When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

So! It's been a while since I've posted. Sorry about that. I've been too busy reading to write anything. Plus, January was a weird month, reading-wise. Everything seemed to be either super awesome or buh-oring with very little in between. I managed to finish every book I started (with one exception) but a few books took me weeks to finish because I just couldn't concentrate on them.

When She Woke is based on The Scarlet Letter. It's set in a Big Brother-ish* future, one that seems more than possible (way more possible than I am comfortable with), where democracy and theocracy in the US have twined together, setting the tenets of one religion over all others (which religion? You get three guesses and two of them don't count). In this future, abortion is now out-and-out illegal (not just more and more difficult to access) and instead of housing convicts in expensive prisons,  a process called melachroming changes a person's skin color based on their crime and then the person is set free (sort-of, it's more complicated than that, but words, there are too many). The narrator, Hannah Payne, after having been tried and convicted of "fetal murder", is sentenced to 10 years as a Red. The father of her almost-baby is a high muckity-muck in her church and Hannah has refused to name him, a decision that added years to her sentence.

Hannah was raised in an evangelical Christian household and the challenges to her faith comprised a great deal of the story. Her recollections of her life show that things happen to her as opposed to her making her own choices. Even though  she was a naturally inquisitive child and asked a lot of questions that were difficult to answer without an "Because god said so", she managed to convince herself that her affair with the married minister happened because...Jesus. Seems weird, but I can understand that it's easy to justify doing what you want if the decision never in your hands. It was mostly satisfying to see her become more self-sufficient and aware of her own motivations and beliefs but the story takes place over a pretty short period of time and she doesn't quite get where I want her to be.

The story is about more than Hannah though, it's a commentary about prejudice. Chromes are subject to wide-spread hatred; violence against a Chrome is nearly always ignored, both by regular citizens and by law enforcement. The women especially are prone to sexual violence. It's difficult to get a job, find housing, even use a public restroom if your skin is Red, Green, Yellow, or Blue. And while it would have been easy for the author to make racial prejudice disappear, there is an effort to confront that. There is also an effort to address Queer issues, but I don't think it was handled well. It felt more like "Inclusivity, we got it!" than anything else.

*Convicts are subject to a 30-day prison stay, during which all of their activities are nationally broadcast. I'll admit I don't quite understand how this voyeurism fits into the story, unless it's to drive home that Chromes aren't really considered people and have no real rights. 


Final Reckoning

Should you read this? Yes, overall, I think this was a pretty good book. Until the last quarter or so, where it takes a bizarre turn that detracted from the strength of the story. I would like to recommend it unreservedly but the ending made me glad I got it from the library.

Buy It . Borrow It . Skip It

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Series: n/a
P.O.V.: First person, past; single narrator
Language: Fairly clean

It's more Speculative Fiction than Fantasy, but I don't feel like starting a new tag

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

So apparently, November is read-an-amazing-book month. I had just finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone (I give it a bajillion stars, if you were asking) and I was perfectly astonished to have the next book I read be just as amazing (in an altogether different way).

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

I know The Night Circus has been hyped unbelievably but I have to say that I loved, really loved this book. Everything about it appealed to me: the magic, the romance, the whimsy and fantasy, and the utter bizarreness of it. It's definitely not a plot-driven story; I knew how the contest would end (in a general sense, although the specifics were fun) and it's not really character-driven either. It's the prose and imagery that really impel the whole thing. The imagery is seriously incredible (an aside: I am terrible at actually imagining imagery, right? But I felt like I was seeing everything. Or like I was remembering a place I had visited. This is a pretty cool thing for me because it happens so rarely). 

I usually enjoy when a story is told in a nonlinear fashion but here I felt like the timeline jumped around too much? Because even though each event is happening years apart, the way the story flowed just felt linear. Having to keep in mind that this one thing happened four years before this other thing but only two years after this new thing was a little jarring. I kept having to refer to the chronology at the beginning of each chapter and it broke up the experience for me. But really, this was my only complaint. 

Final Reckoning

Should you read this? Yes, go buy it now. This is another book that you should own physically  because it's just really beautiful.

Buy It . Borrow It . Skip It

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Series: n/a
P.O.V.: Alternating 2nd person, present/3rd person, present
Language: Mostly clean with a couple of dingers

Tinker by Wen Spencer (Hey look, an Elf!)

I found this one through the comments on SBTB too. Seriously, unless you have hours and hours to spare, don’t read comments on the book-recommendation posts.

Encapsulate This

Set in the near-future, Pittsburgh (due to a faulty inter-dimensional gate) is now part of an alternate dimension called Elfhome (where the elves live, no doy). One day a pack of wargs chase a super-sexy elf noble into the scrap yard where genius inventor Tinker works/invents stuff. She saves the super-sexy elf noble (his name is Windwolf, or Wolf Who Rules Wind, or Wolf Who Rules, take your pick) from the weird-not-quite-wargs. Practical and intellectual, Tinker is eighteen, has never been kissed, and has never been on a date. Naturally, she is infatuated with (super-sexy elf noble) Windwolf. There is a whole lot of stuff going on in this book, so I will summarize thus: Tinker goes on a date with a long-time friend, things go badly, she meets up with Windwolf again, things go badly, she is kidnapped by good guys, things go badly, she meets the elf Queen, things go badly, she is kidnapped by bad guys, things go really badly, she sort-of saves the day, REALLY ABRUPT ENDING. (Even for a cliffhanger, it was a little ridiculous.)

Ruminate on That

As I said, there is a lot of stuff going on in this book. With the combination of magic/science, mythology, romance, sexy times, alternate dimensions, super-smart heroine, and super-sexy elves, it has a lot of potential but Tinker can be a bit of wet rag sometimes and there were a number of unresolved sub-plots (some due to the existence of the unexpected sequel). A large part of my problem with this one is that Tinker is absurdly smart but in a really narrowly defined way. Yes, she’s a genius but because she has little life experience she’s naïve and doesn’t ask questions when she should, so things happen to her instead of her making things happen.* I’m hopeful that this is intentional and we see some character growth in the next two (!) books.

Final Reckoning

Read this? I think the premise is interesting enough and the writing/style is good enough to mostly forgive the wishy-washy heroine. Honestly though, I may just like it because I love elves.

Tinker by Wen Spencer, Book 1 of Elfhome

*Real Talk: This bit is a little spoiler-y, so don’t read it if that bothers you.

*There are a few aspects of this story that make my inner feminist shriek. Lack of consent (as it pertains to sex and other things) is an obvious one. Windwolf takes advantage of Tinker’s lack of knowledge about elf customs more than once. Is it intentional? I don’t know. The elves divide themselves by caste, so maybe it is just supreme arrogance on his part. Maybe he assumes that Tinker knows what’s going on simply because she’s supposed to be super-smart. Either way, even when she does ask questions, she’s given evasive answers. For example, he turns her into an elf because he “doesn’t want her to die” which she takes to mean “immediately” but he means “eventually” because she’s human and thus mortal. This is a seriously fucked up thing to do to someone without EXPLAINING and giving them a chance to accept or refuse. And then there is a scene with a sexual assault that is treated dismissively. A victim of SA is entitled to deal with it how they choose, but it happens and is never mentioned again. An attempted rape should be more than a mere plot device. It felt like it was added to provide an out for Tinker to be with Windwolf without the annoying love triangle bit. I have a suggestion: Instead of using attempted rape to rid the narrative of an unwanted character, how about we just don’t have the unwanted character? Hmm?

The Eyre Affair, Thursday Next Novels, Book 1

This has been on my TBR list for months and now that I’m reading it, I’m pretty mad at myself for putting it off so long. It’s funny, irreverent, and filled with sly inside jokes about classic books. If I had started reading this months ago, I could have been caught up with the series by now. Effective time management is not one of my skills.

The Eyre Affair is set in an (sort-of) alternate history England, year 1985, where authors are revered like rock stars. Books are sold on the black market almost like drugs. Selling a forged book is a crime that can get you some serious jail time. Scientific invention is more like magic. Richard III is performed like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with audience participation. Time travel is common-place and thanks to cloning, you too can have a pet dodo. (Does all of this sound awesome? Because it is totally awesome.) Thursday Next is a SpecOps LiteraTec, which is like a special agent for book-related crime. Someone is stealing the original manuscripts of beloved classics and kidnapping characters from the stories. Changing the original of a book changes ALL of the books in print because …magic. Thursday is assigned to help with the case. She’s already at the top of her division, and she hopes this is the case that will let her continue to move up the ranks.

This book is as close to being perfect as something can be. I love every single thing about this story, with two exceptions. The first is that the villain is more of a caricature than a character. I rolled my eyes at him more than once. The second is there are almost no physical descriptions of anyone. I have no idea what Thursday looks like. I have no idea what ANYONE looks like. I find this to be very troubling. Other than that, I say this book is eminently readable. I’m buying a copy so I can read it again.

The Eyre Affair, Thursday Next Novels, Book 1 by Jasper Fforde

Look, I have a dragon! [Star Of The Morning]

Just finished reading Star of the Morning by Lynn Kurland. A straight up fantasy novel, my favorite kind. No vampires or werewolves. Which, honestly? A relief. No angsty bloodsuckers and overly aggressive shifters? That’s awesome. I needed a break from those douche bags. Especially if I’m going to start working my way through AB:VH again.

The basic story goes as such: Dude (King of someplace with a funny name) is attacked by something and loses his ability to use magic and his magic sword (this is not a euphemism, it really is a magic sword). Dude has another magic sword (if it was a euphemism, I don’t know if I would be thrilled or appalled, but that’s beside the point) and he needs to find someone who can wield it. Dude’s brother, Chief Magic Man, sends Dude on a Quest to find the wielder. Enter Lady Mercenary who is sent on her own Quest to bring Dude a magic dagger (yes really, a magic dagger). And then: QUESTING. At some point, Dude (traveling incognito) and Lady Mercenary (with her gang of Mercenary Bro’s) meet up. Followed by: MORE QUESTING. Chief Magic Man (also incognito) eventually goes off to find his brother who has been gone for a couple of months. He finds the not-so-happy group, sees Lady Mercenary, is all OMG Yur beeyootiful, and joins the Quest. Now with MORE QUESTING. Plus, a LOVE STORY. Also: CLIFFHANGER. And a DRAGON.

If you like fantasy with some romance thrown in, give this a whirl. There is no naked business in the story and I doubt anybody’s nether regions will come into view, but hey, I’ve been surprised by that stuff before. The dialogue is pretty well written and the main characters are mostly interesting but there isn’t always a lot in the way of self-reflection, so sometimes they (and the secondary characters) come off a little flat. The fight scenes are extremely vague, but I’d rather vagueness than 6000 pages of battle scenes. There is some descriptive scenery but not really a lot of world building. Keeping the names of kingdoms and cities gets a little tough, but maybe that’s because there is no map. And maps of PLACES THAT DON’T EXIST are extremely helpful. What kind of fantasy doesn’t have a map? But there are a couple of anthologies with stories that are set in this world, so maybe I just need to read those first? Or maybe all the background info is going to be gradually introduced because it’s a series and it’s the first proper book. Whichever, I’m reading the next one once the Kindle price drops, because when I checked it was $11.99.

Series info: Star of the Morning, The Nine Kingdoms, Book 1

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Morning-Berkley-Sensation-Kurland/dp/0425238229/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294194109&sr=8-1