Favorites Friday: Fantasy Worlds

On July 20, 2012July 20, 2012 By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday12 Comments

I recently read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, about a future where most of humanity spends most of their time in a massive virtual world (stay tuned for a review!) Made up of thousands of planets and universes, there’s a tantalizing mention that many fictional worlds have been created within the virtual universe. Which got me thinking about which fictional universes I’d most like to visit…

Star Trek is an obvious first choice. It’s such an idealized future, both in terms of technology and humanity’s advancement, that it would be an amazing place to live. I’m not so sure about being a tourist there, because I don’t know precisely what I’d like to see–the universe in general is amazing, but isn’t so much big on the landmarks. If I was just visiting, I’d be most interested if I could hang out with the known characters (by which I mostly mean Kirk, Spock and McCoy). It’s a very much character-driven fictional universe for me, and they’re wonderful characters who also live in a really nice universe. So either meeting them or having a whole life there sounds…well, fascinating!

I find more appealing a vacation on Pern, Anne McCaffrey’s dragon world. I’d like to come by long enough to fly dragon-back and visit the Harper Hall for a concert. If I managed to discover that I have musical ability, I could see living at the Harper Hall (the Harpers are, after all, the storytellers), but that’s a big if. It would be a great place to visit, though, and then come home to my air conditioner and indoor plumbing.

I’d also like to visit Discworld, but only with a friendly native guide. I love reading about the corrupt city of Ankh-Morpork, but I know I’d get into an enormous amount of trouble if I was actually there. For one thing, I’m not paid up with the Thieves’ Guild!

I’d like a long trip to Diana Wynne Jones’ Time City, where residents seem to be able to get the best bits of every period of history, from the ancient world on up to 100,000 AD. I’d just be so fascinated to find out about the whole sweep of history. I could see myself spending a very long time in the library (or equivalent) and being perfectly happy.

On first thought I have doubts about going to any of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ worlds–I guess the significant one is Barsoom (or Mars). It is, after all, a rather violent place. I think I’d only want to live there if I could be a Burroughs heroine, because nothing really bad ever happens to them; and, of course, they all get brave, noble Burroughs heroes!

Much as I love Tamora Pierce’s Tortall books, I don’t think I’d much like to live there. There’s magic, but it’s magic in a rather gritty, historical-fiction-type world and, well, see air conditioning and indoor plumbing above. I’d love to visit long enough to meet my favorite characters, but the world itself doesn’t particularly draw me in.

There are lots of other worlds I love reading about, and lots of characters I’d love to meet (which I guess would mean visiting their worlds, but it’s not the world that counts there), but that covers at least some of my top choices for worlds to visit or take up residence in. I know as soon as I post this I’ll think of somewhere else!

It’s funny how in some books, the setting is just the background, and in others, it’s really an integral part, as interesting as anything else. The worlds I’m most drawn to, besides being reasonably pleasant places (for contrast, the world of The Hunger Games? Never want to go there), are also immensely detailed and elaborate worlds. Perhaps I can imagine living there because I can believe in them as places, and because there are plenty of details to be fascinated by.

Your turn! Where would you go if you could?

A Castle with a Mind of Its Own

On July 18, 2012July 18, 2012 By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews7 Comments

What if a castle was alive? That idea is the big draw for me in Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George.

The castle of the title would be a very confusing place to live, but it’s great fun to read about. The castle doesn’t talk and it rarely takes immediate actions like slamming doors, but it has a clear presence. And it has a habit of changing itself when it’s bored, or wants to make a point. So rooms shift around, new towers appear, and you never quite know where you’re going. The castle also arranges and furnishes the rooms of its inhabitants to make some none-too-subtle points. People the castle likes gets lovely rooms, while people the castle hates find their rooms getting increasingly smaller and more unpleasant. The castle has to approve of each king and heir, and changes their rooms to reflect its feelings. It’s all a wonderful concept.

We wander the castle with Celie, the youngest princess and the castle’s favorite. The feeling is mutual; Celie’s greatest goal is to create an atlas of the castle (which strikes me as quite impossible, but good for her for trying). The plot gets into motion when Celie’s parents and older brother are ambushed on a journey and disappear, presumed dead. Celie, her sister Lilah, and her brother (and crown prince) Rolf have to band together when conspiracies between the royal council and a foreign prince threaten their kingdom. Fortunately, Celie and her siblings have the castle on their side…

This is a cute book aimed at a fairly young audience. The characters are likable and well-defined, if not terribly complex. Lilah is quite proper, Rolf is striving to live up to his role, and Celie is creative and daring and determined to fight back. She’s a good heroine who I think younger readers will very much identify with and enjoy.

The plot moved along well, although the ending did feel ultimately a bit contrived and convenient. Still, it’s the kind of happy ending I want from a kids’ book, so that’s a fairly mild complaint.

The castle was my favorite part. The rest was a pleasant but not particularly striking kids’ fantasy novel. The castle was the unique bit, and I’d love to see more stories with this setting!

I think this would be a great read for younger readers, and it’s fun for older readers too, if you’re looking for a light story without a great deal of depth. It wasn’t irritatingly and unreasonable shallow, as some books are, but it does feel like it’s targeting kids. Which is okay–it was a fun read!

Author’s Site: http://jessicadaygeorge.com/

Other reviews:
Charlotte’s Library
Raiding Bookshelves
Once Upon a Twisted Tale
Anyone else?

Going Postal Group Read, Week Two

On July 17, 2012July 17, 2012 By cherylmahoneyIn Summer in Discworld8 Comments

It’s Week Two of the Going Postal Group Read! Here’s the discussion for the next hundred pages of the book:

1) Pratchett has done some lavish setting descriptions by now, notably the Post Office but also rooms at Unseen University, and other places around Ankh-Morpork. What’s your favorite one?

I was unusually struck by Pratchett’s setting descriptions in this book–I don’t remember that so much in other Discworld books, though that may also be a product of re-reading and noticing new things. I love the descriptions of the mountains of letters in the Post Office. That’s such a fantastic, over-the-top image. I also loved Pelc’s study, especially this bit: “It was a wizard’s study, so of course it had the skull with a candle on it and a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling. No one, least of all wizards, knows why this is, but you have to have them.”

2) In Chapter 7, Moist waxes poetic about the personal nature of letters versus clacks. This could easily be looked at as email and other online communication versus paper letters. Do you agree with Moist, or does he exaggerate? And just for fun, what’s the best piece of paper mail you ever got?

I of course appreciate the speed and convenience of email and other electronic communication, but I do rather regret the demise of paper letters. I think it’s mostly for their lasting power. You can talk about the personal-ness of paper letters, but an email can be personal in its contents. However, I like that paper letters can be saved, and looked at again later. I suppose emails can be too, but they usually aren’t. I like letters as history, which they seem to be in a way that emails aren’t.

Best paper mail I ever got… Certainly the most amusing was when a friend sent me a black spot. We have a bit of a thing for pirates. The most glee-inducing letter was when Geraldine McCaughrean sent a personal reply to my letter to her. VERY glee-inducing!

3) Share your favorite quotes and moments from this section of Going Postal.

Look, [Moist] said to his imagination, if this is how you’re going to behave, I shan’t bring you again.

Re: the Posthumous Professor of Morbid Bibliomancy at Unseen University:

“Why’s he ‘posthumous’?” Moist asked.

“He’s dead,” said Pelc.

“Ah…I was kind of hoping it was going to be a little more metaphorical than that,” said Moist.

“Don’t worry, he decided to take Early Death. It was a very good package.”

“Oh,” said Moist. The important thing at a time like this was to spot the right moment to run, but they’d got here through a maze of dark passages and this was not a place you’d want to get lost in. Something might find you.

Looking forward to reading others’ thoughts! Please link your posts below. 🙂

A Mermaid and a Princess

On July 16, 2012July 16, 2012 By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews4 Comments

Since it’s hard to ignore Disney while talking about fairy tales, perhaps I should begin by saying that this is not a review of The Little Mermaid. It’s not a review of Andersen’s fairy tale either, but that’s a closer relative. Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon is a re-imagining and expansion on the Andersen tale, with all the dark parts retained and deeper characters developed.

The original story is about a mermaid princess who falls in love with a human prince. She gives up everything and goes through torture to gain legs and be with him, only to lose him to a human princess in the end. This book looks at the story through the eyes of both the mermaid and the human princess, bringing an added dimension to the tale. It’s definitely an adult version of the fairy tale, both for the sensuality and for the torment the mermaid goes through.

The story opens when Princess Margrethe, hidden at a convent to protect her from her country’s enemies, sees a mermaid drag a human man onto the shore below. Mermaids are mythical creatures in this land, and Margrethe is drawn in by all the magic that the mermaid represents. She feels sure that the mermaid brought the nearly-drowned man to her for a reason, and is shocked when she finds out the handsome stranger is the prince of an enemy country. Meanwhile, Lenia the mermaid princess has always been fascinated by the land, and now can’t stop thinking about the man she rescued. She seeks a way to be with him, while Margrethe looks for a way to prevent war. Unfortunately, they’re both sure that destiny is calling them to the same man.

Margrethe and Lenia are the center of this book, telling their stories in alternate chapters. While they’re both in love with Prince Christopher, the dynamic between the two women has in some ways a stronger emotional impact. Margrethe especially is drawn to the magic and mystery that Lenia represents. I very much enjoyed Margrethe’s character. She’s not a passive princess, but rather one who sets out to arrange destiny herself. She doesn’t wait for the prince or get dropped on him by her father, but rather actively orchestrates events, even when that means taking risks and making difficult choices.

Lenia is an intriguing character as well, with her divided longings for both the sea and the land. She also takes active steps (literally and metaphorically) to take the destiny she wants. She goes through far more torture than Disney’s Ariel. She gives up her voice, but not as a pretty ball of light–instead her tongue is cut out. Once she gains feet, walking inflicts terrible pain. All this is in the original, and wasn’t too gruesome…but definitely dark!

Christopher is a handsome, reasonably charming prince, though less complex than the two women. It would be easy to not like him, because in some ways he does take advantage of Lenia once she arrives on shore. However, I actually found myself not holding that against him. While I don’t think it was particularly admirable, I do think he was operating from a culture where there’s an expectation about relationships between princes and commoner girls, and it simply never occurred to him that Lenia wouldn’t have that same understanding. And he does show quite a bit of loyalty to her at points in the story.

I was not totally satisfied with the ending, and it’s a little hard to explain without spoilers. In some ways it tied up too neatly, with characters deciding they can accept things they previously couldn’t, and yet in other ways it didn’t give me quite the happy romantic ending I wanted. The whole premise is set up so that someone has to be disappointed, and instead of giving a happy ending to one girl and a tragedy to the other, we ended up with an ending where both are kind of settling…which works, but I think I might have preferred something a bit sharper.

Still, this was a very solid retelling of Andersen’s story. I recommend reading the original first, and then picking up this one for all its added depth and details.

Author’s Site: http://carolynturgeon.com

Other reviews:
Anita Book
Postcards from Asia
Fairy Layers
Anyone else?

Saturday Snapshot: New York, New York

On July 14, 2012July 19, 2012 By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot21 Comments

As I’ve probably mentioned, one of my favorite things when I travel is to see places I’ve read about, or recognize from movies or TV. So New York was quite the experience, as that seemed to be happening to me every time I turned around! I counted media references in my trip scrapbook–over thirty. I won’t try to tell you about all of them… Here are just a few pictures I snapped with the thought, “oh, I’ve seen that!”

This bridge in Central Park is not only beautiful, but Patrick Dempsey strolls along it during Made of Honor, a very cute chick flick.

Bethesda Fountain, also in Central Park, figures in a great musical number in Enchanted. It’s also the iconic image from Angels in America. I recommend the first, not so much the second.