Book recs

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

While placing a book order I came across two reviews for newer books that mention MWT and the Attolia books.


The first is the review for Gail Carson Levine's Ever. 

School Library Journal (June 1, 2008)

Gr 5-9-In this masterful fantasy told in two voices, Levine has created a mythology and society as rich and nuanced as the one portrayed in Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief (Greenwillow, 1996). Olus is the Akkan god of the winds, but he is hundreds of years younger than any of the other gods and, therefore, very lonely. He visits Hyte, a kingdom of humans, where he is intrigued by the beautiful and talented weaver and dancer named Kezi. Olus witnesses the events leading to her generous but reckless decision to offer up her life so that her father can keep the oath he's sworn to their god, Admat. He follows her, introduces himself in human guise, and the two fall in love. This is where the book deepens, even as the plot intensifies. Can Kezi love a god? Can she love a pantheistic god, even though she was raised to believe only in Admat? The nature of religious conviction and the tensions between different belief systems are questioned-but so deftly that readers are entertained by the arguments. With barely a month until Kezi becomes a human sacrifice, she and Olus search for a way to reconcile the need to honor her father's oath and their desire for one another. To prove themselves "champions," worthy of immortal life together, they each must endure a quest and face their deepest fears. The power of love and courage to overcome seemingly impossible odds and to bridge ostensibly untraversable differences are at the heart of this compelling, intensely satisfying fantasy.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

And the second is for Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

Publishers Weekly (July 21, 2008)

In a land of seven kingdoms, people with special talents, called Gracelings, are identified by their eyes--Katsa's are green and blue, one of each--although she's eight before her specific Grace is identified as a talent for killing. (While in the court of her uncle, King Randa, she swiped at a man attempting to grope her and struck him dead.) By 18 she's King Randa's henchwoman, dispatched to knock heads and lop off appendages when subjects disobey, but she hates the job. As an antidote, she leads a secret council whose members work against corrupt power, and in this role, while rescuing a kidnapped royal, she meets the silver-and-gold"eyed Po, the Graced seventh son of the Lienid king. That these two are destined to be lovers is obvious, though beautiful, defiant Katsa convincingly claims no man will control her. Their exquisitely drawn romance (the sex is offstage) will slake the thirst of Twilight fans, but one measure of this novel's achievements lies in its broad appeal. Tamora Pierce fans will embrace the take-charge heroine; there's also enough political intrigue to recommend it to readers of Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia trilogy. And while adult readers, too, will enjoy the author's originality, the writing is perfectly pitched at teens struggling to put their own talents to good use. With this riveting debut, Cashore has set the bar exceedingly high. Ages 14-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Ack!  The dreaded T-word*!





*trilogy

Comments

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Graceling's been getting fantastic advance press.

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

I shelved three copies of that at work, only a couple hours ago. I might have to take a look at it.

We've had Ever on the shelves for awhile, of course :-)

[jezmitt.livejournal.com]

"Ack! The dreaded T-word*!
*trilogy"

You got me for a moment there. xD


I think that the first one sounds brilliant! At the very least, it sounds like something I would have loved when I was younger. Maybe I'll give it a try.

[philia-fan.livejournal.com]

Ha! I thought she meant Twilight!

[peggy-2.livejournal.com]

I read Ever, and enjoyed it. I thought it raised some very interesting ideas. The extremely simple sentences drove me a bit crazy (really! you are allowed to use words with more than two syllables, and sentences with more than six words!) but generally the story was compelling enough to overcome the irritation.

[spiderweb888.livejournal.com]

Heehee! I thought so too!

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Ha! Trilogy, guys, trilogy. Which the books are NOT. *says hopefully*

[checkers65477.livejournal.com]

Gee Rosie, do you like your new job? :P

[crowinator.livejournal.com]

I have both of those books on order at my new library! (The library isn't new; just me.) The previous YA librarian didn't do an August book order so I have lots to catch up on, and I think I just added those two to my September order today. (c:

The dreaded T word -- seems like everything fantasy is a trilogy these days, unless it is a "sequence" with even MORE books. Gawds.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Me too - and the very fact that it's in there is most emphatically not a plus for me. "Trilogy" is mild in comparison.

[jezmitt.livejournal.com]

Oh dear. That does sound rather irritating. Thanks for the heads-up. D=

[rosaleeluann.livejournal.com]

I think I might.

[octopirock.livejournal.com]

How did I miss that Gail Carson Levine has a new book out?

[doreenahk.livejournal.com]

If you like Twilight, which I'll admit I not going to finish, you might also like Claudia Gray's Evernight, which is about the half the length and features, imo, a much more interesting heroine. I'm not sure I fully buy into the love story yet. It appears to be the beginning of what appears to be a four-book series.

http://www.claudiagray.com/

I haven't read it but Dear Author printed up a mini-review of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games. It's sounds intriguing enough that I am going to try to get it through my library.

http://tinyurl.com/5p8hat

http://tinyurl.com/6jywkg

My local Borders had Breaking Dawn and Evernight on the same table which is how it caught my eye. To bring this back on target, I checked for MWT but they only had one copy of The Thief on the shelf.

[doreenahk.livejournal.com]

I remember reading Fairest and getting distracted when the characters kept breaking into song.

[cacata.livejournal.com]

I've read Both Graceling and Ever and the are both excellent novels.

[thelasteddis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so did I. Mwt says she's thinking about 6 Gen books, right? What would that be... a sixtilogy? Tamora Pierce calls her sets of four books 'quartets' but I'm not sure whether or not that's the real term.

[opheliastorn.livejournal.com]

Gosh, yes. I was actually intrigued until the mention of That Book threw me out.

[opheliastorn.livejournal.com]

I think the proper term for a series of four books is "quadrilogy," though I'm not sure where I heard that.

Six books ... maybe a sextet?

[opheliastorn.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. Pretty story, but I'm as unmusical as, er, a very unmsical thing. I kept trying to put tunes to the songs, and they came out daft as anything.