Dreamhunter and Dreamquake

On May 7, 2014May 5, 2014 By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews5 Comments

In a happy overlapping of challenges, I recently completed a long-time half-read duet of books, and got another read in for Once Upon a Time! I first read Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox several years ago, and never managed to get to the second book. So I reread the first one a few months ago, then read Dreamquake during April.

The two books are set in an island country near the beginning of the 20th-century…with a crucial difference from the world we know. Certain people are able to enter The Place, a barren wasteland overlapping the normal world, and much larger within than its external geography. Among those who can reach The Place, some have the ability to catch dreams, and then to return to the normal world and share these dreams with others. Devoted cousins Laura and Rose both expect to become dreamhunters when they turn 15, legally old enough to try. Laura’s father discovered The Place 20 years earlier, and Rose’s mother is a famous dreamhunter. But only Laura has the ability to enter The Place, dividing the cousins just as mysteries and intrigues start to build up around them. Laura’s father disappears, presumed dead, and Laura begins seeing a darker message within the dreams.

The concept of these books is so fascinating! Knox has created a complex magical system around the dreams and how they work. Dreams are grounded geographically in The Place, so dreamhunters can sleep in certain places and expect to catch certain dreams. Dreamhunters have individual talents and abilities, like putting everyone around them to sleep when they sleep, or the ability to alter faces in dream characters.

Layered on the magical system is an economic system. Dreams have become a business, with dreamhunters utilizing their talents at hospitals to soothe the sick, or in specially built Dream Palaces as entertainment. On the darker side, dreams can be used for more sordid entertainment, or even as punishment. I love all the detail around how a society decides to handle this extraordinary magic, turning it into an integrated part of the economy.

The concept was my favorite part, but the characters are solid as well. Although we get glimpses of many characters, Laura and Rose stand out the strongest. Rose is a natural leader, fierce, loyal and insightful. Laura seems to be the more fragile of the two, physically and emotionally, but she’s the one who steps up to undertake an extraordinary task.

After rereading Dreamhunter, it amazes me that I didn’t go on immediately to the second book on my first read. Dreamhunter ends with a climactic moment, but very little resolution. Dreamquake picks up in the same moment…and gets hard to discuss without a lot of spoilers! The tension and the stakes rise throughout the book. What seemed like a vague social issue in the first book rises to a government conspiracy in the second. The dreams also grow more and more sinister, with a more urgent message to impart.

Dreamquake becomes a fantastic puzzle. It grows increasingly clear that some dreams are connected to each other, forming a larger narrative with a message at its heart. I loved threading together the different pieces of the story, and learning the mystery behind The Place. There was one important dream that fit in thematically but never fit into the narrative and that disappointed me a bit–but that was a minor flaw.

I originally started reading these because someone recommended Vintner’s Luck to me, but the library didn’t have it so I got a different Elizabeth Knox book. Now that I’ve finally finished these two, and since they were so good, I think I ought to look into Vintner’s Luck again…

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

Other reviews:
The Book Smugglers
Gwenda Bond
Please Don’t Read This Book (who despite the name, recommended the books…)
Anyone else?

Buy them here: Dreamhunter and Dreamquake (I should note that Amazon has a blurb from Stephenie Meyer front and center for these books. If that makes you want to read them, great; but if it doesn’t, don’t hold the quote source against them…)

Very Unusual Creatures

On May 5, 2014May 3, 2014 By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews3 Comments

I feel sure I must have read something by Eva Ibbotson before…she’s one of those names that floats around in fantasy. But I can’t come up with anything, so it seems that Ogre of Oglefort is my first Ibbotson. There may be more! 🙂 As you can already guess from the title, this is another one for Once Upon a Time.

The Hag is a witch who runs a boardinghouse for Unusual Creatures. When her familiar goes on strike, she lets herself be persuaded by Ivo, an orphan boy, that he can fill in, at least for the Summer Meeting of Unusual Creatures. But while they’re at the convention, the Hag, Ivo and their friends, Ulf the troll and Dr. Brainsweller the wizard, are charged by the Fates with a quest: to rescue Princess Mirella from the Ogre of Oglefort. They reluctantly set out…only to find, when they arrive, that the Ogre is the victim, harangued by unhappy people who want him to turn them into animals. Soon they find themselves defending the castle against an invading army, some nasty ghosts, and the Ogre’s awful Aunts.

All in all, this is a cute and fun fantasy, very much on the lighter side. It reminds me (and I don’t say this lightly!) of some of Diana Wynne Jones’ younger-targeted books. I think Ivo is about ten, and that’s probably a good reading age too, or a little bit younger. It’s a good adventure for that age, and a quick, fun read for adults.

Besides being just generally fun, older readers will likely also appreciate the theme that runs through the book about individuality. Most of the characters are in some way misfits, or at least contrary to what’s expected of their type.

Princess Mirella is more interested in animals (even bugs!) than dancing and betrothals. The troll ends up nursing the sick Ogre. Dr. Brainsweller is extremely educated as a wizard but very inept in normal life, and eventually realizes that wizardry is not really what he cares about most. The Hag is a very kind witch, and Ivo is looking for a very different life than the one he has in the orphanage.

This theme is paired very nicely with the second theme about finding a home and a family. Everyone wants to be their true selves, and to find a place and people where they will be accepted. The main characters swiftly form a (slightly unusual) family, and start creating a home at Oglefort. The adventures and conflicts that follow largely center around defending that home.

With delightful twists on traditional character-types, humor, adventure and deeper underlying themes, this one is definitely recommended! Has anyone else read other Ibbotson books? What should I try next?

Other reviews:
Good Books, Good Wine
Ms. Tami Reads
Charlotte’s Library
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Ogre of Oglefort

The Storyteller and Her Sisters – Cover Reveal!

On May 2, 2014September 27, 2014 By cherylmahoneyIn Novel News6 Comments

I’ve been promising the companion novel to The Wanderers will be out this fall–and so far I’m still slated for an October release. While I work on final revisions for The Storyteller and Her Sisters, I also put some time towards a cover…and naturally I wanted to give the first view to my lovely blog readers!

The Storyteller and Her Sisters is the second novel in my Beyond the Tales series–but it’s a companion novel, not a sequel. Readers of the first book already met Lyra and her eleven sisters (and know something about their worn-out dancing slippers), but the storyteller has much more to share–and new readers should have no problem starting with this book, if they prefer princesses to talking cats!

I’ve made some updates to the Novel News tab too, so wander (or dance…) over there if you’d like to read an excerpt from Storyteller!

Give Away Results – and Thursday Thoughts on Covers

On May 1, 2014May 1, 2014 By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations6 Comments

I’ve mentioned once or twice that I was doing a give away, right? 😉 The period to enter ended yesterday, so today I have results! And the winner chosen from a metaphorical hat is…

Emma!

If you didn’t win (or missed entering!) there’s another event coming up later in May to celebrate Children’s Book Week–so stay tuned!

On to the other business of the day…I recently heard about a new-to-me book blogging meme, Thoughtful Thursday, hosted by Reading Is Fun Again. Similar to the Blog Hop, a book-related discussion question is posted each week. Here’s today’s question!

Thoughtful Thursday

What features do you like in a book cover? Do you like plain covers? Do you like covers with drawings on them? Do you like covers with photographs on them? Do you like movie-tie in covers?

Well, I gush about pretty covers probably about as much as anyone…Wildwood Dancing and Entwined both come immediately to mind. But a pretty cover won’t necessarily be right for every book…and mostly this question has led me to think about what I expect from a cover. Mostly, I use covers to tell me about the genre and the style of the book. And sure, plot summaries do that too, but as they say, a picture is worth… (I actually don’t think that applies all the time, but that’s a different story!)

I know they say we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I think it works to a point. Does the cover feature a girl in a Regency-era dress? (historical fiction!) Is there a dragon? Are there pretty fairies? How about any icons from fairy tales? (fantasy!) Or is there a couple locked in an embrace, possibly with faces obscured but the man’s chest visible? (and that would be half of the covers in the Romance section…)

So much for genre, which I suppose most books are labeled with anyway–but covers are a fun way to find out! As to style…if a book has a cartoony cover, I expect it to be lighter than, say, a stark cover with a military symbol (Hunger Games, anyone?) I will probably expect some romance out of a cover that has a long sweeping skirt somewhere on it, and I definitely expect excitement if there are dragons and swords. I know covers get it wrong sometimes, especially when it comes to style, but I do think they get it right more often than not.

This is all before I read a book. After I read the book–then I want accuracy! In style, of course, but also in the details. I’m the kind of reader who will notice if the cat’s eyes are the wrong color, or the main character shouldn’t be carrying the sword and the spear at the same time, because of chapter five…and so on.

As to that final question up there, on movie tie-ins–I do have a few books on my shelves with movie tie-in covers, but I’m only willing to buy them if I really liked the movie. If I disliked the movie, I will always pay more money for the non-tie-in version.

I also tend to be a loyalist about covers. If I get very attached to a library copy of a book, when I go to buy it sometimes I want that same cover. Even if I can acknowledge that other covers are more accurate/prettier/etc. And I can be ruthless about covers. If I somehow ended up owning a book with a cover I hate, I re-cover paperbacks and get rid of hardback dust jackets.

All right, so much for my rambling cover thoughts! I’m not sure I exactly answered the question, but I think I covered 😉 the subject. What do you look for in covers?

And for some cover-related news on my next novel, visit again tomorrow!

Up a Beanstalk and Into a Woods

On April 30, 2014April 29, 2014 By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews4 Comments

I have been trying to get through my To Be Read List, and trying to believe that I will actually read more fantasy novels than I will add (ha!) during the Once Upon a Time challenge…so I decided to go to the top of the list and read the fantasy novel that had been on there longest. That turned out to be Half Upon a Time by James Riley, which was on the list since 2010. On the plus side, the next two books in the trilogy were published in the meantime!

As you can guess from the title, this is a fairy tale-inspired book. Jack attends a training school for heroes, but his heart isn’t really in it–until a girl falls out of the sky literally at his feet. May insists she isn’t a princess, but when she’s wearing a t-shirt that says “Punk Princess,” how can there be any doubt? Soon the two are on a quest to find May’s abducted grandmother, who just might be the long-missing Snow White. With the Huntsman on their trail, they fight a giant and a witch in a candy cottage, make an alliance with Prince Philip and a more uneasy one with the Wolf King, and try to find the magic mirror that may have a clue to locating Snow White and defeating the Wicked Queen.

This is another “throw lots of fairy tales together!” book, but I thought it worked quite well. Since Jack and May are traveling on a quest, it felt natural that they keep bumping into new fairy tale elements. Most are also tied together in some way, through their roles in the Great War between Snow White and the Wicked Queen. The story is fast-paced between all the new adventures and obstacles, and there are some fun twists. For instance, the Wolf can change shape from man to beast, and Red Hood has a cloak that makes her invisible.

I liked this book…but I didn’t love it, and I think that was because of the characters. There’s no real flaw–they just didn’t grab me either. Jack is clearly a fairy-tale-Jack, the non-royal, relatively ordinary hero without major warrior skills. He has a good heart and he’s a nice guy, but he didn’t feel particularly unique to me, or as clever as the best of fairy-tale-Jacks. May is blessedly not a pathetic princess in need of rescuing, but “spunky fairy tale heroine” has also become a Thing, and she’s a pretty generic version of that. In a way, I think she adjusts too quickly to coming from our world to the fantasy world, losing some opportunities in that area.

Where this book mostly loses an opportunity, though, is with Prince Philip. I wrote last Friday about Friendship Triangles in stories, and while there’s some romantic hinting, this book pretty much has a Friendship Triangle. Philip could have redeemed the whole book, by being the show-stealing Third Character that makes the blandness of the leads matter less. Instead, he was a pretty bland Prince Charming type…

I don’t want to over-emphasize this, though! I think a younger reader, or someone who has read less fairy tale retellings, would have been bothered much less by slightly flat characters. And even I wasn’t bothered exactly…I just didn’t become attached to the characters in the way I want to be.

I still plan to go on to the rest of the books in the trilogy. There were some clever twists near the end of the book, and hints of others coming, and I want to see how it all turns out. And who knows–maybe I’ll get more insights into the characters and end up liking them more!

Last chance to win a signed copy of my fairy tale retelling, The Wanderers! Just put #WanderersGiveAway in your comment to enter. Contest closes April 30th!

Author’s Site: http://james-riley-author.tumblr.com/

Other reviews (and they all loved it, so go figure!):
The Book Cellar
Transcribing These Dreams
The Maiden’s Court
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Half Upon a Time