Category: Juvenile

Up a Beanstalk and Into a Woods

On 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

A Griffin in a Tower

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews5 Comments

First of all, happy birthday to Mr. Shakespeare!  Did I ever tell you that I once was in a college Shakespeare class that happened to meet on Shakespeare’s birthday?  I brought cookies.  The professor was (adamantly) not a Stratfordian, but that was actually part of the fun…

Anyway, on to the business of the day!

When I read Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George, I loved the concept of a sentient castle, constantly remaking itself.  So I was excited to revisit Castle Glower in Wednesdays in the Tower (spoilers to follow for the first book in the series).  This fits Once Upon a Time, and my goal to read more sequels.

Princess Celie knows Castle Glower, and its quirks, better than anyone else.  But even she’s not sure what it means when the Castle shows her a new tower, with a mysterious orange egg in it.  The egg hatches into a griffin–and Celie finds herself trying to raise a mythical creature in a castle that won’t let her reveal the griffin’s existence to anyone except her wizard brother Bran, and his friend Pogue.  Celie does manage to enlist her younger brother Rolf in helping her look for any information on griffins, which seem to have mysterious ties to Castle Glower’s history.  Meanwhile, the castle begins behaving increasingly erratically, and a very ominous wizard has arrived to look into matters.

The Castle was my favorite part of the previous book, so I was glad to see it, and its mysteries, take such a prominent role in the sequel…I think! I’m a little worried that finding out too much (in the third book still to come) will ruin some of the mystery…but what answers we have so far are intriguing, so I’m optimistic!

I felt like Celie grew as a character in this book, both through taking care of the griffin (who she names Rufus), and through trying to determine her proper place in the castle. At first she seems to have found that place, as the Castle Cartographer, but it isn’t long before she’s feeling shunted to the side and still looking for her role.

Rufus is great fun as well, and rather adorable! It’s funny that I just read another book (The Pinhoe Egg) about raising a baby griffin, but this felt distinctly different. Rufus has a very different personality (even though, unlike Cat’s griffin, he can’t talk). I loved it when he started learning to fly, and was so eager about it!

Unlike the previous book, this one ends mid-story, with a definite cliffhanger. And now sadly I have to wait for the next one! The disadvantage of catching up with current series…but I get to look forward to Thursdays with the Crown (and to wonder if there will eventually be seven books—one for every day!)

Don’t forget, you can win a signed copy of my fairy tale retelling, The Wanderers! Just put #WanderersGiveAway in your comment to enter.

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

Other reviews:
Shelah Books It
Batch of Books
Escaping Reality (One Book at a Time)
Charlotte’s Library
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Wednesdays in the Tower

Mixed Magics

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews2 Comments

Being a completist, I had to include the four Chrestomanci short stories in my reread of the series by Diana Wynne Jones.  Fortunately, they’re conveniently gathered together in one book, Mixed Magics.  All four stories are excellent fun and well-worth the read!

“Warlock at the Wheel” – This story follows directly on Charmed Life, focusing on a very minor character from that novel.  The Willing Warlock comes off very badly in a confrontation with Chrestomanci, and decides that the answer is to travel to another world.  All seems to go according to plan–until the car he steals in this new world turns out to have an enormous dog and a very demanding child in the backseat.  Soon, the hapless Warlock is being bullied by the dog, the child, and even the car.

This is a funny little story that is definitely best read immediately after Charmed Life.  Personally, I would have had trouble making the connections otherwise!  The Warlock is a great character who intends to be villainous, but is rather too woebegone and put-upon to be very successful…

“The Sage of Theare” – In the very well-ordered world of Theare, the gods are horrified by a prophecy regarding the Sage of Dissolution.  They try to get rid of the recently-born Sage by sending him to another world, but Chrestomanci and company return him to his proper place.  When the Sage grows up, unaware of his destiny, Dissolution (and serious timeline muddling) are in store.

I can’t think too hard about this one, because it makes my head hurt.  There’s a lot of “wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey” business going on, with events happening in reverse and the Sage on the hunt for himself…yeah, don’t ask, just read it!  Chrestomanci only has a small role, but all the same, his arrival at the Court of the Gods in his dressing gown is one of his best moments ever!

In terms of the larger timeline, I haven’t the slightest idea where this fits in among the others, as there isn’t much to place it in time!

“Stealer of Souls” – This story, on the other hand, belongs directly after Magicians of Caprona.  It’s the most Chrestomanci and Co. focused.  Cat (of Charmed Life) is deeply displeased by the arrival at Chrestomanci Castle of Tonino (of Magicians of Caprona), but they have to work together when they run afoul of a nasty magician intent on stealing souls.

I enjoyed seeing Cat again, and seeing Tonino from an outside perspective, after mostly being in his point of view in his book.  There are also some nice ties to The Lives of Christopher Chant, with a few of those characters returning.  And besides that, there’s a wonderfully sinister plot afoot, and some excellent mayhem and humor.

“Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream” – Carol possesses the wonderful ability to not only control her dreams, but to bottle, syndicate and sell them.  When she finds herself unable to dream her one-hundredth dream, her parents take her off to meet with Chrestomanci, who packed up his family after the previous short story for a vacation.  We follow Carol into her dream world, where we learn she has several principle characters, and they’ve gone on strike.

I love the whole concept of this one.  The idea of bottling dreams just fascinates me.  As a writer, I’m also intrigued by Carol’s struggles.  Essentially, she has writer’s block!  Even if most writers don’t have characters who literally mutiny, I think we all know what that feels like…

This is a quick little read with only the four short stories, but it has all the charm of Jones’ novels, and offers some nice extra pieces about the characters.  It feels sort of like a bonus to the rest of the series!

Don’t forget, you can win a signed copy of my fairy tale retelling, The Wanderers! Just put #WanderersGiveAway in your comment to enter.

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

Other reviews:
Calmgrove
Aelia Reads
I am sad I couldn’t find many reviews…anyone else?

Buy it here: Mixed Magics

Feuding Magical Families in Caprona

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews, Ruminations5 Comments

The next book in Diana Wynne Jones’ splendid Chrestomanci series is The Magicians of Caprona. This is another one focused mostly not on Chrestomanci and his Castle, taking the action instead to Italian-influenced Caprona.

In Caprona, there are two great spell houses, the Casa Montana and the Casa Petrocchi, and the two families have been bitterly feuding for two centuries (although they both get on well with Chrestomanci). The story begins with family problems within the close-knit Casa Montana, like young Tonino’s apparent lack of magical aptitude, or the question of finding an appropriate suitor for Cousin Rosa. The situation escalates, with threats from neighboring city-states, and only hope to save Caprona—finding the true words to “The Angel of Caprona,” said to be given by an angel centuries before. Soon both families are on an increasingly urgent search for the song, while forces are massing for war and something sinister is going on at the Duke’s palace…

Here we see again one of Jones’ best types of protagonists, the earnest boy hero, seemingly unlikely to succeed, who discovers hidden abilities. I don’t mean to be dismissive by classifying—it’s a type of story that works very well! Tonino is a particularly appealing boy hero, considering his love of reading, and his talent of talking to cats.  Boss cat Benvenuto is also a delightful addition of the story–I do have this fondness for cats in books, you know! 🙂

I particularly enjoy the spell houses, with their huge clan of aunts and uncles and cousins all living companionably together, making magic and cheerfully getting into one another’s business. It’s warm and friendly and vivid. I also love their magic, which centers around sung spells. Singing off-key or muddling words can (and does) have disastrous consequences.

Chrestomanci has a relatively small role here, though he does make a flying appearance early in the crisis, so his arrival near the end isn’t quite a deus ex machina. Besides, he performs his usual role of not actually solving the crisis, just helping the lead characters to solve the crisis themselves.

I wouldn’t read this one first, because it could make Chrestomanci a somewhat confusing presence, but it’s stand-alone enough to read anywhere after Charmed Life.  I have just one more Chrestomanci novel left, plus a few short stories, which I plan to review soon too!

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

Other reviews:
Masha du Toit
The Aroma of Books
Readers By Night
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Magicians of Caprona

Classic Review: Silver Woven in My Hair

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews5 Comments

I don’t know about you, but what with one thing and another, I find myself in a fairy tale mood!  So until I have time to finish reading something fairy tale-related and review it for you, here’s a classic review of one of my very favorite retellings of Cinderella…

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Silver Woven in My HairI originally read Silver Woven in My Hair by Shirley Rousseau Murphy from the library when I was…maybe nine?  I don’t really remember.  Young.  I read it several times, and then it somehow disappeared off the shelf.  Miraculously, I remembered the title–I usually don’t.  I usually remember something like, there was a bit in there where the girl is watching the royal family come back from the island and she sees the goatherd, and then she invites him into the kitchen at the inn to have dinner and it makes her stepfamily mad but he just laughs so it’s all right…oh and then they had a picnic later on in the book, and there was that really good part about the owner of the sword.

And that’s not going to help anyone find the story they’re looking for.  But fortunately I remembered the title, and by the time I was in high school the wonderful world of online booksellers existed and I was able to buy Silver Woven in My Hair for my very own, and I spent an entire afternoon rereading the whole book.  It was lovely.

It’s one of the best retellings of Cinderella I’ve ever read.  It’s a story about Thursey, and her terrible stepfamily.  The royal family was coming back from that island because they were there while the queen and the prince recovered from being captured in a war.  Thursey’s father went to the war and never came back, so this Cinderella actually has a reason to stay where she is–even though she knows he’s probably never coming back, she can’t bring herself to leave, just in case.

Thursey doesn’t have a sparkly fairy godmother, but she does have friends who want to help her go to the ball at the palace.  There’s Anwin the monk, and there’s Gillie the goatherd, who’s funny and charming–and very far from a sparkly fairy godmother.  🙂

I love that Thursey is a Cinderella who loves Cinderella stories.  Her family runs an inn, and she collects stories from the travelers who pass through–all the different Cinderella stories from different cultures, Cendrillon and Aschenputtel and Catkin and so on.  Even though Thursey’s life isn’t very good, she never stops dreaming.  The ball is one aspect of the story, but Thursey’s dreams have a lot more substance than dancing a single night at a ball.

The characters, from Thursey to Gillie to the nasty stepfamily, are well-drawn and life-like.  The story is very grounded in reality, in a practical world where dishes have to be washed and goats have to be fed and there’s none of the impossible and incomprehensible leaps that the original fairy tales often make.  Yet there’s also something whimsical about the tale.  For some reason the word “gossamer” keeps coming to mind, and I think it has to do with the writing style.  Murphy has kept some of the poetry of the old tales, while giving us characters and a plot that are more substantial.

Silver Woven in My Hair isn’t exactly a fantasy…or it could be.  Murphy leaves it up to the reader to decide whether some elements are really magic or not, and I’m not entirely sure what I think.

But even if you decide it’s not a fantasy, it’s definitely a magical story.  And a marvelous tale.

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

Other reviews:
Ex Libris Draconis
Mel’s Desk
Anyone else?  I am sad that this book is not better known…

Buy it here: Silver Woven in My Hair