The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman Review

The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman is the debut novel of Robin Gregory, I won my copy through Goodreads. Moojie is a historical/mystical fantasy aimed at middle grade readers. I think that the vocabulary may be challenging for many in this age group. This wouldn't be a book to give to reluctant readers.

Moojie is a disabled boy that loses two families and is searching for a place he feels he belongs. He struggles with bullies and to make friends. His quest for a new family focuses on a group that the villagers call the "Hostiles". Periodically, Moojie shows some strange abilities of unknown origins that cause unexpected and miraculous events.

As a debut novel, I think it was good. I found the pacing a bit slow in the beginning and had a hard time getting into the story. The second half of the book went smoother, and quicker, for me. I think the pacing of the book may have been deliberate on the author's part, as the chapter titles were very long and rambling in many cases.

I am a lover of the fantasy genre, but not so much when it comes to the mystical/existential stories. I am not sure if it was the mystical aspects, the pacing, or that I just wasn't in the right mood to love this story.

Happy reading!

City of Bones by Cassandra Clark

I have run across City of Bones by Cassandra Clare many times online, and I was intrigued by the cover. I admit between the cover and the series title, Mortal Instruments, I thought it would be a steam punk novel. A friend of mine got a copy and passed it on to me. Once I held it in my hand and read the synopsis I discovered it is a fantasy set in our world. When I held the book in my hands, I became apprehensive because the blurb on the front cover was from Stephanie Meyers. Those of you that know me, know that I am not a fan of Twilight in any way. I feared that this book would be another poorly written paranormal romance novel. Luckily, I escaped that ill fortune.

The story centers around Clary Fray, a 15 year old girl living in Brooklyn. She lives with her mother who is an artist and has never known her father, who died in a car accident. Her main companion is Simon, her best friend.

Clary and Simon are at a local club, when Clary witnesses something unusual that only she can see. It comes to her attention while she is watching an unusually handsome boy move about the club led by a ethereally beautiful girl. She follows the two because she feels something is wrong, and sees the girl and several others kill the boy. When she calls for help, Simon and the security guard can't see the teenagers or the victim. Clary is astonished and pretends to have panicked. Before she departs the scene, the apparent leader tells her that the boy they killed was a demon.

When at a coffee shop with Simon the next day, she sees the group leader, she cautiously goes outside with him and learns his name is Jace. While talking to him, she receives a horrifying call from her mother telling her not to come home. Of course, being worried for her mother, she completely ignores this and rushes to check on her mom. She gets home and finds her mother missing, the house torn up, and a terrifying monster awaiting her.

The creature almost kills her and Jace takes her to his tutor so that she can be healed. Clary then learns that there is an entire world that is unseen by the majority of people, the fact that she can see this world means that she is not a regular person. Clary also begins to learn that there is much more to her mother than meets the eye.

There is of course the usual hints of attraction and possible love between her and the mysterious and handsome stranger that rescues her. Thankfully, Clare doesn't follow this trope, and we end up with a Star Wars moment.

The story is well paced and entertaining. Clare does a good job of blending the supernatural characters into the modern day world. It's perfect for a vacation read. I passed it on to some stewardesses at United Airlines. I look forward to the second volume.

Happy reading.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

This was a case in which I saw the movie long before I read the book. We saw the film in 3D, it was amazing, and I'm usually not a big fan of 3D. The images were striking, riveting, and sometimes upsetting.

I am a fan of Gaiman's work in general, I really enjoyed Coraline. I know that many adults find it much too scary for children because it terrifies them. Children have a different perspective on the story, they see it as an adventure story.

Coraline is the tale of a young girl with rather inattentive parents. They are loving just very busy. The family has recently moved into a new home that is part of a larger house divided into several apartments. There is a pair of sisters who are aging stage actresses with dogs downstairs. Upstairs is a Russian man who is training a mouse circus.

Coraline is unhappy and bored with her life, as many kids get. (Especially when they have moved to a new place and don't have any friends.) She begins exploring the house and the area around it, this includes a strange door that leads to a brick wall. Well, it leads to a brick wall some of the time. One day while her mother is out shopping, she opens the door and there is a tunnel. Being a curious child, she follows it. 

 

On the other side of the tunnel, she discovers a world much like her own yet full of disturbing differences.  The "other mother" is awaiting on the other side of the door. She wishes Coraline to stay with her forever, but Coraline senses that something is wrong. She challenges the "other mother".

I really enjoyed the book, and the movie was an absolutely fabulous adaptation. Sadly, my imagination couldn't live up to the visuals provided by the movie. This is a great book for boys and girls of all ages.

Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz

Baum continues following the wacky exploits of Dorothy and her friends through various faery worlds in the fourth installment of the Oz books. We begin with Dorothy arriving to California on a train, which is inconsiderately five hours late to the train station. A young man named Zeb has been awaiting her arrival, she must wake him so that they can be on their way to the ranch where Uncle Henry is awaiting her.

In this volume, Dorothy's adventures begin when the horse and buggy in which she is riding is swallowed by a crevice created by an earthquake. She, Zeb, the horse (Jim), and her kitten (Eureka) fall for hours on end. They slow to the speed of floating as they approach the "center" of the Earth. There have reached a new magical world, it is filled with glass buildings that grew and plant people with no emotions and very short lives. These people are called the Mangaboos. The Mangaboos blame Dorothy and friends for the falling rocks that destroyed parts of the houses.

Shortly after Dorothy and Zeb arrive, something else falls from the sky. Upon closer inspection Dorothy and Zeb discover that it is a balloon. Inside the balloon is Dorothy's old friend, The Wizard of Oz. The current leader of the Mangaboos gives them a tour of the gardens, and shows them his replacement, whom he is avoiding picking in order to extend his own life. The Wizard and Dorothy do not think this is right, so they pick her. Despite Dorothy and the Wizard saving the rightful leader, the Mangaboos sentence the party to death. The entire group must flee.

The group heads upwards in an attempt to reach home, they travel up a winding spiral staircase inside of the mountain. When they exit the other side, they are in a beautiful valley that has a beautiful village in it. However, they can see no people or animals. They hear birds, but don't see them.

This book is as full of fun and weirdness as the others, but also shares in their formulaic nature. I am still quite enjoying them and the subtle humor and word choice. I did find this one oddly titled as they barely spend any time in Oz during the story. I am going to finish the whole series, but I don't think I'll continue to write a review for each volume as I have had much the same to say about all the volumes so far.

Happy reading!

Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Welcome back, I finished Ozma of Oz last night, but I was unable to due a review due to the fact that I had to do some school work at home. Kids, just remember when you are an adult it's your job (not your school work or chores) that get in the way of fun and hobbies. I writing my review before work, so we'll see how well it goes with a caffeine deprived brain.

Our tale opens with Dorothy and her Uncle Henry on a different kind of adventure, one that I am jealous of. They are traveling to visit Australia, Uncle Henry has been ordered by the doctor to get some rest as he is ill from over-working. Sadly, the voyage isn't uneventful and they must sail through a severe storm. Dorothy loses track of her uncle and instead of searching for him in their berth she heads up on deck. She is washed overboard with a hen, who we later learn is named Bill, and a wooden chicken coop.

After being adrift for awhile, she notices the hen, who oddly enough begins to talk. This makes Dorothy aware that they have come to a fairyland, as chickens can't talk back home. Dorothy and Bill (or Billina as Dorothy renames her) soon come to a beach with a strange phrase written in the sand, "Beware the Wheelers". She finds a tree with lunch and dinner pails growing on it and picks one as she is very hungry. The Wheelers chase her into some rocks where she finds Tik Tok, a wind-up mechanical man.

Dorothy's adventure in Eve (yes Eve, not Oz) truly begins after rescuing Tik Tok. She finds the last royal family member and becomes her captive. Princess Langwidere has a collection of heads, and she wants Dorothy's. Ozma, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion come from Oz to rescue the Queen of Eve and her 10 children from the Gnome King and manage to rescue Dorothy in the meantime.

As with the other Oz books, fantastical and absurd events abound. This book was just as enjoyable as the first two.

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

This is the second book in the Oz series. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodsman from the first installment return to share further adventures with the reader. We are introduced to a new young man named Tip who is indentured to Mombie, an evil witch.

The Scarecrow is the king of the Emerald City, and the Tin Woodsman, aka Nick Chopper, is the emperor of Winkies. The action truly begins when Tip tries to scar Mombi by building a man out of wood and a pumpkin. She is not scared and brings him to life with a magic powder. Tip decides to run away when the consequence for this prank is being turned to stone. He take the fake man, Jack Pumpkinhead, with him when he runs away.

In the Emerald City, the Scarecrow faces a revolt lead by General Jinjur.  The army is made up entirely out of girls, their only weapons being their femaleness and knitting needles. They take over the city easily, making it necessary for the Scarecrow to flee to the Tin Woodsman's kingdom.

This novel is as full of obscurities as the first one. I am still trying to determine how much is satire of that attitudes of the time. Oddly enough, there is a huge plot twist in this book, something I found very strange for the time in which it was written. I have already begun  Ozma of Oz, I'm looking forward to see if Baum can surprise me again.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

I cannot count the number of times that I have seen the movie "The Wizard of Oz," I can say that it's been so many times I don't really need to watch it anymore. I remember when I was a kid it came on tv every Christmas and we watched it a lot. Between my love of the movie and fantasy novels, it is quite strange that it has taken me until now to read the original work by L. Frank Baum.

As so often lately, I listened to the book while driving to work. It is a very short book compared to many that I read and I finished it in just two days of driving, about 4 hours.

For those readers that might not be familiar with either the book or the movie, let me tell you what happened. No, that's too much, let me sum up.

The story begins with a young farm girl named Dorothy and her dog Toto on a farm in the middle of a Kansas plain. (If you've ever been to Kansas you are aware that it is actually one giant plain, but all places have their conceits.) She lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry, on account of her parents passing. It is a rather dull and joyless place, except for her time with Toto. One day, while they are all hard at work, a tornado approaches. Dorothy does not make it to the storm cellar with her Aunt and Uncle because Toto (rather foolishly) runs and hides under Dorothy's bed. Dorothy chases him in an attempt to save her closest friend.

This turns out to be a mistake in judgement as the tornado lifts the entire house off its foundation with Dorothy and Toto still inside. This is a regular occurrence in Kansas, don't you know? When the house lands, she is in Oz. It is a vibrant and colorful place. Dorothy's adventures begin immediately when she encounters strange people, the Munchkins. Unbeknownst to Dorothy, her house landed on the Wicked Witch of the East. She is much praised for this accidental homicide, which actually befuddles her but she accepts the compliments as graciously as possible for she is a polite girl.

Despite the wonders of Oz, the only thing that Dorothy wants is to return home to her family. She sets off on a journey to the Emerald City, the capital of Oz. Along the way, she meets three companions: the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Cowardly Lion. They face many dangers on the way to the Emerald City, but safely reach their destination. Some of my favorite trials are ones that they left out of the more familiar film version.

As a child, I may have been on the edge of my seat at some of the misadventures and predicaments that the heroes get into, but as an adult I often found the situations amusing. I do not know if this is due to my knowledge of the outcome from repeated exposures to the movie, or my knowledge of the genre as a whole. Baum caused me to laugh out loud several times in amusement. The ending of the book takes Dorothy on many more adventures than the neat movie ending. I quite prefer the more complex ending from the book to the movie's conclusion.

Happy reading!

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

I originally read this as a teen after falling in love with the film. I have to say, it is very different than I remember it from my first read. I remember thinking that it was very dry and dull for the "good-bits" version. After getting half way through the book this time, I began to wonder if I was crazy or if I had read the actual book by Morgenstern. It's very likely that I simply didn't understand much of the subtle humor at that tender age.


I have to say, that they did a pretty decent job adapting the book to film. The flashbacks from the book were handled very well, and in a way that didn't lead to overly long and dull exposition. It's very hard for me to not compare the book to the movie in this review, I have watched the film times beyond counting (I'm on my fourth copy: one loaned and lost, a second the tape busted on, and a third scratched). I'd have bought the anniversary edition, but it didn't have enough bonus material on it. It is a favorite movie in my house, in fact, it's one of the movies that I'd bring with me to a deserted island.

Ok, back to the book itself. I was inspired to reread it because of the Twitter Geek Girls Book Club, a book club for girls that aren't into chick-lit or romance novels (at least not only those). Goldman's approach of "abridging" a historical satire to make it enjoyable for his son and recreate the story that his father read to him is endearing. His use of asides adds to a feeling of intimacy with the author, and the characters in a round-about way. The reader can feel his nostalgia emanate from the page, in much the same way that I have a soft place in my heart for the movie. So much of the book was in the movie that it is very hard for me to separate my feelings for the two.

There were several parts of the book that I wish had made it to the film, though I understand why they did not. Inigo (most everyone's favorite character) returns to the Thieves' Quarter after encountering the "Man in Black", a place that he hates. He is wishing that he could wear a sign that says, "Be careful, this is the greatest fencer since the death of the Wizard of Corsica. Do not burgle." That struck me as quite funny, most likely due to the use of the word burgle.

If you are looking for a gently funny book with action and adventure, or if you are simply a fan of the film, I suggest picking this book up. I plan on trying some more of his works. If The Princess Bride isn't your sort of thing, remember he also wrote "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid".

The Magician: Apprentice and Master by Raymond E. Feist

Once again I dive into a fantasy world on audio, this was the author revised edition including the first two volumes of The Magician: Apprentice and Master by Raymond E. Feist, aka The Riftwar Saga. In the audio edition, they were treated as one volume, so I didn't actually know when I went from one book to the other, thanks husband for helping me out with that. I have not read Feist before, so I come to the revamped version ignorant of the original published work. I can't imagine many objections to the changes as they were initiated and made by the author, but I'm sure there are some nonetheless. 

Our story is set in the land of Crydee, a small rural Duchy in The Kingdom on the world of  Midkimea. Our protagonists are Pug, an orphaned kitchen boy (whom lends the book its title), and Tomas, the cook's son and Pug's best friend. We begin right before The Day of Choosing, an important rite of passage for the young men of Crydee in which they learn if they will be apprenticed to any of the tradesmen in the Duchy. Pug and Tomas both would like to be soldiers or foresters. On the auspicious day, Pug is left standing alone after all the other boys have been picked, the Duke's magician, Kulgan.

Just as Pug is becoming serious about his studies, there is a shipwreck. This is no ordinary shipwreck, but one of an alien warship from another world, heralding the coming of an invasion. The Duke and his men seek aid from the Prince and King, but all does not go as planned. (Wouldn't be much story to tell if it did, now would there?) War ensues throwing the kingdom and the boys' lives into chaos and interrupting their studies in the arts of fighting and magic.

Over the course of the story, we get to watch the boys grow into men and come to know more about the Kingdom's enemies, the Tsurani. I cannot describe the plot of the second book without giving away the ending of the first, so I will refrain from sharing any details.

The story was well-told and action packed, as well as funny and occasionally touching. The reader did an excellent job, though I could not find his name. If you are looking for high-adventure fantasy, you'll enjoy this. I'll be listening to the next book in the series, Silverthorn next.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard

My husband recommended this collection to me and loaded the audio book on my phone. I wasn't sure what to expect, or if I would enjoy it. Pulp fiction, like Conan, has a bad reputation with it portrayal of women and I was only familiar with the movie Conan, the Schwarzenegger Conan at that. It turns out much of what I know of Conan is not from the original stories, but from writers aping Howard's work and "borrowing" the character's name. 

The audio book opens with a foreword about the history of the Conan stories, and a look at the environment that created them. It is quite interesting for any bibliophile, whether they are interested in Conan stories or not. I had no idea that Howard and Lovecraft were friends, or that Howard was considered quite a "literary" writer. The book is read by Todd McLaren, who's voice is the embodiment of rough manliness. He creates a variety of voices for the various characters, and lends a quiet dignity to our hero.

This image isn't objectification in any way!

Over the years, when people have discussed Conan, I got the distinct impression that the stories objectified women as solely sexual objects. Though I can't comment on other similar works of the time, I can say that I did not get this feeling from Howard's work. Don't get me wrong, he eloquently describes the female beauties of the world in detail. It is often quite a sensual, almost erotic description. However, he takes no less care when describing Conan's physical beauty, or the bodies of other prominent males characters. Howard definitely had an appreciation for a fit human form, regardless of gender.

The volume includes 13 tales, plus the Miscellanea. Many of the stories have never been seen in this form before as they were cut for length or content on original publication. I enjoyed all the stories, though some stuck out more than others. There were tales of political intrigue, pirate adventuring, tribal war, and magical creatures. I really enjoyed "Queen of the Black Coast", a woman strong enough to match Conan's super human personality, thirst for adventure, and strength of will. "The Tower of the Elephant" showed us a bit of Conan's softer side, even if only for a second. Through out all the stories, the reader gets a sense of Conan's passion for life and all it's pleasures. He is very much a person that lives in the now, and without regrets. Conan, and his allies (no matter what their walk of life) have an honesty and integrity in all their deeds. Howard also shows a remarkable understanding of various cultures, commenting in his stories about how each place has its own ways and that one must adapt to the ways of the land you are in. Not a sentiment I expected to find in these tales, especially not stated so directly.

If you are looking for some adventure, or would like to puzzle out which fictional culture matches which real life culture, give this collection a read (or a listen).

A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin

I know that right now there are hundreds if not thousands of reviews online for this book. It is one of the most highly anticipated books in fantasy for a very long time. Fans of the series have been waiting for years for it to come out, some so eager for it that they were sending death threats to the author because it wasn't completed yet. These people are not rational creatures, obviously, as that is counterproductive to their desires, but they are definitely fanatics.

I admit that when I first learned of the major reason for the delay of this book, I was a bit miffed. But the HBO show based on the Song of Fire and Ice series, "Game of Thrones" is so wonderfully produced, casted, and adapted that I have forgiven Martin for the delay in the release of this volume of the series. If you haven't read the series or watched the tv show, I highly recommend both. A warning, the tv show is definitely not family friendly viewing.

Martin took a unique approach with this book in the series. It and the previous volume, A Feast for Crows, were suppose to be a single volume, but they were split in two when the size of the tome became unwieldy. Instead of splitting the story strictly by chronological events, Martin split them along character lines. For example, in A Feast for Crows we see the events happening to Sansa Stark, while in A Dance with Dragons we follow Arya Stark's life. The first half of the book takes place at the same time as A Feast for Crows, at just over half way we pass beyond the last events in Feast and move forward in the time line.

As always, Martin's writing was gripping and the turn of events continually surprise. This volume reunited me with some of my favorite characters that I had missed in the last book, Tyrion and Arya for example. We see the head of the Manderly family in a completely new light, and see how the Frey's try to spin the "Red Wedding". I couldn't put the book down, and I would like to say that I loved it. However, I fell just short of loving it. The wonderful, and frustrating thing, about Martin is how he leaves you guessing and only answers a very few questions at a time. I've been waiting so long for this book that the ending left me awestruck and wanting more, yet I felt a lack of satisfaction at the same time. I think the biggest frustration is that I have no idea when the next volume will be out and I will have my answers. The next book is going to be the resolution of the storyline, maybe this is where my dissatisfaction originates. From knowing the answers are so close, yet so far away.

Happy reading all.

Artemis Fowl by Eion Colfer

We got Artemis Fowl, the audio book, to listen to during our move. This didn't work as planned since the moving truck didn't have a way to plug in the iPhone to the radio. We have an FM receiver to use instead, but the reception and interference were so bad that we couldn't understand most of the story. So listening to it was put on hold, I heard just enough of the story to know that I wanted to finish it. The narrator, Nathanial Parker, was excellent, his voice intoxicating. His delivery and voices fit perfectly with the story.

 I was unaware when I began listening to the book that the main character, Artemis, was actually an anti-hero. This was a pleasant surprise, it added a nice twist to this YA book for me. I knew that it wouldn't quite follow the formula that many books for children do. The humor is apparent right away, though it is very subtle (and a bit of what we'd call British) in some places. Colfer utilizes a very high level of vocabulary, always a plus in works aimed at children. He does this in a manner that not only teaches the young readers new words, but increases the comedic effect of the scenes. The humor is well balanced by the action scenes, which come to life through the words used to describe them.

Our anti-hero is a young genius from a very wealthy family. His father has disappeared, his mother has lost her mind, and he is trying to regain the family fortune. To achieve his aims, he develops a complex plan to exploit the Faerie population of the world.

On the other side of the conflict are the faeries, the narrative focuses on LEPrecon Holly Short. She is the first female LEP officer, and therefore has a lot to prove to herself and the military complex. Holly is thrown in Artemis' path after a mission goes horribly wrong and she is ordered to go to the surface to recharge her magic.

One aspect I found interesting is that the Faerie equipment wasn't strictly magic based, they combined the best of their magical knowledge with science. The faeries have gone underground, literally, but are also wired into the human's ("Mud People") satellite network to keep tabs on us.

I recommend this for a road trip or just an enjoyable read. This book would work great as a read aloud for the whole family, including the teenagers.

A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin

This is book number four in George R. R. Martin's "The Song of Fire and Ice" series. I know several people that read this before me, they all warned me that it is a much slower read than the previous volumes in the series, much like books five and six of the "Wheel of Time" series. They attributed this slowness to the absence of their favorite characters. I did not start to feel this until about the last 200 pages of the book, but I did feel the aforementioned slowing in the pace of the story. Maybe I didn't feel it earlier, because I had been forewarned about the characters that were missing and so did not expect them to make an appearance.

Don't get me wrong, the story is still engaging and the action never stops. However, it's difficult for readers to maintain their pace when well-loved characters such as Tyrion and Daenarys are not seen at all, and Jon Snow barely makes a blip on the story's radar. There are a few new characters introduced, and they are interesting in their own right but I have not bonded with them as of yet. If the new characters had appeared in the story before, it was usually through passing mention in a conversation. One of the great, and frustrating, things about Martin is that you can't predict who will be an important character and who will become a side note or disappear all together.

I am aware that this occurred because the story was becoming so massive that Martin had to split the book in two, in order to make it possible to publish and sell for a reasonable amount of money (and to avoid it being so large that it threw out the readers' backs). Thankfully, as I said in my A Storm of Swords post, the other half of this story will be available in July.

Despite the fact that some of my favorite characters are absent, there is a lot of story progression. Jaime Lannister continues to develop as a character and become more likable (at least to me). Cersei continues to be, well, Cersei. Tommen, the King, continues to be a charming boy of 8, sheltered from the realities of ruling a kingdom, and his mother's scheming. Things on the Wall are dire, yet there is hope as well. John sends Sam Tarly away to become a Maegster. So many threads on the web of this story.

So many things to tie up before the end. There is suppose to be just one more book after A Dance with Dragons, but I'm not sure that will be possible.

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

Once again I am blown away by this series. The further I get into the series, the harder it becomes to write a review. I don't want to commit the cardinal sin of spoiling plots twists or become too repetitive in my praise.

The characters and plots are as rich and varied as ever in this volume. Sadly, some of the characters I loved have shunned this mortal coil by the end of the book. Happily some of the villains have also lost their lives. Some that were once thought to be good are no longer seen so, while those once though evil have made amends or at least have begun to do so.

One thing that can be said for Martin, he does not believe in script immunity. Many characters that would be considered safe from an early death are lost. This definitely keeps you guessing about what is coming next. These books are continually surprising you, even if you are extremely well read in the fantasy genre.

That being said, and with my knowledge of his love of surprising the audience, the end of this book completely shocked me. I was bowled over. I think it surprised me more than the ending of The Sixth Sense did the first time I saw it. I have already begun reading A Feast for Crows, it's only appropriate as it's World Book Day.

Even better, George R. R. Martin announced the release date of the next volume in the series, A Dance with Dragons. I'm so excited!

A Clash of Kings Review

A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin is the sequel to A Game of Thrones, which I reviewed here, and recently reread. I decided to reread the "A Song of Fire and Ice" series because of the upcoming HBO series of the first book. I wanted to reread it to regain familiarity with the story and characters, and because it's a great series.

As a sequel Clash of Kings does not disappoint, the characters and the action are as rich as in the first volume. All of the characters, well most of them, return to this book. The pace does not slow in comparison to the first book, if anything, the pace of events escalates. The characters are as rich, realistic, and varied as in the first volume. I enjoyed this book as much, if not more than the first. I strongly recommend this book, and the series.

From this point on I'll be going into more detail about Clash of Kings, this will include some spoilers for major plot points in the first book. If you haven't read the first book, and do not wish to know the fates of some of the characters and resolutions of some of the events, please stop here.

GAME OF THRONES SPOILER ALERT!!

A Clash of Kings starts right where A Game of Thrones left off. With King Robert and Ned Stark dead, Joffery and Cersei, his mother, are ruling the kingdom. Joffery is a cruel, spoiled child. His Uncle Tyrion is sent to King's Landing to be the King's Hand and mitigate Joffery's impulsive cruelty.

Renly and Stannis, the recently deceased King's brothers, are both claiming their right to the throne. That brings the total number of Kings in Westeros up to three. Robb Stark is declared King of the North by his bannermen. Balon Greyjoy claims the crown of the Iron Isles and begins to plan attacks on the other kings. So at the height of the tension, Westeros has five kings.

The rest of the Stark children are facing their own issues. Sansa is now a hostage to Cersei and Joffery in King's Landing. She is being awoke from her childish, romantic dreams by Joffery's murder of her wolf, betrayal of his promise to let her father take the Black and his abusive treatment of her. Arya feels when Joffery's men take over the castle, heads out with the Night's Watch in an attempt to get home, but they are attacked by one of the many armies and she is captured. Luckily, everyone thinks she is an orphan boy. Bran and Rickon are left in Winterfell, Bran must fill his brother's shoes as the new lord, while Rickon is going wild with grief and loneliness. Jon has become a full Brother of the Night's Watch. The Watch is learning of the high level of activity north of the Wall. They have faced Wraiths and now venture over the Wall to see what is coming to attack the wall.

 Theon Greyjoy, a long time ward of the Starks, returns to his father's lands in the Iron Isles believing he will receive a warm reception. However, he is not trusted after being raised by the Starks and is determined to regain his place in the family. Once his father launches his ships of war, he plots to prove his loyalty by taking Winterfell.

Across the sea, young Daenerys has suffered great heart ache with the death of her husband and unborn child. She has become the Mother of Dragons by bringing dragons back to the world. She continues to seek a way home to Westeros and return to her proper place as rightful heir to the throne.

I can't wait to see how these stories continue to weave and diverge to and from each other. I look forward to seeing how current events unfold and what surprises Martin has in store for me.

The Graveyard Book

During our road trip, at least on the way up north, we mostly listened to music. As the driver, I felt the need for something different on the way home. I thought a good audio book would be a great way to help keep my mind alert during the trip, it was a good idea. The challenge was to find something the whole family would enjoy. The daughter was unsure about the idea of an audio book, but became completely entranced. Luckily, I was able to preview the audio books before purchasing one. I would not purchase any audio book without listening to a preview first. Even if the story is excellent, a bad reader will ruin the book and lose the audience. The search was successful. We will definitely be utilizing audio books more on future road trips.


I picked Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book because we had all enjoyed the movie Coraline based on the book by Mr. Gaiman (I still need to read the book, but my to-be-read list seems to grow exponentially.). My husband and I have also enjoyed many of his other works. In this production of the book, the author reads it himself. Neil Gaiman is an excellent reader, this may be due to his experience as a father reading to his own children. His voice was expressive, and he did excellent voices for the different characters.

This book won many awards including the Hugo and the Locus Award. It is the first book to win the Newbery and Carnegie Awards in the same year. Gaiman combines action, humor, history, mythology, and sincere emotional moments masterfully within this tale.

The story is about a boy that survives the murder of his family by a mysterious man named Jack. The boy stumbles into a graveyard, gains the protection of the ghosts that live there, and cannot leave without risking the man finding him. The ghosts name him Nobody Owens, Bod for short. He also has a enigmatic guardian named Silas, who acquires him the necessities of life such as food and clothing, as the ghosts can't leave the graveyard.

Most plot points are revealed to the audience as they are revealed to Bod, this adds to the suspense for the reader or listener as the case may be. Bod is mostly educated by people in the graveyard, so he acquires a very unique and thorough knowledge of history. Time skips are utilized to hit the important points in Bod's development into a young man, and keeps the story moving well. Bod is a very likable character, a mostly well-behaved child with and innate curiosity about the world, which sometimes leads him into adventures and precarious situations. There are some surprising twists in the story, especially for younger readers. Adults with experience may be less surprised at the twists, but they are enjoyable and well handled.

Overall, I really recommend this book, especially if you like fantasy/adventure stories.

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

The Gathering Storm is the first part of the last book of the epic Wheel of Time series. It is a book that fans, including myself, have been greatly anticipating and dreading at the same time. The reason for this is that Robert Jordan passed away due to a heart condition before the saga was complete. Brandon Sanderson was hand-picked by Jordan's widow to complete the final book in the series; however, fan concerns still lingered (at least among those of us that had never read Sanderson's work). It is very difficult for a fan base when a different author takes over, as seen when Brain Herbert resumed writing in the Dune universe made classic by his father.

The prologue that Mr. Sanderson wrote brought tears to my eyes. He apparently was inspired to become a writer because of the Wheel of Time books. He is kind enough to the fans, and smart enough, not to attempt to copy Jordan's writing style.When a new volume of Wheel of Time comes out, I usually reread the whole series (I have not read it 10 or 12 times, I've read it 3 times).  I chose not to reread the series this time for two reasons: I do not have the time, and I didn't want to have Jordan's writing style fresh in my mind. I admit it, I wanted to enjoy the book. Though I'm sure I will reread the books in there entirety again.

For those of you that are not familiar with Wheel of Time, it is simply put, a story in which the world's of Frank Herbert's Dune and Tolkien's Lord of the Ring are melded together. It is a story that has a very complex set of main characters, there are about 10 core characters, and about two dozen secondary characters that play a pivotal role to the story. You have Rand al'Thor, Mat Cauthon, and Perrin Aybara from a small town, they are dragged into a fight against the Dark One. Rand is the Chosen One, the Messiah figure, yet must have his childhood friends to be successful. This is an extremely simplified version of the premise of the tale. Jordan's style is very conversational and easy to read, his characters feel as if you could walk around the corner where you live and meet people just like them.

Now, for the actual book. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down. All I wanted to do was read the book, I become engrossed in it. The pace was quick, the characterizations true to all the books that came before. Some major plots points from previous books were brought to conclusion, as is to be expected in a book approaching the climax of a series. We discover how the split in the White Tower turns out. Does Egwene get executed or succeed in her bid to become the recognized Amyrlin seat? Does Aviendha become a full Wise One? Can Rand make peace with the Seanchan so he can focus all his attention on the last battle? Some questions were answered, yet I was ready for more. When I finished the book, I was sad that I couldn't continue the story. I eagerly await the second part of the final book. Happy reading!

The Eyre Affair Review

I read this book years ago and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd read it again with my Second Life book club. I had forgotten much about the book since I last read it.

Jasper Fforde weaves a tale about a police detective, Thursday Next, who specializes in literary crime. Most of the time it is a very dull job, at least for most of the LiteraTecs. Thursday seems to attract adventure. Before becoming a police officer, she fought in the Crimean War. In this war, she lost her brother, and the love of her life. One to death, the other to the trauma of war.

The world of Thursday Next is a world of time travel, cloned extinct pets, and characters being kidnapped out of famous books. England and Russia have been fighting a war off and on for over a century. Her father is a time traveling fugitive that is trying to fix the past, so she rarely sees him.

Thursday's nemesis in this book is Acheron Hades. He is probably my second favorite character of the whole book. Thursday is drawn into this adventure because Hades was her professor in college, so she can identify him. He has the strange ability to locate people when they speak his name, seems to be invulnerable to any physical harm, and apparently has the ability to teleport and cause others to hallucinate. He commits evil acts for the pure pleasure and feels that to robbery for the sake of financial gain is low, common, and in poor taste.

Fforde combines adventure and comedy together very well. As an American, I know there are some references to part of London and England that I missed completely. There are many puns, some good, some come with a groan factor. I really enjoy the book, it was a fun read. I'm actually in the mood to read the rest of the series.

The Scar Review

This review is long over due, sorry for the delay. My masters class on school law has taken up most of my time.

Though I hate to use the term, because of the often negative connotations, The Scar is a spin-off of Perdido Street Station. Reviewed here. Reading the original story isn't necessary to understand or enjoy this story; however, I highly recommend it.

Mieville opens not with the main character, but with a beautifully described scene depicting an underwater hunter and his trained hunting squid. This scene gives the audience a sneak peek as to what horrors of the deep await our cast of characters. His use of language, as usual, is magnificient.

Our central character is Bellis Coldwine. She is fleeing to a newly founded colony to avoid an unknown entanglement with the New Crobuzon government, with the intention of returning home once it is safe. Bellis lies about her ability to speak the language of a sea-faring people in order to get passage to the colony. Bellis is a complex character, but I admit there were times I found it hard to like her.

In addition to taking colonists to the new colony, the ship is transporting Remade prisoners. Remades are people that have been punished for crimes they committed by being altered physically, usually by having horrible mechanical parts added to their body or replacing a body part. In the course of the ship's travels to the colony they are abducted by a floating pirate city, Armada. It is run by the Lovers. Once you are a part of Armada, you are not allowed to leave. This results in much inner turmoil for Bellis.

There are many more interesting characters in the book, and you do find out how it links back to Perdido Street Station. The story is complex and well-written. There are dramatic sea battles and tender moments. I recommend this if you love language, pirate tales, fantasy stories, or steampunk. Enjoy.

A Game of Thrones Review

This is probably one of my favorite fantasy works of all time. Martin masterfully handles multiple story lines and points-of-view. This story is an epic fantasy, yet the magical elements very much take a backseat to the characters and the plot. In fact, Martin's style gives it the feel of historical fiction rather than fantasy. Many of the stories and characters seem to be plucked directly from Medieval Europe.

We begin the story in the Northlands with the Stark family. They are the main protagonists of our tale and are known as honest and honorable. Lady and Lord Stark have four children ranging from 3 to 13, two boys and two girls. There is also Ned's bastard son, Jon, who is the same age as their oldest son, Robb. Jon has been brought up with his half-siblings, and been well loved for the most part, despite the Lady's resentment of his presence.

Ned's best friend is King Robert, who pays Ned a visit to offer him the position of The Hand of the King. This is basically the position of running the country while the king enjoys feasting, hunting, and wenching. King Robert is married to a Lannister, a family known for their cunning and greed. When Bran, one of the Stark children, witnesses an encounter between the Queen and a man that is not the King, she insists the man dispose of him by throwing him out the window. This event leads to many further complications later in the story.

Shortly before the King and Queen come to visit, the children find a litter of direwolf pups. These wolves are larger than normal wolves, and they usually stay above the Wall. The Wall is a very long wall that protects all of the Seven Kingdoms from the Wilds of the North, where horrible creatures reside. The Night Watch, which patrol the Wall, and the Starks are concerned because "Winter is coming". In the world of Martin's Fire and Ice, winter and summer both last for years on end. This summer has in fact been unusually long, in fact none of the children have seen winter.

If you are new to fantasy, and prefer historical fiction, this would be a great novel to begin exploring the genre with. Martin's work is not predictable, nor are his characters stereotypical of the fantasy genre.