| What would you do if one night you were reading aloud to your brother and all of a sudden he disappeared and in his place was a heroic pony from the story? Yes, we know you would rejoice, but aside from that. Have we got your attention? Good, now let�s talk about the book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Tell yourself to ignore the Funke. One such event happened to a man named Silvertongue, or better known as Mo. He was reading to his wife one night�apparently, she was an illiterate�when, all of a sudden, three amigos stand in the place of his beloved spouse and two cats. Why the cats, we ask you? Why the cats?! Well, anyway, the three amigos were actually all characters from the book he had been reading out of, Inkheart, respectively, Dustfinger, Capricorn, and Basta. Dustfinger wants to get back in the book. Capricorn wants to destroy the book. Basta doesn�t know what he wants. Mo wants his wife back. And Meggie...she doesn�t want anything either. Oh, and Capricorn also plans to take over the world. He is the antagonist of the story, by the way, if you haven�t picked up on that yet. So, Mo�s jumping from place to place trying to hide himself, Meggie, and the book from Capricorn, and Dustfinger is there to...well, we don�t know what Dustfinger is there for, but he breathes fire, so he�s cool. Well, actually, that would make him rather hot, but...anyways. You do get the idea, don�t you? Good. We found the plot to be overall unique, but we had a few mixed feelings about the characters and some of the actual content of the book. The uniqueness, generally, is completely contained in the plot. But you already heard about that, so let�s move on to the next point. As for the characters...well, the characters were a two sided mirror. We have the bad guys, and we have the good guys. Now, the bad guys we like, because they�re...bad. Bad guys should always be bad, never good, don�t you agree? In the spirit of simplicity, we shall not get into why there should not be good bad guys. The good guys, on the other hand, well, they are really good, but we have a few problems with that. They�re too good. Meggie�s fairytale heroism thing just doesn�t strike us realistically. Very few twelve year olds, especially ones living as sheltered a life as she does, are going to stand up to a couple of really bad, brutal dudes and actually threaten them (�I shall bite my tongue and then I won�t be able to say anything!!� Sad, sad, sad...) Also, let�s get into the fact that Mo never yells at his daughter. We have a problem with that in the first place, because no two human beings have such a picture-perfect relationship. A human being and a horse or a bird, perhaps, but not two human beings. And, for another, this very much implies that he never disciplines her, which would mean she would be a rampant, spoiled brat (which she isn�t). The pieces just really don�t fit. The only good guy that we really liked was Dustfinger. On the other hand, Dustfinger isn�t exactly a good guy�he�s not really a bad guy either. He�s a really emotionally unstable dude, but he breathes fire, so we�ll forgive him. He has a very interesting air of mystery about him that manages to snatch the attention and make you want to keep reading about him. The content of the book was not up to par, either. Granted, there were a few good things. Like the fire. It�s so...destructive. Fire, we love you. Go on, everyone, take a moment out of reading this review to go give your fire a great big hug. We�ll be standing by with the extinguisher. (Mhiko: Sera, we�re gonna get sued.) (Sera: Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.) The adventure was pretty good, too. You can�t go a chapter without running into complications. Like fiiiiire...(Mhiko: Down, Sera, down.) However, there were several things that we also found disturbing. For instance, why is there cursing in this book when it, for all purposes, is written for children? A thousand shames upon your head, Ms. (giggle) Funke! For another, we notice a number of disturbing athiestic leanings. And in a book that, for all purposes, is written for children! Two thousand shames! Well, that pretty much wraps it up. You might find yourself asking: so is this book a thumbs up or a thumbs down? Well, that, my friend, is a complicated matter, so we usually find ourselves just doing this *one up* *one down*. The book is actually a good read, unless you�re easily influenced, in which case, you should treat it as if it�s...on fire! Which means don�t be stupid and hug it like some of our more gullible readers. As for those of you who did hugged your fire, good luck on your recovery! |
| INKHEART BY CORNELIA FUNKE |
| By Sera Amadis |
| NEVERWHERE BY NEIL GAIMAN |
| By Sera Amadis |
| Do you ever wonder if there�s more than this world can see? Oh, I don�t mean extraterrestrials or even different dimensions, I�m talking about things beneath the world�s surface. Like sewers and stuff. I�ll bet you never take the time to think what�s down there, do you? You probably think nothing exciting, don�t you? Well, the book Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman quickly dispenses any cursory thoughts of sewers and passageways beneath the ground being nothing more than sewers and passageways beneath the ground. So, here�s the idea: the rather timid, soft-hearted Richard Mayhew is walking along the sidewalk in London on a date with his girlfriend, when he stumbles upon a young girl laying on the sidewalk, bleeding. Rather concerned for the girl�s welfare, he takes her back to his apartment (since she desperately begged him not to take her to the hospital), helps her out in bandaging her arm and such, has a close brush with two weird dudes named Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, and then she blows town. After she leaves and Richard is pondering the past few days of weirdness, he is suddenly confronted with a new fact of his life: no one in London knows any longer who he is, his apartment has been lent out to someone else, his office has been cleared out, and taxis won�t stop for them. In fact, very few people even see him unless he dramatically brings attention to himself, and, even then, they forget him very quickly. What in the world has happened? Well, Richard discovers that he has �fallen through the cracks� of London, and is now going to be stuck in the underworld beneath the streets. He eventually runs into the girl he saved (named Door) and tags along with her and her small entourage since he is unaware of what else to do. Door has a slight problem of her own: her whole family has been brutally slaughtered, and her own life is sought by the afore-mentioned Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar for reasons she hasn�t the slightest idea why. Now all that plot may seem rather confusing; that�s because it is. Well, hopefully, you�ll be able to figure it out if you read that this paragraph enough times over, but when you�re finished, perhaps you can get into the actual review. One of the big things that drew me into this book, is, of course, the uniqueness, and it is also strikingly funny despite it�s dark feel, although some of the moral messages it sends could be questioned. As you have probably gathered, Neverwhere is an extremely unique story and is very enjoyable because of it. I certainly haven�t read or even heard of any stories before that revolve around a world beneath ground of large cities such as London and New York. The floating market idea helps create an idea of the different culture, and even the perspective from which the story is told (Richard�s point of view, despite the fact that the most interesting things are happening to Door, not him) makes for a rather different feel. It feels more like a nightmare than an adventure or a fantasy story. Well, perhaps �nightmare� is a little strong, but that�s basically the way it is with all the weirdness and scariness. I, personally, think such an atmosphere makes the story all the more interesting, but I suppose some would beg to differ (...eh heh, hello, Mom...) It also has a number of surprising twists that I certainly never expected (and I am an experience twist-spotter, if I may add). Another surprising aspect of the story is that it�s absolutely hilarious. The way Richard is henpecked and pushed around by his prissy, domineering girlfriend in the beginning of the book is sure to crack a smile on any face (particular on any unfortunate gentlemen who is frequently henpecked and pushed around by a prissy, domineering girlfriend). The bad guys (Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar) were extremely likeable for all their badness, too. When the character de Carabas makes a deal with the two henchmen (he�ll give them a T�ang dynasty artifact if they give him answers to three questions), and Mr. Croup walks around his first two questions vaguely, not really answering them at all, then we have the Mr. Vandemar who quickly responds to the third question with something of value to de Carabas. �That�s it,� Mr. Croup accuses Mr. Vandemar. �Tell him everything, why don�t you?!� �I wanted a turn,� Mr. Vandemar pouts. Or when they burst into Richard�s apartment looking for Door, and they look in the bathroom finding nothing. �Sorry,� Mr. Vandemar apologizes. �Thought I had to use the toilet. Didn�t.� Even the fact that they always call each other MISTER Croup and MISTER Vandemar is sort of funny. In addition to the funny characters, humor can even be found in the writing itself. For instance, �Richard took a step back and stepped on someone�s foot. Someone was well oer seven feet tall...Someone�s teeth had been sharpened to points. Someone picked Richard up with a hand the size of a sheep�s head...� Richard�s timidness and stammering, and a number of side occurrences also help in making the story just plain ol� hilarious. However, some of the morality portrayed in the book is doubtful. Namely, there is a LOT of cursing and swearing in this book, and not all of it is in the character�s quotes, either. There are also a few references made to Richard sleeping with his girlfriend, and it was treated as merely normal. For all that, however, it does seem to portray adultery in a bad light and also makes a large number of biblical allusions (and I don�t mean in the way of making fun of them either). To add a few more minor complaints, I found Croup�s and Vandemar�s diets to be rather disturbing, Mr. Vandemar�s consisting of slugs and the heads of small animals and Mr. Croup�s of T�ang dynasty artifacts. It really bugged me when Mr. Vandemar caught and ate a pigeon, but maybe that�s just because I�m a bird freak. He deserved his fate for the life of that pigeon, if nothing else. I also thought that the name of Door�s bodyguard (Hunter) was kind of pathetic. The idea the author is trying to portray, I suppose, is that of...well, a hunter, but every time the woman�s name is mentioned, I still can�t get the image of the little boy Hunter in my Taekwondo class, who, for all his vicious �Hi-ya�s� is still only five years old. All that said, I would recommend the book with caution. It is a good read, but the language is horrible. Soap your ears when you're finished and hopefully you'll be okay.... |
| Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that you thought that it was real, or had a day when you felt so numb that it was like walking through a dream? Of course, waking up always puts things back into perspective, but what if the difference between what�s real and what�s a dream suddenly isn�t there? Thomas Hunter finds himself in that very situation when his �dreams� of Earths� future predict the destruction of the world in three weeks. But he and his sister Kara begin to understand that perhaps Tom�s not just dreaming of another world; he actually exists in another world. Could Tom�s �dreams� have inadvertently set into motion the most deadly world-wide terrorist attack in history? Before I start raving about how amazing Black is (Black is the first in a trilogy), I believe that a plot summary is in order. Thomas Hunter, an aspiring novelist, finds himself living in two worlds, our familiar muddled Earth, and the other an Earth in the far future where good and evil are completely separated. When he falls asleep in one world, he wakes up in the other. When he learns a new skill in one world, he can use it in the other. All information he learns in one world about the other is valid. So when in future Earth he learns of an airborne vaccine that will kill four billion people in three weeks, he knows he has to do something about it. The problem; how do you go about convincing the world that fuzzy white bats from your dreams where the trees are all different colors and everyone has green eyes told you that everyone is going to die from a supposedly revolutionary vaccine? As Thomas beings to unravel the mysteries surrounding the Raison Vaccine (or the Raison Strain as it is known to the terrorist trying to use it), the world begins to take notice. And so do the terrorist. However, the assassin Carlos Missirian finds it hard to kill a man who�s already been killed twice. (having flashbacks�. Why won�t it just DIE?!) Twisted enough yet? It gets more elaborate as the plot goes on. In fact, this is one of the greatest things about Black, it never seems to run out of plot twists. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, something else was thrown into the mix. First Tom�s saving the world. Then Tom�s accidentally tipping off terrorists. Then Tom�s trying to find the cure. Then Tom�s kidnapping the only person who can make a cure. Then Tom�s� well, you�ll have to read it to find out. Which brings us to another great thing about this book, it�s filled with action! The first chapter starts with a gun fight and leaps right into future Earth. It never really slows down. When Tom and Kara aren�t running, their fighting for their lives. Tom makes several trips to the black forest (the habitat of evil) while in future Earth that had this reviewer holding her breath. Did I mention that Tom is killed twice? The adrenaline starts flowing whenever you pick it up. Another great point, the characters are actually likeable! Tom makes for an interesting hero, and his sister Kara is really something. The bad guys are horrid and hateable (always a plus). All in all, everyone fills their place perfectly. Lastly, the parody that future Earth presents to the Christian life is beautiful. Elyon (who represents God) draws his people close to him with love that surpasses all understanding. The �Eden� setting of future Earth portrays life without sin in an astounding manner. The way that Dekker illustrates the �fall� breaks one�s heart. The allegory is truly amazing. Now, alas, I must tell of the faults of this book. Actually, there�s only one downfall to Black; the somewhat choppy style that Dekker uses. Ex.; �Tom blinked in the darkness. Breathed hard, tried to clear his mind.� Just a bit irritating after a while. Overall, the plot twists, action, characters, and parodies in Black definitely make it a hard-to-put-down kind of read. Witty and deep, Black has become a welcome addition to this fiction-lover�s library, and I anticipate getting the next book in the series; Red. In fact, I highly recommend it to anyone who love fiction books. Mhiko�s Rating 9.8 out of 10 Lose .2 points for the choppy grammar style. |
| BLACK BY TED DEKKER |
| By Mhiko Kihonae |
| Well, my reading life is picking back up again, and this time it�s kind of a sort of fairly new book. I found it in the new releases section of the library, but the copyright says 2004, so I�m just really confused about the whole thing. So, getting to the book: The Ships of Air by Martha Wells. Despite the fact that I checked it EVER so carefully before checking it out, as I walked out the library that it has a very small, tiny subscript that says, �Book Two in the Fall of Ile-Rien.� AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!! I swear, it�s like a curse. Well, anyways, as near as I could gather, the plot mainly revolves around...well, the fall of some land called Ile-Rien. Ile-Rien (along with the rest of the world) is being taken over by these evil wizard dudes called the Gardier, while main characters Tremaine and her two Syprian friends Ilias and Giliead are trying to stop them, eventually ending up on some giant ship called the Ravenna...blah blah blah, you know, the typical. As you have just discovered, the plot is, in fact, rather cliche with a few oddball things thrown in here and there. As far as the story itself, though it manages to keep the action rolling, it is plagued by characters so dull they make my economics class the thrill of a lifetime in comparison. So, you�ve heard all about the dime-a-dozen plot�but, hey, bad dudes taking over the world IS kind of interesting, so we�ll forgive that. Fortunately, it does manage to throw in a few things that drive it away from the plague of typical, namely, the fact that the people of Ile-Rien have technology: telephones, radios, television, and stuff like that. I didn�t read anything about laptop computers, so it�s still not my kind of place, but at least it gave the story an occasional slightly unique lilt. I will also grant the fact that there is rarely a dull moment. Something is ALWAYS happening, and when something finally is resolved, something else happens. Ah, all those lovely near-death experiences...doesn�t it make you happy? It makes me happy. Unfortunately, however, despite the action-packed story, the book is severely lacking in an important component called characters. They just don�t feel real. Essential emotions like sorrow and happiness simply don�t exist�I can sense more feeling from a cardboard box. In addition to the lack of realism, they also have very one-dimensional personalities. No quirks or fears or anything to make one different from the other whatsoever. In fact, the characters were so boring, that when the Gardier had that gun pointed to Ilias�s head, I was almost jumping with joy, yelling, �Yaaay!!! Shoot him!!!� After all, I need SOMETHING to make them more interesting. The only character who has any kind of vague personality twist is Tremaine, whose quirk mainly seems to be the enjoyment of being mean to people. Unfortunately, this quirk only makes us want to chop her head off and watch it go round and round when we flush it down the toilet instead of making us more attached to her. I think it would be kind of cool if she had died, but, no, none of the characters really died. That is, except for the annoyingly-cheerful Arites. Which was the only dude I kind of sort of liked. Do I sense cruel irony calling my name? Other more minor complaints about the book include unnecessary swearing, the Syprians� habit of walking around in their birthday suits when the feeling so comes upon them, and other things of overall idiocy. So, after saying all this, would I ultimately recommend the book? Not really. Unless you are utterly convinced that you have read every single good book available, just go with something else. And it�s certainly not worth spending a large sum of money on. As for me, my next project is Eldest. Yes, I did say Eldest. Miraculous, is it not? I was beginning to fear that Mr. Paolini had died and not told us. Apparently, he was only kidnaped by some crazed lunatic. No, really, Mhiko knows nothing about this... |
| THE SHIPS OF AIR BY MARTHA WELLS |
| By Sera Amadis |
| ELDEST BY CHRISTOPHER PAOLINI |
| By Mhiko Kihonae and Sera Amadis |
| Well, it�s finally out: the much-awaited second book in the Inheritance Trilogy, Eldest. (Sera:...I have writer�s block again) (Mhiko: Let�s go make cookies...) Okay, we�re back. Now...what were we saying? Oh, yes, the much-awaited second book in the Inheritance Trilogy. Eldest picks up right after the battle at Farthen Dur in the first book, Eragon (and, no, we don�t mean IN Eragon, we mean in Eragon. Got that? Good.) And if you don�t know the plot of Eragon, go into our book archives and read our review on THAT. In this one, all we�ll say is that Eragon is a kid with a dragon (named Saphira), who is hiding from evil emperor Galbatorix. In Eldest, Eragon goes on to Du Weldervarden where the elves will further his training in magic and the fighting arts. In the meantime, Eragon�s cousin and only family member left that he knows of, Roran, returns to his home town of Carvahall to find that his uncle is dead, his farm burned, and Eragon gone, all, of course, at the fault of Eragon. And if that doesn�t stink enough, he soon gets two strangers called the Ra�zac coming after him, hoping that he�ll reveal the whereabouts of Eragon. Anyways...Ra�zac and Emperor�s soldiers begin destroying Carvahall, and Roran takes it upon himself to lead the villagers to safety in the rebel state of Surda. While Eldest is still interesting and extremely well-written as Eragon is and actually is a little better than Eragon in the realm of humor, it has gone downhill in several other aspects, primarily because of some very annoying elves. The primary reason that we all love Eldest is because it�s just so darn adventurous. Even between all the little people dropping dead left and right, Eragon�s training is strangely interesting, although his meditation thing was more along the lines of disturbingly funny. We had no idea the elves were so into yoga. In contrast, however, Roran�s situation was...well, boring and pathetic. See, he has this little love plight going with some girl named Katrina, which is pitiful at best. Suck it up, man! You�ve got a village to save, you don�t have time to make goo-goo eyes at some chick! (Sera�s mom: Sera, did you clean the bathroom yet?) (Sera: Uhm...) (Mhiko: Go ahead, I got this.) (Sera: Well, ok...but don�t blow anything up, got that?) (Mhiko: Yeah, yeah...) Despite all of the depressing romance and certain doom, Eldest manages to maintain an impressive level of humor. During Eragon�s magic training with Oromis, for example, Eragon makes a painfully hilarious mistake concerning throwing orbs of hardened water. Orik, Eragon�s dwarvin companion, manages to make himself a regular spectacle among the elves in Du Weldenvarden. (Sera: I�m done! And now the toilet is sparkly clean! Uh...Mhiko, that�s not how you spell dwarven...) (Mhiko: Well, what do you expect without your guidance?) (Sera: MY KEYBOARD!!! BACK, BACK, YOU DEFILE IT!!!) (Mhiko:...Oh dear. She�s having one of her spells again...) aNyWaYs, wE aLsO enJOyeD tHE paRt wHeRe eRagON aLmoSt cUT hIs HeAD oFf ShAvIng...aH, pUbeRtY...(Mhiko: *slaps Sera*) (Sera: Huh??? I feel...weird...) Well, now that we have that fixed, we also enjoyed the new character Orrin (king of Surda), who enjoys blowing things up. Our kind of king, we tell you, our kind of king. And the herbalist, Angela, of course, was hilarious as usual. Also, in accordance with Eragon, Eldest is extremely well-written. Every feeling and setting is described to such perfection that...(Sera: I have writer�s block again) (Mhiko: Just shut up and eat your oatmeal) (Sera: Where�s the marshmallows?) Aside, of course, from the one exception in the beginning with Ajihad�s death. It seemed too...abrupt. However, this is only the first edition of the book, so perhaps we�ll find it fixed next time. Now getting to our sadistically favorite part: our complaints. Du Weldervarden, for instance, was far too much like Lothlorien for our comfort. And let�s not even get started on Eragon�s annoying infatuation with Arya, who is about 80 years too old for him in the first place. Sheesh, grow up. Come on, after all, we outgrew OUR crushes ten years ago. (Mhiko: Sera, the only crush you ever had was Marvin Martian) (Sera: Well, no, there�s my horse. And my bird...and my other bird...and my cat...) (Mhiko: Isn�t there a verse against that?) (Sera: Hey, in India, trees can marry...and cows have the right of way on the streets! It sounds like my kind of place...) (Mhiko: They also burn widows alive on their husband�s funeral pyre... Hey, Sera, how long will your horse live?) (Sera:...Maybe we should go to Tibet instead...but aren�t we getting off subject?) Anyways...we think that Eragon is just, well...stupid. Please excuse our lack of better adjectives for our thesaurus really stinks. And now to our favorite part that we like to call: KILL THE ELVES!!!!!! And who wouldn�t want to? They�re arrogant, cynical, and downright...immoral. Most of them treat Eragon a little lower than dirt, and while they may be right, that�s still no excuse now, is it? After all, there�s a certain someone that WE think is a little lower than dirt, but all we do to him is cause bodily harm. Take, for example, the elf that was teaching Eragon swordplay. If bruising isn�t enough, he has to add the constant insults. In fact, Mhiko wants to...(Mhiko: I�ll teach HIM swordplay!) (Sera: Ah, Mhiko, put the machete away.) And let�s not even get started on the fact that they�re all skeptical atheists. The elf Oromis even says that without God to force them to do good, they can all be kind from the depths of their hearts. Which is rather...hypocritical, considering that we have yet to encounter a kind elf in the trilogy. And they also say there�s no life after death. Sounds pretty hopeless to us. (Sera: Let�s kill them so that they can find out the truth!) (Mhiko: Oh! Pick me, pick me!!!) (Sera: After the review, Mhiko. And put the bazooka away, PLEASE.) (Mhiko: But...but it makes things blow up...) As a consequent of their beliefs, they carry on extremely unethical lifestyles. For instance, they do not marry. They only, and we quote, �Take whoever we want for as long as we want.� Sheesh, even geese have mates for life. (Sera: I love geese...) (Mhiko: Focus...focus...) (Sera: I could always sic them on the people I didn�t like...) (Mhiko: That�s my job.) Of course, the elves consider all races to be little more than highly intelligent animals, and thusly choose not to eat meat. One of the final blows was when the elf twins...well...how shall we say this?...stripped. It was...disturbing. (Mhiko: My eyes bled. And I wasn�t even there.) So, the elves of Alagaesia don�t believe in God, marriage, wearing clothes, and eating meat. In fact, the old world elves are rather...New Age. In conclusion, the series is still spellbinding but is fast going DOWNHILL. In contrast to the first book, Eldest is leaning more towards being JUST ANOTHER FANTASY STORY: highly predictable and grating on the nerves. We believe this to be fatal for any writer�s career in more than one sense, although we�re desperately hoping that it will make a comeback in the last book. (Mhiko: And I�ll be here to make sure of that.) (Sera: Mhiko? Put the switchblade away...) (Mhiko: Never! Muwahahahahaaaa!!!) (Sera: Oh, well. As long as she doesn�t hurt ME. Hey, Mhiko, in the meantime, why don�t we tell ALL our readers about a CERTAIN someone...) (Mhiko: *stops*...I just found a new target. Hold very still.) (Sera: Mhiko? Don�t lose your temper...Mhiko? AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!) |
| DRAGONQUEST BY DONITA K. PAUL |
| By Mhiko Kihonae and Sera Amadis |
| As some of you may know, we vowed never again to read a book series, a reaction triggered by a certain series which we will not name, suffice to say that it�s written by a certain man whose name starts with a Robert and ends with a Jordan...you know, the one with wheels and time... (Mhiko: His head�s on a pole now) (Sera: We had it laminated so it lasts longer). Alas, however, for we broke that oath due to the intrigue started by Dragonspell to read the next book in the series: Dragonquest by Donita K. Paul. Note the dragon theme. You ever wonder where the author�s going with this? The plot somewhat picks up where Dragonspell left off: the main character, Kale, is at The Hall to begin her training under Paladin�s service, when, all of a sudden, she is summoned to Wizard Fenworth�s bog to help him train a meech dragon named...um...a certain meech dragon. (Mhiko: It�s Regidor) (Sera: I knew that...) Unfortunately, this time she is burdened down on her quest by a creature (called a doneel) named Toopka, who has an affinity for stealing and eating anything and everything, and a really obnoxious guardian named Bardon (you know...the quiet, pensive kind of guy who never says hello to you when you come home and start telling him of all the adventures you�ve experienced on your trip to Wal-mart and back). The story progresses from there. (Mhiko: I would hope so) (Sera: Stop contesting my transitions!) While the book was overall good, we had many mixed feelings regarding the characters, realism, and the art of author (for a lack of a better term). The characters. What can we say about the characters? (Sera: They were fiction?) (Mhiko:...Very good) (Sera: Hey! You didn�t pull a switchblade on me this time!) (Mhiko: Nah, I�ve graduated from those. Now I�m using a reverse handle Jin Tachi sword) (Sera: AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!) The characters were essentially in line with what they were in the last book, shockingly enough, except for the new ones, since they were not in existence in the last book. The meech dragon, Regidor, for instance, is extremely intelligent and strong and wise, yet succumbs to the simplest of childhood trickeries and/or desires, such as stealing food from the pantry, which he declares, �Will take ingenuity.� We also like Wizard Cam. Why? Well, because he�s cool. And very wet. Being a lake wizard, if left in one place for too long, a puddle will mysteriously begin to form. And, of course, the random statements made by Wizard Fenworth are always a delight as well as the small creatures constantly flying, crawling, oozing, and otherwise making their way out of his hair/beard/robes. However, our one complaint would be that we don�t get enough character development. The book tends to focus less on the characters and more on the action, which can give a story a cold, distant feel. Of course, this is only in comparison to the first book, Dragonspell. In comparison to most other books, this respect still gets an A+. Now we shall move on to an aspect we call realism. Shut up, we know; we�re analyzing the realism of a fantasy story. Just...shut up. Probably one of the most shining elements (Sera: Like Uranium!) of the story lies in the character interactions. The way they converse is incredibly realistic to the way that real friends would converse together. To take some quotes directly from the book, �Regidor jumped out of his chair, knocking it over, and shouldered his way into a position where he could look out the window. Kale had to step aside. Bardon looked up. �Bad manners, Regidor.� The dragon muttered, �Excuse me...I don�t smell...this Dar person, either.� �He�s too far away,� said Toopka. �Kale said so.� �Then how does she know he�s coming?� �The little dragons told her,� Toopka said, sticking her chin out. �Yes, that�s right,� said Kale. �But I can also feel their presence.� �Teach me to do that,� demanded Regidor. �Manners,� said Bardon. Regidor turned to glare at the lehman. �It�s a waste of time to put in all those extra words just to sound good.�� We hope that pointless excerpt has duly intrigued you. However, there are some unrealistic aspects of the story, as well. Kale�s reaction to her mother, for instance. Believe us, a teenager isn�t going to get all dopey, �I love you!� with a woman she�s never seen before, even if they are blood-related. Also, she seems to take the fact that she has two mothers, one of which is an imposter but she knows not which, remarkably well. And while we�re at it, the dragon on the cover is disproportionate. (Sera: His head...it was...too big! Augh! *faints*) Not to rub salt in the wound or anything...but he�s ugly. Finally, we come to what we call the author�s art. No, not sketches, not doodles, not paintings; the writing. You know, the stuff you read when you pick up a book. While the writing style is overall intriguing, we still managed to find some complaints. Some parts we found too abrupt, for instance. The introduction of the character Toopka and what role she plays (which isn�t) is a prime example. Also, the positions (i.e. leecent, lehman, etc.) are not adequately explained...in fact, they aren�t explained at all. Finally, the end is finally final yet not final. Is that possible? Indeed. The main conflict of this book which was bled into from the last book was resolved�yet many things were left unresolved. Such as Bardon�s ears, which are...well, you�ll have to find out for yourself. So is the book worth reading? Yes! But read the first one first because it�s the first. And it�s a little better. We think. Are we being too indecisive for you? (Sera: Maybe, maybe not...hey, look! I managed to disarm Mhiko with my nunchaku!) (Mhiko: Then it�s a good thing I always keep a spare) (Sera: *calls the priest to utter the final rites*) (Mhiko: You might want to leave now. This could get messy). |
| LIGHT OF EIDON BY KAREN HANCOCK |
| By Sera Amadis |
| I am doubtful as to my abilities to review this particular book, since it has now been about six months since I have read it. Why am I so late? Ask Mhiko, I�m sure she�ll tell you all about it. However, I, in the meantime, will promise to do my best. The book in question is Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock. Yes, it is impossible to pronounce and, yes, it does have a stupid-looking girly-guy with a sword on the front. I drew a mustache on him, but it didn�t help the poor guy. Oh well. At least there�s a lens flare, right? But that�s is merely the cover; the plot is revolved around this dude named Abramm Kalladorne, heir to the throne of a land called Kiriath. However, being king just isn�t his game, so he instead decides to go into training in order to join the Holy Brotherhood of the Matio. Don�t even ask�let�s just say it�s a religious order that serves what they call the Flames of Eidon (yes, that name that I cannot pronounce! You just knew it would come somewhere into this review, didn�t you, you smart little reader, you!) To make a long story short, Abramm is soon betrayed by his mentors, and, through a long series of events, ends up as a gladiator. Things go on from there. All in all, I enjoyed this book immensely due to its uniqueness, good symbolism, and heart-stopping adventure, but I do have a few complaints regarding morality and some of the characters.
Alright, even though I mentioned the good points of the book first, I�m going to start with the bad points since they are shorter despite the fact that good essay format absolutely forbids it. I feel so evil and rebellious! Anyways, my first complaint lies with the characters. They�re a little dull. In fact, my favorite was the servant of Abramm�s sister, even though she said only about two sentences throughout the whole book. But, hey, they could be worse. They could all be like the main character, Abramm. Now he was just downright annoying. At the beginning of the story, he is a wimp, and by the middle of the story, he�s a cynical jerk. He�s the kind of character you would just love to shoot. Fortunately, Light of Eidon is the first book in a series, so perhaps he will become more �loveable� later on. Also, I have some complaints as to the morality of the book�yes, even though it is an explicitly Christian story. Through a short series of events that I will not get into, Abramm is going to pretend to shack up with this girl he�s all googly over called Shettai. However, he takes the course of honor and says he won�t sleep with her. Shettai promptly gets upset with him, saying that it�s because he doesn�t like her. What�s wrong with this? Well, Abramm is the unbeliever. Shettai is the Christian. Yes, I�d say we have a major problem with standards here. Fortunately, Shettai...well, I suppose I shouldn�t spoil it, but let�s just say that I have been appeased. The book does later mention that they were wrong, but I don�t think it capitalizes on it near enough. You need more than one or two short paragraphs to redeem such a thing. Okay, so the bad points took longer to say than I thought. However, there were still many good things about the story. It�s symbolism is what stands out the most, especially in the beginning. It�s very fun to pick the story apart and find the true meaning beneath the surface. Then, of course, you have people like me who take a little while to pick up on things. Christ�s followers are called Christians, right? So Tersius�s followers are called Terstans! Tersius, Terstan, get it? Ha! It took me a few hundred pages, but I finally figured it out! Yes, I know I�m dense, get off me about it. I think my brains are addled from watching too much Spongebob. Also, I was rather surprised by its uniqueness. Yes, it is a fantasy story, but fantasy stories usually contain mythical creatures, mindspeaking, and the like. Instead, this contains gladiators and shiny chest medallions! The story just has a very different direction from typical and cliche, and I love it for that. Finally, the one thing that made the book worthwhile was the adventure. Things are happening nonstop, and I don�t just mean the typical meet-enemy-clang-clang kind of stuff. I�m talking about slavery, escapes, betrayal, then made-to-try-and-kill-your-own-friends kind of stuff. There is ample fighting, torture, and these really cool things called griisworms that make people really sick that I want for Christmas to put in a jar and poke at! In fact, the adventure is so intense that it eventually becomes a bad thing by the end of the book; there is so much going on that my brain started to fry and I didn�t know what was going on anymore. In fact, when Mhiko got to that point, she simply stopped. Yes, you can really email her and ask her why so long before I put this review up! Overall, the book gets one thumb up. It gets annoying and muddled at points, but it�s still worth a read. Besides, it�s simply amazing what one can do to the characters on the cover with nothing but a pencil! They are now a hillbilly and a French artist... |
| SHOWDOWN BY TED DEKKER |
| By Sera Amadis |
| Here�s an interesting scenario: you�re a kid living in a small town, sitting in front of the tavern with your good friend Cecil one lazy afternoon, when all of a sudden some dude shows up in a black trench coat and gauges Cecil�s eyes out and sticks them in his own head. Then this nasty character drugs the water supply and gets everyone all dopey while you�re the only sane one left, stranded in the middle of the Colorado mountains. And, no, I�m not talking about how I feel at family reunions. This scenario is exactly what happens to an unfortunate boy named Johnny in one of Ted Dekker�s latest novels, Showdown. Yes, please ignore the unoriginal name �Johnny.� Toss into that some strange �project� going on nearby in a monastery with thirty-something kids and a forbidden underground filled with unnaturally large worms, and you really have quite the intriguing story. Combining suspense, really strange�and I mean REALLY strange�characters, and symbolism that will leave you scratching your head, Showdown is the kind of book that will leave you thinking about worm slime in your rare moments of lucidity.
As I have come to expect from Dekker, the plot is, indeed, intriguing and fast-paced. You know�the kind of book that you can�t put down until you�re finished. The twists and turns that the story takes will leave you with any number of questions in the meantime. For instance, what the heck does the monastery have to do with the strange happenings in this certain small town? Why is Steve impaling small animals on the end of homemade wooden stakes? How does the monk Marsuvees Black pull his lip off his face? And why is Johnny�s marble flying? These mysteries and more will keep you from any coherent thought until you�ve finished the book. As far as the characters...well, in comparison to other books by this author, I suppose I�m obliged to say I�m impressed. Not all of them are dorks. In Dekker�s other books, you usually want to slap the characters upside the head and scream, �Get a hold of yourself! You�re a dweeb! Be at least a LITTLE cool, okay?!� I mean, come on, the main character of Obsessed became infatuated with some woman that he had never met merely by looking a picture of her mother. I�m serious. The man needed psychological help. But, hey, we�re talking about Showdown here. In Showdown, there�s actually a character that isn�t a dork: Johnny. He thinks coherently. Amazing. Other than that, however, the others are...frightening: Billy, the character who gives new meaning to the term �evil author�; the pastor, who would sell his own soul just to be popular; Samuel, the thirteen-year-old kid who talks way over my head and is far too stoic to even BE a kid; and our dear friend, Marsuvees Black�the guy who can pull his lip off of his face. And he eats warts. See what I mean? We�re talking special ed people here. On a more interesting note, the main character of the book Black (which has a green cover, don�t ask me why), Thomas Hunter (who is also a dork), makes somewhat of a comeback in Showdown. It�s not technically THE Thomas Hunter, but merely a fictional character created by Samuel based on the real Thomas Hunter. It made me smile when I first read it because I thought, �Bringing back an old character! How sentimental!� Then they hanged the fictional Thomas Hunter and gouged his eyes out. That�s not cool. But let�s still not forget our one voice of sanity: Johnny. He deserves an applause, methinks. Now stop and applaud the boy who chases flying marbles. Finally, the book has a weird sort of symbolism going on. I don�t want to give it away, and I certainly am rather confused as to how one can switch a story about giant worms and wart-eating monks to an allegory, but, there you have it. On a side note, for all you writers out there, Showdown is rather a treat as far as searching into the frightening minds of authors. So is the book worth reading? The answer is a resounding yes! And is the book worth paying the twenty-three bucks for it that I did? The answer is a resounding no! Sheesh, people, you know it�s not fair to make people flat broke just buying a stupid book! And this is what I�m saying as I am currently hoarding my money supply in saving up for my next project: House. I think I need psychological help sometimes.... |