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Patricia Wrede - Magician’s Ward Genre: Basics: Kim and Mairelon finally get around to falling in love! Okay, that’s at the end, so it’s kind of a spoiler, but it’s not like it was unexpected or anything. The rest of it’s just fluff, after all. There’s a big magical conspiracy, and an Evil Villain who does Evil Things and must be thwarted, and there’s an Annoyingly Proper Old Lady, who must be annoying and proper, and various Social Engagements and Shopping Trips and Society Gossip … and really it’s all about them falling in love. Why I like it: Mairelon’s mom is pretty awesome, and I still love Renee D’auber. And of course it’s nice to see Kim flounce around and struggle with the foppery and nonsense of high society, while still also struggling with the ruthlessness and nonsense of … other society. (But there’s not much in the way of the ruthlessness of high society, which was more evident, if less straightforward, in the previous book.) Favorite Part: The discussion about why spells should be cast in a language other than the caster’s first language. I think it’s a great way to look at why we read fiction - that is, stories that aren’t factually true, words and concepts that are unfamiliar to us. One reason I like to read is so that I can get enough intellectual distance from a stories’ ideas that I can examine those ideas without necessarily having to graft them into my beliefs regarding what is “true”. Weakest Part: This book, like the first one, tends to rush through things. The quick pace makes it fun to read, but not so easy to figure out what’s going on. Patricia Wrede - The Raven Ring Genre: Basics: Patricia Wrede has written a whole series of books set in a world called Lyra. I’ve read a few; honestly, though, I liked the Enchanted Forest Chronicles - the characters, the tone, the world in general - so much that I never really got into the Lyra novels. But this one … A kick-ass warrior chick from some backwoods warrior clan (or whatever) comes to the big city to kick some ass and unravel the weirdness surrounding her mother’s mysterious death. Then there’s, I don’t know, politics or something, but mostly it’s about the ass-kicking. And there’s multiple hot guys, and creepy bad guys, and snarky society broads. Why I like it: Because of Eleret’s arsenal of weapons, tricks, and pithy if bloodthirsty philosophies. Favorite Part: When Eleret decides, screw it, I’ll just wear my warrior gear to dinner with the society broads. And she does. Weakest Part: It’s a bit difficult to follow, and seems a little more … full of itself … than some of the other things I’ve read from Wrede. But who’s complaining? Unraveling it is half the fun. Diana Wynne-Jones - Dark Lord of Derkholm Genre: Basics: If you’ve read many (at all) fantasy novels, you’ve seen the patterns, and they all start looking a little alike. Well, Wynne-Jones takes the idea that they are like tours of the same fantastic landscape and runs with it, creating not only a wonderfully vivid and believable world with fascinating characters but also a gripping story that both fits into and mocks the conventions of fantasy literature … I lost you back there around “vivid”, didn’t I? Okay. Forget it, then. It’s fun and funny, especially if you like fantasy. Or if you don’t, and think they’re all the same. Then you might like it even more. Why I like it: Because it has absolutely oodles of awesome characters, including Querida who may be, no lie, my favorite character ever because she’s so powerful, remorseless, and brilliant, and also because the ultimate incarnation of evil in the story is an entrepreneur with a comb-over named Roland Chesney. And also, nobody portrays the dynamics of a large (and loud) family as well as Wynne-Jones. Favorite Part: The scene where Blade, waiting for Derk and his sort-of evil entourage at the final camp, entertains a steady stream of pissy delegates coming to complain about the many things that are going wrong with the tours. Especially Wendela Horselady, the ultra-vehemnant horse activist. Or any scene with Scales in it. Weakest Part: The ending is perhaps a little rushed. On the other hand, the threads of the story are brought together so deftly that I don’t care. Also, Mara is a despicably underutilized character. Seriously. Diana Wynne-Jones - House of Many Ways Genre: Basics: Another not-quite-as-good-as-Howl’s-Moving-Castle-sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle. Not that it’s bad - it’s good enough, really - but mostly it’s just candy. Charmain Baker is manipulated into house-sitting for her great-great-uncle-by-marriage (really … I think) while he has a magical medical procedure (apparently elves, those who didn’t Go West, are now in the healthcare industry). And she has all sorts of adventures and what-not, just as she ought. And there’s a dog. Dogs make everything better. Though come to think of it, there were dogs in the other two books, too. They were cool, too. Why I like it: Because any book with Howl & Sophie is better than no book with Howl and Sophie. And because Peter is actually pretty unlikeable, and the plot is pretty easy to predict, so you can focus on the reactionary Smurfs and Waif’s charming antics. And Sim (I think that’s his name … the butler, anyway) is awesome. Favorite Part: Anytime we see Jamal & his dog again. Weakest Part: Howl really lost something when he got his heart back and stopped being The Love Interest. I think it was his lack of respectability … he’s just not as interesting as he was in Howl’s Moving Castle. Diana Wynne-Jones - The Lives of Christopher Chant Genre: Fun-o-meter: Basics: So you want to know Chrestomanci’s story? Here it is. This is the second book in the Chrestomanci series. Also, weird family dynamics (Wynne-Jones does family dynamics like nobody’s business) and crazily imaginative capers. This one’s more about the complicated morality of close relationships than about the magic-as-an-exploration-of-power, but that’s in evidence too. Why I like it: Because everyone’s using everyone else for something. And, like the first novel, the from-a-child’s-point-of-view writing is really strong, and adult insights or opinions aren’t grafted onto the main characters. Favorite Part: Actually, there are two. First, Christopher’s first few conversations with the goddess, and second, the head cook of Chrestomanci Castle remembering the pranks of his student days. Whatever they were. Weakest Part: Millie’s confession. I mean, honestly. |
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