Cursor’s Fury

Okay, I know that this feeling will likely subside over the course of the next few weeks, leaving me with a more objective feel for the novel and series as a whole. However…

HOLY SHIT.

This third part to the Codex Alera books by Jim Butcher was absolutely amazing, in every sense of the word. Even had the first and second books been merely mediocre, instead of great reads on their own as they were, it would have been well worth their 550 pages each in order to get to this one. I can’t remember ever being this excited about continuing a story, though I know I probably have been with most good series I’ve read (‘Song of the Lioness’ Quartet and the ‘Dresden Files’, for instance). I’m suddenly reminded of my full passion for literature, and my motivations when I started writing. In short, it was simply to instill this same feeling of absolute happiness and excitement to those who might read my own work.

While the writer in me is screaming that I need to jump on this opportunity and continue my novel, the reader in me won’t let that happen. I must start on the fourth book in this series immediately.

[PERMALINK] - @2 years ago with 1 note
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#literature #Cursor's Fury #Codex Alera #Jim Butcher #novel #novels #book series 

Graceling

Moving through a list of recommended young adult fantasy novels, first up was ‘Graceling’ by Kristen Cashore. I thoroughly enjoyed the book last night as it followed the adventure of a young girl named Katsa, who has the ability to survive pretty much any situation. She has an extreme natural skill in every form of combat that borderlines on god-like, among many other talents, and her utter physical superiority through the book was a little refreshing in the same way that the ‘Lioness Quartet’ was refreshing. Female characters quite simply do not have this type of role often enough in novels, and I love it.

I liked the simplicity of the book, but simultaneously found it a bit lacking. The seven kingdoms that make up the fictional world are rather generic, description of both characters and landscapes a little too vague to paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind, and the story a little too linear. There were few branches in the story structure, with Katsa never relinquishing her role as ‘protagonist’ save once, for five minutes (and that ended badly for everyone involved). Political intrigue is nice, but in this case it was just too simplistic, and I craved a deeper experience through most of the second half of the novel.

That said, it’s a Character-based ‘young adult’ book- and though in principle I tend to say that my preference in fantasy tends more toward the Character aspect of the MICE Quotient, in practice I’ve found myself more immersed in Milieu-focused novels (Lord of the Rings is a milieu story, if you’re interested). ‘Graceling’ is character-focused, about 1-1-4-2 (Milieu, Idea, Character, Event), while the one I’m writing is probably more like 4-1-2-1 in favour of depth-in-descriptions for the world as a whole.

It was definitely a good book though, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys character-focused fantasy quite readily.

[PERMALINK] - @2 years ago
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#literature #Graceling #Kristen Cashore #M.I.C.E. Quotient 

Furies of Calderon

This has to be the funniest moment in the entire book.

’ As the great beast turned, letting out another defiant bellow, Amara saw, in the golden light pouring through the breached walls, the boy Tavi clinging to Doroga’s back, behind him on the great gargant, and behind the boy sat the scarred slave, clutching at him and gibbering.

Tavi looked wildly around the courtyard, and when his gaze flicked toward them, his face lit with a ferocious smile “Uncle Bernard! Uncle Bernard!” he shouted, pointing at Doroga “He followed me home. Can we keep him?” ‘

- Taken from ‘Furies of Calderon’, book one of the Codex Alera series written by Jim Butcher.

This book was great- much better than I thought it would be. Butcher really has a talent for expression, and puts a lot more emphasis into emotional rather than physical description. Quite different from my own style, since emotional description is a lot harder for me to express- at least without sounding like a fool. He’s had a tendency in this book to repeat nouns five or six times in a single paragraph, something that was quite annoying, unprofessional, and oddly not really an issue in his Dresden Files series for some reason. Particularly the word ‘Litter’, as in a resting platform that’s carried by others as a method of transportation- he used that a ridiculous number of times. Despite that though, amazing book- I wasn’t expecting either of the relationships that start for the main characters (Tavi and Amara), and was quite happy with the result too.

Bravo.

[PERMALINK] - @2 years ago
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#literature #Jim Butcher #Furies of Calderon #Codex Alera #The Codex Alera