Castle Book

I love this picture, I love the colors, I love how it makes me want to curl up with a cup of coffee with my fuzzy blanket and a good book.  I just love this picture

Castle Book

I  love an artist that can capture a feel, and this picture captures my idea of a perfect night of reading perfectly.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Dueling With Fans

Alright folks, time for part two of yesterday's rambling.  Technically this is a second book, but it has been published in the same volume as the first book and really feels like a direct continuation so I always consider them two parts of the same story.  The book is Court Duel by Sherwood Smith and as always SPOILERS AHEAD (and seriously there are some major spoilers so DO NOT READ if you don't want to know the main surprise in the story).

We again are told this story by our barefoot countess Meliara (known as Mel).  She tells us that they have received all of the ill gotten riches of the former disposed bad king.  She uses the money to repair, restore, and restock her dilapidated realm, improving not only her own home, but the village as well.  She has appointed many people to act as stewards, housekeepers and generally help her run things.  Mel has also decided to try and remedy some of her ignorance by the acquisition of as many books as possible.  Her brother the Count Branaric (known as Bran)  surprises her by coming home from court with the lady Nimiar (called Nee) as his fiancee and the Marquis of Shevreath (who turns out to be name Vidanric).  Bran inadvertently embarrasses Mel by pointing out her shabby clothes (which she wears while working) and some of her less courtly manners. Nee takes pity on her and while turning out to be a wonderful friend to Mel, also offers to teach her the ways of Court in return for Mel coming to the capital until the wedding.  Mel agrees and her courtly education begins.  Meanwhile she and Shevreath continue to have spats, which Mel begrudgingly admits are mostly her fault.  They start out as conversations, but Mel almost always finds some way to turn it into an argument.  The whole group heads to the castle where it is assumed that Shevraeth will become King and start to deal with the aftermath of the disposal of the old king. Mel does her best to fit in, finding that she has become something of a celebrity following her part in the rebellion and is eased into society by the attentions of the ever popular Duke of Savona.  She runs afoul of the Lady Tamera, a popular girl who tries to ruin Mel, but is instead caught in her own trap.  Mel instead of making her a pariah uses her new found court manners to show Tamera is forgiven, which also boosts Mel's popularity.  Along with trying to deal with court, Mel aquires a secret admirer who leaves her gifts and later a lengthy back and forth correspondence about various court matters, personal matters, and how to best fix the kingdom.  She has a golden ring made for him that he will not wear until she is ready to meet, and she realizes she has fallen for this mysterious guy.  Mel learns of a plot to overthrow Shevreath and the new kingdom, along with killing the Hill Folk of her home to get to the colorwoods by the sister of the former king.  Mel rides out to stop the the killing of the Hill folks and runs into Shevreath on the way.  After ascertaining that he also knows of the plot he takes off his gloves to show her the golden ring, revealing himself as her secret admirer.  They stop the killing of the Hill Folk and turn back the troops sent to take the city, but something else seems wrong.  Getting back to the city they find Flauvic, the son of the woman who was trying to overthrow the city has learned magic and turned every person in the palace to glass.  He is defeated when the Hill Folk turn him into a tree in thanks for saving them.  Nee and Bran get married, Mel and Shevreath get married and they all continue to work for the good of the kingdom.

Trying to write the synopsis of this book is harder then the last one because where the first one deals with sweeping issues and Mel's part in them, this book is lot more subtle, with every little encounter meaning something.  Things I love.  I like how this is a direct continuation of the first book and that it shows that just because the "good" guys won the war, the problems don't just go away.  A large part of this book is the various characters talking and debating the best way to fix things.  It shows people having different opinions and the acknowledgment that there is more then one "right" way to do things.  There is conversation on how best to deal with the nobles who helped the bad king, and how to determine whether they helped him willingly or out of fear and coercion.  I found court to be interesting as it was clear the way the nobles could never speak truth aloud or state opinion openly was a direct result of the fear based rule of the former queen. One of the benefits of the new rule was a more open communication between the people.  I loved the secret admirer part of this book as it added a great romance without it overcoming the whole book.  I liked that they fell in love with each other at different times and that it was their shared love of their country, intellect, ideas and even arguments that brought them together.  I also like that the whole romance wasn't them sneaking off for a kiss.  On that note I LOVE Bran and Nee and their romance.  It is sweet, fun, genuine and included Mel as a sister to both of them.  The author could easily have make Nee a rival to Mel, but instead she became a sister that Mel desperately needed.  I liked the complexities of court and how Mel both learned about it and learned when to disregard it.  Shevreath continues to be a book crush of mine, his subtlety, his devotion to his people, his love for the odd Meliara all make me a happy girl. There were a couple of overly convenient resolutions for some of the problems our people faced and the resolution at the end was a bit weird, but it's still not the worst ending I've read.   Oddly enough there is a short story in the Firebirds short story anthology that gives a glimpse into Mel and Shevreath's future with their kids that actually works as a bit of a better ending then the one in the book, but that is kind of cool too.  Overall I recommend this book for lovers of fantasy, court intrigue and a romance that doesn't make you gag.  I give it 8 out of 10 fans and suggest reading it with the first one.  Happy Reading Everybody!
How do you feel about books like this, should they be two separate books or one book two parts?  Who do you wish was your secret admirer?  Why can't I live in a book filled castle?

Dueling With Weapons

Hello all, how was your weekend?  Mine was busy busy busy BUT I did get to finish a book I couldn't put down, so that is good.  Best part is it is actually two books in one so you get a double rambling YAY!!!!  The book is Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith and contains both Crown Duel and Court Duel so I will do two ramblings in a row, one on each book.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Meliara and Branaric (known as Mel and Bran) promise their dying father that they will do their best to overthrow the bad king that is currently on the throne.  To keep this promise the young count and countess gather who and what they can from their poor and far flung home of Tlanth and start a guerrilla war against the king and one of his cronies who seek to get the coveted colorwoods that are part of Tlanth for themselves.  The colorwoods are protected by the Covenant, that was put in place when it was discovered that the chopping down of the colorwoods was killing the indigenous and mysterious Hill Folk.  The folk of Tlanth appear to be doing fairly well in their battle against the crown, until the young Marquis of Shevraeth comes to take command.  Mel (who is telling the story) is caught when she gets to close to the enemy camp and is taken captive.  The Marquis take Mel back to the capital city to await the kings judgement.  Along the way Mel and Shevraeth fight and bicker and get to know one another.  Mel is taken to a cell, where mysterious little kindness's are granted to her through the bribing of sympathetic, yet anonymous nobles.  Shevraeth visits Mel and informs her that unless she renounces her rebellion and turns over her land and her brother, she will be put to death.  Mel refuses and is sentenced to a traitors death.  A dear friend and spy comes to Mel's cell and helps her escape.  As she tries to sneak home, Mel encounters many people willing to help her, despite the sentence of death for any who aid her.  She also has some odd encounters with Shevreath.  Eventually she is recaptured, but Shevreath reveals that he is also trying to overthrow the king, and has been working towards the goal for quit some time.  Mel returns home to her brother who tells her the same thing and asks that she work with them instead of against Shevreath.  Mel has a hard time with this as this has been her fight her entire life, and she is not particularly fond of the Marquis of Shevreath.  She has a hard time trusting the Marquis, especially when she and her brother are attacked by what appears to be an ambush.  Shevreath once again proves his friendship and they all go to do battle with the king.  Mel and her friends get some unexpected help from the Hill Folk who seem to realize that Mel and Bran are fighting to protect them and the Covenant, along with overthrowing the king.  The battle is won, Bran is relieved that he won't have to be king (it is assumed Shevreath will take on that role), and Mel is left confused and a little lost now that her life's work has been accomplished.  She heads back to Tlanth to try and repair and restore it with their new found wealth and Bran and Shevreath head to the capital to figure out life there.  We end with Mel contemplating her place in the grand scheme of things, her ignorance of the outside world, and want she wants for her future.

I found so much to love about this book that I'm gonna just jump right in and get started.  Let's start with Mel.  Mel is one of those characters I adore because she is SOOOOO far from perfect, and yet almost all of her intentions are, at least in her mind, honorable.  She is a girl with a mission, a purpose and a promise to a dying father.  This is what motivates her entire life.  The problem with this is that it is her only purpose, and unfortunately her upbringing, though filled with rhetoric against the depravities of the bad king, has left her woefully unprepared for real life.  Her father in a fit of rage burned his library and allowed his children free reign to run as they would, which Mel took copious advantage of...which left her uneducated, unworldly, and with a very small view of things.  I think what I like best about this book is watching our heroine struggle not only against outside injustice, but her own lack knowledge as well.  It is very interesting to read about a hero who is not the smartest, prettiest, quickest, or most gifted of anybody, she is just a girl with a naturally kind heart who's ignorance leads to their own consequences.  We get to see Mel start by being almost proud of her lack of worldliness, using it as a sort of shield against the dreaded "nobility", but she slowly starts to realize that her actions, mostly done out of impulse or misguidedness, have consequences and she has no one but herself to blame.   The best part though is her acknowledgement of said deficiencies and her willingness (eventually) to remedy them.  The Marquis of Shevreath is another great character who realizes his mistakes, especially when it comes to lack of communication percipitaitng certain events and again his ability to try and rectify it.  Shevraeth could easily come across as acting cold and superior to the poor little Tlanth nobles, but actually comes across if anything as a bit uncomfortable in his own skin, trying to balance the grand plan against individual lives.  He has enough of a sense of humor to temper him, and seriously he has become one of my book crushes.  Bran is a character who by all rights should be less developed and regulated to the side, but I can't help but love him too as he is in no way heroic, but is able to win people to him by his sheer genuineness. The mix of realisticness (that's a word right?) and complete fantasy is wielded expertly in this book, giving me enough magic to escape into another world, and enough realism for me to believe in it.  There is no instant love story, there are no easy fixes, and even at the end of this book many things are left unresolved as it would be in real life.  Just because you win a war doesn't mean everything is fixed.  Just because you become aware of your shortcomings you don't miraculously overcome them.  There are no easy answers in this book, yet it does not come across pretentious or pseudodeep.  It is readable and engaging and sets up the next book perfectly.  The few complaints I may have are some of the tidbits about the world feel like you would already have to know the history for them to make sense.  The bad king felt a little contrived with no real depth or originality, just the bad king tax good people must die type of guy.  Overall I recommend this book for anybody who likes a great story, the castle fantasy style, or great and fairly realistic characters.  I give this first book 8 out of 10 cups of listerblossom tea.  Happy Reading Everybody!
Why is it so hard to write realistic, yet likable characters?  How much background of a fictional world do you need to enjoy it?  Do I get completely different things out books then you do?

Castle Book

It has been a stressful couple of weeks.  Nothing bad, just work and my schedule have been a bit out of control.  Lucky for me, I have the worlds most perfect stress buster BOOKS!

Castle Book

This picture by nokeek(Lena) from deviantart.com  seriously sums up how books make me feel.  By the time I have read a couple of pages I feel as if I have climbed into my happy place of awesome.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Fire Demons, Living Scarecrows And Moving Castles Oh My

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones makes me so HAPPY!!!!!!  I love everything about this book, every piece of it, every page of it, every word of it (in case you were wondering...I liked the book).  This is a case of a book that has it all, well developed characters, amazing world building, humor, magic, and the writing itself is pretty much flawless.  The only possible minor flaw (and that is if this sort of thing bugs you) is that the background of the plot skips around a bit and it may not bee 100% clear to everyone exactly what happens, but I will try and put it together the best I can.  WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!

Our story centers around Sophie, the oldest of three daughters.  Her sisters are the beautiful, clever and headstrong Lettie and the happy and spirited Martha.  Sophie feels that as the oldest it will never fall to her to seek her fortune, but instead to stay at home and run her father's hat shop in the prosperous town of Market Chipping (A Victorian era type town).  Sophie is the main decorator of these hats and any hat she touches tends to take on a life of it's own, for example to a certain hat, she told it that it had a heart of gold and somebody in a high position would marry it.  Sure enough, a homely girl with no prospects bought the hat and ran of with a count the very next week!  Sophie's sisters have been apprenticed out, Martha was sent to Mrs.Fairfax to learn magic, and Lettie was sent to the bakery to be a shop girl.  Sophie decides to visit Lettie at the bakery and discover that the girls have switched places as it better suites their temperaments and likes.  On her way to and from the bakery Sophie has discovered that she has become very fearful of the faster 

pace of life outside her shop.  Back in the hat shop Sophie is on her own when the notorious Witch of the Waste comes in and places a spell on her, turning her into an old woman.  Deciding she has nothing to loose, she sets out to seek her fortune.  On the way she stumbles upon an upside down scarecrow, whom she sets back to rights and a poor dog tied to a stick stuck in the bushes.  Sophie untangles the dog and takes the stick for herself to use as a sort of walking stick.  Sophie ends up stumbling upon a patchwork castle that is slowly moving around the countryside.  This is Howl's castle, the dwelling of a well known dandy of a powerful wizard who is rumored to lure young girls to his castle and then eat their hearts.  Sophie is not to worried as she is now an old lady and just wants a warm chair by the fire.  Sophie gets into the castle and finds a chair, but the fire turns out to be a demon named Calcifer who wants her to break the contract between it and Howl, in return he will break her spell.  Sophie agrees but cannot get any more information about what the contract is or how to break it.  Howl's apprentice finds Sophie and decides to let her stay the night.  Sophie determined to stay in the castle becomes the cleaning lady.  Howl lets her stay and proves himself to be a most vain and impulsive, yet not unkind young man.  The majority of his time is spent either in the bathroom using various potions and powders to make himself attractive, or wooing young ladies and then loosing interest as soon as they fall for him.  Howl and Sophie have a bit of a love/hate relationship, the kind you have with somebody who you absolutely adore, but can irritate the heck out of you at any given moment. The castle door is very unique in that depending on which of the four colors you turn a knob, the 

door will open to one of  four places, including Wales where Howl is originally from.  The fouresome (Howl, Sophie, Michael and Calcifer) have a couple of adventures and mishaps, mostley with Sophie at the middle of them. Eventually it comes out that Howl has been cursed by the Witch of the Waste and when it comes true he will be compelled to go back to her.  Also along side all of this the Kings wizard is missing, along with the kings brother Prince Justin. The King wants Howl to become his new wizard and to find his brother, but Howl wants no part of it, so he changes his castle to open to new places, including the old hat shop where Sophie used to work, but now the group decides to sell flowers.  Eventually the Witch of the Waste catches up with Howl, and Sophie who discovers she has magic of her own, goes to try and save Howl.  Eventually the witch is defeated, but turns out she is not the big baddie.  The Witch had given her heart to a fire demon who was not as nice as Calcifer, and it was trying to take over Howl.  Sophie finially realizes what the contract between Calcifer and Howl is.  When Howl was younger he caught a falling star that was dying, instead of letting it go, he offered the dying star his heart in exchange for power.  Sophie retrieves Howl's heart from Calcifer and together they defeat the old fire demon.  Calcifer decides to stay and Sophie realizes her curse is broken.  Howl informs her that he knew she was cursed all along, but no matter how hard he tried he could not break it.  Turns out Sophie was hanging on to her guise as an old lady as a way to do what she wanted without having to worry about propriety or anything like that.  Once she no longer needed that disguise, the curse went away on it's own accord.  Howl and Sophie kiss and decide that they are about the only two who can stand each other for long periods of time and live adventurously ever after.

This summary can hardly do this book justice.  There are so many other characters and sub-plots and places that...well just go read the book already.  This book shows the gamut of human emotions, greed, vanity, kindness, charity, perseverance  fear, and love.  Love is it's own very special thing in this book because the author shows the full extent of all the different kinds of love out there.  So many times a book get's stuck on "true love" of the romantic variety and forgets all of the other wonderful ways to love that are out there.   There is family love, shown by Howl's love for his sister and her kids, even though she does not approve of what he does, and Sophie and her sisters, never once are they enemies, but united in love...even Martha who is only a half-sister.  There is love of friends, as when Howl takes in Michael and trains him and watches out for his best interest, or between Calcifer and Howl even if it seems lopsided on occasion, they are constantly watching each others backs.  There is parent/child love as seen when the King is willing to do anything to protect his young daughter (who he keeps with him at all times, even in the council chamber) or when Fanny, who is the step-mother to Sophie and Lettie and mother to Martha does her best to try and make life as 

good as she can for all three girls, not just her own daughter.  And yes their is romantic love as well, we see the silly love of Howl chasing after girls, until it is no longer fun, we see Michael doing everything he can to win Lettie's love, and we see the exasperating, irritating, comfortable, actually knowing somebody and loving them anyways flaws and all love that takes the whole book to develop between Sophie and Howl.  The author knows how to write humans, she knows how to make their emotions, actions and reactions genuine and believable all while setting it in this fantastic world of endless possibilities   With a flick of the knob, a change of color and you can potentially be anywhere in the universe.  All this does not even begin to describe the wonderful sense of humor that pervades the whole story.  It would be easy for a story like this to get very dark, but all of the characters keep a sense of perspective to it all that keeps the book very fresh and enjoyable, Sophie especially has some great lines as her old lady self.   There is a Miyazaki animated film version of this book that is story wise pretty different, but tone and style wise absolutely magnificent, I would highly recommend it.  I give this book a 10 out of 10 jewel encrusted tiaras, it is excellent and everybody should read it.

If you could have a door that led to four places, where would those places be?  Are my extreme ramblings ever making any sense whatsoever?  How many different worlds are out there do you think?