Book Beyond Imagination

Hola Readers!  Who's ready for another rambling?  I am YAY!  Today let's ramble about...The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers.  It is part of his Zamonia series but can be read as a stand alone like I did.  I think this one was recommended to me by my baby sis...which is always a good thing.  Let me tell you people this book hit all my literary emotions.  It was not at all what I expected in a very very very good way. What the heck do I mean?  I'll tell you, but first, as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

First of all, let me just warn you that I am not going to be able to get a billionth of this book into the synopsis 'cause every page, every word is dripping with meaning and story and well...yeah.  So instead I'm gonna try and just give you enough of an outline to not be too lost, but seriously you just should go read it. Our story is narrated by Optimus Yarnspinner, a Lindworm (a being that resembles a dinosaur) from the fabled Lindworm Castle, home to many a worthy author.  Optimus has just lost his authorial godfather Dancealot and has set out on a quest to find the author of a fantastic manuscript left to him.  This manuscript has the ability to run the reader through every emotion known to living beings and yet it has not been published.  To find this mysterious author, Optimus heads to Bookholm which is essentially a city devoted to all things books.  It is filled with book sellers, book binders, book publishers, cafe's with book themes, literary music, ink, pens whatever you can possibly relate to books you will find in Bookholm (kind of like my blog lol).  Upon arrival Optimus is thrust into an adventure that any book hero would envy.  He starts by showing his book to a couple of very interesting book vendors in the hope that they will recognize it.  This leads him to various other places and to aquiring the book The Catacombs of Bookholm by the famous Book Hunter Colophonius Regenschein and we as the readers learn along with Optimus all about the catacombs of Bookholm.  Optimus is finally directed to Pfistomel Smyke a collector of the rare book brought up from the catacombs and also a kind of literary scientist.  He turns out to be one nasty dude and after reading the manuscript reveals his nefarious plan to Optimus.  Smyke's whole goal in life is to essentially turn all art mediocre, to eliminate any greatness and essentially control everything.  To this end he drugs Optimus and traps him in the catacombs beneath Bookholm...and this is where his adventure really starts.  Optimus uses the knowledge he aquired to try and traverse the catacombs, but disaster keeps befalling him.  After several misadventures he is rescued by the not so malicious

Booklings, who despite their fearsome reputation, choose to care for Optimus.  They show Optimus many of the safer wonders of the catacombs and inspire him with their dedication to memorizing all the works of all the authors.  Tragedy strikes when an unusual alliance of Book Hunters finds the Booklings Grotto and destroy it along with killing many of the Booklings.  Optimus is shoved into a bookshelf contraption and sent spinning through the catacombs to more adventures.  He eventually ends up in the Hall of the Shadow King, a mysterious character that plays a part in almost all the scary tales of the Underworld of Bookholm.  After even more adventures (are you sensing a theme here?) we finally get the Shadow Kings story.  Turns out that he is the author of the fantastic manuscript, but that it was also his downfall.  The Shadow King started out life as a human who had the misfortune of running into Smyke, who of course could not stand the idea of such great art outside of his control.  Smyke then used many arcane techniques and wondrous supplies to turn the human into what is now the Shadow King.  He was made to be pretty much immortal, strong, smart, literary and unable to ever enter sun or moon light on the dire consequence of bursting into flame.  More conversation and writing and adventuring and book stuff and Optimus and the Shadow King decide to go back up to the surface regardless of the consequences.  They face down a hoard of Book Hunters, discover a confession and will and finally confront Smyke.  The Shadow King allows himself to catch on fire, burning down a good portion of Bookhom and Optimus escapes, inspired finally to write his first masterpiece.  This does not even BEGIN to remotely tell the rich and full story of this insanely wonderful world...but then short of reading the book, I don' think anybody could do it justice.

World Building - This book is set in the fictional world of Zamonia...which I cannot wait to read more of!  We got to visit Bookholm and the insane amount of detail was just fantastic!  I felt like I could find myself in any section of this city and know exactly where I am.  It felt whole and complete and layered.  There were customs, cultures, rules, consequences, legends, language, all in abundant variety.  There were notes that added to the depth of this world and for having so much shoved into one book, the world was not confusing in the least. I loved the little touches, like the cafe's with the literary inspired treats, or the various parts of the city dedicated to different area's of the book process.  It was just so full in a good way, it felt almost endless, like there was always another nook or crany or passageway to explore, new treasures to find, so cool.   Again this is just one part of whole world and this one book has made me very eager to explore the rest of it...such amazing world building.

Story - The story was whole and complete.  It had a beginning, middle and end.  It was in some ways your typical adventure story, but more along the lines of an epic saga like Beowulf with many small adventures, meetings and incidents adding to the whole adventure.  The story had a fairly classic structure with a lot of original ideas, giving the reader the comfort of structure and the thrill of discovery, very cool story.

Character - Variety is the word I think best describes the characters in this book.  In this book we see so many species (Lindworms, Booklings, Uggly's, Spinxxx and so many many many more), characters from different backgrounds, classes, shapes, sizes, needs, modes.  Again you would think that this would detract from actual character development, but I found that the characters that mattered where very fully formed and all the other characters added some delicious flavor.  Yay characters.

Editing - I'm shocked at how well this book is edited.  Again (are we getting sick of me saying this yet?)  it is just stuffed full of so many things that it should feel cluttered or choppy or overly long...but...it doesn't.  I found myself reading every single word, trying to absorb as much of the literary goodness that I could.  It was a page turner and I had very few complaints about the pacing.  Not sure how this happened, if the author is just that amazing, or his relationship with his editor is that good or some combination, but epic editing.

Book Lovers Dream - This book was written for lovers of the written word.  The language, the setting, the story, everything about it seems tailored to bibliophiles.  I seriously want to go wander into one of the bookshops and get me a stack of books, curl up in a cafe with a cup of Midnight Oil Espresso and a Book pastry and read my brains out.  The amount of literariness that has been poured into the book makes me feel like the author loves books and all things literary as much as I do.  It is finally a book about books that doesn't drive me nuts.  It is not just about reading books either, it is about how they are written, how they are published, the materials, the variety and the idea that there are types of books we can only imagine out there somewhere if we can just look hard enough.

Wordplay - If forced to choose a favorite component about this book, I would say it is the language.  The author uses a MASSIVE variety of words....and if there was no human word that was sufficient, he made one up and attributed it to one of his zillions of non human races.  On top of that the author would constantly list numerous books and their authors...I kept waiting for this to get annoying...but somehow it worked perfectly with the story.  To make it even better, he cleverly disguised some famous authors by anagraming their names.  For example:  Selwi Rollcar = Lewis Carroll, Aliesha Wimperslake = William Shakespeare, so very cool.  I love words, and when an author uses them correctly it just makes my little literary heart go pitter patter.

Not What I Thought - So to be honest I wasn't 100% sure what I was getting into when I started this book.  From the description and the titles of the authors other books in the series I thought it might be a kids book.  Then the illustrations and mostly almost silly animalistic characteristics of most of the characters led to me thinking it might be a light hearted tale....Nope.  This is definitely a book for at the very least older kids.  There is violence (so much violence), betrayal, complex ideas...not a book for 7 year old.  It was great though and the juxtaposition (sorry this book makes me pull out my big girl words) of the simple illustrations, the fun characters and the adult writing were very original and a great read.

Overall Impression - Ok, so I don't think I have been able to impart even a tenth of what I want to about this book.  In the end all I can say is that it is an experience, and one I think anybody who loves books should have.  I give this book 9 out of 10 Animatomes and really encourage every book reader to pick it up....even if it's just to figure out what the heck I'm talking about.  Happy Reading Everybody!!! 

A Lonley Unicorn

Hey all! Guess what? I am Incredibly Spoiled...and yes that is in all caps.  Anyways I am writing this on my new tablet so we shall see how this goes.  Also I actually got a chance to finish a book so you know what that means...rambling time. The book is The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Be able and it has been on my radar for years and years and I have finally finally read it. How do I feel now that I've read it? Let's find out, but first, as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Unicorns are solitary, immortal creatures, sticking to their own territory only meeting with other unicorns to mate on rare occasions.  Our unicorn has lived in her first for ages and has been content until some disturbing rumors reached her ears.  It seems that no other unicorn has been hard from in quit some time. Our unicorn decides to leave her first and try to discover where the other unicorns have gone and recover them if she can.  As she starts on her path our unicorn notices a couple of things, one that humans seem to no longer believe in unicorns and two that most people see her as nothing more then a beautiful white mare.  Our unicorn also learns of a creature known as the Red Bull that is in the service of one King Haggard who has used the creature to herd the other unicorns to an undisclosed location.  Our unicorn decides to seek out this Red Bull and discover where her fellow unicorns have gone.  Along the way, our unicorn is taken prisoner by Mommy Fortuna who is the proprietor and resident witch of a traveling carnival.  While captive, our Unicorn meets a man by the name of Schmendrick who is a magician with no true magic.  He finds a way to help our unicorn escape and joins her on her quest.  The pair end up in the woods with a merry band of thieves where they make the acquaintance of  Molly Grue, a woman who has seen a lot and requests to go with Schmendrick and our unicorn.  The trio continue on their quest and travel through a blighted land.  They learn from the folk who live there that they are under the rule of King Haggard and that the land has been under an eternal bitter winter or brutal summer with no relief.  Eventually the trio end up in Hagsgate a town that is unusually prosperous for the area.  Here they meet Drinn and learn the curse of Hagsgate.  Apparently since the townspeople of yore refused to help some magical style folks, they then cursed the town to share in Haggard's eventual fate, which was to be destroyed by the sea, further more, the curse foretold that the destruction would be brought about by a child of the village.  Because of this curse the townspeople, while prosperous, take no joy in life as they anticipate it ending at any moment.  Drinn also tells our trio of a baby abandon in the village square that was taken and is now being raised by King Haggard as his son, the Prince Lir.  Our unicorn, Schmendrick and Molly all head towards the castle to continue their quest.  Along the ways we learn that Schmendrick was a student of one of the greatest magicians of all time, but he could not learn how to actually control the magic.  Instead on rare occasions, great magic would flow through him and accomplish whatever needed to be done.  Schmendrick was cursed with immortality until he could learn his magic.  As they approach the castle, the Red Bull comes and chases our unicorn, trying to herd her.  Her friends encourage her to fight back, but she continues to run.  In desperation, Schmendrick opens himself to the mysterious magic, turning our unicorn into a human girl.  They call the girl Lady Amalthea and bring her along to the castle.  King Haggard accepts the trio into the castle, having Molly work as a cook/maid/drudge and Schmendrick works as the resident nonmagical magician.  Prince Lir falls in love with the Lady Amalthea and she starts to forget that she is a unicorn.  After some observations, they trio realize that Haggard has trapped all of the other unicorns in the sea and is now after our unicorn.  Schmendrick discovers the way to the Red Bull's lair and away the trio go, along with the Prince Lir who is enamored of the human version of our unicorn.  There is a fight and the Prince is killed trying to protect the Lady Amalthea, this triggers her to return to her unicorn form and fight the Red Bull, winning the freedom of her fellow unicorns.  The result is a surge of the sea that destroys the castle and kills King Haggard.  Prince Lir, though upset over the loss of his love, decides to become the good king his kingdom never had.  Schmendrick gains his magic and mortality and the love of Molly Grue.  The unicorn returns to her forest, secure in the knowledge that her fellow unicorns are free and thriving.

World Building - The world for the most part is a fairly standard fantasy world with the requisite forest, villages, and blighted land.  It was fairly intact and consistent which made for getting easily immersed.  This was written before the huge amount of mainstream fantasy so for the time and even now the world is magical and complete.

Story - The story is the biggest part of the book.  It is complete, varied, nuanced, beautiful and easy to follow.  The story is exactly what I wanted in a true magical fantasy.  It is the kind of story that a person can get lost in.  It has everything you could want in high fantasy.  An epic quest, magical creatures, bad guys, hero's, princes, prophecy's, seriously everything one needs for the ultimate fantasy story.  I loved it.

Characters - There were definitely a variety of characters, and many of them even had pretty filled out back stories...that being said, this book wasn't really about the characters as it was the overall story and feel of the rhythm of storytelling.  I did like that all of the characters stayed in character and acted accordingly.  They did not do things just to further the story, they maintained their path and pattern.  Also I liked that the characters were not cut and dry good or bad, and they all had motivation...yeah so characters.

Editing - The overall editing was well done, the book flowed nicely and the story progressed in a linear style that was very readable.  The prose got a bit lyrical on occasion (I'll get more into that in a minute) which sometimes made my mind drift a bit, but the overall book was well edited.

Style - I want to make note on the style of this book.  It was very lyrical and yet at the same time it had a fairly basic prose as well...that does not make any sense huh...so...ok let me try again.  The book was very readable and almost simple in it's story telling at times, other times it felt almost like an epic poem.  I feel like this book would actually work best read out loud...yeah, that is what the style is like.  It is a tale to tell by the fire.  I loved it, it felt very old school and wandering minsteral.

TBR Pile - I have been wanting to read this book for years.  It is very famous, especially in the fantasy circles and has been named a top book in several categories many times over.  I honestly do not have any idea why it took me so long to actually read this one.  I do know that I wanted to read it in actual book form and I had the hardest time finding it in bookstores...which considering its fame was a little weird.  Anyways it has been read and now I know why it is so famous.  It is not my favorite book in the universe, but it is solid.

Extras - There is a graphic novel, a movie and all kinds of other tie in stuff to this book that I am now eager to go hunt down.  I will also see if I can get my hands on more of this authors stuff, so that is always good.

Overall Impression - This post probably does not make a whole lot of sense, but I've been at work since last Thursday and am working until next Saturday so the lack of sleep makes me muzzy.  Anyways on that note.  I did very much enjoy this book.  I loved the old school epic feel of it.  I love the impressions it left in my head, and if it got a bit maudlin (what a great word) on occasion, well it just added to the atmosphere.  I give this book 8 out of 10 old talking skulls and recommend it to anybody who loves true fantasy or is looking for a read out loud to the kiddo's book.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Woman And Warrior

I MADE IT!!!!!  Sorry it's my first real day off in a couple weeks and I am so so so deliriously happy...also I get the whole weekend off!  To celebrate let's ramble shall we?  I'm gonna go ahead and finish up the Song of the Lioness by talking about Lioness Rampant by Tamora  Pierce.  It is the final book in the quartet and wraps most things up quit nicely, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

After her falling out with the Prince Jonathan, Alanna and her man Corum head to other lands to try and figure out what the map she received at the end of the last book means.  Along the way they meet up Liam Ironarm the Shang Dragon.  The Shang are legendary fighters, trained from a very very young age and the Shang Dragon is the best of them all.  He and Alanna start a relationship (you go girl).  They discover that their map leads them to the fabled Dominion Jewel, that when used by a just ruler can prosper any country that possess it.  Alanna decides that if she can bring this artifact back, she will be able to prove her worth as a knight.  As they are traveling through Sairan, a country torn apart by a very bloody civil war, they happen upon the dead warlords daughter, the Princess Thayet and her K'miri bodyguard Buri.  Both women belay any royal prissyness by being pretty bad ass (YAY!).  Alanna instantly realizes that Thayet, aside from being the most beautiful person she has ever seen, is also one of the only people who could match Jonathan and keep him in check.  She starts aking plans to introduce them, and if they like each other, get them to marry.  They add the girls to their group and head up to the roof of the world to get the jewel.  Alanna discovers that Liam is deathly afraid of all magic, and that includes her Gift.  The group stops at an inn and Alanna can feel the jewel calling her.  She uses her gift to keep everybody asleep and heads out into the blizzard.  Alanna battles the elemental protecting the Dominion Jewel and after some fighting and

conversation obtains the fabled treasure.  She wakes up days later, being rescued by her group to find she is pretty battered, but has secured her jewel.  Liam is upset about her using magic on him and the two end their romantic relationship, but remain friends.  They head home to find that both the Queen and King have died, leaving Prince Jonathan as the new king.  They also discover that Alanna's twin brother Thom has brought back Duke Roger from the grave.  George finally agrees to become a respectable spy master for Jonathan after the infamous Claw (who turns out to be the noble Ralon of Malvon from the first book) continues to kill innocents in his quest for...well who knows what.  Stuff happens and the group uncover a plot to kill Jonathan.  Duke Roger has been sapping magic from Thom and intends to pretty much destroy the who country.  With the help of the jewel Jonathan holds the earth together while the rest of the group battle the traitors.  Alanna kills the Duke and all is ended.  In the aftermath it is discovered that Thom, Liam and Alanna's cat Faithful have all been killed.  Alanna goes to the Bloody Hawk tribe to grieve and recoup.  Thayet comes to get her friends ok to marry Jonathan, which Alanna happily gives.  George comes down to make an honest woman out of her.  That ends the Song of the Lioness Quartet.

This last book is the fattest of all four of the books, and contains the most story of all the books as well.  There is a lot of things I like about this book.  Let's start with the adding of a couple of kick ass women shall we?  The addition of Thayet and Buri do a lot for this book and the story in general.  They show us that Alanna is not the only brave, physical, warrior woman.  They show us that there can be more then one kind of kick ass woman.  Thayet is beautiful, but it is not something she is ashamed of, nor does she use it as a crutch.  For Thayet she is what she is.  She is not afraid to be a woman, a ruler, a mother figure, or a warrior.  All that being said, she has her soft side, her fears and her flaws.  Buri on the other hand, along with reminding Alanna of what she used to be like and giving some great perspective, comes from a different background then the other two women.  She is a commoner, born and bred to serve.  She has no interest in anything other then fighting and protecting her charge.  She has a great outlook on life, giving us another many layered woman

character.  I love that Alanna almost instantly recognizes in Thayet a good partner for Jonathan.  She is able to get past her hurt, and history and help find her friend a good match that will not only make him happy, but be good for the kingdom as well.  I found Alanna and Liam's relationship to be interesting.  I like that she goes for a variety of guys, not always falling for the same type every time.  I also like that even as a warrior who doesn't want to be tied down, that she is not cold and closed off, but open and even eager to explore new relationships (which in my opinion can be even scarier then fighting a monster).  Liam was good for Alanna in some ways, being a bit older and more mature, he was able to allow her to be the "kitten" as he called her.  He taught her a lot of fighting and of the world.  I also liked how they both acknowledged that due to his inability to ever accept her Gift, that their relationship was probably doomed from the start, but both of them agreed to give it a shot anyways.  There was one part when Alanna dresses up for fun that Liam seemed to have an uncharacteristic about face on his ability to view Alanna as a real woman...but it was brief so I guess I can overlook it.  The second have of the book got a bit complicated as the author was trying to tie everything together.  The plot got a bit overly complicated with to many players trying for to many things and we never really got what Roger the Duke of Conte was trying to accomplish...other then mass destruction.  I did appreciate that the author killed of some key people, reminding us that even in stories, battles and violence have its cost.  I also appreciated that Alanna did not just get over the deaths of her loved ones, but needed to take time to grieve.  As far as George and Alanna are concerned...I'm pretty sure they are gonna be ok, but her acquiescence to his desire to have a true wife, mother and Lady as his partner seems to be kind of sudden and uncharacteristic.  I have read more books in this world that give me more insight into George and Alanna's life, but without that it seems a bit...I don't know...trite maybe.  Anyways, the country is saved, the survivors are happily paired off and the realm is on the way to recovery.  Alanna is the King's Champion, finally realizing her dream of knighthood, adventure and glory all while discovering who she really is.  A good ending to a good series and a great set up for further books set in this world.  I give this book 7 out of 10 black pearl earbobs and recommend it everybody who has been following the series.
How do you feel about characters that change their minds about fundamental things?    How many characters are to many?  How much do I love me a strong female character?

Creepy Dolls

Finally the weather is starting to cooperate, we had a week that was in the 90's which completely disrupted my reading schedule.  Yesterday however we had a nice gigantic storm that has dropped the temps to fall levels and now the leaves are finally starting to turn.  In celebration of this wondrous event I shall ramble about a bit of a ghost story I recently finished.  Doll Bones by Holly Black.  I usually prefer this authors MG stuff to her YA stuff so I had high hopes for this one, plus creepy dolls are awesome.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD

Three 12 year old friends Zach, Poppy and Alice have an extensive imaginary game that they all play together.  They use customized action figures, scenes built from stuff they find and of course their own imaginations.  They have been playing the game for years and it is the focus of their friendship.  At this point in time the central figure in the game is an old doll that Poppy's mother keeps locked in a cabinet, hoping to sell it to an antique dealer some day. The kids call her the Queen and imagine she is locked in the cabinet under a curse.  We learn a bit about our trio.  Zach has recently joined the basketball team and is excelling at it, his favorite character to play is William the Blade, a pirate with unknown parentage.  His father who left three years ago has recently come back and the three of them (Mom, Dad, and Zach) are trying to adjust to being a family again.  Alice lost her parents when she was young and is being raised by her super strict grandmother.  Her main character in the game is Lady Jaye a thief who is as wild and impetuous as Alice is careful and thoughtful.  Alice lives in fear of her grandmother taking away the things she loves, being in school plays and hanging out with her friends being chief among them.  Poppy is one of several siblings, all of whom (besides Poppy) have a hoodlum like reputation that they delight in perpetrating. Poppy tends to play the villains and is able to keep the story going better then anybody.  Of the three she is most attached to the

game.  Zach comes home from school one day and finds his back of action figures he uses to play the game missing.  Turns out his father was concerned that he was not focusing enough on his basketball and that he might get teased in school, so he threw them out.  Of course this sends Zach into a bit of a tailspin, ultimately deciding to never play the game again.  He harshly tells Alice and Poppy that he is to old to be playing it anymore.  Alice accepts it sadly, but resigned.  Poppy however does not accept it and bugs Zach about it incessantly.  Finally late one night Zach gets talked into meeting with Poppy and Alice outside.  Poppy produces the Queen doll and proceeds to tell the other two that she had a dream/vision that a girl named Eleanor came to her and told her that the doll they call The Queen is actually made from her body.  She said she had died and her father so overcome with grief could not let her go and made a clay from her bones to make the doll, used her hair for the dolls hair, and then placed the remainder of her ashes inside the dolls body.  The ghost girl told Poppy that she couldn't rest until she was buried in her empty grave.  Zach and Alice are both skeptical, but are finally convinced to go on an a quest to bury the doll.  They board a bus in the middle of the night and are a little confused when people continually refer to the four of them, and their quiet blond friend.  At first they thing people are referring to the doll which Poppy has taken to carrying around like a baby, but it becomes more obvious that people really think there is a fourth member of the party.  The original plan was to be back before dark the next day so Alice would not be in trouble, but like all good adventures that quickly becomes impossible.  Many adventures follow including, pop rock donuts, a stolen sailboat and a night in a library.  Zach starts having dreams about the ghost girl along with Poppy and while it is never 100% explained it seems that after her mother died Eleanor's strict Aunt came to help raise her.  She never let her play with the dolls her father made her, and continually tried to mold the girl into a proper young lady.  For some reason Eleanor ended up being chased to the roof of her house where she fell
to her death.  Zach, Alice and Poppy have many fights and find out that adventuring in real life is not at all like it is in the stories (where they never seem to have to take a bathroom break).  Eventually they are able to complete their quest and bury the doll in her proper grave.  The adventure gives them a new game to play, on that is more verbal and story based and less play based, a more grown up version if you will.
Ok so I obviously glossed over a lot of detail in the synopsis, but you should go read it for your self anyways.  I wasn't sure what to expect when I started reading this book.  I had read a couple good reviews on it so I was hopeful.  Over all I really really liked it and kind of want to give it to every 12 year old I know. Best parts-I loved the friendship between the three kids.  With each one coming from a different family dynamic, there interplay obviously helped to fill holes in each others lives.  The anger Poppy felt when Zach seemingly callously quit the game was indicative of the deep hurt she felt, not so much about the game, but Zach's dismissal of it.  Alice was a great character because unlike fierce Poppy and leader Zach who were constantly vying for control (even if it was mostly subconscious) she had to be the peace maker, the one who always had to try and balance everybody else, her friends, her family, her freedoms vs restrictions.  Her life was balanced so that she could do what she loved, while trying to not give her grandmother a reason to take it away from her.  When Zach and especially Poppy seem to disregard this when it came to the quest, Alice finally explodes, and it is glorious.  I always have a soft spot in my heart for kids who try and do the right thing and get teased for it, especially now when being "bad" is the cool thing.  Poppy's comments about the other two growing up and leaving her behind is a great look at how every kid, every person grows at their own pace, and sometimes that causes problems.  And of course they explore the whole what does it mean to grow up, when should a kid have to grow up, why is imagination and play reserved only for the very young?  All kinds of great thinking things in this book.  The only real down side was I wanted it to be a bit creepier, the cover promised a creepy ghost story on which it only partly
delivered.  There were moments, but the focus was so much on the friendship, that the ghost story was like tertiary to the other storylines.  I wanted the actual story of our little ghost girl to more fleshed out as well, the reasoning behind her being so angry was mushy at best, leaving me unconvinced that she was all that bad.  Of course part of that may have been to keep some ambiguity on weather it was really a ghost story, or a shared imaginary story between the kids.  Overall it was a great read, it had an old school adventure story feel, like the books I used to read when I was in middle school which was pretty awesome.  I would recommend it to anybody who likes friendship adventures, not to scary ghost stories, and does not have a phobia of creepy dolls :-)  I would seriously recommend it to any middle schooler especially because I think as readable for us adults as it is, it would very much speak to a person of that age group.  I give it 8 our of 10 creepy dolls.
For an added bonus check out this great creepy doll post over on Epbot funny, creepy and just awesome!
What creeps you out?  Do you like your scary books sleep with the lights on scary or just need an extra stuffed teddy scary?  Do you ever have the urge to put a super creepy figure on somebodies pillow?

A Thorny Problem

I am not one hundred percent sure why I picked up Champion of the Rose this time around.  I know why I had it in my stack, I had read a couple of reviews that had some intriguing concepts in it, but for some reason I did not expect to like it that much.  Shows how much I know because I really enjoyed this book.  I was in desperate need of a true fantasy book with magic and elves and all that good stuff and this fit the bill in an unexpected way.  It is full of magic and the Fair Folk, but there is so much more to this world then fairy tale trope.

The story is about Soren who has been chosen to be the Champion of the current ruling monarch...the only problem is that there is no King or Queen, and has not been in close to 200 years.  In Tor Darest the fictional country where our story is set, the set-up is a bit unusual.  The beginnings of the country started when the Queen of the Fae gifted the land that became Darest to Domina Rathen a powerful mage who in turn placed a powerful enchantment over her whole future lineage and the country itself.  The enchantment manifested in the form of The Rathen Rose and it's job was to pick a person who was most suitable to
become whatever the current ruler needed most, protector, lover, advisor, parental figure, it varied from ruler to ruler.  The Rathen Rose would do whatever it could to protect the Rathen line.  Eventually the Rathen line died out and the country has been held by the Reagent's who while powerful mages themselves can never wield the true power that a Rathen can.  This is the state of the kingdom when a blooming rose is discovered on the vine for the first time in centuries and Soren sets of to find her king or queen.  She eventually stumbles upon a man called Strake who it turns out has been caught in some sort of time phase thingy which eventually makes some sort of sense and has now returned 200 years later.  On their way back to the palace the Rose takes over both Soren and Strake and forces them into an act which results in Soren being impregnated with Strake's child.  This understandably causes no end of tension between the two, with Strake not able to separate Soren from the Rose that perpetrated this pretty awful act.  Meanwhile a killer from the past seems to have followed Strake through time and is now

hunting him again.  Soren and Strake return to the palace and immediately try to set things to right.  Many court games are played, and Strake tries to find a way to end the enchantment of the Rose.  Unfortunately they discover that any move against the Rose would probably end in Soren and her unborn child's death so they decide to try and find a different way.  Meanwhile they hunt and try and find out more about this mysterious killer who can appear and disappear, who uses razor claws to dismember victims and who has the appearance of a you Fae boy.  A council of the Fair and Humans is called and surprisingly we get some straight forward answers...which I will not reveal (don't you love how sometimes I spoil everything, and others I make you go read for yourself, I'm fickle that way) and all seems to be going right...until an assassination attempt on Strakes life from a very unlikely source happens (which actually did take me by surprise which was cool).  This provokes the Rose into taking over Soren again and she has had enough of being controlled.  She convinces Strake that they need to destroy the enchantment once and for all so that nobody else including their unborn child can be controlled.  The ending is quick and I will let you read it for yourself.

OK so this sounds like a pretty typical fantasyish story and it is, but there are a couple things the author did that I really liked.  The main thing was the world she built felt very complete.  There were traditions, religions,  taboos, commerce, festivals everything that a society of that time period would have...with what I think is an awesome twist.  Genders are completely...hmmm I'm not quit sure how to put it...fluid is the only word I can think of.  The author treats both genders completely equally, not giving dominance to males or females and relationships in the world are fluid as well, with both genders loving across all boundaries equally,
male/female, male/male, female/female.  It is not unusual for a person to be with a male lover and then later a female in fact tri-bonding is a common way for two females and a male or two males and a female who all love each other equally to form a type of family and enable the birth of children.  The best part was that this was not a big deal at all, it is just the way things are, nobody is gay or lesbian or bi, they just love each other regardless. Now I know this is not every body's cup of tea, which is totally valid, I just thought it made this world even more unique and different from our own, just one more way to not make it Medieval England with faeries.  I also like how the author played with our assumptions and would turn even little things around on you in the blink of an eye.  I personally did not care for the ending, it happened very quickly and a little to neatly/happily ever after for my taste.  It was like she thought she might write a sequel so she did not answer every question (which is fine), but she wasn't sure if she would get around to it so she gave it a complete ending just in case.  This is one of my pet peeves is when you read this great book and then the last 20 pages are just a quick "oh crap I have to finish this somehow um yeah here ya go".  The author also has a couple of favorite words that get old very

quickly (seriously if somebody shutters their eyes one more time!) and the reconciliation between Strake and Soren was a little quick/forced but other then that I enjoyed it.  I have heard a lot of mixed opinions on the event at the beginning of the book the leads to Soren's impregnation and a lot of people have called it a rape that the Rose forced Soren to do to Strake, but when I read it, it seemed the Rose took over both parties and the reason it was marginally worse for Strake (even though it was Soren who has to carry, give birth and raise a a baby) was that he could struggle enough against the Rose to be more aware of what was happening, while Soren was completely blanked out by the Rose.  Read it for yourself and let me know what you think on that particular matter.  Over all I would recommend this book for the over 15 crowd, I found it thought provoking and fairly well written and well worth the read.  I will be looking for another book from this author to see if she continues writing in this thoughtful manner.

What do you think of forced pairings as a plot device?  How do you feel about gender fluidity on worlds that are not supposed to be Earth?  Are you starting to get why I call these ramblings?