The Remedy of Books

I waited far too long to read this book. I'd heard good things about it but had somehow managed not to hear anything about the plot before eventually reading it earlier this month. So, I had the rare opportunity to read a book with no preconceptions about the plot or if it was "my" kind of book. Thankfully, it was my kind of book.

Official blurb:

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella Riosse dreams of the faraway lands her father once mapped.

When her closest friend disappears into the island’s Forgotten Territories, she volunteers to guide the search. As a cartographer’s daughter, she’s equipped with elaborate ink maps and knowledge of the stars, and is eager to navigate the island’s forgotten heart.

But the world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland – and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a legendary fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.

There is so much I loved about this book, so let me start with what a physically beautiful book it is. The cover is gorgeous, but so is each page with its edging filled with map imagery. It gave me the impression I was reading an older story, maybe because it reminded me of illuminated manuscripts and a time when books were individually hand-made. This level of care and detail really adds to the book and shows the love that went into its production.

The second thing I loved was the world building. Millwood Hargrave's world was believable and easy to understand quickly without relying on existing worlds or stereotypes. It had hints of familiarity without falling into any specific category I have seen. Often writers can use existing worlds (real or imagined) and then build their own worlds on that foundation. Sometimes it helps lend it more depth (for instance Alwyn Hamilton's world in Rebel of the Sands pulls from wild west and Arabian nights worlds to give the reader something both familiar and new), but it is still refreshing to see such a new world that doesn't quite fit any existing tropes.

The third thing I loved about this book was the use of maps and cartography in building a sense of wonder and adventure. Isabella has a strong desire to map her island and to explore beyond its edges. It's easy to imagine that if you had the opportunity to go somewhere only a few people had ever been before that it would be hard to resist. There are few things more intriguing than a map with bits unfilled (here be dragons!) or a map of somewhere only a few people have been (Treasure Island!) I was glad that her quest had a satisfyingly exciting outcome, but I won't spoil the plot in this review.

Overall Girl of Ink and Stars is a very fun read and a tale that felt both new and old at the same time. I look forward to more from Kiran Millwood Hargrave.

Since its release last month, Rebel of the Sands by debut author Alwyn Hamilton, hasn't stopped getting positive reviews... and here's another one (a little late to the party).

Official blurb

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.
Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

Summary in a few words: Original; Pleasing; Arabian romance

Original
I love the combination of the wild west and Arabian nights. The two work surprisingly well together and, with Hamilton's brilliant world building, the reader is launched into an adventure in a world that is both familiar and exotically new. Small town in the middle of nowhere with a main character who wants desperately to escape, yes that's familiar. But, occasionally mythical horses gallop through town, shapeshifting "skinwalkers" roam the desert, and people whose fathers are among the magical First Beings walk hidden among normal people while a mysterious and possibly mythical prince leads a rebellion against the ruler of the land. That's new.

Pleasing
I appreciated that Amani was able to be tough without being an asshole. I think often in literature, but especially in television, when a female character is cool and tough, she also ends up being smug about it and kind of a jerk. I liked that Amani was real enough to make mistakes, but also didn't need to be saved all the time. I was a little disappointed to find that [spoilers] Amani isn't *just* a tough girl with amazing aim, but also is a "chosen one" type of hero--with special djinni blood. I feel in a way it takes away from her coolness a bit. She has cool abilities, but before we learned of her magical lineage, she was someone who was cool on her own merits.

Arabian Romance
To be honest I can do without romance in most books myself. I realize it's quite a staple of a lot of YA, so I can't complain when it exists. But I can say, if you were someone who had a crush on Aladdin as a kid, you won't mind what goes on in this novel between Amani and the suitably exotic and mysterious Jin.

When I started reading this I didn't realize it was part one of a trilogy. Now I am very much looking forward to the next installment and learning more about the rebellion. If you grew up loving The Arabian Nights and wishing there were more books set in that world, and don't mind some romance thrown in, definitely check out Rebel of the Sands.

I was so pleased to be able to read Riverkeep by Martin Stewart this week. The book is due out in April of this year in the UK and July in the US. The story is refreshingly imaginative while still delivering a classic Wizard of Oz-style adventure.

Official blurb

The Danék is a wild, treacherous river, and the Fobisher family has tended it for generations—clearing it of ice and weed, making sure boats can get through, and fishing corpses from its bleak depths. Wulliam’s father, the current Riverkeep, is proud of this work. Wull dreads it. And in one week, when he comes of age, he will have to take over.
Then the unthinkable happens. While recovering a drowned man, Wull’s father is pulled under—and when he emerges, he is no longer himself. A dark spirit possesses him, devouring him from the inside. In an instant, Wull is Riverkeep. And he must care for his father, too.
When he hears that a cure for his father lurks in the belly of a great sea-dwelling beast known as the mormorach, he embarks on an epic journey down the river that his family has so long protected—but never explored. Along the way, he faces death in any number of ways, meets people and creatures touched by magic and madness and alchemy, and finds courage he never knew he possessed.
Martin Stewart's debut novel is an astonishing blend of the literary, the comedic, and the emotionally resonant. In a sentence, it's The Wizard of Oz as told by Patrick Ness. It marks the beginning of a remarkable career.

I'm almost not sure what to say after that blurb, other than that it's very true.

My thoughts in a few words: Evocative, humorous in the right places, memorable characters, solid world-building.

Evocative.
Nothing in this book struck me so much as the wonderful descriptions that manage to capture individual moments in detail without being tedious. Martin Stewart has a beautifully strong grasp of how to describe a scene so that the reader truly feels as if they are there. At times the icy grasp of the river seemed to flow right out of the book. 

Blurb

Vince Elgin is an orphan, having lost his mother and his father in a fire when he was young, but beyond that, his life hasn't been much of a fairy tale. With only a senile grandfather he barely knows to call family, Vince was remanded to a group home, where he spun fantastical stories, dreaming of the possibility that his father, whose body was never found, might one day return for him. But it's been a long time since the fire, a long time since Vince has told himself a story worth believing in. That's when a letter arrives, telling Vince his grandfather has passed away. Vince cannot explain it, but he's convinced that if his father is somehow still alive, he'll find him at the funeral. He strikes out for his grandfather's small hometown of Dyerville carrying only one thing with him: his grandfather's journal. The journal tells a story that could not possibly be true, a story of his grandfather's young life involving witches, giants, magical books, and evil spirits. But as Vince reads on and gets closer to Dyerville, fact and fiction begin to intertwine, and Vince finds that his very real adventure may have more in common with his grandfather's than he ever could have known.

I really enjoyed this book - it reminded me a lot of the film Big Fish in that Vince learns more and more about his grandfather through seemingly fantastical tales, while also learning that there might be more truth in them than he realized.

My thoughts in a few words: Imaginative, suspenseful, frightful, a bit unsatisfying.

Imaginative
Kozlowsky manages to create a vibrant world within the tales that Vince reads. Each tale holds some traditional fairy tale elements while also having new and unexpected twists that keep the readers on their toes. I loved reading about the changing doors within the giant's cave, the creepy creature which guards what Vincent needs, and the dream world where he could stay forever if he wished. The imagery within each of the tales is vibrant and will stay with the reader for a long time after closing the book.

Suspenseful and frightful
Despite the novel being middle grade, it doesn't hold back with the horror. I love when children's books have genuinely creepy bits in like Coraline or The Book of Lost Things (though I suppose you could argue that TBoLT is a novel for adults). Most of The Dyerville Tales are pretty tame, until the last few when the creep factor really gets cranked up. The bit where Vincent has to face The Tall Man actually had me looking up from the book at every noise from the dark hallway outside my bedroom door. Kozlowsky has a gift for creepy characters--The Tall Man, Death, the witch's servants, and eventually the witch herself.

A bit unsatisfying
Spoiler warning. I felt that while the ending of the book was good I wanted something more. There were loose ends that I wanted tied up. I got the feeling that Kozlowsky wanted to make a statement about reality and stories, but I wasn't sure that we ever really got there. I liked that he strings the reader along - are the stories true or not? Are they partly true? In the end, does it matter that a story isn't true if believing in it can inspire us or keep us going? This was good for most of the book and really kept me guessing, but even at the end we aren't given a fulfilling answer. It seems like Kozlowsky is hinting that the stories aren't true but are a way of coping with the real world--then at the very end of the book the indication is strong that the stories are true. But that throws a wrench into the works and opens more questions that are unanswered in the abrupt ending. Is Vince's dad still alive? Were Vince's parents really trying to save him from something the night of the fire? What's the real cause of his grandfather's scar and why was there so much focus on it? What were the numbers on the tree house ladder? There's no indication these answers are being saved for a sequel; throughout the book I was sure these would all be answered by the end, but they weren't and that left me unsatisfied.

Overall this book is definitely worth reading, even if just for the stories within the story.

(Purchase The Dyerville Tales by M.P. Kozlowsky from Indiebound)

I bought The Iron Trial last month at the Young Adult Literature Convention where, to my delight, I was able to get it signed by the lovely Cassandra Clare. I was person number 252 of what I think was about 450 people waiting for signings--it turns out she's incredibly popular, and for good reason. Though her published work began with the Mortal Instruments series Clare actually had a fan base built up long before that with her fanfiction writing. Most notably The Very Secret Diaries of the Fellowship of the Rings and the Draco Trilogy (book-length Harry Potter fanfic which she has asked no longer be shared online...though some people might still have copies saved somewhere offline...maybe).
Holly Black also has been writing prolifically and I've loved her writing since reading her first book, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. Finding out these two ladies were going to collaborate on a series made me very happy. (Also, Black is from New Jersey, the best state, so yay.)

The Iron Trial is the first in what is to be a series of five books. The story follows Callum--a young boy with a limp and an affinity for magic--who is called to be tested in the Iron Trial. The Trial is a test for potential mages and whoever passes will enter the Magisterium (a magic school) for formal mage training. There's just one problem. Callum's father was a mage and is dead set against magic after losing Callum's mother in a mage war years earlier. Callum has been brought up to believe that magic is dangerous and mages are heartless, using the students at the Magisterium for their own selfish purposes. Despite trying his best to fail the trial, as his father advised, Callum finds himself apprenticed to a mage and whisked off to the Magisterium against his will. Once there Call finds himself torn between his father's teaching and his own experience with magic while also discovering that his father might be keeping a dark secret about Callum.

Yay for meeting Cassandra Clare!

This book was very fun to read. Both Clare and Black have great senses of humor and that really shone through in the writing. The characters were interesting and accessible, and continue to develop throughout the book. Call is a protagonist you can really root for--pretty normal, but still with some issues. Bullied about his limp, he's not terribly popular at school and causes trouble--mostly by accident. Unlike many fantasy protagonists, he actually has a good relationship with his dad at the beginning of the book. The plot moves quickly and was engaging enough to keep me turning the pages. This was one of those books I ended up finishing at around 1am because I didn't want to stop to go to bed.

Black and Clare have said that one of their goals in writing this series was to turn common fantasy tropes on their head, and The Iron Trial certainly did make me consider whether or not one should try to avoid tropes or jump in and change them.
A few chapters in, I couldn't help but notice how very Harry Potterish the plot was turning out to be. As a baby Call is the lone survivor of a magical massacre, is left permanently marked by the enemy (his injured leg), finds himself at a school of magic where everything is new and exciting, makes friends with a guy and a girl his age, and gradually finds out more about his own past as the story progresses.

These parallels weren't an accident. Black and Clare couldn't possibly have written this and *not* noticed they were more or less following the plot of Harry Potter. Writers often try to reclaim tropes that have come to be associated with one specific book--after all, J.K. Rowling wasn't the first to come up with the idea of an orphan discovering he was "the chosen one," so it's not fair to give negative marks to any future authors who use that trope. However, it is certainly true that if future authors are going to use it, they must find a way to make it different enough that it doesn't seem like they're copying. In The Iron Trial Clare and Black weren't trying to reclaim the Harry Potter plot so much as start out with a plot readers might expect, and then turn it around into something unexpected. They were reforming readers' expectations of the "chosen one" fantasy trope.

In my opinion, they have been only somewhat successful here. Since the plot followed Harry Potter for much of the book, the first two-thirds or so were fairly predictable. Although there were a couple twists at the end, the prologue had made one of them quite easy to foresee. I appreciate what Clare and Black are doing here, but even with the twists, there wasn't enough of a departure from Harry Potter for the plot to feel original. I realize this is the first of a five book series, so there is plenty of time to take this in a vastly different direction, but in this single first book the plot leans more toward a homage than a reclamation.

Luckily for Black and Clare, they really are fantastic writers, so even with a predictable plot there was plenty else that was unique and I didn't want to put the book down. In the end, tropes or no, The Iron Trial is great fun to read and I do look forward to the next Magisterium book.

The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde
Genre: Fantasy, humor

This was the first book I've ever read by Jasper Fforde (whose name, by the way, I always want to pronounce "Ffffffordy"). I had him recommended to me by several people and was told if I liked Terry Pratchett's humor I would probably also like Fforde.

I listened to this as an audiobook read by Simon Vance. He did an excellent job - voices, accents, the whole thing.

What I liked about the books was the world Fforde has created of nursery rhymes and fairy tales mixed in with normal life. It was fun recognizing the characters, puns, and jokes in the book, sometimes snuck in slyly, other times as a long continuing gag. It is a clever idea, though not unique to Fforde - it has been used by Cornelia Funke (another person with an extraneous 'e' on the end of her name), Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman to name a few.

The story itself was a bit on the odd side, with individual parts seeming to have only tenuous connections. At times The Fourth Bear seemed like instead of being a story in its own right, it was simply a vehicle to carry all the jokes about nursery rhyme characters and fairy tales that Fforde could think of. Overall it was amusing but not great. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the previous Jack Spratt novels, but I don't really think that would have helped the plot.

Based on The Fourth Bear I haven't been inspired to read much more of Fforde's work. A person with good book taste has, however, assured me that were I to read the Thursday Next novels by Fforde I would enjoy them much more. I am going to give that a try.....soon.

The Ladies of Grace Adieu - Susanna Clarke
Genre: Fantasy

I have to say, I didn't think I would like these short stories. Not because I had heard anything negative about them, but because I had tried Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrell a few years back and couldn't really get into it. Possibly the reason for that is because I listened to the audio book instead of reading it myself - I found the constant switching to footnotes to be disorienting in an audio-only setting.
The Ladies of Grace Adieu I also listened to, but with fewer footnotes than Jonathan Strange, I found it pleasant as an audio book.

Here are my thoughts on each of the stories:

The Ladies of Grace Adieu - I had thought the title story would dominate the collection a bit more than it did. Not knowing anything about the book I had thought the Ladies would appear throughout the collection. I was a bit disappointed that they did not. After building up their characters so much I found it disappointing that it didn't accumulate to more. The climax felt lacking and parts of the story seemed to be rather less important than it seems they were being built up to be. In the end this was a story about sexism and female revenge. Interesting, but not the best of the lot.


On Lickerish Hill - Another story which took a long time to build up to an anti-climactic ending. This is basically Rumpelstiltskin but instead of a tiny goblin-like man, he's a faerie. This one literally made me say "meh" when it finished. There wasn't enough difference from the original story to make it worth the retelling.

Mrs Mabb - This story was fun but I was disappointed that we never really got to see Mrs.Mabb. Clarke wove in a lot of fairy lore. I like the classic idea that people might lose track of time when under the influence of a fairy and could let the rest of the world pass them by without realizing it. Also the concept that a person could dance themselves to death thinking that they are part of a beautiful ball is very fairy-ish though I can't place where I know it from.
 
The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse - This story was very short and seemed to lack a point. It had an interesting concept that was not developed very much. The idea that a person's fate could be woven into a tapestry is not new, but I like how Clarke made the Duke able to affect his own fate and intelligent enough to do so.

Mr Simonelli or the Fairy Widower - Probably my favorite of the lot because of all the possibilities it hints at for other stories branching off this one. I particularly like the mouldering glory of the fairy house that is viewed by mortals as a gorgeous palace. I'd like to hear more about Mr.Simonelli.

Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby -This story was fun to listen to and moved at a good pace. The scene with all the builders being magically called was very good and really captured my imagination.

Antickes and Frets - I didn't care for this story at all. It was another story that seemed like it was going to be interesting in the beginning but soon lost steam and ended disappointingly.
 
John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner - I really enjoyed this story. It's written in classic fairy-tale style with a trio of unfortunate incidents occurring to a poor unsuspecting protagonist (the charcoal burner) who then has to seek help from higher powers to remedy his problems. Each time the problem, and remedy, grow in size until the fairy antagonist must face the charcoal burner and right his wrongs. A good story about the powerless defeating the powerful (with supernatural help).

All in all, I found Clarke's style to be entertaining and often amusing, but in general the stories took rather a while to get to the point. I fear that I still won't have the patience for Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrell but after these short stories, I am willing to give it another try - this time in text format.