His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

(Book 1 in the Temeraire series)
Genre: fantasy-- alternate history
Pages: 356 (paperback)
Recommended for: fans of fantasy and historical fantasy, and most especially, dragons

Synopsis: Aerial combat brings a thrilling new dimension to the Napoleonic Wars as valiant warriors rise to Britain’s defense by taking to the skies . . . not aboard aircraft but atop the mighty backs of fighting dragons.

When HMS Reliant captures a French frigate and seizes its precious cargo, an unhatched dragon egg, fate sweeps Capt. Will Laurence from his seafaring life into an uncertain future–and an unexpected kinship with a most extraordinary creature. Thrust into the rarified world of the Aerial Corps as master of the dragon Temeraire, he will face a crash course in the daring tactics of airborne battle. For as France’s own dragon-borne forces rally to breach British soil in Bonaparte’s boldest gambit, Laurence and Temeraire must soar into their own baptism of fire.

My Take:

As a child, I was infamous for my obsession with dinosaurs.  As I got older, this fixation transformed into an unhealthy love for dragons, those most graceful, magnificent, and terrifyingly powerful draconian overlords of the sky.  While I love the Inheritance (Eragon) books and the appearances made by dragons in Harry Potter, the Temeraire has officially become my favorite literary dragon.


Will Laurence is a British navy officer with a gentleman-like disposition.  After his ship, the Reliant, captures a hatching dragon egg among the cargo of a French ship, Laurence quite accidentally becomes imprinted with the newborn dragon, whom he names Temeraire after a Royal Navy ship.  Thrust into the world of the aerial corps and the ranks of dragons, their captains, and the large crews who battle from dragonback, Laurence and Temeraire struggle to prove themselves among a class of soldiers quite different from the Navy, and whom are already prejudiced against them.  It cannot be said that this book is action-packed, per se, but what battles do rage between our British heroes and the French opposition, under an unseen Emperor Napoleon, are very well-written and definitely engaging.  Naomi Novik's writing style is wordy but refreshingly intelligent-- I felt like the dialogue was realistic to the time period, as were the characters' attitudes.  

The dragons themselves are fantastic.  Novik's portrayal of all the different species of dragons, from the mythical Chinese Imperials and Celestials to the enormous British Regal Coppers and Longwings-- a breed of dragons which only bond with female captains-- is very interesting and engaging.  It's incredibly cool to see some female dragon riders, too, despite the historical lack of involvement of women in military affairs in this era, and to learn of the history surrounding them and society's very tentative acceptance by them as warriors (most of the time they are forced to disguise their identity).  Laurence and Temeraire's relationship evolves so much and I liked seeing the bonds of affection and trust develop between them even as the plot twists in a way that, over and over again, threatens to separate the two of them against their will.  I completely recommend His Majesty's Dragon as well as its sequel, Throne of Jade, which I've just finished.


Premise: 5/5
Story/Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Overall Rating:

Wishing you all Happy Holidays/ A Quick Video Countdown of Best I've Read in 2011

Just wanted to check in to wish all my followers a very merry Christmas/ happy Hanukkah/ whatever it is that you celebrate around the winter solstice!  I hope you all receive lots of wonderful books and give a few wonderful ones as well.  :)

This is a short Animoto video I made featuring some of the very best books I read this year, but may or may not have had a chance to review on the blog:




The song is "I'm Reading A Book" by Julian Smith, and you can check out the original video on Youtube here.

Review: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Genre: urban fantasy
Pages: 370 (paperback)
Published: 1996 by Avon
Recommended for: fellow Neil Gaiman fans; enthusiasts of a good urban fantasy

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Under the streets of London, there's a world most people could never even dream of. A city of monsters and saints, murderers and angels, knights in armour and pale girls in black velvet. This is the city of the people who have fallen between the cracks.

Richard Mayhew, a young businessman, is going to find out more than enough about this other London. A single act of kindness catapults him out of his workday existence and into a world that is at once eerily familiar and utterly bizarre. And a strange destiny awaits him down here, beneath his native city: neverwhere.

My Take:

This review comes with a inherent disclaimer, that disclaimer being that I personally consider Neil Gaiman to be something of a god in the world of fantasy literature.  The thing about Gaiman's books which captivated me when I was younger, and which still does now, is that as a writer he has the rare ability to make a reader feel like they've slipped through the cracks of the mundane, every-day world and found the extraordinary in the most unremarkable places along with his characters.  Urban fantasy can be fantastic-- ie American Gods, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, The Magicians, any of Holly Black's books-- , but it can also come across as flat and totally unbelievable.  Neil Gaiman's books have a brand of witty dark humor which makes them really enjoyable to read, every last one of them, and his characters are unique and intriguing, even though I think most of his novels are overall very plot-driven.

Neverwhere isn't my favorite Gaiman book, but I did really enjoy it and found myself thinking back to the storyline and the characters long after I turned the last page.  All in all, the mostly unpredictable plot twists and mad-cap characters-- the inhabitants of London Below, an underground London which is as dangerous as it is fascinating-- are what made reading it such a wonderful experience.  I've always wanted to visit London, but if I do it's now going to be very tempting to chat with a few homeless people or random mice in hopes of their telling me a way into London Below... maybe I'll even try drawing a door on an alley wall.  For anyone who's a fan of urban fantasy, Neil Gaiman, or fantasy in general, I'd definitely recommend Neverwhere. 

As far as my sparse (to say the least) posting schedule goes, I'm really hoping to have a new home computer and get a few opportunities to post and visit blogs over Christmas break.  Merry Christmas to my readers in advance, if any of you are still visiting occasionally! 

Review: Out of Breath by Blair Richmond

Genre: YA paranormal romance
Pages: 268 (paperback)
To Be Published: October 31st, 2011 by Ashland Creek Press
Recommended for: paranormal romance fans; health buffs
Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
My Take:

The book begins with Kat-- a teenage girl who is a life-long runner and vegan and has been on the run from her home in Texas after her parents' death-- 's arrival in the small Oregon town of Lithia, a 'quaint' little town and a birthplace she barely remembers.  The action gets off to a slow start as Kat, homeless and alone, chances to find a temporary job in a runner's shop and a place to stay.  She meets Roman, an enigmatic actor, at the local theatre where he portrays Hamlet, and Alex, a charismatic shop boy and self-proclaimed tree-hugger.  As a complex love triangle forms around the three, Kat begins to wonder if Lithia is more than it seems.  When Alex reveals the truth to Kat at last, she can scarcely believe it (though most readers will have realized what's going on from the initial chapters).  The town of Lithia is home to vampires both peaceful and carnivorous, and Kat's new friends are among them.  The only question is, which of her vampiric suitors has her best interests at heart... and which of them may or may not be responsible for the terrible attacks which occur in the local woods?

I have overall mixed feelings about Out of Breath.  On one hand, it is essentially well-written-- Kat has a distinct narrative voice, even if she is not the most unique or likeable protagonist.  (She's got a heck of a great name, though ;)  ) Paranormal romance is not generally my cup of tea, so I try to be very objective when reviewing the genre.  I saw many similarities to Twilight, in that the protagonist is torn between two guys-- one handsome, mysterious, and questionable, and the other a likeable local who becomes as much a friend to her as a boyfriend.  Lithia was also a very similar setting to Forks.  So, you know, small-town vamps.  There is definitely an environmental element to Out of Breath, and Kat's being a vegan comes to be far more important than I anticipated.  Roman was a character I had a hard time liking, despite the strength of Kat's attraction to him, though his friend Victor definitely had potential.  (I tend to like the maniacs who live in castles best when it comes to vampires, as some of you probably know.)  Alex, I did like-- he's a genuinely nice guy who obviously has a lot in common with Kat, so why she debated between him and Roman, who knows.

I liked the mystery aspect to the "bear attacks" in the woods and those little nerve-wrecking moments when Kat is running through the woods and thinks she hears something...  Overall, this was a very quick read and a fairly enjoyable one.  The pro-environmental themes are strong, but not so strong that they drown out the rest of the story.  There's a stunning little revelation about Kat's past in the end which promises a sequel.  Out of Breath isn't a book I felt passionate about personally, but it's definitely one I would recommend to paranormal fans.

Writing: 3/5
Premise: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Story: 3/5
Overall Rating:

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

Genre: epic fantasy
Published: 1996 by Spectra
Pages: 835 (Mass Market paperback)
Recommended for: most all readers, particularly those who aren't intimidated by the prospects of wading through this tome

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the King's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but also the kingdom itself. A heroic fantasy of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and evildoers who come together in a time of grim omens.

My Take:

I love epic fantasy.  The elves and dwarves, long-lost dragons and mages, evil overlords and swords with positively ridiculous names-- I confess to adoring 'em all.  What I can't stomach is poorly-executed epic fantasy... so thank the gods of the Seven Kingdoms that A Game of Thrones is one of the best fantasy epics I've ever read!  The usual fantasy cliches and archetypes are all present, but George RR Martin works wonders with material which, at first glance, seems like a scenario we've all read about before. 

I began this first book in the Song of Ice and Fire saga because the HBO series kept calling to me tantalizingly, with its ridiciously cool tagline "Winter is coming..." and released screenshots of lords and ladies garbed in medieval-esque attire.  I don't like to watch a movie before reading the book (so I can kept ticked off at everything the directors/ cast got wrong, of course), so I picked up a copy of A Game of Thrones at Walmart of all places.  Unfortunately, the series is no longer available on Demand to HBO subscribers, so I barely got to watch two episodes of the show-- but what I saw was fantastic, captivating, and impressively close to the book.  But this is a book blog, so onto the book...

A Game of Thrones has a large cast of characters, all members of various royal houses whom at the novel's beginning appear to be engaged in an uneasy peace.  But all too quickly subtle court politics and hidden treachery erupt into full-blown war-- both on and off the battlefield.  Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark of Winterfell is billed as the protagonist, but the book actually has many-- a dozen strands of third-person narrative intertwine throughout the novel.  Everyone seems to have their favorites, but I have to say I was flipping forward to see when Daenary-- the exiled Targaryen princess--'s next chapter was.  Though the world of the Seven Kingdoms is as sexist and womanizing as most epic fantasy settings are, I was pleased to find that we have quite a few strong, dynamic female characters here.  Arya, Lord Stark's young daughter, and his wife Catelyn are both clearly intelligent and bold women who defy the stereotypes of their time.  Of course, on the other hand we have Arya's sister Sansa (played by a very pretty and talented girl in the series, but am I the only one who wanted to slap her??) and the treacherous Queen Cersei.  The dwarf Tyrion Lannister has to be one of my favorite characters as well-- he's charmingly clever and rude, with the impertience of a man three times his size.  As for the specifics of the plot, I'm going to remain silent-- it has too many twists and turns for me to even attempt to provide a spoiler-free summary.

Being a history nerd, I noticed quite a few similarities between this "game of thrones" and the War of the Roses.  Like the House of Lancaster's historical ensigna being a red rose, and Lannister House's in the book being a scarlet lion.  Also, the Targaryen king before King Robert went mad before being murdered, like King Henry VI.  Another thing... the vanished race of people who live(d) in the northern woods are called "The Others".  I wonder if JJ Abrams and the LOST writers have read these books?

All in all, I encourage anyone who's been considering whether or not to read this book to go for it-- you won't regret reading any of the 800+ pages and, like me, you'll clamor for the sequel, A Clash of Kings.

Premise: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Overall Rating:

I'm Still Alive...

Right?  *checks pulse*  Oh yeah, false alarm-- I'm definitely still alive, no worries.  So where have I been these past two months?  Actually, I've been doing a lot of reading...

And this would be fantastic, of course.  If the stacks of books I've been pouring over didn't have titles like Ultimate SAT Study Guide and Test Preparation, Introduction to Human Geography, Writing Your Perfect College Essay, and let's not forget Spark Notes.  Yep, school is officially in session and it's the dreaded senior year.  Thankfully, I've also had the chance to crack the spines of a few non-school related page-turners which I can't wait to review once I finally snag the time.  The Graveyard Book, The Good Fairies of New York, Haunting Violet, Game of Thrones, and even my old favorite Interview with The Vampire have been gracing my desk alongside the boring stuff, keeping me semi-sane. And let's not forget a couple of Halloween-related posts which I'm just dying to write...

All of you who haven't given up on this blog and have even popped in for a few visits (I was truly touched and astounded by how many people have despite my total lack of activity)-- I'd like to thank you a billion times over!  You guys are awesome; you're why I love blogging so much.  More than anything else, I miss reading and commenting on your reviews and posts about what's going on in the blogging world.  With any luck I'll be able to do a bit of that very soon, once college applications are in, and I hope to see all of you around.

Review: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Genre: dystopia/ thriller
Pages: 614 (paperback)
Published: 2009 by VIZ in the US; first published 1999 in Japan
Recommended for: adult fans of the Hunger Games and those who don't mind violence

My Take:

I feel like a real push-over lately when it comes to reviewing books.  First I reviewed the Wolves of Mercy Falls series, which is extremely good, and then I posted a total fangirl gush-fest about Fullmetal Alchemist.  I know I'm going to be trying to do the incredibly phenomenal masterpiece that is The Magicians justice pretty soon, so I'll try to be objective in reviewing Battle Royale.

This notorious Japanese novel has become something of a pulp classic in its native land, and its premise will sound eerily familiar to those of us caught up in the Hunger Games craze.  In an alternative, oppressive Japan, forty-two junior high students are selected to take part in the Program: a bizarre government-run social experiment in which they are set loose on a deserted island and instructed to kill one another until only one student survives.  Good-natured, brave Shuya is the star of his school's Little League team and athletic, but in no way is he prepared or willing to kill off the classmates he has grown up with.  He teams up with a small group of fellow students who attempt to defy the game and the entire Republic by attempting to sabotage the secluded set-up of their island playing field...

OK, here's me being objective: this book was a little cheesy.  Somebody dies in virtually every other chapter, so there's no shortage of gore and violence.  The way the Program was introduced-- literally, the kids wake up in a strange classroom where their 'instructor' Sakamochi informs them they've been selected for the Program and must kill each other-- was so dead-pan.  It was almost too much, almost funny, but I kind of liked the way the horror was so under-stated.  Imagine going to school and being told by your teacher, 'OK, students, for today's assignment you'll each be given a random lethal weapon and sent onto the grounds to murder one another.'  That idea that the Program was already established, that the kids already knew how it operated, worked in the same way the Hunger Games work in Suzanne Collins' books.  Now, here's what didn't work: I don't think the translation from Japanese to English was as good as it could have been.  Japanese and English are drastically different as far as languages go, but quite a few things kept jumping out at me which I think were mere errors of the translation.  For example, there was a minor character who appeared in like two chapters who was gay and-- even though it was completely irrelevant to the plot, which was him wandering around on his own with a shotgun-- every time this guy was mentioned, he was called 'this queer boy'.  Like an abrupt switch to a distant, objective point-of-view 'this', 'this'-- it must be something with the original language.  To be honest, it was hard to take this kind of writing seriously.  I saw this same error several other times and certain words were repeated over and over, too.  Particularly 'gun', and the sentence structure was off occasionally.

Overall though, I have read much worse translations and wasn't too incredibly bothered.  Battle Royale is such a thrilling, startling read.  I didn't catch many of the huge plot twists and was able to connect and understand the backgrounds of many of the characters, despite the fact that so many of them died early on.  A lot of the reviews I read on Goodreads said the Japanese names made keeping characters straight difficult, but I didn't really struggle too much beyond the first few pages.  (Except with Yumiko and Yukiko, but I think that was intended by the author.)  I was a bit skeptical of junior high students who knew how to operate guns-- though most of them didn't, a few did-- and drive.  But the way the action unfolded was amazing and the characters have branded themselves into my mind.  I do think it may have partially inspired the Hunger Games (seeing as the book inspired a cult classic movie), but I also think the two books are very different and cannot be said to be the same material at all.  Battle Royale is an action thriller which follows many different characters, and the Hunger Games is Katniss' more personal fight to survive.  The dystopian worlds have a completely different feel, too.  All the same, I think HG fans will probably enjoy this book.  The writing is somewhat like Stephen King... Stephen King if he was a Japanese writer whose work was translated not-so-brilliantly into English.  But for all my complaints, I did enjoy this memorable, intense novel.

Cover: 4/5 (okay)
Premise: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Overall Rating:

Mega Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist

Artist/Manga-ka: Hiromu Arakawa
# of Volumes in Series: 25 released; 2 still to come
Genre: steampunk/ shounen/ action-adventure
Recommended for: everyone

I recently finished the 16th volume of FMA (universal nickname for Fullmetal Alchemist) and was going to review it.  Then it occurred to me: most readers won't bother reading a synopsis for a review of the sixteenth volume of a manga series they don't know the plot or premise of, and who could blame them?  So, instead of writing a typical review for that specific volume, I've decided to undertake a review (READ: total unapologetic gush fest) for Fullmetal Alchemist in general.
No spoilers follow, only lots of awesome.  You have been warned.

 My Take: 

For me, stumbling upon a tattered copy of the first volume of Fullmetal Alchemist at the local library was akin to finding a gold mine between those creased cover pages.  I devoured the manga in an hour, then passed it along to my picky sister Pinky, of guest reviewing fame, who proceeded to devour it in about ten minutes.  (Pinky reads manga FAST!)  We've since watched the anime series-- which is nearly as good, and would be as good but for the fact that it is television and we all know TV can never compete with the written (or illustrated) word.  Though FMA is one of the most popular manga series in the US and Japan, if not the world, it's also one of those mangas which can be enjoyed by readers who don't usually like graphic novels, graphic novel fans who don't usually like manga, even people who normally don't like to read at all.  It's that good, that addictive.  FMA is the most suspenseful, perfectly-crafted manga I've ever read.  Its material is often dark, yet our heroes Edward and Alphonse bring much-needed light humor and determined optimism into the mix, therefore rendering it pretty much perfect. 

the Ouroboros.. a mysterious symbol

The basic premise of Fullmetal Alchemist goes a little like this: Amestris is a country run by the military in a war-torn world which resembles a steampunkish England around the time of the Industrial Revolution.  Alchemy, advanced and complex science which seems like magic to ordinary people, is wielded by the military to keep control and protect the borders.  Brothers Edward and Alphonse Elric are only children when they first discover their innate talents for alchemy.  After the sudden death of their mother, the boys use alchemy's most forbidden art in an attempt to resurrect her using alchemy.  But the first law of alchemy is equivalent exchange: you must sacrifice to obtain.  The brothers' alchemical ritual goes horribly awry.

Edward loses his leg in the process and is forced to sacrifice his arm in order to save Al from being lost altogether in the darkness beyond the mortal world.  He binds Al's soul to the only available host-- a suit of metal armor-- and hires his childhood friend Winry, an automail engineer, to forge him a new, fully automated arm and leg made of steel.  The brothers burn their small town home and set off for Central, capital city of Amestris.  Ed is determined to become the youngest-ever State Alchemists in order to find out more about the Philosopher's Stone, a mythical substance believed to give the alchemist who wields it great power.  The brothers are determined to restore their damaged and lost bodies to normal... but at what great cost?

The cast of characters in this series is beyond awesome.  In particular, we have so many people who we have so much reason to hate or dislike yet somehow worm their ways into our hearts.  We have State Alchemists who brutally murdered thousands in the name of the military; we have Scar, a refugee-turned-serial-killer who makes use of his own destructive brand of alchemy while trying to make sense of his muddled past.  And then there are the homunculi-- mysterious human-like creatures created via alchemy, convincingly human but for their lack of a soul... and their bizarre physical abilities.  The homunculi are so damn cool.  Very occasionally in fiction a villain comes along who is totally despicable, yet somehow you want to see more and more of them.  The manga-ka of FMA does an excellent job holding the identities and abilities of the homunculi over our heads, offering only occasional tantalizing glimpses of them.  And if the villains are great, the heroes are even better.
 

  Ed's the best.  He's easily aggravated, especially when it comes to his small stature and refuses to consume milk in any form (lack of calcium is probably the reason for his vertically-challenged condition ;).  He's stubborn, holds a grudge, and is a child prodigy convinced he can do absolutely anything.  Yet he's also incredibly haunted by his past, hindered by his auto-mail limbs, and suffers a ton of guilt over what happened to Alphonse.  Altogether, I pretty much love Ed to death. (So does Pinky, I feel compelled to add-- she wouldn't want anyone claiming to be a bigger Ed fan than her.)  His brother Al is in some ways the perfect contrast: Ed's genius without the infamous Ed ego, I guess.

I can see this fangirl post has definitely ran a bit long, so I'll just hastily add that Winry Rockbell, Ed and Al's neighbor, Lt. Riza Hawkeye, and her dog Black Hayate are a few of my other favorites.  If you're a fellow FMA fan, I'd love to hear from you, and I hope the rest of you will consider checking out the first volume in my favorite manga series of all time!