Reviews: The Mistborn Trilogy

Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

I think it’s only fair to you to know that the whole trilogy is excellent and that is the first thing you should know. When I read the first book for the first time, I liked it so much that I had some fear that the remaining two books might not live up to it, but the trilogy as a whole is complete and satisfying.

Mistborn

is the book that starts it. The story centers on a street urchin named Vin who struggles to get by as part of a thief crew in the city of Luthadel in a land ruled by “The Lord Ruler” who has been around for a thousand years. This story is fantasy with its own unique “magic,” if you will, that deals with metals. Certain people can use specific metals for special feats and it turns out that Vin is one of the rare ones who can use them all, a Mistborn. She receives training at the hands of Kelsier, the Survivor, as he plans to overthrow the seemingly immortal Lord Ruler.

That’s the plot in a nutshell and it’s a fantastic one filled with great characters, life-lessons, and plot-twists. The world building of the book is thorough and well thought out. This book has the feel of a dystopian novel, which I love. The fantastical elements of the book are also well thought out with clear rules so that we, the readers, have confidence that the author won’t just throw unreasonable curveballs at us.

The Well of Ascension

follows. If you want a plot summary, check Amazon. I will say that the plot suffers slightly merely because we, the readers, have trouble envisioning an end or a final objective initially. The characters are still strong, the which drives the story in some ways, and the book ends well. Perhaps the most marvelous element of these books is that the characters are well thought out and we the readers get to know them quite well.

Finally, The Hero of Ages

Isn’t that a pretty epic title? The book is epic and is an epic finish to an epic trilogy. All the things that went unexplained in the previous two novels are explained and you begin to think “Duh!” while being amazed that you were so convinced that you knew what was going on. And the ending is spectacular. It appears evident that Sanderson knew the end from the beginning

What more can I say? It’s an impressive trilogy on all accounts. It’s even impressively long (~700+ per book) though you never feel like you have to force yourself through it. It is the sort of story that you don’t want to end, the which is my favorite kind of story.

Reviews: City of Bones, House of Stairs

Another two books being reviewed today. Writing reviews, or writing anything really except essays, is pretty relaxing for me, hence why I’m writing so many right now.

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

This author has two main series that deal with demons, werewolves, vampires, and the like: one set in modern times, the other set in Victorian England. This is the modern one.

The plot is that seemingly-normal Clary begins to see strange events and encounters a boy named Jace who is a Shadowhunter, a warrior aiming to rid the earth of demons. Soon here mother disappears and she is thrust into the world of Shadowhunters to try to find her.

So this is obviously fantasy, and it’s YA, so you can accurately assume there will be a romantic subplot. I take well to both plots and the characters are certainly enjoyable. I mentioned earlier the authors other series because I prefer the Victorian setting over the modern one, but that’s a small detail. The world building of what sort of creatures and people are part of this fantasy is well thought out, I feel. The story is good and that’s the most important bit to me. I enjoy a book with extra meanings and messages &c, but there’s nothing super apparent in this (except the standard good vs. evil. That being said, the characters are well done and one can always learn from well done characters. As usual with trilogies, the ending leaves much yet to happen, but it’s a good start. Bottom line - if you enjoy a good fantasy with a little romance, this won’t disappoint.

House of Stairs by William Sleator

I remember my sister first mentioning this book to me after she read “The Maze Runner” by James Dashner. There are some similarities between the two, but this book is much more concise and to the point.

The basic plot of this book is that five teenagers, for no reason they can remember, have been placed in a seemingly endless white room with endless stairs. There is a red light that will give them food only under certain conditions that they have to guess at first. Why are they there? What will the light make them do? And will they ever be able to leave?

That should be a good hook, eh? And the book delivers. In a semi-dystopia such as this book that seeks to single out the best and worst characteristics of people and contrast them, it does a wonderful job of showing us what can go right and what can go wrong in society. The ending drives home its thoughtful message, which you will have to read to get.

I thoroughly enjoyed this short read. It doesn’t take long to get through, but it’s every bit worth it, more so than many long books.

Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zosak

This book deserves to be reviewed alone. It is a story narrated by Death about a girl, Liesel who is taken to live with a foster family in a town near Munich during WWII, the struggles that she and those around her live through, including her family hiding a Jew in the basement. 

The narrative knits your heart to each of the characters and helps you understand the good qualities of people and the power of words. The book itself is testament to the power of words. As a poet myself, I pay close attention to images, symbol, similes, and metaphors and the more surprisingly accurate they are, the more I feel it. This book reaches me, my eyes, my ears, my heart, my soul, in ways that few books manage. This book manages to be unique in its style. This is a book that gives no surprises as to what will happen because Death tells you straight out what happens long before it occurs, and yet you are drawn on and when you reach the moments you’ve been told of, you are surprised at how much you feel it.

To quote myself immediately after finishing this book about 3 weeks ago:

“‘The Book Thief’ is far and away one of the best books I have read. Full of narrative, plot, poetry, life lessons, and heart-wrenching moments, it vacuumed the tears out of me even as it filled me with understanding. I cannot give a greater recommend than I give to this book.”

Another review on the back of the book says that it is “life-changing.” I second that opinion; I'm sure that I will continue to compare my work and that of others to this book for some time to come. It will be hard to forget the book, and, frankly, I don’t want to.

Reviews: The Alchemyst, Insurgent

So I have free time again as usual to write some reviews this evening, so I’ll cover another 2 of my most recents.

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

I’m told I should read “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho, and I probably should, but this book and that book have, I am sure, next to nothing in common beyond the (roughly) same title. This book is about Nicholas Flamel. In fact, this is Book 1 of 6 from a series called “The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel”. All books are out and I wanted to see if they would be worth the read (though the online reviews are seem to attest that the whole series is very good).

A rough synopsis is this: Everyone thinks that Nicholas Flamel is dead, but the truth is that his and his wife’s graves are empty and he had lived on. In this day and age, twins Josh and Sophie Newman get pulled into his world as the book that Flamel has been guarding all these years is stolen by the Dr. John Dee who serves the Dark Elders that would take back the world for themselves.

So the nutshell synopsis is pretty simple, but of course the actual plot is complicated enough. It is full of mythology from many different myths. In this way it reminds me of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, though perhaps a little bit more serious sounding (YA fiction versus Middle or High School Fiction). It tends toward a darker tone more quickly and it has a slightly greater focus on character. Overall it’s a wonderful story to learn about and it teaches you some interesting facts about myths and older characters (such as Nicholas Flamel and Dr. John Dee). The author has taken the time to do the research and get the facts straight and it shows. The ending is slightly abrupt for a book, but I can slightly forgive that due to the fact that it is the first of a longer series. Still; it does disappoint me how often books these days play the game of “I’m not actually going to finish a story now, this was just the first installment.” Older trilogies, and many today as well, at least have the wrapping up of some complete action that the whole book has been about. But I digress; the ending was fine enough.

This book suffers like the Percy Jackson series from an unclear system of magic possibilities. My mother pointed this out to me at some point in my reading life that because the powers are clearly defined, literally anything can happen and we have to accept it, a thing that makes the plot able to swerve from hither to thither. That being said, it appears to me that a system of magic etc. is within the books and there is some limit, we just don’t know what it is yet.

Overall, this book was wonderful to read through, especially because it does the characters well, sets up an engaging plot and character dynamic, and teaches truths about certain historical figures or myths. I’m persuaded to seek out the remaining 5 books and devour them. Plus, I love the idea of having Deckle-Edge Hardback books. They look pretty cool.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

This book is the second book in the trilogy starting with the book “Divergent”. It’s a future dystopian series about a girl named Tris. To not give spoiler away for those who haven’t read the first book, let’s just say that in the city there are 5 different factions that represent 5 different virtues (Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, and Candor), and in the last book Tris had to decide which faction she wanted to belong to and lots of crazy and exciting stuff happened that I can’t tell you about. There is practically no time skip between books; this one picks up right where the first book left off and this book is also packed with tension and action and excitement. In the first series, I had some troubles with the dystopian element of the book, but this book, especially near the end, answers some of those questions and validated this series as a well thought out dystopian in my mind. The plot was good with its own twists and turns.

There were a couple times where I got a little frustrated with a couple characters, but not often. And then there were other characters that gave me surprises that I really enjoyed. My only other minor complaint is that the book didn’t really emotionally move me at any time. Whenever I say “emotionally move” by the way, I mean it didn’t bring tears to my eyes or anything. Obviously there were plenty of good moments in the book or I wouldn’t have finished and I wouldn’t be praising it now as a good enjoyable book.

Reviews: Shadow & Bone, A Monster Calls

I’ve recently decided that, instead of doing an End of Year Book Review which is both a hassle to write on my end and a hassle for you to read because it’s obnoxiously long, I’m going to review the books as I read them so that they are more fresh in my mind and more accessible to you, the invisible reader. I’ll start, I think, by reviewing the most recent books I’ve read and going back from there in reverse order. I’ll start with 2 today. I will do my best to give no spoilers.

CAUTION: I’m not the best reviewer of books, but hopefully I’ll get better in time. 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Anyone looking for a Russian fantasy? This book is set in its own country of Ravka with certain people called Grisha being magicians of sorts who are highly regarded in the society. Along with that, there is a dangerous divide between the two parts of the country called the Shadow Fold that is almost impossible to cross due to the beasts within. Alina is a poor orphan who is discovered to be a Grisha much later than normal, and not only that but her powers are, you guessed it, unique. Suddenly, the most powerful people in the kingdom take an interest in her and her childhood friend, Mal, is left behind.

The set-up is good, though not without a few forgivable clichés. Being a reader of many fantasy books, I learned a long time ago that its not whether a book borrows ideas, but whether it steals (or makes the idea or concepts their own). The magic within the world has its original concepts and adds some tweaks to it that make it feel unique. I enjoyed the fact that some minor characters had personality to them and were treated as if they could be major characters, given the chance. The main characters had their flaws, but I never got upset at their way of thinking; it didn’t feel forced. Another part I enjoyed was that the final romantic interest of this book wasn’t always clear, even if at times it appeared to be. And speaking of endings, I’m also glad that I didn’t see the twists near the end coming.

This being an honest book review, I don’t mind speaking of flaws either. I enjoyed the romance and I enjoyed the characters, but at no point was I moved emotionally in a strong way. Don’t get me wrong, the book had good moments, but I know what it is to be emotionally invested in a book or a series and this book hasn’t managed it. Now, it’s part of a trilogy, as is the popular thing these days in YA fiction, but that doesn’t excuse it; I know books that achieve it. Also, I sort of wish there was more details to it, more moments to revel in that were detailed out; some details are more glossed over without detailed descriptions.

So what are you looking for in a book? If you’re searching for the next thing literary critics will be talking about, this isn’t it. Most books have good and bad and the battles between them, but fantasy primarily stretches the imagination and attempts to open the door to a different reality to make you think. That this book fulfills. In the end, I enjoyed this book thoroughly and I am looking forward to the sequel.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

This next review is short and so is the book. Patrick Ness is the great writer of one of my favorite trilogies ever, The Chaos Walking Trilogy. Content-wise, this book is nothing like those books, primarily because it is set it modern day reality. This book deals with a 13-year-old English boy whose mother is sick and the troubles this boy goes through both with his family and at school and how it takes a monster visiting him to help him face his fears. The concept is fresh and the execution is terrific. This is a book that mixes visuals with the literature to a wonderful effect. I admire any writer’s willingness to effectively implement art into his or her book. This book is a short and powerful read that leaves you with life lessons. It took me about 4 hours to read and I read it straight. For what this book seeks to do, it achieves it effectively and convincingly and it’s hard to find fault in it. And speaking of books that pull at the heartstrings, this does it. Find the book and read it. Or ask me to lend it to you if you’re nearby.

Moving Day

Moving Day

The clouds are suitcases packed and scraping outside the door.

The old engine leashed outside is the neighborhood dog, ready

to run wild beneath the hunchback oaks pointing out of town.

The cardinals ring like unanswered telephones, while the father,

exploring the unfurnished highways of his home, lonely

like the wet-darkness before dawn, past the naked light-bulbs,

past the dent in the carpet where the couch used to sleep,

calls for the children already moved out and moving on.

Inside, there’s no shoe dirt or sweat and he knows there’s nothing

more covered in fresh paint than the memory of living together.

The walls are frames. The doors are albums, swinging on hinges.

Inside, the man struggles to lock up, while in the car outside

his wife unfogs her window with a fist to watch the soft rain

begin, the kind so slight, it lingers and unpacks itself for years.

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I've been in the process of moving lately and while doing so, I was also reading a book called "The Book Thief" that had incredible use of imagery. Because of that, the first line of this poem, more or less, popped into my head and stayed there long enough to inspire a poem once things had calmed down. This poem is in the style of a modern sonnet, as in it is 14 unrhyming lines and it has a shift in tone in the last 6 lines, as per the Petrarchan sonnet. Sometimes I post poems right when I write them, whereas some, like this one, I hang on to and revise a couple times before posting. I hope you enjoy!