Welcome to guest dare! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s victim is the lovely Janice, aka Janicu of Janicu’s Book Blog. We met Janice in person at BookExpo America 2010, persuaded her to pick up far more ARCs than she really needed, and coerced her into doing a guest dare for us. Janice revealed that despite having Juliet Marillier’s first novel on her TBR for ages, she had yet to read her work – and of COURSE we couldn’t allow that to continue. No siree – we demanded right then and there that Janice get off the procrastination pony and read Daughter of the Forest. And what better way to enforce that then an Official Guest Dare?

Title: Daughter of the Forest

Author: Juliet Marillier

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Tor
Publication Date: March 2001
Paperback: 400 pages

Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, they are determined that she know only contentment.

But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift-by staying silent. If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever.

When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers, and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs at ever being able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all…

Stand alone or series: Book 1 of the Sevenwater Series

Why did we RECOMMEND this book: Are you kidding us? We freakin’ LOVE Juliet Marillier.

Janice’s Review:

For many years (perhaps something like 3) I’ve had Juliet Marillier’s Sevenwaters Trilogy (technically no longer a trilogy), languishing in my TBR. This is apparently a crime in certain circles. Book blogging circles. Of course the inevitable conversation happened at BEA this year. Angie from Angieville has been nagging me online about certain books I need to read, and you can imagine the conversation when it was discovered that I still hadn’t read Daughter of the Forest. Ana and Thea joined in, and before I knew it, I’d agreed to do a guest dare on the Book Smugglers.

So look at this girls, I READ IT! HAH! Free pass until the next BEA! (Right?)

The Premise: This is a retelling of the fairy-tale of The Six Swans, but set in ancient Ireland. The narrator of the story is Sorcha, who is the seventh child and only daughter in the Sevenwaters clan. Her big brothers Liam, Diarmid, Cormack, Conor, Padraic, and Finbar, are all protective and close, and while their father is distant after their mother’s death, the siblings grow up happy, if a little wild. Their father and his neighbors are at war with the Britons, in particular a family called the Northwoods. Sorcha is aware of this war, but sheltered from it because she’s a girl. To Sorcha, it’s just the reason why her father is often gone and sometimes takes her eldest brothers. Then one day their father returns with a strange woman, Lady Oonagh, who no one likes. This woman has powers which she uses for deliberate harm, but their father is oblivious to any danger, and marries her. Sorcha and her brothers try to mount a defense but all six brothers are turned into swans. Sorcha is alone and unprotected, and has to reverse the curse in complete silence. Then an unlikely protector is sent to her in the form of a Briton.

My Thoughts: Sorcha begins her story with her childhood, growing up in her family’s lands with her brothers. Left mostly to their own devices, the boys and Sorcha focus their individual learning to things that interest them the most. In Sorcha’s case it’s plants and healing. Her oldest brothers, Liam, Diarmid, and Cormack are taught the art of war and fighting and often leave with their father on his campaigns against the Britons, but Conor, Padraic, Finbar, and Sorcha are readers, dreamers, and healers, and stay at home, keeping their household and nearby village running as usual.

It’s established early on that magic is a part of the lives of those living in Sevenwaters. Sorcha and her brothers have great respect for the land and trees. Their lands protect them through some supernatural means, and tales of the fairy folk, who have irrevocably changed a fool or two in the village, are matter of course. That Sorcha can communicate with her closest brother, Finbar through a mental link, or that Finbar can see things happening before they do is not questioned by Sorcha either.

Sorcha’s childhood is relatively uncomplicated but things change. Change, sometimes for the best, sometimes tragic, is an inevitable part of life, and this story spans over three years, so settings and players change around Sorcha in that time. The idyllic days of Sorcha’s childhood disappear when she first begins to understand the price of the war between her people and the Britons. Her first experience with the war is when she tries to help a boy, close to her age, who was tortured by her father’s men. Again things change when Lady Oonagh enters the picture. And again when her brothers are turned into swans. This keeps happening. As soon as I began to get used to Sorcha’s life, something would drastically change in it, which lent a bittersweet tinge to the story. Things happen that you don’t necessarily want to happen. Sorcha loses her innocence; her brothers can’t be there to protect her from attack; she has to leave her home; the evil Lady Oonagh seems to win.

Through out the ordeals that Sorcha must endure in silence, she keeps working on those shirts for her brothers. I think as a reader, I was with her, holding my breath, willing her to keep going despite each setback. By today’s standards, Sorcha is incredibly young (she’s about 12 when she is tasked to save her brothers from their curse), but the hardest thing was knowing that Sorcha must not speak, and I mentally railed against all the people who judged her and made assumptions which she could not counter. The vilest people were those who exploited her silence and her vulnerability in their attacks.

The strength of Sorcha’s love for her brothers is evidenced by her suffering, and she endured herself to me even more because she told herself stories to keep her mind off what she was going through. What reader hasn’t done that?! Storytelling itself is an important aspect in Daughter of the Forest, as comfort to Sorcha, as a tradition, and to convey larger concepts. I loved how this was incorporated into the book, and there was a pivotal scene that involves a story which I want to gush over but can’t for fear of spoilers, but let me say it makes the book.

While Sorcha suffers stoically through this book, it made the positives that happen that much sweeter. Sorcha gets a protector in Red, a Briton who saves her from drowning. He’s a dependable and responsible hero. In his lands, he’s very respected, and although his people are shocked when he brings Sorcha home with him, no one challenges his decision, because he’s never been known to do things wrong. I loved Red! He’s now, hands down one of my favorite heroes. The phrase “still waters run deep” is true in their case, and his relationship with Sorcha is full of quiet but meaningful moments.

I may be a bit different from other bloggers because this dare was for a book I already meant to read, not for a book in a genre I’m uncomfortable with, but thanks guys for pushing me to get this book read. I tend to love a fairytale retelling and this one was wonderful, albeit bittersweet in flavor. It won’t take me so long to get to the next book in this series, Son of the Shadows, I promise.

Overall: If I were to sum up this book in one word, it would be “romantic”. The writing is rich and elaborate, and the story is a fairytale retelling but it’s layered with complexity – with the highs and the lows of human experience mixing with magic and wonder. There was also an element of nostalgia in the storytelling, as if I was looking back to times long past which added another layer of romanticism to a lovely tale.

In the Book Smuggler rating system I would give this an 8 – Excellent.

Links:
The author’s website (P.S. Be careful reading the FAQ as it contains spoilers for books after this one!)

Thank you, Janice!!!! We are thrilled that you loved the book – and we’re looking forward to seeing what you think about Son of the Shadows! Don’t make us chase you down and force you…again. *evil laugh*

Welcome to guest dare! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s daree is Kris of the cleverly named Voracious YAppetite. When we dared Kris and learnt that there was only one genre she feared reading above all and that was Horror, we knew which book we had to dare her to read House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski one of Thea’s favourite horror novels. HOWEVER, the experience did not go down that well….but we will let Kris tell you all:

Title: Dark Places

Author: Gillian Flynn

Genre: Psychological thriller, murder mystery

Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Publishing date: May 5, 2009
Hardcover: 345 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farm-house into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived — and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details — proof they hope may free Ben — Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her finding to the club…and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members — including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started — on the run from a killer.

Kris’ Review:

If you keep up with The Book Smugglers’ monthly guest dare feature, you’re aware that pretty much everyone completes the book that they’ve agreed to read, no matter how much they don’t like it. Then I came along.

I didn’t set out to be the problematic, wishy-washy dare-ee, but this is how it happened. See, I suffer from a lifelong aversion to horror stories. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a bloodthirsty streak like most everyone else: I like violent action flicks, gory war movies, supernatural books with fights to the death. But I do not enjoy being afraid. I find no pleasure in scary movies or books. After each time that I watch a horror movie (which I never fail to regret), I end up terrified of every single unexplained sound, the slightest hint of darkness — even the doorbell (it could be a serial killer disguised as a pizza delivery man, for all I know). The farthest I’ve gotten in a Stephen King book was the first chapter.

So when Ana and Thea dared me to read a book in a genre I tend to stay away from, horror was really the only honest answer. And I tried. I really did. I chose The House of Leaves, got to page 50…and couldn’t go any further. I was already starting to turn on all the lights in the house, my imagination running wild the moment the sun went down. Pathetic and embarrassing, but the truth.

But then I came across Dark Places by Gillian Flynn. I’d never heard of the book or Gillian before, so I picked it up and found myself reading the following:

“I have a meanness inside of me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it. It’s the Day blood. Something’s wrong with it. I was never a good little girl, and I got worse after the murders. Little Orphan Libby grew up sullen and boneless, shuffled around a group of lesser relatives — second cousins and great-aunts and friends of friends — stuck in a series of mobile homes or rotting ranch houses all across Kansas. Me going to school in my dead sisters’ hand-me-downs: Shirts with mustardy armpits. Pants with baggy bottoms, comically loose, held on with a raggedy belt cinched to the farthest hole. In class photos my hair was always crooked — barrettes hanging loosely from strands, as if they were airborne objects caught in the tangles — and I always had bulging pockets under my eyes, drunk-landlady eyes. Maybe a grudging curve of the lips where a smile should be. Maybe.

I was not a lovable child, and I’d grown into a deeply unlovable adult. Draw a picture of my soul, and it’d be a scribble with fangs.”

With that first page, I knew I’d found my book for the dare.

I could tell by reading that excerpt that this story would be an intense psychological thriller, possibly scarier than I’m comfortable with — but I had to know more. The summary makes it seem as though Libby is in for the surprise of her life: that maybe her brother, Ben, wasn’t the murderer after all. But if not Ben — whom she testified as having been the culprit — then who?

It is obvious from early on that there is more to the murders than Ben’s quick trial and sentencing suggests. This mass murder was decades in the making; the twisted, horrific result of extreme depravity, small-town life, midwestern farm culture, discrimination against the poor, shoddy policework, and the “Satanic Panic” of the ’80s, as well as the desperate actions of a well-meaning mother and a son that could never quite take control of his problematic life.

Whenever I read a book with a mystery element, I find myself second-guessing the clues, wondering if they should be taken at face value or if they are red herrings meant to throw me off-course. With Dark Places, there were many times that I made more or less out of the clues than I should have. There is a complicated history and a lot of players in this mystery, which form a web of possibilities that ultimately left me unsure as to all the details of the crime until the very end. Gillian had me at the edge of my seat the whole way through, keeping me confused, increasingly anxious — even feeling guilty.

Why guilty? Well, like Gillian’s plotting, her characters are layered, complex, full of surprises and contradictions. On the surface they are dark, dirty people, the kind you want to write off as bad and worthless. In the case of a few of them, that’s all they are; sinister, greedy, sociopathic characters, the degenerate outliers of society that gave me a serious case of the creeps. But part of the reason this book’s scare factor was so effective for me is because of how I felt towards the Day family. I found myself helpless against empathizing with them, and in some ways, even identifying with them. Particularly frightening was how close I felt to Ben. He’d been a troubled, unpopular kid who overcompensated for his insecurities and inferior reputation by getting involved with the wrong crowd, whose lack of a backbone he more than made up for with anger, resentment, and a slew of bad decisions. That I was able to connect with a character I knew was a criminal left me feeling guilty, and even more so because exactly how severe his crimes were I was never sure of until the end.

Those who like and regularly partake in horror stories might not find Dark Places to be as gruesome as I did, nor feel that the characters were both twisted and easy to empathize with. But Dark Places was the perfect read for me; I felt it satisfied my dare with what I found to be a suspenseful, horrific, and yes, quite gruesome tale — without leaving me scared out of my wits.

A big thanks to Ana and Thea for (gently) pushing me to expand my reading limits. I ended up enjoying Dark Places and I am honestly excited to read more by Gillian Flynn.

We thank YOU Kris, for sticking to the dare!

Next on the Guest Dare: Janice of Janicu reads Daughter of the Forest a Book Smuggler Favourite by one of our most adored writers: Juliet Marillier

Welcome to guest dare! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s victim is Erika from a blog we recently discovered and fell in love with: Jawas Read Too. Upon daring Erika, she listed some of the genres she doesn’t read, and Contemporary YA was at the top of the list and both of us immediately thought of The Girl with the Mermaid Hair. Here is what Erika has to say:

Title: The Girl With The Mermaid Hair

Author: Delia Ephron

Genre: YA / Contemporary

Publisher: Harper Teen
Publication Date: January 2010
Hardcover: 320 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone (although one of the secondary characters was the protagonist of the author’s previous book, Frannie in Pieces).

Click. Sukie Jamieson takes a selfie after her tennis lesson. Click. She takes one before she has to give a presentation in class. Click. She takes one to be sure there’s nothing in her teeth after eating pizza at Clementi’s. And if she can’t take a selfie, she checks her reflection in windows, spoons, car chrome—anything available, really. So when her mother gives her an exquisite full-length mirror that once belonged to her grandmother, Sukie is thrilled. So thrilled that she doesn’t listen to her mother’s warning: “This mirror will be your best friend and worst enemy.” Because mirrors, as Sukie discovers, show not only the faraway truth but the truth close up. And finding out that close-up truth changes people. Often forever.

Why did we recommend this book: We read and reviewed the book a few months ago and we both LOVED it with a passion.

Erika’s Review:

Sukie Jamieson is obsessively self-conscious when it comes to her looks. An antique mirror that belonged to her grandmother is probably the last thing she needs, but the most wonderful gift she can imagine having—next to Bobo the quarterback at a nearby high school, that is. When she isn’t taking “selfies” (snapshots via cell-phone camera) of herself, she begins spending time in front of her mirror which, anyone who’s read or studied “The Lady of Shalott” can tell you, metaphorically and literally distorts reality. Sukie takes this to the next level and begins imagining a world beyond her own where Issa, the local pizza parlour waitress, is her best friend and Bobo, quite naturally, is the best boyfriend a girl could ever want.

When Thea and Ana approached me about doing a Guest Dare, I had to admit the genres I usually avoid—contemporary YA was near the top of that list. The Girl With the Mermaid Hair started out kind of bizarre; Sukie has a quirky—and strong—voice and even quirkier habits. If she hadn’t explained what “selfies” were, I would have been very confused for the rest of the book. Suffice to say, I wasn’t sure what I’d just gotten myself into. She’s more lonely than she lets on when we realize her interactions with others are very limited, when they are there at all. The family dog, Señor, gets to hear Sukie’s voice more often than her classmates do. But this isn’t a novel about Sukie interacting with others. It’s a novel about Sukie and the world she creates by looking in the mirror. By the end, I was more impressed than I ever imagined I’d be.

At times Sukie’s extreme self-consciousness came across as incredibly neurotic. As someone who used to be a teenage girl, I can attest to the truthiness of Sukie’s dilemma and relate to her desire to measure up to not only her father’s standards, or some arbitrary academic scale, but ultimately, to her own impossible criteria. She doesn’t know what it’s like to have real friends, or whether her “ramp” nose is anything other than what a Google search tells her it is. What she does know we come to realize are illusions, the interpretations of a girl determined not to see the forest for the trees because the trees are so lovely up close and who said they were trees anyway?

Sukie is essentially caught up in a world of her own making. It’s this fantasy and the heavy emphasis on her grandmother’s mirror that made me draw connections between Tennyson’s poem and Sukie’s habits and dreams. She’s very clueless about the outside world. Her anxiety about being normal or an excellent student are quite without any outside perception, leaving her stranded in a tower she’s created out of her own misgivings and concerns. She interprets these shadows, the lingering affects of her father’s behavior, her mother’s superficial anxieties, these things that are burned into memory as distorted events taken out of context. Perhaps it’s that she doesn’t know to be more discerning. Perhaps she doesn’t know she can be. Whichever it is, Sukie has bound herself to a constant weaving and inventing, an almost frightening similarity to Briony from Ian McEwan’s Atonement, except without the dire literary drama and larger implications therein.

She jumps at these imagined scenarios and distorted realities as if they were real and tragically suffers the consequences. It’s when she throws caution to the wind, abandons tennis and academics, alienates her classmates, and spirals to her lowest point that her mirror invokes Tennyson, having “crack’d side to side” (Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott, line 115). As readers we have been looking in a mirror in a sense, too. Sukie and her family aren’t everything we initially thought. Her dad isn’t perfect, her mother’s outrageously obsessive and cruel (albeit pitifully), and Bobo would rather fondle her drunkenly than remember her name, let alone love her. It’s at this crucial point in the novel when Sukie’s imagined world begins to fall apart and she transforms into an entirely different character. Sukie realizes she doesn’t have to imagine her friends or live up to anyone’s expectations. The Sukie of the first half of the book is now much less selfish and privileged. She’s become a lonely girl who couldn’t possibly fathom her friends were in front of her the entire time.

Maybe it’s that I read more into The Girl With the Mermaid Hair than necessary, but I really enjoyed finding these literary allusions in Delia Ephron’s book. Not having read Madame Bovary, I can only rely on Ephron’s interpretation that Emma is a woman who lives for her fantasies. I’m inclined to believe her and thought the kinship Sukie felt with Flaubert’s protagonist was whimsical and endearing—a high school student trying to relate to material otherwise anachronistic to her teenage life.

Delia Ephron’s writing is strong in the sense that she’s created such a convincing voice for Sukie. I never once felt taken out of her mind or drawn away by a slip that could have threatened to reveal Ephron was really behind it all. I may have picked up on the more obvious hints Sukie didn’t recognize right away (her parents’ behavior, the strange text messages, her phone never ringing), but didn’t mind because I was committed to Sukie’s beliefs about her own life, however strange and orchestrated her narrations were. The Girl With the Mermaid Hair was a pleasant surprise.

We are delighted that you liked it Erika – let us know if you need any other contemporary YA recommendations! *wink*

Next on the Guest Dare: Kris of the blog Voracious YAppetite who will be reading Horror novel House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski. Muwahahaha.

Welcome to guest dare! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE

This month’s daree is Fantasy writer Sam Sykes, author of the recently released Tome of the Undergates. This dare happened as many things do these days, on Twitter when an unsuspecting Sam asked Ana which book she was reading when she posted “OMG this book is AWESOME”. The book was A Conspiracy of Kings fourth book in the series that starts with The Thief and one of Ana’s ALL TIME favorites. Sam showed some interest and here we are: DARED!

Let’s see what Sam thought of The Thief:

Title: The Thief

Author: Megan Whalen Turner

Genre: YA/Fantasyl

Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Publication Date: This edition – 2005 (1st ed. 1996)
Paperback: 304 pages

Stand alone or series: First book in the Queen’s Thief series

The king’s scholar, the magus, believes he knows the site of an ancient treasure. To attain it for his king, he needs a skillful thief, and he selects Gen from the king’s prison. The magus is interested only in the theif’s abilities. What Gen is interested in is anyone’s guess. Their journey toward the treasure is both dangerous and difficult, lightened only imperceptibly by the tales they tell of the old gods and goddesses.

Why did we recommend this book: This is quite possibly, Ana’s favorite book series of all time.

Sam Sykes’ Review:

The Thief
Megan Whalen Turner

Review by Sam Sykes

I can sum up The Thief in the following phrase: if this book was a girl, it’d be one of those pretty girls that wears frumpy clothes and doesn’t bathe.

To go a little deeper: I started this book two months ago and only finished it two nights ago. It is two hundred and eighty pages long.

If that’s not enough for you: The Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner, is a hugely puzzling book. It’s a good book with some really bad parts. It’s an excellent story cursed by some really dull moments.

It’s a unique world and I found my enjoyment of it marred by the fact that the author really, really loves olive trees (read the book, you’ll see what I mean).

The Thief is basically exactly what it sounds like: a thief. Namely, Gen, a thief talented enough to steal the royal ring of the King of Sounis and dumb enough to boast about it to everyone, landing himself in prison. The King’s magus (he never gets a name; let that be a warning to you who plan to pursue administrative careers…in a fantasy world) comes forward and offers him a deal: a stay of execution in exchange for putting his talents to use for the good of Sounis.

This deed, apparently, is to steal Hamiathes’ Gift: a stone that is said to confer immortality and, more importantly, be used as a token of binding marriage between Sounis and a rival city, thus securing more land and treaties for the kingdom. Gen reluctantly agrees and is spirited off with three fairly unimpressive characters who remain pretty unimpressive throughout the story.

The Thief’s problems become quite clear off the bat: absolutely nothing happens for one hundred fifty pages. This is an exaggeration, but not a big one. Apart from Gen accepting the deal (which takes about twenty pages), the only thing that the characters do for one hundred fifty pages is eat, walk and tell stories. That’s it.

Remember my comparison of this book to a girl who doesn’t bathe? This is about the time you start to smell her. The beginning is astonishingly dull. I can see that there are attempts to set the scene and that there are efforts to establish the characters, but there’s a problem with this: the characters are pretty unremarkable and the scene is olive trees. Nothing but olive trees for nearly half the book.

The main characters are the magus (grumpy dude), Sophos (young dude who whines), Ambiades (older dude who whines) and Pol (soldier dude who…I think he cooks a chicken at one point). And Gen, of course. Gen is a lot more remarkable than these characters, but only in the same way that a glass of three-day-old wine is a lot more remarkable than a glass of three-week-old Diet Coke. He’s witty, he’s charming, he’s clever…but never in a really impressive way like you might expect from the standards set by many rogues in fantasy and YA literature. He’s watered-down a lot and tends to just resign himself to the situation at hand.

As a result of this, the quest goes very expectedly. Absolutely everything goes as planned.

Until the final third of the book.

And then, my friends, shit gets real.

I’m not going to spoil the ending. I’m not even going to spoil the climax. And while it may be supremely unsatisfying for you to hear this: they do get Hamiathes’ Gift and the plot takes a couple of very cool turns that I was really impressed to see happen.

From there, the book only ramps up until it’s about ready to blow. By the end, it’s very impressive and I was left with the feeling that I really wanted to see more of Gen and this world.

However, this only adds to the puzzlement of the whole thing.

Turner is obviously a supremely talented author. She’s got a firm grasp on her main character (arguably a firm grasp on the other ones, if only with her little finger), she’s got a pretty vivid imagination, she clearly knows what makes a scene work and, while her prose didn’t move me to tears, it’s very fluid and makes the book a swift read.

So why is the beginning so freaking boring? Why is Gen so watered-down? Why are the other characters essentially pointless? What’s going on here?

“Ah-hah,” you might say, “you big dope, Sam. Didn’t you know that there is a twist? Surely, you ugly son of a bitch, it explains everything! Your short-sightedness and literary lack of curiosity make me sick. I have your website on another tab in my browser and as soon as I am done typing this, I will click over to it and SPIT ON YOUR GODDAMN WEBSITE, PTOOIE!”

First of all: ow.

Second: yes, there is a twist. Twists are tricky things, though, as noted cinematic Lucifer M. Night Shyamalan has proved with every movie he’s ever made, ever.

A twist cannot really explain away things. It can’t excuse wooden characters, a boring opening or other failed plot devices. Those are still failures and just because they happened that way to fulfill the twist doesn’t really excuse them. Ideally, a twist is just a clever little icing on the cake, a moment which really tops off a book that we really liked. It can’t be the plot itself.

A good twist makes an audience gasp. A bad twist makes an audience groan.This particular twist made me go “oh, hey” in the same soft, gentle tone I once used to tell someone they peed themselves.

In the end, The Thief cleans up pretty nice: she takes a shower and maybe puts on some nicer clothes and when she farts she tells you about it so you can open a window and maybe you want to go out with her again sometime.

All in all, a very good book that left me wanting more, even if the beginning wanted me leaving less.

A huge thank you to Sam for accepting to be dared. We (reads: Ana) hope that you will pick up the next book in the series!

Next on the Guest Dare, is’t Erika from Jawas Read Too, reading of one our fave reads of 2010 so far:

Until May!

Welcome to guest dare! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s victim is Peter, the dude behind the hilarious (and bizarrely informative) Bitterly Books – a blog that, in his own words “takes caustic, uncomplimentary tours through ill-advised and poorly executed nonfiction.” Peter actually approached us for the Guest Dare, and we were more than happy to oblige him. When he said he was in unfamiliar waters with Graphic Novels (especially of the non-superhero variety), we came up with a list of titles for him to try…

So, without further ado, we give the stage to Peter and his experience with Scalped.

Title: Scalped Vol. 1: Indian Country

Author: Written by Jason Aaron, Art by R.M. Guéra

Genre: Crime/Thriller, Noir, Graphic Novel

Publisher: Vertigo
Publication Date: August 2007
Softcover: 126 pages

Stand alone or series: Collects issues #1-5; first graphic novel of six in an ongoing monthly series

Fifteen years ago, Dashiell “Dash” Bad Horse ran away from a life of abject poverty and utter hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation searching for something better. Now he’s come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchucs, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on “The Rez” — short of a glimmering new casino, and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime. Is he here to set things right or just get a piece of the action?

Why did we recommend this book: Scalped is good. Like, really f’ing good. Even if you’re not a fan of gritty, crime noir type stories, Scalped is one of those transcendent books that defies genre snobbery. When Peter told us that he was out of his comfort zone in graphic novels, crime/mystery, thrillers, and westerns, it all sort of…clicked.

Peter’s Review:

For my dare, I read Scalped: Indian Country, a graphic novel set on an Indian reservation. I was excited to see how it differed from both Ralph Nader’s depiction of Indians as lazy deadbeats waiting for their next welfare check and Louise Erdrich’s portrayal of them as PTSD-suffering statutory rapists. According to Jason Aaron and R.M. Guéra, Indian reservations have just as much sex, drugs, and violence as some of the classier parts of New Jersey, but the unemployment rate is a little higher (80%!).

The story begins as young Dashiel Bad Horse arrives on the Prairie Rose Reservation and starts kicking ass unrepentantly. This soon attracts the attention of Lincoln Red Crow, the reservation’s main shot-caller (president of the tribal council, sheriff of the tribal police, chairman of reservation’s planning committee, and managing director of the new casino, to be specific), who decides to use Dash for his own ends. However, it turns out that Dash both has his own agenda and is already serving as the semi-complacent pawn in someone else’s schemes. I’m not really a fan of crime dramas, but Aaron and Guéra do a good job of keeping up the tension, and the way the characters’ stories intertwine was compelling enough to hold my interest through the whole book.

I found a lot of things to like in Scalped. For example, it doesn’t waste a lot of time focusing on piddling technicalities such as due process or excessive use of force. Setting the story on an Indian reservation, which can make and enforce its own laws, means that Bad Horse gets to employ brutal vigilantism while remaining on the badge-wearing side of justice. Instead of Law-and-Order style wrangling over whether or not the defendant will later walk on a technicality, you get Roadhouse style asskicking with a side order of handcuffs. (I hold no special reverence for Colonel Custer, but if enjoying the sight of somebody beating on a filthy hippie in a “CUCK FUSTER” tee shirt is wrong, then I have no hope of ever being right.) Dashiel’s only problem is that for all the freedom he has to punish bad guys, the biggest criminal on the reservation is the one he can’t touch.

The main story is well executed. It turns out that Dash grew up on the reservation. Now he has to deal with his estranged mother, who herself has a past history with Red Crow. There is some discussion about what happened to Dash outside of the reservation, and he didn’t leave to become a Rhodes Scholar. The unsolved murder of two FBI agents on reservation soil turns out to be an important part of the story, and past history tangles with present characters to make their motivations complicated while keeping the plot simple.

Complicated motivations help explain Dash’s attraction to Carol, the love interest (she’s a little too much of a skank for me to call her a femme fatale in good conscience). She and Dash grew up together, so she evokes his nostalgia for a time when everything was more innocent. She’s also the daughter of Red Crow, an overprotective father who makes it dangerous to be seen with her, so she is an alluring forbidden fruit. And she’s a walking train wreck that no sensible person would go near with a 40-foot pole. Seriously, she’s got major daddy issues, is a heavy drug user, has sex with multiple partners in the course of a single day, trades sex for drugs, and generally makes poor lifestyle choices throughout the book. Bad Horse can’t get enough of her.

I had some problems with Scalped, but they were mostly with the artwork—probably a personal failing of mine for not being able to recognize or appreciate techniques beyond the Dogs Playing Poker school of American Realism. The book does a good job of setting the tone with the visuals, letting the reader know when the characters are being sarcastic and adding subtle details to underscore hypocrisy, but there were a few times when the visuals raised questions that distracted me from the story.

Six pages in, there’s a scalped corpse lying on the floor. In a story called Scalped, I give them points for getting right to business, but didn’t recognize it right away because it was unexpected. I don’t think it’s normal to see a mutilated body in the manager’s office at a high end casino—I would assume that they have parking garages and irregularly lit supply closets for that sort of thing. Red Crow, the scalper, has it there to illustrate a point. Had the scalping been done there? Because Red Crow is later shown to be pretty concerned about keeping his carpets clean. Who was that guy? We never find out. Does Red Crow just casually scalp people, or had this dude done something seriously wrong? Void of any context, it’s just a prop to intimidate Bad Horse. I would be pretty pissed if someone killed me and carved off bits just to make a point in a conversation with somebody else. The scalped body is never mentioned again.

There is also a gang of deformed psychopaths that is introduced and killed off over the space of a few pages, for the apparent purpose of showing that Bad Horse is one tough hombre. The reader knows that the gang is bad because they use big words, dress well, and all have hideous burn scars. Why are they burned? Were they a gang before they were burn victims, or a bunch of burn victims who found each other and decided that a life of crime was where it’s at? The text hints that maybe they were all caught in the same fire during their last job, but it looks like a lazy shortcut to show they are evil. Too much effort is put into making this gang stand out as a bunch of specially skilled, verbose fancypantses before they get thrown away like expendable foot soldiers with very few lines.

Unfortunately, the whole book is just an introduction to the larger series. After introducing the characters, describing their pasts and motivations, and showing them relating to each other for a little bit, everything ends on a cliffhanger. (Thanks for spoiling it for me, Wikipedia!)

It was nice to read something other than nonfiction, and I haven’t read a graphic novel in a very long time. I appreciated the way that Aaron and Guéra were able to use text and images together to tell a complex story in a tight format that would have been much longer in a text-only format. I don’t think I’m hooked on either crime dramas or graphic novels now, but I appreciated the experience.

On the Book Smugglers rating scale, I give it a solid six, “Good, recommend with reservations.” This is so I can gratuitiously use the word reservations.

Thank you, Peter! And we’re glad you found Scalped to be a good read, even if it wasn’t exactly your cup o’ tea.

Next on the Guest Dare, it’s none other than Sam Sykes – debut author of the highly anticipated Tome of the Undergates. And, because Ana is SO obsessed with it, Sam will be reading (take one guess):

Until April!

Welcome to guest dare! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s victim is Jeff – one of the minds behind the awesomeness that is Alert Nerd and the dude who talks about geeky things at Jefferson Stolarship. When we invited Jeff for the dare, we just knew he would be reading a Romance Novel. So please, ladies and gents, give it up for Jeff!

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Title:The Duke of Shadows

Author: Meredith Duran

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Pocket
Publication Date: March 2008
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages

Stand alone or series: Stand alone

Sick of tragedy, done with rebellion, Emmaline Martin has no interest in courting trouble. But when violence seizes the British colonies, she must turn for help to the one man whom she should not trust, but cannot resist: Julian Sinclair, the dangerous and dazzling heir to the Duke of Auburn. In London, they toast Sinclair with champagne. In India, they call him a traitor. When Emma’s life falls into his hands, Julian cannot imagine the lengths he will go to keep her safe — or how love itself will become their greatest danger. A lifetime later, in a cold London spring, Emma and Julian will finally confront the truth: no matter how hard one tries to deny it, some pasts cannot be disowned . . . and some passions may never die.

Why did we recommend this book: : This is one of Ana’s favorite Romance novels by one of Ana’s favorite romance novel writers.

Jeff’s Review:

When I was younger and more inclined to be glib and cynical, I opined that I could write a historical romance novel pretty easily. I was in college, and I’d just found a bodice-ripper half-hidden under a friend’s bed; of course, wrapped up in my haughty, self-important English major-dom, I mocked her terribly. Romance novels were nothing but insubstantial and overly florid frivolity, I said, and even I could just churn one out if so inclined. My outline involved a chaste yet listless Spanish noblewoman abducted by fierce privateers whose harsh and demanding captain taught her about love and adventure…not in that order. I didn’t dissuade Anna from reading her book, and I ignored the hypocrisy carefully when I cracked open a Star Wars novel later that day. And though I talk a good game, I never did get around to writing that book. Go figure.

It was that incident that I had in mind when Ana and Thea dared me to tackle Meredith Duran’s The Duke of Shadows. Though I’d broadened my horizons since my all-genre-fiction-all-the-time period, I wasn’t sure that my forays into ‘chick lit’ had really prepared me for what I was about to read. I’m not one to back down from a dare, but I kind of dreaded the promise of purple prose and quivering members. I forgot for a moment that I’m an unabashed consumer of melodrama.

I couldn’t put The Duke of Shadows down. I devoured it greedily and in large, uncouth bites. Like its heroine, it seems unassuming at first blush, but has something incredibly compelling hidden underneath its exterior. So compelling that I found myself talking to the book in the way that some people shout at the victims in slasher flicks. You know, “Don’t run UP THE STAIRS!” It hit me when heroine Emma was reunited with the titular shadowy duke after a four year absence and they both overreacted in the exact wrong way. I sat bolt upright in my comfy reading chair and informed Emma and Julian both that Marcus – the evil Viscount – had deceived them both.

Does The Duke of Shadows adhere to the conceits of the genre? Well, of course it does. The romance between the headstrong, artistic Emma and brooding, conflicted Julian is so unrealistic that it might as well be supernatural. Julian is practically perfect in every way – breathtakingly beautiful, absurdly wealthy, erudite, compassionate and a master marksman. Emma is a rich, headstrong tragic heiress who is herself unconventionally beautiful and a superbly talented artist. I realize that that’s like complaining that water is wet; we’re dealing with romantic melodrama, so I accept that it’s par for the course. Despite that, their mutual attraction seems real, and their banter organic. The romantic in me roots for them almost immediately, especially in contrast to Marcus, Emma’s racist womanizing bastard of a fiance.

Would I have enjoyed this book if it weren’t for Meredith Duran? I’m not sure. She makes the book move quickly, makes the dialogue not only pop but sound real, and despite being inside her characters’ heads frequently, the voice of the book is efficient and not overburdened with filler adverbs the way this post is. The inside-back-cover bio of Duke describes Duran as a lifelong history buff, and that’s something that definitely shows in the life she’s able to breathe into the setting of the book – colonial India.

The British Raj is the perfect backdrop for exotic romance, especially set as it is against the backdrop of Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. I know the tendency can be to correlate India with outsourced call center reps and their longtime feud with Pakistan and move along, but it is a breathtakingly beautiful country with an exotic mix of old and new, even at the time when The Duke of Shadows takes place; in fact, the division between and admixture of tradition and modernity is a bit sharper because it’s fresher. As a result, the book also has some things to say about nationalism and cultural identity that gave it added depth. Emma, steeped in British court society but too independent to let it govern her thinking, is the perfect point of view character for the story.

I thought that The Duke of Shadows was a great read, and I’m glad that Ana and Thea urged me to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. Am I going to have to clear out room for a ‘Harlequin Shelf’ in my library? I doubt it, honestly, but I’m certainly not going to steer away from a great book that just happens to be a romance again.

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Yay, Jeff! We are most delighted that you enjoyed your dare!

Next on the Guest Dare: Peter from Bitterly Books reads Scalped Volume 1

Until next month!

Welcome to the first Guest Dare of 2010! For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s victim is Renee – prolific blogger of Renee’s Book Addiction and reader of all things Romance, Romance, YA, M/M, Mystery , etc. When we contacted her for a guest dare, she came back to say she hasn’t read many Epic Fantasy – not even, gasp, Lord of the Rings. We immediately created a list which included not only Tolkien but Rothfuss, Sanderson and others. Her first choice was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, but after much nagging from her significant other, she caved and decided to read The Lord of the Rings.

Ladies and gents, please give it up for Renee!

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Title: The Fellowship of the Ring

Author: JRR Tolkien

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Ballantine (This is the edition I read, but there are many publishers.)
Publication Date: July 29, 1954 (UK)
Paperback: 527 pp

Stand alone or series: The Lord of the Rings, Part One – The Fellowship of the Rings

Why did we recommend this book: It is an Epic Fantasy classic and one our Favorite books of all time.

Summary:

Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power except one — the One Ring that rules them all — which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. Young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task when Bilbo entrusts the Ring to his care. Frodo must make a perilous journey across Middle-earth to the Cracks of Doom, there to destroy the Ring and foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose.

Renee’s Review:

From the outset, high fantasy was one of the genres I suggested to Ana and Thea when we first discussed this guest dare. The Fellowship of the Ring was mentioned by Ana, but I blew off the suggestion, being far too intimidated by taking on such an icon of fantasy lit. Also, I tried reading The Hobbit a couple of times in my teens, and couldn’t get through it. When I told my husband about Ana’s suggestions, he said I was going to have to give back both my lit major card (we were both lit majors in college and met in a literature class) and my geek card if I didn’t remedy the fact that I hadn’t read this classic.

Typically, my reading tastes are varied, mostly enjoying romance of all flavors, YA, urban fantasy, dark fantasy, and other kinds of spec fiction. However, high fantasy has never been a genre that I have been interested in reading. I think of knights and wizards and trolls, and my eyes glaze over. (Movies, especially The Lord of the Rings trilogy, are another matter, for some reason. I love these movies to death.) In fact, I often think I’d be interested in a high fantasy book, buy it, and then reality sets in and it just sits on my shelf, unread.

Since I consider myself a self-respecting book-geek, I rose to the challenge, and took on The Fellowship of the Ring.

Most people are familiar with the story of The Fellowship of the Ring, either the book or film, so (for the most part) I’m focusing this review on my experience reading the book, rather than reiterating the plot points.

The Prologue: When I first started the book, I was really stressed out by the Prologue. The history and backstory set out in it was complex, and the number of names, events, and dates felt really overwhelming. I also worried the entire book was going to be like this. However, I was reassured that I didn’t need to memorize everything, and that the Prologue’s style was more to give a sense of entering a complete world. So, I relaxed and kept moving forward.

It took me well over a week to settle in to the book. It was frustratingly easy to get distracted by tv, my kid, the fact I had a cold, or conversations going on around me. I found that my mind would wander while I was reading, and I’d have to keep bringing my attention back to the page.

However, as I pushed on, something gradually changed. It was a shift of my mindset. Typically, I’m a fast reader, and usually have a couple of books going at any given time. I generally read books that have lots of fast paced dialogue or action. However, The Fellowship of the Ring is just not that kind of book. While many things do happen, they unfold slowly, and the action builds as the book progresses.

In the Shire: At first, I was impatient, waiting to get from plot-point to plot-point, as I remembered them from the movie. Yet, it felt like not much was happening. I’d glance at the page number, thinking, “I can’t believe they still haven’t left the Shire!” Part of what gives The Fellowship its slow pace is that each scene is crammed with an incredible amount of detail: physical detail—how the building looked, what was on the dinner table, what the weather was like; historical detail— who the characters are, how they are related, what this event’s significance is in the scheme of things; and, character detail—what each character said, did, or thought. The result is an amazingly vivid book that, once I allowed myself to slow down and enjoy the ride, began to come to life.

Awesome quote, describing Gandalf’s fireworks at Bilbo’s party:

There were rockets like a flight of scintillating birds singing with sweet voices. There were green trees with trunks of dark smoke: their leaves opened like a whole spring unfolding in a moment, and their shining branches dropped glowing flowers down upon the astonished hobbits, disappearing with a sweet scent just before they touched their upturned faces.

I loved learning things about the hobbits, like Sam’s impulsive and adventuresome nature. The beautiful interlude with Tom Bombadil and Goldberry was an unexpected surprise, since (inevitably) I kept comparing the book with the movie.

At The Prancing Pony, where they meet Strider (Aragorn): About halfway through the book, I realized what the experience of reading The Fellowship of the Rings was like for me. To use a food analogy, this was the literary equivalent of a “slow food” dinner. One where I needed to savor the words, the descriptions, and the songs. The point was not to get to the book’s climax, but savor the journey. This isn’t always a natural state for a goal-oriented person like me. Yet, even the songs (which I tend to skim over in most books) became enjoyable. I once had a lit professor tell us to read things like sermons and poetry out loud since they were written to be heard. So, in an effort to get into the swing of things with the songs in The Fellowship, I’d sing them to myself. (Greensleeves, Amazing Grace, and Scarborough Fair worked especially well!) This made a vast difference in my enjoyment of them.

Rivendell, at the Council of Elrond: This was my favorite part of the book! While it wasn’t the book’s climax, it really felt like the book comes together here. It’s funny, because often we talk about how a book needs to “show not tell”, yet to me I was so excited to get everyone’s story. It was like fitting a puzzle together, where before you only have a few of the (hobbit) pieces. Part of it the reason this “telling not showing” works is because the dramatic tension has been built slowly. The hobbits go through so much to finally get to Rivendell, and Frodo is so relieved, thinking that his adventure is near its conclusion. Yet, I (the reader) know that all this changes here at the Council. Frodo’s journey is just begun. The path for the rest of the trilogy is set down at this point and we get to see what must happen —the ring must be detroyed, the people of Gondor must be aided, Sauron must be defeated— and get to hear from the key players (the hobbits, men, elves, dwarves, and wizards).

Moria and Lothlórien: For me, this part of the book became more about the big events. The tragedy in the mines and meeting Galadriel were parts of the story which I had been dreading and anticipating (as the case may be). However, with both these sections, again Tolkien’s vivid writing make them wonderful. The “doom, doom doom” drumbeats of the orcs foreshadow what eventually happens in the mines as well as adding an auditory layer to the scenes in the mine. The unreal beauty of Lothlorien and Galadriel are such a contrast following the events in Moria.

Awesome quote #2, when Frodo asks Galadriel to take the ring:

‘In place of the Dark Lord you will set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!’

She lifted up her hand and from the ring that she wore there issued a great light that illumined her alone and left all else dark. she stood before Frodo seeming now tall beyond measurement, and beautiful beyond enduring, terrible and worshipful.

*chills*

The Breaking of the Fellowship: This part felt mostly like a set up to The Two Towers. I read about the events of Boromir and Frodo, and Frodo’s decision to break up the group with anticipation for the next part of the adventure. By now, I knew I was in it for the rest of the story. I will be definitely be finishing the rest of The Lord of the Rings.

It’s impossible to ignore the movies’ impact on my reading experience. While the movies gave me some very clear referential images, and helped me in understanding some of the more complicated historical relationships, I sort of regretted that I had seen the LotR movies first. I wonder what it would have been like to experience Middle Earth for the first time solely through JRR Tolkien’s words. (That being said, though, you know what I’ll be watching this weekend.)

I don’t usually grade my books at my place, but from about halfway through the book it was clear that The Fellowship of the Ring was a “10″ for me. Not because of its classic status, but because of Tolkien’s success in creating the incredibly ambitious world of Middle Earth. The magnitude of his scope is breath-taking, and once I allowed myself to slow down and enjoy the ride, I was rewarded with a truly memorable reading experience.

Thanks, Thea and Ana for daring me to take on The Fellowship of the Ring. I know I wouldn’t have read it without the extra little push.

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And thank you, Renee for saying yes, to the dare! And we are delighted that you enjoyed the book!

Next on the Guest Dare: Jeff one of the folks from Alert Nerd, reads a Romance Novel: The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

Until next month!

It’s time for another Guest Dare – the November edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts HERE.

This month’s victim is the fabulous Rhiannon Hart – prolific blogger and aspiring author of Young Adult fantasy. Rhiannon’s reading tastes run towards the Dystopian and Apocalyptic (sound familiar?), especially of the YA persuasion. When we contacted her for a guest dare, she came back with a laundry list of genres she’s uncomfortable towards, we (naturally) found a way to encompass multiple areas of discomfort in one book – a male protagonist, in a science fiction setting (minimal physics involved), with multiple war/thriller storylines. The book is The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold, starring none other than the incomparable, indomitable Miles Vorkosigan.

Ladies and gents, please give it up for Rhiannon!

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Title: The Warrior’s Apprentice

Author: Lois McMaster Bujold

Genre: Science Fiction

Publisher: Baen
Publication Date: 1986
Paperback: 320 pages

Stand alone or series: The first book to feature Miles Vorkosigan in the ongoing Vor series and the first book published in the series, though technically the fifth story in the series. (Think Star Wars Episodes I-III versus IV-VI – The Warrior’s Apprentice is starting at episode IV)

Why did we recommend this book: After discovering this series last year, Miles Vorkosigan has become one of Thea’s favorite protagonists. And when Rhiannon mentioned her aversion to scifi, male protagonists and war/espionage thrillers, we knew immediately that Miles and his shenanigans would be able to win her over. Thus, we recommended The Warrior’s Apprentice!

Summary: (from amazon.com)
Between the seemingly impossible tasks of living up to his warrior-father’s legend and surmounting his own physical limitations, Miles Vorkosigan faces some truly daunting challenges.

Shortly after his arrival on Beta Colony, Miles unexpectedly finds himself the owner of an obsolete freighter and in more debt than he ever thought possible. Propelled by his manic “forward momentum,” the ever-inventive Miles creates a new identity for himself as the commander of his own mercenary fleet to obtain a lucrative cargo; a shipment of weapons destined for a dangerous warzone.

Rhiannon’s Review:

Miles Vorkosigan has eleven generations of proud warriors preceding him, all weighing heavily on his stunted, fragile frame. His attempt to qualify for the Barrayaran Military Service Academy and follow in his illustrious family’s footsteps fails when he breaks both legs on an obstacle course. At a loss for what to do with himself now he’ll never become an officer, he turns his attention to Elena, the beautiful daughter of his bodyguard, Sergent Bothari, to help her found out the truth about her unknown mother. A chance meeting with a jump pilot about to have his ship scrapped on Beta colony sets in motion a series of events that sees Miles become the leader of a private, imaginary army, and embroiled in a war against the Oserans.

From the very beginning of this novel I was fascinated by Miles. He’s the perfect combination of audacity, wit, ego and fragility. On a planet where defects are barely tolerated, Miles’s physical imperfection makes him even more determined to prove himself, especially to his father. His catchphrase “forward momentum” is an apt one, and combined with an overwhelming desire to help the underdog (who he is prone to identify with) he becomes embroiled in all manner of sticky situations. Outward he is austere and commanding; in private he is fraught with worry and prone to tears. I don’t know whether I want to clasp him motheringly to my breast or tongue pash him.

I was relieved at how character-driven the narrative was. I’m not a sci-fi aficionado despite all the speculative fiction I read. I get a bit lost in deep space. I really like to know how things look and where they sit in relation to one another. The problem with space is it’s mostly empty (funny that) and I can’t get a proper handle on where things are. All the worm-holing and planet-hopping that went on had me a bit baffled, and see now why it may have been a good idea to read the two preceding books in this sequence, if only to learn more about Beta and Barrayar, what they look like and where they sit in relation to Earth. While I had a hard time visualising things, the social aspects and interplanetary relations were well fleshed out. I loved the contrast between the prudish and sheltered Barrayarans and the liberal Betans. Cordelia, Miles’s mother, is from Beta and also the protagonist of the first two novels, and her exasperation with Barrayarans his highly amusing.

Overall, this is a very funny book. I had a huge grin plastered on my face the whole time I was reading it and frequently laughed out loud. Bujold is a true wit. It’s also very touching, exciting and believable. Bujold doesn’t try to tie things up too neatly. Characters with a sordid past are neither demonised nor exonerated. They just are. I will definitely be picking up the other books in this series and picking up more sci-fi in general. I think a lot of teenagers would get pleasure out of books like these, but no one seems to writing them for a mass audience at the moment. Perhaps I should try! I’ve heard whispers that after the wave of dystopian novels that is about to submerge us up to our necks in end-of-the-world scenarios (hurrah!) sci-fi will be the next big thing. I better start researching rocket fuel and air-locks.

Thanks for having me, Smugglers! This was a fantastic dare, and maybe the start of a beautiful friendship between me and deep space sci-fi.

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There you have it, folks! Rhiannon is converted to the wonder that is science fiction and the awesomeness that is Miles Vorkosigan! Thanks again to Rhiannon for being a good sport, and for the fabulous review!

Next on the Guest Dare: We are actually letting you off the hook next month, as Smugglivus will be in full swing – but don’t fret! The Guest Dare will be back, with a vengeance, come 2010. If anyone is down for a challenge, feel free to email us or leave a comment here! We are always hungry for a new victim…

Welcome to another Guest Dare – the October edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts here.

This month’s victim is Kati – from Katidom whose taste for Romance novels is similar to Ana’s (but not too much. Ahem, The Windflower). We sent a list of possible picks for Kati’s dare and she chose the Steampunk Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassoti. Here is what she has to say:

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Title: Clockwork Heart

Author: Dru Pagliassoti

Genre: Steampunk

Publisher: Juno Books
Publishing Date: April 2008
Paperback: 304 pages

Stand Alone or series: Stand alone

Why did we recommend the book: This was one of Thea’s top 2008 reads

Summary: A steampunkish romantic fantasy set in Ondinium, a city that beats to the ticking of a clockwork heart. Taya, a metal-winged courier, can travel freely across the city’s sectors and mingle indiscriminately among its castes. A daring mid-air rescue leads to involvement with two scions of an upperclass family and entanglement in a web of terrorism, loyalty, murder, and secrets.

Kati’s Review:

I’ll be honest, I’m a romance reader through and through. Solidly 98% of what I read falls into the genre of romance, and the other 2% is usually Young Adult with strong romantic overtones. So when I emailed Ana and volunteered to be a victim of the Guest Dare, I was hoping they’d push me far outside my boundaries. Ana and Thea sent the list to me, and I decided that I needed to step outside my comfort zone, but still wanted at least a minute dose of romance to go with my Guest Dare. I ended up choosing Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassotti. I remember Thea’s review of it, and that she’d truly loved it. And I also remember reading a conversational review about it on Dear Author, although I didn’t really remember anything about the story.

I was nervous when I got the book. It has this beautiful cover featuring a woman who is wearing a contraption with wings on it, and what looks like the workings of a clock behind her. I knew the book was supposed to be steampunk, and I’d read and been interested in Katiebabs’ primer on this unknown to me genre, but honestly just didn’t know where to start. I figured Clockwork Heart was as good a place as any.

Honestly, I was lost from almost the beginning. The world which Pagliassotti has created is obviously a complicated one, with multiple castes, a complex technological world, and a character whose role in that world was not readily apparent to me. Taya, the main character, is an icarus, one without caste, who is a messenger of sort, delivering missives throughout Odinium (the world)’s sectors, and able to mingle within any of the castes. She finds herself drawn into the public eye when she makes a daring rescue of an upperclass woman and her son. She is honored for her heroism, and because of that, finds herself entangled with the Folare brothers, Alister, who is a leader in this upperclass world, and Cristof, who abandoned his honored roots, and works as a master clock repairman. Alister romances and intrigues Taya, while Cristof raises her hackles and suspicions about a terror plot that seems to be undermining the power of the ruling council and something called the Great Engine, which is a sort of machine that is revered in Odinium for its power.

I ended up having to email Thea to have her talk me through the world construct and the role of the Great Engine throughout the book. I was literally midway through the book and felt I couldn’t go any further with the story because I didn’t understand the world’s rules. Thea graciously talked me through and I kept reading.

I think that my problem with the book was that it was trying to be many, many things all at the same time. There was a mild romantic thread throughout the story, a love triangle of sorts between Cristof, Alister and Taya. It is Taya’s attraction to Alister that leads to her involvement with Cristof. There is a mystery/suspense thread concerning the identity and motivations of the terrorists and whether Cristof or Alister had any involvement in the plot to overthrow the ruling party. There is a fantasy bent in the world’s construct with the apparatuses and machines utilized by the characters, which are unusual and I suppose in keeping with the steampunk feel of the story.

For me, it was all too much. I lost threads of the story by becoming too bogged down in the technology and my confusion about the construct of the world. I felt frustration with Taya, who I felt became involved in the lives of the Folare brothers without sufficiently represented motivation and who took a number of what I thought were ill advised chances. But more, I just always felt a step behind. As if I’d missed some critical description of the world that would have helped me better understand, not just the technology, but the culture that Pagliassotti was trying to convey.

Honestly, it’s hard for me to evaluate the book, because I truly believe that those who have read and enjoyed the steampunk genre probably would really love the story. But for me, it was a case of the book attempting to do too much all at the same time, which resulted in a lot of confusion and frustration for me as a reader. This is a book that I honestly slogged through, and would have DNF’d if it weren’t for the guest dare. All of this being said, I am pleased with myself for stepping outside my comfort zone. This exercise just illustrated to me that my comfort zone exists for a reason.

Thank you so much Ana and Thea for pushing me to read this book. Even though it wasn’t a winner for me, I am proud of myself for picking up something that I would never have read otherwise.

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Kati, we are sorry that you didn’t enjoy the book – but thanks for playing anyways!

Next on the Guest Dare: Rhiannon Hart reads The Warrior’s Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Until next month!

Welcome to another Guest Dare – the September edition. For those new to the feature, our Guest Dare is a monthly endeavor in which we invite an unsuspecting victim to read a book totally outside of their comfort zone. You can read all previous Dare posts here.

This month’s daree (yes, we believe just totally made this word up) is Lusty Reader. Her book lusting (a trait we share) and the fact that she is totally a Very Cool blogger (who is funny, entertaining and writes very insightful reviews) has put her under our radar. (She also introduced us to “The Shiz My Boyfriend Says”. Seriously, you need to read these. But do not read whilst drinking and/or eating – you might spill and/or choke. You have been warned) . One day Ana was unsuspectingly doing her Twitter rounds when she read that LR had never read a Graphic Novel in her life and that was cause for an instant-dare and ergo, here we are.

Lusty reader, ladies and gentlemen:
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Title: Fables Vol.1 – Legends in Exile

Author: Bill Willingham, Lan Medina, Steve Leialoha, Craig Hamilton

Genre: Graphic Novel (Fantasy)

Publisher: Vertigo
Publishing Date: September 2002
Paperback: 128 pages

Stand alone or series: First volume in the Fables comics; collects issues 1-5.

Summary: (from Vertigo)
Who Killed Rose Red?
In Fabletown, where fairy tale legends live alongside regular New Yorkers, the question is all anyone can talk about. But only the Big Bad Wolf can actually solve the case–and, along with Rose’s sister Snow White, keep the Fabletown community from coming apart at the seams.

Why did we recommend this book: it started when we both read this first volume and loved it. . Thea went on to read every single one of them (there are 12 so far) and continues to follow all the monthlies as well. Ana (aka The Lazy Smuggler) has only read up to volume 4 so far. But what matters is this: we luuurves it.

Lusty Reader’s Review:

Since we may not know each other too well, dear Book Smuggler readers, I thought I would start off my guest dare post by sharing a secret. Secret sharing is a great way to make new bff’s, I have a picture in my mind of us all in a giggling gaggle at a slumber party – I have dibs on the My Little Pony sleeping bag! So, gather round, it’s confession time…Even Thea and Ana don’t know this, which might have made the dare even better.

I always thought a “graphic novel” was a sex book. Like erotica. Or illustrated Kama Sutra books. Because like in movies and stuff they are rated R for graphic scenes, right? This equaled sex to me. I have had a lusty mind for a long time I guess.

I was so sure of this my whole life I always made a wide berth around the “graphic” section of any bookstore so I wouldn’t be seen near “those sex books.” I couldn’t believe that they had a sex section! Out in the open! With a big sign! Shocking. My heart already beats faster in embarrassment and anxiety when I am in the romance novel section, heaven forbid I get too close to those graphic sex books!

When I started poking around book blogland earlier this year I finally realized what graphic novels really were.

Phew, it felt good to get that off my chest!

This confession illustrates *snicker, pun intended* that I know absolutely nothing about graphic novels. I mean, can I even call them comic books? Or is that a negative connotation thing, like bodice rippers vs romance novels? The last comic book I ever read was Archie when I was a kid in the 90s. I say this all so you can take it as an official disclaimer since my hosts here are winners of Best Graphic Novel Review blog – whereas I have no clue what I’m talking about.

Hence the guest dare! Chatting on twitter Ana discovered I had never read a graphic novel and quickly made sure she would change that, so since I always listen to what the Book Smugglers tell me to do, here I am!

Reading Fables Vol. 1 Legends in Exile was a totally new experience for me. Starting off, I was a bit distracted – I read all the words, but skipped the pictures, or studied all the details in the pictures, but glossed over the dialogue. My eyes were darting in every direction, trying to take it all in at once, afraid I was missing something, like Where’s Waldo’s hat, or scroll, or glasses. But the longer I read the more adjusted I became and began to really appreciate the artistry in the illustrations as well as the skill the writers need to have to only be able to write dialogue, but still communicate enough to the reader. The pairing is such a unique way to follow a story and I found myself really enjoying it!

One reason why is because I love retellings or new twists on fairytales. The Fables series follows a number of well known fairytale characters and legends from folklore as they live in exile in New York City. They were driven from their respective kingdoms, magical woods, and all their lands by The Adversary (whose drawings were so frightening I physically shuddered when we finally got to see what they looked like) and so are now all living in a clandestine community known as Fabletown in the Big Apple.

Those who cannot blend in with the mundanes (aka humans) live at The Farm in upstate New York. This is an example of the depths of the world building, there is so much back-story to their escape from the Adversary, how their relationships have evolved over time, and we learn so much in just the first few pages. More about how Fabletown’s community and government is set up, how some were able to escape with their riches and some weren’t, and what rituals, rules about old grudges, and traditions they have developed to keep everyone together.

One upcoming tradition is the annual Remembrance Day ball in memory of their Homelands. This year it’s not just a ball, it’s a deadline to find a murderer. Hard partying Rose Red’s apartment was found trashed, covered in blood, and she was no where to be found. Suspecting the worst, her sister, Snow White (Director of Operations) and Bigby Wolf (of Fabletown’s Security Office) team up to find the killer.

These were the two characters we followed the most and I loved both of them, especially rugged Bigby. He is the perfect tortured, rough-around-the-edges hero just begging for the right woman to come along and fix him with her love. There is the slightest, teensiest, tinyest, vaguest suggestion of a romantic undercurrent between him and Snow White, which tickled my fancy, but was certainly not enough to fulfill my usual romance preferences!

The pacing, plot twists, and the big reveal are awesome, it doesn’t feel drawn out at all. And while I guessed a little bit about what happened, the way the clues are shown and later explained is super fun and keeps you on your toes.

The best part for me was all the characters we met along the way: a pissed off Pinocchio trapped in a little boy’s body, but after 300 years is horny as hell, a troubled marriage between Beauty and the Beast, several divorced Prince Charmings, a fencing Cinderella, and a Little Pig who escapes from The Farm upstate. How they evolved in Fabletown was my absolute favorite, was such a cool “what happened after they lived happily ever after” way of imagining their stories.

I did enjoy having the visual side of the story as well, but I will say that all the female characters were drawn in bit too much of a “va-va voom” way for me, like a Jessica Rabbit or something. I know so many of these fairy tale women were SUPPOSED to be gorgeous and what not, but they were uber sexy in the comic book.

Overall I am so glad I made my first foray into the graphic novel world and would recommend Fables Vol. 1 to anyone who likes a good whodunit and retellings of classic fairytales.

And it helped me make a new friend on the DC metro. The colors and pages are so splashy they drew a lot of attention on my commute to work. The nerdy, 20-something guy with glasses I was sitting next to kept sneaking peeks and he finally asked me what I was reading. When I flipped the cover, his eyes lit up as he proclaimed his love for the series. He thought we had a lot in common and recommended the book he had open on his lap – H.P. Lovecraft’s The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, definitely not my usual cup of tea either!

But I will absolutely be reading more graphic novels in the future. Even though they are not sex books I’ve already added The Surrogates to my TBR so I can read it before the movie comes out!

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Needless to say, we are delighted that LR liked Fables and will try other Graphic Novels. And hey Lusty, if you liked the romantic dynamics between Snow and Bigby you might want to keep reading this series. It only gets better. Like, REALLY, really good. *ninja*

Next on the Guest Dare: Kati of Katidom reads her first Steampunk Novel: Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliassoti!

Until next month!