Month: June 2013

…and They All Lived Happily Ever After

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations7 Comments

Summer is starting, meaning all sorts of things, but also marking the end of the Once Upon a Time “challenge” for another year.  As always, I had loads of fun reading fantasy, and seeing what everyone else read.  I’m feeling particularly happy, because I managed to complete some long-standing goals…

Here’s a round-up of my reading and viewing for the season.  (R) designates a reread (not a rating!), and links go to reviews.

Total: 21 books, half reread and half new-to-me.  Since one of my goals for the year is to reread favorites, I’m calling that a win.  The big accomplishment, of course, was reading Lord of the Rings for the first time, and I’m very happy I got the extra push to finally do that!  Thank you to everyone who was so encouraging, and for all your great discussion as I read. 🙂

I had sort of hoped to make some progress on my fantasy-heavy TBR list and…well, that didn’t happen at all.  And instead I added to it, by looking at the great things other people were reading.  Ah well…what’s the summer for, after all?

Thank you everyone who came along for the quest!  And do stick around–the reading won’t be ending here!

The Crystal Gryphon by Andre Norton

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews7 Comments

Crystal GryphonThe Crystal Gryphon is the reason I keep meaning to read more Andre Norton.  Another reread for Once Upon a Time, it’s a beautifully written book with a vivid world and excellent characters.

The narration alternates between our two leads, Kerovan and Joisan.  Kerovan was born of humans but with his taint of Old Blood showing in his amber eyes and hoofs.  He is shunned by his mother and grows up apart, despite being the son of a lord.  Wishing to affirm Kerovan as his heir, his father makes a political betrothal for him to Joisan.  She’s strong-minded and independent, but fiercely conscious of honor, duty and loyalty.  Officially married as children but never meeting, Kerovan and Joisan follow separate paths, until all plans change with the coming of invaders from across the sea.

I love Kerovan and Joisan, and the growth they each experience.  Kerovan in some ways comes to terms with his past and his differences–and in other ways does not, which is okay because there are two more books after this.  Joisan is always intelligent and strong, and in time of crisis she emerges as a leader for her people.

Without giving much away, Kerovan and Joisan do eventually meet.  I liked all of the book, but it felt most compelling when the characters came together–and in my memory, it stood out as a much larger section than it really is!  The development of the romance is brief, but felt satisfying too.

The culture and the world is immensely rich and complex, with several societies jostling together.  Kerovan and Joisan’s people have a feudal structure and loosely Medieval technology.  The invaders come with modern weaponry.  And all throughout the land, there are traces of the Old Ones, who possessed mysterious powers.  The book has some sense of a larger context, and apparently its part of Norton’s larger Witchworld series.  I don’t know much of the larger context, but I don’t feel like that was ever a barrier to reading.

I have a few criticisms…Norton relies a bit on characters experiencing compulsions, to make them do things that don’t entirely make sense but move the story forward.  Considering powerful magic and larger forces are woven throughout, though, I’ll mostly give that a pass.  The alternating POV is brilliant for getting into both characters, but can make the chronology confusing in places, when we jump backwards in the timeline with a POV shift.

But those are relatively minor issues, more than made up for by Norton’s beautiful writing style and wonderful characters.  Highly recommended–and I already got hold of the sequel.

Author’s Site: http://www.andre-norton.org/

Other reviews:
Rachel Manija
Angieville
Okay, more people should read this…hardly any reviews out there!

Buy it here: The Crystal Gryphon

Zombieland and Warm Bodies

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction10 Comments

As a general rule, I’m not much of one for zombie movies.  I’m not much of one for blood and guts in general, so…yeah.  But I had a movie night with friends recently, and watched Warm Bodies, which was really quite a bit of fun.  I watched Zombieland (with the same people) on a different occasion.  Since it’s another funny zombie movie, I thought–why not a joint review?

Zombieland (2009) focuses on the last handful of people left alive in a world overrun with zombies.  Jesse Eisenberg plays (of course) a shy, nerdy college student, who cites his survival to his list of rules–like Rule#1: Cardio, and Rule#4: Don’t be a hero.  The movie turns into a sort of strange, zombie-filled road trip–and of course one of the only other surviving humans happens to be an attractive girl (Emma Stone) the same age as the main character.

On the con side of things, there are some moments of zombie gore and guts (particularly in the first few minutes).  If you’re squeamish, watch with someone who has seen the movie and can warn you (that’s what I did).  As far as zombie movies go, it’s not really a heavily gory one, though (or so I’ve heard).  On the pro and con side, there’s an awesome, super tough girl…who then ultimately does something stupid and has to be rescued by the not-nearly-as-awesome guy.  Sigh.  But the whole thing is something of a geek-guy fantasy, so I suppose it’s just how it goes.

On the pro side–it’s frequently a very funny movie.  And–the Rules!  The Rules are how I ended up watching this to begin with.  I’m writing a novel with a character who has a list of rules for life–and I had never seen this movie.  Everyone in my writing group told me I had to watch Zombieland.

The Rules were awesome…but I feel cheated.  We hear about Rule #30, so there must be thirty rules, but we only actually hear maybe a dozen of them.  For the record, my character has around 35 rules, and they are all in the novel.

Aside from too few rules and too much gore, though, it’s a fun time.

Warm Bodies (2013) tells the story from the point of view of one of the zombies.  His name is R–he can’t remember the rest.  He’s pretty depressed about his non-life, and dreams of being able to connect with another person.  And one day, he does; he meets Julie, a human from a hold-out community of survivors, who R chooses to protect during a zombie attack.  The more time they spend together, the more R begins to change…

On the pro side, R has a fantastic inner monologue going on.  It’s witty and funny, offering commentary on life and on zombie tropes, and giving such an interesting insight into his head.  R has to work so hard to overcome his zombieness, and to connect with Julie–prompting monologue such as “Don’t be creepy, don’t be creepy…”

The gore level is a bit lower than Zombieland, although it does have its moments, so watch out.  On the pro and con side, they do something really fascinating with the trope of zombies eating brains.  The idea is that eating someone’s brain enables the zombie, at least temporarily, to relive that person’s memories, and remember what it feels like to be alive.  If you can get past the ick factor (eating brains!), I love the concept.

On the con side, well, don’t expect much of this to make any kind of scientific sense.  R doesn’t remember how the zombie infection got started, and pretty much nothing about the nature of the zombies is explained or even seems terribly reasonable.  But honestly, it doesn’t matter that much.  I mean, it’s a surprisingly clever zombie movie with engaging characters.  For me, the science becomes secondary.

I’m still not a fan of zombies in general…but if you want a funny twist on zombies, these were a couple of good ones.

Saturday Snapshot: Book Haul

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot15 Comments

Last weekend, I attended my library’s Warehouse Sale, which is exactly what it sounds like–they open up their warehouse and sell books for truly excellent prices.  And I brought home an excellent haul…

Book HaulThe big find was a set of seven volumes of O. Henry short stories, from 1919.  They’re a little yellowed, but in good condition for 94 years old!

In the other stack, The Giver is a wonderfully chilling, insightful book.  Children of the Jedi is one I read earlier in the year for the Sci Fi Experience, and Half Magic is a lovely fantasy.  In movies, I’ve been meaning to buy Bridge to Terabithia forEVER, and I’ve recently become somewhat obsessed with Before Sunrise, so both were particularly good finds!  Bagthorpes Haunted by Helen Cresswell is part of a hilarious series I’ve been slowly collecting over the course of various Warehouse Sales.

That bottom book, Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera, may seem a little odd if you know me well…I already have two copies (one good translation, one bad), plus a copy I can’t read in the original French.  BUT–this is the Barnes and Noble edition, which just recently I heard has an excellent introduction with background on the Paris Opera House (thank you, Carl).  So I bought another copy for the sake of the introduction.

And the grand total for it all…$22.50.  A new hardback could cost that much by itself.  This is why I love the Warehouse Sale.  The difficulty, of course, is where to put all these books–but that’s a topic for another week!

Have a great weekend, and visit West Metro Mommy for more Saturday Snapshots!

Favorites Friday: O. Henry

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday3 Comments

I have a bit of a thing for O. Henry short stories.  I trace this to high school, where I always (always) had a book, and if I finished said-book halfway through the school day, I’d dodge into the library and pick up a volume of O. Henry to last me until I got home.

The funny thing about O. Henry is that he always (always) has a twist ending.  But even when you know that, the stories and the twists are still fun.  Since they’re short stories, not novels, there isn’t much time to drop hints, and even when I know a twist must be coming, I usually don’t spot exactly what it will be.

I just picked up a lovely set of O. Henry books at my library’s warehouse sale (come back for Saturday Snapshot tomorrow if you want to see them) so I have O. Henry on the brain.  I thought I’d offer up a few my favorites today (no twists revealed).

“Springtime a la Carte” has one of the all time great openings: “It was a day in March.  Never, never begin a story this way when you write one.  No opening could be worse.”  The story goes on about Sarah, a New York girl making her way as a typist, who fears her fiance has forgotten her–and who has been reduced to tears by the sight of dandelions on a menu.

“The Cop and the Anthem” is a tale about a New York homeless man (a bum, in the old style) who resolves to get himself arrested in the fall, so he’ll have somewhere warm to spend the winter.  But try as he might, he just can’t seem to get picked up for anything!

“The Green Door” opens with a reflection on adventurers, and whether we each have the courage to pursue a strange circumstance if it confronts us.  Hero Rudolf Steiner was “a true adventurer” who finds himself one day handed a card with the mysterious words “The Green Door.”  And then–to pursue or not?

“The Last Leaf” is set in Greenwich Village, and focuses on roommates and artists Sue and Joanna.  Sue is down with pneumonia, and is adamant that she’ll die when the last leaf falls from the vine outside her window–but somehow that leaf keeps holding on…

“The Mammon and the Archer” is about a rich business tycoon who is convinced that there’s nothing money can’t buy.  His son disputes the claim; he wants to propose to his girl before she leaves for a trip to Europe, but there won’t be any opportunity.  Fate (or is it a wealthy father?) steps in.

Ever read O. Henry?  Any favorite stories?  And do you find that you like it when you know a twist must be coming, or not?