Yzabel / November 7, 2012

Review: Tales The Wind Told Me

Tales the Wind Told MeTales the Wind Told Me by Rachel Eliason

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

A collection of imaginative tales of myth and magic. Enter a world where a woman must seek her sleeping beauty, a girl must dance with death and trolls walk the streets of Des Moines, Iowa. This is the world of Rachel Eliason, where myth and magic are interwoven with everyday life. It is a place of far flung science fiction and imaginative prose. Aliens manipulate their DNA to create the ultimate caste system, corporations conspire to make you fat and just this once, the sissy gets to be the hero.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #52 in the We ♥ YA Books! group, in exchange for an honest review.)

This collection of short stories I found particularly enjoyable, focusing as it did around two sets of themes that were both explored in interesting ways: folklore and tales (trolls, the Boondangle spirit, Sleeping Beauty…), and LGBT-related issues (which would definitely deserve to be ‘advertised’ more, because they’re part of the book’s strong points). The author’s own evolution is reflected in those stories, and what’s at stake in them is carried in ways that seem just natural—in the open, but also with a certain subtlety that makes them flow.

As usual with short stories, every reader has his/her favourite ones. I definitely liked the “Troll stories” a lot, for the way they integrate myths and changeling creatures into urban everyday life. “Dancing with Death” was really poignant, and a beautiful lesson about how to accept death, leaving your beloved ones with dignified memories of yourself. “The Boondangle” had me reflect on quite a few things, especially how we may think we have accepted parts of ourselves that we actually dread, and how easy—yet also damageable—it would be if those were to be taken away from us. Finally, “Gemone” was a wonderful story that definitely holds potential for more, for being even turned into a novel, in terms of plot, world building, characters and thoughts; the society developed in it was, simply put, fascinating.

As for editing matters: I noticed a few typos and editing issues here and there; the only one that bothered me was in “Gemone”, with a tense shift whose role I didn’t understand (either it’s just me, or it was remnants of an original version written in the present tense?).

Yzabel / October 8, 2012

Review: Claus

Claus: Legend of the Fat ManClaus: Legend of the Fat Man by Tony Bertauski

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Some legends are forged in fire.
Others are born in snow.

In the early 1800s, Nicholas, Jessica and Jon Santa attempt the first human trek to the North Pole and stumble upon an ancient race of people left over from the Ice Age. They are short, fat and hairy. They slide across the ice on scaly soles and carve their homes in the ice that floats on the Arctic Ocean.

The elven are adapted to life in the extreme cold. They are as wise as they are ancient. Their scientific advancements have yielded great inventions — time-stopping devices and gravitational spheres that build living snowmen and genetically-modified reindeer that leap great distances. They’ve even unlocked the secrets to aging. For 40,000 years, they have lived in peace. 

Until now. 

An elven known as The Cold One has divided his people. He’s tired of their seclusion and wants to conquer the world. Only one elven stands between The Cold One and total chaos. He’s white-bearded and red-coated. The Santa family will help him stop The Cold One.

They will come to the aid of a legendary elven known as… Claus.

Review:

I must admit I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the other one I read from the author. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable in its own right, and proved a gripping read.

It was also a somewhat weird novel, in that some things in it that might have thrown me off-course actually proved palatable in the end. The idea of the elves as a science-based civilization is so different than the usual take on the whole North Pole/Santa Claus/elves vision that even though it seemed weird at first, it very soon left me going all “Sure, why not?”, and discovering it became an enjoyment in and of itself. Same went with Jack’s antics: in the very beginning, I thought they’d be unnerving… but then, all of a sudden, I realized that I was actually waiting to see him come into the story again, with his crazy ways of acting and the way he would treat the people around him.

The story also tackles touchy themes, such as the loss of memory (which is probably worse than dying for some people, at least) and how gestures (or lack thereof) seen as insignificant, or overlooked, in the past may give birth to a monster. Those are part of the themes I can easily be brought to appreciate in a fictional setting.

I think the one thing that left me hesitant was the 19th century aspect of “Claus”. I couldn’t relate to those parts of the story—being an avid reader and student of 19th century litterature, I didn’t find the ‘feeling’ I would expect from the chapters about the Santas’ life before arriving amon the elves. I probably wouldn’t have minded as much hadn’t I already had quite a pile of previous readings behind me, though. Still, it happened. That’s too bad.

Otherwise, if you like different takes and original twists on very traditional tales, go for it.

Yzabel / October 3, 2012

Review: The Tube Riders

The Tube RidersThe Tube Riders by Chris Ward

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

Mega Britain in 2075 is a dangerous place. A man known only as the Governor rules the country with an iron hand, but within the towering perimeter walls of London Greater Urban Area anarchy spreads unchecked through the streets.

In the abandoned London Underground station of St. Cannerwells, a group of misfits calling themselves the Tube Riders seek to forget the chaos by playing a dangerous game with trains. Marta is their leader, a girl haunted by her brother’s disappearance. Of the others, Paul lives only to protect his little brother Owen, while Simon is trying to hold on to his relationship with Jess, daughter of a government official. Guarding them all is Switch, a man with a flickering eye and a faster knife, who cares only about preserving the legacy of the Tube Riders. Together, they are family.

Everything changes the day they are attacked by a rival gang. While escaping, they witness an event that could bring war down on Mega Britain. Suddenly they are fleeing for their lives, pursued not only by their rivals, but by the brutal Department of Civil Affairs, government killing machines known as Huntsmen, and finally by the inhuman Governor himself.

Review:

(Book provided by the author through ARR #534 in the Making Connections group, in exchange for an honest review.)

A long book packed with action and events, for sure, and one that I had a hard time putting down whenever I had to.

First, the theme. A book about young people riding trains, barely hanging onto them with tiny boards, and using them first for games, then to escape and run for their lives. In Tube stations and tunnels. In the hands of a reader who’s been known to ride the London Tube and explore corridors and stairwells there just for fun. Awesome. Also, I think the author did a good job depicting his world. Granted, there were a few points on which my suspension of disbelief was somewhat stretched at times (some of the experiments, and a couple of plot junctures). But Chris Ward quickly falls back on his feet, giving us explanations about Mega Britain’s shortcomings, that make it more understandable why a group of fugitives manages to outsmart officials for some time. If anything, I would’ve liked to know a little more about how exactly that country and government came to be; on the other hand, the books is already quite long, and this probably isn’t absolutely essential in order to enjoy it (it’s just me being curious).

The characters portrayed throughout the story were all heroic in their own ways, while remaining very humane, with both merits and flaws. Among the heroes, I especially liked the street-savvy Switch, always so resourceful, and Jess, who had to wade through so much grief and try to find her own answers. And I really wasn’t happy about seeing Simon go… but with such unjuries as he sustained, at best he’d have had to be ‘left behind’ to heal, so from the moment it happened, I kind of suspected what would happen… The villains themselves had humane sides and redeeming points, in spite of their vices; the Huntsmen were clearly victims before being monsters, and Dreggo herself had a vulnerable side and a very hard past that made her anger and resentment all the more understandable. For sure, she was a resilient and interesting adversary.

I’m still hesitant about the ending, to be honest: I can’t decide whether I’d like to see a sequel or not. So much may still happen—the Bristol guys, the person left on the beach at the very end…—yet at the same time, the story still feels self-contained no matter what. It’s hard to tell.

Yzabel / August 28, 2012

Review: The Annihilation Of Foreverland

The Annihilation of ForeverlandThe Annihilation of Foreverland by Tony Bertauski

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

When kids awake on an island, they’re told there was an accident. Before they can go home, they will visit Foreverland, an alternate reality that will heal their minds. Reed dreams of a girl that tells him to resist Foreverland. He doesn’t remember her name, but knows he once loved her. He’ll have to endure great suffering and trust his dream. And trust he’s not insane. Danny Boy, the new arrival, meets Reed’s dream girl inside Foreverland. She’s stuck in the fantasy land that no kid can resist. Where every heart’s desire is satisfied. Why should anyone care how Foreverland works? Together, they discover what it’s really doing to them.

Review:

(This review was done for {Read It & Reap 57} in the Shut Up And Read group. It dates back to May, but I felt I should have posted it here way sooner, so here goes.)

The new cover is really much better! Although I really wasn’t thrilled by the cover, the book’s summary got my attention, and I don’t regret picking it. It turned to be a pretty good surprise.

I got pulled in the story fairly quickly and easily. No dilly-dallying, no slow build-up, but the mystery from the start: where are those boys, what’s happened to them, and what lies behind this weird island they’re living on. I like when something’s smelling fishy from the start, and here I wasn’t disappointed. The world built up by the author was believable, felt real enough, and its secrets were revealed with just the right amount of pacing in my opinion. As for the main characters (three for me, Reed and Danny Boy, of course, but also Zin), I really liked following their progress. They proved likeable, and resourceful in the case of Danny and Zin. And while Reed wasn’t given that much screen time comparatively, I could feel his presence pervading the narrative all the time, his fate an impending Damocles sword. In fact, I felt that this novel offered more than just your standard YA plot, raising questions and darker themes that may appeal to an older audience too. Finally, a word about the few news clippings inserted at the beginning of each part: I think they are a nice add-on, distillating some information that made me wonder what character they were about. It wasn’t too hard to find out, of course, yet it was enjoyable nevertheless.

There are a few things I couldn’t wrap my mind around, though, and it’s too bad, because there weren’t that many, but they made me wince regularly enough (hence the 4-stars rating, but really, I’d have probably made it a 4.5 if GR had allowed it). A few uses of capital letters that I found jarring—I get it that they were here to illustrate a point, but no need to shout it in my face. Sometimes too the style was a little too abrupt, and the point of view tended to change abruptly too, which made things a little confusing in a few places. Mostly, though, what irked me was the use of the word ‘son’ by approximately everyone. I’d expect it from the Investors addressing the boys, but not from one boy to the other; it felt really weird every time it happened, and it happened often.

Other than that, it was a compelling story, and I heartily recommend it.

Yzabel / July 24, 2012

Review: Unraveling

UnravelingUnraveling by Elizabeth Norris

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

Two days before the start of her junior year, seventeen-year-old Janelle Tenner is hit by a pickup truck and killed—as in blinding light, scenes of her life flashing before her, and then nothing. Except the next thing she knows, she’s opening her eyes to find Ben Michaels, a loner from her high school whom Janelle has never talked to, leaning over her. And even though it isn’t possible, she knows—with every fiber of her being—that Ben has somehow brought her back to life.

But her revival, and Ben’s possible role in it, is only the first of the puzzles that Janelle must solve. While snooping in her FBI agent father’s files for clues about her accident, she uncovers a clock that seems to be counting down to something—but to what? And when someone close to Janelle is killed, she can no longer deny what’s right in front of her: Everything that’s happened—the accident, the murder, the countdown clock, Ben’s sudden appearance in her life—points to the end of life as she knows it. And as the clock ticks down, she realizes that if she wants to put a stop to the end of the world, she’s going to need to uncover Ben’s secrets—and keep from falling in love with him in the process.

Review:

An overall enjoyable novel, that I finished quite fast, considering its length, because I really wanted to see the events unfold. Thus I can say I liked it, and probably liked it enough to pick another book by this author someday.

The writing was quite flowing, and Janelle as a main character was interesting to follow: not the average, powerless heroine who gets carried around by whatever happens, but someone who tries to act, to take matters into her own hands, and is both aware of and frustrated at when things force her to react rather than act directly. What’s more, although she’s been going through several harsh experiences, her death being only the latest, she does her best to keep strong and not give up. This is the kind of protagonist I like. The plot and setting reminded me of some of my favourite shows, such as The X-Files and Fringe, with elements I tend to gravitate towards—FBI agents facing difficult cases, suspicions of bio-terrorism, characters not knowing anymore who’s their foe and who they can still trust… Those are the things that got me hooked.

However, the reason why I’m only giving three stars to “Unraveling” is that, as I was reading along, I couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that something was wrong. At first, I couldn’t place my finger on it, and this left me confused for a good part of the story. Then at last (and upon some more reflecting, now that I’m done with the book), it dawned on me: to me, it felt like the author was trying too much. Trying too much to elicit responses from the reader; to cram as many elements as possible within 400-something pages; to make Janelle too strong, too, in a way. For instance, early enough we learn that a couple of years ago, while at a party, Janelle woke up at the back of a car with her pants half-torn, and had never been able to piece that part together; we are of course left with the impression that she was raped, and this is evidently the effect sought after… but considering all the other hard events Janelle has to face in the story, I wondered: “Isn’t this just a bit too much? Isn’t there already enough going on? Do I really need that to be convinced that, alright, she’s a girl who had to become strong?” I don’t think so.

Besides, although I can’t exactly explain why, the turning point (the big revelation about Ben & Co, and what the countdown is about) didn’t have me squealing, but rather felt as slightly off. I’m not sure if the cause was the pseudo-scientific explanations, or the way it was all brought out. The second half of the book was full to the brim, when a lighter string of events would already have done the job well enough. In the end, I wasn’t sure anymore about who or what to root for, whose death I should regret or not, or if I cared or not about some of the characters, nor if I had properly understood everything. (I’m also still unsure of what to do with the relationship between Kate and Janelle. For the whole story, I thought something would happen, some discussion, some revelation… and then, nothing. I was a little disappointed, and wondered if those scenes involving Kate were really important.)

“Unraveling” had me spend a good time, and was mostly interesting. I just wish it hadn’t been so full, and that some plot points had been better exploited (or discarded as a whole, since they didn’t bring that much to the story).

Yzabel / July 22, 2012

Review: Cinder

Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)Cinder by Marissa Meyer

My rating: [rating=4]

Retellings of tales usually attract my attention, even though I haven’t read that many of them. Add to this the idea of a *cyborg* Cinderella, and of course I had to give it a shot.

The first thing to say is I had a hard time putting it down. On the one hand, because it is a retelling and makes uses of fairy tales codes, the story follows patterns that make it predictable (it is easy, for instance, to tell who Cinder really is, and I think the author clealry did that on purpose). On the other hand, “Cinder” falls, for me, into this category of books whose events you can predict, yet at the same time are nevertheless thrilled to see happen. Moreover, the tale itself wasn’t all there was to it, since it was intertwined with other plots (the plague, the threat of a war); in fact, I’m not sure that the Cinderella part was that essential to the story as a whole… but all in all, I still enjoyed the cross-references, and the overall plot also removed the problem of “already knowing where it’s going”.

The main character is a skilled cyborg mechanic, with still enough of her human body to long for a place in a society that rejects the likes of her, and not human enough anymore for that same society to fully accept her as more than a mere ward. Not considering the fact that “skilled cyborg mechanic” already sold me from the start, Cinder is also an interesting person to follow. She has spunk, a will of her own, she’s intelligent and resourceful, she fights to lead her own life, and she doesn’t hesitate to act, rather than just runaway—she’s very far from the passive Cinderella from the tale. At times, she was maybe a little too focused on herself, but it didn’t detract from her that much.

Prince Kai, too, is a fairly nice modern retelling of his original counterpart: more than just a handsome prince, he actively thinks about the future of his country, weighs the choices he has to make, and is ready to personal sacrifice if this can ensure the well-being of his people. The relationship that builds between him and Cinder throughout the story is also believable, not instant love, not instant recognition, but feelings and interests that develop through their encounters.

Finally, I was fascinated by the world developed by the author. The tense relations between the Earth and Luna, the devastating plague, a setting not so often used in YA literature (Asia, (New) Beijing), the suspected plans laid out by the Lunars… There was more to “Cinder” than what I suspected at first, and that world seems to stand its own (I hope the next installments will confirm this, since they’ll take place in other settings on Earth and Luna). If one thing, though, I would really have appreciated getting more of a ‘feeling’ for the atmosphere of New Beijing. I couldn’t really picture it, apart from the use of a few honorifics, characters’ names, or the market place. It was too bad, because this setting was part of what thrilled me when I picked the book, and I regretted not seeing, not feeling more of it.

Yzabel / July 11, 2012

Review: The Moon Dwellers

The Moon Dwellers (The Dwellers, #1)The Moon Dwellers by David Estes

My rating: [rating=4]

(Book read and reviewed for {Read It & Reap 78} in the Shut Up And Read group.)

I wish my rating pluging allowed me to give .5 stars, because I’d clearly put this one at 4.5/5 stars. Well, I’d put a 5/5 if not for one thing, that I’ll expand on later on.

Having read David Estes’s first novel, “Angel Evolution”, barely a few days ago, I was amazed to discover to which extent this author’s writing has developed in this new, beginning trilogy. This is clearly a work for which said author took into account various critiques, and used them to improve his writing and storytelling. The result is, frankly, very good.

“The Moon Dwellers” follows two characters on two opposite ends on the social scale: Adele, a young woman who’s been sentenced to jail for life, but decides to escape with her friends Tawni and Cole and find her scattered family again; and Tristan, elder son of the allmighty President, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but intent on estranging himself from this life that doesn’t feel like his own. The story is told in the first person, from the alternating points of view pf Adele and Tristan; while such an exercise in writing can be quite hazardous, here it works well, allowing us to learn more and more about those characters and what their lives are like.

I especially enjoyed said characters’ personalities. Adele and her friends have had to become strong during their stay in jail, and they don’t let anyone dictate them how to behave—they don’t hesitate to fight, and they do it well and with spunk, too, both physically and through sarcasm. As for Tristan and Roc, the one isn’t such the pampered prince as a lot of people believe him to be, and the other, albeit not the best when it comes to handling a weapon, is terrific in the way he managed to keep his sense of humour throughout dark times. Their friendship, too, is made of solid mettle, and feels genuine and very much present.

The one thing I wasn’t too keen on was the ‘insta-connection’ between Adele and Tristan; it has nothing to do with “The Moond Dwellers” per se, it’s simply I as a reader who’s never felt convinced by such strong attractions upon first sight. Also, I thought that at times, events unfolded a little too neatly (the various bomb attacks, especially), reinforcing that aspect of ‘destiny bringing everyone and everything together’. I suppose you either like it or not.

This said, I am nonetheless eager to read the next volume!

(As a side note, I find the cover’s composition absolutely fascinating. The more I look at it, the more it grows on me.)

Yzabel / August 20, 2005

Orion’s Arm: A Science-Fiction World in the Making

Sisyphean posted an annoucement about this at Writers Blog Alliance, and after taking a peek at the webpage, I thought it’s a pretty interesting project, worth being advertised a little more.

Without further ado, let me thus introduce you to Orion’s Arm, a collaborative project aiming at creating a science-fiction universe, complete from breeds to timeline, while following currently accepted science matters.

Our goal is to create a dramatic far-future universe that is internally consistent and abides as much as possible with the accepted facts and theories in the physical, biological, and social sciences. Thus matter cannot travel faster than light, matter and energy are conserved, no evolved humanoid aliens have been discovered, future ultratech social issues are likely to be very different to those of today, and so on. We embrace speculative ideas like drexlerian assemblers, mind uploads, posthuman intelligences, femtotech, magnetic monopoles, wormholes, as it is proposed that future sciences, technologies, and developments will make these possible. And we attempt a logical explanation for even the most fantastic-seeming elements in OA. We aim to paint a future that is plausible at every level, from the scientific to the social to the psychological.

While this may seem too scientific to one’s liking, for an author who’d like to write science-fiction, this approach can turn to be a very valuable one. Indeed, science-fiction is not just “something easy to write: you can invent anything”. Let’s not forget the word science in it, and that when creating our own little pocket universes, basing them off real scientific theories is a necessity, in order to make them more believable to our readers. I’m really not a scientific type, but grabbing a magazine here and there has taught me a few invaluable things to add in my stories.

It’s all about credibility—and seeing such a world being created is anyway a fascinating enough process in itself to at least take a few minutes and have a look at it.