Kindle Book: No Plot? No Problem!

I have decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year. I've always wanted to, but November was always a terrible month for me due to school. But with school now a thing of the past, and with no other super-pressing concerns, I am finally free to try writing a novel in a month!

Before embarking on the crazy literary adventure that is NaNoWriMo, I decided to give No Plot? No Problem! a quick read through. Chris Baty, the guy who started NaNoWriMo back in 1999, wrote the book as a guide to the entire month. He details what you're up against, encourages you to get snacks, and gives you strategies to help you succeed during the month-long escapade (and beyond, should you choose to continue polishing your masterpiece). Unfortunately, the warning not to read all the chapters until you actually get to the week in question comes at the end of the book; I did read the book from cover to cover, which I wasn't supposed to. But I did enjoy reading it; I am now ready to embark on my month long escapade.

If you want to follow my novelling progress, you can find me on NaNoWriMo. You can also follow my weekly blogging updates here.

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.

Kindle Book: Snow Crash

A friend of mine has been wanting me to read Snow Crash for awhile now. So when I found out that Neal Stephenson was going to be the keynote speaker at GDC Online (which I attended), I decided it was time to give Snow Crash a read. My friend lent the book to me, but in the interest of travelling as lightly as possible, I bought the book on my Kindle. I started reading it on my flight to Texas and got about 40% through it....and then didn't pick it up again until a few days ago.

Snow Crash is a really interesting book. It's got some unique characters, like Hiro Protagonist, the sword-toting hacker who delivers pizza for the Mafia's franchise, and Y.T., a young Kourier who manages to be in the thick of everything. Hiro and Y.T. get caught up in the search for information on a virtual drug called Snow Crash, which crashes the minds of hackers who are exposed to it.

My problem with Snow Crash was simple: it started out as a really interesting book with the pizza delivery stuff, but then it kind of lost my interest when Hiro started "researching." I say "researching" because it was more along the lines of the Librarian lecturing Hiro. Hiro would ask a question or two, and the Librarian would lecture him for a few chapters. At this point, there would be a chapter of Y.T., the other protagonist, doing something crazy, then back to the lecture. I don't know exactly how long this went on for, but my estimate is 30% of the book. Then, after Hiro was done listening to the lecture, he went off on his own adventure, during which he decided to regurgitate everything the Librarian had told him!

Despite this, there are some really interesting (and awesome) things that happen, particularly with Y.T. The chapters with her really helped me get through the Librarian's lecture.

All in all, the story of Snow Crash was pretty good, but I really didn't like being lectured at. I almost stopped reading Snow Crash a few times because of this. But I soldiered through and did finish the book. But I'm not going to lie, there were more than a few times when I thought I could be reading something else. And now that I'm done, I'm more excited to start something else than to dwell on Snow Crash.

Library Book: Amulet: The Cloud Searchers

The Cloud Searchers continues the story of Emily and Navin. After saving their mother, they are now on their way to find Cielis, the legendary city of the Stonekeepers. Unfortunately, the city is believed to be either gone or hiding among the clouds. They will need to hire an airship to take them. But few captains are willing to chase after a dream. Few except Enzo and Rico that is.

Once again, the elves are hot on their trail. This time the Elf King has hired the assassin Gabilan to find and kill both Emily and his son. Unknown to him though, his son, Prince Trellis, and Emily have joined forces. Together they plan to take him down once and for all.

Unfortunately The Cloud Searchers is the final volume the library has. Book 4 is on order, so I'll be reading it once it comes in. I can't wait!

Library Book: Amulet: The Stonekeeper's Curse

Like The Stonekeeper, The Stonekeeper's Curse was a really fast read. Emily and Navin rescued their mother, but she was poisoned in the process. So they are on their way to the city of Kanalis in search of medical aid.

Unfortunately, the Elf King has decided that Emily is too dangerous to have running around. And since she refused to join him, she must be eliminated. To that effect, he has sent his son and Luger, a dangerous elf, to find and destroy her.

Luckily, Emily and Navin are not without allies. In Kanalis, they meet the fox Leon Redbeard, a member of the Resistance. With his help, Emily heads to the Peak of Demon's Head Mountain, looking for the fruit of the gadoba tree. This fruit is the only thing that can save her mother.

The Stonekeeper's Curse continues the fantastic adventures of Emily and Navin. This is a fun story with beautiful illustrations. Once again I can't wait to read more!

Library Book: Amulet: The Stonekeeper

While looking for a couple of Bone books at Chapters, I stumbled onto Amulet. I read the first little bit in the store and enjoyed it. But rather than buy it, I decided to see if the Library had it. Lucky for me, they had the first three books!

Amulet is the story of Emily and her brother Navin. The story opens with an accident where there father is killed. A few years later, due to financial problems, their mom moves them to their great-grandfather's house in a smaller town.

While attacking the housework the first day there, Emily and Navin stumble onto their great grandfather's library. While looking through some things, Emily stumbles onto an amulet. Swearing her brother to secrecy, Emily takes the amulet with her.

Later that night, everyone hears some strange noises in the basement. Their mother goes to investigate and is captured by a strange creature. Emily and Navin follow it into Alledia, an alternate version of Earth. There they meet their dying great-grandfather, who gives Emily the choice to become the Stonekeeper. Choosing to embrace the amulet's power, Emily can now use her great grandfather's mechanical creations to go save her mother!

This first book was a really quick read. I really like Kazu Kibuishi's style, and can't wait to read more!

Bone

I started reading Bone a few years ago (before I started this blog). I got the first five volumes from the library. Unfortunately at that time the library didn't have the last four, so I wasn't able to finish the story at that time.

A friend of mine knew I was interested in reading this series, so he got me the one volume edition for christmas. It's taken me awhile, but I finally got around to reading it.

The story starts out with Phoney, Smiley and Fone Bone on the run from Boneville. Phoney's latest scheme got the three cousins run out of town.

The cousins get separated when a swarm of locusts appear. Fone finds himself in a valley where he meets Thorn and Gran'ma Ben. With their help he is reunited with his cousins.

But all is not well within the valley. The rat-men are testing the treay they have with the humans. They are preparing to wage war once again at the behest of the Hooded One, who is the speaker for the dreaded Lord of Locusts. The Hooded One sends the rat-men out searching for the Bone-creature with the star on its chest, which puts the three cousins right in the middle of everything.

As I've already mentioned, I've already read the first five volumes. While I didn't really remember it, as I was reading it everything was familiar. The first few books in particular are really funny with all the antics of Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone.

All in all, this is a fantastic story. Bone is both funny and epic, and well worth the read!