Authors And Reading

Hola Readers, how is everybody?  Shockingly I've been super busy...I know *gasp*...I'm never busy right.  Anyways today I would like to talk about one of the things that struck me while I was on my trip.  It mostly has to do with a readers...or more specifically my view on a book in relation to who wrote it.  One of the books that I read on this trip (rambling in the next couple of days, I promise) almost completely changed when I realized the demographics of who wrote it.  I have lately found that the more I know about an author of a particular book, the more it seems to influence how I

perceive it.  For example, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke was all that much cooler for me because I know how long it took her to write it and how it was her first book and any other little details like that really enhanced my enjoyment of the book.  I find I am pre-dispositioned to like books by my favorite authors and am willing to defend even their occasional duds.  I find it hard to pick up a book by a disappointing author, even if the book is supposed to be completely different.  Sometimes I'll pick up a book by an author I know nothing about, sometimes I'm not even sure of their gender and then I'll read that book and form an opinion.  If the book is really good, or really bad, or something about it strikes me, then I will usually do some research on it, and that usually includes the author.  I can not tell you how many times I have discovered facts an tidbits about the author and/or the circumstances behind a book that has changed my whole out look on it.  After this revelation of something that has been part of my reading psyche since the age of four, I've been trying to decide how I feel about it.  On one hand, I like forming my own opinions of books with minimal outside influence...that being said, I feel that a book should be a piece of art from the author and I would assume that pieces of them, their personality, their experiances, their beliefs, etc... all play at least some small part in what they write, so of course knowing those things is going to affect my reading experience.  Anyways, I guess I was just surprised at how much the various details of the authors changed my whole reading experience.  Ok enough of my overly introspective thoughts.  Happy Reading Everybody!

An Elf A Halfbreed and A Dragon Walk Into A Book

One of my favorite things about used book stores is the availability of older books to find that may not be available so readily on the shelves of our favorite big box store.  One of these books I found was The Elvenbane by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey.  I remember stealing this book from a friend in highschool and am very happy to have rediscovered it as a bit of a more mature reader. Shall we see what these two favored authors of mine came up with?  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

I'm gonna give you fair warning.  This first book in the Halfblood Chronicles...well the whole series in all honesty is a pretty complex book...so if this synopsis is a bit confusing that is probably why.  Also vodka.  Ok let's jump into this shall we.  We start with a human woman by the name of Serina Daeth remembering the events that led to her wandering and pregnant through the desert.  We learn that this world was initially populated by humans who have what the call mind magic, but were dominated and conquered by alien elves who came from another world through some sort of portal.  The Elves are now the dominate force and have enslaved the humans for hundreds of years through the use of breeding, conditioning and their own potent magic.  Serina was a human concubine in one of the high lord's Dyran's household.  She made herself invaluable to the lord and ascended to his favorite.  A jealous fellow concubine switched out the food that contained Serina's birth control, causing her to become pregnant with Dyran's child.  In this world carrying a halfbreed is tantamount to death as the elves are deathly afraid of the combined magic powers that a human/elf combo wields.  With the birth imminent Serina flees and is found by one of the Kin, a dragon who's magic is the ability to shape shift into just about anything.  The Kin, who also come from another world, hide themselves from both humans and elves for fear of conflict.  Serina gives birth to a baby girl and dies.  The dragon Alara, who is also the clans Shaman decides to adopt the baby and raise it.  The baby is named Shana and is raised by Alara and her son Keman.  Alara's daughter Myre is not so enthused about her foster sister.  Alara teaches both Shana and Keman how tho use their own special talents.  After an incident where Shana displays her unique magical talents in defense of her foster brother, the clan freak and force Alara to send her away. Keman takes off after her to try and find and help her. Shana ends up back in the city of her birth confused and afraid. She is put up for action and "bought" by a supposed representitive of Lord Dyran, who actually turns out to be another halfbreed who has come to rescue Shana.  Shana is shocked to discover other halfbreeds like herself in a place called the Citidale, and ancient stronghold left  over from the old wizard (what the elves call halfbreeds) war.  Here Shana continues to develop her powerful magic and discovers some shocking secrets in the historical records kept in the Citidale.    Meanwhile back in the elven city, Lord Dyran's son and heir Valyn conspires to get his halfbreed cousin and friend Mero to safety.  They end up at the Citidale where they join with Shana and Keman, who has finally caught up with his foster sister.  They are persued by an elven army who have discovered that the wizards are still alive and kicking.  Much action and chaos and angst ensue (seriously so many subplots!) and the merry band are eventually aided by a group of Kin who have decided that they can no longer hide.  The Kin and wizards decided that they can no stay hidden forever.  They all gather around Shana as the prophesied Elvenbane and decide to try and take down the reigning elves...but that is a story for the next book.

Worldbuilding - This book is very detailed...sometimes to the point of over explanation.  That being said this book is full of a fully realized world filled with various races, cultures, politics and details. It is a world that is mostly based on a class like fantasy world with just a touch of sci fi thrown in for good measure.   I feel like the world was built in a completely realized manner with all of the various races and their unique specifics explained and fit together in a seamless manner.  We get enough history and current affairs of the world to know exactly what is going on and each piece is thoroughly though out.  A+ on world building.

Story - The book gives us an epic story spanning time and space, individual and groups, small places and world wide stories.  This story is complex, yet interesting.  It combines the individual stories apace with the wider scope that affects everybody.  It is interesting and varied and gives the reader a reason to continue to turn the page.  There were so many threads and subplots that one never got bored with any one storyline, and yet the authors managed to keep the story as a whole completely coherent.

Characters - I absolutely loved the huge variety of characters in this book.  Each of the characters that got page time were unique and multi-faceted.  We get to see people from every race, class and walk of life.  This not only gives us some extra world building cred, but makes me feel like this is a real place with real people.  I love it when a character, especially the main ones have strengths and weaknesses and individual likes and dislikes, it gives a ring of authenticity and makes me root for them.  I also like it when their is more to the "bad guys" then them being flat out bad.  There is just so much to love when it comes to the characters in this book, it makes me so happy!

Editing - Two separate authors worked on this book and (this is a compliment) you can't tell.  The book flows smoothly and there is no sign of a struggle between the two authors.  The only real complaint I would have is that sometimes I felt that the book got over explanatory.  Overall though the editing was an assets to the book and we will see if this continues through out the series.

Two Authors - Speaking of the two authors...I have read and enjoyed both Norton's and Lackey's works (as my rambling list can attest to).  I felt like both authors were very well represented in this book.  I could easily find Norton's signature sci fi/fantasy mix.  The premise that the Kin and the Elves both came from other worlds through either magical or scientific means to shape the world our story is set in is very much in the vein of our lady Norton.  Lackey's in depth characters and complex plot...and overexplenation is also very much evident.  I think the combination of these two ladies of epicness is pretty awesome.

The Prophecy - In the book a re-occuring thread is the vague prophecy of the Elvenbane...which the book is named for.  We learn that the Kin have been spreading the rumor of the prophecy both uchto bolster the humans and to discourage the elves.  When Shana appears and begins to lead the non elves in rebellion it seems the prophecy may actually be true.  The part I like best about this book is the debate about whether Shana is actually the fulfillment of the prophecy or if she is the embodiment of a self fullfilling prophecy or if the only reason people even think of her as the Elvenbane is because of the efforts of the Kin.  This type of thinking and discussion always makes me happy because it gives so much thought to the difference between magic, religion, human thinking, science and practicality.  I don't know, I just like it.

Various Factions - I think the think that held my interest the most in this book was that there was no good vs evil.  Instead we were introduced to three (well four if you count the halfbreeds) very different races.  Within each of these races were groups and individuals with their own agendas.  This leads to so much mass chaos that you totally understand why the real world is so messed up.  It was great to see that just because you were a human or an elf or a dragon that the you did not necessarily think the same as the rest of your race.  This added so many layers and possible combinations of individuals and plans that you felt that almost anything was realistically possible.  This made a fantasy book about humans, dragons and elves into an epic examination of motivation and environment.

Overall Impression - Overall I really enjoyed this book, it was complex and interesting.  I stopped several times to consider various ideas that the book brought up.  For a supposed "fantasy" novel I feel that this book brings up a lot of very in depth and layered things to piece together.  I found it engaging, entertaining, page turning and overall worthy of picking up and finishing the series.  I give it 8 out of 10 beryls and now need to scour the bookstore for the next book in the series.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Confession

Ok folks, I have a confession to make.  Sometimes when I've have a really long shift and I am just to tired to move...I steal post idea's from my Mamma. Like this super awesome cool picture.

Yep, any time I'm stuck I go running to my Mamma, who has a whole stash of perfect SBWG idea's that totally sum up me.  On the plus side she knows I do this and she is a willing accomplice, I just thought it was time to come clean and share the credit...except for the really cool posts, those are all me :-)  Ok time for bed.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Introspective AI

I like to read Science Fiction in the summer, I actually like it any time, but for some reason I always classify SciFi as a summer genre.  In that vein I had saved Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie to read by the pool.  I picked it up because a whole ton of people who have similar taste in books as me gave it rave reviews.  I found it to be...very thought provoking and introspective, but first as always SPOILERS AHEAD!

I will do my best to give you the gist of the story, as it is laid out in a two separate story format.  In essence the story focus's around a piece of AI named Breq, except that it isn't about Breq per se.  It is about a being called The Justice of Toren which is a giant ship that is controlled completely by an AI who is able to...I don't know how to explain it...maybe fragment is the word, yeah I'll use that, who is able to fragment it's consciousness and use human bodies as ancillaries.  This means it take a human and submerge it's being into itself and essentially control, get input and be in many different physical places at once.  The AI organizes itself in a complex system that I am not going to go into, but it gets the point across.  In the flashback story The Justice of Toren and more specifically an ancillary designated as One Esk get caught up in a galaxy wide conflict with the head of the Radch, which is the giant empire that pretty much has taken over everything.  The head of the Radch is a being known as Anaander Mianaai, who has also fragmented itself and is now having some sort of internal conflict with itself, resulting in the destruction of The Justice of Toren all except a single ancillary which escaped.  This ancillary, that used to be designated as Esk One, now calls itself Breq and is looking for revenge for the death of her ship, and more importantly one Lt. Awen, with whom Breq as One Esk had bonded (are you completly confused yet?).  Along the way Breq meets up with a former officer, that it did not particularly like, but for some reason saves and brings along the adventure.  The whole story culminates in Breq hooking up with one aspect of Anaander Mianaai, who tells us that the entity it is part of is conflicted and one part is trying to bring about change, and another part is trying to preserve the status quo.  Breq picks a side (kind of) an chaos ensues and things happen and thoughts are thunk and Breq obtains a ship to sail off into the next story.

If the that did not make any sense I don't blame you, this book is full of intricacies and logic leaps that have to be read and thought over to be of any value, and a summation is not the place to do it.  There are several things that caught my attention in this book and I will go through them one by one and maybe my feelings, or the gist of the book, or whatever will become clear...or maybe not.  One of the first things that jumps out is the language choice the author made.  In her world the Radch do not use gender identification, so the only pronoun that is used is she.  While this is a very interesting choice, it gets a bit confusing, especially when it is still used even after a character is identified as male.  The other language choice the author made was to make it clear there were other languages that are used extensively, but they are never differentiated int the book, so it got really confusing sometimes.  The combination of these two choices made the conversations a bit hard to follow some times.  The biggest concept in this book was the AI and it's vastness.  The idea of this huge AI that could and did control everything in it's domain, and it's casual acceptance by the masses

was very well done.  The use of the human ancillaries was very very thought provoking, making me think of the various aspects of personality over and over.  I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that a being could essentially fragment itself and control the various aspects of itself completely independently, yet still always part of the whole, but that is not the authors fault, it is just a really complex and huge concept that I think is meant to be mulled over.  The other piece of the AI concept was the idea that it might be possible for a schism to happen within the myriads of facets of such a huge AI's consciousnesses, effectively putting it at odds with itself.  This is shown mostly in the facets of Anaander Mianaai and it's ability to hide what it was doing from itself.  Moving on, the Radch have a very inclusive religion that allows for conquered worlds to add their own deities to the pantheon of an almost Buddhist like structure, the concept of balance being the biggest tenet.  The religion is very intertwined in the day to day activities, customs, and even running of the government.  It is mentioned many times, and the local temples tend to be used as settings on many worlds that are visited during the course of this book.  There is also some sort of super strong alien presence that accounts for a treaty that is part of the schism in the governmental entity, but unfortunately this is not very well explained and for me adds to some of the confusion I had reading this book.  The flashback stories, the bits of history, and the current story are all well told, though I liked the flashback and history part the best.  As you can probably tell from the stunted, stuttering, stilted (yes I am in an alliteration mood today) review that this is not the most reviewable of books.  Overall I felt it was a book of idea's and concepts.  The characters were fairly interchangeable and the stories while good, seemed to be more of a backdrop or context of an idea the author was trying to get across.  I had a hard time following the nuances of the plot and conversations, and to be quit honest I'm still not sure if I actually understand the plot, but I loved the ideas this book posed.  I liked that it was fodder for many hours of thinking, of pondering, of hypothesizing, sometimes I really enjoy that kind of thing.  Overall I found it to be more of a philosophical idea novel then I did a scifi space tale.  I found it a bit confusing and wanted more information on certain things, but enjoyed being able to mull it over when I put it down.  I will give it 7 out of 10 ancillaries and will probably pick up the sequel when it comes out.

What did you think of this book?  Do you like more abstract concepts, or do prefer a more solid story?  How rambly and incoherent is this rambling?

Circumnavigating Fairyland Again

Just got my copy of The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There and it is beautiful. I am saving it for just the right crisp fall day...or maybe a dark and storm night...or maybe a chill overcast afternoon, regardless I just know it is not time to read it yet.  I decided to reread it's predecessor The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in A Ship of Her Own Making both to refresh my memory and because it is such an AWESOME book (yes the capitals are necessary).  Since this is a second rambling, I will try and hit on a different view than I did on the first one found here. As always SPOILER ALERTS

Thoughts on this second read.  Since I already knew the story, and was expecting all of the awesome words and amazing visuals (which were just as great the second time around)  I was able to read into the emotions of the book a bit more this time around.  What really struck me this time, is that while it is a whimsical, fun, visually appealing, logophiles dream it is actually quite a heavy hitting book on an emotional scale.  In the midst of all the revelry and sheer coolness of fairyland is  many sad and hopeless beings.  The story of the Marquess who used to be Mallow is just heartbreaking and really plays into the idea that childhood is a passing phase and those who cling to it in an unhealthy manner tend to act in irrational ways.  I read a short novella called The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland--For a Little While which gives us a quick glimpse into Mallows rise to power and that makes her story all that more wretched.  I love how the author uses our heroine September as a lens in which to filter normal human emotions and reactions.  The whole adventure starts because she is your typical kid, a little selfish, a little heartless, and with no real thought for the future.

 As the story progresses you see this little girl grow in empathy, sympathy and practicality. Everything from giving up her shadow to save a child's life, to the ability to get past preconceived notions and standards in the building and sailing of her ship.  To cut ones hair and go naked, not to mention realize that surviving is not a crime (evidence by her feelings in eating the fish) all to save her friends is a testament to this little girls bravery.  The interactions between the denizens of Fairyland show just how far reaching consequences actions can have, in some cases for people you may have never even met.  The Marquesses need to make Fairyland tame, and a nice place for children, to try and keep them from harm by becoming a dictator like bureaucrat is reminiscent of what it feels like adults do for children in our own world, the sometime overly cautious, overly bland life they so carefully maintain for the protection of children, when all they want to do is be free to explore and have adventures.

This book has become more than a story, more then pictures filling my head and a longing to go ride a leopard of the wind, it is a book of ideas.  What makes a person good or bad.  If you are trying to do good, but bad comes of it what does that make you?  What about doing something bad to precipitate a good outcome?  What if what you do hurts a few, but helps a lot.  Is a bland yet safe existence better than an exciting yet dangerous one?  What makes a grown-up, a child, or a wyvearary? All of this stuff and so much more and yet if ones wants or needs one can read this book as a simple, gem like fairytale, just immersing oneself in an amazing world.  I am really excited to read the next book, from some of the reviews I've read it sounds like September is in a teenage stage which should bring about a whole host of new ideas.  Thanks for listening to my "deep thoughts" rambling.  Happy Reading Everybody!