The Kingdom Beyond the Waves (556) was okay. But I had expectations that the plot would be more of a driving force rather than the wordbuilding. And it wasn't. So I really, really struggled to get through it. It was the second book in the series, but the worldbuilding done in book one didn't really apply to book two. Which meant that it was like starting all over. This was a good bit more irritating as time went on, since I thought maybe there could have been some sort of use of the things we already knew. Instead, it was all new! different! look over here! bet you didn't hear about this town before! It's impossible to get involved with the characters when the setting takes over so much. I don't know. I'll probably hesitate to buy another of these books. I'm not bowled over by 500+ pages of scenery. The people need to be more compelling than just fitting the hero/villain tropes, and having an overarching quest to fulfill.
Plus! All of the main characters are orphans, or have no "family" built into their societies. Meaning that all characters build family with one another over the course of the book. Awww, it's like a Disney cartoon. Lion King for steampunkers! Sigh. I love steampunk. This just was all window dressing with a bunch of mannequins. I wanted real folks, with dimension, and a mix of good and bad.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Who's the adult here?
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt, (which is 582 pages, by the way, but I am not renaming it Project 8345. Too intimidating.) is a fairly good book. I picked it up based on the cover, as I am wont to do, which is a light yellowy-beige with a black air balloon and red writing. It looked....sweet. The description on the back was not quite as pristine and adorable, but c'mon friends! Balloons!
Except, yeah. It's kinda gritty in places and as an adult (more or less) I objected not to the amount of grittiness, but that the majority is being perpetrated towards these KIDS. There were murders, manipulation and general disaster. Time was when I might have been able to read it and think, yeah, adventure! Somehow, this book just made me think (over and over) "This is wrong. Somebody should be protecting these teens. Why is no one doing anything?" Particularly at the parts where a character, decades older, said something along the lines of 'only you can fix this.' That's not empowering the next generation, that's...just not okay.
This is not to say that I hated the book. No sir. I loved the worldbuilding and I was fascinated by the twists and turns. The dialogue was incredibly well-done, and rarely served as a 'let me tell you about the world' device. Unlike the novel I finished just before this, Anathem by Neal Stephenson, whose use of dialogue was probably 80% designed for 'Mah research. Let me show you it.' The Court of the Air was, mercifully, much better at letting people talk without giving them a library to talk from.
So, The Court of the Air had readability and creativity going for it. Age appropriate action? No.
I'll let you know how the sequel (2 of a planned 7) goes.
Except, yeah. It's kinda gritty in places and as an adult (more or less) I objected not to the amount of grittiness, but that the majority is being perpetrated towards these KIDS. There were murders, manipulation and general disaster. Time was when I might have been able to read it and think, yeah, adventure! Somehow, this book just made me think (over and over) "This is wrong. Somebody should be protecting these teens. Why is no one doing anything?" Particularly at the parts where a character, decades older, said something along the lines of 'only you can fix this.' That's not empowering the next generation, that's...just not okay.
This is not to say that I hated the book. No sir. I loved the worldbuilding and I was fascinated by the twists and turns. The dialogue was incredibly well-done, and rarely served as a 'let me tell you about the world' device. Unlike the novel I finished just before this, Anathem by Neal Stephenson, whose use of dialogue was probably 80% designed for 'Mah research. Let me show you it.' The Court of the Air was, mercifully, much better at letting people talk without giving them a library to talk from.
So, The Court of the Air had readability and creativity going for it. Age appropriate action? No.
I'll let you know how the sequel (2 of a planned 7) goes.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Project 7767
The following is a confession regarding my "to-read" pile. These books are all members of my personal library. As you will soon see, I absolutely CANNOT buy or borrow anything new until I finish this stack. Chaos has already begun to ensue. I have decided to make this my new credo. 'Finish the stack first.' Or some such. Might need a shorter, more forceful mantra for when I pass a Borders. This way I might actually pass by and not, you know, go in and buy a book.
Anyway. Here is a list of what is in the pile, with number of pages. As an aside, it bears saying that some of these books I am SO stoked to read, and then some of them were foisted upon me during someone else's library purge and as such I am somewhat uncertain as to quality and/or personal interest. That sounded defensive. Basically, I'm aware there are a lot of books here; of topics wildly disparate. Pray, judge me not.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (221)
The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno (414)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (414)
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (1103)
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (405)
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt (556)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein (239)
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Under the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss (72)
Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks (159)
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (337)
Dry by Augusten Burroughs (309)
The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs (369)
Stories: All-New Tales edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (423)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (359)
A box set of twelve plays by Shakespeare (1072)
The Gathering by Ann Enright (261)
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (782)
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (272)
Thus, a total of 7,767 pages. Hold me. I can't start on that daunting number until I finish The Court of the Air, which is the "to-read" that I'm halfway through. And, and! I want to be done in time to get myself a book or so for Christmas. I'd also like to orchestrate world peace by January. I'll let you know how things go on both fronts.
Anyway. Here is a list of what is in the pile, with number of pages. As an aside, it bears saying that some of these books I am SO stoked to read, and then some of them were foisted upon me during someone else's library purge and as such I am somewhat uncertain as to quality and/or personal interest. That sounded defensive. Basically, I'm aware there are a lot of books here; of topics wildly disparate. Pray, judge me not.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon (221)
The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno (414)
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest (414)
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen by Jane Austen (1103)
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (405)
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt (556)
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! by Jonathan Goldstein (239)
The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Under the Bed by Patrick Rothfuss (72)
Oaxaca Journal by Oliver Sacks (159)
The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx (337)
Dry by Augusten Burroughs (309)
The Know-It-All by A.J. Jacobs (369)
Stories: All-New Tales edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio (423)
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (359)
A box set of twelve plays by Shakespeare (1072)
The Gathering by Ann Enright (261)
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (782)
Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott (272)
Thus, a total of 7,767 pages. Hold me. I can't start on that daunting number until I finish The Court of the Air, which is the "to-read" that I'm halfway through. And, and! I want to be done in time to get myself a book or so for Christmas. I'd also like to orchestrate world peace by January. I'll let you know how things go on both fronts.
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