Tag: Books

Lords and Ladies and Witches and Elves

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Summer in Discworld5 Comments

I just read my first book for my Summer in Discworld challenge: Lords and Ladies, part of the Witches subseries.  I seem to be reading Pratchett’s Witches books backwards.  I read Maskerade first, ages ago.  Lords and Ladies comes immediately before it, and there are at least two other earlier ones.  But no matter–Discworld is fun in any order (but be warned, spoilers ahead for earlier books).  I wound up here because it’s June, and I wanted to read Pratchett’s Midsummer Night’s Dream retelling for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

It’s a very loose retelling.  There are fairies and royalty and a group of rustics who are trying (without much success) to put on a play.  Beyond that, there’s not much resemblance to the Bard’s story.  Pratchett’s story focuses on three witches–Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick.  They’ve just returned from a trip abroad (a previous book), and Magrat is due to marry King Verence (which she’s almost sure she wants to do).  Meanwhile, there are mysterious crop circles popping up in fields, on heads of hair and in bowls of porridge; there are strange stirrings between the multiverses; and an ancient force is trying to break through from another world.  Unfortunately, as Granny and Nanny know, elves are not nearly as nice as people want to believe…

The plot here is mostly just a vehicle for the characters–and they’re wonderful characters.  Granny Weatherwax is a stiff old crone, in the most literal sense, terrifying for her sheer willpower more than for her magic, and fiercely protective of her kingdom and people.  Nanny Ogg is ever cheerful, ever comfortable and good-natured, utterly incapable of being embarrassed no matter the circumstances and at home everywhere…but you somehow get the impression you don’t want to cross her either.  Magrat is sweet and plain and lacking self-confidence–at least until she gets some inspiration from history.

There are a host of good supporting characters as well.  Verence was originally trained to be a Fool and somehow wound up king (also a previous book), and is very sure that he can learn all he needs to about running a kingdom, handling people and getting married by reading the right books.  The group of rustics don’t stand out individually (especially since they’re all known as Weaver the thatcher or Carpenter the baker or Baker the butcher, and so on), but they’re funny in their jumble–and they’re the closest connection to the Shakespearean play.  The Wizards from Ankh Morpork’s Unseen University come to town for the wedding, and I liked them better than I have in any previous books–they’re finally starting to emerge as individuals to me.  My favorite, though, is the Librarian, who loves books and happens to be an orangutan (a spell gone very wrong).

And the elves, well…they are actually genuinely frightening.  It’s not at all a horror book, and I wouldn’t exactly say any parts are scary–but the concept of the elves, these smiling, beguiling people who see humans as animals, and wreak havoc and inflict pain for the fun of it…it’s quite a frightening concept.

I do have a few small criticisms.  The book takes a good fifteen pages to get going properly.  Pratchett likes to do philosophical prologues, and this book went through a whole series of scenes like that before we got to the witches (though Death had a good scene in this first section).  The point of view jumps about wildly, which sort of bothers me but only in an academic way.  It didn’t actually interfere with my reading, it was just something I noticed every so often and my literary instincts got upset.  More difficult was his lack of speech tags in some places, so I had to go back and count lines to figure out who was talking.

But those are small criticisms.  I enjoyed the book: there was some beautiful writing, excellet character development, good tension and, of course, humor.  I wouldn’t classify it as a favorite Discworld volume, but I liked getting to know the Witches better, and I expect to continue reading their stories–though I haven’t decided whether to go back to the beginning, or keep going backwards!

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

Other reviews:
SF Reviews
The Wertzone
The Incurable Bluestocking
Anyone else?

Fairy Tale Round-Up: Beauty and the Beast

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews3 Comments

One of my favorite fairy tales is “Beauty and the Beast.”  If you read the original by Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beaumont, it has as many weirdnesses as any other fairy tale.  But it also has a heroine with more spirit than most (and who likes to read!) and a romance with at least the potential for more depth.

The story is pretty consistent, about a girl who goes to live with a Beast to save her father’s life.  She sees past the Beast’s forbidding exterior to fall in love with him, breaking the spell and turning him into a handsome prince.  And usually there are roses in it somewhere!  In the original, the Beast is kind of scary and manipulative, not to mention far too attached to his flowers.  But the retellings are some of my very favorite stories…

Beauty by Robin McKinley was probably one of the first fairy tale retellings I ever read.  It’s a beautiful book that’s as much about Beauty, her family and her own growth as it is about her romance with the Beast–which is still quite sweet.  The non-magical world feels very real, and even the enchanted castle, while appropriately magical, has a somewhat homey feel.  It’s a cosy book, sweet and lightly humorous.

McKinley returned to the story for Rose Daughter, another (unrelated) retelling.  This version is gorgeously written, and far more surreal.  If Beauty is all pastels and greens and browns, Rose Daughter is all vivid scarlets and purples and strange shadows.  The Beast’s castle is truly another world, where rules of magic supercede little things like the rules of physics.  I didn’t like the romance quite so well and there was a lot about roses, but it’s still an absolutely lovely book.

I’m not as fond of La Belle et La Bête, Jean Cocteau’s 1946 movie version.  It has a very surreal feeling too, but to some extent that kept me at a distance from the story.  The characters felt too much like archetypes and some parts were unexplained–and I don’t think it was a problem of the French dialogue.  The sets and effects are wonderful and it’s a landmark in fairy tale films, but it’s more interesting as an academic view than as simple entertainment.

I do love the much lighter Disney Beauty and the Beast.  It has gorgeous scenery, excellent songs, and wonderful characters.  Belle, the Beast and the assortment of talking objects are all delightful characters, and the plot is much improved by the introduction of Gaston as a convincing villain.  This may be my favorite Disney cartoon (though there’s some stiff competition out there!)

Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier is a much looser, more mature retelling.  Caitrin comes to the castle to work as a scribe, fleeing her abusive family and an unwanted suitor.  She meets Anluan, crippled in body and even more so in spirit, and learns about his family curse that populates the fortress with ghosts.  It’s “Beauty and the Beast” only in the broad strokes, but there is an enchanted mirror and a curse to overcome–even though it’s really more about finding strength within than it is about meeting requirements to break a spell.

I’d love to find more good “Beauty and the Beast” retellings!  Any suggestions?

The Girl with the Geese

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews, Young Adult4 Comments

It made me a bit sad that my library’s copy of The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale was blurbed by Stephenie Meyer.  It’s a much better book than Twilight.

As you might guess from the title, this is another retold fairy tale, suitable for the Once Upon a Time challenge.  The Goose Girl is about Ani, a princess who’s never been very good at the job.  Her mother sends her to a neighboring kingdom to be married, but along the way her lady-in-waiting, Selia, stages a mutiny and usurps her place.  Ani makes her way to the capital, but has to hide from her enemies in the role of Goose Girl, tending to the royal flock.  And that’s where she begins to find friends–and her own strengths.

This book reminds me of a lot of other books, while being very uniquely itself.  It’s a story about a none-too-successful princess who has to find a way to save the kingdom.  There are plenty of books like that, but Ani and her particular path feel very different than most of them.  Most ordinary princesses are freckled tomboys.  Ani is a beautiful blonde who desperately wants to be a proper princess, but has lived all her life in the shadow of her strong-willed and charismatic mother.  Even though Ani tries very hard, she just doesn’t have her mother’s charm and poise, or talent for handling people.

Ani isn’t a plucky heroine who immediately sets about to save the day when the situation goes bad.  She spends much of the book hiding, with her primary goal being to save herself.  Somehow I liked that about her–she feels very real, and her challenges (and ultimate solutions) feel believable.  She’s a likable heroine with depth, and strength that emerges over the course of the book.  There’s some magic in the story (Ani can understand birds, and talk to her beloved horse), but it feels largely secondary to Ani’s personal growth, as she realizes her own abilities and begins to look beyond herself as well.

Hale’s writing is beautiful, with a nice fairy tale flavor while having much more detail and plausibility than the Brothers Grimm usually go in for.  She created a vivid world, with two countries that have clear cultures and customs.  And there’s some humor and romance in here too.

I thought the last hundred pages or so were somewhat dragged out, though the ultimate climax is exciting.  It’s a little hard to explain without spoilers; there was a plot twist that seemed unnecessary to me, and just pulled the story out longer before we got to the final confrontations.  The romance turns out rather convenient–but it IS a fairy tale retelling, so it’s just about what I would expect!  And it’s a sweet romance for all that.

If you like retold fairy tales, I’d recommend adding this one to your list.  The original “Goose Girl” has never been a particular favorite of mine, and I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Hale has made a wonderful story out of it–something she does consistently in other books too.  When people ask me about excellent fantasy authors, I’ve really got to start adding Shannon Hale to my litany (which goes something like, Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, Gale Carson Levine, Patricia C. Wrede and Diana Wynne Jones, if you were wondering!)

Author’s Site: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html

Other reviews:
Reading for Sanity
This Blonde Reads
Liberating Libris
Anyone else?

Summer in Discworld: REVIEWS

On By cherylmahoneyIn Summer in Discworld3 Comments

This post is the gathering place to share about your adventures reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books this summer. Continue reading “Summer in Discworld: REVIEWS” →

Summer in Discworld: Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge

On By cherylmahoneyIn Summer in Discworld25 Comments

Have you ever considered spending the summer with witches and wizards, dwarfs and trolls, a vampire photographer or even a walking piece of Luggage?  Care to visit a Post Office literally overflowing with mail, or to stroll beside the river Ankh?  (Actually, I wouldn’t recommend that last one during the warmer months; it’s a bit, shall we say, odorous!)

Come explore the Discworld (a disc carried on the back of four elephants, on top of a turtle) and add some hilarity to your summer by joining us for a Terry Pratchett Reading Challenge!

The “Challenge”

Pratchett is consistently responsible for the funniest books I read each year, and I wanted to share the laughs.  This is a challenge only in the loose sense–all you have to do to participate is read any book from Pratchett’s sprawling 40-book Discworld series between June 1st and August 31st, and tell us about it.  I’m putting up a separate post where you can link to your reviews or share your thoughts in a comment.

Feel free grab the image above if you’d like to share about the challenge on your blog.  Maybe some of your friends will want to join in too.  If you need suggestions on where to begin reading, check out my earlier post on favorite Discworld books, or explore the comments to see what other people are planning.

For those new to Discworld, there are three rules to keep in mind:

1) You don’t have to read the books in order.

2) Don’t start at the beginning (the first few are funny, but weaker than later books).

3) Don’t read them somewhere where it will be awkward to laugh out loud!

Group Read

I’m also holding a Group Read of Going Postal during July (not a requirement of the challenge, just a fun bonus).  Going Postal won the group read poll, and is a great place for people to start out with Discworld.

Chapter One begins: “They say that the prospect of being hanged in the morning concentrates a man’s mind wonderfully; unfortunately, what the mind inevitably concentrates on is that, in the morning, it will be in a body that is going to be hanged.”

The plot: conman and criminal Moist von Lipwig inexplicably survives a hanging, only to find the Patrician offering him a goverment job, as Ankh-Morpork’s new Postmaster General.  Moist uncertainly accepts, becoming master of a Post Office overflowing with old mail (some of which seems to be talking to him), leading a troop of mad postmen.  And then there’s the business competition with the telegraph service to think about…

I’ve divided the book roughly into quarters to cover four weeks.  I’ll send out discussion questions early each week, and reviews should be planned for the following Tuesday.  Here’s the schedule:

Week 1, from “The Nine Thousand Year Prologue” through “Chapter 4: A Sign” – reviews on July 10

Week 2, from “Chapter 5: Lost in the Post” through “Chapter 7: Tomb of Words” – reviews on July 17

Week 3, from “Chapter 7A: Post Haste” through “Chapter 11: Mission Statement” – reviews on July 24

Week 4, from “Chapter 12: The Woodpecker” to the end! – reviews on July 31

Book Your Ticket to Discworld

Sign up for the “challenge” with MisterLinky below, and feel free to share in a comment what you’re thinking about reading.  Let me know also if you’d like to join the group read.

I look forward to visiting Discworld with you!