The Mountains of Instead

Sing What Was Lost and Dread What Was Won (Review: Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:58:00 +0000

Froi of the Exiles           

Melina Marchetta

Candlewick Press 2011

Froi of the Exiles is the second title in The Chronicles of Lumatere. As such, this review contains spoilers for book one in the series, Finnikin of the Rock. You have been warned.

Three years have passed since the events of Finnikin of the Rock  Time is slowly healing the physical landscape but the people still suffer, struggling to overcome memories of unspeakable pain. Finnikin juggles family life with tenuous political alliances, Lucian struggles to lead his Monts and deal with a wife he doesn’t want while refugees from hated Charyn have started to flood into a Lumateran valley. In the midst of this turmoil works Froi, who has found a place for himself working for the land while training as a Guard. He’s happy to live quietly but when an assassin is required to infiltrate Charyn, Froi with his oddly un-Lumateran looks, is the first choice… and the people of Lumatere are rebuilding their homeland.

Froi has grown from a snarling thief, struggling with a new language to a clever young man.  While still rough around the edges and inclined to speak his mind rather too often, Froi’s desire to make himself useful has not left him as he tries to prove himself to his beloved friends and monarch. Once unleashed on Charyn, Froi has only his bond to guide him and as this becomes increasingly confused he worries about a darkness that he believes lies deep beneath him.  However, his interactions with others show that deep down, despite his inner savage, Froi has a good heart – he just doesn’t always know how to show it.

Much as Evanjalin stole the show in Finnikin of the Rock, Quintana of Charyn rather steals Froi of the Exiles. Quintana is not a pleasant character and in fact does not become one at any point.  Teetering on the brink of outright insanity she swings between childlike temper and icy cruelty, like a ragged Alice who has stepped through the looking glass into a land unimaginable in its sexual savagery and familial hopelessness. As the story progresses her character sharpens but never becomes softer. While the interactions between her and Froi highlight a gentleness in his character, they only highlight the savageness of hers. Yet she is entirely pitiable and also admirable in that her horrendous life has not broken her completely.  

Back in Lumatere, Lucian’s character is expanded upon beautifully.  As a young man, grieving his father and leading an impossibly stubborn people, he struggles believably. Through Lucian, we see the Charyn refugees and finally learn more about the country so hated by the Lumaterans. It is through Lucian that readers see how raw the Lumateran wounds still are, how frightened and suspicious the people remain and how grey the lines between Lumatere and Charyn are becoming.

The story of Froi of the Exiles is a harsh one. Lumatere and it’s people may have suffered horribly at the hands of Charyn and but it seems that the Charynites have been a cursed race for far longer and their Citavita, the royal city in which Froi finds himself, is a place of base violence and sexual depravity almost beyond imagining with a frightened king, insane princess and Machiavellian advisor at it’s heart.  It is not, to be frank, an easy read. Marchetta never backs away from the horrors of Charyn’s past and Charyn is a country with rape embedded, even sanctioned, in its skin. There are few characters who have not suffered horribly at the hands of other men. While both Lumatere and Charyn have been cursed in different ways, it is not these curses that have engendered such sorrow but the evil that men have done in their name.

Marchetta’s writing is, as always, impressive. In Froi of the Exiles she writes in perhaps a starker fashion than previously seen but this suits the story. As in Finnikin of the Rock she has the uncanny ability to conjure modern reality in high fantasy. The events in Charyn, and previously in Lumatere, are reminiscent of the hellish stories of systematic rape in BosniaFroi of the Exiles difficult, perhaps even inappropriate, but that’s a hard argument to make when we live in a world where these things have been witnessed time and time again.  Marchetta is never gratuitous and, at the heart of her story, is a message of strength – that many are strong in the broken places and that all is not lost. Once again I highly recommend a Melina Marchetta title. Hell, I recommend ALL her titles. while the Charynites camping on the Lumateran border speak of refugees the world over. Many may find the subject matter of 

Froi of the Exiles is available in the UK on 13^th March, 2012. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing The Mountains of Instead with this title to review.

Guest Post by Celia Rees (This Is Not Forgiveness blog tour)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:34:00 +0000

Further to my earlier post for the This Is Not Forgiveness blog tour, I'm delighted to welcome Celia herself to The Mountains of Instead. Below she talks about doomed romances - and let's face it, who hasn't fallen for the wrong person at some point? Here's what Celia has to say:

All-time greatest doomed romances

Doomed romances make great fiction. They take the story out of the realm of happy-ever-after-fairy tale and into real life. There’s always a place for ‘Reader I married him’, but the romances we remember are the ones that didn’t work out. That’s what keeps us reading. Even though we know it’s going to end badly, there’s that hope against hope that it will be fine in the end. It never is, of course, and that’s when we wipe a tear away. Relationships that move us deeply stay in the memory.

I never write straight Romance, but in all my books my characters develop significant relationships of one kind or another. In This Is Not Forgiveness, I wanted the main character, Jamie, to fall head over heels for a girl who is drop dead gorgeous but will cause him nothing but trouble. At first, he can’t believe his luck that’s she’s even noticed him, let alone consented to go out with him, so when she tells him that she ‘doesn’t do love’, he doesn’t believe her. It is not until he is too far in to go back that he realizes what a price he will have to pay. With Caro, I wanted to see if the experience of being with a boy like Jamie could change her mind.

As for my Doomed Romances…

Cathy and Heathcliff – Wuthering Heights for a romance that transcends space and time.

Romeo and Juliet – for that hope against hope I get every time I see the play that this time things will work out differently.

Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler in Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind. Made for each other, clearly, but it is not to be.

Tess and Angel Clare – Tess of The D’Urbervilles – because Tess is such a great character and deserves better, much better, than she gets from life or from Angel Clare and, again, I get this ‘what if’ feeling every time I read it that this time things will work out fine.

Kit and Holly in Terence Malick’s Badlands. The classic folie à deux – a madness shared by two people that puts them outside normal society. No matter how bad the things are that they do together, you kind of want them to get away with it, but know that is not going to happen.

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde - for the same reason.

Thanks so much to Celia for such an interesting post. This Is Not Forgiveness is published by Bloomsbury on 2nd February. For my review and to win a signed copy (UK only), go here!

This Is Not Forgiveness Review and Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:37:00 +0000

I'm delighted to be a stop on the blog tour for This Is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees today. The book is quite brilliant and I'm pleased to be able to offer a SIGNED copy of the book to one lucky UK winnner. My review of the book is below and if you'd like to enter the giveaway then just leave a comment below.

This Is Not Forgiveness

Celia Rees

Bloomsbury 2012

Early summer, a busy café and an oddly alluring girl… from the moment Jamie first sees Caro he’s smitten, despite the warning signals blaring at him from every direction. Caro is a bad girl, strange and a bit wicked. At least so says his sister and the local gossips. Yet Jamie cannot stay away from her. His brother, Rob, laughs at him, tells him that Caro is out of his league but Rob has his own problems. Badly injured while serving in Afghanistan, he finds himself lost and functionless. Until, that is, Caro sets her sights on him as well as Jamie.

This Is Not Forgiveness is quite a departure from the historical fiction that Celia Rees usually writes and a successful one at that. Told from three separate points of view a story unfolds of heartbreak, betrayal, love, loss and war wounds that run deep. It is by no means an easy read, nor a happy story but it is certainly a tale worth reading as it will give readers much to think about.

While the novel is told from the points of view of Jamie, Rob and Caro, it is Jamie who is the core protagonist and it is through his narrative that the other two stories are woven. He’s at heart a nice guy, doing his time at six form college with a canny eye on his future. Until Caro appears on the scene, his only real concern is Rob, a brother who inspires in him affection, fear and pity in equal measure. As Caro becomes increasingly involved in his life his actions reflect both confusion and caution – he seems always to be walking on thin ice and his conflict is never anything but believable.

Caro is never a particularly likable character nor, it would seem, is she meant to be. Strikingly single minded she thinks nothing of manipulating those around her to her own purpose, regardless of consequence. Cool, collected and controlling she has intentionally closed herself off from emotion and seems driven only by grand and somewhat uneducated plans. Caro is the hardest character to get to know in This Is Not Forgiveness but as she emerges it becomes clear that this is a girl desperate to be noticed, to make her mark and to not be left behind.

While Jamie and Caro carry much of the narrative it is Rob whose voice is strongest in This Is Not Forgiveness. Lacking the education of Jamie’s voice and the navel-gazing quality of Caro’s he is, in many ways, the one voice of utter honesty. A born soldier, his injury has rendered him useless in his eyes. As he sinks further into a world of nightmares, alcohol and bar fights his conflict is tangible and heart-breaking. Yet he is not a nice man. He himself suspects that his propensity towards violence verges on the sociopathic and he seems to be in constant conflict not just with the world at large but also with himself. This, combined with his feeling of betrayal by the army and the government governs his life leaving him, like Caro, desperate to have his voice heard.

The writing in This Is Not Forgiveness is excellent. The story itself is fairly simple, each narrative strand drawing readers towards the dramatic finale, but the themes that Celia Rees concentrates on are far from straight-forward. Most obviously she highlights the plight of those returning from conflict bearing scars, whether mental, physical or both, who find themselves isolated and abandoned. Using this as her basis, Rees then weaves a cautionary tale of the extremes individuals can go to when they feel ignored, disenfranchised and powerless. It’s a sobering tale and one worth reading for, as a fable for modern times, This Is Not Forgiveness rings sadly true.

This Is Not Forgiveness is available on 2nd February. Thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me this title to review and for facilitating the UK-wide giveaway. Please be sure to check out the other stops on the blog tour and have a gander at the trailer to further whet your appetite!

A Touch O' Burns

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:28:00 +0000

I had originally planned to post my favourite Burns poem here today (which is, without doubt, To A Mouse) but came across these gorgeous snippets on the Scottish Poetry Library's website.

Aren't they gorgeous? These and others are available as posters to download on the above link - get on it and enjoy all things Scottish this Burns Night.

Burns Night Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:07:00 +0000

Burns Night is now upon us but before I sit down to my haggis, neeps and tatties (seriously, it's tasty) I'm here to offer a Scottish themed giveaway both in honour of the bard himself and in support of the Team Kilt Burns Festivities.

So here, today, you can win a copy of the fabulous Torn by Scottish author Cat Clarke! Yes, it's true!

When Alice King heads from London to the Scottish countryside for a school trip, her biggest concern is leaving her widowed father at home alone. When her group arrive in Scotland, though, things take a turn for the problematic when Alice, her best friend Cass, emo Rae and outsider Polly are roomed with uber mean queen, Tara Chambers. As the week progresses and Tara becomes increasingly cruel, Cass and Polly decide to take matters in to their own hands. Alice finds herself immersed in a situation of which the repercussions are immense and consequences final… and so begins a twisted tale about the line between what is right and what is easy and how even easy can be so very, very difficult.

Doesn't that sound just awesome? To win a copy just fill in the form below (which will be open for a week). The giveaway is open to all countries that The Book Depository delivers to. You don't have to be a follower to enter, but it's always nice if you are.

Good luck! It's just become apparent that some of you are having difficulty with the giveaway form below - if that's the case then please leave a comment below and that will also count as an entry.

Duelling Blog Posts: Glasgow vs Edinburgh part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Following Fraser's eloquent ode to all things Glasgow, here's my response. Not quite so eloquent but just as winning...

EDINBURGH
Fraser has made some winning points about Glasgow, in fact for a short minute I was rather baffled and had no idea how to respond.  But then my brains returned and I remembered that for all Glasgow's music scene and it's alleged patter, Edinburgh just can't be beat. Why?  It's easy!

It's fair bonnie
When it comes to looks, Edinburgh beats Glasgow hands down.  It is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and takes my breath away everytime I walk it's streets.  In the words of Alexander McCall Smith, “This is a city of shifting light, of changing skies, of sudden vistas.  A city so beautiful it breaks the heart again and again.”   
Built on seven hills (which are not as onerous as Fraser would have you believe) the city skyline is dominated by Edinburgh Castle and Arthur's Seat.  The former is a formidable fortress, the latter an ancient volcanic plug that rises high about the city, stretching out to an impressive craggy outlook - both make for an impressive vista.  Spiralling around the castle spreads the city’s Old Town, cobbled streets and tiny passageways leading to magical courtyards and hidden bars and restaurants.  To the north, the New Town awaits in all it's pillared splendour, run through by the leafy Water of Leith and home to all manner of gardens, waterside drinking holes as well as the beautiful Botanical gardens.

The atmosphere
Yes, yes, we all know about Glasgwegian's and their friendliness - it's legendary and it's also mainly true but I've never personally foundGlasgow to be any friendlier thanEdinburgh.  In fact, it can be quite intimidating and in your face. Edinburgh prefers to befriend you slowly, with better manners, building a friendship that's stronger and just... means more.  While Glasgow is populated largely by, er, Glasgwegians, Edinburgh is a truly cosmopolitan city.  It's drawn people to it's streets from all over the world and while Glasgow feels mainly of Scotland,Edinburgh combines Scottish roots with world ambience - and a better combination cannot be found.  In the words of great luminary, Justin Timberlake, “you don’t get nicer than you people”.  So there.

The people, the history
Edinburgh has birthed and housed some pretty impressive faces.  Inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell; pioneer of anaesthesia, James Simpson; Edinburgh University alumni, Charles Darwin. This being a book blog, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some of the many authors who've lived and worked in the city: Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith, Kate Atkinson, Cat Clarke, Kenneth Grahame, Murial Spark.... I could go on - Edinburgh is a book lover's paradise.  In addition to the people, Edinburgh boasts a fascinating history, a seedy underbelly to its pretty, modern-day facade: body snatchers, haunted vaults, plague pits and sealed, underground houses are all part of the city's murky past and add a delightful chill to its present.  Edinburgh is a World Heritage site and will soon be a World Literary City.  It's not hard to see why.

The Festivals

If nothing else, Edinburgh knows how to put on a good show.  Initially, Edinburgh only had it's International Festival - a few weeks of gorgeous music and stunning art.  Impressive, but almost trifling when you look at what has grown up around those few weeks.  Visit the city in late summer and you can enjoy the Book Festival, the Jazz Festival, the Film Festival and vitally the Fringe.  The Fringe is primarily a comedy festival that attracts names both big and small to the city for a few crazy weeks.  Ricky Gervais?  See him here.  Billy Connolly?  No problem.  Oh, and all those Glasgwegian comedians that Fraser mentioned?  You SHOULD check them out.  At the Edinburgh Fringe.  They may all come from Glasgow, but they perform in Edinburgh.  And the festivals aren't limited to just August.  Nope, pop by in December and enjoy a winter wonderland of twinkle lights, ice rinks, torch lit processions and mulled wine at sparkling Christmas markets - and that's all before you take part in Edinburgh's world famous Hogmanay celebrations.  You've not celebrated New Year until you've spent it inEdinburgh, watching fireworks light the sky from every one of the city's seven hills.

Harry Potter
Harry and beer?  Don't get THAT

in Glasgow
I have walked the hallowed halls of Hogwarts and explored the streets of Hogsmeade - it's true.  How, I hear you ask? Because I have lived inEdinburgh.  JK Rowling famously wrote her first Harry Potter book while living inEdinburgh and it's impossible to walk through the city's old town without being aware of how the city inspired her.  In fact, she still owns a home in the city now and finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the gorgous Balmoral Hotel before defacing a bust (which is still there and available for you to see, should you have the pennies to stay there).  Edinburgh Castle is an easy match for Harry's home and the vennels, closes and colourful facades of the nearby streets speak strongly of his wizarding world.  So, Edinburgh Castle is Hogwarts and the Old Town is Hogsmeade: Fact.

And on that note, I rest my case.  There are a million other things that sell Edinburgh as Scotland’s top city – the weather (sun shines more, rain pours less),  chippie sauce (completely delicious, secret recipe, better than vinegar on your chips), dark chocolate hob nobs (impossible to get in Glasgow, just ask Aura), a Christmas shop that is open ALL YEAR and more and more and more.   JK Rowling actually still lives inEdinburgh.  It stole her heart as it stole mine and as it will surely steal yours and it will do all of this without drunkenly telling you it’s life story over unsauced chips.   Beyonce referred to it as a “classy city” and you know, she knows what she’s talking about.

So, have we made up YOUR minds?  Please comment and let us know.  Alternately, drop in to speak with both of us on Twitter tonight where I will be hosting Ask A Real Scotsman at 9pm GMT and 4pm EST.  Fraser will be that Scotsman.  Sign in to the TweetChat room or use the hashtag #realscotsman to take part.

Duelling Blog Posts: Glasgow vs. Edinburgh Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:49:00 +0000

GLASGOW

As part of the Team Kilt Burns Festivities, I'd like to welcome Fraser to The Mountains of Instead. Fraser once from Glasgow, now living in America is joining me to debate the merits of Glasgow (Scotland's biggest city) in comparison to Edinburgh (it's capital). I'll be back later with the Edinburgh side but for now, let Fraser tell you all about Glasgow:

Let me just start by saying this: I like Edinburgh; I really do. It’s a lovely looking city, great arts scene, fantastic views from its many, many hills. But compared to Glasgow? Sadly lacking. And here, in no particular order, are some reasons why it compares badly to the biggest city in Scotland.

The people

Now before you go on about how you visited Edinburgh once and everyone was really friendly, think for a minute: how many of those friendly people that you encountered in shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs were actually Scottish? There’s a reason for the old joke; go anywhere in the world and you’ll find a Scotsman. Except Edinburgh. It’s true. Glasgow people though, are generally from that area and I know that they sound scary but they’re some of the friendliest, funniest and most welcoming people you’ll ever meet. You will never be alone in a Glasgow pub, and will probably find yourself invited to a party at closing time.

The “Patter”

Glasgow practically has its own language. If you can find your way past the speed that Glasweigans talk at, you’ll still find yourself wondering what some words mean. Ask and we’ll explain them to you. Then you’ll start using them ‘cos you recognize how great they are. I still utter words that my (American) wife doesn’t know after two years of us knowing each other. So by the time you leave after a visit to Glasgow, you’ll have expanded your vocabulary.

It’s the funniest place you’ll ever visit

I wasn’t kidding earlier when I said that the people were funny: in Glasgow, if you strike up a conversation with it’s natives, they’ll gladly and without prompting tell you anything about themselves. And it’ll be funny. Take the night bus and you’ll see people both scary and funny. I love my friends that I have here in the US but no-one can make me laugh like my friends from back home. That big, hearty laugh that bursts out and seems to come from the toes. Have you ever seen Billy Connolly tell a story? He is not alone in having that talent: he grew up amongst the people that told the same kinds of stories. And as Connolly said himself, “Glasgow has an Irish-Scottish mix that makes them funny....Edinburgh has an Anglo-Saxon/Lowland mix, which isn’t funny”.

“But Edinburgh has a festival every year Fraser, featuring comedy from all over the world”. Aye, that’s my point: Edinburgh has to import it’s comedy. Glasgow just has it. Connolly, Rikki Fulton, Kevin Bridges, Frankie Boyle, Still Game, Burnistoun. I’m sure Edinburgh has comedians, but I’m willing to bet that many more have come from Glasgow. Check out some of those guys, by the way.

The Sounds Of The City

Just as Glasgow produces some of the best comedy in the world, it also produces some of the best music. And like comedy, if you can win a Glasgow audience, you can win any audience in the world. So many acts have come from Glasgow and Greater Glasgow, like Arab Strap, Travis, Belle And Sebastian, Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad, Del Amitri, Biffy Clyro, Teenage Fanclub and even Angus Young from AC/DC. And that’s just the ones I can think of now. Even the music venues are above most other cities. The Barrowland Ballroom is world-famous amongst musicians, frequently cited as a band or artist’s favourite venue and Glasgow their favourite city to play.

It reinvents itself

Glasgow was built around the river Clyde and for decades, heavy industry and shipbuilding provided work for thousands. When the shipyards closed, Glasgow fell into decline and spent much of the Eighties that way. Then the city picked itself up and set about finding other ways to create jobs and make money. It now has a thriving business sector and is the base of many national and international companies, not to mention shopping centres that contain many big-name designer brands and superb nightlife.

The Culture

Edinburgh is a cultural capital, as well as an actual one. I will not try to tell you that Glasgow contains a better arts scene when it’s going up against the host of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. However, I will tell you what Glasgow has to offer in this sense. The museums are superb, the pick of the bunch for me being the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Where else could you see stuffed animals, historical displays, fine paintings AND Elvis? Head over to the People’s Palace and learn Glasgow’s history. While you’re at it, take time to stroll around the fantastic parks both of these buildings are located in, just two of many parks in the city. By the way: these museums, and every other? Free. Just stroll in. Not like some other cities I could mention, where they charge you an arm and a leg to get into some castle. There’s a book festival, a film festival, comedy festival, Celtic music festival, Jazz music festival. No need to cram it all into one event, in one month. You’ll find loads of great theatres and libraries and you can even visit the Scottish Football Museum and find out a little about Scotland’s national obsession.

There are a lot of good places to see in Scotland and several cities, each with their own personality. But if you can see only one place in the country, make it Glasgow. If you want the tourist-y, shortbread and tartan experience, you can find it there. But it’s not in your face. Edinburgh knows you’re a visitor and it can’t wait to sell you some plastic bagpipes. If you think Edinburgh is the best example of Scotland, you probably think Washington DC is the best example of America. Glasgow is much more honest and gives you a flavour of actual Scottish life. All while buying you a drink and telling you a great story about a wee guy it grew up down the street from. And you won’t have to climb up any hills.

Good points, well made, Fraser. You have set down a worthy gauntlet and I shall be back shortly with several reasons that, depsite the above, Edinburgh is just BETTER!

Scotland The Brave

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:24:00 +0000

So, tomorrow is Burns Night during which Scotland as a collective whole eats haggis and quotes poetry in honour of our national Bard.

Over the last year or so, I've been lucky enough to get to know Jeri Smith-Ready, American author of the Shade series featuring a delightful young Scot, Zachary Moore. Shine, the last in this fabulous trilogy is coming out later this year and Jeri has chosen to run a day of Burns Festivities to celebrate all things Scottish and all things Shine-y. Fun, yes? YES!

You can find out more about what is going on over on Jeri's blog - it's all very complicated and busy and she explains it way better than I would. Here in The Mountains of Instead you can expect:

One Edinburgh vs. Glasgow debate. I'm the Edinburgh side. This could get heated.

One giveaway in which you can win Torn (which involves Scotland) by Cat Clarke (who is Scottish)

One Burns Poem

An Ode to the Dark Chocolate Hob Nob (possibly not really)

Elsewhere, yours truly will be hosting a Twitter party in which you can ask a real Scotsman anything you want. Really. And while I am Scottish, I am not a man and so an appropriate person has been drafted in. This will take place at 4pm EST and 9pm GMT (hark and me and my international time shenanigans). You can join in by dropping into the Tweet Chat room or using the hashtag #RealScotsman

The lovely ladies over at Ficticious Delicious are also running a Giveaway Hop in which you can win a lesser-spotted Shine ARC. I've read it, it's great - get over there and enter NOW! DO IT!

And that, friends, is about it for now. Please pop by tomorrow - it's sure to be a lot of fun and you can NEVER get too much Scotland. Or too much Zachary. Fact.

Blue Remembered Hills (review: Finnikin of the Rock; M. Marchetta)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:45:00 +0000

Finnikin of the Rock

Melina Marchetta

Candlewick Press 2011 (paperback)

When Finnikin was just a boy, he stood on the Rock of Wonders and pledged to save his kingdom, Lumatere.  Not long afterwards, his land was invaded, factions massacred and his father lost to him.  Homeless, he has travelled through different kingdoms, recording the stories of others in exile, stories of Lumatere, a land that they are literally unable to enter due to a strange and frightening curse.  Years pass and nothing changes until Finnikin, now a young man, hears a voice in his sleep, whispering a name that speaks of hope and salvation, leading him to climb another rock and gifting him the opportunity to honour his pledge of long ago.

Finnikin is a man who is at once purposeful and purposeless.  At the start of the story, he has long since buried hope, not daring to assume that he might ever return home.  On discovering the strange novice, Evanjalin, who claims to know the whereabouts of Balthazar – Finnikin’s friend, heir to the Lumateran throne, assumed dead – his reaction is that of suspicion and anger.  However, Finnikin is inherently optimistic as a character and over the course of the book, despite many setbacks, he allows himself to believe that the redemption of Lumatere is possible. It would be hard not to like Finnikin.  He’s not always kind, he’s not always fair but he’s hopeful, fiercely loyal and generally kind and his growing affection for Evanjalin (against his own better judgement) goes a long way.

While Finnikin is the title’s protagonist, the book really belongs to Evanjalin and a stronger female character is rare to find.  Like Finnikin, she is not flawless – in fact, she’s bloody-minded, contradictory and often downright irritating – but she is absolutely fascinating and, deep down, she might even have a heart.  Marchetta allows Evanjalin’s character to emerge slowly so that by the end of the book she is truly a tour de force with a voice that will stay with readers long after they leave her behind.

As with many fantasy titles, Finnikin of the Rock has a large cast of characters and to talk about all of importance would be to ruin reader’s fun in meeting them for themselves but a special mention must go to Froi.  After an ignoble start, Froi remains unlikable for the majority of the book, yet is one of the strongest characters.  Marchetta does not attempt to redeem him for early actions in any noticeable way, instead she has him sneer and scorn his way through the story.  Cleverly, however, she allows him two short segments in which he is the protagonist, hinting at a slow epiphany and a glimmer of hope.  God love Froi, with his slowly emerging moral code and his desperation to make himself useful, he’s both hateful and heartbreaking all at once.

At times, the plot of Finnikin of the Rock can be quite convoluted but the heart of the story beats so strongly that it is utterly compelling. Unlike many fantasy stories, myth and magic never threaten to overwhelm what is ultimately the story of those made homeless by tyrants, but who also live with a guilt of their own making.  It is the story of a people in exile and while embedded in high fantasy, it brings to mind images of refugees the world over.  This is reality writ large on a fantasy stage and the result is a powerful tale for the modern world.

The writing, as has come to be expected of Marchetta, is nothing short of stunning.  Her move from contemporary to fantasy fiction is seamless and Finnikin of the Rock is as good as any of her previous titles (including the mighty Jellicoe   Road and last year’s tour de force, The Piper’s Son).  Many have a love-hate relationship with high fantasy but this, truly, is as good as it gets.  Finnikin of the Rock is impossible to put down so pick up a copy and become immersed in the story of a lost land, a long dead family and a pair of small, bloody, handprints on a kingdom wall.  Highly recommended.

Coming Soon on MOI....

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 10:12:00 +0000

Hello, Ladies and Germs!

Exciting times are a-coming here in The Mountains of Instead over the next few weeks.  Firstly, there will be reviews of Melina Marchetta books!  Yes - I've read more and loved them and you must all read the reviews and then rush off to read the books too.  And then lobby her to write more FASTER. There will also be a review of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green which, thankfully, has lived up to the hype and is really quite extraordinary.

Other than that there will be the following:

TeamKilt Burn's Night Festivities

The lovely Jeri Smith-Ready will be celebrating all things Scottish, including her gorgeous creation, Zachary, with a variety of fun happenings next Wednesday - which here in Scotland is Burn's Night (celebrating our national Bard, the lovely Rabbie).  You can see what's happening over on her blog and it all looks jolly Scottish and fun.  I'll be co-hosting Twitter-y things with Jeri and Cyndi Tefft (author of Between and creator of another awesome Scot, Aiden) and taking part in the Giveaway Hop where you'll be able to win a copy of Torn (set partly in Scotland) by Cat Clarke (Scottish author - see what I'm doing here?). I'll also be using it as an excuse to inflict Tae A Mouse on you all because I love it.  Hopefully, this will all whet not only your appetite for Scotland but also your appetite for Shine, the final book in Jeri's YA trilogy - I was lucky to read it a while ago and it's awesome.

This Is Not Forgiveness Blog Tour

While I have decided to generally shy away from blog tours for a while, this is one that I am absolutely delighted to be part of.  Celia Rees has stepped away from historical fiction to bring readers a stunning contemporary novel. This Is Not Forgiveness is a briliantly dark look at the plight of one soldier, his brother and a girl who lives on the sidelines. Stop by on the 31st of January for a chance to win a copy and don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour as well as the superb trailer.

And that, for now, is about it... However, I'm open to suggestions - what would YOU like to see on The Mountains of Instead?  Your wish (as long as it's clean, people) is my command.

Bisous

Sya

I Am Not A Robot (Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:15:00 +0000

Cinder

Marissa Meyer

Puffin 2012

Cinder is a mechanic. She’s good with wires and hardware and such – a good thing, as a large proportion of her body is made up of these things. In a world where medicine has advanced to the point where those near death can by saved by using non-human parts, she owns a metal foot, hand and a fully operational hard-drive – in short, she’s a cyborg. In New Beijing, she works to support her adoptive mother and sisters, lives in fear of a terrifying plague and a conniving, Lunar queen. Still, Cinder’s getting by OK. OK, that is, until the Emperor’s son, Kai, shows up at her mechanic booth with a broken robot and a winning smile.

Rather than a weak-willed Cinderella, hiding in the fireplace and relying on mice and fairies to make her dreams come true, Cinder is a realist. Like her namesake, she’s a hard worker with a mean step-mother, but unlike Cinder Mark-I, she’s no pushover. She works hard and speaks her mind both at work and at home, despite living in a society where cyborgs are seen as sub-human and a home where she is seen as, er, sub-necessary. What is particularly refreshing about Cinder is that meeting a Prince Charming is not the be all and end all of her existence. In fact Kai, in Cinder’s mind, is a lovely but irritating distraction. Instead of pining for something she can probably never have, she pretty much tells him to get lost – not something one could imagine Cinder-One doing. Cinder is not entirely gung ho, though. Behind her tough façade is lies a girl mourning her father, concerned for her sister and struggling with her identity – is she human or robot? She has no idea and this mix of fragile inner core and outer kick-assness works really well.

Kai could easily have become a two-dimensional prince, a la most fairytales. Yet instead, Marissa Meyer has imbued him with real personality. In fact, he’s a rather tragic figure stuck as he is between his desire to do what is necessary for the future of his country and his need to do what is right for him on a personal level. There are a few sections of the novel told from his point of view, which allow readers an insight into how the other half lives – which isn’t happily when they seem to be in the manipulative grasp of Queen Levana, the Lunar ruler. Levana is the archetypal evil monarch – with added badness. Seriously, she’s wicked through and through and at times genuinely chilling, not to mention great fun to read. As the other villain of the piece, Cinder’s step-mother Adri is written with a subtle hand – naturally, she’s not very nice but there is an undercurrent of hurt and betrayal that makes her more human than one would expect.

The plot of Cinder is well put together. Yes, there’s a ball involved but there is also so much more going on. There are various twists and turns along the way, none of which were particularly unpredictable but all of which were enjoyable. The world building is good with the writing visual enough that it’s easy to envision New Beijing in all it’s cyberpunk glory. There are also darker undertones to Cinder. The near segregation of Cyborgs, the plague that is ravishing the world and the political noose around the Emperors neck all overshadow the fairytale surrounding the titles central relationship, adding depth where needed.

Despite the more sinister aspects, Cinder is above all a hugely fun read that readers should be able to zip through pretty easily. The series is to continue with books based on Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White and if these are as well-paced, original and enjoyable as Cinder then the Lunar Chronicles are sure to be a success. Sci-fi in YA is often surrounded by gloomy portents regarding the future, or haunted by a miserable past – in Cinder these aspects are there but are balanced out by a story that skips along in a world that readers will want to explore again. Great stuff.

Cinder is available now. Thank you to the publisher for sending me this title to review.

Death By Water (Review: Fracture by Megan Miranda)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 11:26:00 +0000

Fracture

Megan Miranda

Bloomsbury 2012

When a harmless game leads to a fatal accident, Delany Maxwell should really be dead.  In fact, eleven minutes trapped under the surface of an icy lake, she was dead.  But then she came back.  Not as a zombie, not as a vampire… just as a normal, teenage girl.  Except that Delany doesn’t feel normal anymore.  Everything seems off kilter – her schoolmates, her mother, her best friend, not to mention the mysterious stranger watching her every move.  Strangest of all is the strange urges that now overcome her, leading her down hospital wards, up side streets, into nursing homes, fingers twitching to wherever someone is dying…

Delany is a hard character to get a bead on.  Only seen briefly before her accident the initial sense is of a fun loving girl with a reasonable head on her shoulders, happy with her friends, her family and her future prospects.  However, the Delany who wakes from a six day coma is a very different girl.  Her feelings of relief, amazement and confusion are tangible, as is her confusion as she starts to get used to a mind that is tangibly different.  Always a good girl, Delany’s confusion leads to seeming rebellion and her relationships with those around her start to change in ways that are all too believable and often upsetting.  She’s still fairly sensible but finds herself drawn, inevitably, towards a darker reality and her reaction to mystery boy Troy is understandable, even in its idiocy.

Troy himself is a nicely drawn bad boy.  There is no attempt made to convince readers that he’s a good guy, but certainly he comes across as a victim of circumstance who is deeply damaged.  It is a credit to Megan Miranda that she has written a character who is both frightening and sympathetic in equal measure.  In contrast to Troy, Decker is one of these rare characters who is deeply good without appearing saint like. He’s flawed in his interactions, his feelings and his guilt yet these aspects are what make is inherent goodness believable.  It is a pleasure to see a teenage boy painted so well and the relationship between him and Delany is beautifully realised in all its difficulty.

Other characters in Fracture are a mixed and disturbing bunch. While many victims of near death experience report a feeling of displacement, of feeling subtly different, Miranda cleverly walks a grey line with Delany.  The insinuation is that perhaps Delany is slightly different and the question is what has made her different.  Perhaps, in the case of her friends, they only tolerated her before – readers don’t have enough back-story to be sure.  In the case of her mother there is certainly a fascinatingly horrible back-story that explains things somewhat.  However, what is clear is that Delany now makes people feel uncomfortable – be it due to her unnatural return to life, a general feeling of wrongness or a deep-seated fear of mental illness, people no longer treat her as they once did.

Fracture is a fascinating book.  It would be all too easy to pigeonhole it as paranormal, but in actuality it is a medical thriller, and that (for this reviewer) is a welcome first in YA.  Miranda has a medical background and has clearly done additional research.  From the moment Delany wakes from her coma, the details of her condition, reaction and rehabilitation are both real and frightening.  At it’s core, the story explores how little we know about the human brain and posits that many things may be possible in the untapped areas of our mind. In Delany’s case the ability to sense the dying, an aspect of Fracture that is handled in a starkly realistic fashion and when read in the context of Delany’s experience it becomes not a paranormal but a medical condition.

There is much in Fracture that is to be commended – in fact, I have no criticism – it’s a perfectly formed story.  The ending is dark, frightening and little is resolved yet there is no sense that it needs to be continued.  What is welcome, however, is the news existence of e-book, Eleven Minutes  – in which Delany’s accident is recounted by Decker (available for free here).  After a book where the relationships are often disturbingly ambiguous and the protagonist unsure of her own identity, the opportunity to her through different eyes is an exciting one.  If you are looking for a book that is different, compelling and beautifully written then Fracture is the book to start 2012 with – highly recommended.

Fracture is available now. Many thanks to Bloomsbury for sending me this copy to review.

Comfort Him With Apples (Review: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:07:00 +0000

Clockwork Prince

Cassandra Clare

Walker 2011

After the events of Clockwork Angel, Tessa finds herself living in the London Institute surrounded by Shadowhunters whose future looks increasingly uncertain. The Enclave remain dubious of how the Institute is run, with the bullish Benedict Lightwood heading the charge in terms of change of leadership. Outwith the Institute's doors, Tessa's brother remains at large along with the darkly mysterious Mortmain not to mention his army of clockwork minions. Within the Institute, emotions rise as investigations continue and Tessa, Jem and Will find their lives increasingly entwined. Meanwhile, the Magister remains out of sight, pulling all of their strings like a Machiavellian puppeteer, manipulating a figure at the very heart of the Institute to heartbreaking effect.

Now that Tessa has found her London feet, so to speak, she emerges as a strong-willed figure. Unwilling to sit in the background looking pretty, she remains at the forefront of Clockwork Prince. Betrayal at the hands of her brother seems to have imbued her with a steely determination that is admirable and her character development is believable and interesting. Her interactions with other characters are also enjoyable to read. Her friendship with Sophie, fraught as it is by social convention, is touching and believably difficult – in part due to Tessa's unfortunate yet endearing habit of speaking before thinking. Equally, her interactions with Charlotte reflect both Tessa's increased confidence in her own ability and the vulnerability that lies under Charlotte's carefully controlled facade.

While Tessa remains the lead protagonist, Clare gives almost equal face time to Will and Jem, writing several sections of the book from their alternative viewpoints. While in Clockwork Angel, Will was a rather dark, unpleasant (albeit attractively mysterious and attractively, er, attractive) here he emerges as a character who is running from a fate he feels he cannot escape. His family history is explored and his rather confusing interactions with Tessa explained in heartbreaking manner – all the more so for Tessa's obliviousness. Particularly well written are the scenes that Will shares with Magnus Bane which illustrate not only the extent of Will's own despair but also the depth of Magnus's kindness.

Clockwork Prince, however, really belongs to Jem. In Clockwork Angel Jem verged on pleasant blandness, his somewhat beatific benevolence giving no clue to his real character. The only interesting aspect of Jem, in fact, was his painful and fatal addiction – something played out beautifully in Clockwork Angel – but it too verged on imbuing him with an air of sainted martyrdom. This was manageable, however, because it was clear that Clare had plans for the character and she expands Jem beautifully in Clockwork Prince. While he is still good and kind and fair, an edge appears that builds throughout the book building to one scene that is beautiful in its tenderness and one that is shocking in its anger. He's a character that one cannot help but feel for and when Sophie advises that Tessa had better not break his heart, readers will be with her all the way. Sadly Tessa really has no clue what she is doing with either boy. Their individual relationships with her and, more worryingly, with each other are clearly to be a focal point in the next installment of the series.

As always, Clare's writing is superb. While Clockwork Angel, out of necessity, spent time building Tessa's London and introducing the core story line, Clockwork Prince adds layers to the plot, the characters and the mythology. While many will sigh at talk of yet another love triangle, Clare has created one with such subtly and sadness that it is genuinely uncomfortable to read; it's hard to envisage how it could possibly end happily for anyone. The Shadowhunters remain brilliant creations, gifted with angel blood but cursed to live hard and isolated lives while the Downworlders watch with interest, sometimes helping, sometimes not. Clare certainly has no problem in heaping misery upon her characters – all are a little broken, a little conflicted and (in all honesty) they all seem a bit depressed – yet she cleverly gives imbues them with true faith in their mission allowing them to appear warriors rather than martyrs to the cause.

The Mortal Instruments is a series that I have successfully recommended many times, but in many ways The Infernal Devices is an easier sell. With it's steampunk Victoriana, compelling cast and underlying sadness Clockwork Prince joins Clockwork Angel as an unputdownable and, as with anything by Cassandra Clare is a given on many “favourites” shelves. Highly recommended for anyone looking for thrilling action, hilarious asides and genuine emotion – all in one great book.

Clockwork Prince is available now. Thank you to Walker Books for sending me this title to review.

The Peal of a Bell and that Christmas Tree Smell and their Eyes Full of Tinsel and Fire....

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Merry Christmas from The Mountains of Instead

Those Blue Remembered Hills...

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

I initially planned to end Winter Week with a post about ghost stories, Christmas and why they go together so beautifully - and they do (for the record I would have recommended The Woman in Black, The Dead of Winter and A Christmas Carol). Yet, as I sat down to write, I realised that the books that I return to each year aren't scary stories, they're tales for children. I've picked the three that I love the most to share with you today but there are many, many more out there (The Box of Delights to name but one) - make your own Christmas and sit down with one, you won't regret it.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis was one of the first books that I read by myself. I suspect that it may have been read to me prior to that, but it's reading it alone that I remember. A sense of utter magic seeps from the pages, building at every step. From the Pevensie's timid arrival at a strange old house to the discovery of an old wardrobe to the softness of fir coat and prickle of pine every move seems imbued with mysterious wonder, long before they all tumble into Narnia. And what a place Narnia is. Covered in snow and burdened by an oppressive Winter in more ways that one, yet still a place of warmth and humour. Yet The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is also deeply sinister. The White Witch terrified my younger self and some of the final scenes involving Aslan, bound and dying are upsetting even now. C.S. Lewis understood, however, children's capacity for darkness and their ability to determine sometimes complex moral issues.

Saying that, on re-reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe as an adult I found myself too aware of the religious undertones. They are hardly subtle and my adult self felt preached at, insulted and slightly betrayed yet on putting all this aside I still managed to become swept away by Lewis's world and his often gorgeous writing. The scene in which Edmund is offered Turkish delight and hot chocolate still makes my mouth water and the final moments of four now adult monarchs riding towards their childhoods once more grabs the adult me by the heart and fills me with both sadness and envy. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is certainly a book that I will be reading to my small daughter sooner rather than later and remains one of my favourite winter reads.

Another lovely, lovely book is The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston. It's opening scenes see a small boy being rowed across flood water by lantern light to his new home - the mysterious house, Green Noah. On arriving he is greeted by a Great-Grandmother who seems to be waiting for something to happen and a portrait of three children. As the story progresses it fills with wonder, magic and touches of darkness. The writing is outstandingly good and extremely atmospheric. I know that there are more books set around Green Knowe but I have never read them choosing, instead, to reserve such a wonderful setting for a story that I absolutely adore. I'm loathe to write more about it for fear of ruining even the slightest aspect and instead urge you to read this small but perfectly formed tale yourselves.

While The Children of Green Knowe holds a special place in my heart, it not my absolute favourite. That title belongs not to a book per se, but to a story: The Snow Queen. Of all the fairy tales in all their many lands, this is my absolute favourite. For those who are not familiar it follows the plight of Kay and Gerda. Kay, a small boy with a bitter heart is spirited away by temptation and a strange, cold woman. Gerda, true of heart and strong of will sets of on a strange and epic journey to find her friend and restore him to himself. Thus begins a tale of bravery, determination and true friendship. The original tale is by Hans Christian Andersen but it has been told many times (my favourite version being that illustrated by Errol le Cain and his image of Gerda on her reindeer was used as the Winter Week banner above).

The story certainly has some strange aspects and again some religious symbolism (although far less overt than that seen in Narnia). On her journey Gerda contends with ravens, sleeping princes, witches and robbers and finally a reindeer guide. Throughout, characters are moved by her desire to find her friend and find him she does, frozen and trying to spell out the word Eternity in shards of ice. It has some fantastic imagery, evoking both physical and mental chill. The message that the story carries is one of love and strength, suggesting that true goodness and depth of feeling will always triumph over cool cruelty. It's a truly beautiful story.

What all of these stories have in common is that they were written for children but don't let that put you off. They are beautifully crafted and hauntingly written in a way that we perhaps don't see that often any more - each is very much of it's time and all are imbued with history in their own way. While short, they are charming in thier brevity, each a gorgeous jewel box of a story and I strongly suggest that you find yourselves copies of each, a cosy armchair and a warm fire - I can think of no better way to spend a Winter's evening.

The beautiful photographs in this post were all rather serendipitous. And old friend, Dorian, was wondering through a Swiss village taking winter pics and captured both the lamp post and the rose while Lee, over at Trackworks, snapped the fragile bird prints. It takes my breath away how much these images represent the stories I've used them to illustrate and I thank both Lee and Dorian for letting me piggyback on their talent.

Not Just For Jesus...

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:00:00 +0000

Another guest post (I feel so, er, visited). This time Carly from Writing from The Tub shares her thoughts on Christmas birthdays. As January baby with a January baby (New Years's day to be precise) I was interested to read her thoughts...

Whenever people find out my birthday is so close to Christmas their reaction is always one of sympathy.

‘Oh, isn’t that annoying?’

‘You must hate it.’

‘That’s bad planning by your mother!’

‘It must be easy to buy you presents; people can get you a joint birthday and Christmas gift.’

I’m always shocked that people react that way because, personally, I adore having my birthday at this time of year. I mean, what’s not to love? My birthday is on December 17^th so just over a week before Christmas and there are so many reasons why this is a very good thing.

Everybody around me is excited about the impending holiday so it’s not just me who’s in a good mood on my birthday, which is something I really like. My whole family are just as jolly as I am and it helps to make the day even more fun that I think it would be if my birthday was at a different point in the year. It’s always nice to be surrounded by shiny, happy people on my birthday and I’m always lucky enough to have a little bit of Christmas cheer seep into my celebrations.

Also, I love Christmas. I’m not one of those people who gets excited about it in September but I definitely do get excited enough in December to probably grate on a lot of people. I love Christmas movies, Christmas food, rubbish Christmas specials on TV and, most of all, Christmas music. Sorry but who doesn’t love a bit of Chris Rea when it’s cold and dark and bleak outside? For me, having my birthday around Christmas just makes the whole event doubly exciting. Not only do I have the joy of Christmas day to look forward to but I also have my birthday, which has become a sort of Christmas warm up act for me over the years.

Because my birthday is (and always been, funny that) so late in the year I’ve always associated birthdays and presents and celebration with cold weather. For me, it just wouldn’t feel right to celebrate my birthday with a barbecue and trip to the beach in the sunshine. No, if I’m going to unwrap presents then it has to be dreary outside. No gale force winds, no presents. Of course, the exception to this is when I sometimes spend my birthday on holiday in Florida, in which case I’m prepared to bend the rules.

There are a couple of drawbacks to having my birthday at Christmas time, though the pros do outweigh the cons. There is always that one person who thinks it’s okay to give me a joint Christmas and birthday present. Just to clarify, it is definitely not okay. Unless the present is a pony. Of course, Christmas and birthdays are not all about presents and materialism, I know that. But I’m not going to lie, I do love receiving presents so the other drawback to having a birthday at the end of the year is that you get a whole bunch of presents in an eight day period (super exciting) but then have a present drought from December 26^th to December 16^ththe next year (certainly not as exciting).

So, there you have it. I wouldn’t want to have my birthday on any other date; I can’t think of a single time of year more magical than Christmas so it’s the perfect time for me to celebrate my birthday. Next time you meet somebody with their birthday around Christmas don’t feel sorry for them, just think about the pure win it must be to get to celebrate turning another year older amid the unadulterated joy of Christmas!

Thank you, Carly, for such a fun post. And a belated Happy Birthday!

The Weather Outside is Frightful (Guest review: Let It Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:11:00 +0000

Today, a guest review from one of my favourite people, the lovely Andy. Andy is reviewing Let It Snow, a great Christmas read by three great authors. Enjoy!

Before I start this review, I want to quickly thank two people. First, to Sya, for allowing me to review this book on her site. And to my American pal Sasha (or FzngWizbee as I always call her) for sending me the book from the USA! Thank you both! *hugs*

Let It Snow is a collection of three short stories, written by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle, where tells the stories of three holiday romance that intertwined as characters and locations overlap as this takes place in the same town, Gracetown.

Maureen Johnson starts us off with The Jubilee Express. Jubilee is told that her parents were arrested after a fight took place for the latest Flobie Santa Village piece and she is sent to her grandparents in Florida. Expect, the train never gets to Florida. The train she’s on gets stuck in a snow drift and here, she meets Jeb, a group of cheersleaders and, when she leaves the train to get food and warmth at the nearest Waffle House, Stuart...

Then, in John Green’s A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle, we meet Tobin with his friends JP and the Duke who get a phone call from Keun, worker at the Waffle House, ordering them to come over as there are cheerleaders (yep, the same ones from Maureen’s story). And they want twister. Fancy a road trip in snow and ice...?

The third and final story, The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle, tells the story of Addie who is recovering from her break-up from Jeb (yep, from Maureen’s and John’s stories) while trying to get her friend’s new pet, a teacup pig called Gabriel.

Three very different stories from three very different writers. So, I would like to know how they did it. How did they were these stories and manage to make them interlink with each other’s stories? I sense a lot of minutes on Skype and emailing...

Anyway, I’m not sure how to review this, as these are three separate stories. My fave out of the three is Maureen Johnson’s The Jubilee Express (though John Green’s A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle comes a close second). It was just Christmasy! While I’m not sure about The Patron Saint of Pigs (this is the first story I ever read Lauren Myracle), these three stories can be easily split in Christmas Eve (The Jubilee Express), Christmas Day (A Cheertasic Christmas Miracle) and Boxing Day (The Patron Saint of Pigs). And while each of them were intertwined , each of them stand-up for themselves.

This is a Christmassy read where you can curl up in a comfy chair with a cup of hot chocolate. It’s a sugary read and will get you in the Christmas mood.

Many thanks to Andy for reviewing one of my favourite Christmas reads - I can only agree with every point he's made and suggest that as well as reading it for yourself you also read more of his bookish thoughts at The Pewterwolf.

Guest post: The rising of The Dark

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:39:00 +0000

Another fabulous guest post today from one of my fellow book bloggers/YAckers, Melissa, who's here to tell us why The Dark is Rising is the perfect Winter read.

I never thought much about books being seasonal until a blogging friend of mine, Julie (whose blog is now defunct), mentioned that she reads Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising (the book, not the whole series) every December 21st. The first year she mentioned that, I actually took her suggestion and picked it up. And you know what? It's the perfect book for midwinter.

Lest you have lived in a hole your whole life and not know the children's classic I'm talking about, here's a brief summary:

Will Stanton wakes up on the morning of his 11th birthday, he discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones -- the first one being Merlin -- magical men and women over the ages through Britain sworn to protect the world from the Dark. Over the course of the next couple weeks -- from midwinter to Epiphany -- Will is sent on a quest through time to find the six magical Signs and join them to aid the powers of the Light and turn back the Dark. He will face many challenges, have to search through time and space, putting together clues as he races the rising of the Dark. If he doesn't get the Signs in time, the world will be doomed.

It all sounds pretty simplistic, and in many ways it is. The characters are archetypes, the story slow. But in this case, the writing is so good, so atmospheric, that it makes the book an amazing winter read:

"The snow lay thin and apologetic over the world. That wide grey sweep was the lawn, with the straggling trees of the orchard still dark beyond; the white squares were the roofs of the garage, the old barn, the rabbit hutches, the chicken coops. Further back there were only the flat fields of Dawson's farm, dimly white-striped. All the broad sky was grey, full of more snow that refused to fall. There was no colour anywhere."

The mood that Cooper evokes in the book, the use of the midwinter holidays and the way she incorporates the Arthurian myth are all things that make this book a classic. There are parts that are dark and cold and haunting, enough so that you can feel the chill of the winter night. Then she contrasts it with the warmth and loudness of the Stanton family; one of the more wonderful elements in the book is the sheer familiar presence of the Stanton family, with their craziness -- it's a large family -- and loudness and love. Cooper also uses elements of light: one of is on Christmas Day when the Dark attacks the church. Will and other old ones defend it using Light to turn them back,but there's another element of love as Cooper shows Will's tender concern when his older brother gets caught in the fray.

But the best thing in my book is Cooper's use of Merlin and the Arthurian legends. There's something very ancient about this book (especially, though the others in the series also have this same ancient feel), something timeless. Which makes it a perfect book to read on a cold, snowy winter day.

Wow - Melissa has certainly sold me on this one. While I have the whole Dark is Rising sequence on my shelf, I've yet to actually read them. After reading Melissa's post I'll be moving them up my TBR pile forthwith. If you want to read more of Melissa's beautifully put book musings then please check our her blog, The Book Nut.

Humbug...

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:29:00 +0000

As part of Winter Week here on The Mountains of Instead, I'm delighted to welcome back Justin from Swish. Justin's been here before, educating us on zombie science but this time turns his mind to Christmas entertainment and what works for him.

I'm not one for sentimentality and saccharine-laced happiness, so as a film fan the festive period is horrible for me, surely? We will be, as always, bombarded by loads of cutesy family films with a positive message and vomitous tone; it's simple to say “humbug” and dismiss them all. Well, I've had a thought about it and (spolier alert) like Scrooge I saw some light at the end of the tunnel.

I started off thinking about Christmas fare and began dismissing it for the expected reasons. Sentimentality is rife, in films such as Miracle On 34^th Street, Polar Express, The Snowman, and even A Christmas Carol. Some can come across as preachy, like Love Actually, and the American favourite A Charlie Brown Christmas even has a Biblical text delivered straight to us by Linus. And, worst of all, there are an abundance of awful, awful comedies: the list is endless but includes the horrific Santa Clause franchise, Jingle All The Way, Jack Frost, and Deck The Halls. If I wasn't playing up my Scroogeality (Scrooginess? Scroogic Nature?), surely I could just say that, of all times of year, surely at Christmas there is a place for family movies, Christian values, and broad comedy to entertain the kids? I'm being cynical, however, so they're all out. There is a major hole in my logic, though: I love It's A Wonderful Life.

Many would consider it the most Christmassy of all the Christmas films; why would I love a film that features angels and family redemption? At it's heart, It's A Wonderful Life is a Christmas film, but for much of the running time it is unremittingly bleak (central to the plot are bank fraud, drunken rants, and suicide) and not particularly Christmas-like. I think that's the key: my favourites are the films that subvert the standard Christmas fare and take it somewhere else. I would therefore like to present a list of my essential themes for a good Christmas movie.

Child abandonment: the Home Alone movies are classic Christmas films but when boiled down a family repeatedly loses a young child during the festive period, often travelling large distances away, leading to repeated flurries of graphic violence as a gang of crooks attempt to murder said child.

Violence and terrorism: this is a rich vein. The classics here include Die Hard (man in tank top kills a load of terrorists who dare to interrupt a Christmas party), Die Hard 2 (man in tank top kills a load of terrorists who dare to interrupt people's Christmas journeys by hijacking an airport), and Lethal Weapon (suicidal policeman and his partner, whose daughter gets kidnapped, bust a drugs ring run by mercenaries. At Christmas). Even Brazil is set at Christmas, and that is about a man being tortured to insanity in a beurocratic nightmare vision of the future.

Gothic/horror: is another fertile area. The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Gremlins, and Batman Returns (a Danny DeVito Christmas film that is actually good!) all fit in here. Again, they all come at it from an angle that plays up their “differentness” with Christmas as a backdrop. Gremlins even features a character recounting how she found out Santa Claus doesn't exist when they discovered her father's body (dressed as Santa) in the chimney, days after Christmas.

Parody: If you must do sentimentality or Christmassy, do it knowingly. Films in this category include Scrooged, Elf, Bad Santa, About A Boy, Trading Places, and The Muppet Christmas Carol. The two Dickens adaptations are great examples here, making it funny (Muppets) or with a twist (Scrooged); the more “straight” adaptations of A Christmas Carol can come off as mawkish.

So there you have it: it is possible to watch any number of excellent Christmas films at this time of year, and all you have to do is keep an eye out for violence, drunkenness, brutality, and sarcasm. Most important of all, and if you only take one thing away from this, when you see the words “starring Tim Allen” on a Christmas film: turn it off or turn to brandy.

Many festive thanks to Justin for casting his eye upon the subject of Christmas movies. Please share your own thoughts on the genre, love or hate it... To get you going, here's a clip from my own favourite Christmas movie:

Ring a Ring o' Roses (review Children of Winter by Berlie Doherty)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:55:00 +0000

Berlie Doherty

Children of Winter

Catnip Press 2007

Three children battle through raging wind and rain to find shelter in an old barn. As they step through the doors into the murky gloom within, Catherine feels the past surround them tangibly. Before they know it they are caught up in a game so real that it could almost be true... Imagination ignited by the idea of possible ancestors, they slowly uncover the story of three other children, left to fend for themselves for one long Winter as the Black Death swept through the rest of the country.

Children of Winter was inspired by the English village of Eyam who famously isolated themselves when the first plague case became apparent in their community in order to prevent the infection spreading further. Doherty's story doesn't mention Eyam by name but rather focuses on Catherine, Tessa and Dan, three young children sent from the village by their parents. The children proceed to live for the Winter in an old shepherd's barn high above the community. Catherine, as the eldest at thirteen carries the brunt of responsibility in terms of their survival. She's a believable enough character who worries quietly over the plight of her younger siblings. Tessa is an altogether more light-hearted girl and Dan seems to have only the vaguest grasp of the peril they are in but they pull together admirably and are impressive in their ingenuity.

The setting itself is beautifully described. Doherty perfectly captures the children's isolation and writes with detail about the realities of living with little support for such a long time. The children sleep on straw, eat endless amounts of cured beef and plain potatoes and are driven to wearing stinking sheep's fleece when the snow arrives. There is a constant fear of rats (who were known to carry the plague) and in once memorably chilling scene, threat from the village itself. As the ground freezes and the weather confines them to they're tiny shelter, it's hard not to feel the chill that seeps into their bones and the underlying terror that Catherine feels for their safety. The only aspect of the story that doesn't work entirely successfully is the book-ending of the historic with the modern, but this is a minor gripe in such a beautifully rendered tale.

I visited Eyam years ago and was completely obsessed with it's history. Full of that morbid fascination so peculiar to children of a certain age I read everything I could get my hands on about Eyam, it's people and the Black Death. I thought them all terribly brave and couldn't believe that one village had taken such a brave stance against a seemingly unbeatable enemy. Had Berlie Doherty's book been about at the time I would have gobbled it up and looked for more. Her writing is pitch perfect for younger readers (and this book is very much aimed at the nine-twelve bracket – I think most teen readers would find it rather young for their increasingly sophisticated tastes) and Children of Winter will give those who pick it up not only a thrilling tale of survival and adventure but also an interesting snapshot of English history that will hopefully have them looking for more. If you have a ten year old in your family who's a keen reader, then Children of Winter would make an excellent Wintery gift this Christmas. Saying that if you're off a certain age, as I am, this will take you back to the kind of books that used to be on the shelves when you were younger and makes for an enjoyably reminiscent read.

Children of Winter is available in all good online and offline bookstores. Thank you to Catnip Press for sending me this title to review.

'Tis The Season - Announcing a Week of Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:09:00 +0000

I love Winter – it is absolutely my favourite season and the rest of them, in my humble opinion, are vastly overrated. If pushed, I suppose I may admit that Spring is OK…ish, Autumn is vaguely pretty and Summer occasionally, er, sunshiny but that's no fun if, like me, you burn in the shade. No, Winter’s the thing.

I live in a small cottage that's reminiscent of a hobbit house (seriously, if you’re over five foot two you have to duck to get in the door). It’s pretty old with exposed beams and tiny windows. In the summer time, not much light gets in – the rooms can feel dreary and dark and the heat fail to penetrate the thick stone walls. In the winter, though, my tiny house comes into it’s own. The wood-burning stove burns fiercely in the corner, scaring off the murk outside the window, in December the Christmas tree cheerily takes up a larger than is really acceptable percentage of the front room and myself and my daughter snuggle on the couch, reading and watching old movies. Now you can’t do THAT in summer. Noooo. In summer you have to be out doing things all the time. It’s so monotonously energetic that I feel tired just thinking about it.

As I type, wind is howling outside my window, lashing sleet and hail around the skies and generally being fairly unruly and wild. I love it. Seeing the weather deteriorate earlier, I brought in coal for my fire, hung up drapes to hold out drafts and drew the curtains, ensuring a safe, warm and cosy retreat from winter’s wrath. I love this feeling of battening down the hatches. At no other time of year am I so aware of the power of nature. Winter sweeps in bringing snow, rain, gales and cold and we actively fight against it, hunkering down indoors or bundling up to trudge through the elements.

At the very heart of Winter, for me, there is Christmas. I’m a Christmas person – being as it is, in Winter. I particularly enjoy a good Christmas film – I tell you, what would life be with out It’s a Wonderful Life, Meet Me In St. Louis, Elf, Love, Actually or (most vitally) Scrooged?? Dull and miserable, that's what. Also, what other season can offer such gems? None-one, as my daughter would say, is the answer.

Then there is the fact that winter really is the most excellent time for reading. I mean, when the weather outside is frightful (yes, there's a musical post on it's way) and inside it’s so delightful…. then sit down with a book and get on with it. Really. And what a wealth of literature there is that suits a cold winter’s night. Poems such as Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (who, as a Brucie bonus, also has a suitably wintery moniker), Blake’s terrifyingly grand To Winter and Coleridge’s Frost At Midnight are gorgeously evocative of the season while any book with a decent Christmas scene is bound to warm the cockles of the heart (Harry Potter, Little Women and Little House on The Prairie are some of my personal favourites). Winter is also an excellent time to scare yourself silly and later in the week I’ll be talking about some of my favourite winter ghost stories.

So welcome to Winter week at The Mountains of Instead, I hope you’ll read the guest posts coming up and hope, even more, that you’ll weigh in with your own memories of the season be they good, middling or bah humbug. And, just because it's Christmas, any comments you make on any of the Winter-themed posts will enter you into a draw to win the Winter tale of your choice. Enjoy!

Hey Mother Earth Won't You Bring Me Back Down Safely To The Sea (Review: Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:44:00 +0000

Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune

Rick Riordan

Penguin/Hyperion 2011

Welcome to Camp  Jupiter, home to Roman legions, Machiavellian seers and talking God-statues (really). While seemingly situated somewhere near San Francisco, it’s actually in Rome – because that is where all roads lead to, obvs. Now meet Frank and Hazel, both outsiders and both carrying their own secrets giving new meaning to the phrases burning at the stake and walking through the valley of the shadow of death, respectively. Then there’s Percy. You probably know more about him than he does. Woken from enforced slumber and recovering from Extreme Wolf Boot Camp, Percy has no idea who he is or why Camp Jupiter and its Gods seem so familiar yet oh, so different…. And a quest?  Really?  Hasn’t he done stuff like this before? One can only hope he figures it out before it’s too late.

Having lost his mother and been dismissed to Camp Jupiter by a grandmother who is no fan of the straight answer, Frank isn’t doing so well. He doesn’t fit in with his colleagues and has a sense of identity that’s pretty rocky and a secret that’s burning him up inside. However, over the course of the book he starts to change, literally and figuratively, emerging as a keen strategist and excellent friend.  His interactions with Hazel are particularly lovely and often very funny and his growing hero-worship when it comes to Percy is oddly touching.

Hazel has to be one of Riordan’s more complex characters with her need to atone for perceived past mistakes being desperately believable. In her own way, she is dealing with a world entirely new to her and her determination is impressive. However, her unwillingness to trust her friends with her guilty secret is a little too reminiscent of Piper in The Lost Hero. She is, luckily, different enough that this is only a minor glitch and one particularly well written aspect of the book is her relationship with Nico  which is both incredibly sad and oddly lonely.

And then there’s Percy. He’s a little discombobulated by events but it’s fascinating to see him through new eyes. This isn’t the Percy readers met in Riordan’s first series – he’s now all growed-up. And a bit scary. Yes, that’s right – Percy Jackson has turned into a young man with a thousand yard stare, wicked fighting skills and absolutely no memory of his past apart from vague images of Annabeth. It’s interesting to see a character previously defined by his loyalty to friends and family have these things taken from him and it makes Percy a far edgier than before.However, his core personality traits – and fatal flaw – are never far away and his friendship and leadership skills are ever-present.

The world that these three find themselves is also darker than that portrayed in previous Riordan titles. Camp Jupiter itself is a far harsher place than Camp Half-Blood and is very much ruled from the top down. Not for them a disgraced, drunken Dionysus but rather the authoritative Reyna and incredibly nasty Octavian (whose penchant for stuffed-animal mutilation is both hilarious and disturbing). Still, they're all being plagued by the same monsters, now unkillable, while Gaia continues to scheme from the depths. Gaia is darkly sinister and her interaction with the three protagonists is filled with gloomy portents of doom. Percy, in particular, seems destined to be her pawn… yet he's also Juno's and therein lies the crux of the story. There are some thrilling set pieces and Riordan's trademark humour is put to excellent use, vital in a novel that peeks into some pretty dark corners.

For years, critics and readers alike have been wittering on about finding the "new Harry Potter" and I really don't understand it as, to my mind, he's been rampaging about for a while now in the form of Percy Jackson - and make no mistake, this is a Percy Jackson novel, "spin off" or not. Percy and Harry have much in common in their characters, not least their central belief that friends and family are of the greatest value. Like the Harry Potter titles, the books in the Heroes of Olympus series (and Percy's titular series prior to that) carry messages regarding the importance of love, courage and loyalty in the face of great hardship, have real pathos and are written with real skill. At the end of The Son of Neptune, readers see worlds start to collide and there are more than a few hints that the next book may not carry happy endings for all involved. Whatever happens, though, we can be assured of a thrilling ride with characters that long ago captured this reader’s heart and imagination.

Heroes of Olympus: The Son of Neptune is available now. Go and buy it for someone for Christmas. Go on. DO IT.

When I'm Human (Review: The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:50:00 +0000

The Iron Knight

Julie Kagawa

Harlequin 2011

The Iron Knight is the fourth book in Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series. This review contains spoilers for the previous books.

Prince of Winter, Ash, finds himself cast adrift in Faerie. Disowned by his family. separated from his true love and unable to ignore his previously iced over emotions he has only one course of action should he wish to rejoin Meghan in her metal realm. He must become human, a mortal living in the land of the Fae. It is not an easy goal to achieve and has consequences impossible for him to understand yet he cannot live without Meghan so sets of o with a motley crew of companions, not least Robin Goodfellow and one, rather irascible, cat.

Ash, prior to The Iron Queen, had been one of my favourite characters. Arrogant to the point of rudeness, conflicted in ways that often made him terribly cross, yet slowly thawing his icy heart to allow Meghan in. Latterly, however, he became rather dull, worrying about his worthiness in terms of Meghan and, glumly, the state of his eternal soul. It all reminded me far too much of a certain sparkly blood-sucker. The Iron Knight seemed the perfect opportunity to see more of Ash, whom I hoped had gotten over his angst. Well, he really hasn't although he’s pretty focused on his quest which helps one forget about his general glumness. As the protagonist of his own story, readers really do get inside his head but a miserable place it is. Mourning over lost love is understandable but Ash takes it to extremes, especially considering the fact that he’s on a quest to ensure his place by his new love’s side. Admittedly, the memory of Arianna plays an important role in The Iron Knight, but it's not like she was ever far from the forefront of his mind. Also, his ongoing feud with Puck is just so last century. However, despite is ardent cries of "woe is me" (not literally, but I wouldn't have been surprised) he is honourable, committed to Meghan and packs a hefty swoon factor so I still rather like him. Just.

In one respect it is easy to relate to Ash's air of long suffering once you consider his that he travels with the most irritating of characters. Puck is much the same as he was when last seen in The Iron Queen. His reasons for accompanying Ash o are vague at best and one suspects that it might be as much to annoy his arch-frenemie as anything else. He's certainly not the ideal questing companion - more a Pippin or Merry than a handy Legolas. He flitters about the place, getting everyone into trouble and making uniformly unfunny jokes and asides. While he clearly cares for Ash and Meghan, Puck as a character is at his best when glimpses of his ancient and more dangerous nature shine through. He is not a particularly likable character but I suspect this is at least semi-intentional on the part of the author. Enough, though, about two-legs - it is the animal companions that rather steal The Iron Knight. The return of Grimalkin is extremely welcome. A truly fabulous creation who comes close to knocking my favourite cat (the magnificent Mogget) from the top of the fish pile. Here is is joined by a lupine companion in the form of the Big Bad Wolf and yes, I do mean that one - the embodiment of nightmarish fairy tales the world over and proud of it (actually, I might get that on a t-shirt). The two of them riff hilariously but are at their most impressive as two ancient creatures joining Ash's curious hike in order to preserve their immortality (in the case of the Wolf) and ensure an ongoing stream of favours (in Grimalkin's).

The storyline of The Iron Knight is fairly straightforward - and who doesn't like a good old quest, right? However, it's a little slow to get going and lacks the wonderfully original Iron Fey, the constructs that lifted Kagawa's previous books above the usual Fae fare. While the group trek through hitherto unseen aspects of Faerie they are joined by a new character and one whom is most unwelcome in that they merely serve to increase Ash's melodrama and moan a lot. Sadly, this plot strand rather drags the story down. There are, though, some beautiful set pieces as the group edge closer to their destination and often the situations they find themselves in are eerily sinister. In particularl, Ash's starkly honest glimpse of what it means to be human is extremely well executed and promised an interest denouement to his tale. Sadly, Julie Kagawa seems to have lacked the courage of her convictions in this regard though and backs away from an ending that would give The Iron Knight some much needed weight.

For fans of the Iron Fey trilogy, The Iron Knight is an interesting read. One might think that it would be particularly exciting for Teams Ash and Puck but sadly, with out Meghan's rose tinted lenses they are, respectively, a little to melodramatic and downright annoying. While The Iron Knight doesn't reach the levels of originality or writing previously seen in Kagawa's cleverly imagined Faerie nor does it entirely disappoint. As a companion book it is a pleasant enough read but, while I wait with interest and excitement for Julie's next venture, I hope that the Iron Fey, the Iron Knight and even the gorgeous Grimalkin have been firmly left to their happy endings.

The Iron Knight is available now. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing this title for review.

Like Dust, I Rise (Review: Crossed by Ally Condie)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 10:20:00 +0000

Crossed

Ally Condie

Puffin 2011

Crossed is the second book in the trilogy that started with Matched. If you have not read Matched then this review will contain spoilers for the first title. You have been warned. 

Three months on from the events of Matched, Cassia has endured the manual labour of several work camps.  Her Match, Xander, remains a constant presence in her life, hovering constantly on the edges of her vision, a supportive and sometimes tempting alternative to the elusive Ky.  However, when an opportunity presents itself to search for Ky, Cassia grasps it leaving behind the safety of Society in favour of the mysterious Outer Provinces.  Ky himself has spent months living a life fraught with danger, burying the dead and chanting a continual mantra over their bodies.  He is lost without Cassia and, like her, takes the first opportunity to search for her, yearning for their shared language and lost future.

Cassia is fierce in her determination to find Ky, yet every step she takes is underwritten by a quiet shock as she processes what she now knows about Society.  At first she seems torn -while she understands that Society is highly manipulative she is also aware that it has, to an extent, protected her throughout her life.  However, as the novel progresses the balance tips as she encounters evidence of real cruelty. Her angry reaction to this speaks perfectly of her feelings of betrayal and her character development is always believable.

Ky, though, is of far greater interest.  While in Matched he was an alluring yet ultimately mysterious enigma, here he becomes fully three-dimensional.  His is a story steeped in loss, propaganda, guilt and blood and as a result his views of Society and any rebellion against it are painted in shades of grey.  For Ky, the most important aspect of life has become Cassia who grants him his only real solace. As he watches her slow metamorphosis from Society member to potential rebel he finds himself in conflict, torn between his love for her and his desire to remove them both from any faction that might wish to control them.  He is, from start to finish, a joy to read.

Other characters in Crossed add texture to Condie’s story, subtly adding both variety also contributing to her vision of the world.  Vick, Indie and Eli stand almost as alternative versions of Xander, Cassia and Bram – illustrations of how the other half have lived.  Indie is a particularly clever character, her motivations constantly unclear, adding an edge to every scene she appears in.  Hunter represents a faction in the world of Matched and Crossed that has not been explored previously and which adds depth and sadness.  Xander, while appearing only briefly in Crossed is ever present, not only for Ky and Cassia but also for others in their group and slowly emerges as one of the most interesting aspects of the story.

Crossed, in comparison to Matched, is a rather quiet read. The characters all find themselves in a state of flux, moving from one mindset to another and this is mirrored by a literal journey.  Finding themselves in the Outer Provinces, they begin a journey through the Carving, a vast labyrinth of canyons on which one side lies Society and on the other a mythical rebellion, known only as The Rising.  There isn’t a moment where they deviate from their quest but, for all that, very little happens with the focus being the relationship between Ky and Cassia and their joint relationship with the obstacles they continue to face.  It’s a rather bold to move the overall story along so slowly, yet Crossed ends beautifully with Condie neatly arriving at what is clearly beginning of the end, promising intriguing things in next year’s final instalment. However, Crossed doesn’t always read quite as smoothly as its triumphant predecessor.  The duel narrative structure, while successful in allowing reader’s insight to Ky, is often confusing with their individual voices lacking strong enough differentiation. Another sticking point is the poetry used to such great effect in Matched which now occasionally seems forced.  Condie has a tendency to rather hammer a point home and the use of Tennyson’s beautiful poetry and its link to the Rising is referenced to the point of inanity.

These are small gripes, however, when set against the ongoing trilogy as a whole.  As with Matched, Condie’s writing is gorgeous.  Sometimes stark, sometimes lyrical, frequently mesmerising she is infinitely readable.  She bravely explores, through Cassia and Ky, the nature of love and what it truly means to be together in the face of hardship giving her books a maturity not always seen in Young Adult fiction.  With Matched, Condie upped the stakes as far as dystopian fiction was concerned and she continues to do so in Matched – certainly her trilogy is sure to stand above many others when concluded in 2012 and I highly recommend that everyone continue to read through to a finale that is impossible to predict.

Crossed is available from 24th November. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me this title to review.

The World Breaks Everyone (Review: Beautiful Chaos by K. Garcia and M. Stohl)

noreply@blogger.com (Splendibird) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 10:28:00 +0000

Beautiful Chaos            

Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

Razorbill 2011

Beautiful Chaos is the third book in The Caster Chronicles. If you have not read Beautiful Creatures or Beautiful Darkness then this review WILL contain spoilers. You have been warned.

The world is broken. By claiming herself at the end of Beautiful Darkness, Lena has split not only her light and dark aspects but also rendered the universe unable to function. Darkness seeps from every corner, choosing its epicentre as Gatlin. Life for Ethan and Lena is irrevocably changed.  Ethan, in particular, is struggling with events.  Nightmares plague his sleep and creep into his waking world, Amma mutters and lies, his father writes about an Eighteenth Moon and he is barely able to touch Lena any longer. Add to this apocalyptic weather, a much changed Link, an ex-siren struggling with her mortality as well as the crazed prophecies of Abraham and his leech, Hunting and the scene is set for the end of the world as we know it.

Ethan is a character much changed by events. While he continues to cling to the life he knew he is more than aware that Lena’s actions and his own destiny as a Wayward are leading him towards an uncertain and sinister future. He’s grown up a lot and is far surer of his actions than in the previous two books. While he spends much of this book keeping difficult secrets as the narrative progresses he moves towards his somewhat inevitable decision believably, bravely and with not a little difficulty.  He continues to be one of the stronger male protagonists in YA and his bleaker moments can be very moving.

Lena is a harder character to like. While her behaviour in Beautiful Darkness may have been explained away, her dismissive attitude towards it is more than a little irritating. In particular, her attitude towards Liv is infuriating, hypocritical and unfair. Throughout the series, Lena has had a tendency to navel-gaze and she doesn’t appear to be growing out of it any time soon, spending much of Beautiful Chaos bemoaning her actions in an awfully emo sort of way.  Her saving grace is that Ethan adores her and often she is a character made likable only by the believability of his love.

As with the previous books, other characters are beautifully written in Beautiful Chaos. Link, as Linkubus, is as charmingly puppy-like as ever (albeit in a slightly scarier way); Ridley is as frighteningly unhinged; Macon as charming and Abraham as terrifying. Beautiful Chaos also gives readers insight into Seraphine’s past, which is fairly interesting (if not a little predictable) and grants a closer look at the mysteriously wicked John Breed – with strange consequences. The Sisters shine once more, this time with added pathos and Amma continues to by the lynch pin of the series, to heartbreaking affect.

Beautiful Chaos as a whole is far darker than the previous titles in The Caster Chronicles. Having carefully woven together a complex mythology, Garcia and Stohl to some extent delight in destroying the world they have created. As the story progresses it becomes clear that previous portents of doom have not been exaggerated and it is hard to imagine things ending at all happily. As with previous instalments, Gatlin itself is central to the storyline and both it and its inhabitants are used to great dramatic effect. The writing is at times extremely lyrical while at others suitably sparse. There are scenes that are tremendously moving juxtaposed against those that are darkly frightening.Particularly successful are the set pieces involving an increasingly insane Ridley and those between Ethan and his Aunt Prue. Special mention must also go to the scene involving Ethan and the lens of a video camera – chilling in the extreme.

The Caster Chronicles are all long, detailed stories and readers may find it necessary to return to Beautiful Chaos (even, perhaps, Beautiful Creatures) to remind themselves of the world that swirls confusingly around Ethan and Lena – certainly, reading these titles again would be no hardship. However, regardless of any re-reading, Beautiful Chaos is a thrilling roller-coaster of a story, murky with the shadows of a difficult destiny and haunted by the superstitions of the Deep  South leading, one assumes, to a stunning finale in 2012.