The Elfstones of Shannara

Hi everyone.

After writing my last post, I decided to reread the Sword of Shannara. Of course after finishing it I had to reread its sequel: The Elfstones of Shannara.

In the beginning of The Elfstones of Shannara, the reader finds out that an ancient elven tree called the "Ellcrys" is dieing. The Ellcrys is the only thing stopping an ancient hoard of demons from invading the Elven nation. The Ellcry gives Amberle, the daughter of the elven king Eventine (who was in Sword of Shannara), a seed to plant a new Ellcrys. 

In the Sword of Shannara, the reader finds out that the mysterious wanderer Allanon is a druid who can prolong his life by sleeping for long periods of time. In the The Elfstones of Shannara, Allanon has awoken around 50 years after the events of The Sword of Shannara. He instructs Wil Ohmsford, who is the grand-son of Shea Ohmsford (remember him from The Sword of Shannara?), to protect Amberle on her journey. Wil's only weapons are the "elfstones", an ancient elven magic his grandfather gave to him.

The Elfstones of Shannara has a much larger emphasis on romance than The Sword of Shannara. None of the main characters in The Sword of Shannara were romantically involved with anyone. Wil, on the other hand, has two ladies fighting over him: Amberle and a rogue girl named Eretria. It makes for a much more interesting tale.

I would suggest The Elfstones of Shannara to anyone. Knowing what happens in The Sword of Shannara isn't all that important, so you can even read The Elfstones of Shannara without having read The Sword of Shannara.

Final Post

Hey guys. So I know that there are definitely tons of you out there eagerly awaiting our posts because you absolutely adore out witty and well thought out book reviews, but I'm afraid that it's going to have to end now. The end of the year is coming and I personally am looking forward to it. I've already got senioritis and I'm only a junior. Potentially problematic. I just have so little motivation to do anything anymore, you know? Still, this nagging feeling in the back of my head is telling me to start buckling down for finals. As luck would have it, the three classes that I do have a final in also happen to be my most difficult classes.

Still, I feel like this year has been pretty cool. Granted, it was Junior year, which meant the homework load was just plain awful. I've found myself doing homework/studying for tests until I heard the early, early morning birds singing and then getting up 2-3 hours later for morning practice. Calculus makes zero sense to me and I've been struggling through that class and try as I might, I just can't seem to stay awake in physics. My social life has more or less disappeared and my friends can attest to the fact that more often than not, my response to "can you help me with homework" is "sorry, doing Spanish." Oh jeez, Spanish has been so work filled this year--even more so than last year. I did learn a ton though, so I guess it did benefit me in the end.

On the brighter side, I've become closer with a lot of my friends while we all struggled through this year, I grew a quarter of an inch (woohoo...), and my 4x100 meter relay team broke a 25-year-old record. Definitely an up point of the year. Sadly enough, we haven't been able to do it again since due to various complications such as injured groins, pulled calves, silly hand-off mistakes, and NEALAY. LEARN TO STAY IN THE CORRECT LANE. Sorry. Oh well. It's certainly been an eventful year.

Also! I've discovered that I really do enjoy Ms. Majerus's English classes. I was told by many friends that I would love her class and although I'm pretty skeptical of these claims at first, I found that they were largely true. There really wasn't anything that I disliked about this class except for carrying around that huge book of essays.

Good year. Congratulations to all you seniors. I wish you good luck with the rest of your life. As for the juniors, see you all next year. We're going to be seniors. How weird is that.

The Syllable-less Post

Oh crap. I failed the challenge already. With the title... OK I PROMISE ONLY ONE SYLLABLE FROM NOW ON!!!

One of the best books I read as a child was Terry Brook's The Sword of Shannara. The Sword of Shannara is the first in a HUGE group of books, all tied in some way to the first book; The Sword of Shannara. There are more than 20 books tied to Sword of Shannara in print right now. Most of them are more than 500 page(s FU) long. I've read 11 or 12 of them, but let's just talk on Sword of Shannara for now.

Sword of Shannara is set in a small town called Shady Vale, where Flick Ohmsford lives. When Flick was young, his dad took in a half-elf boy named Shea. Though Shea is not Flick's blood kin, they are close friends.
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OK, wow. This little bit has taken me a VERY long time to write. ONE MORE PARAGRAPH. And then I shall finish this post with many long, beautiful, syllables.
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One day, a man named Allanon comes to Shady Vale. He warns Shea that the "Warlock Lord" is on his way south to find Shea. It turns out Shea is the last of a long line of elves. His great-great-great-great grand-dad (there's a dash, FU) was Jerle Shannara, an elf king.

OK crap. That's a paragraph. So basically, the Warlock Lord was defeated thousands of years ago by Jerle Shannara with the Sword of Shannara, but he's back. Only descendants of Jerle Shannara can wield the sword, and Shea is the only living descendant. So basically Shea has to find the sword, take out the Warlock Lord, and be home for dinner. OK well, maybe not the last part. Sorry. I couldn't resist.

The Sword of Shannara is an amazing book that I would recommend to any reader above the age of ~10. Terry Brooks wrote The Sword of Shannara in 1977 (that's a freaking long time ago), and he hasn't slowed down since. The other series related to The Sword of Shannara are usually series of three or four books with descendants/ancestors of Shea and Flick as the main characters. They are super fun and entertaining. In fact, if it manages to resurface from the depths of my cluttered bookcase, I plan on re-reading The Sword of Shannara tonight!

Adjectiveless Post

Ms. Majerus's latest challenge is to have us write out next blog post without adjectives or with only single syllable words. Since this blog is devoted to book reviews, I figured it would be an interesting challenge to try to write a book review without any adjectives. So, bear with me, I apologize in advance for inevitable terrible quality and length of this blog post.

The book I have chosen to write about for this blog post is called American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This book tells the story about a man named Shadow who has spent part of his life in jail on a charge that he received for trying to protect his wife. He finally got out but learned that his wife had died in a car crash before his release. No words could describe his grief; he had loved...

All right, never mind. I give up. This is impossible. I've literally given myself a headache trying to write more than 4 sentences without adjectives.

Anyway, he discovers that his wife has died a week before his release and is so totally shocked that he doesn't know what to do. He returns home to attend his wife's funeral only to discover that she had been having an affair with his best friend for over three years. It's definitely a very bitter, sad moment. Gaiman does a fantastic job of capturing feelings and emotion in his words with just enough details so not to bore the reader but provide a vivid picture.

Shadow then meets this man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday and he offers to employ him as a full time driver/bodyguard. By the way, Shadow happens to be very tall and powerfully built but also relatively young. Shadow, realizing that he had nowhere to go, accepts. From this point on, Shadow has a very interesting series of adventures with Mr. Wednesday all throughout America. As can be assumed from the title of the book, Gaiman's novel is about the various myths, legends, and supposed "American Gods". The whole story builds up to a very vague climax concerning a brewing storm while Shadow and Wednesday attempt to get recruits. It's very interesting to see how deep Gaiman has delved into American history and mythology and I often found myself thinking "Ohhh, I remember reading something about that...". Trust me, if you like mythology, this is a cool book.

However, there are a few downsides. American Gods is not a very fast paced book. There are various action scenes but the majority of the book feels like a surreal walk through time narrated by Gaiman's extraordinary description skills. It felt like a movie was being painted in my head as I read this. Also, you know that thing when you learn about something and then immediately read it or see it the next day? Well, that happened with this book and the Botany of Desire. We had just finished the section about apples and I see John Chapman appear in this book along with the famous applejack.

Anyway, I like this book, but I don't think it's for everybody. If this were a movie, I would definitely rate this an R because of the sexual content so I wouldn't recommend this as a light read. Still, if you're looking for something slower but very thought provoking, I suggest American Gods as an interesting choice.

My Father's Dragon

           Ruther Stiles Gannett's My Father's Dragon: best kids' book ever or THE best kids' book ever? I was browsing through my bookshelf when I came across the other two books in the trilogy--Elmer and the Dragon & The Dragons of Blueland. As soon as I saw the front cover pictures, a flood of memories came pouring into my head. Dax, who was on Skype with me at the time, can attest that my various, "ooohhhhsss" and "aaaahhhhsss" got pretty annoying as I relived the memory of my three favorite childhood books EVER. 

          What's not to love about these books? They're chock-full of adventure, friendship, and FREAKING DRAGONS. The first book, My Father's Dragon, follows the narrator's "father" as he rescues a dragon on a remote island. The book is written in third person and refers to the main character as, "my father". The second book, Elmer and the Dragon, changes in narrative voice. This time the narrator refers to the main character by his name (Elmer). In this book, Elmer and his dragon get stranded on an island with a bunch of talking birds. (Hey, it's a children's book...) They have to help the birds find a buried treasure that had been hidden on the island. The third book, The Dragons of Blueland, is set around the dragon's family, who are being threatened by humans. The humans want to take them away to a zoo or circus, and Elmer and the dragon must stop them. 

         If you ever have children, I would HIGHLY recommend getting them these three books. Heck, I would even recommend reading them as an adult/young adult. There's something about these books (as I'm sure you'll agree if you've read them) that makes them special, and gets you excited about reading. 

Flashback!

Recently, there hasn't been a lot of time to read. Schoolwork and ACT prep has taken over my daily routines for the past couple weeks. Every so often, I get a few more pages done with American Gods by Neil Gaiman on my Kindle but no major progress has been completed. Speaking of Kindles, what are your opinions on e-readers? I got my Kindle as a Christmas gift from Andrew Han's family and it was intended to be a family gift but I was the only person who knew how to use one, so it became my property. I think it's an interesting alternative and I do like how you can store a gazillion books on one tablet but I still prefer the original versions. Much longer battery life.

Anyway, that wasn't the point of this blog. I've decided to call upon childhood reading memories and write about one of my favorite series ever, The Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz. This series focuses about a teenager by the name of Alex Rider who is also a spy for the British Intelligence Agency, MI6. Each book focuses on a different adventure he has, ranging anywhere from the Swiss Alps to sunny Miami, Florida. Up till now, the author has written nine books in this series, eight of which I've read. I just put the 9th book on hold at the library so maybe I'll review that at a later time.

Obviously, it would take much too long to review every single book in this series (although that would definitely be a lot of fun), so I'm going to go for an overall gist type of thing. Basically, there is a boy named Alex Rider who was unknowingly trained by his uncle to be a spy all his life. One day, his uncle was assassinated and Alex decided to find out why. Thus began the career of a teenage spy. In every book, Alex sets out to investigate a certain person or company based on MI6's suspicions and he usually ends up fighting for his life against incalculable odds and whatnot. They're not exactly mind-blowingly creative, but they definitely were a lot of fun because who hasn't dreamed of being a teenage spy?

Keep in mind, I started reading these books in... oh I don't know... 5th grade or so, and my tastes have probably matured somewhat. Still, if you're looking for something to serve more as a distraction than heavy reading, I would recommend this series. Even if you find yourself thinking, "I definitely saw that one coming..." I'm pretty sure there'll also be parts where you think to yourself, "Oh, that'd actually be pretty cool!" Have fun!

The Little Book

Stan "Wheeler" Burden is a the definition of his a "father's son". His father's life, which was lost WWII, is basically what dictates Wheeler's life. He went to the same prep school as him, played on the same Harvard baseball team as him, and was an all around brilliant person, just like his father. "The Little Book" is partly a book about how Wheeler rebels, and makes himself different. After needing one more strike to get a perfect game in a game against Yale, Wheeler takes off all of his clothes, sets them on the mound, and walks away. He drops out of Harvard and joins the music scene, ending up becoming an extremely popular rock star. Now, the real story starts. In 1988, when Wheeler is in his late 40s, he is suddenly transported back in time to late 1800s Vienna.

In Vienna, he meets his father, who has been transported back in time from the 1940s. His father, on the verge o death, was being tortured by the Germans when he woke up in Vienna. The two of them end up meeting Wheeler's grandparents (his father's parents), Sigmund Freud, Hitler as a child, their favorite teacher in prep school, and various other famous people.

I HIGHLY recommend reading Seldon Edward's The Little Book. It's a great mixture of fiction, romance, non-fiction, and realistic fiction that will fascinate even the least diligent of readers. If you decide to read it, try to take all the historical information for granted. If you think something is true historical fact, make sure you look it up before you argue about it with Mr. Sutton. There's a lot of made up stuff thats weaved in with the factual stuff. If you cannot STAND slow books, I don't recommend this book to you. At times there can be long, somewhat boring dialogues that seem to serve little purpose. Especially the scenes with Sigmund Freud. ESPECIALLY those ones. I'm not the sort of reader that likes slow-paced books, so it was surprising to me that I liked it. I highly suggest at least giving this book a try; it's extremely good if you get into it.

Bartimaeus!

Okay, first of all, isn't that just a really cool name? I remember when I was a kid, we used to have these quiet writing sessions in 3rd grade. I would spend a portion of my time writing fantasy stories (that usually made little sense) and the other half making up names for the characters in these stories. For some reason, I just really really liked a name that could roll off my tongue. But that's besides the point. Basically, I picked this book up, once again, based on the cover art.

Oh silly me, I've forgotten to say the title. It's called The Amulet of Samarkand and is part of the Bartimaeus trilogy. The plot revolves around this boy called named Nathaniel and the spirit he summoned, known as Bartimaeus. The books are all set in London, though in different time periods. Now, as I have mentioned before, historical fiction and fantasy are both favorite genres of mine, so you can imagine how much I loved this book when the author decided to combine them both. Basically, there is a world of magicians that call on spirits from their own world in order to do the magician's bidding. Nathaniel is young and inexperienced and he summons a old and powerful djinni, Bartimaeus, to take revenge on a person who wronged him in the past. The plot is very complicated and has several twists near the end, so it would take a while for me to explain. However, the main problem that arises in this book is that Bartimaeus figures out his master's birth name--a fatal mistake throughout the entire world of magicians. Nathaniel has to figure out a way to solve this problem of he's totally screwed.

The book starts out with a scene about halfway through the intended story and then works its way backwards to tell the full story. I'm sure you've read books like that before. Sometimes, it works out nicely and sometimes it leaves you utterly confused as to what's happening. In the case of The Amulet of Samarkand, it would be the former. It flows well and the breaks made to change to the past all make perfect sense.

Another interesting aspect about how the author, Johnathon Stroud writes is the way he switches from point of view nearly every chapter. Again, this style works for some books but not for others. However, I think it really added a nice effect for these books because climactic scenes from multiple perspectives added a lot of interesting angles that you would not have noticed otherwise. When the book is told from Nathaniel's perspective, the author switches to third-person narration but changes to first-person when it's from Bartimaeus. Also, when it's told from Bartimaeus's perspective, he always adds interesting little footnotes with either personal quips or remarks or bits of historical information added with a slight fantastical twist. Trust me, you'll understand what I mean if you read it.

Anyway, long story short: good book, definite recommendation if you have interest in fantasy novels and historical fiction. There are a few parts that are a bit of a drag to read, but there's no shortage of action scenes if that's what your looking for.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure it has been a torturous two weeks waiting for me to write another blog post. I've decided to grace you with my presence one last time before the quarter ends. Now that you've read the opening paragraph, go ahead and scroll down. Make some comment about how the book sounds interesting, if only you had enough time to read it. Get that comment grade up to an A! Chances are you've only got a couple days before the quarter ends.

Now that those comment fiends are gone, let's get on with the book review. I've read a couple books since last week, including City of Thieves, The Little Book, and Prey. But today we're going to talk about Patrick Ness's The Knife of Never Letting Go, the first in a trilogy.

The Knife of Never Letting Go starts out from the perspective of a boy named Todd. It's written as if it's his diary, and he's not very literate. If you've ever read books like Wuthering Heights where the dialogue is written as it sounds, you know how annoying it is to read broken English. His broken English isn't even consistent. Sometimes you can barely understand what Todd is trying to get across, and other times he sounds like a normal narrator.

Don't let the somewhat annoying narration stop you from reading The Knife of Never Letting Go, though. It's an extremely unique and interesting book. The book is set on an unnamed planet, a couple years after the first wave of settlers arrived. Todd lives in a small village inhabited by only men. He's told that all the women in the town died from a disease. Everyone (or at least Todd thinks it's everyone) on the planet who didn't die from the disease can hear each other's thoughts. As you can imagine, this causes lots of mayhem and confusion. Todd's parents are killed, and he ends up running away. In the wilderness, he finds a girl named Viola. He finds out that Viola and her parents' were scouting out the planet for the second wave of colonists when their pod crashes, killing both of her parents. Men from Todd's town have started to follow him, so the two of them run away together.

I won't give anything more away to avoid spoilers, but I highly recommend this book. If you like a good love story that isn't narrated by a girl (stupid girly emotions), this book is perfect. At times it can seem slow, but it's well worth getting through to the end, because there are LOTS of plot twists. LOTS!!!

I am the Messenger

So, after about 3 blog posts of stalling, I have finally gotten around to posting about I am the Messenger. I think there's actually a pretty good reason as to why it took me so long. Generally, if I really like a book, I'll finish it within a matter of days, regardless of length. This book has taken about 4 or 5 weeks. Not a very good sign. To be fair though, school has just been awful lately and I've been staying up late and getting an average of 6 hours of sleep a night so I haven't had very much time. Still, I am usually fairly generous in my critiques of book but this book has managed to gather a larger amount of complaints than normal.

The premise of I am the Messenger is about this guy named Ed Kennedy who is just a very mediocre guy. He's not very good at anything but not totally awful at everything either (except sex. He mentions that he's terrible at sex)--he's just a regular Joe. He works as a cabdriver in a relatively small town, has three close friends, one of which he is hopelessly in love with, and a very smelly old dog named the Doorman. Early on in the book, he tells the readers that cards play an important role in his life--he would often have his friends over to play cards and he would soon discover how important cards would become.

One day, he discovers a single playing card in his mailbox, the Ace of Diamonds. On it were three streets. Thus begins Ed's story as he goes to these various locations in order to help people. Each case contains a different person and each person has a different problem. As you might imagine, he receives the other three Aces, each slightly different in terms of clues and Ed continues to go around his town and help people.

The plot itself is really not bad at all. I like how it works out and the process is very suspenseful at times. However, the bad part is the author's writing style. Zusak is a good writer and his style worked beautifully for The Book Thief but for some reason, it just didn't click with me in this book. The short brief sentences that made his descriptions so powerful and emphatic just didn't seem to work as well for I am the Messenger. Keep in mind, this is just my opinion--many of my friends say that they loved this book and thought the writing worked fine but I just simply didn't enjoy it as much.

Also, there were several points in the plot in which I thought to myself, "How the hell is that even possible?? Nobody would ever react like that! Come on!". Perhaps the author realized this and only added it to add to the dramatization of the scene but I generally have a problem with unbelievability when it comes to realistic fiction.

That being said, I don't think that this is a bad book and isn't necessarily a waste of time to read. It has an interesting ending and certainly a very engaging plot line. I'd classify it under the category of "good time passer" but not exactly a "must read before you die". It's up to you. Good luck.

The Road

It's not often that I come across a book that I can't say anything negative about. There's usually something in a book that I find repetitive, annoying, or just plain boring. Cormac McCarthy's The Road, though, is in a completely different spectrum. In my previous blog posts I've tried to inject some humor into my writing, but doing that here wouldn't be appropriate. The Road is simply the best book I've ever read. 

The Road starts out extremely drearily. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world. Nearly everything is dead. The few remaining humans have devolved to cannibalism. The Road follows a father and son who, after realizing they can't survive another winter so far north, are travelling south. It's eventually revealed that the mother committed suicide right after giving birth to the son, a while before the beginning of the book.

I didn't expect to like The Road when I first started reading it. It isn't action packed. It's simply beautiful and moving.  

My favorite part of The Road is how little background information McCarthy gives you. The reader is given no details about the cataclysmic event that caused the world to become so lifeless.. The father and son's names are not given. This all leads to a sense of cloudiness and confusion, which fits very well with the post-apocalyptic theme.

There isn't much more you can say about The Road. It's simply an amazing book. I don't want to give anymore plot details, lest I give anything away. I realize this post is extremely short compared to the others, but that's merely because there is so little rant about with The Road. Go out and read it right now. Trust me, it will change your life.

Well, I lied.

Okay, sorry guys. I know that all of you are desperately awaiting my review of I am the Messenger, but I'm afraid that's going to be put on hold for another week or so because I've just been so busy. Yes, I know you're all disappointed but please try to contain it.

Still, I think you all would enjoy this next book. I certainly did. The title is Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, both excellent authors by the way. If I had to choose a couple adjective to describe this book (like in that SSO homework stuff), I would choose awesome, hilarious, and clever. Plus, it's super cool. I mean, just look at this cover title. Tell me you wouldn't be attracted by this. Yes, yes you would. Also, the beginning letters of each chapter are really big and intricately designed. I love it when they do that.

Anyway, if you've ever read anything by either one of these authors, you'd have a pretty good sense of what the book is going to be like. Most people I ask who have read Good Omens say that they prefer Neil Gaiman but I personally like Terry Pratchett better. He's definitely got an off beat sense of humor which you probably won't grasp the first time around until you go back and read it again. You will often be struck by this realization that a particular inane comment regarding some character's name was actually a clever reference and completely hysterical.

Silly me, I haven't explained the premise of the book. The protagonists of this book are a fallen angel named Crowley, an angel named Aziraphale, a witch named Anathema, and a witch hunter named Newt. Oh, and the Antichrist. There is also a quote on the front of the book by Clive Barker (author of Abarat--also a good book) saying, "The Apocalypse has never been funnier." That is quite a good description seeing as this book is describing the Apocalypse and how it plays out.

Already, this sounds like a promising book, doesn't it? Well, trust me, it's well worth the time. It starts out with Crowley (supposedly the serpent that told Eve to eat the apple) delivering the Antichrist to a hospital. However, this hospital, staffed by Satanic nurses, misunderstood Crowley's overly subtle hints, and they ended up switching the Antichrist with another ordinary Muggle. I mean, human. That human child was raised by Satanic and Angelic guides with both sides hoping to "convert" him to their side. Satanic forces sent a nanny who told the child this lovely nursery rhyme:

"This little piggy went to Hades

This little piggy stayed home

This little piggy ate raw and steaming human flesh

This little piggy violated virgins

And this little piggy clambered over a heap of dead bodies to get to the top."

Somewhat different from the more common version, no? Still, isn't there something inherently wrong about pigs eating roast beef? I don't know. Maybe it's just me. Anyway, this is the beginning of the supernatural beings' side of the story.

The other half is focused around a man named Newt and a witch named Anathema. Anathema's great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Agnes Nutter (also a witch), wrote a book known as The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch. This is also a key point in this book seeing as these prophecies were often cryptic, extremely confusing, supremely vague, but always correct. Newt signs up to be a witch hunter in the hopes of finding a simple, paying job, and lo and behold, he actually finds a witch. Anyway, whenever I start to summarize, I tend to just ramble on and on, so I'm going to stop myself and let you figure out what happens for yourself.

All right, so you've got a general idea of what's going on and, in case I haven't made it clear, I am highly recommending this book. There's a possibility that you won't understand all the subtleties the first time but trust me, it will be worth it to go back and read it again. It's an awesome book. Also, something that could add to the confusion would be the fact that if a character has an accent or a certain way of speaking, the authors wrote it the way it was pronounced. For those of you who read Wuthering Heights (Oh my God, that book was awful. Bored the pants off of me. I mean, it probably wouldn't have been too bad if I wasn't forced to read it within two days so that I could finish my paper, but still), think of Joseph and his Yorkshire accent, tone it down about four notches, and you'd have a pretty good idea of what you can expect from certain characters in Good Omens. However, don't freak out--it honestly isn't that bad.

All right, that's it for now. Enjoy Good Omens!

Orson Scott Card

When it comes to Science-Fiction/Fantasy literature, Orson Scott Card has got it all. He's received multiple awards for his writing, including two Hugo awards and two Nebula awards (for the same two books). His Ender's Game series is one of the most popular works of science fiction ever written. Instead of simply paraphrasing more of Card's Wikipedia page, I've decided to provide my diligent readers with a link.

If you haven't already read Ender's Game (the first one), then you need to click that link up there again. Seriously. Ender's Game is one of my favorite books ever. I've only met one person who didn't LOVE Ender's Game, but I can't remember who it was, so obviously that person's opinion is wrong. The twenty other novels/short stories (yep, twenty) that follow Ender's Game can get a little bit repetitive, but for those of you who love the series a lot (maybe too much?), they are definitely worth it.

That brings us to what I dislike about Orson Scott Card's writing. It's very, very repetitive. For those of you taking U.S. history, I would compare Card to the 19th century writer Horatio Alger, who basically wrote the same story over and over with different character names. Maybe Card isn't that bad, but he sure comes close. In all the books I've read by him (I've read four of his series, with twelve books in total), he fails to successfully create more than one type of main character. All of his main characters are exactly like Ender; unbelievably intelligent, difficult to relate to, and immensely dedicated to whatever goal they have. Even though Ender, Bean (from a series branching out from Ender's Game), Rigg (from Card's novel Pathfinder), and Bartholomew Coleman (from Card's Empire series) are all extremely cool characters, they are nothing like normal people. They seem to always know exactly what to do and when to do it. Card's characters also have an unbelievably ridiculous sense of duty. After killing all of his friends during their failed assassination attempt, Coleman (from the Empire series) has the following conversation with an unnamed agent,

"I wish we could pretend these guys were a bunch of foreign assassins," said Cole glumly.
"I know," said the agent. "You knew them, right?"
"They were my team," said Cole. "But they got distracted from the mission."
"What mission?"
"Preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States," said Cole. "No matter what you think of the President, assassinating him does not preserve of protect anything."

Pretty ridiculous, huh? After two whole books of getting to know and love Coleman's team, Card makes Coleman kill his entire team to, "Preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States". You know what the worst part is? The President they were trying to assassinate was actually a manipulative asshole; he needed to die! This annoying theme of duty and responsibility is repeated throughout Card's other novels, including Ender's overly repetitive sense of guilt towards his accidental xenocide (the genocide of an entire alien species).

Here is where I sum up my blog post. If you wanted, you could read a boring paraphrase of everything I've just written. Or, you could just listen to some peaceful music that I feel sums up my blog post very well.

500 Pounds of Tiger and the Pacific Ocean

If you have read The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, then the title of my post will likely have made sense to you. If not, then I shall further enlighten you. The Life of Pi is about a young Indian boy named Piscine (Pi, for short) who's father owns a zoo. The book is divided in three parts with the first part explaining his background and upbringing, part two being the majority of the plot content, and part three as a closing section. But first, I shall divulge my own background concerning this book.

I have always been an avid reader although it's a little more difficult now because of the wonderful homework load that my fantastic school dishes out, but I still find time to squeeze in a book or two. I read The Life of Pi a while back and it has remained one of my favorite books for a long time. I received this book as a birthday present when I was in 6th grade and my friend had told me that he had searched for a long time through Pages for All Ages (remember that place? Loved it. Would spend entire mornings in there...) for a book that I had not read. I had heard about that book before and, as shallow as this may sound, I used to (and still sort of do) judge a book by the cover. The cover art for the version of The Life of Pi I received was really pretty cool. I'd attach a picture, but I have neither the time nor the patience to figure out how to download the correct drivers to connect my ancient scanner with my newer computer. Sorry.

EDIT: Oh look, I figured out how to do hyperlinks. Thanks Christina! Click here to see a picture of my cover art.

Anyway, the book starts out describing Pi's multiple religions and then we move on to the plot point that the book is centered about. Pi is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a 500 pound, fully grown, male Bengal tiger. The rest of the story is about his amazing journey and his desire to live. He experiences many incredible encounters--all of which border on the impossible but have just enough believability to make it seem credible. As I said before, the more possible a book seems to me, the more I enjoy it. (I love fantasy too--this is just about realistic fiction)

I especially enjoyed Martel's active descriptions as the book progressed. If I were to compare it to Zusak (author of The Book Thief), I would say that Zusak was much more surreal, leaving your mind to conjure up most of the images with well placed phrases whereas Martel would give very solid descriptions, similar to a movie. However, it will be up to you to read both and decide which one you prefer.

The only negative comments I have about this book were largely a matter of opinion. At the time I had read it, I was largely into action and fantasy (although my repertoire has since broadened) and so the semi-sluggish pace of the plot was a little dull. Then again, it probably didn't help that I was reading this during a long, 6-hour car trip. Still, I have gone back and read it several times (a sure sign that I like the book) and it seems to get better every time.

So, overall, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who's not afraid to plow through a somewhat dry beginning. I promise that it gets much more interesting later on though.

I'll be reviewing I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak soon, as soon as I finish actually reading it. I probably would have finished it in time, if it weren't for a library mishap. Turns out, my card expires exactly one day before my renewal date meaning I had to return the book otherwise I'd get fined 20 cents. I don't have 20 cents. Oh well. I hope you enjoy Life of Pi!

Could you PLEASE write faster, Mr. Martin?

George R.R. Martin's fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire is certainly an interesting read. Notice how I use, "interesting" in a neutral sense; you're either going to love it or your going to hate it. There are parts of the series that are going to make you go, "WOW", and parts that are going to make you go "WTF". 


A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, on the very cleverly named continents Westeros and Essos (note my sarcasm). There are three main story lines throughout the series. Instead of wasting your precious time trying to explain these three story lines in my own words, I've decided upon a different method. As the great Benjamin Franklin once said, "When in doubt, Wikipedia".


"There are three principal storylines in the series: the chronicling of a dynastic civil war for control of Westeros between several competing families; the rising threat of the Others who dwell beyond an immense wall of ice that forms Westeros' northern border; and the ambition of Daenerys Targaryen, the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years previously, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne"

I've been reading fantasy for as long as I can remember. One thing that really stands out in Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is the maturity level. When I first picked up A Game of Thrones, the first in the series, I was admittedly intimidated. All the other fantasy novels I'd read had been pretty softcore; no detailed sex scenes involving a dwarf and his prostitute (who he thinks he's in love with). Nor did I find myself reading about two twin brother's and sister's incestuous experiences. While odd at some points, these revealing scenes certainly had the affect of making me feel like I was reading a more mature book. 

Martin's plot is very cleverly designed, and it requires a lot of concentrated reading to make all the connections between the three story lines. A complicated plot, though, requires a lot of characters. Too many. And my good friend Mr. Martin doesn't hesitate to reserve at least one chapter for each and every character he deems worthy (he's a generous man, every character is worthy apparently). The few characters that show up often enough to gain an emotional attachment to are immediately killed. By the end of the fourth book there are eighteen characters that have been the center of a chapter, with eight of them being in only one. There are only two or three characters that live from the first book to the fourth. Without an emotional attachment to any of the extant characters, knowing your favorite character died at the end of the previous book makes it very hard to pick up the next book in the series.

The worst part of the series is probably that I haven't finished it. No, it's not that I'm illiterate and that I'm waiting for the next book on tape to come out, it's that Mr. Martin writes TOO DAMN SLOW! Martin started writing A Song of Ice and Fire in 1991, and the latest book in the series (the fourth), A Feast for Crows, came out in 2005. I check Martin's site every month or so, hoping for some kind of update. Alas, he has not updated his, "A Song of Ice and Fire Update Page" for quite some time; it's been three years, to be exact. I'm starting to worry Martin may, in fact, be dead, and that I'm going to be left hanging for the rest of my life, never knowing what's going to happen. Oh well, at least I got to read about dwarf sex.

The Book Thief

I had heard of Markus Zusak since Freshman year but my friends would always gasp in disbelief whenever I mentioned I've never actually read anything by him. They would then proceed to go on and on about how amazing The Book Thief is or how hilarious I am the Messenger is and so I finally decided to read The Book Thief so they'd get off my case. I soon realized that my friends were right--I should have read The Book Thief a long time ago.

Before I start, I should mention that anything I say that reveals bits of plot are all things that can be found very early on and therefore should not ruin the book for you, if you do decide to read it.

The Book Thief is a truly fantastic book set in Germany before and during World War II. I have always been fond of historical fiction because the possibility that this story could be true is always very tantalizing. The story revolves around a girl named Liesel Meminger and her constant desire to read. It is not difficult to imagine how she gets reading material due to the title of the book. Zusak then uses these books to help illustrate Liesel's life and how reading influences her actions.

The thing that I like the most about The Book Thief would probably be the narrator. The Book Thief is narrated by a personified form of Death. He (or at least, I presume it's a he) describes the taking of human life as "carrying their souls out of their bodies" and it's just a remarkable experience to read something from Death's point of view. Death apparently also has an interesting sense of humor because, I'm not going to lie, this book can be depressing, but there are also lines that made me chuckle.

Throughout the book, Zusak has little blurbs of information in bold that sometimes entertain and other times enlighten the reader. His writing style is very unique and although I wouldn't call it vague, it often encourages the reader to think and imagine how the scene unfolds for him or herself. Zusak also uses one-line paragraphs and short, implicative sentences to great effect, but you have to be careful to fully read and comprehend these. I am a hasty reader by nature so whenever I come upon an exciting scene, I tend to accidentally skip lines and become very confused. Try not to repeat my mistake.

For me, the biggest letdown of most books would be the ending. They are either extremely anticlimactic or simply make no sense at all, but I felt that the ending to The Book Thief was done very nicely. It left room for thought but didn't feel incomplete.

As you can probably imagine, I would highly recommended this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in World War II. It's a wonderfully written novel and definitely worth reading. I will be moving onto Zusak's other famous novel, I am the Messenger very soon and hopefully giving you updates on that book as well.