Month: February 2024

Book Review: Dragon and Herdsman

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Dragon and Herdsman
Dragonback #4
by Timothy Zahn

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi adventure

As Jack continues to try to help Draycos, the dragon-like symbiont that uses him for a host, track down who killed his people, the pair’s next attempt to track down information lands them in a cell. But when they’re broken out by an unlikely rescuer, Draycos is shocked and dismayed to find a primitive herd of his own race on the planet they escape to.

Though this installment of the series didn’t really further the overall plot much, the discovery of the Phookas (the primitive K’da) was an intriguing enough departure for me, considering that Draycos was supposedly the first of his kind to come to the area. Though in the end, I’m not entirely sure what Zahn was going for with these creatures or if they will come into play at all in the future, the progression from completely primitive to something more drives the story well enough. I’m definitely no fan of Alison Kayna’s now (she’s the one who rescues them early in the book), and really hope to learn more about her and soon. However, the next book looks like it will also be quite the departure, which is baffling, considering that there’s only one book left in the series after that. Fortunately, the books are fairly quick and simple reads, especially for sci-fi, because at this point, all I can do is keep going and hope that the next book has at least some answers after all. I don’t mean to imply that this book was bad, though, since I did give it 4 stars. Maybe just not as satisfying as I would hope for at this point in the series.

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Book Review: The Giver, Graphic Novel

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The Giver, Graphic Novel
The Giver series
by Lois Lowry
adapted & illustrated by P. Craig Russell

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s dystopian, graphic novel

I read and reviewed the original book (see review here), so this review is less about the story and content than it is about the graphic novel format. My first impression when glancing through the book was that the use of pseudo black and white (it’s sort of more like blue black and white) for most of the novel was perfect for the story. The flashes of color here and there heighten the difference between Jonas’s view of the world and everyone else’s (besides the Giver). The visuals of the memories Jonas is given bring the story to life and highlight the blandness and sameness of the rest of the community. Certain graphics that I won’t specify to avoid spoilers are much more emotional than simply reading about them. Though in this format, the ending strikes me as even more ambiguous as it did the first time around, or maybe it’s just knowing the rest of the series now that makes me view the ending differently. All in all, I’d say the idea of converting The Giver to a graphic novel was a success, and I can see this being a good way to introduce the thought-provoking story to more reluctant readers.

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Weekly Writing Update: 2/25

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This last week was a slightly rougher one for my goal of writing 20 minutes per day, though I did manage it for 5 out of 7 days. I did not do any extra to make up for those lost days and have actually decided not to force myself to make up for lost days (unless I miss a lot, maybe). The idea here isn’t to be stressed or risk burning out but to work steadily toward an end goal (get the next book in the series ready to publish).

My work this last week was more working out one arc of the plot for book #4 in the Pithea series (currently titled “Morano”) by means of a character interview with one of the major characters from that arc. It has really shed some light on that plot and motivations for some of the characters.

While I work on continuing the series, if you’re interested in reading where it all starts, Pithea is available on Amazon in multiple formats (e-book, paperback, and now in hardcover) as well as Kindle Unlimited.

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Book Review: The Battlemage (re-read)

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The Battlemage
Summoner Trilogy #3
 by Taran Matharu

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: YA Fantasy

See original review here.

I don’t normally write a new review when I read a book I already reviewed on my blog, but sometimes I like a book more on the re-read and want to raise the rating. The first time I read this book, I gave it 4 stars, which is still good, but reading through my review on the book, I had some specific contradictions of feeling this time through. The main difference is that I must have been more caught up in the story in general, feeling every victory and loss more deeply than I think I did the first time I read the series. And I was less bothered by the battle scenes in the last third this time, appreciating the different displays of ingenuity Fletcher displays throughout the fighting. Even the ending, which I felt was a little lacking last time, I had no issues with this time. Sure, it left a few fairly minor things open, but I wouldn’t say it felt anti-climactic this time, like I said in my original review. It’s a nice conclusion to the series.

Overall, I enjoyed this series the first time I read it, enough to read it again a few years later, but I think I enjoyed the whole thing a little more this time. I’m sure that’s partly due to already knowing how things are going to go, but I think it also has to do with me as a reader. I read this series at the very beginning of my push to getting back into reading regularly, after losing the habit for close to 20 years. I’ve now been reading daily for almost 4 years, and I think my own tastes and how I enjoy a story have changed. Either way, I still recommend this series to fans of magical fantasy books, especially for teen/YA audiences.

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Book Review: The Runaway King

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The Runaway King
Ascendance #2
by Jennifer A. Nielsen
read by Charlie McWade

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the first book in the series, The False Prince.

Jaron’s return and ascension to the throne is precarious, as is the peace of his kingdom. The most pressing threat comes from the very group that tried to kill him years in the past and helped kill his parents—the pirates. Against the advice and wishes of everyone close to him, Jaron sets out on a plan to stop the pirates.

I can’t say I’m surprised that I liked this book less than the first. While the first one had the big surprise going for it by the end, I knew this book couldn’t pull off another similar twist. So what we’re left with is politics and war, which tends to just drag along for me, like most of the previous book did. What seems to be the big selling point for most of the people who like this series is Sage/Jaron himself and his wit, snarkiness, ingenuity, etc. However, while I appreciate the difficulty of his situation, he actually seems ill-suited for his role as king. He makes a lot of bad decisions and basically gets lucky. Plus, while the pirates aren’t exactly friendly, they don’t end up seeming quite as mean and hardened as they were made out to be. Imogen’s involvement is difficult to find realistic, and I don’t understand Amarinda’s role at all (is she good? bad? pointless?).

I did recommend the first book for teens, and I’d imagine that age group would be more interested in the rest of the series that I am. I’m personally calling it quits right here, which is saying something, considering that the book ends on a cliffhanger. It’s just not enough to draw me back. I’m not saying it’s terrible, since I did give it 3 stars. But in the end, it’s just too slow and uninteresting to give me a reason to come back.

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Weekly Writing Update: 2/18

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I’ve mostly stuck to my goal of writing 20 minutes per day, though I did skip Friday. However, I made up for it with an extra 20 minutes on Saturday, so I didn’t get behind.

I’m still working on the character interview with one of the major characters from book #4 in the Pithea series (currently titled “Morano”). in the section of the story I’m most uncertain about. I can’t pretend that it’s not starting to feel like I’m stalling with this interview, dragging it out so I don’t have to figure out what do to next, but I’m still walking through the storyline and getting some great insight, so I’d definitely call it productive. I also use the double session yesterday to do some freewriting (something I haven’t done in a while), which started out rocky but ended up being a peek at the later life of a character in Outcast (book #2) that I really enjoyed getting out.

While I work on continuing the series, if you’re interested in reading where it all starts, Pithea is available on Amazon in multiple formats (e-book, paperback, and now in hardcover) as well as Kindle Unlimited.

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Book Review: The Raven

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The Raven
Coffey & Hill #2
by Mike Nappa

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Thriller/suspense, Christian

When a street magician (deception specialist), who calls himself The Raven and tends to pay his rent with what he can steal out of the pockets in his audience, gets in over his head with a local politician and his enforcers, he finds himself in the middle of a mysterious plot code-named “Nevermore.” Private investigator Trudi Coffey and her ex-husband, ex-CIA agent, ex-private investigator, now Atlanta cop, Samuel Hill race to uncover the details of the plot and stop it before it, whatever it even is, can happen.

For as much as I liked the previous book in this series, I liked this one even more. It kept me in suspense all throughout, with high stakes, real danger, and well-developed characters. Nappa made me care about people on both sides—good guys and bad guys alike. Though Coffey and Hill are the overall focus of the series, The Raven was really the protagonist in this story, with his attempts to turn his life around and some backstory that culminated in a couple of very emotional moments. I didn’t care for Raven’s insta-crush on Trudi, but overall, it was downplayed enough to not be a problem. 

Like the previous book, this one also has three perspectives: Trudi Coffey, a woman named Bliss that is connected to Nevermore in some way, and The Raven (whose POV is in 1st-person, present tense, while the other two are 3rd-person, past tense). There is also a lot of jumping around in time, which seems to be one of the biggest issues for other people. Even when a chapter starts in “present time,” it will sometimes jump back and tell something that happened minutes, hours, or days earlier, before getting back to “now.” I didn’t have a problem with that flow; in fact, I think it really added to the suspense.

This book had a little more Christian content in it than the previous, which only took the form of Trudi recently becoming a Christian and trying to filter her life through that newish lens. The Raven brings more of that into the story, struggling with an upbringing as a pastor’s son and his guilt over some particularly bad things he’s done in his life. That and the lessened violence and gore (compared to the previous) are probably the biggest contributors to my higher rating of this book. Needless to say, I loved this book and recommend it to fans of suspense and thriller novels, especially with a Christian leaning.

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Book Review: Storm Warning

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Storm Warning
The 39 Clues #9
by Linda Sue Park

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s mystery, adventure

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with The Maze of Bones.

On the trail of pirates, someone else is on the trail of Amy and Dan Cahill, but then, what else is new? But now they’re learning that the threat may have been closer than they knew all along.

We’re nearing the end of the main series now, and the story is ramping up appropriately; this book dives right in with Amy and Dan confronting Nellie about her deception. Personally, I’ve figured Nellie was more involved than she claimed from the beginning, when her snake nose ring was described, but that seemed to be a red herring, since it wasn’t brought up again in 9 books. The real truth about what Nellie has been keeping from Amy and Dan isn’t exactly earth-shattering or completely unexpected, but it’s nice to start getting things out into the open. The Madrigal involvement in the clue hunt is close to what I suspected partway through the book, but there are still some surprises.

In this book, Amy is awkward and stumbles over words when she’s with her family, but later, she doesn’t seem to struggle at all talking to people she doesn’t know, even in stressful situations. This might not have been something I’d have pointed out, except that it seems likely it’s due to this book being written by an author who’s new to the series. Though overall, I’ve really enjoyed the journey, I do sometimes feel that the one-off authors could have had more of an understanding of the characters before writing their contribution. Or that there should have been an editor who read all of stories with an eye toward fixing any characterization issues. Though the final book in the main series is written by yet another new author, I’m still looking forward to seeing how all of this ends. I’ve already strongly recommend this series to my 13-year-old daughter who has just recently gotten into reading more heavily, and I think kids as young as 10 would enjoy this series as well.

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Book Review: Beyond the Wand

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Beyond the Wand
by Tom Felton
Read by the author

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Memoir

Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, shares experiences from his time on set as well as parts of his life before, during, and after the movies. I listened to the audiobook like I always try to do with books like this that are narrated by the author. The parts of his life that he chose to share are best heard in Felton’s own voice, with some chuckles now and then and a conversational style that brings the stories to life. 

To put my interest in Felton as Draco Malfoy into perspective, I only read the HP books for the first time a few years ago and have watched the movies once through (working on twice now with my daughter, who’s watching them after she reads each book for the first time). I’m actually not a huge fan of the movies overall, but that did not diminish my interest in and enjoyment of this book. The last section talks about Felton’s time in rehab for an alcohol…overindulgence (he’s reluctant to call it an addiction, so I certainly won’t contradict him), which really seems to boil down to a need for healthy relationships in his life. I appreciate that Felton was willing to include this in his memoir, since it could certainly make some people think poorly of him. Personally, I applaud him for recognizing his shortcomings and needs and his willingness to talk about these issues. Not to sound preachy, but I know that anything short of accepting Christ as his savior will be a shallow, temporary fix, but all I can do is pray that God will lead Felton to the truth in His way and timing. I’m really glad I read this book and recommend it for fans of the Harry Potter movies or Tom Felton in general.

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Book Review: Hatchet

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Hatchet
Brian’s Saga #1
by Gary Paulsen

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Classic middle grade adventure

I remember reading the story of teenage Brian stuck alone in the wilderness for several weeks when I was a kid, though the only parts of it I could recall were that the plane went down into water and that at some point he dove into the water to try to salvage supplies from the plane. When I read it again recently because my daughter read it for school, I remembered a lot more of the challenges Brian faces. The reader easily roots for Brian to solve the next problem, to overcome the next hurdle. He has setbacks and moments where he contemplates giving up, which make the story all the more realistic. On top of it all, he’s reeling from a divorce caused by a horrible Secret that he’s kept buried, and while his dangerous situation tends to overtake that trauma, it’s always there, waiting to creep in during his weakest moments. Overall, the story is engaging, and when a potential major issue happens near the end of the book, I found myself groaning and shaking my head for poor Brian.

My only gripe with the book is the author’s style, which involves a lot of repetition within sentences and paragraphs. Though some might be seen as showing Brian’s mental state, it started before the plane even went down, so I think it’s purely a style choice, and one that I don’t personally care for. Otherwise, though, I think this book is still great for pre-teens and teens to read, maybe with parents for pre-teens.

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