Review: Tamora Pierce – Lady Knight

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Lady Knight
Tamora Pierce
Keladry is about to be given the most difficult and important mission in her life. With an uncanny ability for picking up strays, it seems like the Goddess’ hand is on her – yet Keladry must survive and thrive on her own.
Keladry is still the plucky heroine that we know and love. She’s matured remarkably well for an 18 year old, maybe too well? Those were different times however. She’s a natural born leader, which helps with things.
Sometimes I feel like Keladry is not a remarkable leader. She’s just so dedicated to her people, and that’s what makes her special. Nevertheless, she does care for them deeply, and that’s where the main basis of this novel comes from.
Some time has passed since Keladry was knighted, and we see a couple of things that have matured well. Neil for one – being a knight suits him, and yet he finds a good balance between that and being a healer (not to mention being in love). The other is Lord Wyldon, who is the same grumpy old man he always was, but he has a soft spot for Keladry now.
I’d be pretty excited to see a sequel to these – Keladry seems like she really wants children, but she’s got to find the time to do so! Perhaps she will be a commander for the King’s Own in the future, or something else perhaps.
So I lied when I said this was one of my least favourite books in the quartet and I wasn’t going to read it. I can’t leave a story half finished, even if I know how it ends! I’m glad I did reread it.

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Review: Tamora Pierce – Squire

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Squire
Tamora Pierce
Keladry awaits a knight-master, having passed her dreaded examinations under much duress. Will she be saddled to a kindly desk knight, or to a horrific battle knight? Keladry doesn’t know what to expect – but she gets the best, well, the second best to what she is expecting.
This novel perhaps shows the least amount of development in Keladry’s character. She’s always been strong willed, and this novel just serves to reinforce that. Also her desire for perfection and her strong ideals are also supported.
I love Raoul. Just the way a Knight Commander should be! He’s so friendly, I can believe why the men follow him into mud and blood, rather than glory. He should have shacked up earlier with someone.
Speaking of which, this is the first novel in this series where Keladry really gets into a love interest. It’s kinda neat actually, since then she is also able to defend herself using Tournaments. Another novel I am reading at the moment has Tournaments in it too, but takes a different tack. I can’t decide which I like more.
Some of the other points raised in the other two novels are resolved here. We see Keladry’s maid successfully running her own shop, and some of Keladry’s enemies are cut down. Keladry is no longer frightened by heights, but she still doesn’t like them. You’d think magic would be able to fix that right?
While I’m thinking of it, I often forget that Keladry is still only 16 or so years old! They are knighted by 18, which seems so young to have so much responsibility. That being said, I guess it’s a better kind of responsibility than what we expect of teenagers these days. Driving is nothing compared to killing monsters!
This is my 3rd equal favourite novel in the quartet. I enjoy the 4th one around the same amount, and I am considering not rereading the 4th this time around. I have so many other things to read now that I have broken my reading dry spell, it seems a waste to not read the exciting books I know are out there waiting for me.
If you’re waiting on a review from me because you have sent me a copy of your novel, rest assured that I am getting to them. I am going through a dry spate of reading due to stress at work, and find old familiar fiction more comforting at that time. My apologies.

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Review: Tamora Pierce – Page

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Page
Tamora Pierce
Keladry has gotten past her First Test and now is a fully fledged page. She’s not without problems though, as those people who plagued her in her first year have just become craftier. Not to mention a stray set of bandits.

Once again, Pierce shows the importance of following your goals, and not giving up on dreams because someone wants you to do so. Keladry works hard to get where she wants – not because she’s a natural at things, but that she works her butt off to get there! It’s more realistic I think than the Lioness in training, but I love both series (this one is just my favourite!).

I loved this novel just as much as the first, every time I read it. I only wish I could forget what happens so that each time I read it I would be surprised. That being said, I look forward to the next Pierce novel with great anticipation every time. Her last novel was a little disappointing, but still worth reading.
There are a number of minor climaxes within the novel, all of which serve to make the reader think more about Keladry and flesh her out as a good role model. The other characters, with the exception of Keladry’s maid, seem a little more one dimensional. I guess it’s because it’s focalised from Keladry’s point of view, and it’s hard to know what they are thinking.
What was not clear to me was whether her first year was as a page, or whether it was an extra year tacked on. From the sound of things though, as she needs to pass examinations with Neil and the others, it was just a different sort of first year.
There’s quite a big time jump in the novel to get the more exciting parts happening. It’s so smooth though that between one chapter and the next a year passes and you don’t feel like you’ve missed anything.
Overall, a satisfying read and reread for all young fiction fans. Recommend it to your kids, your grandkids, your neighbour’s kids – this has fabulous values to share, and encourages perseverance – what more could you want?

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Review: Tamora Pierce – First Test

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First Test
Tamora Pierce
Keladry is the first girl after Alanna the Lioness to apply to become a Page under King Jonathan of Tortall. Unfortunately for her, she has to first undergo a harrowing test year, in which her resolve is tested and her mettle tried.
As one of the reviewers quoted on the back of the novel says, it’s filled with a plucky heroine, complete with animals, monsters, school and a hint of magic. For me, it’s the school and animals that does it. The whole book ticks all of the boxes that I look for when selecting a good enjoyable novel to relax with.
I’ve read this novel multiple times, and no doubt will continue to do so in the future. Kel shows a trait of caring for others so strongly that it is impossible not to like her. Just enough action that it’s satisfying, just enough schooling and real life problems to keep it flowing naturally.
I’m not sure why she is pictured holding a cat on the cover. She does rescue some kittens, but she doesn’t really do much with them. Not like her lovely Diane influenced birds.
I would strongly suggest this novel for any young woman (I doubt it would appeal to boys, although I could be surprised) who wants to be a bit different from the mould. Certainly times have changed now, and people don’t do such medieval fighting, but it’s still an uncommon thing for woman to be included as equal partners in the military. But I digress…
Now for a problem I see with the novel (and the series).
I think it’s disappointing in a way that Kel is already somewhat weapons trained. I wanted a raw newby girl to train to become a knight. But I guess that is unrealistic – if they didn’t show aptitude from an early age, it’s unlikely they would want to go for such a career goal.
Overall though, it’s got that flavour that has me coming back for more every time. I used to reread it at least once a year, but I now have so many favourite books that I just can’t do it! And I have so many exciting review books too, which I didn’t have before.
So on that note…
I think I’m going to stop wasting time on including affiliate links to novels. I’m pretty sure you readers are intelligent enough to find the novels that you want in your own way. I haven’t had a single reader click on a link for the whole time I have been blogging. For this reason, I will no longer provide those links. It takes me time to do those, time that I could be spending reading or keeping my other paperwork up to date. Any opinions?

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Review: Traci Harding – Gene of Isis

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Gene of Isis
Traci Harding
Mia is specialised in what she does – but sadly, not many people want her for the job she’s good at. That is to say, there isn’t much call for PhD graduates in ancient languages and mythology. This is a theme that runs through Harding’s books to great advantage, and really fits in with my own viewpoint on life and religion.

The beginning was super slow and I almost gave up listening. I persevered however and things improved from there. My partner also listened with me in the car, and he couldn’t understand why I kept listening! I certainly didn’t do so for a certain Trudi Caravan novel I started, but this one still gave me hope.

I didn’t realise until the middle of the novel how the author was cleverly going to introduce the other two female characters to us. I was worried that I would lose Ashley’s point of view, and I was so enjoying it! The lessons.
This novel is the first in a trilogy and so I found myself dreading the end, particularly as the library didn’t have the next two books in. When I got to the end, I thought maybe for this one I would consider splashing out to buy the next books.
I wondered about the passing of time while Mia was reading. Sometime I felt like it was progressing too slowly. I also would have appreciated some more interjections by her about what she was reading.
God! The ending was almost too hard for me to bear! I so wanted to skip forward, but I knew I’d miss something. Well worth waiting for. There were still parts of this that didn’t make sense to me, but now I have forgotten the majority of them. I’m just basking in the fact that it was a great book to listen to. I wanted to keep sitting in my car to listen to it after I finished driving.
I’m glad I listened to this as a talking book. The reader is fabulous! She’s got the accents down and I could easily tell the difference between the characters. A rare gift, and I think I might look out for other novels read by her. {edited to add – I have since begun listening to another book by Traci Harding read by this reader, and it’s just as good as I’d hoped}.
I often dreamed of reading novels myself as a bit of income, but the beautiful reading of this one makes me think I’m not nearly good enough. Perhaps a youtube reading?
I’m a bit slow on reviewing at the moment, sorry. Mainly I am getting time for talking books as I commute 2 hours each day to work. I should be caught up and posting properly again soon.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Steadfast

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Steadfast
Mercedes Lackey
Katie is trying to escape from her abusive husband. With Travaeler blood in her veins, yet being a cross-breed, she is unlikely to be welcome anywhere. When she finds a dream job in a music hall of Brighton, she thinks she might be safe for a while. But throw magic into the mix, and who knows what might happen?

This novel started out with so much promise. Once again, it failed to deliver. It smacked of another title in the series, even including rogue fires! I guess she’s run out of unique endings?

This book suited its title so badly, that I didn’t even realise it was based on the story of ‘The Steadfast Tin Soldier’. The majority of books in this series aren’t really based on any fables, so I wasn’t expecting it. Having now refreshed my memory of this tale, I can see remnants of it, but nothing major.

For several days after completing the novel, I found myself thinking I hadn’t finished it. The ending was too satisfactory and abrupt. Plus it was exactly what I expected, the minute I found out about the cellar.

Maybe my problem was that I didn’t like Katie. She was just so malleable. It didn’t seem right for her to have a special thing like magic. Although I guess she’s just a layman and so the point of his novel was that they could have powers. Her character felt inconsistent to me.  She was afraid of all men, yet her acceptance was pretty good of her new friends, perceptive as they were to what she needed. 

There was so much scope for learning more about how to train a fire mages. But instead the book dwelled on the accommodations and food of the characters.

A disappointment. I thought I’d enjoy it more than Bastion, but I was disappointed. Maybe Lackey is moving away from being my favourite current author. Other writers, such as Juliet Marellia, have published books that I’m longing to read – and perhaps I’d better give their works a closer eye in the future.

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Review: James Phelan – The Last Thirteen #2

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The Last Thirteen #2
James Phelan
Sam is still dreaming. For him, it is getting more difficult to tell the difference between dreams and reality. He’s been stranded in several countries, including Egypt, but now it’s his job to convince the 12th dreamer that she belongs with him.
18498291Once again this is an action packed novel, story-focussed and story-driven. I don’t think I spent a minute thinking about the individual characters, only the overall picture of action.
Alex, whose character development I complained about last time, certainly gets a lot more back-story. I can’t believe I picked that! Well, at least picked him out as a probable suspect…
I still wish there was more about the actual abilities of the current Dreamers. The experiments by a certain group certainly lend themselves to me learning more about it. Not to mention extending them. It sounds good in theory, but in practice? We’ll have to wait for the next book.
Each novel of this series has a nail-biting cliffhanger. I don’t know if the author came up with this method by himself, or whether this is a bigger novel chopped into serialised bits, or just a fine marketing technique. Either way, you can tell when the end of the novel is coming, because it will be just before you get a great piece of information.
Repeat from my earlier review: It’s a bite-sized spy/genius/warfare novel that’s going to get your non-reader interested in reading again. If you’re not sure, to me it seemed similar to Robert Muchamore’s Cherub series. If you’re not sure if your son/daughter is ever going to get away from comic and graphic novels, offer this instead. The action is fast-paced and there’s hardly any emotional baggage or ‘feels’ to get in the way.
I received this novel directly from Scholastic as an Advance Reader copy. This has in no way influenced my review. This novel was released to the public before I got a chance to write up my review. You can still get on it in time for Christmas!

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Bastion

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Bastion
Mercedes Lackey
Mags is still recovering from being kidnapped, and his memories falsified. So that he can have some peace and quiet, he’s sent out on circuit near where his parents and the bandits were left. It seems like he is going to find out more about himself – one way or another, dead or alive.

First off, what’s up with the title anyway? It feels like a little bit of named countryside that I’ve never read about before. It’s not mentioned in any of the other novels of Valdemar that have been listed in the Guard archives, and you’d think a piece of history like that would be in there, like the Vanyel references.

I’m not sure whether to object or not about the pace of this novel. It seems to me like nothing happens in the first half, literally, except some flashbacks to previous novels. I enjoy scenery descriptions and so forth, but there needs to be some substance behind it. Like the others in this series, it felt empty and unsatisfying and could have been combined into one of the other novels. Yes, it did have a pretty distinct storyline in the end, but there was so much filler!
I felt really uncomfortable with the treatment of Mag’s and Amily’s relationship. Mags is a Herald! The conversation he and his mentor have is just awkward for Mags and readers alike. It’s not similar to any other novel she’s written that I’ve read, which is most of them, and I don’t like it and don’t feel like it added anything to the story. In fact it felt crude. The dramas between the two mentors had a little bit of interest in it, but the eventual resolution of it was a let down.
Once again, I got to the end and wondered if it was finished. This time, I wasn’t even sure if it was the end of the series or not! This seems like a publishing money cow, but it’s not a tasty one. I didn’t even remember the book before this one very well – this one is just as forgettable.
I’ve got another Mercedes Lackey novel waiting for me to review it – I’m not that excited, but it’s from a series she hasn’t stuffed up yet too much, so hopefully it is good!
This was just the right novel to get me into reviewing again – something to partially tear apart by an author who should have known better. I’ve been reading but not reviewing lately. I just got a fabulous stack of books from Scholastic to review though so I should have some more going on really soon.

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Review: Lian Hearn – Tales of the Otori 2: Grass for his Pillow

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Grass for his Pillow
Lian Hearn
Takeo has gone with the Tribe in order to fulfil what he feels is his birthright and duty. Lady Kaede has gone home, pregnant but without Takeo. They must each find their strengths and wait for the spring – where perhaps they will meet again.
Once again, I really enjoyed this series and found myself sitting in my car listening to it by choice! I guess I could have brought it inside to listen to, but the atmosphere wouldn’t have been there!
Takeo is a bit dense sometimes, but he does try to do the right thing. You can tell what his weakness is, and he knows as well. He’s haunted by the people he kills in his role for the Tribe and yearns for something more. Kaede is much more commanding and suited to being a warrior, but alas she’s born female and it’s hardly a choice for her.
The ending is decidedly unsatisfactory and reeks of being a second book in a series. Plenty of cliff-hangers and uncertainties. Bah. I’m just a bit irked because I don’t have the third book waiting for me to listen to! Instead I have the prequel to this series.
I had a moment of doubt when I heard the introduction, because it wasn’t in the same voice as the first novel – but then it turned out to be the same readers as before and I was happy. I was used to them sounding the way they did, and I didn’t want change! I think I wouldn’t have listened to it, if it didn’t have the same expressive readers.
As with the first novel, I don’t think that the title of the novel is particularly true. He doesn’t really spend all that much time free to sleep with grass for his pillow. It seems like he spends much of his time locked inside a room, or battling against the snowy elements of Autumn.

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Review: Jodi Picoult – The Pact

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The Pact
Jodi Picoult
Chris and Emily have been friends, and closer than friends, for as long as anyone can remember. Their parents fully expect them to get married in the near future. So something must have gone dreadfully wrong when it looks like the two have entered a suicide pact, but only one of them dies.
Well, this wasn’t what I was expecting. Or maybe it was, but I had been hoping for something else. I wanted more focus, and more information from Emily before her death. I wanted Melanie to answer some of my questions, and for her to realise there was more at stake than she thought.
I felt frustration, and an inability to connect with the characters. I didn’t want to see inside the jail. I didn’t care what happened to Chris. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t suicidal, why he didn’t see the same ways out as his cellmate. Ugh! He frustrated me!
I did want to know what really happened that night, and drawing out knowledge of that until the end just drove me nuts. I almost skipped to the end just to find out, because I was so sick of the filler and the ‘feels’. This novel did take me on an emotional rollarcoaster for some of the time. I tend to feel deeply with characters, usually regardless of how well they are written.
Being open-minded, I like to think that Gus and Michael could have had something happening there. And the ending is just unsatisfactory. Melanie is such a cop out. It seems so unfair that Gus and James should also lose their friends, as well as their potential daughter-in-law.
Everything was set up perfectly. You could see that the story was constructed to fit a particular plan. There didn’t seem to be any spontaneity in the novel.
I guess what Picoult likes to do is draw in her readers, and then leave them wanting more at the end. I get that, but it still annoys me. The ending to this one, with the exception of the very last page which seemed to have been put in just to torment readers, is actually one of the more concrete ones.
I also bought Vanishing Acts at the same time as this one. I’ve just started into it, and can’t believe it’s another jail storyline. Seriously, it’s not my thing.
Sorry to all of you who love Jodi Picoult’s works – I’ll agree that they are well researched, and that they aren’t meant to be comfortable reads (they should be thought provoking), but I simply couldn’t love The Pact.

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