Category: YA/MG/Children’s Books Page 31 of 38

by Brandon Sanderson
Series: The Reckoners, #3

Hardcover, 417 pg.
Delacorte Press, 2016

Read: March 30 – April 2, 2016

There was more connectivity between city-states in the Fractured States than I’d once assumed. Perhaps the Epics could have survived without any kind of infrastructure, but they tended to want subjects to rule. What good was it to be an all-powerful force of destruction and fury if you didn’t have peasants to murder now and then? Unfortunately peasants had to eat, or they’d go and die before you got a chance to murder them.

That meant building up some kind of structure in your city, finding some kind of product you could trade. Cities that could produce a surplus of food could trade for power cells, weapons or luxuries. I found that satisfying. When they’d first appeared, the Epics had wantonly destroyed anything and everything, ruining the national infrastructure. Now they were forced to bring it all back, becoming administrators.

Life was so unfair. You couldn’t both destroy everything around you and live like a king.

I really enjoyed Steelheart, the first novel in this trilogy — and Firefight was a lot of fun, if not as good — it wasn’t anything serious, weighty, or bogged-down with teenage drama. Just a fun story about super-powered individuals ruling over a post-apocalyptic dystopia and the non-super-powered rebels trying to take them down. So, how’d Brandon Sanderson wrap things up? In a very mixed bag — an ending that was honest, consistent, and fitting for the series, but one I really didn’t care for.

Which is going to take some explanation.

David’s voice is as friendly, upbeat, and nerdy in the way that charmed me in the beginning. Even weighted down with added burdens and losses, he’s hung onto his core personality. His metaphors are as painful as ever — his ability to get his teammates to go along with the biggest of hare-brained schemes is intact and still astounding.

I wanted answers. They were probably here somewhere. Maybe I’d find them behind that group of robotic war drones that were extending their gun arms from behind the freezers in front of me.

Oh.

But he isn’t the same kid we met on the streets of Newcago — he’s lost his drive for revenge, it’s evolved into something else (and/or been revealed or better understood to be something else). He’s not out for blood, not out for simply overthrowing the Epics. He still wants to stop them, to restore rule to non-Epics and free them from the tyranny they’re under. But it’s because of wrong and right, for deeper reasons, purer motives.

He’s not the only one who’s changed and grown — Megan, the love of his life and former foe, has greater understanding of herself and her powers, she’s gaining more and more control of both. Part of it is self-acceptance, part of it is David’s faith in her. Either way, she’s a more entertaining character — and a less threatening force (at least as far as The Reckoners are concerned).

Thanks to their travel and experience, David and the others have a better understanding of how the world works (see the above quotation for a hint) — and some of the Epics have had to make adjustments, if for no other reason to keep their subjects alive and working. From a surprising source, we learn how the Reckoners tech works — as do they — and it’s pretty odd (and interesting). Not only that — the source of Calamity, the source of the Epics’ powers is revealed. You really can’t ask for more than that.

Well, actually you can — one of the other things that comes out of the growth and development of David (and the rest) over the series, and especially over this book, are some underlying themes that come out. They’ve been there since the beginning if you knew how to look, but here, Sanderson makes them explicit. I really appreciated them as they surfaced — I’m not sure that a lot of the YA crowd that this is targeted for would as much as I did, but many would. The last scene is pretty heartwarming, really — something I wouldn’t have expected at pretty much any point in the series (and has nothing to do with romance, for the record).

So why am I lukewarm about this? While the execution was consistent, the tone was right on-pitch and Sanderson didn’t cheat anywhere along the way to the series conclusion, I just didn’t like it. I didn’t like the explanation given for the source of the powers. I didn’t like the way the last half of the book played out (mostly everything after the last battle with the Prof, really — so less than half, but the groundwork was laid at about the 50% mark). Sanderson told the story he wanted to, in a way that made sense to the rest of the series, and he never copped out or went for high drama over being true to his story. So I can’t judge it too harshly. I just didn’t care for the way it played out. Which pretty much just means that Sanderson wrote the ending he wanted and not the one I wanted. Sure, I think it’s tacky, but you can add that to the very long list of things that he didn’t ask me.

I wasn’t wowed, wasn’t thrilled with things in the end. But I really can’t complain about any of it. Fans of — or at least readers of — the series should check out the conclusion, just to get the closure it brings. Hopefully, you’ll get more out of it than I did.

—–

3 Stars

A Few Quick Questions With…Hagit Oron

By HCNewton

On March 22, 2016

In A Few Quick Questions With..., YA/MG/Children's Books

Earlier, I posted a piece about Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure by Hagit R. Oron and Or Oron. Hagit was nice enough to take part in a Q&A with me. I kept it short and sweet, because I’d rather she work on her next book than take too much time with me, y’know? Hagit gave some great answers, hope you enjoy this — and be sure to check out her books!

Good depictions of Fathers are pretty hard to come by, so I wanted to say thanks for that. What made you decide to tell as story about a Dad and his kid rather than the typical Mom?

Well, I love stories about fathers and sons. “Out Stealing Horses” by Per Petterson is one of my favorite books and it is truly an inspiration.

I was also inspired by the relationship between my Dad and his Dad. My grandpa was a strict uptight guy. As he grew older he left all that behind and became this soft mellow sweet person, somewhat like Elphie’s father at the end of the story.

By the way, the next book features Elphie’s Mom, but I guess she isn’t the typical picture book Mom as well. I like my characters to be different and unique.

Why elephants? Is there something deep going on — something symbolic maybe. Are they just fun to draw?

I was fortunate enough to view elephants in their natural habitat at Africa, and I fell in love with them. They are so complex. I mean, on one hand they are these huge heavy animals, but on the other hand they are delicate and sensitive. You expect to hear an elephant’s footsteps at the savanna, but you don’t hear a thing. They are so grace and walk very lightly. I knew I was going to write something about elephants after my visit to Africa, but I didn’t have anything concrete until I saw this episode of “the myth busters” a few years ago. They were trying to check if elephants are afraid of mice, (which was confirmed), and boom! I got the idea for the entire series of Elphie’s books.

My daughter, Or, who is the illustrator says that they are also fun to draw. J

Are you drawing on your own experiences for these stories? I see that Goodreads has this listed as the beginning of a series — how many do you have planned?

I guess a writer always writes about her own experience, one way or another. . .
There are currently 4 stories on Elphie’s books. All of them feature the same characters: Elphie, Dad or Mom, Elpie’s somewhat wild friend Phante, and Bravo – Elphie’s pet mouse which is introduced on the next book.

Each book tells a different story, which is told through Elphie’s eyes in first person.
These are all sweet little stories about a child daily experiences, but I do hope adults readers would enjoy them too. It’s like a kidlit with a wink.

Can you talk about your process a bit? What comes first — the words or the pictures? Is it more of a simultaneous thing?

I always start with the words. For some parts of the story it is a simultaneous. For this story, the pages about Elphie and his Dad return from the shop and fight a dragon, rescue a princess etc were simultaneous, because I wanted the illustrations to tell the story together with the words. So I wrote instructions for the illustrations as well.

In the writing of Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure, what was the biggest surprise about the writing itself? Either, “I can’t believe X is so easy!” or “If I had known Y was going to be so hard, I’d have skipped this and watched more TV”.

The biggest surprise about this book was writing it. J

Usually, I plot a story in my head and I think about it for weeks before I write the first word, but this came out as a whole in one sitting completely unprepared.

“Elphie and Dad Go On an Epic Adventure” was actually the third book I wrote in this series. We were already working on illustrations for “Bravo Elphie”, but we liked this story so much and decided to make it our debut.

Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure by Hagit R. Oron, Or Oron

By HCNewton

On March 22, 2016

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Elphie and Dad go on an Epic Adventure

by Hagit R. Oron, Or Oron (Illustrator)
Series: Elphie’s Books, #1

Kindle Edition
, 25 pg.
Orons, 2016
Read: March 15, 2016

Picture books are not the usual fare around here, true. But Hagit Oron asked, and I figured, why not? Now, can I get this post up without using more words than the book did?

Elphie is a little elephant accompanying his dad on an errand — but his dad is one of the good ones, and instead of dragging Elphie along — he entices the child by promising an “epic adventure”. Wearing a cape and carrying a wooden sword, the two set out for a walk to the store.

Along the way, Elphie does battle with imaginary foes, and has one very close call that wasn’t imaginary enough. With some guidance from Dad, a great imagination, and a helpful store clerk — Elphie has an epic adventure indeed.

I really appreciated Dad — he’s not perfect (he gets distracted in a very real and relatable way), but he’s trying — and he recovers from a mistake well. A good guy, not a buffoon, not a super-hero. There’s not enough dads like that in books.

The art is great. The colors are vibrant, the drawings pop just right. It’s not fantastic, which I honestly get annoyed by in kids’ books. It’s friendly and eye-catching, very accessible, and engaging — enough so that you get drawn into it, but not so much that it detracts from the words. The art serves the story — and will keep the attention of those who can’t yet read.

It’s been a few years (almost ten) since I’ve read picture books on a regular basis. This is just the kind of thing I’d have liked then, and would’ve read — and then have been “compelled” to read again (and again and again). For those with kids — or grandkids — or who might have a kid nearby your Kindle, pick it up.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by the author in exchange for this post.

—–

3 Stars

United States of Books – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

By HCNewton

On February 29, 2016

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, United States of Books, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie, Ellen Forney (Illustrator)

Author: Elisha at Rainy Day Reviews

Entertainment Weekly says about their Washington state pick– “Alexie grapples with serious issues through the not-always-serious voice of a 14-year-old caught between his life on the reservation and his entry into an all-white high school.”

Synopsis:

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author’s own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the character’s art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

Review:

I was intrigued with this book once I learned that this story was based on the author’s own experience. I was not aware of the coarse language in the book until I began reading it; which in my opinion makes this read inappropriate for younger readers. However, that said, I did appreciate that even though this teenager saw a lot of heartache and injustice, including racism and death, there is a lot of laughs throughout the story.

I like the narration of the book, hence the title. That was different than the typical read. Gave it a different feel from a story being told. Even with the racial divide in the story that the boy dealt with, I think this story is very relatable to other young adults out there (tragedy in life, being bullied, and the instability that life can bring with its ever-changing twists that life tends to do to all of us. All in all, a good book and a quick read that I would definitely recommend to everyone to read.

* Disclaimer: language may be coarse for some readers*

Winter by Marissa Meyer

By HCNewton

On January 26, 2016

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Winter

by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #4

Hardcover, 824 pg.
Feiwel and Friends, 2015

Read: January 19 – 22, 2016

So, the first book I really blog about is the conclusion to the tetralogy — not the best way to go about it, but it’ll have to do.

Primarily because I started this blog after I’d read the first two books in this series, and only slightly due to laziness, I’ve only blogged about one other of The Lunar Chronicles — the “.5” preceding this one, Fairest. Which makes this a little hard to do, but not that much. Basically, what Meyer has done is combining and intertwining the stories about Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Snow White; removing the magic, inserting computers, cybernetics, and space ships; and setting the entire thing in a future where Earth and the Moon are on verge of war. Couple that with Meyer’s voice and skill? This series is a crowd pleaser.

During Part I, I felt like The Grandson in The Princess Bride, “Is this a kissing book?” There was just so much smooching, significant looks, and avowals of affection that it got close to annoying. That said, it was so nice reading a YA book where (almost) everyone was open and honest about their attractions and (almost) everyone had their feelings reciprocated. Those that weren’t that open might as well have been, they were all pretty horrible at keeping things secret. Over all, it was sweet, it was cute, it was like a fairy tale.

What are the odds, right?

But after that? A great mix of character moments and action. On the one hand, Meyer takes her time setting things up — but on the other hand — she doesn’t have to take time and introduce anyone knew this time. All the players are known quantities, the relationships are set up between all of them, and there are two major goals at work — Stop Levana, or Stop Cinder. Everything else is frosting.

Clear directions, clear motives, it’s a crisp, well-paced adventure story at this point — yeah, there’s a little politics, there’s a little subterfuge — but basically, it’s “Let’s raise an army and storm the castle.” Which doesn’t mean everything’s a cake walk, of course. There’s some tension, real hardships and peril — am I allowed to say that there were a couple of times when thing seemed pretty Grimm?

This is based on a fairy tale, and that needs to be borne in mind as you read it. That being said, Meyer makes it very easy to forget that and by the time that the part of Winter that was the most-Snow White-y, I’d forgotten that’s what this novel was about. You’d have thought between a. the cover, and b. the time I’ve spent in the world of Indexing lately, I’d have seen it coming. But I didn’t until I was right in the middle of the scene — which made it much more effective for me.

Meyer is great with her characters, and you can get attached to even those we meet for the first time in these pages — for those who’ve been around since the beginning? Hate to say good-bye to them, especially Iko the android. In the end, I think this is one of the more emotionally satisfying series conclusions I’ve read recently.

—–

4 1/2 Stars

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

By HCNewton

On December 9, 2015

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Naturals

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: The Naturals, #1

Hardcover, 308 pg.

Disney-Hyperion, 2013
Read: December 8, 2015

We’ve all heard of Quantico, VA, the small town that is home to the FBI Academy, Laboratory, NCIS, and so on. What most of us don’t know is that it’s also home to a secret training ground for teenagers who are so intuitively good at profiling and other forensically-inclined psychological skills that they’re described as “Natural.” Two FBI agents and one retired Marine run this program and house, using the teens to crack cold cases. Sharpening their skills in a safe environment, so that when the time is ripe, they’ll be Super Agents.

The Naturals opens with Cassie — being raised by her grandmother while her father’s off somewhere with the Armed Services. She’s seventeen and can read people like a Richard Scarry book, which makes her a great small diner waitress. Until she’s given the chance to join program and she jumps at it, becoming the fifth member of the team.

Cassie jumps into the training, and picks things up quickly. I really enjoyed reading those scenes — she and Dean, the other profiler, sound so much like Will Graham from NBC’s Hannibal that I really got into it. Outside Quantico, things are afoot that will keep this from being all training and cold cases — and I bet, for those who survive, the next books will also pretty fresh cases, too.

Walking into a two-guy, two-gal house — and, apparently, being more attractive than she’s aware — Cassie complicates things. Soon she’s part of at least one Romantic Polygon. It’s not too painful at the moment, but I could see it overtaking things in a book or two. It’s marketed as YA, so it was likely anyway — still, you should know it’s out there.

None of the characters — including Cassie — are much more than groupings of characteristics and tics at this point, but I’d be willing to guess that they could be within another book or two. For now, they’re good enough for what the book is. It really is a fun read

A fast, fun read with just enough suspense to keep you moving, but not as much as you’d get in a Thomas Harris or Val McDermid psychological thriller — a great way to cut your teeth on the subgenre. I’ll come back for more — and I’ll pass it off to my daughter, who will likely eat it up.
—
Thanks to DanySpike for the blogpost that convinced me to give this one a try. I owe ya one.

—–

3 Stars

Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke

By HCNewton

On December 2, 2015

In Fiction, General Fiction/Literature, YA/MG/Children's Books

Rules for a Knight

by Ethan Hawke

Hardcover, 169 pg.
Knopf, 2015

Read: November 30, 2015

So the story goes, Ethan Hawke is a descendant of a knight who died at the Battle of Slaughter Bridge in 1483. The night before the battle, this knight, Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke penned a lengthy letter to his young children so that they’d have something to remember him by, and hopefully learn something from him. Ethan Hawke came into possession of this letter, and after a scholar translated it for him, modernized the language so that he could pass these lessons on to his kids. Given the fact that the “Hawke” surname was once “Hawker”, there’s an ornithological flavor to all of this.

The letter, or manifesto, consists of short lessons on a variety of virtues or characteristics that Sir Thomas wanted to pass along to his son and daughters (which are awfully feminist for the 15^th Century): justice, solitude, generosity, discipline, love, humility, and so on. Virtues and ideals that are shared by many Western and Eastern cultures — something akin to what C. S. Lewis would call the Tao. The lessons combine personal vignettes from Sir Thomas’ life and training with fable-like stories (many of which are old and common — like the two dogs/wolves inside each of us fighting for control, you ought to feed the one you want to win).

Hawke’s wife, Ryan, provided the illustrations for this book. I wouldn’t say they’re dazzling, but they’re nice — and fit the material well.

This is a nice book, one that serves its purposes well. Short chapters, well (if somewhat heavy-handed) written. It’s not a must-read, but it’d be a good use of anyone’s time — particularly something for dads to read to young children.

—–

3 Stars

Hit by Delilah S. Dawson

By HCNewton

On November 24, 2015

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, YA/MG/Children's Books

Hit

by Delilah S. Dawson
Series: Hit, #1

Hardcover, 324 pg.
Simon Pulse, 2015

Read: November 21, 2015

When I heard Dawson talk about this on The Once & Future Podcast this past Spring, I knew I had to read it. But like with about half the things I say that about when I listen to that podcast, I never got around to it. I’m so glad I finally remembered to grab it. This was a great read — a heckuva gut punch. A great immersive experience.

Sure, we’ve all read dystopian fictions that take place decades (at least) after the fall of whatever society preceded it. But have you ever wondered what it’s like to live in the opening minutes of a dystopia? Panem before the Capital City was wretched hive of scum and vanity? Well, that’s exactly what Patsy Klein is going through.

Yeah, Patsy Klein — some parents, right?

So Patsy is given a task: work as an indentured servant/debt collector for 5 days and collect from these 10 people. To collect, get their signature and record one of three choices: pay up everything you owe to the bank, now; become an indentured servant yourself for 5 days; or be killed, and here’s a 17-year-old with a 9mm to take care of that. Take your pick.

How can anyone get away with that? Well, Valor Bank (and a couple of smaller entities) has bought — lock, stock and barrel — the debt of the U.S. and every individual in it. Which is a lot of debt when you stop and think about it (all that’s required, really is, something like a California Rolling Stop to reach that conclusion). Valor Banks wants that debt taken care of pronto — and thanks to a subclause in that credit card application that no one ever reads, and some greased wheels in Congress, they can present these choices to pretty much every citizen. Patsy’s part of the first wave of these collectors, moving out before the majority of Americans have figured out what’s happening.

Killer concept, right? Utterly horrific — and yet almost utterly believable. Like I said before, when you plunge in and read this in a sitting or two it works great. If you take the time to think about some of the elements, I’m not sure it’d hold up nearly as well. But man, it was a fun read, even when it made you uneasy about what Patsy was doing.

And before I go any further, I just have to add that this is one of the best cover designs (front and back) I’ve seen this year. I hope someone got a promotion/bonus/raise out of this.

Again, I’m not sure how well this would hold up to examining various aspects of the world. It’s clear that there’s a pretty well-developed world supporting this, but the more we see of it, the more we understand the machinations that Valor Bank went through on both the macro and micro level — which it seems clear is where the sequel is going — the less I’m going to like it. A vague, nebulous Other doing horrible things is frequently better than seeing the Man Behind the Curtain. Right now, this is great — grabs the imagination, taps in to zeitgeist-y resentments towards banks/financial entities, and adds a deadly teenage girl. You explain everything, let us see what’s going on and I’m afraid we’ll end up with something like Allegiant (I’m convinced that was the biggest problem with the end of the trilogy, Roth explained too much).

A great read with some real weaknesses that easy enough to overlook if you want to. This’ll grab you, make you feel every hit, every shot and every regret.

—–

3.5 Stars

The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan

By HCNewton

On November 11, 2015

In Authors, Fantasy, Fiction, P-U, Rick Riordan, YA/MG/Children's Books

The Sword of Summer

by Rick Riordan
Series: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard, #1

Hardcover, 491 pg.
Disney – Hyperion Books, 2015
Read: November 6 – 7, 2015

Maybe you’re thinking, Oh, Magnus, you didn’t really die. Otherwise you couldn’t be narrating this story. You just came close. Then you were miraculously rescued, blah, blah, blah.

Nope. I actually died. One hundred percent: guts impaled, vital organs burned, head smacked into a frozen river from forty feet up, every bone in my body broken, lungs filled with ice water.

The medical term for that is dead.

Gee, Magnus, what did it feel like?

It hurt. A lot. Thanks for asking.

Welcome to Rick Riordan’s latest tale of the offspring of mythological deities and the humans silly enough to fall for them. We’ve done the Greek pantheon, spent some time with the Egyptians, and came back for another round with the Greeks — this time with their Roman counterparts, but now we’re in for something new: Norse mythology. A whole new kettle of fish. This involves a new type of central character, a new kind of setting, new challenges. Which gives us the best thing from Riordan since the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.

Magnus Chase is a homeless teen, orphaned a couple of years back when his mother was killed. Since then, he’s lived on the streets of Boston, spending his days in museums and libraries, learning as much as he can about whatever, and establishing relationships with generous restaurant employees and fellow homeless people. Two of whom track him down one day to let him know that there are people looking for him. It turns out that this is his sixteenth birthday and life just got a lot more dangerous for him. The people seeking him are family and they’re sure that he’s about to be hunted by beings he doesn’t believe exist.

The quotation above shows how well that being hunted works out for Magnus.

But he goes down fighting — to save himself, bystanders, and a couple of friends. So a Valkyrie (who happens to be Muslim, a combination that fascinates me) takes him to Valhalla — where he makes some more interesting friends, and enjoys a quality of (after-)life that’s far better than the streets. But then, someone casts doubt on the worthiness of his selection, which puts that Valkyrie in hot water.

So now Magnus has to take things into his own hands, prove that he’s worthy, defend the Valkyrie, and prevent Ragnarok from starting — or, if things go wrong, kick it off. It could go either way, really. One of the best pieces of advice he gets — the thing that inspires him is:

The thing about fate, Magnus: even if we can’t change the big picture, our choices can alter the details. That’s how we rebel against destiny, how we make our mark.

Now it’s just a question of what kind of mark he leaves.

Love, love the voice/attitude, I’ve seen some criticisms of it from parents, but I think it’s fun, and it’s just the kind of thing to feed into his audience (both the target and those who’ve grown up reading Riordan and still read him despite no longer being age-appropriate). It’s the clearest, crispest, funniest narrative voice since the Percy books — and might end up surpassing them by the end of this series.

I really don’t know that much about Norse mythology — world tree, Ratatoskr, Asgard, Valhalla, Odin, ravens, Hel, etc. I’ve got, but the details are really fuzzy. Most of what I know about Norse myth comes from Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles and Jacqueline Carey’s Daisy Johanssen/Agent of Hel Urban Fantasy books. So I’m learning a lot — and I assume younger readers will, too. The few pages of supplemental materials in back of the book are such a nice help! I really enjoy Riordan’s take on these mythological figures — both those I know and those I’m new to. I think the Thor you meet in these pages is fantastic. Yeah, Hearne’s Thor is a better character, but Riordan’s Thor induced more chuckles.

There are some great chapter titles here — I tend to ignore them (anything beyond a number is a distraction), which is short-sighted, I realize, but that’s what I do. In this book? It’d be really dumb to skip them. Every now and then I’d stop to go back and read the last few that I’d missed. If they’re not the funniest (and most creative) lines in the book — they’re in the top 2%.

The tie-in to the Percy Jackson books is obvious (and I felt really stupid having to have it spelled out for me in the opening chapters rather than sussing it out much earlier) and unexpected, but I can’t wait to see how that develops. But even more entertaining are the jokes about aspects of the Percy-verse — flat-out funny, and nice bit of fan service, too. Oh, and they won’t make a lick of difference to the Riordan-novice.

I just realized that I haven’t even addressed the titular sword. I don’t know what to say about it without ruining anything, but if I was eleven years old? It’d be my favorite sword ever — better than Excalibur or anything that Tolkien could offer (as someone much older than 11, I don’t think that, but I wouldn’t argue with my younger self).

One other thing — I read a review from one review site that I respect that dampened by enthusiasm for getting this — but I decided that Riordan had earned my trust (and I was curious), so I gave this a shot. That review complained about the sarcasm — I don’t get that, but apparently that’s a thing for some parents. And they complained about the addition of cussing — now maybe I missed it, but outside of the taking the names of Norse gods in vain (and that could be argued), the only cussing I saw was in dialogue tags. As in “…,’ he cussed.” Seriously? If we have to shield our middle graders from the concept of cussing, they’re not going to survive the middle grades. There were a few other complains that were about as baseless as these — I kept waiting to see these problems as I read and missed every single one.

Which isn’t to say this is a perfect book — but man, it’s the best he’s done in quite a while. The problems I have are really not worth getting into, they don’t ruin the experience, and if you’ve read Riordan before, you’ll be expecting them (they’re less problematic in this book than the last 2-3). The Sword of Summer is funny, exciting, with real heart — just the thing for middle grade readers (or those who don’t mind reading below their fighting weight).

—–

4 Stars

Covenant’s End by Ari Marmell

By HCNewton

On September 15, 2015

In Fiction, YA/MG/Children's Books

Covenant’s End

by Ari Marmell
Series: Widdershins Adventures, #4
Hardcover, 265 pg.

Pyr, 2015

Read: September 10, 2015

So Ari Marmell has decided to bring our time with Widdershins to a close. On the one hand, I understand the choice. On the other hand, I enjoy these too much to let go willingly.

It turns out that the great and nasty demon that she pushed herself and her friends to — and past — the limit to defeat back in False Covenant had friends — or at least family. And thanks to Widdershins old foe Lisette, they are getting closer and closer to setting up camp in Davillon (and probably the whole world, really).

Widdershins has to call on all her allies — old, new, unwanted and not terribly wiling — and friends, play every trick in the book (and invent a few), and be prepared to sacrifice everything just to have a fighting chance here.

Emotionally, spiritually, physically — whatever she’s gone through before is nothing compared to this. While it is very much a team effort, let’s not get confused — her name is in the series title, and she’s the only one on the cover. It’s Widdershins story, and the weight of this falls on her. Yet, she faces the danger with humor, aplomb and panache (and the help the deity living in her head).

For a book as dark, foreboding, bloody and so . . . final; I sure spent a lot of time smiling and chuckling. It’s a quick, exciting read that checks off every tick box you might have for a finale.

—–

4 Stars