I briefly thought of going back and rereading Cinder, Scarlet and Cress first before diving right into Winter. But in the immortal words of my friend Jessy, “Reread? Dive!!! Diiiive….diiiiiiive” I dove right in and it’s been wonderful.
It’s finally here! I’ve been waiting for this book since Cinder came out last year. It’s the final book in the Lunar Chronicles. We finally get to find out if Cinder will defeat the evil Levana. I do hope so.
**May Contain Spoilers**
Okay, this isn’t really a review. More of an appreciation post. An appreciation for Rick Riordan and his books. There are many things I love about his writings. I love his characters, especially since many of them are quite sarcastic and sassy. I love how he writes characters with diverse backgrounds. I love the imagination of them. Taking stories that we are familiar with and some we are not and updating them or making them new but also staying true to the myths. I can tell that he has done his research on these myths and stories, whether they were well known or obscure. I think the most impressive thing is connecting these old stories with todays world and not making them seem outdated. He’s had some mix results. The Kane Chronicles is based on Egyptian mythology. I know next to nothing about Egyptian Mythology and if I were to guess most of his readers didn’t know much too. For that reason, this series was a little harder to get through. The first book, The Red Pyramid, spent almost more time trying to explain who the major Gods and Goddess of Egypt were and how they are relate to each other. That the story sorta came second but as the trilogy progressed it got better. The humor of his books. Again, I love the sassiness of his characters. He gets my humor.
But really, it’s his diverse characters are what I love the most of his books. With the exception of The Kane Chronicles, his other series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and now Magnus Chase and Gods of Asgard take from Western Europe. I think we all have an idea what they would or should look like. White. Yes, Percy, Jason, Annabeth and Chase are all white. Piper is native American. Leo is latino. Hazel is Black. Frank is Chinese Canadian. Sadie and Carter are biracial. Sam is Muslim. It’s not just racial diversity either. In House of Hades, Nico is outed as gay. That tsurprised me. Not because I didn’t see it coming or that I was upset but because this is a children’s book after all and I was afraid of how it would be received. Even more surprisingly, it seems it was received pretty well or with little to no controversary. At least not that I read about. And that is awesome! We have mention before on this blog about the movement to have more diverse books and characters in Kids and Teens books and why this is important. Mr. Riordan could have played it save. He could have all his characters be white and say well they are demigods based on Greek and Roman and Norse myths who were also white but he didn’t. These Empires and traders may have started in Europe but they didn’t stay there. Rome stretched into African and Asia and the Vikings also traveled as far south as the Middle East and west as North America. And these books take place (mostly) in the US. The idea behind these books is the Gods follows power. So whatever country that is the Superpower in the world, that’s where they set up shop. (At least true for the Greek and Roman Gods) So it would make sense that the Gods and Goddess would interact and mate with people from all backgrounds as we in the US are from all different backgrounds. So the demigods needed to reflect that. The Gods didn’t really have a type. I mean, Posiden is also the father to Pegasus after all. Loki has a horse, a wolf and a snake as his children. So what would they care if their current human paramour is Black, White or Asian? All of his characters are strong and brave. For his readers, they can find at least one demigod or magician to relate to and say I can be as strong and brave as. That’s important and shouldn’t be overlooked. So for that I love his books.
As for Sword of Summer, fans of his other books are going to love it. I’m not as familiar with Norse Mythology as I am with Greek but I know enough to know the major players. Magnus is in the mold of Percy as he is definitely a smart ass and I love it. He is also the cousin to Annabeth. The poor Chase family. You have one brother who had a child with a Greek Goddess and one sister who had a child with a Norse God. Both of kids were runaways. The Chase family knows drama. One can only hope that after all this they Chases’ have an easier time. Anyway, Magnus is joined by Sam, a Valkiyre and daughter of Loki. Blitz the Dwarf and Hearth the Elf. Another thing that the Chase cousins have in common is they both have been to the afterlife, though Magnus actually died. Magnus and friends must find the Sword of Summer, aka Jack and delay Raganok from happening. No pressure. Like his other books, our Heroes have to go through many trials, have run in with other Gods and Goddesses and other demigods and deal with a short window to complete their mission. You would think that it would get predictable but it doesn’t. I think a new set of Gods helps. Riordan also is not afraid to kill off characters either so don’t get used to some of them. I’m liking this series and I can’t wait to read more.
The final book in Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle, The Raven King was supposed to be released later this month. Unfortunately, Maggie said that she needed more time for editing so it has been pushed back until April. Gah! Five more months! What are we going to do? Well for now we are going to have to console ourselves with gazing at the gorgeous cover of The Raven King, revealed yesterday.
Like the covers of the previous books it’s beautiful but doesn’t give much of way of plot or clues besides a deer will somehow play a part in the story. In the meantime, we all can spend time theorizing over what is going to happen. Are Blue and Gansey finally going to kiss and be the doom Gansey? Are Ronan and Adam going to get together? What about Maura and Butterscotch? Will they find Glendower? And what is up with Henry and what role does he have in all of this? Stay Strong. April will be here before we know it.
Since it’s the November 1 I thought we would take a moment and look at Maggie Stiefvater’s best book, The Scorpio Races. I mean all of her books are good but this one is the best. It’s filled with so much atmospheric goodness that’s it’s just luscious. Every year they race on the sea horses. Some live and some die. Sean is the defending champion. The youngest ever but much older then his years. Puck is the first girl to compete but circumstances make her take the chance. I can’t speak highly of this book and I’m sure that Kate would agree with me. If you are looking for a good book to read by the fire with some warm apple cider then you really can’t do any better then this.
If you loved Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha series and you love crime capers then you are going to love Six of Crows. Set after the events of her last series but this time in Kerch, a country not far from Ravka, six criminals are tasked with a suicide mission that has little to no chance of being accomplished but the pay out is good. Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, Matthias and Wylan are all flawed and interesting characters with varying degrees of criminal presents or pasts. Each bring their own set of skills that are vital to the mission. Inej, aka the Wraith, is a trained trapeze artist who can scale walls and quietly gather information. Jesper is a sharpshooter with a gambling problem, Nina is a Heartrender, who can kill you without even touching you. Matthias is a convict who is part of a religious society that hunts down Grisha. Wylan is the son of a rich merchant who likes to blow things up and Kaz is their mysterious leader. He worked his way up in the Barrel to rule but it’s all to get revenge on the man he blames for the death of his brother.
A new drug called Jurda Panem has been developed and it strenghtens Grisha powers to impossible powers. This could change the whole balance of the world. How can people defend against the Grisha if they have unchecked powers? Kaz is hired by the Merchant Councils to rescue the man who created it from a Fjerdian prison that is inescapable. Kaz goes about to assemble his team who don’t exactly get along but must work together if they are going to succeed or just survive. This story has so many plot twists and misdirections it’s like Oceans 11. You have to question everything you read because what you think is happening is not all that is really happening. It’s not just all the action that makes this book a good read. It’s the characters. They are all compelling and interesting with full backstories. All with the exception of Wylan who is the only one not to have a chapter written from his point of view. Probably because out of all them he’s the outsider of the group. He’s not a criminal and he’s not from the barrel. Kaz says he’s only there as leverage against the council and he knows how to blow things up but I think it’s more than that. I look forward to knowing more about him.
Matthias is a warrior who’s goal is eradicate the Grisha as he feels they are unnatural. It’s one thing to arrest and execute Grisha in one’s own country but it takes balls to go other countries, tracking down Grisha, capturing them and bringing them back to Fjerdia and then putting them on trial and executing them. He captured Nina but thanks to a storm she rescued him. In attempt to save his life again, she accuses him of slave trading but things go south when he is actually thrown in jail for it. Nina befriends some people (for lack of better term) to help get him out as she feels responsible. Inej was captured and sold to a pleasure house until Kaz came and made her apart of his gang. Now she’s his spy, the Wraith, but all she wants to do is go home and find her family. Jesper, a former farm boy who came to Kerch as a student and found gambling instead. He’s also hiding things, one being that he is also Grisha. I’m pretty sure I know another one of his secrets too. Let’s just say, I ship Jesper and Wylan, if you get my gist. Kaz is the most intriguing. Coming out of nowhere to being a major player in the Barrel. He’s smart and ruthless and more of a mystery than everyone. He’s hellbent on revenge against the man he believes is responsible to the death of his brother but he’s also a 17 year old boy so well, he has those annoying feelings to deal with.
So for fans of the Grisha series and Oceans 11 type movies this is the book for you. It’s fun, lots of action, lots of double dealings, backstabbing, mystery and potential romance.
Ungodly is the final book in the Goddess War Trilogy. The Greek Gods may not be worshiped like they did in Ancient Greece but being Immortal, they are still around and living mostly normal lives. That is until they mysteriously start getting sick. Gods are not supposed to get sick but Athena is coughing up feathers, Hermes is wasting away, Aphrodite has gone mad. Artemis is perpetually being hunted, just name a few. Athena and Hermes set out to try to figure out what is going on. This leads them to find the mortal heroes from the Trojan wars, Achilles, Odysseus, Hector, Cassandra and Andromache. The thing is that they are now teenage kids who have no idea who they really are/were or are just waking up to it. Only thing they know is that they are in a world of trouble.
I like this series because it was fun to read but also an interesting take on Greek Myths. These Gods and Goddess are not Greek Gods of Rick Riordan. They are not all gathered in one place on Mount Olympus at the Empire State Building keeping tabs on the world below. They are scattered about the world with litter to no contact with each other. They have gone on living their own lives and well still holding the same grudges for thousands of years. Also the threat of dying has really humanize them in ways they never could be before. They learn what it feels to live with the uncertainty that they will live to see tomorrow. As for their human heroes, the Gods, particularly Athena and Hermes, find they are more sympathetic to them. They are not just weapons to be used when needed but actually people with actual lives.
Cassie is really Cassandra who was a oracle during the Trojan War that Apollo cursed that no one will believe her. Now in modern day she’s just Cassie who is in love with Aiden, oblivious to what’s going on until she meets Athena and Hermes. She finds out that not only she a character from the Ilaid but so is her brother Henry (Hector) and her best friend Andie (Andromache). Oh and Aiden is actually Apollo, who feels really bad about that whole curse thing. Considering the past run in the Gods didn’t go so well, you can probably bet that they aren’t going to get along all that well in the present either. I definitely love how all of them at one point or another stand up the the various Gods. They don’t just fall in line and do whatever they are told do. It takes some major gumption to stand up to Athena. They each are in various states of conscience of who they were and they each have to figure out who they are now. Do they just except that it is their fate to relieve the same drama all over again or do they choose their own path? Isn’t that what we all struggle with?
There is a lot of action throughout the series. Gods taking on each other. Of course, Hera is a villain, when isn’t she? You almost have to feel sorry for Hera. She is constantly playing the villain. To be fair, she did do some pretty terrible things but to be also fair she also endures some pretty terrible things too. Anyway, total side note. There are a lot of twists and turns and not afraid of killing off characters for the sake of the story. It’s fun read for all those who love Greek Mythology, kick ass heroes and heroines and action.
I often forget about how dark children’s literature can be. Take for instance, Matilda or any Roald Dahl. Harry Potter, The Series of Unfortunate Events and Alice in Wonderland to name a few. Black’s and Clare’s Magisterium series is no exception. It started with the ending of the first book where *Spoiler Alert* one of heroes turns out to be the bad guy and just continues from there. Call, Aaron and Tamara are thrown into situations that are really well beyond their ages but do it anyway. They all young and just coming into their own, discovering who they are and learning to control their powers. They are trying to learn who they can trust because even the adults are a bit sketchy. After the big reveal at the end of the last book I had big expectations for this one and for the most part it lived up to it. I still felt that it started off slow, much like the first one did but once it got to the mission it was a fast read. If only the whole book was like that. I like the debate of nature vs. nurture that is being played out with both Callum and Aaron’s characters. I have a feeling that we are about to see a little role reversal with those too. It’s a solid second book and I look forward to see what happens next.
Finally!!!!
2 Women, So Many Books 