Silver in the Wood

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

A poignant tale steeped in English folklore about the Green Man of the woods coming to terms with his past and trying to set things right. Dryads, highwaymen, and a naive lord of the manor, combine for an evocatively lush tale.

I loved this novella! I loved Tesh's look at where the Green Man came from and how his history informs his present actions, centuries after the fact. The prose is gorgeous and the tension between Tobias (the Green Man) and Henry (the new lord the manor) is dialed up and made all the more perfect by the accompanying sexual attraction.

It's only 109 pages and easy to read in 1 sitting, which I highly recommend you do.

Book Provided by... my local library

This is published by Tor, which is a Macmillan imprint. Macmillan is really forking over libraries on ebook pricing. If you can, please read this in paper-based print from your local library.

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Sass and Sorcery

Rat Queens Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch

Palisade is a prosperous commerce town with several marauding gangs that keep the bad things away. Only, when the gangs get drunk, they have a habit of trashing the town. After a town meeting of angry merchants, the gangs are each given a minor quest to keep them out of jail--only the tasks are all set-ups and not all them survive.

The Rat Queens are one of the gangs--4 women--Betty's a Smidgen who likes candy and drugs, Hannah grew up in a squid worshiping cult and might be a goddess, Hannah's a bitter necromancer, and Violet just wants some blood on her sword. They fight, they drink, they party and hook up, and lovingly send up or subvert a lot of fantasy tropes. And they try to figure out who set them up and why.

Lots of wise-cracks, magic spells, and sword play, and a hell of a lot of fun. So much fun. I love these women and want to party with them and watch them kick a lot more ass.

The saddest thing about this is that a lot of the press and reviews are like “YAY! GIRLS!” (including several of the blurbs on the back of the omnibus, and bonus points for how they’re drawn) and given the state of the comic industry, yes, YAY! GIRLS! It’s an exciting breakthrough, but this isn’t a token volume and I fear it will become “oh, that girl comic” and it’s more than that. Read this book because it’s girls being awesome, but really, read this book because it’s just fucking awesome.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

School Spirits

School Spirits Rachel Hawkins

This is a companion novel the Hex Hall series, and takes place after that series wrapped up.

Izzy Brannick is used to moving around, not having friends, and hunting monsters who make trouble. But now everything is different-- six months ago her sister Finn went missing on what should have been a routine mission. Izzy knows she’ll never live up to Finn’s skills or her mother’s expectations.

So now Izzy and her mom have moved to Ideal, Mississippi to take care of a simple school haunting. The ease of the mission is almost insulting. The hard part isn’t the ghost-- it’s the fact that to investigate, Izzy needs to enroll in high school and blend in. Izzy can handle monsters, but can she handle friends?

LOVE this. I love Izzy’s relationship with Torrin-- the evil warlock trapped in her mirror. It’s a great friendship full of screwball comedy banter. I also like that Izzy comes to town and immediately has 2 boys like her and I can see why. Izzy isn’t very confident, but Hawkins often shows us how awesome she is, and I can see all the guys falling over her and her mysterious ways. I also liked how it was there, but it was a pretty minor part of the plot, because Izzy doesn’t have the time or energy for such nonsense. I loooooooooooooooooooooooved Izzy’s new ghost-hunting friends and how they dealt with the high school crap.

And oh my, Dex. An asthmatic Prodigium who wears a lot of purple and has a smart mouth? Can we get more romantic leads like this? Seriously fun to read and swoon over.

Fans of Hex Hall will like this one and should get it.

Sadly, Rachel Hawkins told me on twitter that this is a stand-alone and not a series. While the plot is resolved, there is SO MUCH MORE to explore-- especially with Finn’s disappearance and Torrin. (I want so much more Torrin. Someone should write me some torrid Torrin fanfic. I would love you forever).

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Bitter Kingdom

The Bitter Kingdom Rae Carson

Elisa, Mara, Belen, and Storm are on Hector’s tail, ready to rescue him, and then to save Elisa’s crown.

But saving Hector isn’t enough--something isn’t right in Invierne and Elisa continues into the capital city to discover what. She does discover it, and with it some horrifying truth about Godstones and those who bear them.

And that’s only the first half!

Guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuys. It’s soooooooooooo goooooooooooooooood. I love this series. I love this ending. I love Elisa and how much she’s grown and how she’s so strong and scared at the same time. I love how the action is the perfect mix of fighting and politics.

Also, um, Hector. There’s a romantic lead I can get behind. Someone who’s worthy of the girl, who knows when to support, when to lead, and when to get out of her damn way and doesn’t turn all of her issues into reasons to whine about himself. Instead he just knows and appreciates how awesome she is.

While this is the a wonderful end, it’s still a heartbreaking one, because I’m not ready to say goodbye to these characters and this place yet.

PS-- if you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the e-only short stories: The Shadow Cats, which is about Elodia, (I reviewed it here), The Shattered Mountain, which is about Mara, and The King's Guard, which is about Hector.

ARC Provided by... the publisher at ALA

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Quintana of Charyn

Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

After everything Lumatere has been through, it looks like it's on the brink of another war. Tensions have been rough with the Charynites in the valley ever since Phaedra's death.

Isaboe and Finnikin hear that Froi might have turned against Lumatere.

And Quintana is still on the run, trying to find safety, and everyone's after her, some who wish her to find safety, and many who do not.

When Quintana ends up in the valley, she's in the safest and most dangerous spot she can be. Everything depends on Isaboe's capacity for forgiveness, and to trust.

But everything's falling apart. Friends and families are fighting, and bickering. No one dares trust, and this is a plan that depends on trust, and faith.

Oh my. So many threads to follow as this trillogy comes to it's most perfect (oh, so perfect) conclusion. I like how we get little bits from Quintana's voice, in first person narration (although she's always talking to Froi during these parts.)

It's hard and it's messy, and it's utterly perfect. Because it's Marchetta, and it's a messy, brutal land that she's created. So, so heartbreaking. And perfectly wonderful

I don't want to say too much, I don't want to give it away. I couldn't even try to do it justice. If you've read the other two, don't worry-- this is an ending that's worthy in every way. If you haven't read them, go. Go now. Lumatere grows on you and sticks to the corners of your brain. I've read and reread these books, looking the devastation and beauty.


Australian copy of the book provided by... a super awesome friend

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

A Hat Full of Sky

A Hat Full of Sky: The Continuing Adventures of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men by Terry Prachett.

This book is hard to review because all I really want to say is "Terry Prachett is the bomb."

So, this is a Tiffany Aching book from the Discworld series (is series really the right world for Disworld? It doesn't quite fit, but I can't come up with a better one.) Tiffany's excited to start learning how to be a witch, but it turns out her apprenticeship has more chores than magic. The one bit of witch-y stuff she does get is flying, which makes her horribly ill. But, an hiver is after Tiffany. An hiver that possesses her and controls her body, and tries to take over her mind.

Seriously guys, Terry Prachett is the BOMB. He writes this quirky and hilarious books set in this crazy universe, but at the same time, raises really deep points and makes you contemplate the larger questions of the universe, all while laughing your head off.

In this book, I especially enjoyed the other apprentice witches and the high school girl dynamic you get with them and how Tiffany sees through it without seeming cynical or over-mature. Plus, lots and lots of MacFeegles trying to help and create as much mischief as possible.

I do recommend Discworld even to those who aren't fantasy readers. I only picked up my first one because it was assigned reading, and I'm so, so glad I did.

Must read more Discworld. MUST.

Book Provided by... my wallet

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Crown of Embers

The Crown of Embers Rae Carson

So, The Girl of Fire and Thorns didn't really need a sequel, but I'm glad there was one, because I love Elisa and I love this world that Carson has built.

Everything I loved about the first book is amplified in the second--the fact that the world is vaguely Central/South American instead of vaguely European. The way she has a love triangle without having a love triangle (Being torn between two hot guys who both want you gets old. Being torn between your heart and duty? I will never tire of that.) I love the politics and how Elisa is still struggling. She's better at playing the game than she was, but she hasn't mastered it yet. I love the role religion play-- how it affects the politics, the varying interpretations, the HUGE role it plays in Elisa's life.

I love how everything just becomes that much more complicated.

Yes, Elisa won the war, but her country is in tatters and her treasury is depleted. Inverieno spies and assassins lurk around every corner. Because she let the Eastern Holdings split off, the Southern Holdings want to as well. Taxes must be raised to refinance the rebuilding, but until the country is rebuilt, the people are too poor to pay more in taxes. Riots keep breaking out in Brisadulce.

The Quorom keeps pushing Elisa to marry, for she is still a child and not a strong enough leader to be queen at this trying land. And Ximena has written to Alodia suggesting that Alodia marry Hector.

But there's a passage in the Apocrypha that suggests that a metaphorical gate might be real, and it might hold the key to Elisa's problems...

Sadly, as much as Carson twists the conventions of the genre, she still goes with a second-book-in-a-trilogy Empire Strikes Back cliffhanger ending.

Ah well, it's totally worth it. Can't wait until the next one!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Sunday Salon: Second to the Right and Straight on 'til Morning

It was a rumor that I enjoyed, but never one that I thought would actually come true. There was no way it would actually happen. No way way it was true. NO WAY.

And then, it did happen. It WAS true.

On Friday night, a 100 foot tall Voldemort was taken down by a team of Mary Poppins. And it wasn't just Voldemort. Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, the Queen of Hearts, and the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Not only did the Olympics celebrate Children's Literature, it celebrated its villains and nightmares.

It's an interesting juxtaposition to the common cries of "WAH! YA lit is too dark!"

The Opening ceremonies embraced that darkness and celebrated it, and for an even younger audience.

I immediately thought of an article I read many years ago, many years before I worked in children's literature. In her December, 2000 Salon piece "Oz vs. Narnia," Laura Miller compares the two beloved classics, with Narnia being the clear winner. And one of the reasons it is the clear winner is because of the darkness. At the time, I thought the comparison didn't work-- one was written for Victorian children on the plains, one was written for British children who just survived the Blitz, of course Narnia is darker. But, I now know differently. I know the debate. I know the literature and this argument still resonates, 12 years later:

[Oz scholar] Hearn complains that American librarians have unjustly labeled Baum’s Oz books as “poorly written”; the librarians, however, are right. He attributes their preference for British fantasy to “Anglocentric” “reverse snobbism,” but the truth is that in Britain real writers like Lewis (and J.R.R. Tolkien, and J.K. Rowling and Phillip Pullman today) write children’s fantasy, and they take their readers seriously, as people facing a difficult and often confusing world.
...
Just as the British think that children are important enough to merit the work of their best writers, British children’s writers think children are important enough to be treated as moral beings. That means that sometimes things get scary.
...
Baum, like many Americans today, saw children differently, as pure innocents who need to be shielded for as long as possible from the challenges of life.

And this debate still rages. Children and teens much be protected from nightmares, and reality. librarian Josh Westbrook says, "Kids are living stories every day that we wouldn't let them read."

But on Friday night, on a global stage, some of literature's most memorable and terrifying villans came out to play. We didn't frolic with puppies, Peter Pan, Alice, a flying car, or even Harry. We didn't immerse ourselves in Neverland, Wonderland, or Hogwarts. No, we recognized and reveled in their enemies. We recognized the nightmares they've given us. But, instead of ignoring they exist, instead of covering our eyes and turning away, Danny Boyle and the London Olympics paraded them out for us all to see. They were celebrated.

In the US, we gnash our teeth and wail and moan about books that portray the darker, harsher sides of our world. In the UK, they take center stage when the entire world is watching.

The prominence they were given, and the seriousness with which they were treated, surprised and delighted me even more than the Queen parachuting in with James Bond or the obligatory singing of "Hey Jude."

And, in the end, I'm still smiling with glee over the fact that the rumor of a Voldemort/Mary Poppins smackdown in the middle of the Opening Ceremonies actually happened, and was completely awesome.

Akata Witch

Akata Witch Nnedi Okorafor

Sunny's parents are Nigerian, but she was born in the US and then they moved back to Nigeria when she was 9*. She's also an albino. Her classmates stare. Her father hates her.

She saw the end of the world in a candle flame.

And that's when she learns that she's a Leopard person. Leopard people work juju and have powers. They had their Leopadness from the Lambs (aka Muggles.)

And like that, Sunny enters a double life-- dutiful daughter, diligent student by day, Leopard person out to save the world by night.

Because there's a serial killer on the loose and he's been murdering children. The council knows it's a Leopard person and knows that Sunny and her friends have been chosen to deal with it...

Love.

First off, hey! It's a fantasy set in Nigeria! And the magic and magical world are ones with what I assume are Nigerian characteristics (I don't really know much about Nigeria, so I can't say for sure.)

Second of all, Sunny is awesome. She's smart and clever and nice without being too nice. She has some innate abilities and strengths but she also has to learn how to use them. She isn't instantly the bestest Leopard person ever. I think the supporting characters, especially her friend Chichi and Orlu are also really well drawn.

I like how Okorafor plays with Sunny's outsider status. In the Leopard world, she's a free agent, or one who isn't born in Leopard parents. She wasn't raised in the culture or the knowledge, which puts her at a disadvantage. In the Lamb world, she's between cultures. Her classmates call her akata which is a not-nice word for an African-American. The tensions here are played with even more when Sasha arrives from the States. Her skin color also sets her apart from her peers and family. Her in-between status makes her an excellent tour guide both to the Leopard world but also Nigeria.

There's so much going on here that I really hope this is a series. It stands alone, but the world is so complex and I want to spend more time in it. There's also a lot going on with Sunny's family's backstory that I'd love to explore further.

OH! And I liked that there was some super super light romance but NO instalove and NO love triangles and it was a really minor subplot that didn't hijack the story.

Overall a really excellent book. I che4cked it out when we got it in last spring, but didn't get a chance to read it before I had to turn in all my library books before going on maternity leave. Luckily, it stayed on my radar so I checked it out again and had a chance to read it this time. So glad I did.

*Usually. My one complaint with the book is that sometimes this shifted. Like, she moved back when she was 9, but at one point says she and Orlu have been going to school together since they were 5. I kinda got the sense that when she moved back changed in revisions but not all references to it were caught.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Fox and Phoenix

Fox and Phoenix Beth Bernobich

The king is dying and the princess isn't responding to her messages. The Ghost Dragon King sends Kai and Yun to the heart of the Phoenix Empire to bring the princess home from university. But there are forces that don't want Kai and Yun to reach the princess, and, once they do, forces that won't let her leave.

Magic + steampunk + court intrigue + a Chinese fantasy setting = OH YES.

The set up to this story is one that you'll love or hate, depending. Basically, it reads like a sequel, but it's not. Kai and his friends met the Princess a year ago, when they helped her find her heart's desire. It sounded like a basic fairy tale set-up, doing impossible tasks to win her hand, but her heart's desire was to study politics before taking the throne. No one got her hand, the street gang was rewarded handsomely and the princess got to go to college. Win win. But... this is the story about what happens next. The money has changed Kai and his friends. They used it to escape the streets, but their group has drifted and things have shifted and changed. For Kai, it seemed easier then.

I LOVED this. I've often wanted a story about what happens next or what about the other people caught up in some epic battle, not the hero? I like how we jumped in, between big adventures. But, I can see that some people might really hate the same thing.

I liked how it was magical steampunk. The technology felt like futuristic steampunk, but magic was what it ran on, plus standard fantasy magic. And spirit animals.

Oh yes, and China. That's always a major plus in my book. I do like China.

And the cover is awesome.

I will say it took me awhile to get into it. The first 100 pages were a bit slow, but I'll admit that might have been my mood when I read it. After that though, I had a hard time putting it down. Very fun.

UPDATE: Beth Bernobich emailed me to let me know there IS actually a prequel. It was a short story in the out-of-print anthology Magic in the Mirrorstone. Luckily for us, she put it up on Smashwords for FREE. Be sure to check it out!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Froi of the Exiles

Froi of the Exiles Melina Marchetta

I have been thinking about this book for months, trying to figure out this review.

It's been three years since the end of Finnikin of the Rock. Lumatere is trying to rebuild and heal, communities and families that were kept apart are slowly finding ways of being together again.

Because recovery is never easy.

The politics are worse, as Lumatere tries to find peace with the neighboring countries who turned their backs on the exiles, who didn't try to help. Plus, the ever-present threat from Charyn, which is driven ever more home by growing number of Charynites camping on banks of the stream that serves as a border.

Froi, who is now a member of the Queen's guard, is sent into a Charyn as a spy, but what he finds there is unexpected. Charyn is also living under a curse--no child has been born in nearly 18 years. Froi is sent into the heart of a royal court with a mad princess, a scheming regent, divided loyalties, estranged families, and a plot to fix everything that his very presence has ruined.

It's Marchetta, so nothing is easy or clean. No country is all good or all bad and rulers made horrible decisions based on the best information they have. Our heroes muck everything up royally and don't even know it.

Finnikin of the Rock drew me in slowly. I read it and thought "ok, it was good, not my cup of tea, but I see why people love it" but I just kept thinking about it, and turning back to reread certain sections. Before I knew it, I had reread the entire book and by the end of the weekend, it was one of my favorite books of all time.

Already in love with Lumatere and Froi, this one didn't need that slow build. It drew me in right away. I was initially disappointed because some truths about Froi's background are painfully obvious to the reader from the get-go. But there are always hidden twists and layers, so it didn't matter that I had already figured out a central piece. And as more and more goes wrong, and our characters fail us in the most human of ways.

Nothing is clean or easy and when I finished this book I screamed and threw it across the room.

And I mean that in the best possible way. Because the events are done oh-so-well and reactions are only too believable and my heart is stuck in Lumatere and I fear for everyone.

Also, I didn't realize this is the second book in a trilogy, so I THOUGHT SHE WAS GOING TO LEAVE IT THERE FOREVER. And that would just be too cruel for words.

But, in the end, Froi of the Exiles did have the slow build, because again, my initial reaction was wrong. Because after a day of stomping about, I kept thinking about it, and not just the skill that could evoke such emotions in me, but in everything else (I'm trying not to be too spoilery. Sometimes it's all in the reveal) and, once again, Marchetta drew me in and I realized that this is a worthy sequel.

I'm failing in conveying how good this book is.

Read Finnikin first, if you haven't yet, or if you're looking for an excuse to reread it, and then read Froi.

ARC Provided by... the publisher, for work stuff

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Girl of Fire and Thorns

The Girl of Fire and Thorns Rae Carson

So, I had heard good things about this one but had no desire to pick it up until ALA when Katie decided it was her mission in life to get me to read this book. So I did. THANK GOD FOR FRIENDS LIKE KATIE.

Elisa is the younger princess. She lacks the beauty, grace, charm, and political savvy of her older sister. But Elisa is the chosen one, blessed with the Godstone in her navel at her naming ceremony.

But it is Elisa, who is married off to a neighboring kingdom as part of a treaty to join forces against the invading North. But in her new home, her husband keeps their relationship a secret. There are political games afoot she doesn't understand.

And she wonders what service God has destined for her. She is the chosen one, but chosen for what?

And when she's kidnapped by rebels and sees the truth of what's happening on the borders, she must find a physical, mental, and emotional strength she doesn't think she has.

HOT DAMN.

Here are a few of the reasons why this book is totally awesome:

1. Excellent court intrigue.

2. Fast-moving and gripping plot, without being completely plot-driven.

3. Elisa's a great character. She has her limitations and is real, but never annoying. She has sister issues, but even when she wallows in them, she's trying to learn from them.

4. The way Carson handles lurve interests. They're a very MINOR part of the book (HALLELUJAH!) and I must admit I was very surprised by who she ends up with in the end. You won't see it coming. You'll wonder why more YA books don't do the same thing.

5. The way Carson handles religion. Religion is HUGE in this book (I mean, Elisa has been chosen by God. How could it not be?) It seems vaguely Catholic and Elisa finds such comfort and joy in worship, even as she struggles with the path God has given her. I love the ramifications of differing interpretations of the holy texts. I love the perversion of how the enemy practices. I love that's it not faith-based fiction, but religion is painted in a very positive light. It's something we don't see a lot of and Carson does it so very very well.

6. You know how most fantasies are set in a land and culture that is vaguely European? This one is Latin America. The dwellings are adobe and sandstone. Their skin is darker, their hair black. The northern barbarians are weird and scary with their blue eyes and light hair. Their names are Elisa, Alejandro, Ximena. It's awesome. Not just because we need SO MUCH MORE of this in our fiction, especially fantasy, but because the change of location was very refreshing.

7. Ok, apparently this is going to be a trilogy, but this book stands 100% alone. I will read the others because I loved this so much, but I don't need the others.

Overall, just freaking wonderful.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Color of Magic

The Color of Magic: A Discworld Novel Terry Prachett

This is the first-ever Discworld novel. I’ve read most of the Tiffany Aching books and Nation and fell in love with Prachett, so I thought I’d read more Discworld.

Rincewind is a failed wizard who gets stuck playing tourguide to a naive, but eager, tourist named Twoflower. Hijinks and chaos follow them wherever they go to Rincewind's dismay and Twoflower’s sheer delight.

Overall, I was a bit “eh.” It was enjoyable but wouldn’t tempt me to pick up any more in the series. I will pick up more, but that’s just because I love the Tiffany Aching books and everyone’s told me that Color of Magic is one of the weaker books and you really shouldn’t start with that one anyway.

My main problem with it was that while it retains the silly absurdity of Prachett’s other work, it lacks the GREAT TRUTH that underpins it. My favorite thing about Prachett is his dark humor, the way he takes some GREAT TRUTH and cracks wise about it, but still really gives you food for though on the deeper meanings of life, religion, and everything. This one just cracks wise and didn’t make me think much.

So, if you’ve been meaning to pick up some Prachett, don’t start with this one!

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Plain Kate

Plain Kate Erin Bow

Plain Kate is a wood carver of extraordinary skill. After her father dies, a witch-white man comes to town and wants Kate's shadow. Kate knows it's not a thing to be given up, but times are tough and the fear of witches is on the rise. The witch-white man knows magic and knows how to make Kate look like she is what the townspeople fear the most.

In the end, it's an offer she can't refuse. As her shadow grows weaker, Kate flees and joins with a band of Roamers. Meanwhile, times are getting harder, the rain won't stop, and a mysterious sickness is taking over the land. As events unfold, even Kate's new friends can't trust her and she's on her own again, needing to regain her shadow and the stop the witch-white man.

I picked this up after so many people raved about it. Oh! So good! I loved Kate's story, her determination, and her refusal to give up. How much did I love this story? IT HAD A TALKING CAT. Talking animals are usually a death sentence for me liking a book. NO TALKING ANIMALS. But not only did I not mind, but Taggle was wonderful. I LIKED A TALKING CAT. That should tell you something right there.

Now, I am by no means an expert on Slavic culture, so I can't comment if they were done well, but I did love the Slavic influences on this story, both in location but also elements from folklore, like rusalka.

It's atmospheric and spooky, but heartwarming and brave and just... oh.

I can't really be more coherant than: Gush gush gush love love love.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Reckless

Reckless Cornelia Funke

Jacob and Will grew up with an absent father and a mother who slipped into deep depression after her husband disappeared. Shortly after his father's disappearance, Jacob found the mirror that led him into another world. However, this world is changing from one populated by fox spirits, gingerbread houses, and other fairy tale tropes. Our world is coming in with trains and machinery. To top it off, the Goyl have come from the underground and are fighting a war with the Empresses--a war she can never win.

As the years have passed, Jacob has spent more and more time in the mirror world, leaving the pain and misery of his life in our world behind. Until, one day, Will follows him. Before Jacob can get him back, they're attacked by Goyl and now Will is turning into one of them. Jacob, Will, Will's girlfriend Clara, and a fox spirit called Fox are now on a mission that will take them to witche's houses, faerie islands, dwarf cities and the heart of the Goyl kingdom itself, all in an attempt to save Will before it is too late.

It's an exciting adventure with many recognizable characters and settings, but Funke manages to make them different than what we'd expect. There is a princess asleep in a tower, but she's covered in dust, her dress is faded and old-fashioned, and her skin has gone dry and papery over the centuries.

But, what I really appreciated about this book was the structure. We get to Will in the mirror-world very quickly (page 8). The back story of how the boys grew up, of how mirror world is changing, of the Goyl and their war, of Jacob's exploits, they're all told in bits and pieces strung through the adventure. It's a life we get to piece together with deeper meanings as we follow Jacob's quest to save his brother-- the only thing tying him to our world.

It was dark and wonderful.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Finnikin of the Rock

Finnikin of the Rock Malina Marchetta

So... I loved Jellicoe Road and this was getting a lot of great buzz, but I wasn't going to read it. I'm kinda picky about my fantasy. I'm all over fairy tales. And fantasy that takes place in our world. But made up worlds and ancient prophecies usually aren't my thing. And if it has any sort of talking animal (dragons get a pass) then forget about it. Not that Finnikin of the Rock has talking animals, but if we're getting into my issues on fantasy... BUT this keeps showing up on people's best of the year lists so I thought I'd give it a chance.

Ten years ago, there were the 5 days of the Unspeakable. The royal family was murdered. The people people of Lumatere turned on their Forest Dweller neighbors, who worship a different goddess. They burned them out of their homes and burned their leader at the stake. Before they killed her, Seranonna cursed Lumatere. The ground cracked and swallowed people. People ran for the gates. Many were trapped. A malevolent mist surrounded the country, no one could get in or out. No one's had any news of Lumatere since then. People who left before Seranonna was killed and those who got out before the gate shut for good now live in exile camps, at the mercy of other kingdoms, ravaged by fever and often despised.

Finnikin is the son of the head of the Lumaterean guard. His father's been imprisoned since the Unspeakable. He's spent the last decade traveling throughout the kingdoms with Sir Topher, the former king's first man. He records the history and of the exiled Lumatereans and tries to advocate for them with their host governments. Then, a messenger comes whispering the name of the prince who might have survived, of Finnikin's best friend. Finnikin and Sir Topher travel to the ends of the land to a convent where they don't find the prince, but instead a novice who drives Finnikin insane, but just might lead them all home.

So, when I finished it, my first thought was "eh. I see why everyone loves it, but it's not for me." But over the next few days, I kept returning to favorite scenes and parts and I think I managed to reread the entire book multiple times so... I obviously liked it a lot more than I initially thought!

Something I noticed (and loved) in the first reading and just picked up more and more of in later readings was how relevant it is to current events. Yes, it's a fantasy, but it's a story of an exiled people.

"Then I will demand that you speak Lumateran when we are alone," Evanjalin said, interuppting his thoughts.

"Will you?" he mocked. "Any why is that?"

"Because without our language, we have lost ourselves. Who are we without our words?"

"Scum of the earth," he said bitterly. "In some kingdoms, they have removed all traces of Lumatere from the exiles. We are in their land now and will speak their tongue or none at all. Our punishment of the pathetic course of our lives."

"So men cease to speak," she said softly.

Men who in Lumatere had voices loud and passionate, who provided for their families and were respected in their villages. Now they sat in silence and relied on their children to translate for them as if they were helpless babes. Finnikin wondered what it did to a man who once stood proud. How could he pass on his stories without a language?

"And how Lumaterans loved to speak..." page 65

Overall it's beautifully done. And there is so much in here about a lost people searching for a home, racked by guilt over what happened during the Unspeakable that clearly resonates today in our world, but hope and love and heartbreak all so wonderfully done. It grew on me to where it's now one of my favorites, too.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Silver Phoenix

Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia Cindy Pon

When disgusting Master Huang claims that Ai Ling's father owes him money, but will forgive the debt if she becomes his fourth wife, she knows he's lying. She's started being able to read other people's minds. But, there's no way to prove it. The only person who can help is Ai Ling's father, but he went to the Emporer's palace six months ago and hasn't been heard from since. In order to escape Master Huang, Ai Ling steals away to find her father and bring him home.

Her journey is immediately beset by disaster as evil spirits and demons track her down and try to stop her. But then she meets Chen Yong, a young man of half Xian, half foreign descent who is looking for his birth parents. Together with Chen Yong's brother, they seek their answers, all the while fighting beings that they never thought actually existed outside of the books they've read.

Ok, I know this got some blogger love when it first came out but why hasn't it taken off in the same way Graceling has? This most reminded me of Graceling, but I liked it so much better! I don't know why. Not just because the worlds they explore are more Chinese than Western. (They're all Pon's own creation, but have a definite Chinese feel.)

Ai Ling's exploration of her powers, her feelings on the Immortals and seeing what she never fully believed in, the strength she finds in herself... I could not put this book down. So awesome. So very super awesome and fun. And exciting! Actually, with all the action and battles with things from the underworld, this would make an awesome movie.

And OMG the very, very ending. So wonderful but man am I glad to hear that there is a sequel coming. I need to know what happens next! Not a cliffhanger (don't worry) but real life doesn't wrap up nicely in the last twenty pages, and it doesn't here, either.


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Wee Free Men

The Wee Free Men Terry Prachett

So I'm approaching Discworld a bit oddly-- the first one I read was Wintersmith, which is the third book in the Tiffany Aching arc. This is the first book in that arc. Eventually, I'll even read some of the adult Discworld books! I want to read the whole series.

This is the book in which Tiffany first meets the Nac Mac Feegles, those blue pictsies, with their drinking and shouting. I love the Nac Mac Feegles. It's also where she first meets a witch and the witches discover her.

Another world is colliding with this one. Tiffany first sees it when Jenny Green-Teeth first comes up from the river and Tiffany bashes her with a frying pan. Then, the Queen of Fairies kidnaps Tiffany's little brother. With a talking toad and the Nac Mac Feegles, Tiffany ventures into the darkness and nightmare of Faerie in order to save her brother, and the world.

HILARIOUS! I feel like I'm the last person in the universe to discover the genius that is Pratchett. He captures such profound truths of the human experience and makes it hilarious and moving all at once. I'm not sure how.

While there are many things that struck me when reading this, the one that stayed with me is the fact that Tiffany is from the chalk. Witches take their strength from the earth, they're born onto hard rock, not chalk. But Tiffany is from the chalk and has the Nac Mac Feegle on her side... she's one to keep an eye on...

Book Provided by... my wallet

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Lips Touch: Three Times

Lips Touch: Three Times Laini Taylor

Three stories, three kisses, three women marked with dark and supernatural forces.

Kizzy's the perfect target for the goblins. Though she lives in modern times, she should know better. Her family is weird, her family believes. Her desire to be normal is what makes her a perfect target. But, when they come for her, will she notice? Will she even care?

In the days of the British rule over India, a bargain with a demon saves twenty-two children from an earthquake, but leaves one cursed with the most beautiful voice, but anyone who hears it will die. She grows up, silent, not wanting to test it, to see if it's true, but curses can't be real, can they?

The Druj are immortal, magic-working, shape-shifters. They keep human children as pets. A girl-mother and her unborn child have escaped, but fourteen years later, there will be a price to pay, and it must be paid.

Every story starts with illustrations, a wordless picture book introduction with backstory.

Such a wonderful book that lives up the hype and the rewards. This is a perfect example of teen appeal and amazing literary quality. How can you not love such writing like this:

Kizzy laughed and it came out as a throaty chuckle, almost a purr, the closest she had yet to come to the sultry voice she would grow into as she grew up and learned how to wear her skin. If she grew up.

Oh, the foreboding.

The last story, "Hatchling" is the longest, and also my least favorite. The first, "Goblin Fruit" with its juxtaposition of Eastern European (Roma, possibly?) beliefs and culture with modern American high school life just works so well... and it's dark and spooky without being horror. Just a fairy tale gone darker than Grimm.

So delicious.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Oh no! It's the pursin' o' the lips and the tappin' o' the foot!

Wintersmith Terry Pratchett

Ok, this is my first Tiffany Aching and, in fact, first Discworld book. While it was obvious it's the third in a series, I think it stands alone fairly well.

Tiffany is an apprentice witch who goes to see the Dance of the Seasons. She can't help herself, the music is in her feet, and she throws herself into the dance. As a result, Winter falls in love with her. Winter sets out to find what makes a man so that he can be human for her. Meanwhile, the world is trying to turn Tiffany into Summer, because Winter partners with Summer. Summer isn't overly happy about this.

Winter's attempts to woo Tiffany are disastrous to those Tiffany loves (it never stops snowing flakes that look like her, giant iceberg sculptures of her likeness cause ships to be lost) and his attempts are humanity always miss the mark.

But the Feegles are there to help and Tiffany won't let Winter bully her into never-ending cold.

Hilarious! I loved it (especially the Feegles). It's funnier than Nation (which I found to be really funny.) but still meditates on the fear of the unknown, the changing of the seasons and what makes a man. I've only read the two books by Pratchett, but am so impressed with his ability to have deeper meditations on the meaning of life and what makes us human while still making me shoot milk out my nose.

I'm so excited for Pratchett 2010 Reading Challenge!


Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.