Pegasus by Robin McKinley was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2010. I've mentioned before that I love Robin McKinley. She is the author I credit with teaching me that fantasy can be a great genre to read. I was so excited when I noticed a new McKinley book that I'm pretty sure I made those embarrassing 'sqeeish' noises.
When the book came in the mail, I was beyond excited. And then, I started reading... End of excitement. The entire book was a struggle for me to get through. The beginning of the book is really vague, with the readers jumping into the middle of our 12 year old princess' history lesson and the narration doesn't really clear up much after that. I felt like I was reading the story told many years later by someone who kept forgetting the order things happened. It was full of flashbacks and flashforwards that would go on for pages, before the narration would pick up again in the present. I'm normally okay with this in books, but I like a little warning first. These flashes would just happen, and I'd find myself wondering where we were, and when we left the present tense.
I also regularly found myself bored with all the description. McKinley is a fantastic world builder and has a great imagination. I am amazed that she is able to come up with such beautiful and vivid descriptions for this magical world, but I got tired of hearing about them over and over again. It felt too much like a really boring teacher's desperate attempt to make a history lesson interesting to a group of students who couldn't care less. (ie: fail).
The story does definitely pick up once Ebon enters the picture and the story is no longer solely about Sylvi. Ebon was a fun character and I found myself truly enjoying his blunt and honest interior commentary. But this too was over used.
I must also admit that I was seriously upset, disappointed and annoyed when I realized that this book was actually going to have a sequel. I thought that McKinley could easily have cut the book down by 100 or so pages, removing the repetitious and redundant descriptions, and smoothing out the timeline, and then I find out she's going to follow it up with a second book?! Sigh. That was a bit of a bummer. And, of course I need to read the sequel because this book has one of the worst endings I've ever read. It ends, quite literally, in the middle of a scene. Nothing is resolved, everyone seems doomed, and all we have to go on are questions, assumptions and vague references to history.
I know that this review is predominantly negative, which makes me sad, and is not entirely what I was going for. The writing is, as always, beautiful and very well done. Sylvi and Ebon were a great character team, and their friendship is almost palpable. Their connection has enriched their lives, and I'm very interested to see what they will be able to accomplish in the future.
And although I was quite annoyed that this story ends in the middle of the scene, I must admit that I am incredibly interested in watching what Sylvi's father does with this new information, and how it will change their lives.
Overall, this is a beautiful story that just happens to be a little difficult to get through. But, I'd still recommend it for McKinley fans. Just, don't get your hopes too high.
* Disclaimer: I received this book through Star Book Tours.
Today's 'Memory Monday' is going to be a little different than normal. Instead of talking about a specific memory reading a specific book, I'm going to talk about 3 authors that instantly come to mind when people talk about 'definitive reader moments'. (Okay, so I just made that name up, but I'm sure you all know what I'm actually talking about...) Some of these books will pop up later, probably in an actual review, or I might give them a more in depth 'Memory Monday', but today is less about the books, and more about the authors themselves.
When I was 12, I remember complaining to my mom that I had nothing to read and I was so bored! I think it was mostly an excuse to whine, but I was in a definite slump and nothing really caught my attention. My house has always been full of books, and so my mom took me to the bookshelves to find me something to read. Katherine Kurtz (link to GR profile) has written a series of high fantasy books set in a world she calls Deryni.
There are (I think) somewhere between 18 and 21 books now in the series, mostly grouped into trilogies. My mom cautioned me about them, letting me I might not like them, but there were a lot of them, and I just know my mom just hoped I'd like them because that many books, of which we owned them all would keep me occupied for a long time. But, alas... I did not like them. At all. Looking back, I realize, more than anything, this is probably because the books are high fantasy written for adults, and I was a 12 year old who had most recently grown bored reading R.L. Stine... It wasn't the right for me to read them, but my 12 year old brain took this to mean that all fantasy was BAD. I decided that all fantasy was boring, lame, and definitely beneath me.
So, back to mom I went. My mom, probably desperate to get me to leave her alone, because I am nothing if not persistent when I want something I think you can give me, handed me her copy of Pretend You Don't See Her by Mary Higgins Clark (GR profile). I never gave it back. That book changed my reading life. I LOVED it. I immediately went to my mom, begging for more books to read, but she didn't own any. For the next few years, that was what I read. I read every mystery she produced (I still read them, but I'm 2 behind...) and in my narrow world, mysteries were the only way to go. I read all the Kinsey Milhone ABC mysteries by Sue Grafton, tried my hand at a few Agatha Christies and devoured Joan Lowry Nixon.
Then, in 8th grade, I met a girl who made it her goal to make me understand that other genres had value too. I scoffed, but she insisted and finally bribed me into reading a book of her choice. She picked The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (GR profile), and I was horrified. She expected ME to read fantasy?! The nerve. But, she insisted, and seeing as I had already accepted the 'bribe' I caved. Surprisingly, I loved the book. I was completely enthralled, blown away and amazed. Who knew that so much greatness could reside in one book?! I brought the book back a few days later and gave it back to her. She was mad, because she thought I had given up, until I started positively gushing about how wonderful that book was. She did the expected, I told you so, and then demanded that I read The Blue Sword, the companion novel to Hero, but I resisted. She finally convinced me to read it. I took it home, and was bored. The beginning dragged on and on, and it took me about a month to get through the first 3 chapters, which I took to mean that fantasy was definitely not for me, and Hero must have been a weird fluke. This girl finally got mad at me about it, because another of my friends was waiting for the book so she could read it. So I begrudgingly agreed to go home and try to get through another chapter. What a chore. But, I went home and picked up the book like I'd promised, expecting to work through another chapter, maybe two if I was feeling particularly masochistic. I brought the book back the next day, done. And I couldn't shut up about how great it was, and how I totally wished I could have been as cool as Harry or Aerin.
I gobbled up Robin McKinley in much the same way I inhaled Mary Higgins Clark, and I ran to this girl for book suggestions over and over. She is the one who introduced me to historical fiction and Ann Rinaldi by convincing me to read Time Enough for Drums (click title for my review). Because of my experiences with this girl, I stopped judging a genre based on a single book, and I opened my mind to new possibilities in reading.
I still haven't gone back to try reading Kurtz's Deryni books again. I'm a little afraid, and I still shy away from those epic fantasy series with books in the double digits, but I'm working up to it. I would like to revisit those books, now that I'm an adult, because I know my perception will be a lot different. My mom and dad both love them, my sister has read them all, and she really enjoyed them, and one of my really good friends began reading them after we had this conversation, and she loves them too. I do plan to read at least some of this series sometime in the future, but I still need to work up to it a little. Have any of you read them? What do you think?
Who are your favorite authors? And what are your 'definitive reading moments'?
I'll be posting my actual review of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson soon, but I wanted to share a few of the links from fellow bloggers who are shouting out about this Wesley Scroggins mess. I posted some of my thoughts, but I still fume about it every time I think about it. There's so much to be said on this topic, and most of it has been said at one point or another by different bloggers and authors from all over.
So, here is a list compiled by Natalie at Mindful Musings. I can only imagine how much time and effort went into contacting everyone and gathering all this information, and I thank her for it, because it makes it so much easier to find.
Bloggers Speak Out is a movement sparked by the recent article, "Filthy Books Demeaning to Republic Education " by Dr. Wesley Scroggins that was published in the Springfield, MO News-Leader on September 18th. In this article, Scroggins vehemently advocates the censorship of books in schools, and specifically requests that the following books be removed from the Republic school system: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut. To show our support of these authors and to fight against book banning and censorship, we have decided to take action and speak out.
Below is a list of links of bloggers speaking out against book banning and censorship--in the form of giveaways, posts, and reviews. Some are "officially" participating in what we're calling Bloggers Speak Out, and others are posts that we've found around the blogosphere. If you get time, you should definitely check them out! Giveaways of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson **All giveaways will end on 10/3, unless otherwise noted** Papercut Reviews Braintasia Books Escape through the Pages Tina's Book Reviews Sea of Pages Mrs. Deraps Reads Moonlight Book Reviews Cari's Book Blog Just Your Typical Book Blog For What It's Worth Wondrous Reads (Ends 9/27) Frankie Writes (Ends?) The Elliot Review (Ends?) The Bookologist (Ends?) La Femme Readers
Other Giveaways **All giveaways will end on 10/3, unless otherwise noted** -Lisa Schroeder: ARC of The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (Ends 9/23) -Will Write for Cake: Win Speak, Twenty Boy Summer, or Slaughterhouse Five -Mindful Musings (here): Win Speak, Twenty Boy Summer, or Slaughterhouse Five -Teens Read and Write: Win The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian -Mundie Moms: Win Speak, Burned, Twenty Boy Summer, or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Ends 9/26) -Wicked Awesome Books: Win a "Filthy Books" Prize Pack -Carol's Prints: Win Speak and The Mockingbirds -Myra McEntire: Win Speak, Twenty Boy Summer, or Harry Potter -The Bookish Type: Win Speak or Twenty Boy Summer -Bea's Book Nook: Win Speak & an ALA Challenged Book (Ends 10/2) -Sarah Ockler: Win a Wesley Scroggins Filthy Books Prize Pack (Ends 10/1)
Other Posts Against Book Banning and Censorship Braintasia Books Escape Through the Pages As Told by Jen Aine's Realm The Compulsive Reader Once Upon a Bookcase Daily Dose Speak Loudly Book Drop @ Late Bloomer Online A Life Bound by Books Red House Books Frankie Writes Michelle's Bookshelf I Should Be Writing The Undercover Book Lover Punk Writer Kid Lisa and Laura Write Between the Covers Another Book Junkie Jenni Elyse Eve's Fan Garden The Ultimate Dumpees Reading the Best of the Best The Pirate's Bounty Reclusive Bibliophile Book Faery Bloggers Heart Books Book Swarm Fantasy 4 Eva The Ladybug Reads The Lady Critic's Library Emilie's Book World Jacob's Beloved Just Your Typical Book Blog Maggie's Bookshelf Basically Amazing Books Novel Thoughts Random Ramblings Holes in my Brain Readligion Vision Quest Fail Shelby Barwood Supernatural Snark Consumed by Books Ann Marie Gamble The Darker Side of the Fire Katie's Book Blog Sassymonkey (BlogHer) GreenBeanTeenQueen Jessica Lei Maria Romana Abby Minard The Mimosa Stimulus Books and Things Beyond the Trestle
Authors Speak Out Laurie Halse Anderson: This guy thinks Speak is pornographic Laurie Halse Anderson: The power of speaking loudly Author Gayle Forman @ Eve's Fan Garden Author Saundra Mitchell @ Eve's Fan Garden Karen Rivers Sarah Ockler: I Speak Loudly for Speak Sarah Ockler: On Book Banning Zealots and Ostriches Author Laura Manivong @ Page Turners Cheryl Rainfield: Fight Against Ignorance Myra McEntire: Speak Loudly: In Defense of Laurie Halse Anderson Andrea Cremer: Speak Out Natalie Standiford on Censorship @ Emily's Reading Room
Important Articles on the Subject "Filthy Books Demeaning to Republic Education" (the article that started it all) Scroggins' Official Complaint to the School Board (PDF) "Republic School Book Choices under Fire " (Springfield News-Leader) Laurie Halse Anderson's Editiorial in the Springfield News-Leader Sarah Ockler's Editorial in the Springfield News-Leader Natalie @ Mindful Musings' Letter to the Editor in the Springfield News-Leader Essay: Kurt Vonnegut's Thoughts on the First Amendment Thanks to everyone who has spoken out about this. It's not something that will be going away soon, but it's something that we can fight a little better every day. We can make progress. We can make a difference. Speak out, and don't ever let anyone else do your thinking for you.
*Disclaimer: I received this book through Star Book Tours.
Firelight by Sophie Jordanis a unique shape-shifter/paranormal YA read. Instead of werewolves, vampires, fairies or angels, Jordan has introduced us to the Draki, 'people' that have evolved from dragons. They can shift between human and dragon form almost at will, but shhh! Don't tell anyone, because no one else knows. The humans who hunt the Draki don't actually know that they appear human most of the time.
Other than the actual premise (shape-shifting dragons) not much of this story is terribly unique. We have our 16 year old heroine, trying to find her place among her family and her pride (group of Draki). She also happens to be extra special, even for a Draki (because why would we want to read about a mediocre heroine?!) She is the first Draki is generations who has the ability to breathe fire, which naturally makes her pretty popular among other members of the pride. Pretty early into the story, she is uprooted from the only home, and the only people she has ever known, and has to try and fit into a completely new setting. She deals with a mother and sister who don't understand her and don't really try to relate to her. Then, there's the whole 'forbidden love' thing. Yup, she falls in love with a human boy. But more than that, he and his whole family are hunters. And more. You see where this is going?
Regardless of what that last paragraph sounds like, I actually really liked this book. A lot. I liked it in the same way that I really liked Twilight and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and this type of chick lit in general. I didn't read it to be 'literarily edified' or to read the 'best written book of all time'. I read it to be entertained, to read a good story, and to have some fun. Which, I did!
The writing was engaging and entertaining. The story begins with out main character, Jacinda, and her best friend going for an illegal flight as dragons. The rules for flight are very specific. Because they are hunted, they keep strict regulations on appearances as dragons and flying is only allowed at night. But Jacinda absolutely loves flying, and just can't resist getting in some extra flight time in the morning. Well, this ends up being a very bad idea. This lovely morning also happens to be the morning the hunters have come down, and it's all Jacinda can do to get her and her friend safely away from them.
I don't want to spoil too much of the story, because I really liked reading it without knowing much more than the basic premise (shape-shifting dragon, who is special enough to breathe fire, falls in love with dangerous human boy) so I won't say much more about the plot, but it's definitely an enjoyable read, well worth the few hours it took to read it. It's also a book where I enjoyed the actual reading experience more than I enjoy the book. (Does that make sense?!)
It's a pretty fast read, and one that, once I started, I didn't want to put down again. I think I ended up staying up until about 3am reading this one, because I really wanted to know how it ended. Sadly though, the ending was the worst part of the book. Not because it was bad, but because it was incomplete. This book is a planned series, and that is very obvious from the very unsatisfying ending. Jordan leaves a lot of ideas left unexplored and there are several story lines that are just left completely unresolved. It's made me incredibly anxious for the next book in the series to come out, and this one hasn't even been released yet! Sigh... It's going to be a long wait!
If any part of it sounds like something you are interested, or it's the style of book you normally like (YA paranormal/fantasy romance) then I definitely recommend you pick it up. It was an enjoyable read, and a story that I'll be following as it advances more. If you have read it, what did you think?
Cindy Pon is the author of two Asian-inspired high fantasy novels, Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix. While not based on a fairy tale, the books, especially Silver Phoenix, are full of original lore and mythical beings that could have stepped out of any traditional story. For a review of Pon’s work, please visit A Backwards Story .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them? I love the Hans Christian Anderson stories like The Little Match Girl and The Little Mermaid and The Snow Queen. They were all magical but also all rather tragic. I think my father was the one to buy me his anthology and I treasured those stories.
2) What Chinese folklore tales were your favorites? What did you like about them? My favorite is The Cowherder and the Weaver. It is called the Chinese Valentine’s story and not only incorporates fantasy, but is very romantic. The weaver girl in the story was immortal and despite having children and living a happy human life, she was pulled back and separated from her family and husband to return to the heavens by her angry grandmother. So it is only on July 7th of each year that the lovers can meet in the heavens on a bridge across the Milky Way formed by magpies.
2) Did any traditional tales influence you when writing Silver Phoenix? Not really. I'm influenced by everything I read in a way. But with Silver Phoenix, I simply knew I wanted to tell a heroine's journey and have a fantasy inspired by ancient China.
3) Was it hard coming up with your own lore when you began world-building, especially because, despite the Chinese influence, Xia isn't China? How did you bring everything together? That wasn't the difficult part. The difficult part was allowing myself the freedom to make stuff up! I had to realize and accept that I wasn't writing a historical or even a historical fantasy (which would have to take place in a certain time or place in our history), but creating my own world inspired by China. Once I gave myself that freedom, it was easy to just write Ai Ling's story the way I envisioned it. It is no different than what Tolkien or Lewis or many fantasy authors did, use real culture and myth but also create your own for your fantasy world.
4) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors? I really enjoyed Entwined by Heather Dixon as well as Ash by Malinda Lo. White Cat by Holly Black is amazing (followed by Red Glove). These novels are loosely based on the White Cat fairy tale and is a favorite series of mine!
5) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why? As tragic as it is, and as afraid as I am of being underneath the sea very deep, I'd have to say The Little Mermaid. I've always been fascinated by mermaids since reading the story.
6) Will you be writing any more novels that incorporate mythical beings? Can you tell us anything about your upcoming work? I only sold two young adult novels so Ai Ling's story ends with Fury of the Phoenix. For my next project, I do hope to write and sell another Xia fantasy starring a shape-shifting snake demon (very popular in Chinese folklore) heroine and a wannabe monk. =)
8) What are some traditional Asian tales that should be more well-known in the Western Hemisphere? Journey to the West (Monkey King) is the best known (but still not very well-known) story. I'm very excited, as Neil Gaiman has been asked to write the screen play and I hope to see an excellent film made for the US audience in the near future!
And now, in traditional Fairy Tale Fortnight fashion, the lightning round of crazy but fun questions!
~Best fairy tale villain and why? The stepmother from Snow White. She was just so conniving and scary
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale? A pastry, like Pie or Cupcake.
~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: Cupcake wandered lost in the strange forest, surrounded by star-shaped donuts, singing apple pie slices, and dancing blueberry scones.
~Would you rather: - — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden Eggs!
- — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? Polish glass slippers!
- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? A fairy godmother!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and answer some questions for us today Cindy! The interview was fascinating! And thanks Bonnie, for contacting Cindy and working with us on these interviews! You are both wonderful!
Help us welcome today Diane Zahler, author of The Thirteenth Princess a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and A True Princess a retelling of The Princess and the Pea. (in my blog to read Ashley's review of A True Princess ).
Diane grew up in Ithaca, New York, where she spent most of her time reading children's books. She loved fantasy, but she especially loved fairy tales. In high school, she started working in the children's room of the public library, and kept reading fairy tales. After college, she went to New York City, got a job in children's book publishing and (what else?!) read more fairy tales before she finally decided to write her own! She loves to travel and often finds inspiration for her writing from the places that she visits.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ What made you decide to write fairy tale retellings? I’ve loved fairy tales for as long as I’ve been a reader, and I also love a lot of the retellings I’ve read, especially the ones by Robin McKinley and Shannon Hale. So it was a natural fit for me when I started thinking about writing my own novels for young readers. Would you consider a non-fairy tale retelling? Do you have any ideas?
I’m working on an idea now for a non-fairy tale retelling, but it’s in such an early stage that I don’t want to jinx it by talking about it (and I haven’t worked out the details).
Can you tell us anything about your current writing project? I’ve finished a third retelling, Princess of the Wild Swans, which is based on The Wild Swans (versions by both Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm brothers). And I’m partway through a fourth, which has a well-known fairy tale as its inspiration but goes off on some wildly different angles.
The Twelve Dancing Princesses has always been my favorite fairy tale, and I've thought about it a lot. But a thirteenth princess has never occurred to me. Where did the idea for Zita come to you from? There’s not a lot to the original story, if you recall. Twelve princesses are cursed to dance until they die; they’re rescued by a soldier. Not much detail there. So I felt like I had a lot of freedom to play around with it. Fairy tales are often about abandonment and betrayal, so I wondered: what if there were another princess, but she wasn’t allowed to be part of the family? Zita is abandoned in plain sight, living in the servants’ quarters below her sisters’ bedchamber, but she never loses her desire to be connected with her family, and she never loses her determination to help them.
Is there a fairy tale you would love to retell, but haven't been able to find the right inspiration for?One that you are maybe working on, just waiting for everything to click? I love Rapunzel. It’s been retold in various forms, but I still feel there’s a lot that can be done with it. It’s on the back burner for now, but maybe soon…
Are there any fairy tales that you absolutely do not want to retell? Well, there are some that have been done either to death or so beautifully that I wouldn’t want to go there – Cinderella, for example, and Beauty and the Beast. And some fairy tales are just too weird or grotesque to approach, especially some of the lesser-known Grimm tales. What amazes me is how MANY fairy tales there actually are. Check out this Wikipedia list! I could write a dozen a year and not run out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales (Try Foundling-Bird or The Iron Stove for bizarre Grimm stories.)
Silly/Random questions:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Chocolate, without a doubt. But in another language, so it sounds princess-y: Suklaa (Finnish)? or Siocled (Welsh)?
~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: I was named after the food of the gods, because my mother loved chocolate more than any other food. But I never managed to live up to the sweetness of my name.
~Best fairy tale villain and why? I started thinking about this and immediately wondered: Why are the villains mostly women? There’s Bluebeard, and the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, and Rumplestiltskin, if you’re looking for wicked males. But, though I don’t want to retell the story, the queen in Snow White has a malevolence all her own. It’s based on envy of her stepdaughter’s youth and beauty, which strikes me as particularly nasty. In the Grimms’ original tale, this villain was Snow White’s mother, not her stepmother, which makes her all the more evil.
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Rapunzel, as a child. As an adult, maybe Beauty and the Beast – one of the few with a heroine whose courage and love help her to save another. I’m not crazy about Jack and the Beanstalk or The Frog Prince (kissing a frog – ick. But in the original version, the princess throws the frog against a wall).
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be? If you consider A Thousand and One Nights a kind of fairy tale, I’d most like to try riding a flying carpet. Ever since reading E. Nesbit’s The Phoenix and the Carpet, it’s been my preferred mode of travel. So much easier and more romantic than the subway or JetBlue!
~Would you rather: - — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs, definitely — scrambled - — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers? The hair, by a length. One long braid.
- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? A fairy godmother – I could wish for the prince, if I wanted him. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Thank you so much for participating with us Diane! It's been a real pleasure to work with you!
We have a copy of A True Princess to giveaway to one lucky reader today! Diane was generous enough to provide us with a copy of the book (via the publisher) as well as some really neat bookmarks to go along with both A True Princess and her debut novel, The Thirteenth Princess.
One person will win a copy of the book and a set of the bookmarks. Then, winners will be drawn for the remaining bookmarks.
Rules:
You must leave a MEANINGFUL comment on this post. Let Diane know you appreciate the time she took to contribute be involved with us. Include a way to be contacted.
Today's interview is with Zoë Marriott, author of The Swan Kingdom (read Ashley's review) , Daughter of the Flames (which Ashley also loved) and the upcoming Shadows on the Moon (which both Misty and Ashley are eagerly awaiting). Zoë has known that she wanted to be a writer since she was finished reading her first book; The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. She thinks she was about eight, but she decided on being a writer and hasn't changed her mind since then. And boy, are we glad that she didn't! Help us welcome Zoë to the blog today!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The Swan Kingdom is my favorite retelling of The Six Swans/The Wild Swans that I have come across. You talk about what inspired you to write this one down in your guest post. I loved what you did with the story to make it your own, but your interpretation of the ending to this story is largely responsible for how much I love this book. Without spoiling anything, can you talk about that? Can you share where or how that idea came to you?
So hard not to spoil!! Argh! Okay... well... basically, in the original version of the story, I didn't think the heroine really got a very happy ending. Or enough credit! She's clearly an extraordinarily brave and strong young woman, loyal the her brothers to the end despite all the suffering she's gone through — but she gets stuck with this prince who pretty much *kidnapped* her, and then was going to burn her because he thought she was a witch? That's true love for you, right? And she never gets justice for the wrong done to her family by her stepmother, or any closure, or even to see the land of her birth again! I suppose a few hundred years ago women weren't supposed to care about thing like that, but I was sure that for someone like her, the fate of the people she had left behind much have weighed on her mind very heavily. And then, it also made sense to me that in order to reverse such a powerful curse on her brothers through almost nothing but willpower and knitting, she must have had some fairly strong magical power of her own! So I wanted to try and bring those elements into the resolution of the story and bring everything full circle.
Did you have the changes you brought to the story in mind before you started writing, or were these things that came to you after?
Wow, that's a good question! I think some of them were always there, because they grew from the questions I had about the story — the questions that made me want to retell it. I mean, for example: just who was the mother of these royal children? In fairytales the real mother nearly always gets erased in the first line and replaced by a wicked plot-point. But it seemed to me that, particularly in The Wild Swans, where the father is pretty much a non-entity and yet the children are remarkable, that the mysterious, dead mother must have been remarkable too. So I always new that in my version the mother and particularly her death would be significant and happen 'on-screen' as it were. In other cases, the changes to the story were due to things that happened to be marinading in my brain at the time. When I was working on the first draft of the story I was watching a BBC documentary series about British pre-history in which there was a lot of information about the hunter-gatherers who built all our long barrows and stone circles. The experts talked about ancestor worship, and about the way that cave art seemed to show animal and human spirts all together, as part of nature. But then as people started to farm and develop agriculture and a more sedentary life, the idea of ownership and kingdoms appeared, and there was a massive shift in the way people lived. Did the hunter-gatherers disappear? Or were they absorbed into the farmer population? So those ideas worked their way into the book, and gave me an interesting and, I think, unique magical system and backstory for the Kingdom. Is there a fairy tale that you just need to retell, but are waiting to retell, or holding off for now? What are some of the other fairy tales you've considered retelling? Are there any fairy tales that you absolutely do not want to retell? Sooo many! I've always wanted to retell Beauty and the Beast, but I'm horribly intimidated by Robin McKinley's legacy. I mean, how is anyone supposed to live up to THAT? And there are a lot of less famous stories, for example, from Japanese mythology, that I have ideas about. The one I've never really been interested in is Sleeping Beauty — there's so little for the princess to do, and the idea of falling conveniently in love with your saviour bugs me. But I'd never say never. I always hated Cinderella too, until she started whacking me on the back of the head with a pick-axe demanding I tell her story properly! You've also written a non-fairy tale story, Daughter of the Flames. How does the writing and the research differ between the two genres? Which do you prefer writing? Do you prefer creating a completely new story and creating the world to fit the story, or taking an existing story at making it your own?
This isn't a very interesting answer, but I can't really put my finger on any significant differences in the process between writing an original fantasy and a fairytale relling. Possibly because I don't stick very closely to the specific events of my fairytale frameworks (as you may have noticed!) which means I still need to come up with my own plot, my own characters, my own emotional conflicts and arcs. Probably more importantly, I don't really think that writing a fairytale retelling is a get-out-of-jail card when it comes to setting. It's easy to slip into that non-specific, Eurocentric, Tolkien-esque world we all know so well. But that is a thin, bland sort place where I don't have much fun as a writer. Creating the world of Shadows on the Moon, for instance, required as much (actually, far more!) thought and research than the world of Daughter of the Flames. Your most recent book, Shadows on the Moon comes out this July, and I'm crazy excited for it. It's a Cinderella story, but she is most assuredly not your typical Cinderella. You mention why you wrote her this way in your guest post, and I am dying to read about it. There are many fairy tales with rather weak heroines. Are there any other stories that you would like to retell to give the heroines a chance to be strong? Actually, I think the female characters in fairytales tend to get a bit of a bad rep, overall. In a lot of original folk stories, young woman are cunning, resourceful, brave and loyal. Often men are the weak ones who need to be rescued. Look at Janet in Tam Lin, Kai and Gerda in the Snow Queen, the heroine of East of the Sun and West of the Moon, all those clever young witches and woodcutter's daughters! And the powerful, fearsome baddies are often women too. The problem, I think, is that the Victorians didn't approve of all these bold, adventuring women, and they cut their parts down and sometimes out entirely, in order to make fairytales 'fit' for their children. Not many years later, Disney carried on this process by producing a great many films in which being sweet, obedient and passive (and supernaturally attractive to forest animals) were the heroine's only traits. Later films, like Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid, did allow the heroines to have SOME personality — but their number one desire was nearly always to escape from their fathers so they could find true love, and their princes were the ones with the claws/swords. It's really only very lately that we're seeing books and films that give women back their original, strong roles (Tangled, for example!) and I'm very happy to be a part of that process. Silly/Random Questions: ~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale?
Pencils, probably. I always have one on me somewhere! Princess Pen... now, why does that sound familiar?:) ~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: "Princess Pen cracked open her stepmother's ribcage and cut out the woman's horribly blackened, twisted, yet still-beating heart; she then replaced it with an artificial one which she had grown within a local farmer's pig, and closed up the incision." [Misty likes Princess Pen already... ] ~Best fairy tale villain and why? The wicked fairy from Sleeping Beauty's christening. She's really the only interesting character in the thing! ~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites? Childhood favourite was definitely The Wild Swans, and I have to be boring and say it STILL is. Least favourite used to be Cinderella — now Sleeping Beauty. ~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be? I wouldn't. Are you crazy? Those stories are full of utter loonies, and even Princess Pen isn't mightier than the sword. ~Would you rather:- — eat magic beans or golden eggs? Golden eggs. With a little smoked salmon, on toast points. Maybe they would finally allow me to get a tan. - — style 50ft long hair or polish 100 pairs of glass slippers?My hair is actually waist-length right now, and I'm about to have it cut off from sheer annoyance, so I'd have to go with the slippers! - — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? Fairy godmother — and once you've read Shadows on the Moon, you will know why! [Ashley says — SO mean to tease us this way when you already know how badly I want to read it! :) ]Fill-in-the-Gaps, story 1: Three Wishes The strange little man had offered Princess Pen three wishes. But what to wish for? The obvious answer was world peace , but that would never do, for obvious reasons. Princess Pen wasn't naive enough to think that people would ever stop fighting for long. And unlimited money for stem cell research was out of the question, since Princess Pen's wicked stepmother had outlawed it.
The Princess squandered the first two wishes on aiding earthquakes sufferers and cooling down some nuclear reactors, and really needed to make the 3rd one count. There was only one thing to do: he/she would ask her genetically enhanced pig, Francis.
So early in the morning, the Princess set off for her lab where the porcine Francine lived. It was no easy task getting there; Princess Pen went through three security searches and a full body CT scan, and nearly lost hope of ever reaching Francisand making her final wish before she had to go off and do her rounds at Mount Eraser Hospital. Her stepmother's security measures were really getting out of hand.
But in all good time, Princess Pen reached the door of the one person who could help. With great trepidation, (for Francis could be somewhat cranky in the mornings if he hadn't had his coffee) Penknocked and waited. Finallly, Francisopened the door with one handsomely trimmed trotter and peered out. “Yes?” he said.
Penlaunched into the story of the little old man and his three wishes, but Francismerely held up a hand and said “It’s simple, really. I’m surprised you wasted your time coming all the way out here — you must wish for your wicked stepmother to agree to heart surgery so you can change her blackened, wizened heart for one which is generous and free of bigotry and unreasoning fear.”
Penwas baffled. Wish for something so simple? Not magic League-Boots to travel the world, or a wheel to spin flax into gold so that she could set up an inoculation project in the slums?However, it wasn't long before Pen realized that if her government was run by someone who actually had a working heart all the other things might one day be possible. So the Princessdid the only thing she could, and wished for her stepmother to finally heed her pleas to accept a new heart.
Whether it was the right choice, the world will never know, but for Princess Pen it meant freedom from a great deal of unnecessary red tape in the long run, and the increased well being of everyone within the kingdom. And with all of the wishes gone, Pen lived busilyever after. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Thanks for stopping by Zoë!! We're so glad to have you! Hope you guys liked the guest post. If you want to fill in one of the stories for yourself, see this post. And make sure to head over to our awesome guest post from Zoë, and enter to win our prize pack of Zoë's books!
This awesome interview comes to us courtesy of Bonnie from A Backwards Story. We've already mentioned Bonnie and the sphere of awesome she inhabits — she's really gotten on board with Fairy Tale Fortnight, and on top of posting scads of awesome reviews on her blog during the event, she's also sending some pretty terrific content our way, to share with you. For today's post, Bonnie sat down to talk with Heather Dixon, author of the debut fairy tale Entwined, based on Misty's childhood favorite, The 12 Dancing Princesses. (Yay!)
Heather Dixon’s debut novel, Entwined, is a re-telling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The novel is lush and fleshes out the classic tale in a beautiful, descriptive fashion. For a review of Entwined, please visit A Backwards Story or Books From Bleh to Basically Amazing
Heather was kind enough to not only sit down and take the time to answer some questions, but scrounge up some awesome Disney trivia for everyone! Thanks so much, Heather!
1) What were your favorite fairy tales growing up? What drew you to them? I really loved Disney’s Cinderella, and, of course, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, for the same reason: the visual aspect! I loved watching Cinderella’s rags transform into a beautiful dress, and I loved going through The Twelve Dancing Princesses picture books and seeing all of their dresses, and the sparkling forests. Call me shallow…I like pictures.
2) Was it hard coming up with your own spin on The Twelve Dancing Princesses when you began world-building for Entwined? How did you bring everything together? The early-early drafts of Entwined were horrendous. It was much closer to the original Grimm fairy tale, took place in the medieval time period, and there was a lot to do with witches and blood magic. But it was so dark; I didn’t enjoy how I felt when I worked on it. It wasn’t until I established the theme of the story—forgiveness between the princesses and their father—that it started to take off. The Victorian time period, with its rules and mourning, was the perfect backdrop. Not to mention the dancing with waltzes and balls, and the courtships! Like magic, everything unfolded after that.
3) What are some of your favorite fairy tale inspired novels and/or authors? I like all of them, from Ella Enchanted to Beauty! My favorite though is Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt. It is a beautiful story with so much depth.
4) If you could live out any fairy tale, what would it be and why? Yikes, I don’t know if I’d want to live one out. They’re all kind of Grimm. (Ber-dum ching!) I wouldn’t say no to Sleeping Beauty. She has a pretty cushy life and gets to sleep for 100 years. I could handle that.
5) Will you be writing any more fairy tale novels? Can you tell us anything about your upcoming work? Right now I don’t have any fairy tales in the novel pipeline, but I can see myself doing a princess comic or picture book, or a long rhyming fairy tale. (A fun one: a retelling of Undine, but with the princess trapped in reflections rather than water.) I’d also love to do a novel of The Nutcracker or Candyland.
6) What’s your favorite Disney rendition of a fairy tale? What makes it so special? I love all the Disney fairy tales. They do a tremendous job with their adaptations. I feel a real kinship with Disney’s Sleeping Beauty though because of the spectacular art. The beautiful Eyvind Earle backgrounds/art direction and the Tom Oreb character designs are so inspiring. I find it very touching.
And, because I'm a sucker for animation, here are a couple of tasties about Disney's fairy tales:
-Disney's Cinderella is based off of the Charles Perrault version, not the Brother's Grimm (Nearly all the versions of Cinderella I know of have been based off of Perrault's). [Misty says: That's because Perrault is awesomesauce. Hands down fave.]
-The backgrounds in Disney's Snow White are muted and soft because the artists were unsure people could handle brighter colors in a feature-length film.
-Disney's new movie, Tangled, was originally meant to have a rococo look, but when the project switched direction, the makers chose Disney's Cinderella and Disneyland's Fantasyland (!) as inspiration for their new look.
-Some little-known fairy-tale adaptations Disney has done: The Tin Soldier (from Fantasia 2000) and The Little Match Girl (a short at the beginning of The Little Mermais’s re-release). They've also been working (off and on) with Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen.
-The tall, vertical trees and square bushes in Disney's Sleeping Beauty were based off of medieval tapestries.
-Right now Pixar is working on Brave, a fairy-tale story about a girl archer.
-Disney's Cinderella takes place in the late Victorian era.
Thanks so much to Bonnie and Heather for that awesome post! Make sure to check out all of Bonnie's great reviews during Fairy Tale Fortnight, and definitely make sure to pick up a copy of Entwined, in stores now!
With us now, we have Jaclyn Dolamore, author of Magic Under Glass and the upcoming Between the Sea and Sky. Jaclyn was homeschooled in a hippie sort of way and spent her childhood reading as many books as her skinny nerd-body could lug from the library and playing elaborate pretend games with her sister Kate. She skipped college and spent eight years drudging through retail jobs, developing her thrifty cooking skills and pursuing a lifelong writing dream. She has a passion for history, thrift stores, vintage dresses, David Bowie, drawing, and organic food. She lives with her partner and plot-sounding-board, Dade, and two black tabbies who have ruined her carpeting. So now, I give you, Jaclyn:
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ The "Serious" stuff:
~ Even if not direct fairy tale retellings, your stories definitely have fairy tale-esque elements. Is this intentional on your part, or just a by-product of the tales you like to tell? Any plans to do a direct retelling?
Well, so far, my intention with any story is to take a period of history and run it through an otherworldly, magical filter. I guess the fairy tale part just comes in as a by-product. Certainly, I read a lot of fairy tales as a child; we had an old book of Perrault stories as well as some of the Lang Fairy Books, Russian tales and Hans Christian Andersen (way to traumatize me as a child, Hans), and I read many retellings. One of my favorite things are stories that mash-up a bunch of tales like the mini-series "The Tenth Kingdom" (seriously, it is so fun, if anyone hasn't seen it yet you should), the musical Into the Woods, or the comic Fables. I always thought that would be fun to do, but I'd have to come up with a new take on it because it's already been done so well by others. I've often thought it would be fun to do a fairy tale retelling, but I'm waiting for the right one to cross my path, something a little creepy but also romantic in just the right way... Of course I've seen a lot of comparisons between Magic Under Glass and Beauty and the Beast so perhaps I DO retell fairy tales in some ways.
~ Your ideas are really original and interesting, with great juxtaposition (a dancer falling for an automaton, a mermaid falling for a winged man, etc): can you tell us a little bit about where these stories come from?
I am a SUCKER for star-crossed romances between two outsiders. Magic Under Stone, of course, continues the Erris/Nimira love story but there is also a jinn whose master pits him against the girl he loves. (To be very vague about it... I don't want to be spoiler-y.) All my books have some element of this and I doubt that will change anytime soon. I am especially attracted to stories about two like minds in unlike bodies... a girl and an automaton, a girl with a fish tail and a boy with wings... I guess they are kind of stories about how human hearts cross boundaries.
~You mentioned in a past interview with another blogger (I’ll link to it) that you wanted to see more Victorian era fantasy, so you wrote Magic Under Glass: what was the research process like for this? Beyond the rest of the Magic series, do you intend to set any more books in the Victorian era, or is there another time period calling your name?
I've always loved the Victorian era, and history in general, and I am a total non-fiction book junkie, especially when it comes to the details of domestic life such as houses, clothes, social mores, etc. so I wrote the first draft of Magic Under Glass without any research. But, the more detail, the better, so I also read many books while writing it, and looked at a lot of period photography of people and places so I could capture details like what you would really see when you walked down the street or what accessories a woman would wear with her dress.
As for other time periods, well, Between the Sea and Sky is set in that world's equivalent of 1800, so it's earlier than Magic Under Glass, and now I am working on a novel based loosely on the 1927 German silent film Metropolis, so the settling is based heavily on Weimar Berlin. Which has proved to be a pain to research. Most books on Weimar Berlin seem geared to really intellectual political or art scholars and as an extra bonus, were translated from German and read very stilted, and it's been hard to find much information on everyday life. Even memoirs and diaries have been kind of hard to find. I've cheated a bit and read a lot about 1920s Paris... There is a silent film called "Berlin: Symphony of a Great City" that is nothing but scenes of everyday life in 1920s Berlin, though, so you do find these little tidbits...
~I know Between the Sea and Sky is a companion novel of sorts to Magic Under Glass, but do you intend it to be a stand-alone, or is it going to spin-off into its own series?
It stands alone. I do have some sequel ideas, although they would focus on characters that are children in Between the Sea and Sky. But whether my publisher would buy a sequel depends on whether the book does well.
~What’s the most challenging aspect of writing for you? And what’s the thing that makes it all worthwhile?
Challenging: There is always a sticky spot somewhere in the middle of a book. Also, endings! Sealing the deal is one of my weaknesses for sure. I don't really LIKE things to end... In my mind my books keep going, but of course I can't write endless sequels to everything, so I have to find a spot to wrap everything up, it's just hard. And action scenes. Augh. As a reader, I usually skim fights and escapes. I wish I could skim them as a writer too...
But except for those occasionally sticky spots, I love every part of writing; the research, the early development, the first page, the part where you really start to know where it's going, the editing, the line editing, the copy editing... And sharing that story with others and hearing from fans is a huge rush, although I have to be careful not to get caught up in advances or awards or fans (or the flipside--the lack of those things) and stay focused on the writing itself.
~What is your writing process like? What do you do to prepare and get yourself in the mood to create worlds?
I'm a workaholic, really. I do take days off. But I feel very guilty about them, unless I take an actual vacation away from home. Even when I'm not writing, I think about both my current project and think ahead to my next project almost constantly. It's a constant struggle not to zone right out of my real life and back into my invented one. One time I was apparently in 7-11 with an old man clad entirely in lime green spandex and I didn't notice. I got to the car and my boyfriend was like, "Did you see that guy in line in front of you and his crazy outfit?" I was like, "Uhh, I was thinking about my characters... " Even as a kid I was like that. I'm just glad I found a way to make a career out of it...
~What’s your favorite scene you’ve ever written?
@_@ Ever?
Boy, that's tough. I do love the climax of Between the Sea and Sky, with its mingled vulnerability and yearning. And kissing and rain. Who doesn't enjoy that mix?
Quickfire, Silly and Random stuff:
~Rapunzel is named after lettuce; what odd thing would you be named after if you were in a fairy tale? Hmm, not to steal the produce thing, but I could be named after an apple. I think they are nature's most perfect food! Plus they turn up in fairy tales a lot. ~ Using that name, give us a line from your life as a fairy tale: "When the weather was fine, Jonagold and her sister Gingergold would play in the scrub pine forest, catching minnows in the pond and crawling under the palmettos hoping to spot rabbits, but they never ventured into the swamp, for that was where the fairies lived." (Note 1: Apples don't make for very good names. Especially if you are trying to find some that match. Note 2: I really did grow up on a 5-acre property in central Florida with a swamp in back and I wouldn't be surprised if some North American breed of fairy lived back there.)
~Best fairy tale villain and why?
Bluebeard. Talk about creep-tacular; it plays to my love of the mysteries behind locked doors, but in a far scarier way than The Secret Garden. The first time you hear that story you NEVER forget it... Although I also love crone archetypes in general which includes a lot of women you wouldn't want to cross paths with like Baba Yaga.
~Favorite tale from childhood? Favorite tale as an adult? Least favorites?
In childhood my favorite tale was in a collection "Princess Tales" by Nora Kramer. I no longer have this book and I'm not sure if it was an original story or based on an older tale; the collection did have The Twelve Dancing Princesses in it so I'm not sure, but I vaguely recall it was about a painter who painted an ugly-but-honest picture of the king or something and was thrown in a prison with a tiny window, but a blackbird would visit him, and in the end just as he was about to be executed the birds saved him. I was enthralled by the poor painter trapped with only one window and the birds rescuing him. I need to get a new copy of that book... As an adult my favorite might be The Seven Swans; I always feel for the poor mute girl weaving shirts of nettles and I always wonder about the brothers who lived as swans and the boy who was left with one wing in the end. I like birds, clearly. There is actually a fairy tale I invented mentioned within Between the Sea and Sky called "The Girl Who Fell in Love with a Bird."
~If you could be any fairy tale character, or live through any fairy tale "happening," who/what would it be?
Fairy tale characters don't have very good lives! I mean, up until the happily ever after part. I guess I'd be Sleeping Beauty because at least she just sleeps through the whole thing. So many of them have to go through a lot of trials; great fun to read about but not much fun to live through.
~Would you rather: - — live under a bridge with a troll, or all alone in a high tower? I think I need more information about the troll and what kind of roommate (bridge-mate) he would be before I can decide...
- — ride everywhere in a pumpkin carriage (messy) or walk everywhere in glass shoes (uncomfortable)? Glass shoes. I already have a heck of a time finding comfortable dressy shoes so maybe it wouldn't be much difference.
- — have a fairy godmother or a Prince Charming? These quickfire questions are harder than the serious questions!;) Well, I guess, although the term "Prince Charming" sounds shallow, I'd rather have someone to spend my life with than a fairy godmother.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A conversation with Misty and Ashley:
Misty and Ashley: Wow! Jaclyn, you are amazing! We loved the interview!
Ashley: So, Jaclyn's bio mentions that she loves to draw. It would be cruel, would it not, to brag about her mad-drawing skills and not share that with the rest of the world.
Misty: It would be cruel. Too true!
Ashley: So, because Jaclyn has an official saved spot at the 'Fairy Tale Cool Kids Table' and is not, in fact, a cruel person, she has offered up an absolutely stunning giveaway!
Misty: She is providing one lucky winner with hand-drawn bookplates, featuring the main couples from each of her novels. Aren't these covers absolutely stunning?!
Ashley: What must you do to win these bookplates? These hand-drawn bookplates?! It's simple really. You must provide us with unicorn sprinkle cupcakes. (what Misty? Oh... Ooops. Right)
Ahem. To win this one-of-a-kind giveaway, you must leave us a comment. But, not just any comment. Because Jaclyn is putting so much effort into making this giveaway special for you, you must put forth a little effort as well. For any MEANINGFUL comment left on this review, you will be entered to win. If your comment isn't meaningful, I'm going to assume that you don't actually want to win the awesomeness that is these bookplates, and I will NOT enter you into the contest. You must also leave a way for us to contact you, if you are the winner. If I can't contact you, you can't get your prize.
This contest IS open Internationally! Closes May 5th.
Beauty by Robin McKinley was a very important book for me. As is quite obvious by now, I love fairy tales. When I hear that a book is a retold fairy tale, I automatically want to read that book. However, I wasn't always like this. I've always loved fairy tales themselves, but I didn't know that fairy tale retellings existed and I was adamantly opposed to reading fantasy. As I mentioned in a previous Memory Monday, I thought fantasy was beneath me.
But then, my friend introduced me to Robin McKinley and I read Beauty. I couldn't believe it! Here was a fairy tale, fleshed out and grown up! There was more to it than the traditional tale, and we get to see more of Beauty, the beast and her home life and family. I recognized more elements of the original tale than you see in the Disney version, such as Beauty's sisters, her father as a merchant etc. There is no dancing singing silverware in this version but the house is enchanted, just as the beast is, and the servants do not hold their true shapes.
But oh! This story is magical! It changed me. It introduced me to a whole new world of fairy tales, stories and retellings. Without this book, I might never have discovered retold fairy tales, might never have been introduced to this amazing world of literature, and oh what a travesty that would be.
I read and reread this book many times. It adds depth and detail to a story without straying too far from the original and creates a world I fell into effortlessly. Beauty is a solid character, one who sacrifices herself for the good of her family, one who looks past appearances. But she is also very real. She isn't the glowing gorgeous beauty of Disney fame, and it takes her a while to feel comfortable in the beast's home. She slowly learns to open up and trust him, but her responses and feelings toward the beast are very realistic, very believable.
And, I feel that I would be remiss in this review, as a book lover, if I didn't briefly mention the library. If it were in my nature, I would have swooned reading that scene. I tell you, it puts the Disney library to shame, and who would have thought that possible?!
Perhaps my thoughts and feelings for this book would be different, had I read it later in life. But, as it stands, this will always be a very favorite of mine, because it introduced me to a whole new genre and the beauty and magic of it changed my perspective on reading and life. It's one I would recommend to everyone.
Misty posted about this book yesterday! Check out her thoughts on Beauty.
I saw Jamie talking on Twitter today about the Top Ten Tuesday for this week. Today's topic is Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves. I loved the topic so much that I knew I had to participate this week! I don't participate regularly, but this one was too fun to pass up! Head over to The Broke and Bookish, where this meme is hosted, to see what annoys everyone else!
This is a dangerous topic though, because it means that I have a perfectly legitimate excuse to have 10 mini-rants. So, brace yourself. These pet peeves are in no particular order, but some are more severe than others. Can you guess which ones bother me the most?!:
1. Books in a series that change cover art, style, size, shape etc mid-series. If you are going to change anything about the way a series is going to look, change all of it or change none of it. Nothing bothers me quite so much as realizing it's impossible to have a matching set of books. I get that the inside is more important than the outside. But, when the books are lined up on my shelf, I'm not looking at the inside, but I'm stuck with the unmatching outsides, and it pisses me off every time I have to look at it.
2. Stickers on my books. Really people. Are you kidding me. They never come off, and they look gross. So, just stop it. Now.
3. When two characters experience the Instant Love. Bleh. That doesn't happen. I have no problems with instant chemistry, because attraction (lust) happens. But this ridiculous, I've only known you for one day, but Iloveand I would die for you is just not okay. You can't truly love someone that fast, so quit trying to shove that crap down my throat. Give me a real relationship, with development first please, before trying to convince me that my heroine should run away to the ends of the earth with you.
4. On a related note, I'm beyond tired of these girl characters who overlook or offer blanket forgiveness for their boyfriend's bad/manipulative/abusive behavior because 'he loves me'. Guess what honey... I'm calling your bullshit. When someone loves you, they do not treat you like dirt, try to control your life, or do things deliberately that they know will hurt you. They just don't. So grow a pair, dump him and move on. And writers, please. Stop giving us stupid, insipid female characters who let their boyfriends walk all over them. What kind of example is this to set to the YA, both male and female?!
5. Dog-earred pages, and deliberately cracked spines. *shudder* It hurts me.
6. Movie Art on my BOOK cover. I HATE YOU! I completely, totally and utterly despise movie art on the cover of my books. AND, I will judge you if you purchase it/make statements that you like it.
7. Movie adaptations. A little piece of the book's soul dies so Hollywood can produce that garbage. It makes me sad inside.
8. Book series that turn into The Land Before Time, aka The Never Ending Story. Umm, authors — I don't care who your character(s) is(are), what they do for a living, or what fantastical realm they live in. No one, and I mean no one has life or story interesting enough to captivate or interest me for 22 books. Or 15 books, or 10 books. No one. Stop while you are ahead, and let the poor characters rest!
9. The following conversation, or any variant of it, really gets my book hackles raised: (me) "Hey! Have you heard about THIS BOOK?!" (them) "Oh ya! That is such a great book! I loved it!" (me) "You've read it?!" (them) "Oh, no. I just watched the movie."
10. Books that try to trick me into believing they are a different genre. I abhor it when my Contemporary/Realistic Fiction suddenly out of nowhere becomes Science Fiction/Fantasy. Oh hello completely normal girl who can now suddenly communicate telepathically with dolphins (and people!!). I hate you. Run along and die now.
So there you have it folks. Those are my Top Ten Bookish Pet Peeves. I feel it necessary to add that I did not make much of an effort in censoring myself, or sugar coating how I felt. Partly because these things do genuinely annoy me and this post is an excuse to rant about them, but also because it's 3:30 in the morning here, and I'm too tired to be more modest in my speech. Can't wait to hear what gets your angry on.
Yesterday, I posted my review of Blue by Lou Aronica. Click if you missed the review.
I received the book for review, and was asked to include some information about a contest the Lou is hosting. He's giving 10 writers the chance to be published. All the information I have is below, and it's quoted directly from Lou and the tour coordinator I was working with for the blog tour. However, if you have any questions at all, please let me know! I'd be more than happy to answer any questions to help you with the awesome opportunity!
CONTEST!!!
How often do you hear about something that sounds too good to be true? Well, I am here to offer 10 lucky winners the opportunity of a lifetime.
New York Times bestselling co-author, novelist, and former Publisher of Avon Books and Berkley Books, Lou Aronica has created a unique and exciting offer to anyone that is going to follow his upcoming book tour with Pump Up Your Book. His extensive experience in the publishing and editing fields has given him insight into an industry that continues to grow and change daily. Once again, that insight has led him to offer a contest that is truly special in so many ways. Lou will be accepting story pitches from followers of his blog tour. These story pitches must be for short stories pertaining to the fantasy world of his novel, “Blue.” This contest will allow 10 lucky people the opportunity of a lifetime, the chance to have their story published in an upcoming companion anthology to “Blue.” Lou will hand pick the winners, edit their stories, include them in the anthology and give them a pro-rated share of the royalties. How can you pass up an opportunity like this?
Now for the details:
The pitch should include a synopsis of the proposed story and a sample of the submitting author’s fiction writing. Specify the expected length of the story.
The pitch needs to be submitted by April 16, 2011 Please email your submission to Lou at laronica@fictionstudio.com
All winners will be notified by email by May 27, 2011.
If you have any questions or problems please let me know. Thanks!
Blue by Lou Aronica is a book that is impossibly hard to categorize. It is, at once, an adult story of life, love and divorce, a young adult story of learning to life with what life has handed you, a high fantasy story with rich and beautiful world building and a tragedy about learning what it means to heal.
Blue is told through three main view points. Chris is a man in his early 40s, divorced and the father of 14 year old Becky, who was, is and always will be the center of his world. Becky is our second narrator. She was diagnosed with Leukemia at age 5. It has been in remission for years, but she's starting to feel weak again. Chris and Becky created a fantasy world called Tamarisk when she was sick as a way to take her mind off the pain and help her deal with what was happening to her body. Miea is the Princess of this world, and now, 4 years after they have stopped telling the story, Miea is our third narrator. Her beloved Tamarisk is real, and in serious trouble. A blight is killing the vegetation and nothing they do is able to stop the damage.
There is also a fourth voice to the story, one that is only around for a few paragraphs here and there. Through some careful manipulation on his part, he opens a pathway between Miea and Becky, allowing her to visit the fantasy world that helped her accept her illness. As she begins spending time there, Tamarisk starts to minimize the empty space between Becky and her father that has grown since Chris moved out of the house after the divorce. They begin to draw closer together, much as they were when Becky was young.
I didn't really know what to expect from this book going into it. I thought the idea of a made-up, healing fantasy world come to live was interesting, so when I was approached to review this book, I accepted. I didn't know what to expect, but man, I didn't expect this! Blue is so much more than it appears to be. Most of my thoughts are tied up in how complex this story is, and how full of meaning each passage is.
I felt for these characters. My heart broke for Chris. His thoughts are constantly tied up in his daughter, wanting desperately to do right by her, but no longer understanding how to bridge the gap his divorce has broached between them. When Polly, his ex-wife, approached him asking for a divorce, Christ was caught completely off guard. Their marriage hadn't been good for a long time, but Chris was determined and willing to stick it out, because he wanted to stay in the same house as his daughter, didn't want to miss any nights tucking her into bed.
Although he desperately wants to be a good father, and he truly loves his daughter, there were times when I was almost uncomfortable with the intensity of his thoughts and focus on his daughter. Don't get me wrong. There was never any mention or hint of inappropriate behavior, but everything revolved around Becky. He himself mentions that his whole being is consumed by Becky (although I am paraphrasing a little bit) and that doesn't leave much room for anything else. I don't really know how to properly articulate what about the descriptions made me uncomfortable, but there was just this underlying feeling of... not-rightness.
A hugely important part of the story is Tamarisk, the fantasy land where Miea is now the Queen, desperately trying to salvage and save her home. The world building here was fantastical and beyond beautiful. The world has a song to it, and smells of chocolate and raspberries. It's a beautiful place to be and the imagination it took to create that world is astounding. When Becky begins traveling to Tamarisk, she is delighted by the reality of this world she created.
Although Tamarisk is a stunning part of the story, the real draw to the story for me was the relationships. Becky has a way about her that draws people in. I would like to meet this little girl, shake her hand, and spend a day talking to her. Having an illness as serious as Becky's gives people a unique approach to life. Becky desperately wants to live, and she understands the value of relationships and love. Lonnie has been her best friend and truest confidant since pre-school. She was there for the prior illness, but she's stayed by Becky's side the whole time.
There is so much love and hope on the pages of this book that I feel full of it right now. It's a story that will stick with me for a long time and one that will draw my mind back again and again. There is so much to say about this book, but telling you too much would lessen the experience for you. So I can only tell you that this is a book worth reading.
*Disclaimer: I received this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book.
So, I'm entering another challenge. Sigh... But, in my defense, I actually think I'll be able to accomplish most of this challenge without trying too hard to find books I need to read, several of which I know are already on my to-read soon list. This will just... give them priority.
So, I'm joining the Kick Ass Heroine Challenge, because it's nice to focus on the super hard core female in literature.:)
You can read as many books as you want, but the minimum is 12, which is just one a month. And, since a lot of the recent fantasy/paranormal/sci-fi stories have seriously wicked female MCs. I've read a few recently, and plan to read several more soon, so it's not too much of a stretch to include a few more. I'm going to be 'safe' here, and just aim for 12, and if I happen to read more, more power to me.
This review isn't about a book I read recently. It's about a book I read back in 2009, that I didn't really like all that much. I reviewed it on Goodreads and I came across it again as I was browsing through my book lists. It made me laugh so hard I decided to post it on the blog for all of you to read, and probably laugh at too. (posted exactly as taken from GR)
The Last Grail Keeper by Pamela Smith Hill
I am deciding between 2 and 3 stars right now, wishing, once again that GR offered a half star system. This book was definitely not a favorite. I felt that the writing style was weak, and juvenille. It was written in first person from the perspective of a young girl. I feel that because of this, the author felt the need to make every other thought Super exciting! And Wow! and Can you believe it! and Oh goodness! There were at least three exclamation points on half a page. Wow!
I also felt that the story itself was weak. In a fantasy story, there needs to be a suspension of disbelief for the story to function properly that just wasn't there for me. Always with the swirling purple dragon shapes, and the time sparkles. Magic and visions stop being interesting after the 8th time in 15 pages they are refered to. (I didn't count, but it mentioned them constantly). Then, the bad guys. I'm sorry, but what evil, hard core, time-changing, future destroying, MAGICAL bad guy is going to let the little girl he is trying to destroy pick his pocket to retrieve her magical necklace because he is too distracted on the telephone?! I mean, really. Come on!
There were too many things in this story that I found hard to believe, and the character development was weak throughout the whole story. The only explaination for the evil witch fairy Morgan Le Fay (that anyone who has ever heard any Aurthurian Legends KNOWS is EVIL) for really being one of the best good guys is that — all the women of Camelot wear two faces. That's it. I thought the story could have had potential, but was very disappointed in just about every aspect of the story.
No story line was fully developed, all of the characters were depressingly one-dimensional, and there was nothing in the story that convinced me I should beleive what was happening. It felt contrived and slapped together, and I was very disappointed. I haven't been this bored reading a book in a long time.
Writing this review, I just talked myself out of another star. I still think 2.5 would be the best rating, but right now feel that 2 comes closer to what I feel than 3.
When I first saw Ash by Malinda Lo start popping up about a year or so ago, I was really excited, because I love fairy tale retellings. While what we view as the traditional Cinderella isn't my favorite of fairy tales, it definitely has a lot of room for improvement with the retelling. Cinderella is one of the most notoriously weak heroines in Disney fairy tale, so authors on the retell have a lot of room to make their heroine strong.
Then, I found out it was a GLBT retelling of Cinderella — She doesn't end up with the prince at all! I was doubly intrigued, but also wary. You see, I have this habit when it comes to reading, and that is, I read what I know. All throughout jr. high, my mom would cajole and tempt me into other genres, because all, and I mean all, I read were murder mysteries. Then, as I mentioned in a past post my friend literally bribed me to read a few fantasy novels (gasp... !) and then a YA historical fiction, all in desperate attempts to help me branch out what I read.
I was not familiar at all with the GLBT genre, so I was nervous about this one, because it was outside my norm. (Cowardly, I know...) But, I got a hold of a copy and I read the book. And for the most part, I was pleasantly surprised.
I really liked that Ash has some gumption. She tries to fight back when her step-mother comes down hard on her. She runs away from home to be close to the grave of her mother. She doesn't just sit there and willingly take the abuse, but she does start to learn that there is a time and place to fight back that makes life a little less painful.
I also really enjoyed the writing itself. The descriptions were vivid and beautiful, and I found myself wanting to be involved in certain aspects of the world Ash inhabited. The initial stories surrounding the faeries were beautiful and enchanting. I found Ash's fantasies involving the Fey to be a little disturbing, but understandable in relation to her character.
The only real problem I had with this book was the relationships between characters. I felt that we were denied the ability to watch the relationships between characters grow. We see a lot of personal growth in Ash. But I felt that too many of her personal relationships were glossed over and brushed passed.
She is pretty heavily involved with a member of the Fey, who are notoriously possessive, demanding, unforgiving and unwilling to release their... prey before they are ready. But, when she starts changing what she wants from life, we get a great big black screen of mystery surrounding what happened that made Mr. Fairy man not kill/keep her.
And, the entire purpose behind this book is Ash falling in love with the King's female huntress. But, I didn't see any of that. I know that Ash went on horseback rides with Kaisa, and I know they find a lot to talk about. But, I only know that because Lo tells me it's so. Most of those scenes, which are crucial and essential to building a connection between our two heroines are missing. All those scenes run something to the effect of — Kaisa rode up to our house and we rode together. End. The characters can have a relationship completely off screen, but you can't really expect me to believe it when I don't get to see any of it. I felt like it was more of a, Trust me, they are in love, even if you didn't see it happen.
The author even glosses over relationship building scenes with the step-family! There are moments of tenderness with one of the step-sisters that is completely glossed over. It happens and then nothing changes as a result. Nothing. I felt like it was unnecessary, and just one more thing Lo didn't quite follow through on.
Don't get me wrong here. I did enjoy this book. It just felt a little bit like Lo made her main female character fall in love with another girl to make a statement. And that's fine. I'm totally okay with you using your book to make statements. You are the writer, you go and do your thang. But, I do have a problem with writers who use their books to make statements and have that ultimately damage the integrity and quality of the book overall. The character development was really good. The relationship development and follow through was... not.
It's a good first book, not great but good, and I'm definitely interested in reading the prequel, Huntress, which comes out this year.
(And really, how gorgeous are each of these covers?!)
