Wands and Worlds: November 2008

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Book Review: The City in the Lake

The City in the Lake
by Rachel Neumeier

Timou is the daughter of the mage Kapoen, growing up in a small, remote village. Timou never knew her mother; Kapoen brought her from the city as a baby with no explanation. Unlike her father and the other villagers, Timou is fair and pale, with light hair and pale eyes.

Under Kapoen's tutelage, Timou is learning to be a mage, to find the stillness which is the heart of magecraft. But when Timou is around Jonas, a young man recently moved to the village, she has difficulty finding the stillness, because of the confusion he causes in her heart.

Far from the village, past the great forest, is the City. The City is the heart of the kingdom, and the King is the heart of the City. But the King's younger son and heir has disappeared, taking the heart of the City with him. In Timou's village, the effect of the disappearance is felt when babies, both animal and human, start to be stillborn. Kapoen sets off to the City to try to help, warning Timou not to follow him no matter what happens. But when Kapoen doesn't come back, Timou ignores his warning and sets off to find her father.

The City in the Lake is an immensely satisfying book heavy with myth, metaphor, and symbol. It's beautifully written book with a fairy-tale feel but more depth than a fairy tale. It draws on myth and folklore for some of the imagery and elements, yet it's a wholly original tale.

This isn't a book that all teens will appreciate. I know teens that will love it, but I also know teens that will find the long symbolic passages of wandering through the forest to be boring. This is a book for teens (and adults) who love rich language, good writing, and depth of plot and characterization, but who don't need action around every turn. There is excitement, and suspense, and conflict, but it's not a fast-paced book.

It was also a pleasure to read a book that is complete in itself; so many of the books that I've read lately leave plot threads unresolved to set up for a sequel.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Book Review: Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn
by Alison Goodman

Twelve energy dragons protect the land, each dragon linked to a human Dragoneye, who channels the dragon's power in exchange for giving his hua, or life energy, to the dragon. The twelve dragons represent the twelve points on the compass and the twelve animals of the zodiac. Every year, one of the twelve dragons becomes the ascendant dragon. On New Years Day, twelve boys are presented to the newly ascendant dragon as candidates; the one chosen by the dragon becomes the new Dragoneye apprentice.

Eon is unusual among the candidates. Permanently crippled from a hip injury, he would normally not be eligible to be a candidate. But Eon can see the dragons - all of them - an exceedingly rare ability. Eon is unusual for another reason: Eon is really Eona, a girl. Girls are considered inferior, and not eligible to be Dragoneye candidates. If anyone were to find out that Eon is really a girl, it would mean death for her and her master, the man who discovered her and who is sponsoring her in her candidacy.

But there's more at stake then Eon's own future, as she soon finds herself caught up in court intrigue and power struggles for control of the empire.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn is an original and fascinating fantasy which includes elements of several Asian cultures, although not based directly on any one specific culture. Gender identity is a key theme of the book, as the idea of what makes one male or female is explored throughout the book. Although the idea of a girl disguised as a boy is an old one, it's handled well and not always in the expected ways. So effective is Eon's deception that, even knowing that she's female, I'm struggling with whether to use the male or female pronoun in writing this review. There is also a Contraire, a woman in the body of a man, who is revered in her own land but reviled in this one, and only tolerated because she is a guest of the Emperor. There are also many eunuchs, some with male characteristics and some with female characteristics, and herbs that can temporarily alter the Sun (male) or Moon (female) energy in a person.

I found some of the key plot points to be predictable, but it didn't diminish my enjoyment of this well-written fantasy. Rather, I was so wrapped up in the story that I found myself shouting at Eon when I could see things that she hadn't figured out yet. There are many fascinating characters; in addition to Eon, I especially liked Lady Dela, the Contraire, Ryko, her eunuch guard, and Chart, a crippled boy living at Eon's master's house, and who is her friend.

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn is a richly detailed fantasy that will appeal to anyone who loves stories of exotic lands, court intrigue, interesting characters, power struggles, secrets, and personal heroism. It's the first book of duology; although the story is wrapped up in a satisfying way, there are some plot elements left unresolved.

As one would expect from a book that deals so extensively with gender, there are some mature elements (starting with the question of what is a eunuch.)

Eon: Dragoneye Reborn will be published on December 26, 2008.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Cool interviews! Anticipated sequels! My picks from the WBBT.

As you may know, the Winter Blog Blast Tour, organized by the fabulous Colleen Mondor of Chasing Ray, is going on right now throughout the Kidlitosphere. It's a great lineup of author interviews on a variety of kidlit blogs. I wish that I had the time to read all the interviews, but unfortunately, I don't, so I've been just dipping my toes in and reading the ones that interest me. Here are some of my favorites:

Leila interviewed Kathleen Duey, author of Skin Hunger. I read Skin Hunger last year for the Cybils, and loved it, but hated the cliffhanger ending. So I was thrilled to read that the sequel, Sacred Scars, is at the copy editor, although we still have to wait until August, 2009 to read it.

Read the interview here.

Colleen Mondor interviewed Martin Millar, author of The Good Fairies of New York, which I reviewed here, and Lonely Werewolf Girl, which I never posted a review of, but loved so much that I nominated it for the Cybils, so I was excited to see that a sequel to it is in the works also! Although I never formally reviewed Lonely Werewolf Girl, I did post some thoughts about it in the Wands and Worlds community.

Read the interview here.

Betsy Bird interviewed Louis Sachar, author of Holes on Fuse #8.

Read the interview here.

Colleen Mondor also interviewed Ellen Datlow, editor of numerous fantastic short story anthologies. I don't read a lot of short fiction, but I did enjoy her anthology, The Faery Reel.

Read the interview here.

Little Willow interviewed Lisa Ann Sandell, author of several books including the verse novel, Song of the Sparrow, a beautiful reimagining of the story of Elaine, the Lady of Shalott, who supposedly died of a broken heart because of Lancelot. I reviewed Song of the Sparrow last year here.

Read the interview here.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Cybils 2008 Nominee Widget

There's a fresh new widget available from Jacketflap that rotates through the Cybils 2008 nominees and displays a different one with each page view:

You can customize the widget to select the colors and which category or categories you want to display. Mine displays only the fantasy and science fiction nominees (both age groups) but you can display all nominees for all categories, if you want. I've added one to the sidebar - see it over there on the right (you might have to scroll down a bit). To get your own, click on the "get this widget" link in the widget itself, or click here to go to Jacketflap and get one

Book Review: The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher

The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher
by David and Ruth Ellwand

The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher is a fascinating and slightly creepy little story, told in the format of a journal-within-a-journal and illustrated with exquisite photographs. In the first journal, photographer David Ellwand follows a strange light through the woods to an old, dilapidated house, where he finds a locked chest. When he is able to get the chest open, he discovers that the chest contains some mysterious items, as well as what turns out to be wax phonograph recordings. The recordings tell the story of another photographer named Isaac Wilde, who in 1889 is commissioned as the official photographer on an archaelogical dig into an old hill fort believed to be inhabited by the faerie folk. What Isaac Wilde discovers at the site, and his attempts to photograph it, put him in conflict with the leader of the dig, and lead him, and Ellwand after him, into trouble.

I enjoyed The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher and found it an interesting, although quick, read. The photographs are beautiful, and worth going back and spending some time with after the first read. Some of them are pictures of natural settings, others are still life pictures of the "found items" and meticulously constructed out of natural objects. I studied photography as a teen, and had thoughts of being a professional photographer, so the photographs were definitely the highlight of this book for me. My favorite was a dramatic, sepia-toned photograph of the dilapidated house with clouds behind it.

Although I enjoyed the book, I'm not quite sure whether kids and teens would enjoy it or not, and who the audience may be. It may be too simplistic a story for the fiction readers, but too fictional for the non-fiction readers. I think it's most likely to find a home among kids who enjoy the "ology" books, because it has the same kind of "fiction as non-fiction" approach, although it lacks those books' interactivity. It also may appeal to visually-oriented young people and those with an artistic nature. This may be a book to put out in a library display and let kids be drawn in by the eerie cover and the beautiful photographs.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Cybils 2008 Nominees: Fantasy and Science Fiction: Teen

I just posted the list of Cybils 2008 nominees for Fantasy and Science Fiction: middle and elementary here. Now, here's the list of nominees for Fantasy and Science Fiction: Teen:

Adoration of Jenna Fox
written by Mary E. Pearson
Macmillan

Reviewed by: lainitaylor | Nettle |