Warbreaker

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson is a book I've been interested in reading for a long time. Earlier this week I hurt my head and was told to limit my screen time. So I've spent the week reading (which is why this is the third book I've read this week already!) I decided to read Warbreaker because my copy is a hardcover; since I'm not going far this week, it seemed like the perfect time to read it.

Warbreaker is about the two Idrian princesses, Vivenna and Siri. Their father signed a treaty with Hallandren years ago, promising a Hallandren princess would be wed to the Hallandren God King at Vivenna' s 21st birthday. Everyone is surprised when their father sends Siri instead of Vivenna. Vivenna has spent her entire life training for this. Siri has not. So Vivenna decides to go to Hallandren to rescue her sister.

Siri is woefully unprepared to deal with the politics of the priests and pantheon of Hallandren. In Hallandren, they worship the Returned as gods and goddesses. The Returned are people who come back after they have been killed; they're believed to have visions of the future in their dreams. So they are pampered - having servants and a priesthood dedicated to providing for their every wants and needs. In their turn, the Returned are expected to give up their divine Breath to heal someone eventually.

One of the current pantheon is Lightsong the Bold. He completely refuses to believe in his own divinity. He does everything he can to shirk his divine duties (and is very much annoyed that no matter what be does, people seem to follow him and believe in him anyway). 

Lightsong crosses paths with Siri in the court. He is the one to realize that she is truly unprepared for where life has sent her - she is as naive as she looks. 

And of course, Siri being Siri, she starts to assert herself in hee own way. Which leads to a surprising development with the God King.

Meanwhile, Vivenna arrives in Hallandren and discovers she is woefully unprepared for life in the colourful city. She makes the acquaintance of some mercenaries, Denth and Tonka Dah, who agree to help her try to rescue her sister. And as war between Hallandren and Idris seems to loom ever closer, they help her try to disrupt the war to give her outnumbered people a better chance.

And I loved how people of one faith  (generally Vivenna from Idris) interacted with people of another faith. For example, Vivenna found out that one of the mercenaries, Jewels, gave her Breath to the God King when she was a child. Vivenna pitied her, believing it was a horrible thing and that she had to have been coerced or otherwise forced into it. But no, Jewels is proud of giving her Breath away. Confronted with that, Vivenna tries to rationalize it with her own faith....and can't. This sort of thing happened with Vivenna over and over again, always in different ways. It was a fantastic way of showing how different people viewed the world and how someone's beliefs can challenge your own. And the beliefs all came naturally from the world Sanderson built. I loved it!!!

Oh, I haven't really touched on the mystery in the book either. Lightsong takes interest in a murder that happened in one of the other goddess' palaces. Everyone else takes no notice of it. But he does, investigating and interviewing witnesses. He finds he's quite capable, which leads him to investigate what else he might be good at - what other memories came back with him from his life before he Returned (which he can't remember).

Oh and I need to also mention Vasher and the mysterious sword he carries, Nightblood. Nightblood is sentient and completely hilarious (which is the exact opposite of Vasher, who is stoic and says very little). The sword has no real understanding of time passing, and seems to think everyone is talking to it almost all the time. It was great.

Another interesting duo were Denth and Tonka Fah. They were always spouting off "mercenary humour," complaining about why no one like mercenaries. They (mainly Denth) were the ones who started to open Vivenna eyes about the way she looked down on the people around her (even though her religion said not to, and she is extremely pious). Sanderson's treatment of them was fantastic - their betrayal hit me like a punch to the gut in much the same way it hit Vivenna.

The God King was another interesting character. Siri discovers he has no tongue and is largely ignorant of life in general. But he is gentle and has a large intelligence in his eyes. She teaches him how to read and write in secret; as they begin to communicate, they end up truly falling in love. 

So yes. Warbreaker gives us political intrigue, war, mystery, love, betrayal, a fantastic plot that keeps you guessing, great characters, a fantastic world and an incredible magic system that revolves around colours and Breath. I absolutely loved this book! It is hands down the best fantasy I've read since Naomi Novik's Uprooted. Loved it, loved it, loved it!!!

Uprooted

I've  been wanting to read Naomi Novik's Uprooted since I first saw it in Chapters. A friend bought it earlier this summer and gave it to me after reading it. He's been bugging me to read it ever since. I finally made time to start it yesterday (just after I spoke with him as a matter of fact). And I have to say, the endorsement on the back of it from NPR was correct - I didn't want to put it down once I had started!

Uprooted is about Agnieszka, a girl who lives in one of the villages in the valley. The valley is surrounded by the malevolent Wood, which is kept at bay by their wizard, the Dragon. Every ten years he chooses a girl from the valley who will serve him without question for the next ten years. Agnieszka (and everyone else) knows he will choose her best friend, Kasia. But when the time comes, he doesn't choose Kasia. He chooses Agnieszka instead! And so she is whisked away to his tower without even a moment to say goodbye to her family.

That is, in a nutshell, what the synopsis on the back of the book says. And it is what happens at the very beginning of the book. But honestly, Uprooted is so much more than this synopsis! Agnieszka is a witch, unknown to everyone else in her village. The Dragon ended up choosing her because he recognized her gift and had to train her. But she will not be trained easily. All the regular wizarding spells aren't working for her. But she discovers the text from a legendary witch of folktales and is able to use those spells just fine. Unfortunately, the Dragon didn't think that actually WAS a spell book because nothing in it worked for him! So Agnieszka has to fumble along and find her own way with the grudging help of the Dragon.

And then things totally change! Uprooted becomes this political story, where Agnieszka goes to the capital needing men to help her and the Dragon deal with the Wood. The two of them managed to save her friend from the Wood, which is completely unheard of. While doing so, they found a way to harm the Wood, and figured that they could deal it a death blow with some help. The Dragon remains in the valley, sending Agnieszka to go to the king for help. But Agnieszka is very much a fish out of water. Because she is a witch, she is automatically admitted to the court. But she has no head or patience for the games of the court. And ends up on the run, framed for kidnapping and murder by the freaking Wood!

That sounds so ridiculous as I reread it, but it's honestly the truth. And it was incredibly well done.

So after dealing with THAT, Agnieszka and the Dragon go to confront the Wood one final time. They don't really have a plan, but they'll try to stop it or die while trying. And that ended with a rather epic confrontation with the Wood, which in turn ended in a very interesting resolution. I'm trying to avoid major spoilers here, but the conclusion was quite satisfying.

I also loved the characters. I think some of the political stuff in the capital wasn't as good simply because Sarkin (the Dragon) wasn't there. I thought he was hilarious, especially the way he always interacted with Agnieszka. (He was routinely calling her an idiot, but as the book went further along it got really funny because he would basically be saying "You idiot, I don't know how you're doing this but whatever, I'm not going to ask for an explanation because you don't really know what you're going but it's working somehow.") He got annoyed by her pretty much no matter what she did because her magic (and really Agnieszka herself) defied the way he thought the world (and magic) should function. And their banter really, really worked.

Agnieszka herself was someone I was able to relate to. I found this to be especially true in the political segment in the middle of the book. I'm not someone who is big on decorum and stupid political games behind peoples backs. And she really isn't either. She always means well, even if she's going to take a rambly path getting where she's going. And don't expect her to get somewhere clean!

All in all, I thought Uprooted was a fantastic read. It was definitely the best fantasy book I've read in a long while (the best one this year so far for sure). I'm looking forward to reading more from Novik in the future!!! :)

Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings

Wonderful Alexander and the Catwings is the third Catwings book by Ursula K. Le Guin.  As I mentioned in my last post, it was one of the two Catwings books I have never read.  I'm really glad I finally got a hold of it!

Alexander Furby lives in a big house with his family.  The oldest of three kittens, he decides to go exploring the world outside his garden.  Alexander nearly gets run over by some trucks on the road, then finds himself up a tree after being chased by some dogs.  He miserably spends the night, too terrified to climb down.

The next morning, a strange black cat with wings finds him.  Unable to speak, she manages to coax him down the tree and leads him to her home where he meets the other four catwings.  He learns that Jane, the black catwing, has never spoken and refuses to sleep in the dovecote with the others.

Susan and Hank, the children who care for the catwings, see Alexander and take him in.  That's where his original owner finds him.  Alexander remains with Susan and Hank, but now gets to see his parents when they come for a visit.

Alexander has a good life, but he always thought he would do something wonderful.  One day when he is reflecting on things, he realizes that Jane is the one who has done wonderful things - namely helping him down from that tree.  He decides he wants to do something wonderful for her, but what can he do for a cat with wings?

To avoid spoilers, I won't tell you; you'll have to read the story yourself!  That being said, I really enjoyed this book.  I wasn't sure what I would think of it, especially when it started off following Alexander (it isn't until chapter 2 that Jane shows up), but it more than made up for it in the end.  It was also great seeing more of Jane (and I'm sure I'll get even more Jane in the final book, Jane on her Own).

This is a beautiful story about the friendship between two cats.  If you're a fan of the first two books, you'll enjoy this one.

Reread: Catwings and Catwings Return

When I was younger, I used to read Catwings and Catwings Return all the time.  The library had both books, and I think they spent more time at my house than on the library's shelf.  Eventually, I found a copy of both of them for myself.  There are two other books in the series, but the library doesn't have those two; I finally got myself a copy of both of them, so I decided to first reread Catwings and Catwings Return before reading the new two.

Catwings is the story of Mrs. Jane Tabby's four remarkable kittens.  Thelma, Roger, Harriet and James were all born with wings.  Living under a dumpster in an alley, their mother knows the city is no place for flying cats; she urges them to use their wings to leave the city. The four cats make their way into the forest, where they learn to survive the new dangers there.

Catwings Return continues the story of the four flying tabbies.  Living happily in their new home, James and Harriet decide they want to visit their mother.  And so they fly back to the city, looking for their alley home.  They find it, but the dumpster and their mother is gone.  All that's left is a starving black kitten with wings!  The kitten is in an old building that is soon to be demolished.  It's up to James and Harriet to save her and help her find her mother.

Both books are really cute.  I've always loved them, and rereading them was a real trip down memory lane.  Now I'm really excited to read the two new books!

As a side note, it looks like I'm not the only one who loves the Catwings!

Library Book: The Last Unicorn

I don't really want to say a whole lot about The Last Unicorn. I've never read the actual novel by Peter S. Beagle, but I was a big fan of the movie when I was younger. I found the graphic novel in Chapters a few weeks ago and immediately fell in love with the art. The library has it, so I took it out a little while ago and finally got around to reading it. The graphic novel is relatively similar to the movie (which makes sense - Peter S. Beagle wrote the screenplay, and was involved with the graphic novel so they should be similar). But I just can't get over that artwork!!! (If you're curious, I found a sample of the art here).

If you're unfamiliar with the tale, it is the story of a unicorn who believes she is the last of her kind. So she sets out on an adventure to find out what happened to the others. The Last Unicorn is full of wonderful characters like Schmendrick the magician, who has power but isn't very good at casting spells, Molly Grue, the first woman to actually see the unicorn for who she is, and King Haggard, the cruel man who commands the Red Bull. The Last Unicorn is a wonderful tale that has captivated people around the world.

Library Book: Cowboys and Aliens

I recently watched the movie Cowboys & Aliens starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. I really enjoyed it and decided I wanted to read the graphic novel it was based off of as well. Luckily the Library had a copy, so I put it on hold and picked it up yesterday while at work.

I have to say: the graphic novel is nothing like the movie. Well, there are some similarities, like the cowboys, Native people and aliens are fighting. And the cowboys have to work with the Natives in order to defeat the aliens. But other than that, this is a very different story from the movie.

The main difference is the very narrative. The prologue opens by comparing tha aliens to the way the Europeans looked at the Native people of North America (and pretty much every non-European in the world): their ways are inferior and so they must move aside, join us (but as inferior savages) or be elliminated. The aliens do this to another planet. So when the aliens actually do show up to Earth, they look at all humans as savages. (And from their point of view, they have good reason to. They have the superior technology, having travelled through space. We have mastered only steam technology at this point, far inferior to them).

I also liked that the graphic novel characterizes the aliens in a way that the movie didn't. In the movie, the aliens are gross monster-like things, doing experiments for no explicable reason (other than to "learn our weakenesses"). Here the alien leader is a jerk who thinks he's superior and is damn well going to show it (ie. kill people) through all his technology. It was a lot easier to relate to him and his followers. Plus they were some sort of galactic slavers (a friend of mine compared them to pirates), which again made more sense than whatever they were doing in the movie (I know what they were doing, but I'm trying to avoid spoilers here. But it really did make less sense than the graphic novel's version).

Don't get me wrong, I really like the movie. It had a great cast and did a fantastic job of being a Western turned on its head. But I think the graphic novel was better.

The Sleeping Beauty

After reading Snow Crash, I had to read something that I knew would be all around more appealing to me. So today I read Mercedes Lackey's The Sleeping Beauty, which I have been hoarding since it was published last year. And now that I have the sixth book, Beauty and the Werewolf, now was a good time to get caught up with my reading!

The Sleeping Beauty is the retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and the story of Sigurd and Brynhild all rolled into one (with even more fun!) It begins with the Princess of Eltaria, Rosamund, fleeing an evil Huntsman and being enslaved by dwarves. Rosamund's mother was killed and her father hastily remarried an "evil" sorceress. Rosamund believes that the Huntsmen was sent to kill her by her new Stepmother.

Unknown to Rosamund (and the Kingdom), the new Stepmother is actually Lily, the Fairy Godmother of Eltaria. Lily married the King in an effort to stop the Tradition, the magic of the land, actually forcing Eltaria's king down a dark path. While maintaing the ruse to fool the Tradition, Lily works to save the Princess. But all is almost foiled by the appearance of two men: a roguish middle son, and a Hero who is trying to escape his Doom (and the woman who keeps appearing, asleep in a ring of fire....) Add to that the unexpected death of the King, which leaves Rosamund and Lily scrambling to save Eltaria from invasion.

As usual, Lackey has a wonderful assortment of characters. Rosamund and Lily are both strong heroines; I loved reading about their adventures. Siegfried and Leopold were a lot of fun to follow. And I can't leave out mentioning Luna, the unicorn with the lisp!

The Sleeping Beauty was another hilarious romp through the Five Hundred Kingdoms. I absolutely loved it (especially the end of Chapter 14! I laughed extremely hard when I read that!); The Sleeping Beauty was exactly what I needed to read after being so disappointed by Snow Crash.

Ever World: Mystify the Magician

Wow. Mystify the Magician was fantastic! I didn't want to put it down, it was just so good!

Mystify the Magician starts off where Understand the Unknown leaves off: Christopher is being eaten by a giant. The gang has found themselves in Eire, where giants guard the coastline. After escaping the giant, they meet Etain, the daughter of the king. And for Christopher, it is love at first sight.

Eire is the most civilized land in Ever World. Etain's father rules Merlinshire, which has electricity and even a street car. But during their first night, the gang is awakened: the giant they encountered is dead. Dead by gunshot. To everyone's horror, they have discovered that Senna has brought people into Ever World; people with guns.

Using her army, she besieges the castle. But when the gang manages, through the real world, to stop her from bringing a mortar into Ever World, she changes the game by bewitching Christopher into opening the gate for her army. They take over the castle and leave Christopher for dead. Luckily he encounters Merlin to help him be the hero and stop Senna. But the bad news is that no man can kill her.

Oh, and for more bad news: Loki is here. And he brought Fenrir.

This really was a fantastic read. Hands down, this was the best book of the series. But you need to read everything that came before Mystify the Magician to really appreciate it.

Only one more to go!

The Dark Templar Saga: Twilight

Today I started and finished the final book in Christie Golden's The Dark Templar Saga. And what a book it was! Like Shadow Hunters before it, Twilight ends right where the story left off. Zamara and R.M. Dahl managed to get the warp gate on Aiur functional, and everyone who could tried to run through to Shakuras. Unfortunately, R.M. and the other refugees discover the Protoss on Shakuras realized the Aiur gate was open; in an attempt to stop the Zerg from following the refugees through, they redirected the gate to an unknown destination - and Jake and Zamara are the ones who got redirected.

To make matters worse, Zamara being in Jake's mind and sharing memories with him is killing him. And so they were on their way to Shakuras for help from the Dark Templar. Closed off from the very help they needed, they go in search of Zeratul, hoping the Prelate can aid them. But the Protoss they find is very different from the one Zamara remembers.

As usual, Christie Golden did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed every minute of reading it (especially when Zeratul was brought in; I have always liked his character). But more than that, The Dark Templar Saga will provide an excellent bridge between the two games. Fans of the first one are given more information dealing with certain "cliffhangers" brought up in Brood War. This whole series was an excellent read and I'm really glad I didn't wait for it a second longer!

A Kiss Before the Apocalypse

I haven't cried so much at the end of a book since Brightly Burning by Mercedes Lackey. Thomas E. Sniegoski's A Kiss Before the Apocalypse was an amazing, beautiful book. Midwest Book Review describes it as a "Heart-wrenching, beautiful urban fantasy," which is the perfect summary of it.

This is the story of Remy Chandler, an angel who has decided to renounce Heaven and live on the earth as a human. He is a private investigator, is married and has a black lab, Marlowe. Yet his life is turned upside down when he discovers that the Angel of Death is missing, along with the scrolls that will summon the Apocalypse. And so he is hired by his Seraphim brothers to find the missing Israfil and avert the Apocalypse.

I was enchanted right off the bat by the characters. Everyone, from Remy to Marlowe, is well thought out (Remy can talk to animals, and so Marlowe and he always converse). Everyone has their own quirks, and while not all of the characters are likable, they are all unique individuals whom I enjoyed reading about.

As I said before, the story is both amazing and beautiful. It is full of magic and adventure, but at its very heart, A Kiss Before the Apocalypse is a love story. It will speak to anyone who has ever lost someone they loved.

Library Book: Superman: Emperor Joker

Normally I prefer Batman stories, but while I was at work this last Saturday, Superman: Emperor Joker caught my eye. It looked fun, and it screamed a Batman/Superman crossover, so I decided to give it a shot. And I wasn't disappointed.

Superman: Emperor Joker opens in a strange alternate reality. Superman is a criminal, accused of murdering Lex Luthor. Villians like Bizaarro are considered the heroes. And for some reason, it keeps raining pies . . .

Yes, the Joker has managed to get God-like powers. He has remade the world into his dream, whatever that dream happens to be at the moment. Everything is opposite, and only the Man of Steel seems to realize that everything is wrong. And every night there is the unearthly scream . . .

Yes, Superman: Emperor Joker was a great story. It was a bit of a crossover, but I enjoyed every minute of reading it. From Bizarro's opposite talk to the Joker's cruel insanity, this was a good story for everyone who likes the DC Universe.

Library Break: Batman: Knightfall

I have read parts 1 and 2 of the Knightfall series. And I have to say, I absolutely loved Part1: Broken Bat! Bane released all of the villians from Arkham Assylum, using them to wear out the Dark Knight. Batman, who was already in rough shape from the previous few weeks, is slowly but surely worn down as he goes after the escaped villians. He has no time to rest, even though his body desperately needs it. There were many fights when Batman should have been able to take out the thugs no problem, but he was only able to by using the last of his strength. Depleated, there were many images of him hiding in the shadows, exhausted. Yet he always managed to find the strength to continue as there was no one else.

It was the strangest story to read: with Batman barely managing to remain on his feet. And finally, when Bane struck, Batman was at his weakest, and he lost! Bane attacked Batman at home, when the Dark Knight was mentally and physically exhausted. Batman tried to fight back, but there was no strength left in him. And so Broken Bat left me with this image: Bane literally breaking Batman! It is a sad and terrifying image: no one should be able to break Batman!

So of course I had to start reading the second graphic novel in the series: Who Rules the Night. It starts out where Broken Bat left off, with Bane gloating over the fallen Knight. And so there is a desperate attempt on the parts of Tim (Robin) and Alfred to save Batman from being paralyzed for life. Fighting the clock, they manage to get the medicine they need, the only one that can help heal a broken back.

But now Gotham is in ruins. News that Batman has fallen bursts open the flood gates. Crime skyrockets. With no one to stop them, criminals everywhere try to carve a piece out of the city. And Bane lords over everyone, proclaiming the city his.

Into this dreary night comes Batman's chosen successor, Jean Paul. Jean Paul takes up the mantle of Batman with the help of Robin, but quickly proves to be a much darker Knight than that of the real Batman. He slowly decides to disobey Bruce's command not to engage Bane directly, deciding that taking down Bane will be the best way to stem the tide of chaos that has taken over Gotham. He modifies his costume, and becomes increasingly violent. Robin desperately tries to reign him in, but Jean Paul will not listen.

Jean Paul fights Bane twice. He injures Bane a lot, but almost dies in the process. For this reason he modifies his costume again, needing more than just the claws he had made the first time. It is during his second encounter that Jean Paul manages to bring Bane down. At the last moment, he decides not to kill Bane, but instead leaves him broken, much like how Bane left Batman.

It was a great story, and I can't wait to get a hold of part 3. But I definitely didn't like part 2 as much as part 1. There wasn't enough Bruce Wayne in part 2 for starters, which, although understandable, still made me sad. And I think I liked reading the downfall of Batman rather more than the aftermath. Jean Paul seemed rather unstable, and also kind of scary. I know Batman is not made of teddy bears and gum drops or anything, but he does have his code, and it never seemed like Jean Paul held up to it. (I know, that was the point, but I didn't like it).

Finally, I now have a reason to hate "Batman and Robin" even more. They totally butchered the character of Bane!!!