Empire of Ivory December 6, 2007

Novik, Naomi (2007). Empire of Ivory, the Temeraire series. NY : Del Rey. 404 pages.

The Temeraire series depicts an alternate reality set during the Napoleanic Era in which dragons fight alongside humans in a new branch of the military.  In the fourth book of this series, the dragon Temeraire, and his human captain, Laurence, travel to Africa to seek the cure for a deadly epidemic that has struck England’s dragons.

This series is more of a historical adventure than a fantasy, however this book, much like the first book, has a lot of emotional depth. This is a major plus, since, in my opinion, that sort of subtle heart-tugging is Novik’s greatest strength as an author. Not that the action falls flat either!  And despite the serious thrust of the plot in this episode, there’s also more room for comedy and character interplay than in the two previous books.

There were a couple of things that I particularly liked in this book.  The relationship between Temeraire and Laurence really seemed to develop – there was also a lot of conflict between the two that was very nicely and subtly portrayed.  Temeraire’s alternating maturity and pettiness was very cute. And Laurence’s attitude towards women just continues to amuse, especially his reactions to his mistress (and superior officer) Jane Roland.

The new dragon, Iskierka, very nearly steals the show, what with her incessant quest for bling – her interplay with her bemused captain, Granby, is really charming. And since Granby has always been one of my favorite characters, I was glad he had more page time in this book. And all of the dragons continue to be fully developed characters in their own rights, and not just magical plot device ponies as I’ve seen them used in other series. (Sorry Eragon…)

So where’s the bad? Well, the book ends on a major cliffhanger, and the next book doesn’t come out until this summer. I hate waiting…

If you like this book: I’ve heard some people mention Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke as a read-alike, but in my opinion you’d be better off with Connie Willis’s To Say Nothing of the Dog, about time-traveling British historians.

Tithe November 24, 2007

Black, Holly (2002). Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale. NY : Simon and Schuster. 331 pages.

Kaye redefines weird – she doesn’t go to school, she doesn’t quite look like everyone else, and – oh yeah – she gets visits from faeries that no one else can see. Or at least she did, before she moved to Philly with her mom. But when an unexpected attack sends both Kaye and her mother back to the Jersey shore, she gets pulled into the world of faerie – a world, it turns out, that she belongs to more than she’d ever guessed.

Usually I can steamroll right through books, but I had to put this one down more than a few times, for various reasons – none of them were bad reasons – they were just… well, here they are:

1. omg, yaoi fanboy, what?!

Corny. One of the more important side characters, Corny (short for Cornelius), is ethically challenged, a genius, and gay. He’s also an avid reader of shonen ai manga (translation: homoerotic japanese comic books, generally written by and for women). Well, he calls it shonen ai, but as Kaye helpfully describes some of the scenes in said manga, I’m actually guessing it’s yaoi, which is basically the same thing, plus more porn.

Let me be clear: I did not need to put the book down because I have a problem with people who are queer, intelligent, or fans of pornography.  Rather, I had a problem with the way the book used these aspects of his character to portray him as a person who has no regard for the lives of other people, or would be receptive to getting raped and brutalized.  It’s a valid and consistent character portrait, but it’s also an extremely offensive way to portray a specific group of people, in that it implies that one’s taste in porn could predispose a person to want to be raped.  Or that being smart means you want to gun down your classmates.

I’m relatively sure that the author didn’t intend her character to be offensive, but in my case, I was a little taken aback.

2. tortured hero? srsly, pls…

Roiben. Roiben is a faerie knight of the Seely Court (the relatively good and nice group of faeries), who is traded to the Unseely Court by his queen. In the Unseely Court, he is forced to carry out his new queen’s horrible orders, and is thus traumatized into becoming a brooding, dark anti-hero. And Kaye falls for him like I fall for chocolate donuts. I’m not saying I don’t sympathize – back in the day, I myself liked a platinum blond tortured hero or two. And Roibin is far from the worst incarnation of this little archetype, but… really…

3. Jersey shore, land of hidden magic?! XD

This time, I put the book down because I had to pause and savor my smug glee that yes, someone else sees the dirty, glittery, and wildly natural Jersey shore the same way I do. And, for once, the faeries (angels, demons, winged monkeys, etc…) don’t live in Central Park, NY, but a place I actually know and care about – and let me tell you, it is the perfect setting for this book. It sets the mood, reflects Kaye’s character, and foreshadows the nature of the faerie courts. Just – wow, I had so much love for the setting.

Alright. Now, putting all that aside, I really did enjoy this book. This is one of the better things to come from the faery/fairy stories that are becoming popular recently, and there was a lot of sensitivity and depth in all the characters. And after all, I may have put the book down more than once, but I always, always picked it up again.

Booktalk Hook: Did you ever think that you just couldn’t possibly be related to these people who are pretending to be your parents?

If you like this book: You’ll probably want to read the sequels, Valiant and Ironside. Or you might want to try testing out the shallow end of the pool of manga that this book is referencing, both in the text, and thematically – titles like Seimaden, Angel Sanctuary, or Alichino.

Dragonhaven October 16, 2007

McKinley, Robin. (2007). Dragonhaven. NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 342 pages.

Jake Mendoza begins a life as an interspecies liaison when he precipitously (and illegally) adopts a baby dragon after he finds its dying mother.

I’d like to start out by saying that this is a really good book, and that I did enjoy it… but I need to start out saying that because there is a lot more that this book did wrong than it did right. And most of it is something a good editor really should’ve fixed, which is most of the problem – the book reads a little too much like what it’s aiming to be, the unedited memoirs of teenage Jake Mendoza. And that means, as a result, that the organization of the plot, and its telling, is all over the place to the point where it became frankly hard to follow. The book is filled with asides and chatty meanderings through tangential subjects – some of which are later actually important, so too bad if your eye starts skimming a bit. There is also a lot of repetition. And there didn’t need to be.

One criticism I’d heard before I bought the book was that the teenage-boy voice of the narrator was a little bit jarring from those who expected something a bit more like McKinley’s usual style, but I personally thought that this was one of the best aspects of the book (aside from some strange slip ups, like the use of the word “cheezing” – editor, find me a boy who actually uses this word, please!). Jake has an interesting, complicated, blunt and charming voice, and is a genuinely likable protagonist. And while some McKinley fans might notice the lack of “girls who do things” in the book’s summary, they should note that any and all girl characters who appear are usually doing things.

Dragonhaven, taking place as it does in an alternate universe modern day, tries really hard to avoid a lot of the romanticism of the usual boy- meets- dragon story. Sure, the dragons communicate telepathically (although Jake refuses to use the word), but it causes headaches! Sure, Jake finds a baby dragon, but it’s really more like a gooey fetus than a cute, wide-eyed, anime-style baby dragon! If you like realism, this take on things should be a plus. If you’re a fan of, say, Eragon or other dragon-centric fantasy novels, the tone can be almost a little offensive (i.e. “obviously dragons aren’t cute! Duh! God, who’d expect them to be?!”).

Booktalk Hook: Did you ever want a story about a boy and a dragon that was a little less Eragon and a little more like real life?

And if you liked this book: You might want to check out Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, which, while not YA, is another excellent take on the “like real life with dragons” premise, set in the British “age of sail” period (read: like Master and Commander with dragons.)