Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin.

"the island of gont, a single mountain that lifts its peak a mile above the storm-racked northeast sea, is a land famous for wizards."

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
192 pages (Paperback)
Published: First Published in 1968
Publisher: Spectra
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: First in a Series
Goodreads Rating: 3.92/5
Amazon Rating: 4.1/5
Shelfari Rating: 4/5

Ged was the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, but once he was called Sparrowhawk, a reckless youth, hungry for power and knowledge, who tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death's threshold to restore the balance. -from Shelfari.com

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I never thought that a 144 page story would take me SO LONG TO READ. Yikes. I planned to read the first three books of the Earthsea series for Jawas Read, Too!'s Summer of Series, but once again I fear I will fail at a challenge. Maybe if I'm lucky the Tombs of Atuan review will be up tomorrow. Fingers crossed. There are a few good, sensible excuses for my painfully long reading of A Wizard of Earthsea: I recently got a summer job and my hours have gone up lately, especially weekend hours which is prime reading time for me, and I have taken a few vacations in which reading was impossible. But then there is the fact of this book simply did not want me to read it quickly. It refused to be read for more than 20 minutes at a time. I blame Ged.

I have been wanting to read a Le Guin book for many moons now. I have heard from a couple people that she is a classic, and everyone must read her before they die. I did some scouting around, like I normally do when I hear such a thing, to see what she has written and if they sound like my thing. The Earthsea trilogy definately sounded like my thing, along with a few of her other books I might pick up later. I put the series of my To Be Read list, but since there were no copies available at my local libraries, I forgot about them. Then I heard about Jawas' Summer of Series. And I found an omnibus edition of the series on Paperback Swap. The stars were aligned. In my defense, I did only receive the omnibus in the middle of June and this challenge is only for the month of June. So there.

Ged was born on the island of Gont, an island known for housing powerful and prominent wizards. Not many from Ged's poor village suspected the great things that he would someday come to do. They couldn't foresee that one day songs would be song of the little ruffian running among the goats. One day, a great wizard living on Gont comes and takes Ged away to live with him. There he tries to show Ged what it means to be a wizard, but he is a slow teacher. Ged soon goes bored, and when he is asked to go to a school for wizards on Roke island, he goes. At the school, he learns tought lessons that shape the rest of his life. He learns one lesson too late and unleashes a dark burden on Earthsea that he must vanquish at once or die trying.

A Wizard of Earthsea is told as a folk tale or legend. The reader is told a certain amount at the beginning of the story about how things will end. I really dislike this way of storytelling because I like a certain amount of mystery in my stories. I know that things will more than likely end up happy. And I know that the protagonist will be superfantasticamazing because if there weren't going to end up being a somebody, why write a story about them? No one wants to read a story about a wizard who sits on his couch all day, using magic to change the channels. But I still want to pretend to be surprised when things work out this way. I like the warm and fuzzy feeling I get when the characters defeat the evil and head back home to their family and friends. This didn't happen to me in a Wizard of Earthsea because I had known all along what would happen.

Despite the feeling of being spoiled, I thought the story was original and entertaining to read. Ged begins his real studies as a wizard with a patient and mysterious wizard called Ogion. I loved Ogion, obviously. How could you not? He was the typical kindly old wizard who knows more than he cares to tell, but only for the good of those around him. He is conscious of the great power he could yield, but he also knows the consequences of everything he does. The greatest part of the story for me was the trials Ged had to go through to learn that exact lesson of consequences and being at peace with oneself as Ogion was. I appreciated how it wasn't an easy thing for him to learn, but how in learning it would make it him an great and powerful user of magic. Some parts of the story, especially towards the end, were very profound and philosophical when discussing the lessons Ged had learned. I think these parts showed what a fantastic author Ms. Le Guin is.

I found Ged to be a complex character, but I did not have much attachment to him. My problem with this was the distance that telling the story as a legend put between the reader and the protagonist. Legends are not too concerned with thoughts and feelings. The story is explained as, "Something happens, Ged reacts, reason he reacts is explained." The reasons were more told than shown in my opinion. Not only that, but important building years of Ged's life are simply skipped over. I couldn't feel a connection with Ged even though I did feel he was a great character; it was an odd feeling. I loved how he wasn't an innocent viction when it came to his school boy enemy, Jasper. He was as much to blame, if not more so, in creating an enemy in Jasper. He imagined things that weren't there, or things that could have easily been overlooked, he brought to the forefront of his mind and obsessed over. These obsessions came to a head when the two boys took their growing power too far because they didn't understand the consequences of what they were doing yet.

The worldbuilding of Earthsea is elaborately over-the-top, and I ate it up. When I first heard if the name Earthsea, I scoffed at its absurdity. I found myself thinking, "Could this author be any more unoriginal? Earth and sea, I wonder where she got those two words from?" I now swallow those words. I love that name now. It makes perfect sense when you create a world filled with only with hundreds and thousands of tiny islands. I found myself thinking that an in-depth look at the politics of these islands would be fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed the little snippets Le Guin gave us of each island's world. I was also overjoyed with the close up maps that were interspersed within the book; I needed them desperately. The little islands were sometimes hard to find in the big map, and I like to know exactly where I am in the world. Another important part of the Earthsea world are names. Every single thing, from a wave to an insect, has a true name which you must know to control it. Names are sometimes important parts in fantasy novels involving magic; books like Eragon come to mind. A Wizard if Earthsea took this theme to the extreme. A person, if they wanted to control a person, had to work to find out a person's name, because surely a person would guard that secret with everything they had. It was an interesting concept and added another layer to Le Guin's theme that no power comes without working.

Rating: 7 out of 10. I agree that A Wizard of Earthsea is a classic in the fantasy genre. I have heard some say it paved the way for Harry Potter, which I can, loosely, see. I had a few problems with the story, the main one being how slow going it was for me. I could read the whole Harry Potter series in less days than it took me to read this one book. I will definately pick up more Le Guin books, and I can already tell you that I enjoy the Tombs of Atuan much more.

Source for copy: Traded (for the omnibus edition).

Sabriel by Garth Nix

"it was little more than three miles from the wall into the old kingdom, but that was enough."

Sabriel By Garth Nix
304 pages (Hardcover)
Published: October 30, 1996
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: Book One of Four
Goodreads Rating: 4.19/5
Amazon Rating: 4.7/5
Shelfari Rating: 4.1/5

For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful --- and perhaps malevolent --- spirit, and Touchstone, a Charter-Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three of them must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death --- and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

A tale of dark secrets, deep love, and dangerous magic! -from goodreads.com

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I am actually surprised (and more than a little angry) that I had never picked up Sabriel before. More surprisingly, I had never even heard of Sabriel before this year. Yeah, I know. That revelation is almost a crime against readamanity. Sabriel is a fantasy about a strong teenage girl who has magical powers. Everything about this book sounds right up my alley. So why wasn't I aware of this book? I have sucky friends who have never read anything published before Twilight.

Sabriel has been raised in a small land called Ancelstierre, which is eerily similar to England by the way, far from the Wall and the menancing beings of the Old Kingdom. For the most part, she has been oblivious of the doings and history of that part of her world. Unfortunately, this dangerous countryside holds the house of her father, who must remain there to carry out his work. Her father is Abhorsen, the famed necromancer who binds the dead back to the land of the dead. When her father does not show up for his moonly meeting with Sabriel, she fears he has gone missing. She must take her powers and travel into the Old Kingdom, a place she is knows little about, to find her father. To help her with her journey, a cat and perhaps malicious spirit named Mogget and a man named Touchstone join her.

When I was updating my layout, I started going through authors' websites to add to my blogroll. One of these authors was the lovely Catherine Gilbert Murdock, who wrote what may be my favorite read of the year and possibly my whole life. She has a list of her favorite books, which I suggest you meander on over and look at, and Sabriel just happened to be on the list. Catherine had an amazing quote about the series that struck me as so correct that I had to share it here:

Years after reading Sabriel, I remain awed by his ability to drop readers in the middle of this foreign world – plop! – and expect us to soldier along until things explain themselves.

I almost jumped up and down, squeeing, "OMG! She gets me, she gets me! Catherine & I are BFFS because we shared a brainwave!" -gigglesnort- This is exactly how I felt in the beginning of the story. Garth Nix makes understanding his world nigh impossible without just girding your loins and shouldering through the book. I had no idea what the frack Free Magic was, or Charter Magic was, or what the different types of death creatures were, or what a Charter Stone was, or or or. You see I could go on for days. But I am perfectly fine with being confused with a world, and I could feel it in my bones that Sabriel would be a winner if I kept with it for a little while longer. Boy, was I right. I appreciated the fact that Sabriel knew next to nothing about the Old Kingdom. Her ignorance was part of the reason of the little explanation given. The author was waiting to reveal all of the Big.Secrets until Sabriel was ready. The two different magic concepts were explained, quite literally, on the run as Sabriel used one type of magic against the evil forces, who were using the other type, while she tried to reach her destination.

One interesting aspect of the story hit me on the head while I was reading reviews on Goodreads, after I had finished the book. Sabriel has ZOMBIES. Like big, scary, people-eating, back from the dead ZOMBIES! I hadn't put together that some people might see the creatures that came back from the realm of dead as zombies. I didn't see the relation at all while I was obliviously reading. For hardcore zombies fanatics out there, I wouldn't necessarily be putting Sabriel automatically on my to be read list because the of the zombies. Maybe I didn't think of zombies right away because I don't think of zombies as intelligent. They have a desire to feed, and that's all they have. They don't recognize power or hierachies, while the creatures in Sabriel are intelligent, without a doubt. They can think and reason. They know why they have to feed. They know they must follow creatures more powerful than themselves. A brain does not a zombie have. And they devour souls, not body parts. But potatoes, patatoes.

The character of Sabriel is ahmazing. She is strong and capable of handling herself, while still taking care of those around her or that may have gotten between her and her enemies. She is never TSTL, which I always appreciate in any character. She is an independent woman and worthy of admiring. I would have liked to see more of the women in her world, for comparison. Its hard to tell if the world in which Sabriel inhabits accepts more 'modern' women and if Sabriel's attitude would be commonplace in the Old Kingdom or Ancelstierre. Somehow I guess not, but that is just my experience with most fantasies set in monarchies such as the Old Kingdom. However, my favorite character, without a doubt, was Mogget. An evil spirit wrapped up in a snarky cat. Can I spell amazing and wonderful any more ways? I loved how Garth Nix portayed him as mysterious and shady. The wool was pulled over my eyes completely. I was so willing to believe Mogget was not malacious. Even when he attacks Sabriel, I was shaking my head, saying to myself, "There must be some better explanation of this attack." Yeah, I am an idiot. Even then, it's wonderful how Sabriel must lean on Mogget after he has tried to get rid of her forever.

The only character who I felt was a little lacking, was Touchstone. He didn't seem real enough for me, and therefore the romance wasn't my favorite. It's easy to call, seeing as how there is basically only one boy and one girl throughout the entire novel. And the first time Sabriel sees him, Touchstone is naked. That always signifies smexy time and helps things along.

Rating: 9 out of 10. Sabriel is a fantastic novel, and I can't sing its praises enough. I wish everyone would pick it up, especially lovers of stong heroines and fantasy. I'll probably being ordering my copy of Lirael soon and adding the Abhorsen books to my library.

Source for copy: Borrowed.

Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce.

Cold Fire by Tamora Pierce.
Third in a Quartet, Following the Circle of Magic Quartet
Young Adult-Fantasy, 384 pages
Published March 1, 2003 by Scholastic Paperbacks

Readers who have followed the fortunes of Daja and her foster siblings in Tamora Pierce's Circle of Magic and The Circle Opens sequences will not be disappointed by this continuation of Daja's adventures as a smith-mage. As her foster siblings Sandry and Briar struggle with their reluctant apprentices (Magic Steps, Street Magic), Daja and her teacher, Frostpine, settle into the northern Namorn city of Kugisko for a restful winter break. Not surprisingly, their illusions are promptly shattered, as Daja discovers that the twin daughters of her host have "ambient magic." As the discovering-mage, Daja is obliged to teach the fidgety girls the rudiments of magic. Meanwhile, Kugisko seems to have fallen into the hands of a ruthless arsonist, and Daja is determined to help her new firefighting friend, Bennat Ladradun, get to the bottom of the mystery. -goodreads.com

As much as I love/adore/obsess over Tamora Pierce's works, I would be lying if I said that the Circle of Magic series was my favorite. Tortall will always hold a special place in my heart, and it may be because I read Alanna: The First Adventure befor the Circle of Magic quarter. It seems to be that those who read the Circle of Magic first like those better, and vice versa. I wasn't even planning on writing a review for Cold Fire because I didn't write a review for any of the other books, which annoys me (I like to go in order), and because I don't know of anyone who hasn't at least heard of Tamora Pierce that would be reading a book blog. But after I finished this book, I felt compelled to write a review for this one. Because it has to be my favorite of all seven books so far in the Circle of Magic and Circle Opens quartets. I must say that I was completely taken aback by Cold Fire and my own love for it. Daja is for sure, without a doubt, my least favorite among the four mages. Sandry has heart and loyalty, not too mention loves clothing which isn't often seen in Tammy's books. Tris is a spitfire, with wild hair and a wild personality. Briar is the lovable thief with the cute backwards thinking. But Daja... Daja is just kind of there. And Boring with a Capital B.

The Circle Opens quartet follows each of the respective mages while they take their own travels around the world. They haven't seen each other in a while, although they have their teachers along for the ride. Daja and Frostpine have been travelling up north, but they are stuck in the island nation of Kugisko for the long winter. They are staying with a close friend of Frostpine's family. Daja's plan for quiet and hardworking days alone is ruined when she notices that the family's twins have magic. Now she must teach them to meditate and center their magic, and she must find them the right teachers that teach their special brand of magic. Another problem that is ruining her peace is the fires slowly burning up the city, where most of the houses are made from wood. Because her special magic deals with fire, Daja feels she must help in any way she can. A crew of firefighters has been set up by a middle-aged man, who instantly connects with Daja. They both have a respect for fire, while they know that fire can hurt in the worst ways. When Daja learns that the fires are deliberatly being started, the friendship begins to strain while Daja searches for the truth.

When I read the inside flap, I could easily guess who the mysterious arsonist was. It was as plain as day. And Tamora Pierce doesn't try to make this a mystery; she straight out tells you who the person is that is burning these homes up. This makes this book fantastic, because instead of trying to sneakily plant clues that the reader can sniff out from a mile away, she gives an even greater gift in between the pages: understanding. Tamora Pierce gets in to the mind of the arsonist. A few of the chapters are from their perspective, and from this perspective, we learn. We learn that the driving force behind the arsonist's motivations can not be pinpointed into exactly one moment of their life. It is the accumulation of their whole life story, from one tragic moment to the next. I could understand how this person was hanging in between the balance of good and evil and was tipped too far one way. They are necessarily Evil!, and yet they are. There is a fine balance of sympathy and anger at this character. At some points, I almost felt that this wasn't their fault, but then you see that they enjoy this burning and murdering of people. It is a thought-provoking look at criminals who commit unspeakable crimes and the death penalty. In Kugisko, the sentence for arson is to be burned alive. Daja is torn, just like I was, between what could be right and what isn't. The ending sequence is powerful, where Daja makes a decision, of a kind.

The one thing I can't stand about the Circle of Magic stories is the characterization. I feel like, through the eyes of their friends, each has a distinct personality. But when we get to this character's book, we never see this personality. All the characters are mushed into one giant character, who acts the same and likes the same things. Like Tris is supposed to be the one who flies off the handle; that is her characteristic. However in every book, each character has so many moments where they get worked up over some injustic and have to tell someone off. Umm, no. That's not allowed, okay. Not in my world. If someone is calm, I understand they won't be calm all the time. But they aren't all going to chew someone out all the time, either. One thing that Tamora Pierce does fantastically, especially in the Circle Opens, is her worldbuilding. I want to pack up and move to Kugisko. Who cares about a few little fires? They have channels of ice between their islands that they can SKATE on to travel! How amazing and imaginative is that! That's what I love about Tammy.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike.

Wings by Aprilynne Pike.
First in a Series
Young Adult-Fantasy, 294 pages
Published May 5, 2009 by HarperTeen

Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful—too beautiful for words.

Laurel turned to the mirror again, her eyes on the hovering petals that floated beside her head. They looked almost like wings.

In this extraordinary tale of magic and intrigue, romance and danger, everything you thought you knew about faeries will be changed forever. -goodreads.com

Confession time: I love fairies. I have since I was five years old, popping in my grandma's old Thumbelina movie over and over again. I probably will still love them when I'm eighty and have those creepy old figurines of them in my house, right next to my angel and Precious Moments collections. So it was a no-brainer that I would pick up this book, especially after my friends yammered on about it and especially after all the good things I have heard about it on the internet. How many Top Books of 2009 lists did it make? Probably hundreds, but I don't have enough time to read all of those and count. Wings hit all the right buttons for me. The only thing that bothered me was that pesky Stephanie Meyer quote on the front. If I have to pick up another book with "Recommended for fans of Twilight" or "Yadda Yadda Yay Book! -Stephanie Meyer" on the front, I will scream. (Who am I kidding, there will be tons more of those) If I were a new author, I would be ticked if I saw that on my beautiful cover. I know, I know. Whatever gets the book to sell to the most people, but still. What does Wings have in common with Twilight except a love triangle and a theme of fantastical creatures? Yeah, that's never been done before.

As the story begins, Laurel has had enough of changes. First she was forced to leave her old town and the only house she has ever known to pursue her dad's dream of owning a bookstore. Then her parents sign her up for public school, after previously homeschooled her, so she can socialize. But there are more changes coming that turn her world inside out. Wings begin to sprout out of her back. Having no idea who to turn to, she confides in a new friend she has been growing close to at school. With his help, she dicovers the truth: she is a fairy. Laurel has a hard time accepting this fact, and the fact that she belongs with the fairies that live around the land her family used to live on. The land that Laurel's family is about to sell. Laurel must choose a side before things turn deadly and spin out of her control forever.

From the first chapter in, I was more than a little disappointed in the protagonist Laurel. She was a delicate flower sort of heroine. "Oh no, I couldn't possibly touch that hunk of meat and those cookies. I'll just stick to my half of a fruit chunk over here." Gag me with a spoon. I feel like waif-like vegetarian girls are covered way too much in literature, because they are 'interesting and different'. I just want a heroine to devour a double cheeseburger and not feel guilty about it. I hear enough at my school, full of "I'll just take one" sticks, to instantly get annoyed at this type of personality. However I immediately became happier when I learned that being a flower fairy, she was actually eating some of her own kind, like a meat-eating human would be. *Annoyance Gone* From then on, Laurel was hard to hate. Even though she is Stunningly.Beautiful., she is a fairy in a human's shell. She is to be pitied because she doesn't even know which race she fits into, the humans who she was raised by or the fairies of which she was born. And she isn't too stupid to live. She rather ingeniously gets herself and others out of a few scrapes.

Laurel also has a love triangle to manage as well. A poor dear child. Achingly gorgeous, two boys, waifer thin. How does she handle it? But the love triangle seemed like an obvious choice. Nothing has been decided yet, so I'm not spoiling you! However once your read the book, I think you will agree. David is the best friend. He and Laurel had a connection from the beginning of school. He stuck by her side when she revealed her wings secret. He finds her 'deformity' beautiful and is accepting. Tamani is a fellow fairy; he guides Laurel as well as answers all her fey questions. David is like a bland vanilla pudding: okay when you have a sweet tooth and will do in a pinch. But the pages come alive when Tamani is introduced. He makes hearts race and have that touch of destiny about it. He and Laurel may have been meant to be together forever. Tamani is the creme de la creme.

Wings has the perfect amount of thrills, love, mystery, and fairies to keep my coming back for more. But Miley Cyrus playing Laurel in the movie adaption? Yuck. My friends are willing to give her a chance, but I'm holding out to see how she does in The Last Song. We shall see.

Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher.

Stoneheart by Charlie Fletcher
First in a Trilogy
Young Adult, 480 pages
Published April 15, 2008 by Hyperion Books

A city has many lives and layers. London has more than most. Not all the layers are underground, and not all the lives belong to the living. Twelve-year-old George Chapman is about to find this out the hard way. When, in a tiny act of rebellion, George breaks the head from a stone dragon outside the Natural History Museum, he awakes an ancient power. This power has been dormant for centuries but the results are instant and terrifying: A stone Pterodactyl unpeels from the wall and starts chasing George. He runs for his life but it seems that no one can see what he's running from. No one, except Edie, who is also trapped in this strange world. And this is just the beginning as the statues of London awake? This is a story of statues coming to life; of a struggle between those with souls and those without; of how one boy who has been emotionally abandoned manages to find hope. -goodreads.com

I have had Stoneheart on my To Be Read list for a while now, but it wasn't available at my local library and I didn't quite want to shell out the money to buy it. Not when we have such fantastic books like the Hunger Games to buy. But the Lords of Reading smiled down on me when a friend walked into school one day, carrying this book. I gasped out that I have been wanting to read this book for ages, and she kindly lent it to me (once she was done, of course). It has an amazing premise: not only is there a London out there that the ordinary people can see, but Londons hidden away beneath it that we may never know about. One of these is filled with gargoyles and stone dragons and many other terrible, fantastical things. Needless to say, it sounds just like my kind of book. George is a young boy with mature problems weighing down on him. He has no one to turn to with these problems: not his carefree actress mother who is never home, or the rotten boys at school who torture him. He bottles these problems up inside, until one day they come spilling out in the worst way possible. He lashes out at a statue and miraculously knocks it's head off instead of being hurt by it. The chase gives way as the statue's mate decides to get revenge on George. George has unleashed a force he knows nothing about and has no way to stop. He must find allies quick before the statues destroy him.

Stoneheart is a hit-the-ground-running type of book. Since the moment George decapitates the statue, the readers have to dodge and digest the amount of information that keeps being thrown at them. There is definately never a dull moment in this book. As a reader, I don't need to be told everything, but I don't enjoy being told little to nothing and being kept in the dark for most of the book. Stoneheart is one of those books. I understand that the author is setting up for sequels; this is made obvious by the lip-biting cliffhanger at the end and the fact that the cover tells you its a trilogy. But I had to keep asking my friend, "Now when do we figure out about so-and-so?" or "Who the *%#@ is that guy?" Sometimes I would completely blank on important details and have to take a few minutes to regather my evidence, like Nancy Drew, to figure out the mystery. Just so you know, you never figure out the mystery in this book. It's like a Series of Unfortunate Events book; you're left with more clues and loose ends than answers. I can't wait to get my hands on the next books to find out what's going on. The plot jumps from high-speed foot chases and shady might-be-helpful might-be-backstabbing good/bad guys. I still haven't figured out what side they fall on.

One thing I loved about this book was the layers of London. I think the author did a excellent job of putting this in to perspective for the reader. No one from the 'normal London' can see George and Edie while they are interacting with statues. They could be seconds away from death, crying for help from the hordes of people surrounding them, and no one even glances up. They are living their daily lives, riding bicycles, laughing while a dragon could be scorching up a little twlve-year-old boy next to them. It was fantastic to imagine. I have never been to London, but I imagined a crowded city like New York. I can't picture how lonely it would be to be surrounded by people on the streets of a busy city and to be completely alone in a crisis like that. I felt empathy for George and Edie because they had no one to turn to, not even the police, because no one could see what they could see. That's not to say they were completely alone. There had the good and faithful Gunner, a fellow statue on the good side.

The characterzation was nothing too special. Edie was the plucky orphan with a shady past, but there is more to her than meets the eye. I can't wait to learn more about her in the books to come. We are never really given the full details of her childhood and how she came to be in London. Not to mention the fantastic cliffhanger that I can't even begin to explain. George was sort of whiny and selfish, but he grows into a bit of a man by the end of Stoneheart. I expect he has much more growing to do by the end of the series. I don't think these series are very well known, which is a shame because they are super fun to read. I had a good time with them. They recalled a rollicking adventure that didn't involve vampires, but another type of spooky supernatural beings that contained more than meets the eye.

Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell.

Fall of a Kingdom by Hilari Bell.
First in a Trilogy
Young Adult, 448 pages
Published January 6, 2005 by Simon Pulse

Who was Sorahb?
Stories are told of a hero who will come to Farsala's aid when the need is greatest. But for thousands of years the prosperous land of Farsala has felt no such need, as it has enjoyed the peace that comes from being both feared and respected.

Now a new enemy approaches Farsala's borders, one that neither fears nor respects its name and legend. But the rulers of Farsala still believe that they can beat any opponent.

Three young people are less sure of Farsala's invincibility. Jiaan, Soraya, and Kavi see Time's Wheel turning, with Farsala headed toward the Flames of Destruction. What they cannot see is how inextricably their lives are linked to Farsala's fate -- until it's too late.

In Fall of a Kingdom, the first volume of the Farsala Trilogy, Hilari Bell introduces readers to a world of honor, danger, and magic in this spellbinding tale of self-discovery.

This trilogy came highly recommended by Tamora Pierce, who is one of my all-time favorite authors, and my brother, who I almost always listen to in the area of books except when he is totally wrong. Tamora Pierce has listed this book on one of her recommended reading lists (and yes, I do stalk those when I'm bored). I was a little hesitant when I read the excerpt because, while I do love fantasy, I don't always enjoy worlds where the author makes up half of the worlds and the culture is just so out there. With all the 'Time's Wheel turning...' and Sorahb business, it raised some eyebrows for me. But I'm glad I decided to go ahead and read this anyway; I was pleasantly surprised. Fall of a Kingdom takes place in the land of Farsala, where the people have more or less prospered in their flawed system for many years. An ancient tale tells that when the land is in danger, an old hero will be reborn to save it. The people have not needed this hero, and the story had become more of a myth than fact. But then comes talk of a new enemy, the Hrum who have been sweeping through other countries and quickly destroying them. The Hrum are just and fair, giving the common people the same rights as anyone else. The current ruling class in Farsala, the deghans, are the complete opposite. They take what they can, anyway they can, and spit on the peasants who work for them.

The story switches between the stories of Jiaan- the illegitimate child of deghan who is treated like a peasant, Kavi-a traveling tradesman who finds himself helping the Hrum and the deghans, and Soraya- a young noble woman with enough spirit to take on the whole Hrum army herself. The characters are so well done that I think they may have been my favorite part of this whole book. They are not static or flat in anyway. I could see their motivations, insecurities, and flaws which were very believable. Jiaan I connected with quickly; the only thing he wants is to be accepted by his father, to be shown a hint of pride or emotion from him. He follows his father everywhere like a poor little puppy, begging for affection. He definately touched my heartstrings. Soraya was the fiery deghass, who didn't make excuses for herself and did what she had to do to survive. Her perspective of the story is always filled with peasant-hating comments that made her more realistic, as we are told throughout the whole story that deghans are stuck-up jerks. I was thrown back in forth between hating and loving her, which is where I think I was supposed to be. I may have I ended up loving her the most by the end of the first book, and I'm not even done with the series! Her story shows the promise of growth, which is very exciting. Kavi was complex as well because he wants the best for the common people, the everyday people like him, and he is constantly torn between who would be better as caretakers for them: the Hrum or deghans. He is a simple man, who doesn't know much about politics, and like most peasants is kept in the dark about such things. His hesistation about what was the right thing made me confused about what the right thing to do was as well. There is no clear cut choice between the Hrum and the deghans.

The beginning dragged a little. The action to a while took awhile to completely set itself up. We have a faux-kidnapping, but it wasn't that exciting. Also, there is no dictionary to explain the words, and the reader is just thrust into this world without any explanation. I was extrememly confused when I started reading as to what a 'djinn' was and who ranked higher, a gahn or a deghan/deghass. Eventually that all worked itself out, and from then on the story flowed well. The action was tense and exciting, with just the right amount of pause when the perspective was switched. It didn't feel choppy to have three different main characters. I give this my Tin Heart stamp of approval and recommendation.

Also, did anyone else completely fail at NaNoWriMo? I did. Better luck next year, right? I hope so.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
"Mary, come pray with me."
First in a Series
Young Adult, 320 pages
Published March 10, 2009 by Delacorte Books

In Mary's world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future - between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death? -from goodreads.com

DISCLAIMER: this book made me cry. Yeah, it was that good. I absolutely loved this book. I started craving to read it after I saw Jackson Pearce's review of this book. Might I just say that she is awesome. Then to add to my growing excitement over this book, it started to gain more and more publicity in the blogging world. I know it has probably been blogged to death, but right now I am basically blogging for my love and books and not to let readers know about some great unknown books. Mary lives in a post-zombie apocalyptic world, where her life is enclosed by a fence to keep the Unconsecrated, which is what the villagers call the zombies, out. The people in her life live with a constant fear of the Unconsecrated, but the Sisters and Guardians keep this fear under control while also controlling the people. But Mary has a hard time being controlled, especially when her dreams of the ocean are ready to burst out of her and the fence she is bound inside.

I felt so pathetic compared to Mary; here is a girl, who's hopes should have been smashed by the fact that a gang of undead are waiting to rip her apart, but no she keeps reaching for the ocean until even I'm like, "Girl, you're getting a little ridiculous." But she didn't listen to anybody. She is so admirable that way; no one else's opinion matters but her own, and she goes after her dream no matter what. I don't have a whole horde of Unconsecrated to stop me, and many times I have given up on my dream. Obviously, I need to work on my determination. Mary might be one of the most inspirational heroines I have ever read about. Her faults arer real (very real) but there aren't the annoying, overdone faults that you normally find in an adventure heroine. I felt like I really could connect with her, yet I still looked up to her.

SLIGHTLY SPOILERISH: Another aspect that I thought was very well done was Mary's relationship with Travis. At the beginning of the book, I thought that this was going to be another 'love from far away that magicals works out one day.' I dislike those because I don't feel the relationship is built of anything other than slightly stalkerish tendecies (umm, Twilight...). It is explained later on in the book that Mary and Travis were childhood friends, along with Travis' brother and Mary's best friend. They used to listen to the same stories of the ocean, out of which their shared love of the ocean grew from. The lack of other eligible young people for marriage, as well as the fact that these four people grew up together, creates a very believable and tangled love triangle (square?). I grew attached with these characters, and my heart ached when the relationship with Mary and Travis grew sour. I just wanted to scream, "Say you LOVE HIM! and make up already." But of course, it didn't work out that way, which made much more sense but was way more heart breaking.

This is definately added to my favorite books of the year list, and the sequel will be added to the Tantilizing Tomes (which will be an up and coming feature). Also, I thought the book trailer for this was very well done, keeping with the theme of the novel without giving away too much. In other words, perfect.

Reviewing next: Blood Red Horse by K.M. Grant.

The Claidi Journals by Tanith Lee.

The Claidi Journals by Tanith Lee
Wold Tower, Wolf Star, Wolf Queen, Wolf Wing

All her life, Claidi has endured hardship in the House, where she must obey a spoiled princess. Then a golden stranger arrives, living proof of a world beyond the House walls. Claidi risks all to free the charming prisoner and accompanies him across the Waste toward his faraway home. It is a difficult yet marvelous journey, and all the while Claidi is at the side of a man she could come to love. That is, until they reach his home . . . and the Wolf Tower. -from goodreads.com

The Claidi Journals are not new in the slightest. The first book was published sometime in 2001. Nor are they considered classics, so to review about them is a little strange. However, I just finished the fourth book (which was published in 2003) a few days ago. But I thought what the heck! These books needed a little more love, because they rock! The Claidi Journals follows the life of Claidi, a servent living a harsh life in a house catering the nobles. She doesn't know what life lies beyond this House, other than a desert that the nobles say is filled with death. But one day, Claidi gets a chance to find out for herself what really is out there. And she takes it. This is where her journal begins.

My absolute favorite thing about these books is the character of Claidi. She is just so different from any heroine that I have encountered before in a book, and I love Tanith Lee for that. While my favorite books include butt-kicking won't-stop-for-anything types of heroines that know exactly what they are doing and execute it amazingly, it's hard for me to connect with those types of girls. People like that don't really exist in the world (at least, no one I know). Claidi could be me; she could be my friends; she could realistically be a part of our world. Most of the time she has no idea what the hack is happening to her. She doesn't come out with amazing karate chops that stun her attackers instantly when people are kidnapping her. She just goes along with it, panicking and trying (and failing) to find out what is happening to her. She attempts to fight back, but fails because she has no experience in fighting. The intricate plots of sinister people, even the people she loves who come up with plans to save her, baffle her. She humorously records all that is happening but is the last one to figure out what is going on. I love that because I am usually very slow on the uptake as well; I can relate.

The Wolf books are filled with many twists and turns, which Claidi writes dutifully in her little journal but never fully understands until much later. Because confusing things happen constantly but the narrator can't explain them very well, you as a reader have a hard time understanding what actually is happening. Many times I didn't understand what has occured even after Claidi figures it out. And she is supposed to be the slow one! I had to go back and reread the passages to puzzle it out. Tanith Lee creates her own world, with its own people, laws, and religions within these books, and some of these are very strange and hard to imagine. Sometimes when someone gives an explaination to Claidi's questions, the explaination is too confusing for her to understand so she just gives up and writes a vague answer. This can leave a lot of Why?s left over in your head when you finish the books. Claidi is bailed out by the strangest thing, and when she gets an answer as to why, it really doesn't make sense. It just seems like the author made up something to save Claidi. The Whys are always followed by a Because, but sometimes the Becauses need to be explained as well and they're aren't.

The Claidi Journals might possibly be my favorite books to reread. There are so many plot twists, that when I read them again I forget about so many little things. Almost everything surprises me again, even though I have already read it. I highly recommend these to fans of fantasy, who don't mind a crazy adventure in a made-up land which may or may not make complete sense all the time. Sometimes you just have to accept that something happened, and leave it at that.