring back memories that have long been buried. You’ll want to read this one again and again. Or not. How am I supposed to tell? I don’t even know you. Maybe you’ve recently been in an accident. Maybe the act of laughing causes horrible pains and spasms and causes stitches to burst. In which case, you should consider healing fully before embarking on my journey through three years of social networking status updates. Follow my journey as told by my status updates and the intriguing commentary from the voices in my head. On this trip you find stories of a family man, growing children, delicious cereals, malfunctioning toilets, park benches, awesome soldiers, birthday parties, adorable puppies, on-line games, winter storms, roller coasters, slugs, and a high profile celebrity party. This book contains a topic for everyone! If you can’t find a situation or something to relate to in this book, you are either dead or you’re that person that no one wants to be around. You owe it to yourself to read this book in order to confirm that you’re alive and that you are not “that guy.” Seriously, what if you are a loser and you don’t know it? Let me help you. Read my book. Help me, help you. Really. About the Author: Marcus gets a sharp agonizing sensation in his leg muscles when he attempts to place his foot behind his head. Oh, wait a minute. I guess that’s not the kind of thing we’re looking for here. Let me try again. Marcus lives with his wonderful wife of over fifteen years and his two awesome boys in Mason, Ohio. Better? Good, now start reading the book.
(Summary courtesy of Amazon.)
[Full disclosure: Marcus Matherne sent me a free PDF of his book in exchange for an honest review.]
Okay, I admit I was a bit skeptical when I started reading My Status Update Journey. I mean, how funny could a bunch of Facebook statuses and the accompanying commentary be? I braced myself for disaster, especially since Marcus said his book would make me laugh. That’s usually a warning sign.
But, thankfully, I was wrong. I did laugh, frequently. I didn’t quite reach “laughing until I cried”, but I did chuckle aloud at some parts and the book did lift my mood. The combination of self-deprecating humour and insightful commentary on social media and human behavior worked well together. Even though I don’t have Facebook enough of what Marcus Matherne wrote about was common knowledge that I wasn’t completely out of my depth.
My favourite quote in the whole book was an observation about the common cold:
“I would think that if a person wants to make a profound and permanent change for the better in this world, that person should first be able to breathe through their nose comfortably.” (Page 123)
Seeing as I have been suffering from a stuffed nose and barking cough for the past two weeks, this observation definitely hit home. My Status Update Journey is one of those books that is funny without being crude or resorting to excessive obscenities and has great observations about human behavior, especially on social media. Those cryptic status updates everyone supposedly hates? Yeah, I think in that case, everyone is a hypocrite.
If you’re looking for an intelligent but hilarious novel, My Status Journey Update is a great book for you.
I give this book 5/5 stars.