Is it a cinderella story?! SPIKED LEVELS OF ADRENALINE. RECOMMENDED COURSE OF ACTION: SLOW, MEASURED BREATHS. COUNTING 1, 2, 3…

Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genre: Science-Fiction (cyberpunk?)

Synopsis:

Did you say Cinderella? My heart just swelled up like Kirby, swallowed Cinderella whole and floated off into Dream Land. I’m only just hacking up the 36% of indigestible metal.

Here, Cinderella is – as expected – squished down to the bottom of the junk pile. Without further ado, my heart bleeds for her. But she does remarkably well surviving in a prejudiced futuristic society where there are more reasons to snub a person than a group of Victorians at tea can come up with. She’s already an orphan, and there’s no Matthew to drive her down the White Way of Delight into a charming gabled house in the countryside. There’s only an over-populated cramped city with the stench of plague and garbage on the breeze. And did I mention that 36% of her is made of metal? Including the oft sought for, foot? Apparently futuristic earthens, with their increasing reliance on complicating technology, still can’t get over the horror of a person with prosthetic limbs. It’s hard to catch a break around here. In fact, Cinder’s busily applying herself to fixing broken down mechanicals (by slamming them repeatedly onto hard surfaces, even the experts recommend this) when she first meets Prince Charming. Prince Kai appears, to the oblivious market day mob, as a crazy homeless dude in a hoodie, toting a broken down bot. But thanks to her visual interface being hooked up to the net, Cinder is all ready to greet His Highness. And thanks to the temperature sensitive control panel in her brain, she doesn’t make a fool of herself blushing like mad, although there is some awkward one-legged bowing. So Cinderella and Prince Charming meet in chapter one and the story is well on its way to a bell-tolling wedding day frenzy!

Or so I thought (I know, I’m being unreasonable here, but I expect this relationship to work itself out in the span of one book!)

But, like I said, it’s hard to catch a break around here. Some prejudices just can’t be put aside so easily and some death-defying political manoeuvrings have no room for grandiose acts in the name of love; and frankly, even though a dude’s in love with our main girl, there are more things at stake than a broken heart.

Here we have an anti-cry, wired up Cinderella who grits her teeth and wields her wrench and is only mildly disappointed at the grease and rips and dents she collects along the way to saving her prince and earth from total destruction.

And also, it’s a Cinderella story, so relax and enjoy, you’re on autopilot.

Impressions:

Being cyborg Cinderella was a possibility for Halloween last year, but I ended up being zombie tooth fairy. Oh well. Maybe this year?

Anyway, Cinder is the first book in a quartet that promises to end in 2015. 2015??!! By then we will see cyborgs and hovercrafts in the daily news. Nooooo! I missed that page when I started reading so I fully expected the whole story to conclude by the last chapter, neatly, and perhaps with Cinder exacting her revenge on the mean ones and cutsey robots serving chilled drinks at her wedding. *SIGH*.

Regardless, I must concede that the plot complications introduced in book one could not possibly be resolved in one puny book alone and would require massive tomes to follow. And, though the story moves quite fast, there isn’t really time for our main couple to get to know each other. Firstly, I don’t completely understand why Kai has taken a fancy to Cinder, except for the fact that she’s the best mechanic in New Beijing. They hardly get that many scenes together, and when they are alone together it’s usually in an elevator, and he turns on his princely charm and she tries not to fry her circuits. In fact, she doesn’t even get to fixing his broken bot until well into the novel so how can he even tell if she’s really the great mechanic she’s rumored to be? Many of the scenes that display the real shine in Cinder’s personality do not involve Prince Kai at all. So, he really doesn’t know her. And it’s all the more confusing that every time he sees her he feels the compulsion to give her special attention. It must be the novelty of seeing a girl with grease in her hair and ripped cargo pants. Those must be hard to find in futuristic earth, where gender stereotypes still exist.

Plotwise, once you’re nicely settled into the world, it’s not too difficult to make the guesses. The only surprise I really had was the fact that the story didn’t end by the last page. There were some frustrating scenes where SOMETHING IMPORTANT was about to be revealed – usually by Dr. Erland – but a whole slew of beeping communicators and flabbergasted angry heroines prevented such information to be passed on efficiently, leading to a prolonging of the plot device’s expiration date.

Also, for some reason, I don’t feel like there’s enough meanness from the step relations. Okay, Cinder’s life is already on the rocks, but I’ve read some Cinderella re-tellings where the relations were absolutely UNBEARABLE. Like that terrible donkey butt (excuse my imagery) Hattie in Ella Enchanted. And yes, Adri did send Cinder off to terrible places, and she does appear to be fairly lazy and self-involved, but I wasn’t scared of Adri at all. Maybe it’s because stepmom’s petty meanness pales in comparison with the conniving intelligence of Queen Levana who is not only intelligent, but jealous and stubborn and has bioelectrical powers of manipulation to brain control people (which she prefers to call, magic). She’s the real terror. You’ll have to read the book to find out how terrible.

Prince Kai is the guy with the true problems. He’s stuck in an excruciatingly painful stalemate by the end of the book and fending off frivolous moony girls at his coronation ball is the least of his worries. The commonwealth he rules is infested with a plague, the Lunars are bombarding him with their bioelectrical brain waves, and he can’t even get a mechanic to fix his broken robot promptly. It’s never been so tough to be a Prince.

So, the real issue I have with this book is we’ve got two well-developed characters – I just don’t understand how they will fit into each other’s lives, personality-wise?

I definitely foresee more antics to come in the next few books involving Cinder getting more comfortable with the truth of her heritage, and continuing to try to save the Prince and Earth single-footedly. Perhaps the next book will reveal a more believable romance between Cinder and Kai because right now the romance is a love-at-first-sight type, which is fine for a start but needs more juicyness added, in my opinion.

People living on the moon?

Rating: 3.5 consort robots with ideal feminine shapes and a weakness for shoes

Excerpt:

Cinder slammed shut the apartment door and marched into the living room. Adri was sitting stiff beside the hearth, glowering at Cinder as if she’d been waiting for her.

Cinder clenched her fists. “How dare you send for me like some common criminal? Didn’t you think that maybe I was in the middle of something?”

“How dare I treat you like a common cyborg, you mean?” Adri folded her hands in her lap. “You are a common cyborg, and one who is under my legal jurisdiction. It is my duty to ensure you don’t become a menace to society, and it seemed quite clear that you were abusing the privileges I’ve allowed you in the past.”

“What privileges?”

“I have always allowed you freedom, Cinder, to do as you like, to go where you like. But it’s come to my attention you do not respect the boundaries and responsibilities that come with that freedom.”

Cinder frowned and drew back. She’d had her own angry speech repeating in her head the entire hover ride home. She had not been expecting Adri to bite back with a speech of her own. “Is it because I didn’t respond to a few comms?”

Adri tucked her shoulders back. “What were you doing at the palace today, Cinder?”

Cinder’s heart skipped. “The palace?”

Adri raised a calm eyebrow.

“You’ve been tracking my ID.”

“You’ve made it necessary to take precautions.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Cinder’s internal warnings went off. Spiking adrenaline. She sucked down a breath. “I went to join the protests, all right? Is that a crime?”

“I was under the impression that you were in the basement, working, as you were supposed to be doing. To sneak out of the house without permission, without even informing me, to attend some gratuitous parade, and all the while Peony is –“ Her voice hitched. Adri lowered her eyes, collected herself, but her voice was thicker when she spoke again. “Your records also show you took a hover ride today, to the outskirts of the city, the old warehouse district. It seems clear to me that you were attempting to run away.”

“Run away? No. There is… that’s where…” She hesitated. “There’s an old parts store down there. I was going for parts.”

“Is that so? And pray tell, where did you get the money for the hover?”

Biting her lip, Cinder sank her gaze to the floor.

“This is unacceptable,” said Adri. “I will not tolerate such behavior from you.”

Cinder heard shuffling in the hallway. Glancing around the door, she saw Pearl sneaking from her bedroom, drawn to her mother’s raised voice. She turned back to Adri.

“After everything that I’ve done for you,” continued Adri, “everything we’ve sacrificed, you have the gall to steal from me.”

Cinder frowned. “I didn’t steal from you.”

“No?” Adri’s knuckles whitened. “A few univs for a hover ride I could have overlooked, Cinder, but tell me, where did you obtain 600 univs in order to pay for your – “ Her eyes fell to Cinder’s boots, lips curling in a sneer. “ –your new limb? Isn’t it true that that money was reserved for rent and food and household expenses?”

Cinder’s stomach clenched.

Other reviews:

-Angie from Angieville: “Cinder is quite a serious book, both in the sense that it takes itself seriously and that it deals with serious issues, such as death, disease, class conflict, and war. I think I was expecting something lighter, but the whole taking-itself-seriously and the fascinating world building quickly set me at ease. I loved the attention to detail with which Ms. Meyer depicted the grimness of Cinder’s life and her world.”

-Cat from Beyond Books: “ This book is FANFRICKENTASTIC and if you like YA literature and you like whimsy and great character development and gripping mysteries and future stuff – then get your hands (be they human or cyborg) on a copy of this book right away!”

-Jennie from Blibliophile: “Several people have complained that there’s not a lot of spark between Cinder and Prince Kai. There’s not. There’s some “oo hot guy that I oddly respond to” but no swoon or insta-love. I’m ok with that, because it’s not like we’re being TOLD that they lurve each other and not seeing it. They’re attracted to each other but don’t really know each other and I can see this turning into a slow burn that ratchets up over the next few books.”

-Sheila from Book Journey: “Cinder is the first  have read like this and I loved how incredibly well done the book is.  Marissa Meyer weaves between this Apocolyptic time and the storyline of the original Cinderella I am amazed at how she does it.  All the key elements are there, the crabby step mother, the prince, the ball, the dress, and even something orange to arrive in but I wont tell you what…. “

- Skye from BookRain: “This is a fast read, and completely entertaining. It’s not so exhaustively high-tech to the point that you don’t understand what the heck is going on either.  I think this qualifies as a dystopian book, because although the world is high-tech, the world is bleak with disease threatening to kill and no antidote to be found. Plus society is against our protagonist and poor Cinder goes through more than one identity crisis.”

-Bookshelves of Doom: “Man, I love that sci-fi is getting huge. Cinder is loads of fun—mostly due to seeing a familiar story play out in a new setting, but Cinder herself is also a tough, smart, mouthy, resourceful heroine, so spending almost 400 pages with her is completely enjoyable—and I’m totally, totally looking forward to the next one in the series. “

-Emily from Emily’s Reading Room: “Cinder is an exciting heroine who can look out for herself. And because of the cruelty of her stepmother, she has been doing just that. But, in spite of her stepmother’s and stepsister’s disdain for her, Cinder finds friendship in her other stepsister, Peony, and android Iko. Add to that an old pumpkin-orange car, and an ill-fitting foot that falls off at a pivotal moment, and you have a redesigned Cinderella with plenty of endearing touches.”

-Hitting on Girls in Bookstores: Video Review

-Miss Remmers from Miss Remmers’ Reviews: “”Cinder” is more than a re-imagining of the classic Cinderella story but is more comparable to Star Wars meets “Across the Universe” with a little bit of Cinderella twisted in type of story. When I think of Cinderella, I think of foolish stepsisters, a wicked stepmother, a quiet and almost ridiculous Prince, and of course the few mice and pumpkins. “Cinder” on the other hand incorporates one evil, and I mean REALLY, evil stepsister (what a brat!), and WITCH of a stepmother!, a handsome, humorous, and chivalrous Prince, with a few androids sprinkled in.”

-Enna Isilee from Squeaky Books: “One of the things I loved about this book is that, even aside from being sci-fi, Marissa wasn’t afraid to make the fairy-tale her own. This book isn’t predictable because it follows the original/Disney Cinderella. She has so many more things that make it unique. Moon-people with “magic” powers, a robot helper (instead of mice), and a stepsister who actually likes her! So fun! One of my pet-peeves is when fairy-tale “retellings” are SO close to the original story that it’s a stretch to call them a “retelling.”"

-The Book Muncher: “It boils down to this: Cinder is one spectacularly written, incredibly imaginative and romantic, futuristic fairytale retelling. Ordinarily, Cinderella as a cyborg is a concept that sounds a little odd to me, but debut author Meyer makes it work wonderfully. Her worldbuilding feels so effortless and integrated that everything from androids to an evolved race of people living on the moon to an unusually deadly plague feels completely natural within the story. This is a novel that readers will find easy to become invested in, because of the vivid characters, the futuristic setting, and the irresistibility of such a good story.”

-Thea from The Book Smugglers: “I also have to agree with Ana in that I didn’t buy the romance between Kai and Cinder. I don’t really think there’s much to go on with Kai’s character. For all that he seems like a nice guy and hits all the right prince charming notes, there’s nothing distinct, memorable or anything to connect with when it comes to our prince. As far as the other characters are concerned, I share Ana’s appreciation of the Lunar Queen Levana – she’s a pretty badass villainess. The other standout character, to me, is Cinder’s stepmother Adri (though again, weird name choice) – I appreciate that Ms. Meyer shows a depth to Adri and her attachment to Cinder’s adoptive father, which lends a humanity to what could have been a one note villain.”

-Ana from The Book Smugglers: “Story-wise, Cinder has different yet interconnected threads. On one hand, there is Cinder and her family life, her difficulties at being unloved and exploited by her stepfamily which in this novel are further complicated by the fact that she is a Cyborg in a world that doesn’t exactly welcome them as equal beings to humans. On the other hand, there is the world in the future and the plague, the stress of the politics between the Earth and the Moon and its Lunar people and their Queen. All of this combines in a way to build Cinder’s internal and external conflict and I thought all was really well done especially with regards to the world-building and the fairytale crossover. Although the Cinderella elements are almost secondary to the story, I thought they were expertly handled by the author and it was fun how certain aspects of the tale were incorporated differently here (like the shoe, the carriage, etc). It also has to be said that there is of course, a certain level of predictability stemming from the connection with Cinderella as well as fairly obvious plot twist about Cinder’s true identity. In fact, this was so obvious that I suggest this was done on purpose. To me, it made it all the more fun to follow Cinder through the discoveries she was making.”

-The Story Siren: “The one thing that impressed me the most was the story. I absolutely loved it. I loved the world that Meyer created and the characters, I loved how she took one of my favorite fairy tales and MADE IT BETTER! And after that ending, wow! I am dying for book two, literally dying!”

-whatchYAreading

-prophecygirl from Wondrous Reads: “Cinder is such a brilliant debut novel, exciting and fresh and totally unexpected. The way everything unfolds is clever, and the parallels with Cinderella are fun to spot. There are three more books coming in this Lunar Chronicles series, each centred around three other female fairytale heroes, and OMG I cannot wait to read them. If they’re anything like Cinder, we are in for a real literary treat.”

-Megan from Write Meg: “Cinder has a little bit of everything beneath its intriguing cover: romance; family dynamics; threat of annihilation; magical Lunar people. There’s all this talk of who Cinder really is and where she comes from and why she’s so special, so different from everyone else. There’s Prince Kai, who we’re told is all hottie hot (a rebellious Prince Harry, if you will). There’s all this talk of impending doom and disaster, and yet . . . I didn’t feel it.”

And as winter turns to spring, the lazy furred creature stirs from hibernation, flabbergasted at how much time has passed since she last posted

Hey guys,

I’m so sad! I’m so sad that I’ve let this place become a black hole of nothingness for half a year. Grad school to-dos have been kind of like the zombies from the walking dead, popping out of closets and wells just when you think you’re safe and screaming and shooting will only make things worse.

I’ve read so many books though! To list some of them and follow up with hullabaloo-word-sneeze-types of comments:

-Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card: Typical, well-crafted storytelling with intelligent not-too-pompous protagonist who always seems to find the upper-hand in tricksy situations thereby creating a story which is falsely exciting and expectantly comforting. You can let yourself pretend to be anti-hero-like but your destiny is TO WIN. Incidentally, this one’s about kids who can manipulate time and space using “science” to explain their psychic abilities.

-Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card: Refer to the above comments but slather with more awesome-sauce and less gravity. This one’s a classic. If you have any self-respect at all, you can’t end up not liking Ender Wiggins (did I do the double negatives right?).

-Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold: Reads like a soap opera. Some characters are admirable, some make you want to end your pain in a violent way, and some are just hot. This one took me back to traditional medieval fantasy land. Thought I’d like it more, though.

-The Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong: Like the main character. Like the main love interest. Fear and despise the bad guys. Read this three-in-one tome in a day – had no choice as could not sleep, too creeped. Necromancers are usually so butt-kicking, but this one was interesting as Chloe is just learning about her powers from scratch. She’s just as freaked out of her mind as you are when you’re reading. Excellent read.

-1984 by George Orwell: Imagine the ingredients involved in creating the most paranoid society you can think of that is still functionable. There you have it.

-Behemoth and Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: This is where I’d drop by your desk and use the line, “looking for a good ol’ rollicking adventure?” (elbow jab) and recommend this book. On the one hand we have English folk who like to care for their inflatable jellyfish balloons and enjoy a stroll about the innards of fire-hazards like whales, on the other hand we have the germans trying to sneak around on insectoid machines. It took me a while to warm up to Deryn, and it took me a while to stop screaming at Alek for doing stupid things that become perfect opportunities for Deryn to prove how awesome she is. I think I’m just jealous.

-Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn: What a nice Sharon Shinn. I like Corie from Summers at Castle Auburn more than I like Zoe, but this world is more interesting. I always sink comfortably into Sharon Shinns, it’s like soaking in a nice warm bath with soap bubbles and steam and a nice-smelling candle or two. Here we’ve got some romance, some political shenanigans, and a really neat magical concept about elements that make up a character of a person.

-The Scorch Trials by James Dashner: Now things are more confusing and scarier than ever. I just can’t stop wanting the kids to be tortured more! What? If you’re still reading this series, you’re obviously slightly sadistic yourself. But honestly, what is going on? I’m more in the dark than ever! But the terrible apocalyptic-ness and never-endingness of the chidlren’s misery has me riveted.

-Ice by Sarah Beth Durst: I’m so glad that someone recommended me this gem. Here we have an awesome re-telling of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. And here I thought it was impossible to make this fairytale heroine and her self-pitying bear buddy likeable. I believe! I believe! And I want this story to be true! Events fall into place logically, and Cassie, our main girl, manages to continue being likeable despite all the mess-ups and the bear manages to actually have a personality. Cassie is a top-notch heroine.

-The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima: Getting into this series right now (currently reading The Exiled Queen). Fairly decent storytelling at work, though the magical concepts are nothing too new so far. Hans gives me Eugenides vibes, just saying (though so far love Gen lots more). Still trying to get a better sense of the seven realms. I have this strange need to stretch my legs a little and go wandering about disguised as a peddler.

-Incarceron and Sapphique by Catherine Fisher: I’ve never felt so much sympathy for a prison. Imagine all these little pale-skinned creatures scuttling and burrowing and whining and bickering all around you. Ugh. I’d become depressed and maniacal. Got some sci-fi and some magic. Got some characters with identity issues and daddy issues. Still don’t completely understand how the “science” works here, but was entertained by the world building. Satisfying in a dark and moody sort of way.

-Birthmarked by Caragh M. O’Brien: We have a great heroine who stirs up trouble and stands up against people who think they can make the rules and make everyone miserable. The rules involve babies from poor people living in the post-apocalyptic landscape being taken away from their mothers to be brought up inside a walled settlement where food and health care and education are reserved. It’s supposed to be a great opportunity for the babies, but generally makes the mothers quite unhappy. Quite a curious world I’d like to learn more about.

-The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell: Sort of “Buffy the vampire slayer” season 1 except from the point of view of the demons, who happen to exhibit cat-like features. Reads as fast as The Darkest Powers trilogy.

-Cold Fire by Kate Elliott: Continue the steamy romance between Cat and Andevai, except make it more complicating and strained than it already is. Will they ever be together and openly respect and trust each other? No. Then the fun would stop! Reading this one makes me miss the coolness of the first one. This one’s really sizzling!

-Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve: I loved his Mortal Engine Series – what a neat world! Though every time I try to explain the concept to somebody, I sound like an idiot. Anyway, this book goes all the way back to the beginning before the motoring cities. I was very entertained, I just love the weirdness of the place and Philip Reeve’s humor (The Engineers live inside a large, bald Head that was supposed to be a statue of a past ruler) and all the characters – even the annoying ones.

-The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong: In my opinion, not as good as The Darkest Powers trilogy. Everyone seems to get along too easily. And it kind of annoys me that everyone seems to need Maya to approve of them so that they can be accepted into the little middle-of-nowhere community. Was disappointed that Rafe wasn’t actually the bad boy he pretends to be. No one was a real troublemaker. Things just happened and out-of-towners were mocked for being clueless as how to survive in the wild. Overall was disappointed.

-Rebel Angels by Libba Bray: Read A Great and Terrible Beauty many lifetimes ago, so it took a while for everything to come back. The book starts off slow but gets real gripping real fast. The main gaggle of girls can be irritatingly girly at times, but they latch onto you like barnacles so you’re forced to care. But, truly, the story gets creepier, I suspect, in the last book. Quite well-written, with characters that you love but annoy you as much as your best friend can. You get real chummy with these girls by the end of the grisly adventure.

Yay, I’ve updated my book diary!

And who’s been keeping up with the Walking Dead and wanting to build a tree house?

Completely off topic – now I want to do this.

Storm Front – final section

With one foot in the nether world of Grad School and the other in reality of the Blogosphere, I have succeeded in doing not much in terms of posting for the Group Reads. I make promises that I never keep! Shame on me! But, here are the final questions for Storm Front by Jim Butcher’s Group Read:

1. Were you disappointed that we didn’t get see any more of Bianca and Harry together? 

Not really. I feel like Jim Butcher is saving her for future plot-lines. She pretty much did her part in this story, but as a character there’s much more interesting baggage to be rummaging through, there. I expect to learn more about her in the next books.

2. We finally get to see Harry go on the magical offensive in this section of the book. Any favorite action moment?

The part when Harry masters the demon and Victor is shrieking, “What are you doing? Kill him, I say! Kill him!” or to that effect but the demon turns on him, instead. It was quite satisfying. Uhh…also, the part when Harry wakes up to realize Morgan just gave him CPR.

3. How did you feel about where Harry and Murphy’s relationship was at when the book ended?

It was frustrating and also cute. Frustrating because Murphy kept messing up Harry’s plans and not trusting him even when she was lying on the office floor being saved by him whilst slowly dying of scorpion poison. But it was also cute because Harry genuinely respects Murphy and their friendship (or, could it become more?) causes him to grumble only slightly under his breath before rushing off to get her out of a sticky situation she didn’t even know she was in. But, definitely, the breach of trust between the two thanks to Harry’s complicating situation might make things tense between them for a while. I feel like Murphy’s not someone who trusts other people easily but she obviously cares about Harry, and it may take a lot to completely ruin their relationship with each other.

4. (This question morphs somewhat into Jeff’s ‘Harry and Murphy’ question, but) How did you feel about the wrap up after the climax, the brief mentions of various characters as part of Harry’s closing narration?

The ending was fitting of a literature-noir. I both liked it and wished for a little more – I guess it’s just perfect, then, for the first book of a series. I certainly finished the book with a sense of elation for Harry’s ultimate success at fixing most of his big problems – I wanted to give the guy a high five and a pat on the back (and possibly, a towel and a dry change of clothes, the poor man seems to run around in the rain naked more than is usual).

5.  Now that you’ve seen Harry in all three acts of a story arc, what are your thoughts about him as a character, particularly in light of this being a debut novel for the series.

I began the story not really feeling anything special for Harry. He seemed to fit into the stereotypical detective persona, and that was comforting, at least, but not much connection beyond that. As I continued reading, he started to grow on me. I have to confess that I don’t often read first person pov books where the main character is a guy, I guess ‘cause I don’t connect as well. The second stage of attachment began with me wanting to give Harry a hug or pet him, the poor guy! He drew out the nurturing instinct in me! Then, I started to empathize with his crazy and sometimes just plain stupidly annoying situations (i.e. the White Council stuff involving Morgan). I moved on from being all, “Aw, poor puppy dog,” to “Oh snap! Nice entrance and very nicely done! You show him! (massive grinning following)”. I don’t know exactly when I moved from bleeding heart mother-relationship to best buddy bro-handshaking-sidekick relationship. I kind have this weird, sisterly feeling towards him, now. Like I want to nose around in his basement, or muss up his hair. Weird, eh?

6.  And finally, a two-parter:  Discuss your overall experience with the book and/or the group read and will you be reading the next book in the series?

I’m sorry to say I was being really not dependable in terms of my contributions to the group read. But, one thing that fell out nicely is my new series and character discovery! Yes, I will be reading the next book. This first one had an excellent plot and even more importantly, a relatable character.

The Hum and the Shiver – Giveaway!

I thought I would not be able to finish this book in time – September belongs in a loony house. But, this book just got more and more gripping as I continued reading, so, naturally, I pulled an all-nighter and am now extremely bone-tired. But, review first!

Title: The Hum and the Shiver

Author: Alex Bledsoe

Genre: Fantasy, magical realism

Synopsis and impressions:

Down in the hidden nooks of Appalachia, secrets are buried deep and forgotten. The Tufa people, reclusive and hostile to strangers are tucked in the silence of these hills, their songs linking their stories through the generations. A very beautiful and realistic bit of world-building, I must say, with familiar myths woven in so expertly – I was thrilled to read it! I just love Alex Bledsoe’s use of music in his world – there’s something so transcendental and ancient about music and it just glued my eyes to the page.

The story focuses on the main character, Bronwyn, who is completely opposite from the Tufa community she grew up in, making her a black sheep of sorts at the beginning of the book. She was injured while performing a heroic rescue and is sent back home to recuperate mentally and physically. Waiting to greet her is a creepy “haint/ghost”, and the big mystery is finding out what it wants from her. Bronwyn is a very likeable character – strong (and not just from her military training), but also with realistic flaws leaving room for satisfying character growth. The story is really about her and her self-discovery and how she re-traces her identity back to her roots.  It’s not hard to fall into the shoes of most of the other characters, too, and get dragged into the story (joyfully, of course). They’re fleshed out pretty realistically, and their reactions to the clash of the modern world with their quiet, hidden one, makes an interesting entertaining read.

The pacing of the story may be a bit slow for some readers, but it was just right for me! The title captures the feeling of the story very well… a bit of shivery-ness in a rumbling hum, is how I imagine it. I was surprised at how much I would enjoy this read, though I did suspect it…

Excerpt: 

She wanted to stare straight ahead, at the fresh lines painted on the highway after the state repaved it earlier in the spring, but there was no resisting the pull of the mountains. At first she looked only with her eyes, cutting them enough to see the lush trees and rolling slopes visible past the MPs standing at the deck rails beside her. But like that first taste of liquor to an abstaining drunk, it only made it worse. The leaves sang to her, tunes blew through the breeze, and for a moment something that had been silent and still since she’d left this place vibrated deep in her chest. But it was only a moment; like everything else, it faded to numbness and left her aware of its presence but unable to actually feel lit.

Except somehow, she sensed danger. Not the immediate kind as she’d known in Iraq, but real nonetheless. It was like a shadowy animal glimpsed over the tall grass that ducked out of sight the instant before she turned to look directly at it.

 

Now, I’ve received my copy from the lovely people at prbythebook.com. Thank you very much! They have offered to give away a copy to a reader! How nice are they?

Anyway, if you are interested in reading this gem (and you live Canada or the US), please e-mail me your information at this_is_shar(at)live(dot)com by Oct. 7th. Include your name and address and I will pick one person at random to receive their copy!

Don’t make me repeat this information like one of those annoying telecommercials!

Rating: 4 troubled musicians

Fragile Things – first four parts

You know how it is during the first week of September. Scrambling, scrambling, scrambling. But R.I.P. is underway and I have gotten ahead in my readings! And it’s Group Discussion time!

Introduction

Love the introduction, I do! Get some good insight into the Neil Gaiman cave of wonders! Funny how he dreamed up “I think…that I would rather recollect a life mis-spent on fragile things than spent avoiding moral debt” and that he remembered these particular lines and woke up with a pen to write it down! (Sometimes I dream up – I believe – wonderful things, and they are followed by another dream in which I possess a pen and I have written down those wonderful ideas – so that once I have woken up I feel like I have just gyped myself). What do you think he means by this? He says he doesn’t know what he means by fragile things, either. Perhaps a life spent doing risky breakable potentially hurtful things is a life spent more fully than one where the person’s a-scared of everything and won’t do anything beyond staying on the sidewalk, safe? Here are my impressions and questions for the first three shorts:

A study in emerald

This is a story that, each time I read it, I feel like my neurons are arc-sparking across vast empty spaces in my brain to make new connections. Full of lovely Aha! moments for zombie-brained, me.

I am curious to know at exactly what point you guys clued in on the familiarity of the main characters? I didn’t figure it out until Baker Street was mentioned and even then, I wasn’t completely sure until Lestrade strolled into the picture. Even then, I didn’t clue in to the weirdness of London until the scene with the Queen. All that talk about something mysterious happening to our narrator in the caves of Afghanistan, and the ichor on the walls from the Prince – it totally went over my head the first time I read it. I should have figured something was up, Neil Gaiman introduces each chapter with a local ad of some sort, which I found squirmingly amusing. My favourite is the one selling “Jekyll’s Powders” – “Too many people, both men and women, suffer from CONSTIPATION OF THE SOUL!” I really wanted to laugh like a little troll, but I was in a public place and had to subdue my inner me. (I would buy it in vanilla).

More than the main mystery at hand, did you pick up any funny cues for dramatic irony? Like when our narrator and his friend go to Drury Lane to watch a play. The first play was about mistaken identities. And what about the Restorationists, hm? The first time I read the story, I read it for the actual mystery – plotwise. The second time I read the story, I was reading for Neil Gaiman’s little clues, now knowing the ending and the two sets of characters. As usual, I’m always half-certain I’ve got it right as well as squeamishly half-certain I’ve got it completely wrong and I’m crazy. I always feel this way reading a Neil Gaiman story.

Some questions I still have about this story: what was all that about the “Dynamics of an Asteroid” paper and “wild theories furthering the relationship between mass, energy and the hypothetical speed of light”? And also, why did Neil Gaiman give our friend the names Sherry Vernet and Sigerson? Any thrilling connections to made there that I can’t seem to make?? Please enlighten me so I can enjoy this story more! The only thing I can think of – don’t make fun of me! – is that Albion is on another planet? Or in another dimension? It’s called New Albion, after all – anything with New before it must be on another planet in my logic. In the mean time, I will probably re-read it again.

The Fairy Reel

My favourite part to read is “And sang and whirled and sank and trod and/ skipped and slipped and reeled and rolled/ Until, with eyes as bright as coals, they’d/ crumble into wheels of gold…”

The fairy world seems pretty much wild and scary. The things they do with a heart, man.

If I were to extract meaning from this poem, I would wonder how dreams and death are related to being old? And it seems like the voice of the poem is regretting his decision to be double-souled yet, the line, “the single-souled, who dare not feel/ The wind that blows beyond the moon..” makes me believe that it is a good thing – an act of courage in some way – to dare to wander the Fairy world? But then once he lets his soul/heart go there, he gets wound up in the fairy reel, and is helpless to do anything except watch as the folk do what they will to it and use it against other humans?

October in the Chair

I wouldn’t trust anybody to convince me these were the characters of each month except for Neil Gaiman. Of course, now that Neil Gaiman has defined such personalities for each month, I can’t think of them as having any other personalities but the ones they have in this story. And anyway, I’ve always liked October the best. And I agree with June, there are a whole lot of someones in the woods watching them (I’m close enough to smell the sausages). Who wouldn’t want to gate-crash on this assembly, if possible?

The beginning of October’s story kind of reminded me of the beginning of Mio my Son by Astrid Lindgren. The boy seems pretty much all alone with no one who seems to really care about him or remember him in their selfish busy lives except to point out how insignificant he is (“he is the runt of the litter. Look at him. Look at us.”) And, once the name sticks, everyone starts heaping on the insignificances on him everywhere he goes until he kind of fades from the memories of people. It remains ambiguous whether Karl from Mio my Son and Donald from this story die from their sorry situations or enter another sort of adventure (perhaps, it’s the same thing).

And the whole search for the sea resonates with all these other stories I’ve read (the most recent being Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth where Mary’s searching for the ocean in zombie-ravaged country). What is it about the ocean? Does it signify the beginning of an adventure into the unknown – here, death, likely?

I feel very sorry for Donald. He doesn’t fit in with the life he was born into. No one understands him or bothers to really get to know him – they just label him something and shove him under a rug, basically. He may be a runt of a boy, but that’s not all he is, but that’s all he is to others.

He’s brave to go off like this on his own. He hopes that helicopters and dogs will go after him. He also hopes that he can return one day, older and wiser and better somehow, and his family will welcome him back with relief and delight and awe. Perhaps his dramatic change from this adventure will finally make his family realize that he’s not just the runt. But in his heart, perhaps he thinks he’s already been forgotten. Even if he’s found and taken back home, he’ll just fall back into the old routine of being forgotten. I forget his name pretty much right after it was mentioned because he’s called the runt throughout the story. Just like the boy ghost is called Dearly because he’s forgotten his own name. Sadly, though, even the ghost boy’s ghostly neighbours don’t care about him, preferring to sleep rather than “be bothered to just go and see stuff and do things. They can’t be bothered with [him].” The runt and the ghost boy have a lot more in common with each other than their own respective worlds.

May I say that I’m glad not to know what’s in the tumbledown farmhouse? It sounds sinister.

I like the ending of the short story. “We can’t help who we are.”

The ancient R.I.P. Challenge IV (Sept 1st to Oct 31st)

My Challenge Choices:

Peril the Second

-Blackbringer by Laini Taylor

I’m ashamed to say I have not read any of her books. But, I recklessly (with great belief in the enthusiasm of bookster friends in the physical and non-physical universe) have decided to dive in and pre-order Daughter of Smoke and Bone (if this review by Chelle does not convince you, I don’t know what will). In the meantime, I will try my hand at breaking Blackbringer’s spine.

-The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

I’m also ashamed to say I’ve never read any Oscar Wilde books. But, Jenny has expressed such boundless great affection for him and his work (and all people on good terms with him) that, naturally, I would be curious. (seriously, if you search “Oscar Wilde” on her blog, like, every other post pops up) I’m already halfway through this one – one step ahead of my procrastination!

Peril of the Group Read

-Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

I have this on my shelf back in my Neil Gaiman bookcrush days and my short story obsession phase. I’ve posted about some of his short stories before (M is for Magic) and now am so glad that there will be other people reading these at the same time so that I can figure out some puzzles that have been clacking around under the hood. I’m so glad I hopped over to Kailana‘s blog and found out about this!

-Storm Front by Jim Butcher

Jim Butcher is new to me completely. I haven’t even heard of him, much to my dismay. Some sparkly excitement rubbed off on me when I was jumping around Anastasia’s blog and witnessed a mini-gush over there for the Dresden Files. So, now I must try.

The Group Read idea, in particular, is awesome for me. I’ve been feeling so lonely over here at the lab, I haven’t caught anyone reading during the lunch break or doing any literary activities ‘cept ingesting scientific papers. I miss English Lit classes. This Group Read thing will have to replace that hollow.

If you want to join, just go to Carl’s blog Stainless Steel Droppings and sign up!

Don’t forget to bring a flashlight with you when you go time traveling!

I wanted to travel back in time, today, so I hopped over to Enchanted Serenity of Period Films – they have lists of so many period films and dramas. I love clicking around over there!

Anyway, I arbitrarily picked the 2009 British film From Time to Time. Actually, not really arbitrarily. I wanted to watch it because it’s a time slip movie which Julian Fellowes adapted from a novel (The Chimmneys of Green Knowe) by Lucy M. Boston. As some of you may know, Julian Fellowes also wrote the Downton Abbey series, which is (insert wordless cry of enthusiasm!).

This cute film is set in two times: the present, 1944 as WWII is ending and the soldiers are returning home, and in the past, several generations ago during the Napoleonic Wars. It’s about a boy, Tolly, who’s sent to live with his granny at the ancestral manor, Green Knowe. Granny has not been able to keep the place in as good repair as she would like to. The manor is full of disused wings, and narrow twisty corridors, and cemented doorways and crumbling structures. You need to bring a flashlight with you to explore many of these nooks, and you can’t be afraid of a little dust and scuttling things. Forget about traveling to Hawaii, this is my dream adventure vacation!

Athelhampton House where the movie's filmed

The first night Tolly spends there, Granny tells him all about the people in the portraits that grace the walls of the old manor. I’m so jealous! I’ve always wanted to know more about my own family tree, but could never get past my great-grandmother on my father’s side who was adopted (it’s a secret wonder of mine to know where I get my good traits and my bad traits from and how the others handled theirs). When Tolly loses himself in the bowels of the manor, he sometimes thinks he hears echoes of voices from the previous inhabitants. The atmosphere reminds me so much of The Secret Garden, which I visit on a regular basis via my love-to-shreds copy (seriously, its binding is taped together but I refuse to buy a new one!). Then, one night, he’s woken up by an apparition of a girl. His granny seems to take everything in stride – she’s used to the visitations. One day, however, not only does Tolly see the children, he gets transported back in time to when the manor was teeming with activity. It could happen any time in a given day. One moment, Tolly’s following Mrs. Tweedle the housekeeper down a drafty corridor, the next moment he’s helping one of the children from the past hide inside a cupboard! Some of the people in the past can see him and interact with him, others can’t, which becomes very convenient for Tolly to help them resolve the big family issues of their day (and add a little modern technology to the past ). There is one big mystery that’s a particular challenge to solve…if he can solve the family mystery of the past, perhaps he can help granny with a few troubles in the present.

I love these time adventure stories – did you ever read Caroline B. Cooney’s Time Traveling series (with the Lockwood family)? Or Janet Lunn’s The Root Cellar?  Or watched the movie, Tom’s Midnight Garden? I’m glad to add this movie to all these other old favorites.

I got spooked (ghosts scare me, hands down), I griped the edges of my seat during exciting bits, I chuckled during the silly bits, I wept silently during the heart welling bits. This movie has made me want to read the actual novels by Lucy M Boston – where kids toast bread in big old fireplaces, and rummage about in the attics full of old stuff. Where I live, every house is less than 20 years old, there’s nothing but insulation in the attics as far as I know. It’s the standard suburban neighbourhood – seriously, almost every house looks the same, and is allotted the same amount of front garden and back garden with the same driveway. No old or haunted houses here (though I’ve tried to make up stories about a certain alleyway with a big lamppost in it). It’s a little tougher to imagine old secrets lurking around every corner, but I’ll keep trying! In the meantime, there’s plenty of opportunity to get sucked into a good story to make up for suburbia.

For those of you who’ve watched this movie, Sefton (played by Douglas Booth)  gives me a little bit of a Keira Knightley vibe…

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I shall eagerly await the second season of Downton Abbey (coming out this November, I believe!).