Book Recs 3.07.2011
This week:
Nightshade Book 1- Wolfsbane Book 2 July 2011 by Andrea Cremer
The author addresses a lot of criticisms female heroines of the genre face on her blog which makes for a good read. As a reader, I enjoy a full spectrum of characters, some outwardly stronger and more certain of their power than others but all ultimaely flawed. As long as the characters aren't stagnant, not slaves to the plot and are allowed to have their own journey which hopefully ends in them becoming more certain of who they are, I am pretty ok with whatever character I am given as long as the characters and premise of the story is interesting.
Funnily enough, the novel received quite a bit of criticism for the female character being too sexual, too wanton and torn between wanting to be with two men; one more so because of the sexual attraction and the fact she knew him her entire life while the other being more than the sexual attraction and leaning towards another individual who shares and dares to express her non-conformance views. Another thing that made me want to bash my head in is that because she felt torn between her duty as a leader, which sometimes means doing things you don't want to protect who you care about and making rash decisions since Calla is young and fairly new to the leadership role she was given, I found it predictable that women bashed Calla for that but in the same breath exalted how these same issues that her male counterpoint Ren faced made him realistic and interesting.
I also wanted to weep when I saw some readers bemoaning the fact that Shay and Calla discussed bigotry in the novel all of twice and apparently this was regarded as preachy. Okay then….
I don't know, I know there are probably issues with this book, but I hate when women are held to such high and impossible standards that it you don't fit a certain group of individuals view of strength while not being too demanding or too 'bitchy or too sexual, you are perceived as weak.
If you aren't sick of love traingles (and trust me it isn't a love triangle, its more like this guy has been my friend for years and our parents want us to be together but I am not in love with him kind of thing and both individuals know it); enjoy sexual politics, a rich world-building and history that will surely make future novels down the road well worth while, give this book a try. Also, really loved the minor characters and how all three gay characters were represented. The Mason-Neville-Logan dynamic makes me and other readers which they had their own novel, which they very well might and along with Ansel; Calla's brother and Bryn; Calla's best-friend get the most development of all the secondary characters.
The real test for AC novel is how much she develops her secondary characters and how she does it.
I'm really curious to see if Logan will be fleshed out, he tends to be the type of character that gets shafted or shoe-horned into the two-dimensional villain role. AC promises that her later novels plus the novella will develop her cast, I hope a good chunk of that is relegated to Mason, Neville and Logan and then of course Sabinne and Cosette.
Katsa from Graceling will always be the girl of my heart but I really enjoyed Calla and can't wait to see what Andrea does with her and the rest of the cast in her next novel.
Andrea Cremer's blog is also a delight, I especially enjoy her entries about sexual issues and how women are treated in literature.
Dark Designs Book 1 by Luisa Prieto
This a fantasy/horror-novel that will most likely not end well or at the very least will be bitter-sweet and really reminds me of a Steven Erikson novel but on a smaller scale in terms of world-building and the size of the cast; its more intimate and lends well to the theme of convergence that is the driving force of the first novel as we experience these characters coming to terms with their past-lives converging with their current one's.
The writing is atmospheric; the mixing of French and Italian lends authenticity to the old-world feeling of passages devoted to older times and is definitely reinforced by the sparse writing; it often feels languid yet fraut with tension and foreshadowing without being explicit, so the reader really feels pulled into this nightmarish world that is being terrorized by an ancient entity. And kudos to the writer for making me root for the main characters; especially Kyler whom the reader both sympathizes and recoils from, especially when you along with Kyler experience what his past self has done and wants to do. I want to Kyler to survive and yet I, like Kyler; am afraid what will happen if he does and it kills me that we have to wait for some unknown period of time for book 2.
What truly fascinates me about how convergence is presented by the author is how the accumulative past lives and experiences can be tempered by the strength of will of the current personality. Kyler's most vividly and most recent past life as Kai; had moments of empathy and caring while Kyler is for the most part a good man who in a recent episode of being taken over by Etherwolf; kills and Kyler desperately tries to hang on to the fact is old self felt some form or caring and love. I think my love of BSG is what lured me into this novel; I love when writers try to tackle reincarnation and how that would shape a person.
I have been stalking the author's LJ for weeks know for tidbits and haven't gleaned much, just that she was working on book 2 last summer.
Next up, manga that I recently read.:)