Springing Into Fantasy

On March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations31 Comments

Today marks the launch of spring–and of the Once Upon a Time Reading Experience, hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. This will be my third year participating, and I’ve been looking forward to joining in again. If someone was going to design a reading challenge around my favorite kinds of books…it would look a lot like this one. I mean, fantasy with an emphasis on fairy tales! That’s what I read (and what I write too).

I’ve been telling myself that I’ll make progress on my To Be Read list over the next three months, since so many of the books on it are fantasy. This, of course, ignores that fact that I’ll probably add tons of wonderful new books too…but shhh, let’s not talk about that right now!

I have far too many books that fall into this Experience to list them all here, but I’ll give you a few initial ideas…

~ Stardust by Neil Gaiman, for the group read-along

~ Chalice by Robin McKinley, which I started yesterday…but close enough

~ Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (a reread) and its once-removed sequel, Princess of the Silver Woods (because I already read the immediate sequel, Princess of Glass)

~ The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, to get me set up for the real challenge…

~ The Lord of the Rings trilogy–or at least a good attempt at them

~ Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, because…Pratchett and Gaiman! How have I not already read this?

~ The House on Durrow Street and The Master of Heathcrest Hall by Galen Beckett, as I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the trilogy, The Magicians and Mrs. Quent

~ The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, which I read SO long ago that I’ve completely forgotten them, and now I feel like they’re a gap in my McKinley reading

~ More installments of the Sevenwaters Series by Juliet Marillier, part of my goal to complete series

And, oh, so many, many random fantasy novels…really, the list above barely scratches the surface! Well, scratches it, maybe, but not so far as a dent. So, I’m not worrying too much about which books I read, or how many, or which Quests they fit into. I’ll just toss lots of books into the air (metaphorically) and let them fall where they will. I hope you’ll come along for the fun!

Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People

On March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Historical Fiction, Reviews6 Comments

I’ve been deeply intrigued by the concept of Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People ever since I first heard about it. Eight authors wrote fictional character sketches, based off portraits whose original identities have been lost. Many were at some point thought to be someone famous from history, which is how the portraits ended up at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Later scholarship has overturned their supposed identities, and now the Portrait Gallery (which, by the way, is my favorite museum, ever) has put together a collection of stories around these anonymous portraits.

I almost bought a copy in the gift shop when I was at the museum…but I have trouble buying books I haven’t read, so I resisted. I hit the library instead, and I think that was the right decision. I enjoyed the book, but I’m glad I didn’t spend however many pounds they would have charged me.

There are eight authors and fourteen character sketches, and while I liked the book overall, the quality does vary. The style also varies, which contributes to the changing quality. I liked best the ones that were more like stories. There’s a mix of letters, personal reflections, and fictional encyclopedia entries, all of them only two to three pages long.

The encyclopedia entries read like, well, encyclopedia entries. Some of the more elaborate ones have some intriguing elements to them, but ultimately…well, how fascinating is an encyclopedia entry, really? Especially a very brief, overview biography of someone. Some of these would be wonderful as novels, but in such a compressed format, they fall a little flat. Not all–but some.

For the letters and the reflections, I liked the shortness. Because of their style, they’re much more intimate, much more detailed, and give us this tiny, very personal glimpse into the individual’s life. I especially liked it when the glimpse is very closely tied into the portrait–as in a woman writing to her sister about her husband’s rash investment in commissioning a portrait they can’t afford, or a young noblewoman whose painting has been done with the interest of attracting a suitor, and she fears a husband who would choose his wife in such a way. That was one of my favorites. We also get the other side of a similar story, a woman writing to her mother about her indecision on whether she should accept a suitor who has sent her his portrait.

My favorite, though, is actually one of the encyclopedia entries, which will make more sense when I tell you that it was written by the delightful Terry Pratchett. It tells the tale of the very unfortunate Joshua Easement, who dreamed of being a great explorer but whose “navigational method mainly consisted of variations on the theme of bumping into things.”

The portraits all seem to be from loosely around the time of Queen Elizabeth I, and many are tied very closely into history. As is frequently true with much longer works of historical fiction, some of the fun of the stories is weaving the fictional characters into the lives of real people.

The book concludes with an essay on how scholars identify portraits, and how portraits like the ones in the book can lose their original identities. It’s a very accessible essay, and an interesting look at the stories behind the portraits in museums.

If you have an interest in portraits or British history, I recommend this intriguing (and very quick) read. I didn’t enjoy all the character sketches, but in the midst are several gems.

Museum Site: http://www.npg.org.uk/

Other reviews:
Vulpes Libris
Patrick T. Reardon
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Imagined Lives: Portraits of Unknown People

Scarlet: Book Two of the Lunar Chronicles

On March 18, 2013March 18, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction, Young Adult4 Comments

I came late to the game last year with Cinder by Marissa Meyer, so I was determined to jump in sooner with this year’s sequel, Scarlet. It was a great read, and now I’m eagerly waiting to see where she’ll take the adventure in the next book! Read my review of Cinder here, and be warned, there will be spoilers for that book in this review for Scarlet.

Cinder is a sci fi fairy tale retelling, featuring a cyborg Cinderella (who leaves her foot on the palace steps!) The last book ended with Cinder under arrest, soon to be handed over to the vicious, mind-controlling Lunar Queen. Scarlet brings in several new characters, starting us off with title character Scarlet, whose beloved grandmother recently disappeared. She’s soon pulled into a much larger and more dangerous game than she realized, and reluctantly accepts the help of a mysterious street fighter she knows only as Wolf.

Meanwhile, Cinder swiftly breaks out of jail and goes on the run, by accident and necessity working together with Carswell Thorne, conman, smuggler and thief. The stories converge when Cinder and Carswell also end up on the trail of Scarlet’s grandmother, everyone intent on what secrets the woman could be hiding.

As you’re probably already guessing, this volume brings in “Little Red Riding Hood,” though only in the loosest sense. I do love it that Scarlet wears a red hoodie, though!

The split plotlines gave me some trouble at first–I kept wanting to be in the other one, whichever one I was currently in–but once I got adjusted to that, I very much enjoyed the book. Meyer ratchets up the stakes and the conflict, and introduces us to some excellent new characters.

I have a soft spot for charming rogues, so Carswell was a great addition. He’s a very arrogant criminal who expects everyone else to be as impressed by his exploits as he is. He brings some humor into a frequently dark book. Scarlet is a good character as well, a fierce young woman who is determined to forge ahead and deal with things. I hate passive heroines, and Scarlet is anything but. Wolf is fascinatingly complex. I have kind of a thing for dark, brooding heroes too, and he’s a wonderful blend of strength and wariness. He’s immensely capable about some things (see: street fighter) but so nervous about others (like romance). I love that blend.

My favorite character from the first book was also back, though I would have liked more of her…Iko, Cinder’s android friend. She was dismantled in the last book but Cinder saved her personality chip, and in this book installs it into their spaceship. Iko’s freaking out about whether she’s still attractive as a spaceship (“But I’m so huge!”) is absolutely wonderful.

Scarlet is living in France, and her search for her grandmother eventually takes her to Paris. Being me, my first thought was, hey, maybe there’ll be an Opera House reference! So imagine my delight when it turns out the kidnappers have actually made the Opera House their base. 🙂 This is set a long stretch into the future, so we get to go wandering through the crumbling but still recognizable remains of the Opera House, including the grand foyer, the marble stairs, and the auditorium. Loved it.

The book takes a turn near the end, and I’m not sure how I feel about it. For one thing, it suddenly gets a good deal more violent, and I could have lived without some of the blood. For the other, possibly larger thing, some details are revealed on the Lunar Queen’s army, and I’m not sure if I like where this may be going. But I can’t really tell, until the next book comes out!

I enjoyed Cinder and I think I may have actually liked Scarlet a bit better. Or maybe it’s just fresher in my mind. Either way, it didn’t disappoint, and I’m looking forward to #3! The title is Cress, so I’m thinking…Rapunzel, maybe? 😉

Author’s Site: http://www.marissameyer.com/

Other reviews:
Dreaming of Books
Sophistikatied Reviews
Dark Faerie Tales
Others?

Buy it here: Scarlet

What Are You Reading This Spring?

On March 17, 2013September 24, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations, What Are You Reading?14 Comments

Time to join in again for the Book Journey meme, “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?”

I finished reading and reviewing Les Miserables, which was quite the long haul. Read the review(s!) here: Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

I read and enjoyed the other books on my previous list, with reviews coming up in the next week. I’ll have Scarlet up tomorrow. (Addendum: It’s up now!)

Right now I’m in the middle of My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier, because I love her most famous book, Rebecca. I first heard about this one years ago, and thought I didn’t want to read it because it was too much like Rebecca–another mysterious woman who may be good or may be monstrous, though in this case it’s her husband who died under mysterious circumstances. So I put that one at the back of my mind and read three other, very different, books by du Maurier…and didn’t find them to be all that good. Yet I’m convinced by Rebecca that du Maurier is absolutely brilliant! And thus I’m deciding that maybe it makes sense after all to read her most Rebecca-like other book. So far, I’m liking it better than the others!

After this one, I have a big stack of fantasy I’m eager to jump into. The Once Upon a Time “challenge” runs every spring, and I may just start in on the fantasy a few days early. I have a number of rereads piled up, but I want to take a new perspective on them: Chalice by Robin McKinley, because I want to look at it as a Beauty and the Beast retelling; Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George, because it was only the second “12 Dancing Princesses” story I ever read, and now I’ve read eight or ten, and written one; The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien which I haven’t read since I was maybe twelve. And I am vowing and swearing to read Lord of the Rings this spring, and The Hobbit seems like good gateway-Tolkien.

And last, I have been meaning to read Good Omens pretty much forever. Because, I mean, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman!

I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂 Happy Spring and Happy Reading this week!

Saturday Snapshot: Park Visit

On March 16, 2013March 15, 2013 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot8 Comments

Spring seems to have arrived very suddenly this year, and about a week early. In the spirit of the season, here are a couple of pictures from the park this past week. I was there to visit the library…and snapped a couple of shots too.

Most of the trees have already gone to leaf, but I got this one still in bloom.