24. Graceling, Kristen Cashore
Some day I will read fantasy written for adults again, but honestly, right now the best stuff is getting written for the YA crowd. Graceling is super fun high fantasy, without poorly written magic getting in the way - it takes place in a fictional kingdom, in a roughly medieval time setting, and the biggest fantasy conceit is that some people in this world are born with a "grace." A grace is a natural talent that you do more naturally and better than anyone else, and if you've got one, your eyes are two different colors. I thought Cashore did a good job showing how that talent discrepancy (between the "haves" and the "have-nots") affects the population, and how the gracelings are discriminated and basically made to be a lower class of citizen. There's some interesting political stuff going on, and Katsa, the heroine, kicks so much ass I can barely stand it. There's a strong romantic element (of course) but it contributes to rather than distracting from the story. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
25. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
It took me a bit to get into The Book Thief; I would say until about halfway through. It's a ballsy book of Zusak to have written, and I appreciate the risks he takes with style and storytelling. I also deeply appreciate the fact that while this is a book about World War II, Zusak has some new things to say about it - the primary narrator of this story is Death, so even though Liesel, a young German girl, is the main character, we get her story in the context of all the horrible things happening in Germany in the early 1940's from a particularly poetic viewpoint. The Book Thief is beautiful and stark and gut-wrenching, and ultimately worth the effort it took to get through it.
26. Revolver, Marcus Sedgwick
What a gloriously claustrophobic, tense little novel. Revolver isn't very long, but it packs a big punch - it takes place in a cabin, isolated in the woods, in the middle of winter, in the Arctic circle. Shortly after Sig's father dies (seriously, like an hour after they pull his body out of the ice) some huge dude barges into the cabin claiming the dad owes him a shitton of gold and he's going to start shooting people if he doesn't get it. Interlaced with that fun time are flashbacks to Einar, the father, working in Alaska during the gold rush. It's tight, exciting, and jumpy, and I recommend it.
Some day I will read fantasy written for adults again, but honestly, right now the best stuff is getting written for the YA crowd. Graceling is super fun high fantasy, without poorly written magic getting in the way - it takes place in a fictional kingdom, in a roughly medieval time setting, and the biggest fantasy conceit is that some people in this world are born with a "grace." A grace is a natural talent that you do more naturally and better than anyone else, and if you've got one, your eyes are two different colors. I thought Cashore did a good job showing how that talent discrepancy (between the "haves" and the "have-nots") affects the population, and how the gracelings are discriminated and basically made to be a lower class of citizen. There's some interesting political stuff going on, and Katsa, the heroine, kicks so much ass I can barely stand it. There's a strong romantic element (of course) but it contributes to rather than distracting from the story. I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
25. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
It took me a bit to get into The Book Thief; I would say until about halfway through. It's a ballsy book of Zusak to have written, and I appreciate the risks he takes with style and storytelling. I also deeply appreciate the fact that while this is a book about World War II, Zusak has some new things to say about it - the primary narrator of this story is Death, so even though Liesel, a young German girl, is the main character, we get her story in the context of all the horrible things happening in Germany in the early 1940's from a particularly poetic viewpoint. The Book Thief is beautiful and stark and gut-wrenching, and ultimately worth the effort it took to get through it.
26. Revolver, Marcus Sedgwick
What a gloriously claustrophobic, tense little novel. Revolver isn't very long, but it packs a big punch - it takes place in a cabin, isolated in the woods, in the middle of winter, in the Arctic circle. Shortly after Sig's father dies (seriously, like an hour after they pull his body out of the ice) some huge dude barges into the cabin claiming the dad owes him a shitton of gold and he's going to start shooting people if he doesn't get it. Interlaced with that fun time are flashbacks to Einar, the father, working in Alaska during the gold rush. It's tight, exciting, and jumpy, and I recommend it.
No comments:
Post a Comment