Author: cherylmahoney

I'm a book review blogger and writer. I have published four novels, The Wanderers; The Storyteller and Her Sisters; and The People the Fairies Forget; and The Lioness and the Spellspinners. All can be found on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. In my day job, I'm a Marketing Specialist. Find me on Twitter (@MarvelousTales) and GoodReads (MarvelousTales).

Favorites Friday: Discworld Moments

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday, Summer in Discworld4 Comments

Continuing our Discworld theme this Friday…I originally thought of doing favorite quotes, but as I compiled them I realized there were several that were all about the dialogue or the back-and-forth.  So here are some favorite Discworld moments.

First, a philosophical one, about the power of knowledge:

They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library.

– Guards! Guards!

And another time, Death waxes philosophical.  It should be noted that Death always speaks IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS:

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.

– The Truth

And because Death is so brilliant, another one, after someone suggested that he should be “more of a people person”:

KNOCK KNOCK.
He looked up.
“Who’s there?”
DEATH.
“Death who?”
There was a chill in the air. Beano waited…
I WONDER… CAN WE START AGAIN? I DON’T SEEM TO HAVE THE HANG OF THIS…

– Men at Arms

Maskerade is probably a favorite moment in its entirety, and I could quote most of it…but here’s just one moment.  A dead body turns up, along with a note from the Opera Ghost:

Hahahahaha!  Ahahahahaha!
Yrs, The Opera Ghost
P.S. Ahahahahaha!

“I don’t understand!  Is this man mad?”

Salzella put an arm around his shoulders and led him away from the crowd.  “Well, now,” he said as kindly as he could.  “A man who wears evening dress all the time, lurks in the shadows and occasionally kills people.  Then he sends little notes, writing maniacal laughter.  Five exclamation marks again, I notice.  We have to ask ourselves: is this the career of a sane man?”

“But why is he doing it?” Bucket wailed.

“That is only a relevant question if he is sane,” said Salzella calmly.  “He may be doing it because the little yellow pixies tell him to.”

– Maskerade

The image of the Phantom of the Opera, chatting with the little yellow pixies, never fails to crack me up.  It’s the same for this very odd bit below, about a crazed artist:

“He was convinced that if he went to sleep at night, he would turn into a chicken.  He’d leave little notes for himself saying, ‘You are not a chicken,’ although sometimes he thought he was lying…  Scholars have puzzled over the notes ever since, seeking some insight into the poor man’s tortured mind.  They are not in any order, you see.  Some are very…odd.”

“Odder than ‘You are not a chicken’?”

– Thud!

I think I need to re-read all of these books now.  🙂  Other Discworld readers, what are your favorite quotes or moments?

A Brilliantly Brave Disney Princess

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews8 Comments

I’ve been looking forward to Brave for months.  I still haven’t seen Cars 2, Pixar’s last offering, but I went to see Brave this past weekend.  It was wonderful.  I already bought the soundtrack, and will probably get the DVD when it comes out.  I loved the movie on just about every level–the characters, the animation, the plot, the music.  It was like the best of Disney met the best of Pixar and it came out amazing.

Brave is set in Medieval Scotland, and focuses on Merida, the daughter of a clan chieftain.  Her mother Elinor, the clear power beside the throne, wants to teach her to be a proper lady and assume the responsibilities of a leader.  Merida dreams of running free among the hills.  Their dispute comes to a head when three other clans arrive with some very unattractive princes, here to compete for Merida’s hand.  Merida gets a spell from a witch to change her fate, and of course, everything goes horribly awry.

I love Merida.  She’s possibly the strongest Disney princess I can think of.  Some of the themes remind me of Pocahontas, with the struggle between responsibility and freedom, but Merida feels more vivid and more sure of herself.  She reminds me more of Princess Cimorene from Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest books, not quite a proper princess and more interested in other things than being one.

It’s also nice to see a Disney princess with both parents.  Merida’s father is fun-loving and indulgent, and he and Merida have a good rapport.  The relationship with her mother is more complicated, with some good scenes near the beginning setting up both their bond and their conflict.  I could see both their points of view, and felt sympathetic towards both of them.  I’ve seen Elinor described as the villain in other reviews, but I just didn’t see that.  It was a conflict between two strong women who both have a point.  Elinor wants to give her daughter the best possible life, and is keenly aware of their responsibilities towards their people; Merida wants to be herself, to have choices and freedom.

Merida also has three hilarious little brothers, who cause endless mischief, especially racing about the castle.  There are some fun Merida-as-big-sister moments too.

There’s a lot that’s very funny in Brave.  All the characters have their moments, and the humor ranges from clever to just silly, but is very well done.

Stepping back from the characters and the plot, the soundtrack and the animation are both brilliant.  Other than one funny song Merida’s father sings about slaughtering a bear, there aren’t any musical numbers.  The songs are in the background, but even though I don’t usually notice background music, this soundtrack caught my attention.  There’s a beautiful, beautiful song, “Touch the Sky,” that plays while Merida is riding through the hills.  There are also frequent melodies with a Scottish-flavor that add to the feel and tone of the movie.

And the animation…I seem to have saved for last what will probably be noticable first.  The landscapes are gorgeous, soaring hills and forest glens.  The detail is exquisite, and even though I saw this in 2D, it frequently felt 3D.  Some of the movements are a little whooshy and hard to focus on at the beginning, but the movie seemed to adjust as it went and I didn’t notice that so much later on.  The animation of the characters is excellent as well, with subtle facial expressions and mannerisms.  And I want pretty much all of Merida’s and Elinor’s clothes–and Merida’s hair.

How gorgeous is this?

Brave has the princess-focus of a Disney movie, with the innovation and edge of a Pixar movie.  It’s not at all a princess-meets-her-prince story, focusing instead on Merida’s relationship with her mother, and her own growth into her responsibilities.  And it’s beautifully drawn and scored, and it’s very funny, and…well, just go see it.  That’s all, really.  You’ll have a wonderful time. 🙂

Movie site: www.disney.go.com

Delving into Complicated Dreams

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Young Adult1 Comment

Dreams–meaning hopes and goals and aspirations–can be a complicated business.  They usually aren’t, though, in Juvenile and YA books.  Usually the message there is that if you believe enough and work hard enough, you can achieve anything.  I believe that (to a point) and it’s a message with value.  But I was impressed that Aria of the Sea by Dia Calhoun, a definite YA book, tackles the question of dreams in a far more complicated way.

Cerinthe, the heroine, has always loved to dance.  She’s also a skilled folk healer, but when her skills fail to save her mother’s life, Cerinthe resolves to give up healing and sets off for the capital to join the Royal Dancing Academy.  After some slightly contrived difficulties getting in, Cerinthe quickly begins to shine at the Academy.  This puts her in fierce competition with Elliana, the reigning star pupil.

There’s a pretty good plotline and good characters, but it was really the setting and the themes that stood out to me.  Both the dancing school and other areas of the city are brought to vivid life through descriptions, and I enjoyed following Cerinthe through them.

It’s mostly the theme about dreams that has stayed with me after reading this book.  It’s a little more complex than this, but for discussion’s sake, let’s say that achieving one’s dream depends on three qualities–talent, passion and discipline.  Usually stories (and not only YA ones) assume that characters will have all three.  In Aria of the Sea, we see dancers who have the desire and the willingness to work hard, but simply don’t have the natural skill to succeed.  Elliana has the skill and the passion, but lacks discipline.  Another supporting character has the talent and the willpower but feels no joy in her dancing.  And Cerinthe–well, Cerinthe finds out another complicated thing about dreams.  Namely, it’s not always so easy to determine just what your dream really is.

In the old fairy tales, beauty and goodness (and conversely, ugliness and evil) are almost always equated.  A good character is always beautiful.  We’ve departed from that (somewhat), but I think there’s still a strong bias to make the good characters talented.  To some extent it just makes sense–a good heroine (or hero) is most of the time likable, and also possessed of qualities that will drive a plot, often some sort of talent.  As a rule I think it’s done because it works, but it’s also interesting to see a book that calls that correlation into question.  Elliana is deeply unpleasant but also extraordinarily talented–likability and talent don’t always equate.

I didn’t exactly love this book–the characters and plot were good but not landmark–but it was thought-provoking.  And another example of the depths that good YA can explore!

Other reviews:
Lectitans
The Reader’s Book Blog
I didn’t find many…anyone else?  Let me know and I’ll link yours!

Saturday Snapshot: Book Spreads

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot15 Comments

Do you ever spread your books all over the floor, to get a new look at them?  Or a possible photo opp?

Okay, maybe that’s just me.  But at various points I’ve spread out my book collections of three of my favorite authors–and they turned into interesting photos!  In ascending order by number of books…

I have 18 Tamora Pierce books – basically her entire Tortall series (except Mastiff; I’m waiting on the paperback), plus my favorite Magic Circle book.

L. M. Montgomery accounts for 46 volumes of my book collection.  There’s one book of poetry I still need, but other than that, I own, well, everything.  If she wrote it and it’s available, I have it.  I’m kind of a completist…  But you know what’s very frustrating?  I have 199 LMM short stories.  One more would make a round 200, but you can’t get another one anywhere (they exist, but they haven’t been printed).  I live in hope that someday they’ll put out a new collection.

And the biggest collection of all – 54 Edgar Rice Burroughs books.  I’ve added a few since this picture was taken.  Burroughs was extraordinarily prolific, so I still have about twenty left to collect…  Someday I’ll have them all, and then I won’t know what to do with myself in used bookstores!

What authors do you have the most books by?  And have you ever spread them across your floor for a photo…or is that just me? 😉

Check out At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots!

Once Upon a Time VI – Wrap-up Post

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations13 Comments

I’m really quite sad that the Once Upon a Time Challenge has ended.  It’s been so much fun sharing reviews, and reading everyone else’s!  This challenge focuses on some of my very favorite kinds of books (fairy tales!) and I’ve loved putting the emphasis on them for the last few months.  (Although now that it’s ending, maybe I’ll finally get back to the Foundation trilogy…)

Another reason I’m sad it’s ending…I’m not done reviewing things!  Too many books and movies, and I got behind, so stick around–more reviews are coming.

For now, here’s the wrap-up of everything I read.  Links go to reviews, starred titles mean a review is coming soon.  Feel free to ask if you’d like to know more about anything!

Let’s look at this by category, shall we?

Fairy tales:

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley (Beauty and the Beast)
Enchantment by Orson Scott Card (Sleeping Beauty)
The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey (Cinderella)
The Mermaid’s Madness by Jim C. Hines (The Little Mermaid)
The Thirteenth Princess by Diane Zahler (The Twelve Dancing Princesses)
Red Hood’s Revenge by Jim C. Hines (Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty)
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Mermaid by Carolyn Turgeon (The Little Mermaid)*
Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Cinderella)*

Mythology:

The Serpent’s Shadow by Rick Riordan (Egyptian)
Underworld by Meg Cabot (Greek) – abandoned, but I’ll tell you about why*

Fantasy:

Fairies and the Quest for Neverland by Gail Carson Levine
The Magical Misadventures of Prunella Bogthistle by Deva Fagan
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett
Trickster’s Choice and Trickster’s Queen by Tamora Pierce
The Magician’s Ward by Patricia C. Wrede
Kenny and the Dragon by Tony Di Terlizzi
The Catswold Portal by Shirley Rousseau Murphy
The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
The Secret Country by Jane Johnson

Quest on Screen:

The Thief of Bagdad, 1924 (Arabian Nights, loosely)
La Belle et la Bête, 1946 (Beauty and the Beast)
Ever After, 1998 (Cinderella)
Alice, 2009 (Alice in Wonderland)*
Red Riding Hood, 2011
Puss in Boots, 2011
Mirror, Mirror, 2012 (Snow White)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream:

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Shakespeare ReTold: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 2005

So that’s…20 books, and 8 movies.  Like I said–this challenge exactly covers my favorite things to read!  And there were so many, many good stories.  🙂