"The Singer's Crown" by Elaine Isaak. (Also posted on the Amazon listing, where you can read the synopsis).
This was something that had been catching my eye for a while at the library and finally decided to check it out. I think this is one of the faster reads I've had in a long time. Possibly under 24 hours spread across three days.
It starts out kind of dry, but usually I try to give a book a few chapters to get warmed up before giving up and in this case, I'm glad I did.
If you like light-hearted fantasy stories like The Princess Bride; full of cult high fantasy stereotypes and predictable arguments, then you might want to give this a try. It's not quite as funny, but it's amusing. The princess is bratty and childish to expectations, but the prince is smitten with her anyways. There are schemes and plots layered one on top of another. Some of it is cheesy and Disney-esque, but it's a fun story. It could be better, but it's not bad.
I've seen some reviews describing the story as a romantic fantasy. I wouldn't really call it that, unless you call Princess Bride a romantic fantasy as well, which it is and it isn't. There are also opinions on the maturity and supposed lack of manliness of male characters. . . The main character is 18 at the close of the book. Boys will be boys. Has someone not figured this out yet? He's also a boy who's been snipped and passed along as property time and time again when his previous owner finds a better use for him, with only one consistent companion for most his journeys. It's not exactly a lifestyle that nurtures a confident go-get-em manly man ready to take on the world. I personally didn't question the actions of the male characters. Strength in a male character does not require an iron fist, nor is it effeminate for them to show a soft side.
The biggest con: the characters more or less all talk alike and thus are rather flat.
The biggest pro: the story itself is very intriguing and has a few interesting twists to make up for the con.
Text is clean, PG level violence (when it does show up, it's not graphically described), no modern cussing.
Recommendation: try your local library first, but it's worth a read through if you enjoy the genre.
Stars: 3/5
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book review. Show all posts
Friday, December 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
"Boneshaker" review
Another review duplicated from the Seattle Steamrats mailing list, originally posted March 1, 2010.
Just finished Cherie Priest's Boneshaker the other night.
It's interesting. Starts out a tad slow when the story is still
backtracking and up past the introductory portion through the
Outskirts of walled Seattle. Once inside the city though, the pace
picks up, so keep at it! It also becomes much more fascinating when
you have the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack on repeat while
reading the bits after the story moves into the walled city. ^.^
Going to tell a bit of the story....it's first couple chapter stuff so
no yammerings on me tossing spoilers.
Story is centered mostly on Briar and Ezekiel (Zeke) Wilkes, mother
and son. They live on the Outskirts of the now walled-in downtown
Seattle which consist of the Pike, Denny Hill, Pioneer Square to
waterfront areas (the Smith Tower is an airship dock. ^.^), where most
remaining inhabitants now live due to the Blight that's made the
downtown area uninhabitable. Zeke has known all his life from the
accusations and teasing of other kids, that his father, Leviticus Blue
was at fault for causing the Blight gas after driving the Boneshaker
machine under a good portion of Seattle. However, his mother refuses
to tell him, her co-workers or neighbors the truth one way or the
other, so he goes to find his own answers. And there begins the
journey. :)
And for those who've never cracked open the book before, here's an
interesting detail....ALL the text is brown. I quite like it. Easier
on the eyes. :)
Just finished Cherie Priest's Boneshaker the other night.
It's interesting. Starts out a tad slow when the story is still
backtracking and up past the introductory portion through the
Outskirts of walled Seattle. Once inside the city though, the pace
picks up, so keep at it! It also becomes much more fascinating when
you have the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack on repeat while
reading the bits after the story moves into the walled city. ^.^
Going to tell a bit of the story....it's first couple chapter stuff so
no yammerings on me tossing spoilers.
Story is centered mostly on Briar and Ezekiel (Zeke) Wilkes, mother
and son. They live on the Outskirts of the now walled-in downtown
Seattle which consist of the Pike, Denny Hill, Pioneer Square to
waterfront areas (the Smith Tower is an airship dock. ^.^), where most
remaining inhabitants now live due to the Blight that's made the
downtown area uninhabitable. Zeke has known all his life from the
accusations and teasing of other kids, that his father, Leviticus Blue
was at fault for causing the Blight gas after driving the Boneshaker
machine under a good portion of Seattle. However, his mother refuses
to tell him, her co-workers or neighbors the truth one way or the
other, so he goes to find his own answers. And there begins the
journey. :)
And for those who've never cracked open the book before, here's an
interesting detail....ALL the text is brown. I quite like it. Easier
on the eyes. :)
"The Somnambulist" book review
This has been transferred from the Seattle Steamrats mailing list where I originally posted this on March 6, 2010, so if someone comes across that, this post isn't plagiarized. To date, I have posted only two copies of this review. Just a heads up, there are steampunk references as the Steamrats list caters to the subculture, to which this review was originally directed at.
So...The Somnambulist. The title is a tad misleading. Do not even
begin to think of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which is what I did,
when I took interest and started this book. The interpretation is
poetic at best, as the character known as The Somnambulist, does not
sleepwalk AT ALL and nor is the content of the story surreal enough to
evoke a sleepwalking-like state of thinking. Simply put, while it
wound up on the Library Journal's "steampunk" list, it really isn't
when you compare it to other works in the genre. It's a modern
Victorian mystery/fantasy. The only steampunk element is a device
towards the last few chapters of the book that is mentioned a few
times before the story ends.
As for the rest of the book, it's a slower read, but an interesting
story. The author, Jonathan Barnes, has a very distinct love (no pun
intended, for those who've read it and get it) for large and uncommon
vocabulary to the point where most characters loose any individual
distinction and development as they all sound very educated regardless
of their apparent class. I don't know how much of this single voice is
due to him writing from the perspective of a third party narrator or
that he just wants to show off his vocabulary. This is great if you'd
like to expand your vocabulary, but not so much if you want some
mindless reading before bed (though I did read it as such).
There are some loose ends in the story such as why certain characters
were chosen to do certain tasks before falling off the edge of the
pages, though again, this might have something to do with how heavily
driven the story is by the narrator. The narrator talks to the reader
at the beginning and then sort of disappears and you forget about them
through the story until the end and it makes for an interesting detail
particularly when you get to the end.
So, read the book if you'd like. Read it for the modern Victorian tale
that it is, for it's vague Gothic horror elements, it's Sherlock
Holmes-ish mystery. But whatever you do, don't read it thinking it's
steampunk. You will be sorely disappointed.
So...The Somnambulist. The title is a tad misleading. Do not even
begin to think of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which is what I did,
when I took interest and started this book. The interpretation is
poetic at best, as the character known as The Somnambulist, does not
sleepwalk AT ALL and nor is the content of the story surreal enough to
evoke a sleepwalking-like state of thinking. Simply put, while it
wound up on the Library Journal's "steampunk" list, it really isn't
when you compare it to other works in the genre. It's a modern
Victorian mystery/fantasy. The only steampunk element is a device
towards the last few chapters of the book that is mentioned a few
times before the story ends.
As for the rest of the book, it's a slower read, but an interesting
story. The author, Jonathan Barnes, has a very distinct love (no pun
intended, for those who've read it and get it) for large and uncommon
vocabulary to the point where most characters loose any individual
distinction and development as they all sound very educated regardless
of their apparent class. I don't know how much of this single voice is
due to him writing from the perspective of a third party narrator or
that he just wants to show off his vocabulary. This is great if you'd
like to expand your vocabulary, but not so much if you want some
mindless reading before bed (though I did read it as such).
There are some loose ends in the story such as why certain characters
were chosen to do certain tasks before falling off the edge of the
pages, though again, this might have something to do with how heavily
driven the story is by the narrator. The narrator talks to the reader
at the beginning and then sort of disappears and you forget about them
through the story until the end and it makes for an interesting detail
particularly when you get to the end.
So, read the book if you'd like. Read it for the modern Victorian tale
that it is, for it's vague Gothic horror elements, it's Sherlock
Holmes-ish mystery. But whatever you do, don't read it thinking it's
steampunk. You will be sorely disappointed.
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