Turner, Megan Whalen: The King of Attolia

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

The King of Attolia (2006)
Written by: Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Pages: 387 (Trade Paperback)
Series: Book Three (ongoing)

The premise: ganked from BN.com: By scheming and theft, the Thief of Eddis has become King of Attolia. Eugenides wanted the queen, not the crown, but he finds himself trapped in a web of his own making. Attolia's barons seethe with resentment, the Mede emperor is returning to the attack, and the king is surrounded by the subtle and dangerous intrigue of the Attolian court.

When a naive young guard expresses his contempt for the king in no uncertain terms, he is dragged by Eugenides into the center of the political maelstrom. Like the king, he cannot escape the difficulties he makes for himself. Poor Costis knows he is the victim of the king's caprice, but he discovers a reluctant sympathy for Eugenides as he watches the newly crowned king struggle against his fate.

My Rating

Must Have: it's very, very close to a "Keeper Shelf" because I'm very, very tempted to sit down with the first three books and read them all over again. The King of Attolia was beautiful, and I'm not sure what else I can say. When I finished, I just sat there, savoring it, not wanting to rush to the next book in my TBR pile because I simply wanted let the book resonate with me. There's so much beauty here, and what a heroic and clever journey for Eugenides. It's a quiet, subtle fantasy that delights the mind and warms the heart PROVIDED you already have the first two books under your belt. Mind you, this could be read as a stand-alone, but you're missing a whole other dimension to this book if you do so. So don't. This book is by far the best of the three, and I can honestly say I look forward to the fourth book in the series, A Conspiracy of Kings, once it's available in paperback (though I won't say no to a free hardcover if it came my way). I did get the bonus of a short story in the back of my The King of Attolia copy, which focused on a childhood experience between the girl who would become Eddis and the gods, and that too was beautiful. Honestly, I have to say I love the way Turner handles the magic and religion of this series, as it's honest while being fictional, honest without being trite. Fantastic work, and I highly recommend this book, let alone the series, to anyone who enjoys reading fantasy but hasn't yet checked this out. Just note: The Thief is very different in tone and style than the rest of the books, so don't be jarred like I originally was when I read The Queen of Attolia. :)

Review style: I'm going to talk about why time heals (some) reading wounds, how the style isn't as jarring this time around and why, and how having the first two books under your belt really helps the enjoyment of the novel even though it could be read as a stand-alone, and lastly, how this series just doesn't feel like YA in the slightest, and how I'm not convinced that the characters I'm reading about are even teenagers. Spoilers? Unlike Eugenides, I'll behave.

The full review is in my LJ, for anyone who's interested. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome. :)

REVIEW: Megan Whalen Turner's THE KING OF ATTOLIA

Happy Reading!

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ALSO:

Book club selections @ calico_reaction. Hop on over! We'd love to have you!

April: The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
May: Natural History by Justina Robson

Comments

LJ cut?

[drashizu.livejournal.com]

Great to see you liked the book! We all adore it, of course.

Since this is a kind of long post, you might want to hide the body of it behind a livejournal cut. It would make reading the main page easier for all of us, I think.

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

Hahahah, I get so offended by people waiting for the paperback.

Re: LJ cut?

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

If this is a long post for you, I apologize, but considering the true length of the post is in the link, I just can't see this the way you do, and I've been on LJ for a ridiculously long time. :) Sorry.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Offended, really? Or just ridiculously amused and at all times perplexed?

I started this series in paperback, and I'm enough of an aesthetics whore that I want to keep my collection visually the same. So yeah, I'll wait for the paperback. I find it odd that anyone would be "offended" by such a choice. :-/

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

Wow. I generally tend to prefer pb's because they take up less room.

What annoys me about the pretty MWT pb's is that they're chapbook size, not mass market pb size (i.e. they take up more room).

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

I dislike the term chapbook simply because to me, it implies a dinky little publication that's not very thick at all (and when I say dinky, I'm referring to the aesthetics, not the writing). So while it may not be the correct term for YA or middle-grade books, I refer to MWT's paperbacks as trade. :)

I prefer paperback because they're cheaper, and sometimes holding a hardcover open is hard on my hands. Also, if my collection starts out in paperback, that's what I'm going to keep getting for that series. :)

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

XD Don't worry, I don't actually think there is something Wrong With Buying Paperbacks. I just had this SERIOUS BUSINESS fangirl moment of going HOW COULD ANYONE *WAIT* TO *READ* A NEW MWT BOOK? Then I realized it was sort of silly of me; thus the hyena.

Saving space:

That is WISE. I own all the QTs in hardcover--the first two were a gift, and the latter two are just THE DEEP NEED TO OWN THEM IMMEDIATELY. But I own a lot of hardcovers in general--I know they take up way more room, but at some point I figured out I will always have more books than space, so I might as well get the editions more likely to last. Or just, the editions I like more. Or the editions I run into at book sales etcetera.

...course, I do own the first three QTs in paperback, too. But, see, I tried! I only have hardcovers once; I am saving space all over.

By the way, I'm interested in your use of the word chapbook. It's not a word I run into very often in any case, but I don't think I've ever seen it used to describe something formatted like the MWT paperbacks. It may be apropos of nothing, but it did pique my interest.

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, yes, I *totally* understand about "gotta read it now". I was one of those crazy people who seriously considered buying the ARC and was drooling (frothing at the mouth, actually) when people posted reviews of the ARC. *Total jealousy*.

The reason I need to save space is because I have multiple copies of my favorite books (yes, sometimes, 6 or 7)to make converts. I know I have 4 copies of QoA. Signed :-)!

I've heard the word "chapbook" used to describe YA/juv/childrens books that are bigger than mass market pb and smaller than trade pb. It's a specific size. I'm too lazy to go find one and measure it, but I'm sure you'd recognize the size if I showed you one.

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

Hahaha, okay, that makes PERFECT sense. :D

And, chapbooks! I never knew! Thank you-- I like to learn things. :)

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Whereas I totally diagree with Peanut's use of "chapbook" though maybe that IS an industry term. But the usage I've always seen refers to lit magazines you find in high schools and college campus, just that's got construction paper-esque covers and clearly self-produced. Here's the official Wiki definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapbook#Modern_chapbooks

And thanks for explaining. I was so perplexed over your word choice! :)

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Is that really an industry term? Because I've always seen it used as referring to stuff like lit magazines you see on college campuses and high schools, stuff that has construction paper covers, isn't very long, and clearly self-produced.

Here's the Wiki definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapbook#Modern_chapbooks

[bluestalking.livejournal.com]

That's also interesting--I have typically heard it in relation to sort of low-cost productions with low page counts. Half the time I've heard it in the sense you're using, as something like a self-produced anthology of several writers' work; the other half, though, it's been small productions by a single author--for example, Ellen Kushner's upcoming chapbook of her short story "The Man With The Knives."

Incidentally, though this project is technically self published, it's rough, but really pretty upscale and expensive.

Conversely, no one on my college lit mag ever referred to our or any campus magazine as a chapbook (in my hearing).

Obviously this is a word with a lot of regional and personal usage differences, which, of course, makes me very happy--but also more hesitant than usual to call any Wikipedia definition "official." Interesting.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

HA! In terms of official, I don't mean that covering OUTSIDE of Wikipedia, but that's Wiki's "official" definition. But if you're looking for something that's not editable by whomever comes across it, here's the dictionary version: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chapbook

:)

Yeah, you're right about never hearing colleges referring to their publications as chapbooks--that's just what immediately came to mind when I was trying to think of an example. :) But in terms of size and quality (though I imagine some schools have lit mags that LOOK like lit mags), it's pretty spot-on. :)

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Also, the dictionary definition, which is sweet and to the point: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/chapbook

[lizzyazula.livejournal.com]

I agree that waiting for the paperback to read the book is just weird (And with these books, definitely offensive), but I usually have to wait for paperbacks if I want to buy a book. They are so much cheaper, and I don't have money. Of course I bought ACoK immediately, but I had been planning to buy it for over half a year. Life sucks.

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for the link. I learned something new and I see I've been wrong.

I did know about the use of the term "chapbook" for small magazine-like novellas/short stories since I've bought a few at SF conventions. But I thought that was more an SF term (kind of like "fen" for "fan").

I've volunteered at a library for years and the librarians told me what "chapbook" meant insofar as the more widely distributed books by publishers like Scholastic (vs. SF con chapbooks). Maybe that's just the term they use at my library....

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

I can't speak to librarian usage at all. If I ever get a chance to talk to a mid-grade or younger publisher, I'll ask. I think they tend to use the term mass-market, because that's THEIR size for mass-market production.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

Hey, I was just talking to a friend of mine and she mentioned the word CHAPTER book. Is that what maybe the librarians meant?

Here's the wiki definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapter_book

Because THAT would make a lot more sense than chapbook, and if perhaps the librarians thought chapbook was short for chapter book, then I could kind of see where the mix-up came from. :)

[peanut13171.livejournal.com]

Yes! Thank you!! I was beginning to feel like a bit of an idiot.

[calico-reaction.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. To be honest, I forgot all about "chapter book" as a term for younger readers, but yes, they are DEFINITELY chapter book size. :)