The Outsiders

I don't know how I got out of Middle School or Jr. High School without reading S.E. Hinton's book The Outsiders. Everybody I have ever talked to has loved the book and I finally got my hands on a copy. This book definitely gets an A. From the very first page I felt like I was already a part of Ponyboy's life and the gang. The writing was so good at making you feel everything that was happening. I have only ever cried once while reading a book and I have read a lot of books, but this book almost made me cry a little. Ponyboy, Sodapop, and Johnny are three of the most lovable characters I have ever read. Any scene with one of these boys in it was automatically good. The emotions and story were so real and I feel like a person from any walk of life would be able to relate to this book.

The Outsiders is an excellent story of social inequality and of love, friendship, and loyalty. Everybody should read this book and have a copy of it to read again and again. It is short so even you non-readers out there should take a chance on it if you haven't read it already. The Outsiders has instantly become one of my favorite classics.

Mockingjay

Mockingjay receives a C+ from me and only that by virtue of it giving me at least a bit of closure from the series.

From the beginning it felt like I was reading New Moon again. The depressing funnel only continues as the book goes on. I caught a brief glimpse of hope when they went to the district 8 hospital, but unfortunately the author chose to continue her boring display instead of giving the book some actual passionate action. I will admit that once Katniss takes command of the unit in the capitol it was interesting for a while, but then the author cops out again and doesn't let us see the taking of the palace. It was almost as if I was reading a great story, but being held at a distance and not allowed to participate in any of it.

There have been books in the past where the main character was not my favorite, but I generally still like the books. This series took me from the Hunger Games where I loved Katniss to Catching Fire where she was still fantastic, to this. All I could think the whole time I was reading it is that I wished it was not in first person so I could see some of the other (i.e. more interesting) character's viewpoints. This is not the way to create a hero.

The end was not satisfying. I knew who Katniss would shoot at the end. Even after she returns to District 12 nothing satisfying happens. The last six pages or so of a book are supposed to give the reader a sense of fulfillment, an emotion that was completely lacking in Mockingjay.

Everybody has probably already heard all of this from me but it would be wrong not include a section about Gale in this review. I have loved Gale's character from the very beginning. In book 2 I started to worry about him but he completely redeemed himself in this book. The only thing that made this book bearable was reading about Gale. I want to make a note right here that I LIKE PEETA'S CHARACTER TOO. As a Gale fan, everybody always accuses me of hating Peeta, but I don't. I would have been okay with Katniss choosing Peeta, but she DIDN'T CHOOSE HIM! The author copped out AGAIN and made the choice for Katniss. The complete lack of a formal realization that Peeta was better for her was appalling. The tension of the love triangle was the only thing that kept the story energized most times and this total disregard was probably the single largest reason why the end had no satisfaction.

The unfortunate fact of the matter is that I would still recommend this series to anyone because the first book is so amazing. I still stand by the position I took after Catching Fire. Even though the 2nd book was still entertaining and interesting, The Hunger Games should have been a standalone book.

(Having said all this, I will still go see the movies when they come out because I'm a sucker for books that become movies.)

Iliad

Robert Fagles' translation of the Iliad deserves an A.

I began reading this book for my Greek History class but I have always wanted to read it anyway. I am glad that the teacher led me to this translation because rather than being stilted and archaic, it is pure poetry.

Every line and section is written as it might have been sung thousands of years ago. Several small sections have become my favorite poems and the book as a whole is one long poem.

A good book makes you look forward to reading more. Luckily, I have the Robert Fagles' translation of the Odyssey on order from Amazon and I can't wait to read it.

Characters

Trojans: I generally dislike many of the Trojans. The glaring exceptions are Andromache and Hector, both of whom I love. I love Andromache because she is the perfect example of a loving, faithful wife. Her emotions feel real and her scenes, though few, are captivating. Hector is not the best warrior, but he is the best Trojan. In modern days he is often seen as a family man, which of course he is. However, none of these are the reasons I respect and like Hector. I like Hector because he knows that the entire Trojan kingdom rests on his back and that responsibility drives him to be a hardened leader who knows that he can not possibly win, but fights for it anyway. Whether the gods are with him or not, Hector knows he must always press on.

Greeks: I like Achilles because he knows he is the best and so does everyone else. He does not disappoint. He has the love of the gods and his refusal to fight is justified because he is powerful enough to say that it is. Having said that, I think he is petty and this undercuts his heroism. Diomedes shines for me brighter than anyone else. Diomedes feels he needs to prove that he can be a good warrior and he succeeds. Athena is with Diomedes and the man is ambitious enough to attack the gods (he harms both Aphrodite and Ares, his own father). Diomedes steps in to fill the hole left by the absence of Achilles. Odysseus does not shine too much in this book but he does have his moments and I do like him. He is best friends with Diomedes and although he is more of a strategist that a warrior, he doesn't pass by opportunities to protect his friends and fight for the Greeks. Two examples of this are when he goes with Diomedes to attack the Trojan camp during the night and another example when Diomedes is wounded and Odysseus stands alone against a horde until Ajax comes to relieve him. I am also a big fan of Patroclus because he loves Achilles enough to know his duty and not fight, though he wants to badly. Yet at the same time he pushes those boundaries and helps the sick men in the camps despite Achilles' ban on giving aid. His spirit quickly leads to his death and I wish we could have gotten to know him better.

Olympians: On my hate list are Apollo and Aphrodite, who support the Trojans. I do not like Aphrodite because she just constantly whines. She is technically responsible for the entire war yet she does not assume this responsibility and kind of pops in and out of the battle to conveniently save people who deserve to die. When she is wounded by Diomedes she comes crying to Zeus. She is pathetic. Apollo is strong and wise and he also fights for the Trojans. What I do not like about Apollo is that he seems to fight for himself, not the Trojans. He aids Hector and others, but only when it suits him and at no risk to himself. This seems cowardly even though he has great power. The only god that I love is Athena. Hera is okay, especially towards the middle of the book, but Athena is constantly in good standing. Athena loves warriors and she only loves the best. From the beginning Athena is drawn to Diomedes which made me like both of them even more. Athena often fights with Diomedes and allows him godlike abilities such as seeing gods and harming gods. Athena does not back down from a fight. She has a confrontation with Apollo directly, later in the book, and Apollo backs down though he is stronger. Athena commands respect and divinity.

I would recommend this book to anybody. I promise they will love it. If they open their minds to the possibility that the gods are actually real and this is the true, perfectly accurate history of Greece then it becomes even more exhilarating. One warning is that many people die and it is often described in graphic terms.

Jonathan Stroud Book Signing

Last night I had the fantastic opportunity to meet Jonathan Stroud, a British children's fantasy author. I first picked up his most famous work, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, in high school and I have been a fan ever since. Since he lives in England, this was quite a rare treat.

Jonathan started off by talking about his early writing career and showing us pictures of covers from different areas of the world. This was very interesting. I wish I could have gotten pictures but I didn't. Before launching into the Q & A session he read to us from his newest book The Ring of Solomon. It promises to be just as entertaining as the original three.



Most of the fans there were able to ask at least one question. There were only about 20 or so of us. After that we got in line to get our books signed. I not only had a copy of the new book but the other three as well in hardback and paperback. Now they are all signed and I am happy :)

Way of Kings Review (Spoiler Free)

The Way of King's is author Brandon Sanderson's attempt at epic fantasy. Before I critique the novel, let me say that it well deserves its grade as an A- book and ranks above a few of the other novels he has put out (all of which are fantastic by the way). So don't let the 1001 pages or any negative feedback put you off.

I will not talk about the writing because it is similar to that of his other books and in no way exceeds or falls short of them. Therefore I will only focus on plot line and things of that nature.

Pace: In a book this large it is impossible to completely avoid the feeling that a particular section or chapter is dragging. This will always happen at one point or another with a book of this size. I actually had this problem less with Way of Kings than I have with other books with a comparable length. Most of the time Brandon is pretty good about decided when he needs to switch viewpoints again and visit a character he has neglected for a while. This book actually reminds me a lot of The Great Hunt (The second book of The Wheel of Time series) in which the author must juggle more than a few viewpoints.

Characterization: This is the bulk of my negative comments about the book. Although Dalinar and Kaladin are well-developed (as well as all the minor characters on the Shattered Plains), Jasnah, Shallan, and the other characters in the west are not. In Shallan's case we do know quite a bit about her past, but it is . . . well, boring. For me Shallan did not get interesting until her encounter towards the end of the novel. Although I love reading about Kaladin's past (especially his brother Tien) I felt like putting in SO MUCH of it was cheating the reader. I realize Brandon has a clear view of what he wants to do but I would rather he work those large chunks into the chapters as smaller chunks or comments or memories over a longer period of time to give the reader the sense that he is actually getting to know Kaladin better rather than just reading Kaladin's history.

Magic: As always, Brandon has an interesting magic system quite different than anything he has written before. I suppose that is his trademark: to invent a new and unique magic system for each of his books. Way of Kings is no exception. I felt like he handled it perfectly. A little over explanation of surgebindings in fight scenes, but overall well done.

Climax and Ending: The climax was perfectly placed and well developed and supported by what the reader has come to know. The ending was not rushed yet not dragged out either and it made for the perfect transition into the second book when it comes out. The mini-climax and ending for the Jasnah/Shallan story thread was much too rushed but it had to happen that way because of Brandon's neglect concerning that storyline.

Best/Worst: As far as characters go Dalinar, Kaladin, then Adolin top the list for me. Kasbal and Shallan are solidly at the bottom. The pace of unfurling the magic system with Kaladin and Dalinar was perfect. Elokhar, though he is meant to be a weak character, is too weak in my opinion. Hoid (explained below).

Things to look forward to: A Jasnah viewpoint in future books would be great because she comes across as a potentially interesting character but she didn't really get a chance to shine here. I would also like an ardent viewpoint at some point in the series so that the reader can more fully explore the Devotaries and the Vorin religion.

Hoid: Brandon has the tendency to talk down to his reader at times. He realizes that not all of his readers can figure out everything by themselves, but it still bothers me when he has to directly come out and say things. Hoid in this book is a great example of that. I would rather continue to read vague hints and clues at the cosmere and Hoid but this book gives him nearly two full chapters worth of material. I don't know how I feel about this. I would rather be forced to figure it out on my own at roughly the same pace as Brandon has been laying it out thus far. A pace increase was required eventually, but this was too far of a leap.

This One's For The Boys

I decided to do a blog post about the only major books in my life in which my favorite character is male rather than female. In order to qualify for this the book has to be fairly large and have more than one main character. Thus books like Artemis Fowl and Ender's Game don't count. I am doing this because generally my favorite characters are female and I think the boys are feeling a little left out.

Illiad
I am currently reading the Illiad for my Greek History class and this shout out goes to Diomedes. He has got to be one of the most amazing male characters ever written. Now you might try and say that the Illiad doesn't have many female characters in it (and you would be correct) BUT this was actually a pretty close contest. Athena is easily my second favorite character and it was a close call between the two.

Mistborn
Even though Vin is pretty sweet, Elend is my favorite character in the Mistborn series (particularly the first book). I guess I identified with Elend a lot in the first book and would like to think that if I was in his place I would have made similar decisions as he did. For many people he doesn't get awesome until the second and third books in the series but Elend book 1 is my favorite.

Way of Kings
The book I am currently trying to plow through is Way of Kings. I have not finished it yet but I am about 500 pages in and so I think I can say with some confidence that I know the characters well enough to make this kind of decision. Kaladin is easily my favorite character followed closely by Dalinar, then Adolin. This book is something of a rarity because usually if my first choice is male then my second choice will be female but in this book my top three characters are all male. I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing that I don't really like any of the females in the book that much . . .

Alera Codex
Jim Butcher is not inept in writing female characters, but Tavi (the main) is just so well-written except for his age (see my review) and lovable that you can't help making him your favorite. Invidia and Isana are my favorite after Tavi though.

A special shout out goes to Brandon Sanderson for writing two of the only four books I could think of (given the aforementioned restrictions) where my favorite character is male. Perhaps he will turn in to the opposite of Robert Jordan for me (Jordan writes strong female characters that I absolutely love).

Honorable Mentions
Dragonlance (Tanis and Raistlin come close but they just don't beat Kitiara)
Harry Potter (Bellatrix takes the cake then Ginny but Harry, Ron, and Sirius are close behind)

Way of Kings Release Party

Okay, so most of you probably don't know this, but I was camping out at BYU for the last three days in order to get a low numbered copy of Brandon Sanderson's new book The Way of Kings. I had been hoping to get there first, but the two people in front of me went over there Friday night and I didn't show up until Saturday morning.

Saturday: On Saturday we found out that BYU was putting on a Freshman dance and we were actually required to moved until the dance was over. I just went home then came back around 11:00 as they were picking up. Nobody else joined us that night. It wasn't terribly cold, but the cement could have been comfier.

Sunday: Throughout the day Sunday we had three more people show up and then a lot of people from about 10:00 pm to 12:00 am. I mostly did homework (read over 200 pages of school stuff and leisure reading). I tried to nap too but that wasn't very successful.

Monday: Monday morning we got our numbered tickets and we were free to leave until 9:00 that night so I got to go to my classes after all. After school I had lunch with Natasha then headed back to BYU and helped Josh and Michelle (They run the official Brandon fan website and they were the two people in front of me) and their friends set up the activities for the signing. It kept the boredom away.

Once they let us in at 10:00 pm I tried to busy myself with participating in the activities so that the waiting didn't get to me like it did last year with The Gathering Storm.

The book is 1001 pages long, plus the index. It is a beast. Tor also published the maps in color (picture below) which they rarely do because it is so expensive and the cover art is done by a well-known fantasy cover artist named Michael Whelan. If you want to know more about The Way of Kings or any of Brandon's books go to his website brandonsanderson.com or the fansite 17thshard.com or the publisher's site Tor.com. I will be posting my review of the book once I finish but that probably won't be for a while because of school.

I am so excited to camp out again this November 2nd when the next Wheel of Time book comes out!

Academ's Fury

I have finally finished the second book in Jim Butcher's Alera Codex. Here is my official review.

Grade: B

Tavi still seems too old. In this book he is meant to be around 18 years old yet at school he is being bullied, his voice is changing, and he has a 16 year old's grasp on romance and love (which is how old I decided he is as I read it).

Much of the book takes place in Alera Impera, the capital city of Alera. There is one side story which takes place back in the Calderon Valley but although two of are favorite characters, Bernard and Amara, are located here, the story is flat and boring. While reading those parts the reader can't wait to get back to Alera Impera and Tavi.

The theme of the story was well-written but rather than building, the series is written in a more episodic fashion where there is a new bad guy each episode.

The Epilogue was not needed. I felt as if the book hinted enough at Tavi's heritage that the epilogue basically shouted "Hey all you slower people, looky here." That frustrates me because if someone was unable to pick up what it was trying to say from the hints already present in the book then they can figure it out in the next book as it unfolds farther.

I did not like it as much as the first one but it did help develop Tavi and Kitai as well as introduce the reader (finally) to the overarching theme of the series which is rooted in politics and the succession of the throne of Alera.

If you have read this book feel free to post a review and/or grade as well.

Book Reviews

I have decided that I will review every book I read from now on just in case someone cares. And it will be nice to have my initial thoughts down on paper if I want to look back on them sometime. Here is the grading scale I have invented for these reviews:

E: If I attach an E to any grade it means that the book was read for entertainment value mostly. This means that all recommendations might change a little from the scale because of one thing or another.

A: Stellar book, definitely a read again, definitely a must buy. A book of this caliber should be owned in both hardback and paperback.

A-: Great read, should read again, should buy. Just short of an A because of minor plot/character/pacing or various other flaws.

B+: Good read, should read again, probably a buy. This is not in the A bracket because of at least one more than minor mistake.

B: Good read, should read again, buying is up to debate. Better than average writing and story but with many mistakes or flaws.

B-: Decent read, maybe read again, probably not buy. Not a waste of time, but lacking soul.

C+: Decent read, probably not read again, not buy. Not a waste of time necessarily but the book was not of interest and/or was not well-written.

C: Poor read, probably not read again, not buy. Waste of time. It may not have been terrible but there were definitely better things to do with my time.

C-: Poor read, not read again, not buy. I would be surprised if I made it all of the way through the book because it was so terribly written.

F: Terrible read, do not read again, do not buy. Complete waste of time. Terrible literature.

Feel free to post a review or grade if you have also read the book I am reviewing.

Furies of Calderon

A few days ago I just finished the first book in Jim Butcher's Alera Codex. Here is my official review.

Grade: B

For all fantasy fans, this book has immediate appeal. The magic relates to control of the elements though it has a "Golden Compass" aspect to it in that the elements are conscious and the "Crafters" sort of become companions with the "Furies."

Unfortunately, the first couple hundred pages do not do enough to bond the reader to the characters. Tavi is liked right away, but he takes too long to develop and Amara remains only mildly interesting until Bernard comes into the picture. Luckily I continued to read because the book ended up actually being pretty good.

The magic system did not dominate the characters, which is a clear sign of good writing.

The character Tavi was written in a way that makes it seem as if he is younger than he really is. About halfway through the book it states that Tavi is fifteen, but I think it would have worked much better had he been around twelve or so. His voice seemed that way and I was honestly shocked when his age was revealed. This was one of the major character flaws in the book.

The overarching theme of the series introduced in the first few chapters does not see much resolution. I typically do not like books that start by basically saying "I am going to be a monster series." I guess it works out alright in the end. I suppose my opinion will change a little once I have read the other books in the series.

Overall, I give it a B because of its character flaws and lack of interesting beginning. Because it turned out to be a great book once it got going, it still passes and should be read again.

If you have read this book feel free to post a review and/or grade as well.

New Artemis Fowl Covers

As you may or may not know, the covers for the books in the Artemis Fowl series have been redone. I am not a particular fan of either cover in general and I understand that the new covers probably have a greater appeal to young readers but I am upset that they did not make the decision to publish all of the books under the old covers. Below you can see an example of the old cover vs. the new cover.




Now, I would not normally be so upset, but the series was unfinished when they decided to make this decision. This means that the most recent release, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox, only has the old cover if you purchase the hardback copy. I collect paperbacks and therefore can't purchase this book to complete my set. The seventh book, tentatively set for release at the beginning of August this year, will not be released with the old cover either.

I could not let this travesty occur without comment.

It's Here!

All I can say is woot. The cover art for Way of Kings has finally been released by Tor (actually a few days ago but I am just getting around to posting about it). This is the book I am going to camp out for just in case you wanted to see it. Also, if you think I'm excited now (and you can tell because there is an exclamation mark in the title of this post) then you just wait till they release the Towers of Midnight cover art (book 13 in the Wheel of Time series). The White Tower, the Black Tower, together on one 5 or so by 8 or so inch book covering. It's gonna be crazy.....just crazy.

Wheel of Time Hardcovers

Interesting Note:

After I purchased The Gathering Storm (Book 12 in the Wheel of Time Series) during its release party I decided I would collect the other books in hardcover as well since it is my favorite series. I didn't even own a paperback version of book 11 so I bought it in hardcover. It just so happens that I was in DI today and I saw book 10 and book 9 in hardcover. The world is obviously telling me that I am meant to purchase the Wheel of Time series hardcover books in descending order.