Title: Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium

Author: Robert C. Rodgers, illustrated by Todd Wills

Genre: Steampunk, Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Young Adult

Publisher: Steam-Powered Press
Publication Date: October 2009
Paperback: 288 pages

In an era of bygone anachronisms and steam-powered ambulatory engines, a sharp-witted street-thief with a heart of semi-precious metal finds herself locked in a battle of wits against a secret plot to bring the city she loves to its knees. Arcadia will need to enlist the help of a reformed mad scientist, a stern suffragette, and a persnickety pigeon to unravel the mysterious past of the Steamwork Consortium – and stop the cabal of sinister mathematicians who would use that past to destroy all of Aberwick. Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium is both a cautionary tale against reckless mathematics and an accurate historical account all rolled up into one. In fact, the story is so accurate that you might consider it more of a history lecture than an illustrated novel.

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did I get this book: Review Copy from the author

Why did I read this book: Though we mostly review books from larger publishers, we also like to share the love with independent/self/small-presses too – provided the book sounds like something we want to read. When we received a review query from the author of the book last year, I read the synopsis and first chapter online and was instantly hooked – and what better a time to review this novel than during Steampunk Week?

Review:

“Dear Madame,” the letter read. “Although we remain appreciative of your continued attempts to bring a feminine touch to the world of aeronautics, the Royal Society of Aviation regrets to inform you that your design shall fly only once swine have taken to the skies.”

The letter was framed and mounted on the dining room wall.

So begins Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium (henceforth Arcadia Snips), described quite aptly in its tagline as “Being A Wholly Accurate Historical Account Concerning Matters Of Steam, Skullduggery, And The Irresponsible Application Of Reckless Mathematics In The 19th Century.” Of all the books I’ve read this week (so far), Arcadia Snips is by far the most traditionally Steampunkish (Steampunky?). Taking place in the late nineteenth century, the novel includes no shortage of creative machines, flying contraptions, and other steam-powered miscellanea. There’s even political intrigue, a dash of romance, and Great Peril – all of this in spades. Alternating storylines between “the past” (twenty years in the past), in which an unlikely partnership forms between three far-sighted individuals, and the present, in which a thief named Arcadia finds herself in the employ of a powerful Count, as his consultant in the Watts and Sons Detective Agency’s investigation of the murder of Basil Copper.

Arcadia Snips, the titled protagonist, is a delightfully quirky heroine in this delightfully quirky book. Just look at our initial introduction to her:

Beneath Arcadia Sinps’ derby hat and short black curls was the face of a silver-fanged cherub — a mocha-toned antel with enough charm to sell a pack of matches to a man doused in lamp oil. But whenever she grinned, the very tip of that silver fang would tuck over the edge of her bottom tooth. It gave her a savage, frightful look.

It is also worth mentioning that we first meet Arcadia as she is shackled in prison (having escaped from jail twice, and about to accomplish this wriggling, lock-defying feat for the third time in a row). She’s a thief, a wise-cracker, and, again, altogether delightful with her wit and verve. And while Arcadia on her own as a protagonist would be enough personality for this book teeming with silly cleverness, she also has a male counterpart in young William Daffodil, the son of two “mad scientists” (that greatly endangered the city of Aberwick in the past storyline) and a young man that is much more interested in the safety of mathematics than the perils of mad science. This pair…well, they just work.

Beyond these protagonists, there are the “past” characters that are wonderful in and of themselves – Abigail Parsley, for example, has one of the best opening sequences in the book. We also get into the minds of villains, a most unique perspective.

What I loved the most about Arcadia Snips, beyond the characters, was the pure delight of reading the book entails. It’s silly, to be sure, but so witty and absurdly fun, it’s all the better for it. Dialogue between characters verges on the persnickety and crazed at times, but the authenticity and eminent readability of this novel make it all worth it. For every misstep, there’s a gem like this:

The city of Aberwick was a topographical nightmare wrested from the laudanum-fueled fever dreams of half-mad cartographers. It was cradled in a yawning canyon of volcanic rock, with communities swelling up into massive heaps of brick and timber; the trains flowed aside, above, and even through these mounds.

As I said, truly wonderful stuff.

I also should mention that Arcadia Snips is an illustrated novel, with the visual stylings of artist Todd Wills. While I’m not a huge fan of the cover (a bit cartoony and a strange color scheme – does the cover version of Arcadia look like Calamity Jack to anyone else?), I do love the black and white illustrations within as they capture the book’s mood perfectly.

I’m always a little bit scared of taking on independently or self-published books – but books like Arcadia Snips remind me of why I agree to do so in the first place. Every now and then a true undiscovered gem comes along, and I’m happy to say that this book is one of them.

Whole-heartedly recommended to all looking for a farcical, somewhat deranged (in a good way!) steampunk read. Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium is a delight.

BUT IS IT STEAMPUNK? Oh, hell yes. It’s the most traditionally steampunk novel I’ve read this week!

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the introduction:

ACT 1

“In yet another example of tragically misapplied genius, the mysterious anarchist who calls himself Professor Hemlock has done it again—several of the Eastern Aberwick Bank’s calculation engines have been crippled through the irresponsible application of reckless mathematics. The rogue chaotician claimed responsibility for the financial disaster in a letter delivered to the Isle Gazette (see page 9a), citing the company’s cutthroat business tactics, support of imperialism, and rude bank tellers as justification. Authorities continue to investigate the anarchist’s activities while urging all citizens to behave no differently during this time of fiscal duress. Meanwhile, one question lingers upon the lips of every man, woman, and child: Who is Professor Hemlock?”
—Front page of the Isle Gazette, ‘PROFESSOR HEMLOCK STRIKES AGAIN’

Additional Thoughts: The coolest part about Arcadia Snips and the Steamwork Consortium? It’s available in its totality for FREE online!

You can check out the book’s website HERE and the illustrator’s website HERE. To download a free PDF copy of the book, go HERE. You won’t regret it.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Howdy! We were supposed to post a review of Spider’s Bite by Jennifer Estep today but unfortunately, we will be unable to do so because the book has yet to reach me in the UK even though Thea has shipped it over three weeks ago. At the moment we suspect that the UPS and the Royal Mail have come together in a Conspiracy to Drive Us Mental. (It is working.) We plan to post the review as soon as we possibly can.

Meanwhile, we decided I should post my review of New Blood instead – as an introduction to our upcoming Steampunk Week.

Title: New Blood

Author: Gail Dayton

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Tor
Publication Date: March 2009
MMP: 512 pages

Stand alone or series: Part of a series but the romance is stand alone

In 1636, the last blood sorceress was burned at the stake. More than two hundred years later, her blood servant Jax has found her successor. Amanusa at first turns down the opportunity to learn what she perceives as an evil art. But she craves justice, and innocent blood cries out for justice.

When Amanusa looses magic on those who’ve harmed her, she must flee for her life across a devastated Europe with Jax, who is inescapably bound to her by blood and magic. Their journey takes them through zones where everything—including magic—has died, zones populated with strange creatures cobbled together of things left behind by the dead.

Needing each other for their very survival, Amanusa and Jax grow ever closer on their journey to discover answers – about magic, blood sorcery, the dead zones, and even love.

How did I get this book: I Bought my copy (but the author sent a copy to Thea when she sent us ARCs of the second book.)

Why did I read this book: I bought this book as soon as it came out. I loved the cover and the reviews have been mostly positive. I kept it aside for a Steampunk week all this time. Yes, I did.

Review:

WARNING! THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS!

New Blood is a book I have long desired to read and had great expectations for. I bought it as soon as it came out last year and because I saw it described as Steampunk in a few places (including the author’s blog), I set it aside as a Must Read for an eventual Steampunk Appreciation Week, an event we had been planning for a long time. As we finally set the date for the event ( shameless plug: March 7th – 13th) , New Blood was the first, out of a long list of books, I read for the event. Why then, you must be asking yourself, do I review it before Steampunk Week?

Because this book is many, many things – a Paranormal Romance / Fantasy and a giant mess of frustrating disappointment but not, and I cannot stress this enough, Steampunk.

Because it is not enough to set a book in the 19th century and to have a couple of machines that go clankety clank around and that’s it, let’s call it Steampunk! Woohoo! Not when the book is first and foremost about magic, when the characters know nothing about the aforementioned machines, which means that the technology, if we can even call it that, is not an elementary part of their world – it is something that scares and befuddles the characters because it is something that is anti-magic and unnatural to the point that the book almost reads like an example of anti-Steampunk.

Now that I got this off my chest, what is the book about?

Magic. And truth be told, it starts well enough. It’s Europe, 19th century and there are four types of magic: alchemy, wizardry, conjury, and sorcery and only men are allowed to practice them. The first three are the most commonly used and sorcery, or Blood Magic, has been lost to the world ever since the last known sorceress Yvaine has been murdered. Turns out, Blood Magic has only ever been practiced by women because well, women are used to bleed every month and therefore are less squeamish about it. (Yes, seriously.) A Blood sorceress uses blood magic (by using blood fluids – any of them) to practice magic. They can cure people by riding the blood (it involves making them drink a bit of her blood so is able see inside their bodies for injuries) for example. But Blood magic can also be used to bring justice as the sorceress can ride their blood to see the crimes they committed.

As the book opens, Yvaine’s (the last known sorceress) blood servant Jax – who had been tasked to find her successor – finally finds the woman worthy of the position. And that is our heroine Amanusa. Living all by her lone self, deep in the woods of Romania, Amanusa is a healer who uses the little magic she knows she possesses to cure villagers and is happy to stay where she is. When a man comes out of the woods telling her that she is a Blood Sorceress and he is her servant, her first reaction is to freak out. For starters, women are not allowed to practice magic and the Inquisition might kill her for it. Secondly, everybody knows that blood magic is Teh Eviiiil, blood magicians kill children for their blood; plus, all men are brute rapists, and she can never ever trust Jax, because she fears and loathes men because she has been gang raped and abused for years by the band of anarchists who live in the woods who are also the band of people who killed her entire family.

But soon Amanusa realises that there isn’t much she can do about Jax – he can’t leave. Once he has found her, he is connected to her. If he tries to leave, he ends up always coming back to her door. Then, she decides to hear what he has to say and learns that Blood Magic does not involve killing anyone, much less babies – it is mostly done with her own blood or with blood freely given (and magically stored by Jax, who is like, a familiar) and all of a sudden the prospect of being a Blood Sorceress doesn’t sound that bad especially when she thinks she might get justice after all. Then, the anarchists show up: Amanusa has a deal with them – whereupon they will leave her alone if she concedes to visit their camp when someone is sick. She and Jax have to make a trip and at their camp, she starts to learn about Blood Magic. But first Amanusa needs to ride Jax’s blood so that he can be bound to her as a servant. Please bear in mind, that this has been only a few days after they have met. Amanusa is supposed to be a deeply scarred woman, who fears men and sex, who always thought Blood Magic to be evil, who just met this bloke out of nowhere. So she not only trusts his words but also, she finds that she has to link herself to him by way of blood and the way to do that is to have him drinking a bit of her blood so she can ride it. Now. I can think of a gazillion ways of having someone drinking someone else’s blood and here is a novel thought, it doesn’t even have to involve touching. How about, gasp, a glass? For someone who fears to be touched it looks like Amanusa got over her deep seated scars and trauma very quickly. Behold:

“She couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, could only watch as he squeezed a bit more blood from her finger and curled his tongue around it, caressing long after the blood was gone. He trailed his tongue down the length of her finger and probed the crease where it joined her hand. She shivered, whether from his touch or his gaze, she didn’t know.
Jax sent his tongue swirling across her palm where blood had never touched and Amanusa let him, lost in the blue of his eye and the shivery sensation of his teasing caress. With one last pulse of his tongue, he pressed a kiss to her palm, curving her hand around his face as if she caressed him in return”.

That was just about the place where things started to get downhill and I still had oh, 400 pages left?

They spend a few weeks in the camp, but they guys want her for a plaything again, she kills most of them (Justice!) and they have to flee. They carry with them a machine that one of the anarchists found (a spider thingy who feels like anti-magic to Amanusa). They are captured by the Inquisition, they escape and end up in Paris where they need to convince the Council to allow Amanusa in – but they don’t want to because all women are horrible, and magic is not something they can do, and Blood Magic is Teh Evil. Meanwhile, the Council is conferring in Paris because evil dead patches that are related to the mechanical insect they have found in Romania and which are spreading to Europe and might well bring the end of the world.

I mentioned that the start of the novel was good enough and it was. The two characters and the setting pulled me right into the book and I thought the two protagonists were very compelling to start with – both being damaged and broken. Their complex relationship of master/servant only serving to extrapolate those problems until they were able to overcome them. But. By God, soon it becomes clear that there is lack of a cohesive character development for both protagonists. Amanusa is too quick to trust Jax, to overcome her sexual trauma and to accept the Blood Magic; and their repetitive internal monologue was almost enough to drive me insane – cut 1/3 of those and 100 pages of the book could have been removed and the book would have been better. There is no reason for the numerous:

Amanusa: “men are evil. I don’t trust them. But I trust Jax. Why? “
Jax: “I am a servant. But she sees me as a man. Did she truly see me as a man?”

And so on and so forth.

My other main problem with the novel was the lack of inherent logic regarding the magic system which in all honesty, made no sense to me. Why only women would do Blood Magic?

The inference that men are squeamish when it comes to blood doesn’t compute – aren’t men the ones to go to war, or to fight in duels and carry out death sentences? Why did it take Jax 200 years to find a successor to Yvaine, more to the point, if Blood Magic was so important to the balance of magic why didn’t she have apprentices? Although the misogynistic view of women with half of the characters in the book running around like lunatics yelling that women are Evil grew tiresome and was ridiculous I do have to wonder if they didn’t have a point when it came to Blood Magic since the last known Sorceress did use to torture Jax and made him be raped to collect Sex Magic (yes, seriously ). So yes, I can sort of see how people would think that Blood Magic was not that good. Since we mention Jax – what is the point of blood servants? If the blood needed is mostly of the sorceress , she is the one with the power, she is the one with the blood, I don’t really see the point of a blood servant, but then again…there would be no book without one.

Then, there was this silly coincidence in which Jax, who did not know his true name for most of the book (he was so old, he suffered of memory loss) suddenly remembers it and realises he has a relative sitting right next to him. Yes, seriously. The ending is a pure melodrama: there is a kidnapping, the villains run around like girls screaming women are evil, only to when faced with one of them, believe her word when she tells them she will do something they ask. Why would they? And then it all ends with the amazing discovery that the bond of luuurve is more powerful than any other bond and then the two protagonists decide to go traipsing to Scotland leaving their friends behind even though she is the only known Blood Sorceress and THE WORLD MIGHT BE ABOUT TO END.

With all this being said, you might be asking yourself why in the world did I keep reading. I have read worse, but much worse in my life and I sustain that the characters are rather likeable so I kept reading in the hope for a good pay off. And it was downright frustrating that their story was not better developed. Alas, you win some, you lose some.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: In spite of the repetitive internal monologuing I quite liked most of Jax and Amanusa’s interactions.

Verdict: A magic system that does not make sense, a romance that had the potential to be awesome but fell flat. Unfortunately, this one misses the mark.

Rating: 4 – Bad but not without some merit

Reading Next: The Warlord of the Air by Michael Moorcock

This is our brand new segment in which our delightful buddy Harry, from Temple Library Reviews will be joining us once a month to review paranormal romance from a guy’s perspective. But we will let him introduce himself, please let’s give a warm welcome to Harry!

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Harry: I’m the newest honorary addition to the Book Smugglers team [honest to God, I smuggle books home and then lie straight to my family's face about it]. I get the chance to play here at their blog once a month and my small spot will be called ‘A Dude Reads PNR’. The idea came to be in December, when I posted my Sherilyn Kenyon review and people were interested to see the male POV about Paranormal Romance. The public demands, the attention whore (that’s me) begs, and the smugglers comply.

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Title: The Battle Sylph
Author: L.J. McDonald
Genre: Romantic Fantasy / PNR

Publisher: Dorchester Publishing
Publishing Date: 23.02.2010
MMP: 323 pages [in the ARC]

Stand Alone or series: First book in a new series

He is one of many: a creature of magic, unrelentingly male. He is lured through the portal by pure female beauty, a virgin sacrifice. When she is killed, he is silenced and enslaved.

Such a dark ritual is necessary, you see. Unlike their elemental cousins-those gentler sylphs of wind and fire-Battlers find no joy in everyday labor. Their magic can destroy an army or demolish a castle, and each has but one goal: find a Queen, then protect and pleasure her at all costs. What would a woman do if she were given such a servant, and what would befall any kingdom foolish enough to allow a Battler to escape?

Young Solie and the people of Eferem are about to find out.

Why did I read the book: The premise sounded intriguing. Ana sounded ecstatic and when her reader-sense is tingling, it means something good will happen. The cover is also mucho impressive with those glowing eyes and the woman sprawled below the title. Certainly a looker that one.

How did I get the book: Ana [book-pimp extraordinaire] tied it to a balloon and asked a flock of geese to deliver it to me. That is a lie, but it would have taken less than with snail mail post.

Review:

My christening review for this mighty feature has not been the funny and good-feel bang I hoped for. To be quite honest ‘Circle of Fire’ shoved me outside in a blizzard. I needed a book to turn the heat up, burn down the house and fire me up. Thankfully ‘The Battle Sylph’ is just the right novel to help you lower your heating bills and is way better than the hot-water bottle you bring to bed. Every page is soaked with either adrenaline or naughty kerosene for the nether regions… of your imagination [naturally, what did you guys think I was going to say?]

Did I hook you? I hope so. Because, there’s much to enjoy in ‘The Battle Sylph’. As the genre suggests this is romantic fantasy, so no leather boots, guns, mean SUVs and vampires or any other standard magical race. Instead, we have swords, sturdy warriors, a queen and a race of spirits, who can become corporal and incorporeal, whenever they please. While it is true that fantasy hosts a romantic subplot almost always, the way the sex scene is mandatory for every single major Hollywood, the relationship usually remains in the background and is not central for the conflict. And it is not steamy, either.

‘The Battle Sylph’ offers the best from the medieval traditional fantasy with its quests, parties of brave heroes with a noble cause and a dastardly nemesis figure, while merging it with quite the liberated sexual attitude and a central relationship, which triggered the events in the book. The balance is solid and achieved by integrating sex into the worldbuilding, which evades the hazard of this becoming a book, where sex randomly flies around and is neither relevant, nor of any use to the plot. As the reader [you, because you have to have this book] discovers, the sylphs are spirits from a different plain, which live together in hives and divide into several subspecies, according to their status and function in the hive. There are elemental sylphs. Fire, water, earth, air. There are healing sylphs and there are also battle sylphs otherwise called the battlers. Every subspecies, excluding the battle sylphs, are female. The battlers are the soldiers in the hive and exist for war and sex, since they are the only males. The sole female to receive their affections is the queen of the hive, which makes them highly competitive and aggressive towards each other. The mythos in ‘The Battle Sylph’ helps the reader identify the mutual traits and the justification behind the behavior of all the battlers in the novel such as Heyou, the youngest battler and main protagonist, Ril and Mace. The dynamics and the hierarchy are fascinating to rediscover, because sylphs in general have no known mythological and popular role attached to them and this rendition steals the show, so to say.

Because sylphs in general require a connection with a human master in order to exist in the human world, the novel is rich in diverse relationship dynamics and scenarios. Beyond the usual human-human interaction with all the classic elements and tropes, such as friendship, betrayal, loyalty, subordination and defilement, readers are also treated to mandatory master-sylph episodes, which are as diverse as the individual characters. McDonald features cold hearted masters with a sadistic streak towards their sylphs, benign masters with a liberal mind, who break some rules and grant some freedoms to their sylphs and masters, who stray away from established models and allow their sylphs to act as they wish, relying on cooperation rather than servitude.

Although Solie and Heyou are the central couple, a queen with her battle sylph, their roles and the story attached to them would ring a bell. Solie is the first woman to break a monopolized by men tradition, by being bound to a battle sylph. Heyou is the young inexperienced battler, who must stand against many a challenge. That aside, the chemistry between these two feels very much real and volatile. However, the real emotional intensity lies in the human-sylph interactions between Leon, the king’s head of security and a dirty trick man, and his battler Ril and Jasar, member of the spoiled elite with many connections and an insufferable ego, and his battler Mace. Leon and Ril walk on the path of guilt, redemption and forgiveness, after it becomes clear that the female sacrifice used in the summoning ritual was actually the reason the battlers crossed plains and her death results in madness for the sylph and hatred towards the master, who remains clueless. Leon’s devastation upon learning the truth is raw and heartfelt, while Ril’s hatred and painful denial is also powerful to read. Mace is less fortunate with his master Jasar, whom you would love to hate and kill, if you were a character in the story. Mace has to endure his master’s depravations, toxic and demanding personality and amoral orders in silence; a bond from which he cannot escape and threatens to add a horrific twist in the resolution.

As you see, ‘The Battle Sylph’ is the Horn of Plenty. From page one you are assaulted with so many flavors, excitement and adventures that you may need some time to adjust. This is my issue with the book. It is taking a non-stop staccato story and playing it double time. There are almost no natural pauses for the reader to rest and by the end of the journey, I was as exhausted as the characters and mind you, I never even had to raise a sword or survive almost certain annihilation. This unnatural speed to dash to the finish line coupled with the lightning quick POV changes might result in some confusion, but overall these two issues do not steal from the quality of the storytelling, prose or creative prowess.

Verdict: I wanted to be sassy, humorous and witty, but quite frankly writing this review sapped completely. There are at least a few thousand words more I wanted to say, but this is a review and not a thesis. In a few words though, ‘The Battle Sylph’ is a winner for sure. A power exercise for your brain’s endurance, but the benefits outweigh the minor inconveniences along the way.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Reading next: Demonkeepers by Jessica Andersen

Title: Except the Queen

Author: Jane Yolen & Midori Snyder

Genre: Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy/Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Roc (Penguin)
Publication Date: February 2010
Hardcover: 384 Pages

From award winning authors Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder comes a tale of two worlds-and one destiny…

Sisters Serena and Meteora were once proud members of the high court of the Fairy Queen- until they played a prank that angered her highness. Separated and banished to the mortal realm of Earth, they must find a way to survive in a strange world in which they have no power. But there is more to their new home than they first suspect…

A sympathetic Meteora bonds with a troubled young girl with an ornate tattoo on her neck. Meteora recognizes it as a magic symbol that will surely bring danger down on them all. Serena, meanwhile, takes in a tortured homeless boy whose mind is plagued by dark visions. The signs point to a rising power that threatens to tear asunder both fairy and human worlds.

And the sisters realize that perhaps the queen cast them from their homes not out of anger or spite- but because they were the only ones who could do what must be done…

Stand alone or series: Stand alone novel

How did I get this book: Review Copy from the publisher

Why did I read this book: Jane Yolen is an author I read and adored when I was a young reader (her Sister Light, Sister Dark and White Jenna were my particular favorites), and so when I saw that she had a new fantasy novel, I was ecstatic. I hadn’t read anything by Midori Snyder, but was more than willing to dive into Except the Queen…

Review:

Most of the time, I can get a feel for a book pretty quickly. I can predict what a book is about and where it is gonna go from the first chapter or so. But every so often, a book comes along and completely befuddles me. These books are surprises; they are unpredictable.

Such is Except the Queen.

Written by collaborating award-winning authors Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder, Except the Queen is an unexpected delight of a novel, alternating between two main narrators, fey sisters Serana and Meteora. After stumbling across their haughty, proud queen copulating with a mortal, Serana warns Meteora that they must never, ever speak of what they have seen, for the Fey Queen’s rage is terrible. Alas, Meteora unwittingly lets her tongue slip, and soon the High Court is atwitter with the news of their beautiful, superior Queen’s rutting – everyone is allowed their games and silly engagements with humans, except the Queen. To quell the gossip, the Queen banishes the sisters to the world of humans, depriving them of their magic and their beautiful, youthful forms. Separated from each other, placed in powerless, old woman flesh, and utterly alone in this bizarre new world, Serana and Meteora struggle to accustom themselves to their mortal surroundings, and to find each other no matter the cost. But each sister soon discovers that they have stumbled into something much larger and of more import than a Fey Queen’s wounded pride. The fate of their world lies in the hands of these two banished sisters, and the two strange mortals each is inexplicably drawn to: a troubled girl named Sparrow that cries herself to sleep every night and bears a poison tattoo from one of Meteora’s kind, and a deeply, emotionally scarred young man named Robin, that beseeches Serana for sanctuary.

When I first laid eyes on Except the Queen, I was under the impression it was a Young Adult novel (probably in large part due to the YA feel to the cover) – but it certainly is no lighthearted fairy romp. Imagine my surprise, then, when the novel left the Fey woods in a Howl’s Moving Castle sort of turn of events, set in the urban jungle of contemporary New York (and Milwaukee)! Except the Queen kept me on my toes throughout – there are minor players and major ones, none of them truly understanding their own place in the story or the overall scheme of events until, in a flourish of revelation, everything comes together in the end. I loved the little surprises along the way to resolution and the unexpectedness of this quiet, beautifully written book.

Indeed, it’s really the writing style that makes Except the Queen stand out – Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder have the collaboration thing down pat. Although I’m not sure if each author wrote as the separate voices of the sisters, my guess would be that is the case, and the overall result is damn near seamless. Meteora and Serana are distinct, separate characters with their own experiences and first-person narrations – though the prose for both sisters is equally beautiful and unique. Meteora, the younger sister, the spontaneous “meddler and mender” of the two, was my favorite character (and, in all honesty, more central to the story, reminiscent of Brandon Sanderson’s Siri of Warbreaker). Serana, in contrast, is the wiser, “farseer” elder sister – perhaps a little less memorable in comparison to her vivacious sister, but a wonderful character nonetheless. I loved how both Serana and Meteora struggled with the human world and their interpretation of our familiar technology and customs. For example, in describing the U.S. Postal service, Meteora writes:

Now, you must write your Mortal Name, the numer, street, city state, and code of your abode on the back of the envelope. Find a letter that surely will be in a little box by your door. It will have all the information you need. There are big blue boxes on the street with eagles painted on them, put your letter to me there and a man dressed in blue with an eagle sigil on his breast will take it from the box and bring it to me. Better an eagle than a dove, don’t you agree?

Or, in a particularly memorable scene, Baba Yaga teaches Meteora how humans speak:

“What the fuck!” he shouted as the books tumbled to the ground.

“Yes, fuck you,” Baba Yaga said gaily.

“Fuck you, lady,” he snapped. “What the fuck’s your problem?”

“No fucking problem, really.”

“Yeah, well fuck off then.”

“See? Many uses,” Baba Yaga said, pulling me away from the angry boy who was muttering Stupid bitch as he gathered up his books. “Shit is another useful word. Also very common. For example, pleasantly surprised? You say ‘No shit?’ You think someone tells you tales, you scoff, ‘You’re shitting me.’ You find something you like very much, you exclaim, ‘That’s good shit!’” She looked down at me to see if I was following the language lesson, when in truth I was appalled. Not that we didn’t have our own bawdy language, but it seemed somehow richer and more expressive. Here there was only shit and fuck. What had happened to prick-louse and pig’s spawn? Or clay-brained apple-john? Or canker-blossomed coxcomb?

Oh, delightful! You get the picture.

The actual format of the story is wonderful as well, as each sister narrates in alternating chapters, tied together by their letters to each other and interspersed occasionally with the short, first-person present tense narration of other important players: the Fey Queen, a mysterious Dog Boy, a dark Fey lord, and Sparrow.

Heartfelt, beautiful, and surprising, I loved this lovely fantasy novel from Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder. Though there were of course the usual misunderstandings that come form characters keeping secrets from each other (secrets kept with the best of intentions), these irritations were trivial. Except the Queen is a wonderful, captivating read and recommended to all.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

The Queen Remembers

You are in the forest that is not your own. You squint at its brightness; the sunlight bleaching the familiar green, the scent of the trees dusty as pressed flowers. You have come out of curiosity, and shivering beneath the glamour you are wearing, you roam through the quiet pines and birch. You have left behind your armor, your rank, your power, your great age. Here you are young, beautiful and fragile as the lily, your throat white and perfumed. Birds trill a warning and fall quiet. And then you hear it, a man singing softly under his breath, something tuneless, without true shape to change the world.

You stop and wait, frozen as the deer, for this is what you have come to see, to learn, to experience. For an eternity you have existed in another time, but now you are in this moment, and desire burns away the practiced control.

You see him weaving in and out of the sunlight, his chestnut hair stippled like a fawn’s hide. Yet he moves purposefully, hunting for you. You can smell the oil of his rifle, cradled in the crook of his arm. Alarm prickles your skin, crying run. But you will not. You want to see what happens. You want to know what it feels like, that pain that is human love, that weakness that binds stronger than spells. You, who have never given so much as a mustard seed of power away for free, you have come to give yourself away.

The man moves into the clearing and hesitates as if he knows you are there. And why should he not feel you? Have you not come here the last three days to spy on him? He is well made, with a comely face that pleases you. He is dressed like an oriole, the dark wool of his coat partially covered by a shrill orange that makes it easy to spot him even in the brush.

You study his face, wondering if you can allow yourself this indulgence. All the others have had their dalliances, their madcap affairs—everyone except the Queen. But you are here now and strangely calm as he turns toward you. You raise your arm and the dun-colored sleeve covers your face as you bend from your supple waist. You hold your breath for you hear the soft snick of the gun, feel its eye upon you, and you brace yourself for the stinging touch of iron.

The shot cracks the air open like a nut and it is too late to change your mind. You cry out as the bullet passes beneath your ribs and out your back. How could you have known it would hurt so much? Blood spills, staining your white shift crimson and you fall into a nest of autumn-bitten bushes. You can hear him now, running toward you, the gun dropped behind him when you screamed. Already he bleeds too; despair, hope, and love spilling out for you as he runs to where you wait, wounded in the blood-stained green.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: As mentioned before, I was a huge fan of Jane Yolen’s when I was growing up – my particular favorite book of hers was Sister Light, Sister Dark. I haven’t yet read Midori Snyder’s solo work, but I will be picking up The Innamorati (which intriguingly looks to be about the Commedia del’arte! Drama class, FTW!) very soon!

Anyone read Ms. Snyder’s solo novels and have a suggestion? [A side note: Isn't that cover for Sister Light, Sister Dark/White Jenna made of awesome 90s WIN? This was the cover I had in middle school. I *loved* the hair.]

Verdict: Unexpected, sweet, and subtle, Except the Queen is the kind of contemporary – even Urban – fantasy I love to read. Absolutely recommended.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Reading Next: The Mark by Jen Nadol

Welcome to another “Chat With An Author”. On this edition, we are delighted to bring you talented British author Alex Bell, author of Fantasy books. Her first published novel was The Ninth Circle, which was followed by Jasmyn, a book we both read and adored. Upon meeting the author last year, at the Gollancz Autumn Party, Ana sort of…threatened her to one day issue an invitation for an interview, which is how we are here today.

Here to talk about her new YA novel, Lex Trent Versus The Gods (reviewed here), here’s Alex Bell!

The Book Smugglers: Alex, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! Your new book, Lex Trent Versus the Gods is your third novel, but your first YA novel. How was this departure from writing for adults and what inspired the crossover?

Alex: Always happy to chat to the lovely – and legendary – Book Smugglers!

To be honest, the only thing that makes Lex Trent YA in my mind is the fact that it has a teenage protagonist. I didn’t change anything about the story to ‘make’ it YA, but just wrote the kind of book I would want to read. Obviously it’s completely different from my previous books, and I thoroughly enjoyed writing something that was fun rather than extremely serious.

The Book Smugglers: In the novel, Lex Trent, the protagonist, is a morally ambiguous thief, a conniving, super lucky crook who thinks he is the best at everything he does and has very little in the way of a conscience. Did you have any problems trying to sell the idea of a protagonist such as this for a YA audience? How do you think he will be received by your readers?

Alex: There were a couple of rejections in the early stages that were mainly to do with the fact that Lex is – let’s face it – such a selfish, badly behaved little sod. Personally I think young adults can cope with this, and I didn’t want to tone Lex’s character down or make him less bad because, for me, that is what makes the book fun! I’m a big fan of anti-heroes, and I particularly love the Flashman books, but anti-heroes aren’t for everyone, and readers who likes their protagonists whiter than white are not going to like Lex! I hope that most people will be able to enjoy his escapades for the good-natured naughtiness that they are and, so far, the reviews have been very positive in that respect.

The Book Smugglers: One of the things we loved about the book was the imaginative world that you created which is a mixture of completely new, exclusive Alex Bell creations like how the Globe has been split between Lands Above and Lands Beneath with ladders linking them; but we can also a see a strong influence from Greek Mythology like the presence of medusas, minotaur and griffins. Would you say you were inspired by this one particular mythology and departed from there or did it start somewhere else?

Alex: It definitely started with Greek Mythology, and I’m glad that that comes through. One of the first inspirations for Lex was my memory of watching Jason and the Argonauts when I was little, and being extremely impressed with the giant Neptune figure that rose out of the sea to help the floundering ship. I also saw a film around the same time (although I’ve no idea what it was called) that showed Perseus fighting the Medusa. And my Dad had me read the Illiad and the Odyssey when I was a kid, which probably impacted on me as well.

The other elements in Lex’s world – the ones I made up myself – just sneaked in on their own, mostly because they made me laugh. I wanted to have a mixture because although the world was influenced by Greek Mythology, I wanted it to have its own distinctive feel as well, and not just be a rip-off of Ancient Greece. .

The Book Smugglers: We have a soft spot for fairy tales here at the Smugglers’ HQ, especially retellings. We loved how In Lex Trent Versus The Gods, you have fairy godmothers retiring to the woods where they know no one will bother them with wishes; Your second book Jasmyn is a modern fairytale. Do you have a favourite old fairytale or a new retelling?

Alex: I loved the Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister film as a modern retelling of an old fairytale, but I haven’t read the book. I also loved The Tenth Kingdom mini-series, which was such an awesome retelling of old fairytales – mixing the dark stuff in with the twinkly stuff.

The Book Smugglers: Let’s talk about Unreliable Narrators, shall we: this is one of our favourite narrative styles at the Book Smugglers and one that you seem to favour as well. Be it a narrator who doesn’t know he is not telling the truth because he doesn’t know the truth or because he is actually lying to himself as well. Why do you use this type of narrative in your writing?

Alex: Except for The Ninth Circle, it hasn’t been a conscious decision of mine to use unreliable narrators in my books, but I think this type of narration works well because it keeps people guessing about what is going to happen, and it means you can’t take everything you’re told at face value. An element of this would probably creep into any book I wrote in the first person because I think we’re all unreliable narrators when it comes to our own lives!

The Book Smugglers: Who are your writing influences or would you say your writing Gods are?

Alex: Obviously, the great Terry Pratchett is one of my main influences. I’ve been reading his books for a long time – I think they probably helped me survive the extremely horrible five years I had at secondary school – because of the fact that they’re pure escapism, very funny and could always cheer me up. They also served as a bit of light relief when I was studying Law.

Madeleine Brent (pen name of Peter O’Donnell) is also one of my writing Gods because of the incredibly deft touch he has with characterisation. And the immensely satisfying twists and turns throughout the books – you usually know they’re coming, but that only makes finally getting there even more rewarding.

Apart from those two I have many other writing influences, including authors I have read and not enjoyed because that makes me clearer about what kind of thing I want to avoid in my own books.

The Book Smugglers: Are you a reader of Young Adult fiction? What are some of your favorite YA titles?

Alex: I loved the Harry Potter books if they can be counted as YA. I’m not really a big fan of the YA paranormal romances (although I’ve only read three), and I find it annoying when teenage characters are too goody-two-shoes (which might just possibly show through in Lex!) I’m trying to read more YA now so that I have a better idea of what’s out there.

The Book Smugglers: You are like, super, ultra young. How did you accomplish becoming a lawyer, dropping off, writing three books and getting them all published before even being 25? Are you a genius?

Alex: Ah, well, I didn’t actually become a lawyer – although you can spread that rumour around the internet if you like as that would make me look very impressive! I started the LPC (solicitor school) in London, and really loved it (mainly because I met some great people and enjoyed having a giggle with them), but the more I learned about Law as a profession, the more I realised how hopeless it would be to try to fit writing in as well, since law is an extremely work-intensive career path. And would probably suck all creativity out of you like a leech.

I’ve been lucky enough to get published young partly because I started writing young! I finished my first novel when I was seventeen, and sent short stories and novels out for two years before I got my agent. So it wasn’t quite the walk in the park that maybe it seems. I certainly had my fair share of rejection letters!

Basically, I decided I would rather be a poor writer than a rich lawyer, but perhaps we can just go with my being a genius and doing it all, as that is vastly more impressive. Have I mentioned that I am also a qualified rocket scientist and a brain surgeon?

The Book Smugglers: What are you working on next? Please tell us you have another Lex Trent adventure in the works?

Alex: I certainly do! In fact, I have already finished Lex Trent 2. And I love this one even more than the first one, mostly due to the fact that Lex’s new companion is an outlaw cowboy called Jesse, who is almost as much of a scoundrel as Lex is himself. These two characters practically write themselves and so it’s really more a question of my just being their personal typist. Their secretary, if you will.

The Book Smugglers: The zombies are coming! The zombies are coming! You only have time to save ONE book, ONE movie, and ONE TV show. QUICK! What are they?

Alex: Yikes, what an appalling dilemma! The book would be whatever was nearest out of Going Postal, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, or Tregaron’s Daughter. The movie would be Weekend at Bernie’s – no contest. And the TV show would be Boston Legal (again, no contest!)

The Book Smugglers: We Book Smugglers are faced with constant threats and criticisms from our significant others concerning the sheer volume of books we purchase and read – hence, we have resorted to ’smuggling books’ home to escape scrutinizing eyes. Have you ever had to smuggle books?

Alex: Never! My family are extremely book-orientated. Books of all kinds are warmly welcomed in our house. Indeed, we once had cleaners who complained bitterly about the number of bookshelves they had to dust (needless to say, they are no longer with us). I am far more likely to get into trouble for smuggling another animal into the house than a book.

The Book Smugglers: Thank you for your time! It’s been a pleasure.

Alex: Likewise!

Title: Lex Trent Versus The Gods

Author: Alex Bell

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: 4 February 2010
Paperback: 352 pages

Law student Lex Trent’s world is inhabited by fearsome magicians, ageing crones and a menagerie of Gods and Goddesses. And while Lex is seemingly dedicated to his legal studies he’s always enjoyed a challenge – which is why he leads a double life as the notorious cat burglar ‘The Shadowman’ who has been (luckily) evading capture for years.

But Lex’s luck is about to run out because the Goddess of Fortune has selected him to be her player in the highly dangerous Games. Losing is not an option for Lex (particularly as it so often involves dying) but can he really win each of the perilous rounds? Given that the reward for doing so is money, fame and glory – all things that Lex is quite keen on – he’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure he will… and he’s certainly got good experience of cheating.

Stand alone or series: First in what seems to be a VERY promising new series!

How did I get this book: Review Copy from the publisher

Why did I read this book: A YA novel from an author whose previous novel I loved, with a protagonist who is an anti-hero facing Gods? I AM SO THERE.

Review:

There is a sort of an instinctual reaction, or chemistry even, between a reader and an author’s books that doesn’t happen always and thus it is a very rare and precious thing. That Je Ne Sais Quoi, which is partly unexplainable, happens between Alex Bell’s books and I. We just sort of ….click. First it was Jasmyn and I loved that book so much because it had those elements I adore: fairytales and an unreliable narrator, and romance and darkness but not enough darkness to make it dreary. Then comes Lex Trent Versus The Gods and the two books could not be any more different and yet here I am loving this one as well because it also has elements that I adore: the unrepentant scoundrel anti-hero, the non-stop adventure and Gods being busybodies. It is almost like she reads my mind and decides to write books especially made for me. It is uncanny.

Moving the spotlight (damn it) from the reviewer to the book and its protagonist: Lex Trent. Master thief, liar, con man extraordinaire who poses as a law student during the day so that he can learn the same laws he breaks. As a follower of the Goddess of Fortune he is also very, very luck. Unfortunately for Lex, Fortune is fickle and luck can only take a person so far, so as the book opens, his luck seems to be about to change when is caught in the act of breaking into a Museum and has to go on the run. Not that this troubles this very much you see, he is certain he can start over again anywhere because:

Lex was sure he would excel at pretty much anything he put his hand to. It wasn’t arrogance. It would only be arrogance if you didn’t know you were a multi-talented genius. But there was no else like Lex – he was the best at everything. Everything.

Meaning that Lex Trent portrayal’s is the epitome of the Anti-hero: he is really and truly arrogant, selfish, sneaky. There is no sugar coating : this is no redemption story. It is what it is, a cool, fast-paced adventure of a 17 year old guy who thinks himself the greatest thief who ever lived. If that is true or not, remains to be seen ( he likes to think so though and repeats to himself over and again how great he is. Poor Lex, repetition does not a truth make). Definitely not a book for everyone, especially not for those who want a definite separation between black and white, this will not be found here.

Possibly the most important fact about an anti-hero is how they are, generally speaking, almost a villain but one that didn’t make quite it to VillainyVille. Either because of their motivations, or because their hearts are not evil, or deep in their souls they love puppies (or griffins), something makes an anti-hero likeable even if it is just that combination of charm and daring. Alex Bell wrote her story in way that her character was disclosed to the reader, little by little via small windows to his soul – his motivations, if we can call them that, might not excuse his behaviour but to me went a long way to make him likeable and more sympathetic. As to whether the same can be said for every reader, it will most certainly depend on who is reading the book. And this is another fantastic aspect of this novel: that even if, as first glance it is an adventurous romp, it also engages the reader and requires a response on another level: who are you as a reader and how far are you willing to go to accept your protagonist? Does he even need to be accepted at all? One can even say that the very nature of literature and the rapport between reader and book is at balance whenever an anti-hero shows up. And I simply love that.

On another level Lex Trent versus The Gods it is just a plain good book. And with an incredibly creative world-building and a great self-contained story. Lex Trent after going on the run discovers that he has been chosen to be one of the players in the infamous Games: played by hree Gods who picks three humans to compete against each other; Lex is chosen by the Goddess of Fortune (even though he would love to have been chosen by the God of Wit and Daring). In this world they inhabit, Gods play with humans’ lives at will, there are four suns, the Globe is split in the Lands Above and the Lands Beneath and they separated by Ladders – there are also magicians, and gypsies and Kings and fairy godmothers who retired to a village far away because they are sick and tired of granting wishes. It is an incredible mixture of Greek Mythology and Alex Bell’s mythology.

From a scene where Lex stands between a rock and a hard place (or a medusa and a gladiator) to flying a ship with his mind, to facing what he fears the most, to some other people that appear in the book ( I am being elusive on purpose), to the twists and surprises and details that matter (everything that Lex says or thinks has a reason), for all that, Lex Trent Versus The Gods was a damn good read.

Don’t let he hear me say that: he is not quite there yet, but one day Lex Trent might well be one of the most Awesome Thieves and Adventurers ever.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: I read the prologue and was hooked:

No one knew the precise date when the Globe had split in half. For many hundreds of years the Lands Above and the Lands Beneath had been nothing more than a metaphorical, symbolical divide. But then, one day, the Gods decided that they had had enough – more than enough, in fact – of their subjects complaining and pestering and whining at them day and night. Being the focus of so much worship can be a tiring business. The Gods needed somewhere that would be quiet – a place they could call their own. And thus, one fateful day, the earth shook and trembled and a great split appeared right across the centre and then the two halves cracked apart like a giant, cosmic, galactic Easter egg. No one alive today could remember the Great Divide, of course, for it had happened many millennia ago now. One might think the planet had never split in half at all had it not been for the ladders . . .

Physicists had happily debated for hours on end how the split was even possible, for the general consensus seemed to be that the planet had been spherical once but now . . . now it was more like a . . . well, like a dumbbell – those weights that impressive-looking men use to make themselves look even more impressive. A dumbbell that had been stood up vertically. The top weight was the Lands Above, the bottom weight was the Lands Beneath and the bar in the middle was the ladders stretching between the two discs. If you travelled to a certain place in the centre of the Lands Above, you could look down over the edge and see them – thousands and thousands of ladders stretching away through space, linking the top of the planet to its bottom half – the province of the Gods. It was a breathtaking, awe-inspiring sight. Some of the ladders were solid, built of wood and metal and attached to platforms below. Others were no more than rope ladders, waving lightly in the breeze and dusted with space frost.

Just as physicists had debated the mechanics of the Split itself, philosophers had argued heatedly about the theological significance of ladders being used to join the two halves of the planet together. After all, it seemed a most curious choice when the Gods had forbidden people to ever attempt the journey down to the Lands Beneath. If they truly didn’t want people climbing them then why not use poles or wires or anything other than ladders? It was like giving a fat child a gigantic chocolate lolly and sternly telling him he must never lick it . . .

Some said the Gods had used ladders as a test or a temptation or a trick or some other grandly significant theological, symbolical, philosophical form of gesture. Others said it was just because Ladderworld went into liquidation around that time as a consequence of being supremely dull and so there was a surplus of raw materials readily available.

But – at any rate – no one had ever attempted the forbidden journey. For one thing, it would take hundreds of years to travel from one end to the other and so only with magical help would the person actually reach their destination before they perished from old age. But, in addition, people were afraid, for no one could remember what creatures had gone with the Lands Beneath and what might be waiting down there. It was well known that a griffin guarded the ladders near the top and as for what else there might be . . . the mind filled with horrible visions of sharp-toothed, many-tentacled carnivorous things. Besides which, the Gods lived down there. The people of the Lands Above agreed that there was no point whatsoever in attempting the treacherous journey down
the Space Ladders to the Lands Beneath when the only things down there were teeth, tentacles and wrathful Gods waiting for them with lightning bolts. There had to be better things to risk your life for.

But . . . but . . . there were also tales of treasure, because there always are. The most beautiful, breathtaking, golden treasures they had down there. And it is a well-known and universal rule that there will always be – has always been – one stupid sod whose strength of greed outweighs their common sense and suppresses that all-important instinct of self-preservation.

Additional Thoughts: Later today, we interview Alex Bell on everything about Lex Trent! Be sure to come back!

Verdict: An excellent story, with a protagonist who is the epitome of the irreverent scoundrel set against an inventive mythological world, what is not to like?

Rating: 8 Excellent

Reading Next: Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Today, we welcome you to our very own launch party for the third novel in Lisa McMann’s “Wake” trilogy! First, we offer a double feature review of Fade and Gone. Then, we invite YOU dear readers to enter our international giveaway for the chance to win one of TEN copies of Gone!

Fade (Book 2 in the “Wake” Trilogy)

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 2009
Hardcover: 256 Pages

For Janie and Cabel, real life is getting tougher than the dreams. They’re just trying to carve out a little (secret) time together, but no such luck. Disturbing things are happening at Fieldridge High, yet nobody’s talking. When Janie taps into a classmate’s violent nightmares, the case finally breaks open–but nothing goes as planned. Not even close. Janie’s in way over her head, and Cabe’s shocking behavior has grave consequences for them both.

Worse yet, Janie learns the truth about herself and her ability. And it’s bleak. Seriously, brutally bleak. Not only is her fate as a Dream Catcher sealed, but what’s to come is way darker than she’d even feared…

REVIEW: Fade picks up where Wake leaves off, following Janie and Cabel as they delve headfirst into another undercover sting at Fieldridge High. The police force follows up on an anonymous lead that a teacher may be having an illicit, sexual relationship with students, with Janie accepting the role as point-person – i.e. bait. As Janie struggles to discover the identity of the sleazy teacher, she also has a lot to deal with, personally. She juggles her growing relationship with Cabel (which must be kept secret from her friends and the student body, lest they blow their cover) with her own growing understanding of her power as a Dreamcatcher. With Miss Stubin’s old police files and journals to help guide her, Janie comes to terms with some of the hard truths about her very unique abilities – both good and bad.

Lisa McMann really puts Janie and Cabel through the grinder with this second book. In Wake, she introduced readers to Janie’s unique ability to enter the dreams of anyone sleeping near her – a curse Janie has to bear, which means she’s constantly tired, hungry, and isolated. Though Janie has had her “power” since she was eight years old, she doesn’t know much about it (other than how drastically it interferes with her ability to lead a normal life). In Fade, Ms. McMann explores the implications of being a Dreamcatcher in much more detail, creating a heartbreaking future for Janie and Cable. And I mean heartbreaking. This is heavy stuff. I loved that Ms. McMann doesn’t shy away from the gritty in this second novel – the characters speak like teens (swearing, believable slang, etc), they drink, they have sex. The sleazier elements of teacher-student relationships and date rape are also examined in an unflinching way, and I really appreciated that that (as horrifying as it is to read).

Again, the strength of Fade (as with Wake) lies with Janie and her relationship with Cabel. I love the natural progression with these two characters! They have disagreements and misunderstandings, but are undoubtably in love with each other, and I love that their relationship is changing and growing as they spend more time together. While Cabel’s character isn’t given as much insight as with the first book and he does feel a bit “support system”-y (i.e. he’s always – only – there to pick Janie up when she falls), there IS some significant development in his believability as a character. At least, there is to me. Whereas in the first book, Cabel came across as the typical too good to be true hawt dude with a troubled past that of COURSE is always there for Janie no matter what, in this second novel, you see some chinks in his perfection. He has to realize that Janie is an independent, intelligent young woman who wants to help, even if it means putting herself in dangerous situations. And when Cabel tries to go all alpha and protect her from herself (yecch, I abhor this type of “hero” behavior), Janie calls him on it…and he gets it. That’s a good thing.

There’s also another marked improvement in Fade from Wake – the revelations about the nature of her gift. Some of those questions that weren’t asked in the prior book are addressed here, in particular about the future that awaits young Janie. With Miss Stubin’s notes (and her spectral, from-the-grave dream guide persona) to guide her, Janie has a very dramatic decision to make that will change her life. This also means that the stage is set for some serious drama in Gone…

The only problem I had with Fade, as with Wake was how silly and implausible the Janie and Cabel working as super secret agents for a very well funded and influential branch of the Michigan police department. It’s a little too TV movie for me. But, with the strength of Janie’s character and the difficult issues she must grapple with, I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief in the sillier (and more trivial) aspects of the story.

Much better, more complicated and heartbreaking than Wake, Fade is a smart, sharp book. Highly recommended – if you were underwhelmed with book 1, I beg you to give book 2 an honest shot.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From Chapter 1:

Chapter 1
A NEW YEAR

January 1, 2006, 1:31 a.m.

Janie sprints through the snowy yards from two streets away and slips quietly through the front door of her house.

And then.

Everything goes black.

She grips her head, cursing her mother under her breath as the whirling kaleidoscope of colors builds and throws her off balance. She bumps against the wall and holds on, and then slowly lowers herself blindly to the floor as her fingers go numb. The last thing she needs is to crack her head open. Again.

She’s too tired to fight it right now. Too tired to pull herself out of it. Plants her cheek on the cold tile floor. Gathers her strength so she can try later, in case the dream doesn’t end quickly.

Breathes.

Watches.

You can read the full chapter online HERE.

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Gone (Book 3 in the “Wake” Trilogy)

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Publication Date: February 2010
Hardcover: 224 Pages

Janie thought she knew what her future held. And she thought she’d made her peace with it. But she can’t handle dragging Cabel down with her.

She knows he will stay with her, despite what she sees in his dreams. He’s amazing. And she’s a train wreck. Janie sees only one way to give him the life he deserves—she has to disappear. And it’s going to kill them both.

Then a stranger enters her life–and everything unravels. The future Janie once faced now has an ominous twist, and her choices are more dire than she’d ever thought possible. She alone must decide between the lesser of two evils. And time is running out….

REVIEW:

NOTE: This review contains SPOILERS for the first two books in the trilogy. If you have not yet read Wake and Fade, and if you do not wish to be spoiled for these two books, READ NO FURTHER. You have been warned…

Gone is the last book in the Wake trilogy, in which Janie comes to terms with the biggest decision of her life. She faces a traumatic, all around shitty decision: to stay with Cabel, to be loved, to continue with her work for the Police Force and go blind and lose the use of her hands….or to isolate herself, giving up Cabel but keeping her sight and dexterity. Janie loves Cabel and he loves her, but she knows from his horrifying nightmares every night that he has his own doubts and fears about Janie’s future (and how his future will be affected by her crippling disability). During the day, he doesn’t betray even the slightest hint of doubt, and Janie feels so very alone – because the love of her life can only be honest to her in his dreams. Then, she gets a frantic message from her best friend and neighbor, Carrie – her father, a man she has never known, lies in the hospital and is very near death.

Gone is a worthy close to this trilogy, and is a very different animal than the first two books. While books 1 and 2 were centered on detective work/high school police stings with Cabel and Janie working undercover, this final book is much more introspective and focused on Janie’s abilities and her future (which makes it all the better, in my opinion). There is the mystery of who Janie’s father was before his debilitating injury, but Gone is really much more a book of answers and revelations, and, ultimately, of choices. Janie must choose between a hard road of love (always feeling that she’s holding back Cabe or making him resent her) or cutting herself off from the rest of the world entirely. It is, as one character puts it, Janie’s “Morton’s Fork” – a choice between two impossible alternatives.

In Gone, everything comes full circle. We learn what happened to Janie’s sad, alcoholic mother – a seed planted in the first book (one I had since been dying to see more of). In Gone, all answers are given. This is a HARD book. One thing Ms. McMann does so brilliantly throughout the trilogy is convey how very tough and messed up Janie (and Cabel’s) lives are, and I cannot help but feel for these two characters. I feel for them, but I admire them too – Cabel and Janie’s relationship goes to a whole new level in this book with Cabel’s subconscious doubts and fears (all extremely valid, all things considered). He becomes more real and believable as a character and I finally “buy” him in this third book because he’s no longer a too good to be true, completely selfless hot boyfriend. And Janie is fantastic as well, coming face to face with her own greatest fears and making the only decision she can with the hand she has been dealt.

The revelations are wonderful and the book ends the trilogy in a very smart way. It’s bittersweet, but just so…fitting. It couldn’t have been any other way. I’m glad that the trilogy doesn’t end with Janie magically all better and all her issues resolved in a sparkle of rainbows and living happily ever after with nary a worry in the world. I have mad respect for Lisa McMann, for continuing to go there. This is a far more mature book than Wake, and it is good to see Janie come full circle.

The Wake Trilogy, in this reader’s opinion, is one that just gets better with each subsequent book – and it’s a story arc that grows on you, the longer you think about it. Absofreakinglutely, highly recommended.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the official excerpt:

Janie and Cabel move carefully through the hallways, watching for open doors. She gets caught in a weak dream but only for a few seconds—she barely even has to pause in step. They stand outside Henry’s room, Janie’s hand tense on the handle.

Static and shockingly bright colors. Janie nearly crumples to her knees, but this time she is more prepared. She steps blindly toward the bed and Cabel helps her safely to the floor as her head pounds with noise. It’s more intense than ever.

Just when Janie thinks her eardrums are going to burst, the static dulls and the scene flickers to a woman in the dark once again. It’s the same woman as the day before, Janie’s certain, though she can’t make out any distinguishing features. And then Janie sees that the man is there too. He’s in the shadows, sitting on a chair, watching the woman. He turns, looks at Janie and blinks. His eyes widen and he sits up straighter in his chair.

“Help me!” he pleads.

And then, like a broken filmstrip, the picture cuts out and the static is back, louder than ever, constant screams in her ears. Janie struggles, head pounding. Tries pulling out of the dream, but she can’t focus – the static is messing up her ability to concentrate.

She’s flopping around on the floor now. Straining.

Thinks Cabel is there, holding her, but she can’t feel anything now.

The bright colors slam into her eyes, into her brain, into her body. The static is like pinpricks in every pore of her skin.

She’s trapped.

Trapped in the nightmare of a man who can’t wake up.

Janie struggles again, feeling like she’s suffocating now. Feeling like if she doesn’t get out of this mess, she might die here. Cabe! She screams in her head. Get me out of here!

But of course he can’t hear her.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Courtesy of publisher Simon Pulse, we have TEN copies of Gone up for grabs! The contest is open to everyone and will run until Saturday, February 13th at 11:59 PM (PST). To enter, leave a comment here answering this question: If you were faced with your own “Morton’s Fork” – living with Janie’s ability as a Dreamcatcher, or completely isolating yourself from other slumbering people – what would you choose?

Good luck!

Title: Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

Author: Laini Taylor

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publication Date: June 2007
Paperback: 448 pages

Stand alone or series: Book 1 in two book series called “Faeries of Dreamdark”

Magpie Windwitch is not like other faeries, most of whom live in tranquil seclusion. When she learns that escaped devils are creeping back into the world, she travels all over with her faithful clan of crows, hunting them down. The hunt will take her to the great forest of Dreamdark, where she must unravel the mystery of the worst enemy her folk have ever known. Can one small, determined faerie defeat the forces that threaten to unmake the world?

How did we get this book: Bought

Why did we read this book: We have heard nothing but AMAZING things about Laini Taylor’s writing, and both of us were eager to finally give her books a try! What better place to start with her first novel, Blackbringer?

REVIEW:

First Impressions:

Thea: I have heard nothing but singing praise for the books of Laini Taylor, so my expectations were pretty darn high when I started Blackbringer. But holy winged fairies, Batman! This first novel of the Faeries of Dreamdark was totally awesome. I found myself falling in love with Laini Taylor’s descriptions, her characters, the cadence of each character’s speech, and the world she has created with Dreamdark. Yeah, you could say I’ll be back for more.

Ana: I am no newbie to Laini Taylor’s fantastic writing, having read the amazing Lips Touch last year. I can safely say that after reading Blackbringer this author has been cemented as an auto-buy: and how could it not be so? Great plotting, great characters, great prose combine to an altogether solid reading experience that can only make me a happy reader.

On the Plot:

Thea: The overall plot for Blackbringer is a familiar one – a great evil, a darkness, has risen and threatens to not only take over the land, but to destroy the very fabric of the world. Young Magpie Windwitch (granddaughter of an elemental wind, sister to seven crows, nomadic fairy and monster-hunter) comes across an opened bottle, fished out of the sea by men (“mannies”) and it’s magical seal broken – but this is no mere underling monster. Magpie discovers that however unwittingly, these ignorant humans have unleashed a great darkness that threatens to destroy everything. In order to prevent this hungry beast’s advance, Magpie journeys back to Dreamdark to find the oldest and most powerful of the seven Djinn that created the universe, named the Magruwen, and implore his help. Though her task seems impossible, Magpie is no ordinary young sprout – she has a destiny beyond her wildest dreams, and the world rests on her tiny, winged shoulders.

How much did I love the writing in this book? How much did I love the world Ms. Taylor creates with Dreamdark, Issrin Ev, and the Moonlit Gardens? The powers of the long-slumbering Djinn, the ever-destructive force of the Blackbringer, the ignorant Mannies, the serendipitous imps, and the forgetful faeries?

I LOVED IT ALL.

Just as the Djinn weave their magics and create a tapestry of being, so too does Ms. Taylor weave an enchanting world for her readers. I, for one, found myself completely immersed from the first page – from the descriptions to the character mannerisms. The background conflict is familiar (as is the “special” nature of protagonist Magpie), but it’s written in such a whimsical way, in such a beautifully layered and described world, that it made me feel like a little girl again, reading a fairy story for the very first time.

And speaking of fairies – in Blackbringer they are tiny, fierce, magical creatures once more! Faeries are hardly ever tiny anymore (though they certainly are ferocious and cruel) – and I dig that. Blackbringer makes me think of Peter Pan, of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, of John Anster Fitzgerald (pictured below in Additional Thoughts) and Brian Froud’s illustrations.

While I loved basically everything, there were a few tiny drawbacks. For one, I think this book was on the protracted side – I found my attention wavering eversoslightly by the last third of the book. In comparison, the final battle comes pretty quickly and is resolved without much ado. Still this is a very minor quibble – I found myself thoroughly enjoying this lovely book.

Ana: Yes, the plot is a familiar one; yes the main character is the special heroine who is destined to save the world and yes, it all seems impossible at first, seeing as how aforementioned heroine is a miniscule sized fairy. Yet, as Thea, I LOVED it and here is why:

For Laini Taylor’s grasp of familiar Fantasy tropes which she infuses with creativity and heart, making them if not necessarily new, at least charming, enchanting and engaging. And that is one the signs of a good writer to me.

And even as familiar as it was (the dark is rising!), I still was very much interested in learning about how it all came to me and the intricacies of the fairies’ and Djinn (that yes, wholly unique to me) mythology. The only drawback was the anticlimactic ending. The entire book was a huge build- up towards the face off against the Greasest!Darkest!Baddest! force of all time and when it came, it was over too easily and too fast. It was like Lord of the Rings all over again. I remember that sentiment of frustration I had when after all they went through after what felt like a millennium of suffering to fight Sauron the only casualty was…..Frodo’s finger. But I digress. My point is, there was enough plot here, enough good things to extend this fight for at least one more book. It just ended too fast.

An aside: Thea cited a few examples of miniscule-yet-fierce fairies and that reminds me of another recent example which I also loved, Knife by R.J. Anderson

On the Characters:

Thea: Just as with the storytelling, the characters of Dreamdark are a pure delight. Magpie Windwitch, our intrepid heroine, is in many ways the typical, gifted-beyond-her-wildest-dreams ragamuffin, but she’s so damn endearing, the use of the trope hardly registers. She’s wild, brave and impossibly gifted with abilities – but that’s all tied into her unique heritage. I loved her relationship with her brother/protector/friend crows, with her old nurse imp, and with her friends Poppy and Talon. ALL of the characters are varied and wonderful, my favorites being Talon (O.M.G. love Talon – as I’m sure Ana will reiterate) the prince whose father and kingdom rejects him because of his stunted wings, Poppy the kind and softspoken faerie that can talk to plants, the formidable Magruwen, and – of course! – the beautiful, legendary faery warrior Bellatrix.

Although, I will have to agree with something that Kristen of the awesome Fantasy Cafe says in her review of the book – the only quibble I have with the characters is how clearly good or evil they are. Not that it’s a bad thing, necessarily, but I love me my ambiguously (im)moral characters.

Ana: I believe that the characters Blackbringer are the added flavouring in this story. As much as Magpie (and what a GREAT name!) is wonderful if not especially complex, I completely lost my heart to her clan of Crows and to Talon. The former for their mixture of fierceness in time of need or for their mothering of Pie or for just how much FUN they were. I mean, they used to be a travelling theatre band! Crows. Who put on wigs to perform. How whimsically fun. And with dialogue pearls such as “curiosity killed the eejit”, how could I not love them?

And then there was Talon. The moment he stepped into the story, daydreaming at the top of a tower, part of a clan of warriors of which he could never be truly a part of as he couldn’t fly because of his stunted wings, I knew. I knew that he was the hero, if there was going to be one. And I fell in love with him, and he was awesome. His scenes with his wings (the lack of them) were poignant but also genius.

And the tattoos. I am easy that way.

I loved them all so much that the thought of the lack of ambiguity didn’t even cross my mind…

Final Thoughts, Observations & Rating:

Thea: Blackbringer was my first exposure to Laini Taylor, and I am one very happy camper. I loved this fabulous book, and I cannot wait to read more from this very talented author. (And, as I’m told, her books just get better – I cannot freaking wait!)

Ana: I highly recommend this to YA and Fantasy readers alike – Blackbringer is a wonderful book with a vivid characters. And I can’t wait to read the sequel either. Another joint, Thea!

Notable Quotes/Parts: You can read an official excerpt online at Amazon.com via the “Look Inside” feature HERE.

Additional Thoughts: The art! Oh the art! Blackbringer is illustrated by Laini Taylor’s husband, the very talented Jim Di Bartolo. In fact, he’s the artist for all three of Ms. Taylor’s current books. Check out his interior illustration below:

And, as mentioned earlier, Ms. Taylor’s take on fairies is reminiscent of some old favorite works of literature and art. In particular, this picture from John Anster Fitzgerald comes to mind.

Rating:

Thea: 8 – Excellent

Ana:8 – Excellent

Reading Next: Fade by Lisa McMann

“On The Smugglers’ Radar” is a new feature for books that have caught our eye: books we heard of via other bloggers, directly from publishers, and/or from our regular incursions into the Amazon jungle. This is how the Smugglers’ Radar was born, and because there are far too many books that we want than we can possibly buy or review (what else is new?) we thought we could make it into a weekly feature – so YOU can tell us which books you have on your radar as well!

On Thea’s Radar:

Angie of Angieville reviewed this book this week, and I think my head exploded. I desperately need a copy of this book. Someone want to give me an ARC? Pretty please?

Everyone tells Isabel that she is the Shifter – the ancient shape-shifting creature who has protected the kings of Samorna for centuries. They need her to be the Shifter. Prince Rokan risked everything when he rode into the Mistwood to summon her to his side; Ven, the magician’s apprentice, has devoted his life to studying her legend; and even Princess Clarisse, who fears and hates her, depends on Isabel’s powers to further her own plans.

But Isabel doesn’t feel like the Shifter. She feels like a lonely human girl, beset by flashes of memory that do more to confuse than to help her. If she is the Shifter, why can’t she change her shape? Why doesn’t she remember what made her flee the castle so many years ago? As she is drawn deeper into a web of magic and assassination, Isabel will have no choice but to look for answers. But her search will lead her to the one question the Shifter hasn’t faced in a thousand years: where does she come from, and what does she really want?

This next one again comes via Angie. Pretty. AND apparently it’s a re-release, with an updated cover. I’m intrigued…

Among the towering trees of magical Avalon, where humans dare not tread, lives Niviene, daughter of the Lady of the Lake and apprentice to Merlin the mage. Her people, the Fey, are folk of the wood and avoid the violence and avarice of man. But the strife of King Arthur’s realm threatens even Avalon’s peace, and Merlin needs his apprentice to thwart the chaos devouring Camelot. And so Niviene must use her special talents to help save a kingdom and discover the treachery of men and the beauty of love. A mystical love story, now back in print, sure to become a modern teen classic.

I have been meaning to read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie for ages now, and with this second book in the series coming out, I might just have to get on it. I love these titles, and the premises behind both books sound fantastic. Has anyone else read these books? Yay/nay?

From Dagger Award–winning and internationally bestselling author Alan Bradley comes this utterly beguiling mystery starring one of fiction’s most remarkable sleuths: Flavia de Luce, a dangerously brilliant eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders. This time, Flavia finds herself untangling two deaths—separated by time but linked by the unlikeliest of threads.

Flavia thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacy are over—and then Rupert Porson has an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. The beloved puppeteer has had his own strings sizzled, but who’d do such a thing and why? For Flavia, the questions are intriguing enough to make her put aside her chemistry experiments and schemes of vengeance against her insufferable big sisters. Astride Gladys, her trusty bicycle, Flavia sets out from the de Luces’ crumbling family mansion in search of Bishop’s Lacey’s deadliest secrets.

Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What of the vicar’s odd ministrations to the catatonic woman in the dovecote? Then there’s a German pilot obsessed with the Brontë sisters, a reproachful spinster aunt, and even a box of poisoned chocolates. Most troubling of all is Porson’s assistant, the charming but erratic Nialla. All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?

Saw this cover on Bookshelves of Doom and thought, WOW. No synopsis yet, but isn’t this cover preeeeetty?

This looks slightly ridiculous, but in a good camp kind of way. On a sidenote, compare the UK (left) and US (right) covers. Quite a difference there.

What good is a toy that will wind down? What if you could put a heart in one? A real heart. One that beat and beat and didn’t stop. What couldn’t you do if you could make a toy like that? From the moment Mathias becomes the owner of a mysterious piece of paper, he is in terrible danger. Entangled in devious plots and pursued by the sinister Doctor Leiter and his devilish toys, Mathias finds himself on a quest to uncover a deadly secret.

And lookie, a brand new stand alone novel forthcoming from Diana Wynne Jones!

“As a boy, he had spent fascinated hours looking at the garden through each differently coloured pane. Depending, you got a rose pink sunset garden, hushed and windless; a stormy orange garden, where it was suddenly autumn; a tropical green garden, where there seemed likely to be parrots and monkeys any second. And so on. As an adult now, Andrew valued that glass even more. Magic apart, it was old old old. The glass had all sorts of internal wrinkles and trapped bubbles, and the long-dead maker had somehow managed to make the colours both intense and misty at once.”

When the magician Jocelyn Brandon Hope died he bequeathed Melstone House to his grandson Andrew. He also left his ‘field of care’: an area of strangeness surrounding the land around the house, whose boundary Andrew must walk in order to preserve its power.

Andrew had always loved the house, but he finds owning it a lot more complicated, aside from all the magic. There is Mrs Stock, the tyrannical housekeeper who won’t let him move the furniture and punishes him with her terrible cooking. Just as bad is the obsessive gardener who will only grow giant inedible vegetables. To add to his troubles, twelve year old orphan Aidan Cain suddenly arrives on the doorstep begging protection from magical stalkers, and Andrew’s sinister rich neighbour, Mr Brown, begins to encroach on the ‘field of care’. The one compensation is the gardener’s beautiful niece, Stashe. Things become stranger and stranger until all is made clear with the help of the enchanted glass itself.

On Ana’s Radar:

I have been trying. I swear I have. To resume reading Historical romance but I just spent about two hours on Amazon and none of the ones I seen so far have seem interesting. They look and sound the same to me unless the author is an old favorite like Julia Quinn, Loretta Chase, Lisa Kleypas, Meredith Duran…so I came back from my search with more Fantasy and YA goodies!

First up, this was released last week in the US and it sounds interesting:

In a remote mountain academy, the politically expendable younger sons of the Great Houses study for an extraordinary task. Most will fail, some will die, but the reward for the dedicated few is great: mastery of the andat, and the rank of Poet. Thanks to these men – part sorcerers, part scholars – the great city-states of the Khaiem enjoy wealth and power beyond measure, and the greatest of them all is Saraykeht: glittering jewel of the Summer Cities. There are those in the world, however, who envy such wealth. There are great riches to be had in the Summer and Winter Cities, and only the threat of the andat unleashed holds the enemies of the Khaiem in check. Conflict is brewing in the world. Alliances will be broken and friends betrayed. The lowly will be raised up, the mighty will fall and innocents will be slaughtered. And two men, bound to each other by an act of kindness and an act of brutality, may be all that stands between the civilised world and war. War and something worse …

From Vertigo, this Graphic novel by Mike Carey seems really interesting as well…

Tom Taylor’s life was screwed from go. His father created the Tommy Taylor fantasy series, boy-wizard novels with popularity on par with Harry Potter. The problem is Dad modeled the fictional epic so closely to Tom’s real life that fans are constantly comparing him to his counterpart, turning him into the lamest variety of Z-level celebrity. In the final novel, it’s even implied that the fictional Tommy will crossover into the real world, giving delusional fans more excuses to harass Tom.

When an enormous scandal reveals that Tom might really be a boy-wizard made flesh, Tom comes into contact with a very mysterious, very deadly group that’s secretly kept tabs on him all his life. Now, to protect his own life and discover the truth behind his origins, Tom will travel the world, eventually finding himself at locations all featured on a very special map — one kept by the deadly group that charts places throughout world history where fictions have impacted and tangibly shaped reality, those stories ranging from famous literary works to folktales to pop culture. And in the process of figuring out what it all means, Tom will find himself having to figure out a huge conspiracy mystery that spans the entirety of the history of fiction.

We received this in the post this week and I can not possibly convey how this cover is gorgeous! We are both looking forward to reading this one now.

It’s a difficult time for fifteen-year-old Savannah Grey – she’s settled into her latest foster placement, but her body is acting strangely. Then other strange things begin to happen: nature, it seems, is exerting an overpowering force on the world. Birds behave erratically; gusts of wind blow leaves so fiercely they seem to lure people away. And Savannah discovers she has supernatural powers. Meanwhile, she feels drawn to the new boy Reece whose life is even stranger than hers. Quickly Savannah and Reece realise that nature has a purpose for them both. For they are on course to meet the vile and evil Ocrassa, who wants to destroy the world by corrupting nature. And it wants Savannah Grey to help realise its savage intent.

And it seems that my reading tastes are definitely taking a turn to the Dark Side (damn you, Thea) . Because this seems delicious:

In the final weeks of eighth grade, Lauren Wood made a choice. She betrayed her best friend, Helen, in a manner so publicly humiliating that Helen had to move to a new town just to save face. Ditching Helen was worth it, though, because Lauren started high school as one of the It Girls–and now, at the start of her senior year, she’s the cheerleading captain, the quarterback’s girlfriend, and the undisputed queen bee. Lauren has everything she’s ever wanted, and she has forgotten all about her ex-best friend.

But Helen could never forget Lauren. After three years of obsessing, she’s moving back to her old town. She has a new name and a new look, but she hasn’t dropped her old grudges. She has a detailed plan to bring down her former BFF by taking away everything that’s ever been important to Lauren—starting with her boyfriend.

Watch out, Lauren Wood. Things are about to get bitchy.

The second book in the Theatre Illuminata series by Lisa Mantchev is to be called Perchance to Dream. Since I loved the first book, Eyes Like Stars so much, I am dying to read this. The ARC cover is circulating around the Internet along with a blurb:

Act Two, Scene One

Growing up in the enchanted Thèâtre Illuminata, Beatrice Shakespeare Smith learned everything about every play ever written. She knew the Players and their parts, but she didn’t know that she, too, had magic. Now, she is the Mistress of Revels, the Teller of Tales, and determined to follow her stars. She is ready for the outside world.

Enter BERTIE AND COMPANY

But the outside world soon proves more topsy-turvy than any stage production. Bertie can make things happen by writing them, but outside the protective walls of the Thèâtre, nothing goes as planned. And her magic cannot help her make a decision between—

Nate: Her suave and swashbuckling pirate, now in mortal peril.

Ariel: A brooding, yet seductive, air spirit whose true motives remain unclear.

When Nate is kidnapped and taken prisoner by the Sea Goddess, only Bertie can free him. She and her fairy sidekicks embark on a journey aboard the Thèâtre’s caravan, using Bertie’s word magic to guide them. Along the way, they collect a sneak-thief, who has in his possession something most valuable, and meet The Mysterious Stranger, Bertie’s father—and the creator of the scrimshaw medallion. Bertie’s dreams are haunted by Nate, whose love for Bertie is keeping him alive, but in the daytime, it’s Ariel who is tantalizingly close, and the one she is falling for. Who does Bertie love the most? And will her magic be powerful enough to save her once she enters the Sea Goddess’s lair?

What about you? Any goodies you would like to share?

Title: Captivate

Author: Carrie Jones

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Publisher: Bloomsbury (USA & UK)
Publication Date: January 2010 (USA) / April 2010 (UK)
Hardcover: 336 pages

Zara and her friends knew they hadn’t solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king’s needs grow deeper every day he’s stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It’s made him vulnerable. And now there’s a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he’s one of the good guys. Nick isn’t buying it, though Zara isn’t as sure — despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it’s a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It’s her life — and his.

Stand alone or series: Book 2 in the ongoing “Need” series

How did I get this book: ARC from the publisher

Why did I read this book: I truly, honestly enjoyed Need, book 1 in the series, despite some questionable character motivations and plot inconsistencies. In spite of these problems, I found myself eagerly reaching for Captivate, hungry for more from Ms. Jones.

Review:

**PLEASE NOTE: This review contains spoilers for Book 1, Need. If you have not read Need or do not wish to be spoiled, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

Well, I can safely say that Captivate outdoes Need – in a very good way. After successfully entrapping all the pixies, including her biological father, deep in the surrounding woods, Zara and her friends have a brief respite from constant danger. But every day, Zara knows they are living peacefully on borrowed time – as her father, the Pixie King, weakens further, the Pixies grow more violent and desperate. And then more pixies begin to show up, including another Pixie King, named Astley. Zara’s boyfriend, the werewolf Nick manages to injure the newcomer pixie, leaving him for dead and bound in iron – but Zara, pacifist and humanitarian to the core, stumbles across him in the woods and decides to free him before he is taken away by a mysterious, fierce woman-creature that calls herself a Valkyrie. Zara feels an inexplicable connection to Astley, and though she might not trust him, she starts to listen when he says that not all pixies are twisted and evil, and that he comes to preserve balance before another, darker, sadistic Pixie King attempts to take over. Torn in indecision, soon Zara finds herself in the middle of a war; and she must make a choice if she is to save all those she holds dear.

While Need had some sizable holes, Captivate goes a long way in resolving a lot of these general plot and nonsensical issues. Some of the criticisms and questions I was left with finishing book 1 (i.e. why didn’t weres Nick and Devyn smell out the pixies at school?) were addressed here, rounding out and adding a level of cohesion to the overarching story and world. Even cooler, however, is that Captivate takes a dramatic turn and develops a clear direction for the series. A whole lot happens in this second novel, and it feels much more planned and fleshed out than its predecessor. I loved that a war is brewing (actually, there are two wars brewing, with the Valkyries dragging slain warriors off to Valhalla to fight with Odin in Ragnarök – to be examined in book 3, hopefully), and that the simple solution of imprisonment presented in Need has dire consequences in Captivate. There’s also one very shocking turn of events in this book that I did not see coming – frankly, few authors in any genre have the gall to go where Ms. Jones does, especially not so early in a series – and all I can say is: ME LIKEY.

As the plotting has improved in Captivate, so too have the characters. If you read the review Ana and I wrote for Need, you might have picked up on my annoyance with Zara and her TSTL tendencies. In this second book, I finally felt like I was able to connect with Zara as a character – she manages to stand up for herself in a way that resonated with me – I loved this pivotal scene with her friends:

[Gram] whirls on me and Issie. “I can’t believe you two did that. You cannot trust pixies.”

“So you can’t trust me?” I ask.

“You’re not a pixie. You’re human.” She snaps her medical kit shut.

“Right. So that’s why my skin is blue.” My stomach threatens to knock a hole through my skin and leave my body in protest.

“Zara…” Nick’s voice is a warning.

“She’s just sad,” Is says. “That’s why she’s being all snippy. Or else it’s the pain meds.”

“They are mood altering,” Devyn agrees.

“I am not snippy. I’m mad because nobody is listening to me.” My hands ball into fists. “What? Just because you don’t want to believe it, Nick, doesn’t mean it isn’t true. I remember how you acted when you found out who my father is. I remember you running away, okay? I know how you totally hate pixies and if I’m a pixie that obviously means that you -”

His arms reach out to me, but his hands are fists. “Zara -”

“Just. Don’t. Say. Anything.” I stare at all of them, take a step back. “Nobody say anything. This is not your problem. This is my problem. Mine. I’m the freak here. Me.”

I loved that all of the characters in this book are challenged and grow – for better or for worse. Nick and Zara’s relationship is disgustingly sappy (they are THAT couple – you know the ones, you remember them, the PDA-aholics from high school), but it’s believable sap. Even when they call each other “baby” and “sweetheart,” it rings as genuine as they are two characters in the throes of young, first love. I loved that Nick is bossy and domineering and an alpha-jerk at times, because it’s in his nature as a lone were and as a dude with an enormous ego and hero complex. Even better, I love that Zara recognizes this, calls him out on it, and yet loves him for it anyway. There’s a lot of the ridiculous in this book, but the characters are self-aware of this ridiculousness (which makes it if not completely ok, at least more permissible).

To be completely honest, more than Zara, Nick, Isi or Devyn, I found myself absolutely loving the two new additions to the cast – a classmate named Cassidy, and the new Pixie King Astley. Astley especially. Yeah, he marks the beginning of another dreaded Love Triangle (gaah!), but I really liked him. Heck, stupid name aside (and Astley is a shockingly bad name) I prefer him to Nick! I loved the dimension of doubt and moral ambiguity that Astley brought to this book – it’s so easy to assume that ALL pixies are evil, but he humanizes them, which is disturbing for Zara (and especially for Nick). Rather than a blanket statement that pixies = evil, Ms. Jones uses this new King to question their most basic assumption. Like humans, or any other creature, Pixies have the capability to be good, bad, or occupy that murky gray area in between. And that’s really cool.

While there’s a lot to love about Captivate, I should mention that it still suffers from some not-overlookable problems. This second book departs from the phobias that characterized Need so beautifully, instead relying on a schloky “How to Survive A Pixie Attack” gimmick to introduce chapters (ex: “10. Think pixies are like Tinkerbell? You think wrong,” or “9. Pixies do not hang out with Peter Pan”). These Pixie hints felt cheesy and silly to me, and incongruous with the overall tone of the book. There’s also a lot of storming out angry emo huffiness (annoying), and the books first act plods along a tad slowly (though it heats up brilliantly by the second half). The only other big niggle for me was how much of a challenge it was to suspend disbelief in some instances – in particular, in any scene involving Zara fighting pixies. Zara as a human girl is a fast runner but not exactly coordinated, nor is she a “fighter” (her pacifist mindset pretty much prevents this). Thus, seeing her take down a few superhumanly strong, extremely vicious pixies with her physical prowess was a little hard to swallow. Also, pixies (apparently only when confronting Zara) have a tendency to monologue like bad b-movie villains. It is again, silly. If Zara is such a threat, why wouldn’t ANY pixie simply kiss her? Or kill her? Especially given her tendency to go outdoors alone and get herself into life-threatening situations?

Despite having its share of annoying scenes, however, Captivate is in fact captivating. Better than Need, and with a dramatic cliffhanger of an ending, I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

Notable Quotes/Parts: From the official excerpt:

I have the emotional maturity of a two-year-old. I know this! I know, but it doesn’t make me stop trying to escape my grandmother and friends and their pity eyes and Nick’s eyes… the eyes I suddenly can’t read.
So, I run as best I can through the sloshy snow and mud. My feet take me far enough into the woods so that I don’t hear cars any more. I don’t hear anything. No wind blows through the high up branches of the spruce and pine trees. Their thin, pale brown trunks don’t creak with the weight of snow and ice. No birds sing. No squirrels chitter and squeak and make all those noises that squirrels make.

Nothing.

No noise.

Nothing.

That is not normal. I sniff in through my nose and smell. It’s just wet wood and old pine needles. Olfactophobia is the fear of odors. Odor fears get more specific, though. Bromidrosiphobia is the fear of personal odor. You know, body odor. Luckily, I don’t have that. There is no name that I know of for the fear of a lack of odor. There is no name that I know of for the fear of lack of sound. The fear of sound itself is Acousticophobia.

Why are there no names for the fear of the absence of things? Why is there no name for the absence of humanity? Because that is my fear, right here, right now. I am worried that I am losing my humanity.

I’ve seen what happens then. Jay Dahlberg was tortured and bled and bitten when I found him in an upstairs bedroom at my father’s pixie mansion home. Jay doesn’t remember any of it. I do. I remember his body shaking as I tried to help him down the long flight of marble stairs. I remember the smell of his fear permeating everything.

Pixies did that.

I can’t be one of them.

I can’t.

You can read the full excerpt online HERE.

Additional Thoughts: There’s a pretty sweet giveaway opportunity going on at author Carrie Jones’ website! Up for grabs are:

A Dell Mini computer
A Netflix gift card
5 hot teen books from Bloomsbury/Walker

Make sure to enter by May 31, 2010 by filling out the online form. Five winners will be picked, so get over there for a chance at the goodies! Also, if you’re in California, Washington or Tennessee, Carrie Jones will be in town on her book tour! We’ll keep you posted with details as they are available. Finally, check out the book trailer for Captivate:

Not a huge fan of the John Mayer-pixie-dust-disney-special combo, but that’s just me! I do, however, love the covers for both books. Pretty gold eyeshadow…

Verdict: Highly enjoyable sequel, I really enjoyed Captivate. I hope Ms. Jones can keep it up and deliver a knockout with the next book in the series!

Rating: 7 – Very Good

Reading Next: Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh