Breaking Dawn

So after this morning's release, I eagerly buried myself in Stephenie Meyer's finale to Bella's perspective in the Twilight Saga. After reading Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, I had to see what would happen to the characters in the end, though I had a few ideas about what would happen, from the events of the previous books, as well as a spoiler or two coming from Meyer herself. Still, I was totally surprised by some of the events of this book and loved it. There were some predictable elements but Meyer did have a few tricks up her sleeve and it was interesting to read.

One problem I did have with this book was the enormous amount of time that was spent in areas with no conflict at all. There were two very large sections within the book where Meyer is just letting us know how absolutely wonderful things are at the moment and how happy the main characters are. I can understand this sort of writing at the end of a book, a sort of denouement, but these sections were nowhere near the end. I was happy to see the characters find their share of happiness but I was also waiting for the conflict to happen. Because isn't that the point of a story- to have an overcome some sort of conflict? Finally, Meyer did eventually give the reader a couple of conflicts to deal with but it sometimes seemed to take a while.

On the other hand, there were some amazing parts to this book. Breaking Dawn is divided into three parts and the second part is narrated by Jacob. The chapter titles in Jacob's part had me cracking up, which was a nice comic relief to the rather serious feel to the events of that part of the book. For example, Chapter 10 is entitled "Why Didn't I Just Walk Away? Oh Right, Because I'm an Idiot." I couldn't help but laugh when I read that one (though the humor may have been found in the fact that I was reading this around 4am). Meyer also brought in elements that were very unexpected and brought everything together in the end into a very neat package. Some may say that the final product was too neat but I am a sucker for happy endings so I loved it.

Meyer does have plans to write a book called Midnight Sun in which the events of Twilight will be shown from Edward's point of view, but this is supposed to be the last book in Bella's perspective. I enjoyed the series and found it to be a fluffy and cute series that is nice for just relaxing and not thinking too much.

Rating: 4.5

Additional Reviews:
Holly at 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
alisonwonderland at So Many Books, So Little Time

Eclipse

Twilight and New Moon began the Twilight Saga and Eclipse is the third book in that series. The series is a light teenage level romance with a bit of the supernatural thrown in. It isn't going to be a classic but if you are looking for a light enjoyable love story, these might just do it for you.

In Eclipse, Bella is trying to balance her life between two opposing forces. On one side is her best friend, Jacob, and on the other is her un-dead vampire boyfriend, Edward. To say that the feelings between the two boys are a bit chilly is a rather extreme understatement. Add to this the fact that there is still a vampire who would like nothing more than to tear Bella up into little bite sized pieces for the death of her mate and you get an idea of this story. I enjoyed the book, and quickly consumed this book, just as I did with Twilight and New Moon.

As you can see, I have fallen into this series very quickly and I am rather glad that I waited this long to try reading the Twilight Saga. The great news is that the release for Breaking Dawn is tonight so I will be at the release party and can find out what happens to this set of characters.

Rating: 4.5

New Moon

Yup, in case you haven't noticed, I seem to be jumping on the Twilight bandwagon but at least I have good timing! I mean, the final book in the series comes out on August 2 so I won't be spending months waiting to know what happens. Because clearly, if Eclipse is as good as Twilight and New Moon have been, I am going to want to read Breaking Dawn very soon.

Obviously, I enjoyed the continuation of Bella and Edward's story from Twilight. Bella and Edward are very much in love until an accident at Bella's birthday party and Edward must make a decision. Living with that decision could be very difficult, though. Meyer also brings Jacob Black, a sideline character from Twilight further into the story.

Is it okay if I sometimes felt the desire to smack a fictional character upside their abnormally thick head? There were definitely times when characters were seriously dense. There were also several points when I was close to tears. Then again, I suppose that this shows that I was drawn in by the characters' actions and what happened in the story, which is a good thing.

I enjoyed this book - devoured it actually and am about to jump into Eclipse. Lovers of romance and fantasy type books should find a great story in this section of the Twilight Saga.

Rating: 4.5

Twilight

OK. I finally drank the kool-aid, as my best friend stared me down, and I gave in to reading Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I had been tenasciously avoiding the whole series because of the rabid fan-dom that surrounds it but my friend assured me that the books were indeed worth my time and so I gave in and tried it.

Of course, most people know that it is a teenage story involving vampires. Bella Swan has just moved to Forks, Washington to live with her father. There in Forks, she meets the Cullen family, a group of young men and women who were adopted by Dr. Carlisle Cullen. What makes them stand out is their abnormally pale skin and stunning good looks. Edward Cullen soon makes a strong impact upon Bella, just as the reader is also getting clues to his supernatural abilities.

Of course, everyone who glances at the back knows that "Edward was a vampire." Unfortunately, in my opinion, the supernatural elements are only in clues until nearly half-way through the book. I would have prefered that either 1) the back cover was changed so the reader could have half a chance to figure everything out on their own, or that 2) the reader could have been given the facts through the narrative at an earlier point.

Outside of that, I enjoyed it. I am not saying it was fabulous but it was very enjoyable to submerse myself into. I will probably end up buying New Moon and Eclipse tomorrow morning.

Rating: 4.0

Lucinda, Darkly

I originally picked this book up because I had heard that those who enjoyed Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy would also enjoy this story. Unfortunately, while I can see the resemblance, I found Sunny's Lucinda, Darkly to be a poorer, more sexually overt, poor man's version of The Black Jewels Trilogy.

The basic story is about Lucinda, who was once a queen of some sort of people called the Monere and is now some sort of bounty hunter demon. There isn't much information about any of it, either the Monere or being a demon, but I guess there was enough to have some story. Anyway, Lucinda meets a rogue Monere and then is sent after a different rogue and then a bunch of stuff happens.

Well, the set-up for a bunch of stuff happens but then the end comes and I felt like Sunny had taken a larger book and ripped it in half, leaving so much unresolved. That irked me.

What also irked me is related to how I feel about The Black Jewels Trilogy. In Bishop's work, there is a large amount of sexuality but there was never a cheap romance novel feel any of it. I liked that. It was tasteful and I appreciated that. In Lucinda, Darkly, however, it sometimes felt like a poorly executed romance novel parading around in the fantasy genre.

It was a quick read so I didn't waste a ton of my time but I certainly won't bother to waste any more time in this series or anything by this author.

Rating: 2.0

So You Want To Be A Wizard

Nita Callahan isn't having the easiest time out of being 13. This might be due to the group of kids that sees it as a weekly obligation to give Nita a blackeye. Or that she doesn't have a whole lot of friends. Or that her younger sister is practically a genius. One day, while running from a beating, Nita finds a book in the library that she hasn't seen before: So You Want to Be a Wizard. When Nita takes it home and starts to read it, her whole world begins to change.

Honestly, I have been wanting to read this particular series for a while but since I didn't have the whole series at my disposal at any time until now, I have held off. I hate starting a series and then having to wait to get my hands on the next one. (I started one series about 10 years ago and I am still waiting for the author to finish the third book so I can read it and find out what happens. Now I know - have the whole series before you start.) Anyway, I have finally borrowed all of them so I can read one right after the other and read this series and that makes me a very happy person.

This series is cute so far and revolves around Nita and 12 year old Kit. I love the fact that Nita loves books and has read most of the books at her local library and it was very fun to see the world imagined by Duane and how it co-exists with our own world. In this world, plants and animals and even old beat-up cars can speak to you if you know Speech and can listen. The wizardry that Nita and Kit find themselves in has a very scientific approach at times, when the characters make some big calculations to work their magic.

The next book in the series is Deep Wizardry and I don't think it will be very long before I am finished with it.

Rating: 4.0

Tangled Webs

I have a really bad habit of opening a book, with no intention of reading any more than the first page or so, just to see how it looks, and getting sucked in. Like yesterday. I started one book and then a friend lent me Tangled Webs, which takes place in the same world and with the same characters as the Black Jeweled Trilogy, a series which I love and have posted on before. I meant to read Tangled Webs after I had finished the first book but I wanted to see how it started. And then I couldn't stop reading it. One of these days, I will learn that this is what happens when I so much read the first sentence of some books.

Anyway, this book really was good. If you haven't read the Black Jewels Trilogy, you might want to read them before trying this one out, as most of the characters are fleshed out in the series and a brief reintroduction is all that is found in the narrative. I love the characters, though some of the ones I love the most have very little time in the main story. Surreal is one of the main characters and though we see a good bit of Jaenelle, Daemon, Saetan, and Lucivar, I wanted more time with them and less with Surreal. We have little or no time with most of the old coven and that made me sad too. Personal preference, surely, but it annoyed me a little to have no Karla (Kiss, kiss.) and so little time with the kindred.

We are also introduced to an author who was raised as a landen (non-magical people) and has now found out he is a member of the Blood (the people with magical abilities who rule the land). Add to that some arrogance and pretensions, a healthy dose of disappointment with his reception by the rest of the Blood, and a good deal of stupidity and you have the recipe for a man who is probably going to have some very bad ideas and make some bad decisions.

I enjoyed this story but there were problems with it. Some of the dialogue, especially near the beginning felt a bit wooden, like Bishop was trying to reintroduce the characters quickly and didn't want to waste time with it so she could get back to the story. Also, the sexuality that was in the series but not seen was brought out more, which was disappointing to me. Little things like that lessened the book for me but only a little. I still enjoyed this foray back into the world of the Black Jewels and I am only too eager for anything else Ms. Bishop may write in the future concerning this world and it's characters.

Rating: 4.5

Till We Have Faces

I always loved Greek mythology. One great myth is that of Cupid and Psyche. The myth tells of a beautiful woman, taken as a wife by Cupid, but commanded that she may not look at him. Her two sisters see her beautiful home and her wonderful husband and, out of jealousy, convince her to break her promise to her husband and look upon him in the night. When she does so, Psyche is exiled and her sisters pay the price with their lives. Psyche's journey continues from there as she must complete several tasks. In Till We Have Faces, C.S. Lewis retells the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

Lewis' story is narrated by Orual, the eldest daughter of the King of Glome, who is terribly ugly and who helps raise her step-sister Psyche, the youngest of the three princesses of Glome. Raised by a violent king in the ancient world, Orual finds herself trying to balance between the superstitions of the people of Glome and the advice given by the Fox, a Greek slave bought to teach the young princesses. As Orual comes of age, events come about which will change her life and the way she sees her world and the gods. Orual is writing her story as a charge against the gods and explains her side of the story. She is not the most reliable of narrators but it is easy to see what she is avoiding saying. Her masks tend to be as obvious as the veil she soon wears to cover her face.

There is so much I would love to say about this book but I am afraid to give too much away. This book has some very strong symbolism in it, most of which is understandable, though I confess that I am still scratching my head over one bit. The story is beautifully told and this is probably my favorite piece of Lewis' fiction. All in all, it is a novel I would recommend to any who enjoy mythology or fiction. While Orual may lie to herself in the beginning, she comes to a degree of wisdom by the end which will provoke thought about our own assumptions and beliefs.

I saw well why the gods so not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?

Rating: 4.5

The Redemption of Althalus

In search of some lighter fiction, I came upon a fantasy book by David and Leigh Eddings called The Redemption of Althalus. Deep in the fantasy genre, this book is about a thief named Althalus. As we are told in the very beginning,

It would be sheer folly to try to conceal the true nature of Althalus, for his flaws are the stuff of legend. He is, as all men know, a thief, a liar, an occasional murderer, an outrageous braggart, and a man devoid of even the slightest hint of honor. He is, moreover, a frequent drunkard, a glutton, and a patron of ladies who are no better than they should be.

After a terrible summer in "civilization," Althalus is asked to steal a Book from the House at the End of the World. Taking the job, he ends up getting stuck at the House with a talking cat who seems to have plans for him. Before long, she will send him to gather a group of men and women to fight evil, led by the man who employed him to steal the Book in the first place.

I did enjoy this book for the story and for some of the characters in the story. The plot has everything from a few love stories to a war, from corrupted religious officials to a bit of magic, and everything else one can think of. Dweia and Althalus are fun characters, along with several of the more minor characters but some of the characters were very flat. The bad guys are only bad guys and have no redeeming qualities to recommend them. Some of the story is a bit patchy in places as well. Althalus is on one track and then all the sudden, he and his group must do something completely different with little to no warning in the story line. While some of it is quite brilliant, or at least fun, some of it falls a bit.

I will probably read this book again but it won't be any time I am looking for something deep or terribly well written. For those lovers of fantasy books, this will probably be something up your alley, as long as you can look past the flaws. As long as you allow yourself to get into the adventure, you probably won't have too much trouble but I have read better fantasy novels before now.

Rating: 4.0

That Hideous Strength

That Hideous Strength is the final book in C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy and follows up on the battle between good and evil. While Out of the Silent Planet took place on Mars and Perelandra took place on Venus, this last episode takes place on our own planet, Earth. The books in the series can stand alone but they can form one larger story.

The first two chapters are more "real life" than the rest of the book but Lewis wants the reader not to base the book on these in his preface. As he says, a traditional fairy-tale always begins with hum-drum scenes and he wanted to show how his story affected ordinary life. The subtitle of this novel is A Modern Fairy-Tale for Grown-Ups and that is what Lewis seeks to make.

One problem I had was that our favorite interplanetary hero, Dr. Elwin Ransom, was as much of a major character in this book, where he was the main character of the two stroies preceding it. This is probably one of my biggest pet-peeves in literature... Just as I have come to love a character and want to hear more about him, the author decides to set him to the side to follow characters that I have never met and I have to get to know this whole new set of characters. I understand why an author does this but it can put me off a book, just the same.

Ransom is in the book and he plays an important role but the main character of this book are Jane and Mark Studdock, a couple that have been married for about six months and who live in the college town of Edgestow. This town is gaining prominence in the area as the proposed site for a new organization called the National Institute of Co-ordinated Experiments (N.I.C.E.). The N.I.C.E., though, is a cover for more sinister purposes, though different men at different levels of the organization seem to have different ideas of what that purpose is.

I enjoyed the story, though it was hard to follow at times. I enjoyed the first two books more, but this was a good ending to the stories on Dr. Ransom. Still, any who tend not to like conservative works may not enjoy Lewis' work. Lewis is telling a story with Christian backgrounds and ideas. It is not as obvious as the Narnia Chronicles but it is there. If you are willing to try this series, you will be well rewarded.

Rating: 4.0

Queen of the Darkness

Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop is the last book in her Dark Jewels Trilogy and possibly the best one in the series. The earlier books are Daughter of the Blood and Heir to the Shadows and you will need to read them before you get to this book: the individual books do not stand alone.

Anyway, in Queen of the Darkness we find everyone gathering for a final conflict as Dorothea and Hekatah try to go to war with Kaeleer, with hopes of ruling all three Realms. On the other side, Jaenelle's Court is trying to save their and we are warned that a friend may become an enemy in order to remain a friend.

I do love this series and this book is my favorite from the series, possibly because we get to see Daemon, Lucivar, Saetan, and Jaenelle together for the first time. We also see Daemon change from who he has been in the past and find a good place for him to be, in all ways. Bishop helps us fall in love with the characters and you keep hoping that everything turns out right. Quite simply: its a great read for those who love fantasy.

Bishop has written a few more books that take place in this world, including a couple of short stories, found in Dreams Made Flesh, and a book coming out in March 2008. If you liked these books, you will probably want to check those out as well.

Rating: 5.0

Heir to the Shadows

I have to begin by saying that I love this book... it is one of my favorites, ever since I found it in the bookstore a few years ago. Since then, I have gotten several of my friends hooked on this series and they love it as much as I do.

Heir to the Shadows is the second book in Anne Bishop's Black Jewels Trilogy. I wouldn't recommend starting this book until you have read Daughter of the Blood as the trilogy is very much a package deal: the three books add up to creat one cohesive larger story and you skipping one book would cause you to be missing a great deal of information.

Once you have read Daughter of the Blood, you will definitely want to dive into this book. I loved it and in some ways, this book is better than the prequel. Bishop continues to use the endearing humor found in the first book; in fact, there seems to be more of it because Bishop can spend more time on the story, instead of establishing the world the characters inhabit.

After the events of the first book, this starts with Saetan adopting Jaenelle while Lucivar and Daemon try to escape Terreille. We watch Jaenelle grow up and finally meet some of her other friends, including some kindred. Of course, during this time, the evil forces of the first book continue to try to gain power over the realms.

There is some violence in this book, but it is more battle type violence or killing as opposed to the sexually-based violence found in the first book.

All in all, this is a great book for fans of fantasy and I heartily recommend it. The last book in the series is called Queen of the Darkness and you will probably want to have it nearby when you have finished with Heir to the Shadows.

Rating: 5.0

Daughter of the Blood

So, for my first review, I read Daughter of the Blood, by Anne Bishop. This book is a great fantasy read and one of my favorite books. I must admit that some of this book is a bit light but for those who are looking to enjoy a good book just for the sake of a good book, you will probably enjoy this. I tend to read this book on a regular basis, especially when I just want to curl up and read something for the joy of it. The story sucks you in and I flew through this book and the sequels in very little time.

In the world created by Bishop, magical abilities, known as Craft, are held and practiced by individuals called the Blood (nearly every character seen in any detail is a member of the Blood, though strength is a large variable between them). Of course, some of the Blood have become twisted and have sought to take over the world, without care for the lives of anyone else. The good are either dead, hiding, enslaved, or living a life of fear and doing whatever they can to avoid annoying those in power and to live their lives as best they can. The story begins with the arrival of a long-awaited savior of sorts – a Queen, “dreams made flesh” who would have the power to cleanse the world and save the good. The plot revolves around this savior, a character by the name of Jaenelle, and those closest to her. While this basic plot line may be a bit over used, there are interesting elements that makes Bishop’s story different.

One strange element to Bishop's story can be found in the names of several of the guys surrounding Jaenelle: names such as Saetan, Deamon, and Lucivar, all of whom are on the good-guy side of the equation. I'm not sure what kind of message Bishop is trying to send through these choices but it is something to wonder about.

One of my favorite elements in this book is the humor found at various intervals between the characters. Bishop adds real life humor into the story, making you love the characters even more. The characters are real, with flaws and strengths, and the humor amplifies this.

One warning I should add is that there are some seriously twisted elements in this book, including pedophilic characters, rape (though Bishop keeps most of it out of direct sight), and other violent sexual ideas. Most of this is used to establish the world the characters inhabit and the idea that something is very wrong in their society, but I would not give this book to anyone younger than 17.

Daughter of the Blood is the first in the Black Jewels Trilogy and the sequel is Heir to the Shadows. I would recommend having the entire series ready at hand. The first book ends on a bit of a cliff and you are probably going to want to dive right into the second book.

All in all, I love this book and would recommend it to almost anyone, especially for those who enjoy fantasy.

Rating: 5.0