The Merlin Conspiracy and Mixed Magics - Diana Wynne Jones

I've got a lot to catch up on, so things are going to be out of order for a bit. I find myself putting off blogging about the most interesting books I'm reading, simply because I want to give them more than my usual "eh, it was ok" summary.

In her little book jacket bio, it claims Ms. Jones tries to say something different in each of her books, and it shows. Thematically and structurally, there's little that's formulaic in her writings. It's both good and bad - there's so much variety in her writings, that even though she has certain tendencies that pop up (such as giving her characters romantic relationships without doing much more than hinting at them), you can never be sure what you're getting into with one of her books.

The Merlin Conspiracy has dual narrators, telling what at first seem to be unrelated tales, in alternating sections. I think I see what she was going for, as she gradually intertwines the two plots and character sets, but it does leave the beginning quite disjointed. Aspects felt a little weak, but as always the world she created was fantastical and realistic at the same time. In some fantasies, everything is neat and clean and the magic is easy once you've got the hang of it, and I enjoy her realism and complexity. For example, in one of her worlds, the king of England travels constantly with his entire court and the Merlin (the head magical honcho). The result of this is that there are hundreds of people who live in an enormous caravan. One of the narrators is the child of a couple of magical courtiers and lives with the busloads of other children trailing the busloads and limosines of the important people trailing the king, and you get a view of all the behind the scenes dust. Overall, I think most of what she did worked.

Mixed Magics is an anthology of short stories with one of her early, previously unpublished novellas. Some of the stories were entertaining and fun, but the greater value of the book was the insight it gave into her writing process. The novella was especially interesting, because her writing style was very similar to her later work, but the characters were less dimensional and real and the story wasn't fleshed out the way it would have been in other of her works.

More Diana Wynne Jones and a Bunch of Gail Carson Levine

First off, Hexwood, by Jones, was bizarre. It's fairly non-linear, especially (deliberately) in the beginning. Kenyon couldn't have stomached it. The main character turns out to be someone completely different than she appears at first, medieval legends like Merlin and Arthur are resurrected (literally), and it's all set in a little British village in the 90's. ODD. Kinda got it in the end, though.

I was thinking about Hale's revamped fairy tales and remembered Gail Carson Levine, whose main schtick is exactly that. So, I checked out nearly every book she's written and have been picking them off over the last week or two. Her books are for children and so even easier to swallow than the YA stuff I've been downing. I've got a problem putting a book down once I'm into it - I like experiencing it in one piece, plus I'm all about the instant gratification apparently. And it always takes rereading a sentence or two to get back into it. Since I have to read in stolen minutes these days, this is a big problem when I try to read Steinbeck or Faulkner, but not a big deal with Levine's The Princess Tales series. They take me about an hour total, so Allison could probably finish one in about 15 minutes. :) They're sweet little bites of fluff, silly and absurd but cute, and they were especially nice while the kids were sick with a stomach virus. I'm reading The Princess Test, based on the Princess and the Pea, to Clara out loud, and she seems to be enjoying it for the most part.

I also read GCL's Dave at Night, which was about a young Jewish boy who's orphaned in the 20s. It reminded me of, or rather about, My Name is Asher Lev, which is a fantastic book by Chaim Potok and is also about a Jewish boy who aspires to become an artist. Overall, Dave at Night was OK, but not as good as Ella Enchanted, which I first read when working in a fifth grade classroom and reread this week. It has a lot more depth than some of the author's other works, while maintaining the whimsy. It has very little in common with the terrible movie adaptation, in case you were wondering. I recommend it. Updated 3-26-09: Kenyon read Ella Enchanted and liked it so well he bought a copy and is loaning it to coworkers. His imperious command when I mentioned I was going to the library (or mentioned a book I was reading or something): "Bring me more books like Ella." Ha! Seriously, it's good.

Hale, Pratchett, and Westerfeld

Princess Academy, Shannon Hale, is a cute story with another medaeval mountain maiden in a magic world, but had a few problems and wasn't as enjoyable as Book of a Thousand Days. ETA: I also read Goose Girl, which I like almost as well as Book of a Thousand Days. I love fairy tales, and this is a creative, sweet retelling.

Eric, Terry Pratchett, enjoyable as always and I enjoyed the satiric take on some literary classics, like Faust and the Oddesey, but it was a bit clunky compared to some of his other work.

The Last Days, but Scott Westerfeld, is actually a sequel to a book I haven't read but worked really well without the prior story. Basically, [SPOILER!] vampires are taking over the world but it's all for a good cause. Lacked the surprising depth I appreciate in some YA lit. ETA: Read Peeps, the book that Last Days follows. It's OK, an interesting take on vampirism. And parasites. Not for those with a phobia of germs.

Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale

I have a soft spot for fairy tales. My mom owned one I stumbled across and read several times as a child, and I love reading about the history and origins and such. This was based on a lesser known Grimm tale, and I love 95% of what she's done with it. Even the other 5% was enjoyable, it just stuck out a bit when her medieval Mongolian characters behaved a little too 20th Century American (getting down on one knee to propose, for example). Very sweet, highly recommend.

Uglies - Scott Westerfeld

I don't know anything of this author, but Britanie was reading Uglies when they visited for Thanksgiving. It's a post-apocalyptic YA fantasy, where, in an effort to create equality (supposedly), everyone is given a massive cosmetic operation at the age of 16, which gives them all the markers of beauty - symmetry, large eyes, etc. etc. The people are physically separated based on their stage of life, and the main character is Tally Youngblood, who can't wait to join her friend who, when he turned 16 a few months before she did, had his operation and went ahead to live the party-life of all the "New Pretties."

It's an interesting book with plenty to think about, like independence versus societal integration. It's a little heavy-handed at times (maybe that's intentional, so even inattentive young readers get the point) and the characters work better when they're doing something rather than being something - by which I suppose I mean the dialogue seems a bit forced. Still, it's a good story! Thanks, Britanie, for the recommendation! I'm looking forward to, well, finishing it, obviously, but also reading the sequels.

Timeline - Michael Crichton

I've never read any of Crichton's stuff, but Kenyon's friend loaned him Timeline and I figured I'd give it a shot. It was pretty entertaining. I'm reading more pop fiction than I know what to do with these days! I often get annoyed with books that are set in the everyday world but don't accurately relect reality, and the scientific gaps in this book annoy me - which I suppose may seem odd considering how much completely imlausible sci-fi and fantasy I read. I guess I just get annoyed when books don't follow their own rules enough to be consistent within themselves.

Overall, it was fun, though, and he'd done a lot of research both into the science of the technology and the historical period his characters visited. Thanks to the Bill Bryson book I'd just read, it was a lot easier to both follow the scientific theories he was exploiting and see where exactly he strayed from plausibility. It was presented like a tv movie, with lots of logical leaps, one crazy situation after another, and characters recovering in minutes from life-threatening injuries that would have long term consequences - if not for the demands of the plot. Still, if you're able to forget that the person now running through tunnels, climbing roofs, and dodging arrows sprained their neck and nearly drowned an hour ago, it's not so bad.

The Host - Stephenie Meyer

Invasion of the Body-Snatchers from the perspective of the body-snatcher. Interesting premise interestingly fleshed out. The psychology of the characters doesn't always work, and I think she starts going interesting places and then wimps out and just barely touches on them or over simplifies. I'd elaborate, but it's been, like, three weeks since I finished it and that's WAY too long for me to remember things like plot points and character names, much less partially developed themes of humanity and the complications or existence of true altruism. I think it's a better book than Twilight or its sequels.