(no subject)

[meganbmoore]

 Can anyone give me their opinions on any of the following?  Some Amazon has recced to me (but then, it also put every Twilight book in my Gold Box today...) some were in lists.  A few I saw in the bookstore but wasn't sure about. Some are recs where I forgot who recced them and what they said.  Most are YA fantasy.

Wings: A Fairy Tale by E.D. Baker
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
A Curse As Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce
Dragon's Keep by Janet Lee Carey
The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of "The Arabian Nights" by Cameron Dokey
Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue
Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle
The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle
Seven Tears into the Sea by Terri Farley
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner
Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
The Rest Falls Away by Colleen Gleason
In The Forest Of Forgetting by Theodora Goss
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
Black Pearls: A Faerie Strand by Louise Hawes
The Rose Bride: A Retelling of "The White Bride and the Black Bride" by Nancy Holder
Heart of Light by Sarah A. Hoyt
Suite Scarlett by Maureen Johnson
The Faerie Path by Frewin Jones
Ophelia by Lisa Klein
Magic or Madness by Justine Larbalestier
The Swan Kingdom by Zoë Marriott
Perdido Street Station by China Mieville
The Secret Files of the Diogenes Club by Kim Newman(ed.)
Aurelia by Anne Osterlund
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
Larklight by Philip Reeve
Senrid and Inda by Sherwood Smith
Sisters of the Sword by Maya Snow
The Swan Maiden by Heather Tomlinson
The Assassins of Tamurin by S. D. Tower
In the Serpent's Coils by Tiffany Trent
Steampunk by Ann VanDermeer(ed.)*
The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
Snake Agent: A Detective Inspector Chen Novel by Liz Williams

*Yes, I linked to a post on it earlier this week, but I'm wondering if anyone else has read it, or seen posts/reviews of it.

Of course, most people won't even see it for a couple hours, and half the f-list is busy liveblogging the Avatar finale...

Comments

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

LARKLIGHT! It's a lovely retrofuturistic victorian steampunk tale with aliens and strong female leads who are such despite being the Very Proper Ladies of their time and wanting to avoid daring activities that would expose the ankle, and then go to save the day since no dashing gentleman is around to do it for them.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I do like the ones who are still proper ladies...

[troisroyaumes]

I enjoyed but didn't love The Jane Austen Book Club. I did love The Perilous Gard and would very much recommend it.

I haven't read the titles on there by Sherwood Smith and Susan Fletcher, but I've read other books by them and enjoyed them very much. (Inda is on my to-read list.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I liked Smith's Crown Duel a lot. According to Amazon, of the 2 I listed, 1 was written when she was a teen, and the other is her first non-YA, so I figured I'd look for a bit of feedback first.

[muses-circle.livejournal.com]

Wow, the only novel on here that I recognize is The Jane Austen Book Club! O.o Honestly, I had a hard time getting into that book and never finished it. I didn't really connect well with any of the characters.

I'll have to check out some of these books.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Lotsa fantasy, there. Though there's also Hamlet through Ophelia's eyes, and one about Helen.

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

I will look at your list later -- but there are books on there I have read. (And some others I have but have not read.) Be back later!

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'm amazed you tore yourself away this long.

*will remind you as soon as the squee is over*

[mscongeniality.livejournal.com]

I'm not a huge fan of Esther Friesner so even though I've heard of that book, I've got really nothing to say about it. The only other book I know on that list is ''Perdido Street Station' which I own a copy of but have never gotten around to reading.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think my sole exposure to Friesner is an an editor.

[keelieinblack.livejournal.com]

I'll second the love for Larklight--I found both it and its sequel fun and engaging and am eagerly awaiting the third book. The first chapter's available for free here (http://www.larklight.com/extract.html) if you want to try a bit beforehand.

Kissing the Witch is good if you're interested in retold fairy tales with a feminist slant, though I find I have to be in the right sort of mood to read it; it's a bit of a concept book, with each woman's story eventually leading into the telling of the next. (They're all in first-person POV, too; I don't know your feelings on that style, but since some people can't stand it I thought I'd mention it.)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

First person past tense, or first person present tense?

[the_rck]

The Rest Falls Away didn't work for me, but books with vampires have an immediate strike against them with me. I think I only managed a couple of chapters before I gave it away.

I also didn't care much for The Princess Academy. I think that Hale's writing style doesn't work for me as I've bounced off one or two of her other books. I didn't hate the book. I just lacked sufficient motivation to finish it before it was due back at the library.

I highly recommend both The Perilous Gard and the author's other book, The Sherwood Ring, which isn't on your list. The Perilous Gard involves a noblewoman, one of Princess Elizabeth's ladies, sent by Queen Mary to live on an isolated estate. There are complications involving the Fair Folk.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Vampires are an automatic strike with me, too, but it seems popular. And not with Twilight people.

[prozacpark.livejournal.com]

I read "The Storyteller's Daughter" almost a year ago, so I don't remember many details, but I do remember finding it to be annoyingly mediocre. There was no complexity to the relationship between the protagonists, and all of the hero's darker qualities were taken out to make him into a typical romantic hero, but not a very interesting one. The heroine had the beginnings of a Mary Sue in making, and I tend to usually love Schaherzad. It would really depend on what you're looking for, though. I really wanted to read a story about their relationship that took into account some of their issues (the fact that he was, actually, killing one girl a night before marrying her and that she only married him to save womankind from his eeevil ways) and made me believe in it anyway, but that didn't quite happen because the issues were either taken out or glossed over. It was portrayed as true love, and I was more interested in seeing a complex, if twisted and odd, relationship (as I usually am ;).

"Kissing the Witch" is all kinds of awesome, if I remember correctly. Some stories are better than others, but they also offer a new perspective on the relationships between the women in the fairy tales, which I liked. It's an interesting experiment stylistically, and should be read for that if nothing else. The stories all sort of blend into one long story (while still standing well on their own) in a way that worked for me.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I think that's the normal problem with the 1001 Nights retellings...they pretty him up, in terms of deeds.

[woodburner.livejournal.com]

I've read PRincess and the Hound! I thought the first 2/3s of the book were excellent, but the last 3rd kind of fell apart. I would still recommend it though, as it is unusual and interesting.

Larklight I just started, but the first 3 chapters have been utterly charming (though perhaps a little overdoing it on the whole "I am so victorian" front).

Haven't read the Steampunk anthology yet, but I loved the New Weird anthology. But then I am a big fan of the, uh, whatever you'd call it. The "new weird" approach to writing?

AVATAR FINALE WAS ACE MAN

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

STOP TAUNTING ME!!!!

What's "New Weird"?

[filmi-girl.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed "The Hollow Kingdom," but it's kind of a strange book for reasons that I cannot say because it would give away the plot. The sequels are not worth reading at all, but this first book has something to it.

Other than that, I can tell you that "Ophelia" features one of those annoying heroines who goes around spouting off about women's rights in a second-wave feminist kind of way except that it's totally out of character for the story and time period. I would avoid this book.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

That's a pity about Ophelia, what with her beng one of the Extremely Wronged females of fiction already.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

_Snake Agent_ is a mixed bag: the setting and premise is cool, but the plot is meh and the female characters are all dead, victims, or gods. The sequel, _The Demon and the City_, is *much* better, though.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

So if it pisses me off, I can expect compensation in the next book?

[anime-heart.livejournal.com]

I like China Miéville; I think Perdido Street Station is probably the best of the Bas-Lag novels as the politics are more interesting and better integrated into the plot. But all three are worth reading. The other two are The Scar and Iron Council (which I just read a few days ago).

They are more amusing if you know something about English Trotskyites, but it's not a prereq.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Do they need to be read in a certain order?

[artillie.livejournal.com]

I read The Assassins of Tamurin when I was maybe ten--it's not something a ten year old should be reading. I remember thinking that "Tamurin" sounded like "tangerine." But, that said, it was pretty awesome. Great worldbuilding, and the style makes up for the predictable plot. Lale, as I recall, was quite badass.

I've also read The Looking Glass Wars, though I was forced to fly through it as fast as I could. 400 pages + a day and a half, tops = not the best for forming an opinion. It was pretty mediocre, and the ending was a mess of Norwegian Wood proportions. There's a sequel, somewhere. I'm certainly not going to bother with it.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Norwegian Woods?

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

Hated it. (http://tatterpunk.livejournal.com/2007/08/26/)


The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope

LOVE IT SO MUCH. As well as the author's other, The Sherwood Ring.


Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins by Emma Donoghue

Have not read but most people rave about it.

Are you looking for YA/YA fantasy/YA fairytale retelling recs?

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hmm...not deliberately, but it is one of the things I tend to naturally gravitate towards.

I'll look for other reviews on the Hunkle. It seems to be something views will be at the opposite ends of the spectrum on, with no middle ground.

[advance.livejournal.com]

I've read The Looking Glass Wars and it's really good, the second book is very disappointing but still likeable. [it was very ... by the first chapter of the book I had already figured out everything else for the book so it was really boring at points] I would say to wait till the third and final book comes out for the Trilogy till you buy the first to see if you want to get a box set or something. I'll be buying the third and would be willing to review it for you if you're interested.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hmm...when's it due out?

I've read the comic book mini based on the first book, and really liked the ideas and world, though I wasn't so big on the art.

[lyssie.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the Friesner book, but I do still have a deep and abiding love for Harlot's Ruse. (which is entirely unhelpful)

[estara.livejournal.com]

I can definitely (and believe I did, hmm) recommend Princess Academy, which is girl power in a princess academy setting ^^. Since I'm not so good in description, Ill just link you to the relevant page on the author's website, which has excerpts, etc.
http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books_academy.html

[estara.livejournal.com]

Oh and Inda is set in the same world as Crown Duel, but from what I gather Sherwood Smith saw that world always as Inda's world and has been imagining it since she was a child.
The main hero is a boy but there are no weak females (only a few devious ones) in these books.

One caution: I can't put them down once I start and they're huge (she's up to three now and in livelongandmarry she wrote that there's at least another book coming out). It's epic but character based fantasy, very well done, from multiple (but not too many) viewpoints.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

Snake Agent: A Detective Inspector Chen Novel by Liz Williams
This was pretty interesting, though I only got like 3/4 way through. My problem wasn't so much with the novel but the rec of it I was given.. I'll elaborate if you want.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Yeah, do, because that's an interesting problem.

[akosikae.livejournal.com]

Considered the following, but have not gotten them yet:

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor - Alice in Wonderland fic.
In The Forest Of Forgetting by Theodora Goss

[magicnoire.livejournal.com]

Okay, let's see.

I did like Kissing the Witch a lot after I read it but I fear it's one of those books that doesn't quite stick with you.

Here are my posts on:
Bewitching Season (http://magicnoire.livejournal.com/268068.html)
The Rest Falls Away (http://magicnoire.livejournal.com/93193.html) (this is Regency Buffy)
Life As Knew It (http://magicnoire.livejournal.com/93661.html) (highly highly highly recommended)

I absolutely hated the ending of Aurelia and don't recommend it at all.

And if you want, I can also send you a copy of Sarah Hoyt's Heart of Light (and the sequel) when I send you the Hell & Earth ARC later this week.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I always endorse people giving me books.

I think Bewitching Season is a given (like "probably order it from Amazon this week") I just thought I'd toss it up to see if there were any other opinions on it.

What was wrong with Aurelia?

your list

[(Anonymous)]

Several good books on this list. Perilous Gard is one of my all time favorites. I liked Hollow Kingdom also. Life as We Knew It is completely different but very good. Curse as Dark as Gold was also very good. The Shannon Hale books are mixed - I found Princess Academy not as good as her first two, and was very disappointed in her research for Austenland.

Re: your list

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

By any chance, can you give me a little info on Curse As Dark As Gold? The setup really appeals to me, but also seems to have a lot of places where it could go wrong.

[shiegra.livejournal.com]

I very much enjoyed the Hollow Kingdom; the Swan Kingdom wasn't bad, but it felt very bland to me, and added nothing at all to the mythology, really. Nothing else I can add.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Any details on the Dunkle? Opinions on that one seem to vary wildly.