Tag: fantasy

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

I wanted to read The Spiderwick Chronicles after I saw the movie adaptation on HBO. I found the movie a bit twee for my taste, and I wanted to find out if it did the books justice. Luckily I was able to mooch the complete hardcover boxed set from a member in the Netherlands, who very kindly walked to my aunt and uncle’s apartment to bring them over, along with some other books I mooched.

I was actually surprised to find that the movie covered all five books already, which was a bit of a letdown, as I was expecting a longer storyline and more adventures.

The five books were a quick read: short chapters, large fonts, no big words, and a lot of illustrations. I was able to finish the whole series in one day (with a lot of activities in between), and I think that if I was younger, I’d have enjoyed them more.

Don’t get me wrong – the story is imaginative, and I enjoyed DiTerlizzi’s detailed illustrations, but on the whole, it was much too juvenile for me.

I remember feeling the same way reading the first book of A Series of Unfortunate Events (I liked the movie, though). I find it harder to appreciate books that talk down down to the reader, even if the book is meant for younger readers. There’s a certain snootiness to the tone that annoys me, like the author / narrator is speaking slowly to make sure the reader understands all the words.

It’s still a success though, at least for its intended age group, and the authors have expanded into a second series: Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles. I was able to read the first book, Nixie’s Song, for a review I was writing last year, and it has new characters (although Jared, Simon and Mallory appear in it too, and even cameos of Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi) and more faeries, so kids are bound to enjoy that too. But I like the characters in Nixie’s song better, Nick and Laurie are much more interesting than the Graces and have better dynamics.

I’d recommend the series for kids who are making the transition into chapter books, but for the same genre and roughly the same age group, I think Elizabeth Kay’s Divide series (The Divide, Back to the Divide, and Jinx on the Divide), while virtually unheard of, trumps Spiderwick big-time.

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My copy: hardcover boxed set of The Spiderwick Chronicles; hardcover Nixie’s Song

My rating: Spiderwick, books and series: 3/5 stars; Nixie’s song: 3.5/5 stars

Book 1 for 2009: Lionboy by Zizou Corder

I’m not a big fan of talking animals, but this series has been sitting in my TBR shelves for quite a while and I figured it was about time I read it.

Lionboy is a fantasy series about Charlie Ashanti, a nine-year old boy who can speak Cat, who must rely on this special talent and his wits to save his kidnapped parents.

Lionboy is set sometime in the future, when the world’s petroleum resources have all run out. The world reverts to sea travel as the main form of overseas transport, and everything runs on alternative energy; only the very powerful are allowed to have cars. The world is ruled by a superpower known as the Empire, asthma is a widespread condition (blamed on cats) and a pharmaceutical giant known as the Corporacy controls the world’s major industry. Charlie’s parents have discovered the cure for asthma, and the Corporacy has held them captive to safeguard their business.

Although not as engaging as I would have liked it to be, Lionboy, the first book in the series, sustains the interest, especially as Charlie stows away on a circus ship, the Circe, which houses Thibaudet’s Royal Floating Circus and a host of interesting personalities. Charlie forms a friendship with six circus lions and helps them escape, as he gets one step closer to finding his parents.

The cats are particularly amusing, especially the strays, because of their different personalities — a prissy French cat, a wisecracking Russian cat, and an ingenious marmalade. Even the lions are distinct, although they’re all regal.

It’s also worth noting that Zizou Corder is actually the mother-daughter team of English novelist Louisa Young and Isabel Adomakoh Young (middle school age). It’s a good collaboration for an exciting adventure, but also touches on important issues such as the environment, race, and prejudice.

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My copy: Puffin trade paperback, mooched from Singapore

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

Photo courtesy of http://www.mrbsemporium.com/frontcovers/Lionboy1.jpg

Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn

Night Dance is a blend of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Arthurian lore, with Excalibur playing a major part in the plot and Morgana (here known as Morgan le Fey) as the villainness. It’s interesting how the two were blended together, and hats off to the author for the idea of tying in the two storylines.

It also reminded me of Orson Scott Card’s Enchantment (retelling of Sleeping Beauty, set in Russia hehe). I guess in the way the story was narrated, and the way magic was used throughout the story. Morgan le Fey reminded me of Baba Yaga in Enchantment, how they both can change into animals, and how they use primitive magic to call on the forces of nature.

The narration is really fairy tale-ish, like Enchantment, which makes it awkward to read at some points. There’s also a lot of teenage hormones flying about, gaggling girls, clumsy first kisses, etc — it’s quite dramatic, perfect for those experiencing teenage angst, hahaha. I guess that if I’d read it in high school I’d have loved it.

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My copy: put up for mooching last year

My rating: 3/5 stars

The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud

I finally finished the trilogy last night and I can’t get over the fact that it’s over, and I am posting a review in the attempt to get some closure (sniffle sniffle).Deathly Hallows spelled the end of an era for me and millions of Harry Potter fans, and I’ve long been in search of something else to sink my teeth into, but it’s often a disappointing experience (e.g. The Inheritance Trilogy [Eragon], the Charlie Bone series). The Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke was a great discovery, but it’s a different kind of fantasy, with a different feel to it, not to mention that we’re still waiting for the third installment and a final release date for the movie, for crying out loud. The Darren Shan Saga is great, too, it was even recommended by Rowling herself, but veers more towards blood and gore (not for the weak of heart and tummy!).

On a whim, I picked up The Amulet of Samarkand back in January using my 40% discount on Powercard Plus birthday blowout (thank you Powerbooks!), and then got The Golem’s Eye for a birthday present (thank you Andrea!)… And then I chanced upon a hardbound Ptolemy’s Gate at the Powerbooks VIP Sale (yahoo!)

I finally got to read the series recently, Amulet about two months ago, and then Golem’s Eye and Ptolemy’s Gate in the last few days because I simply couldn’t stop reading, even though I was supposed to be reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World for our discussion on Saturday (now I have to cram that).

Anyway, enough with the long intro and let’s get on with the good stuff (no spoilers, I promise).

The Bartimaeus Trilogy is a British fantasy series about an alternative London, a present-day London that is ruled by magicians, a blend of centuries-old magical tradition and modern technology. At the heart of the series is Nathaniel, a young magician; his wisecracking five thousand year old djinni Bartimaeus, and a renegade named Kitty Jones, and the forging of an extraordinary bond between these three characters.

Consistent with British magical lore (if you’ve read Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, you’ll enjoy the Bartimaeus trilogy because it’s about twenty times more exciting), the book touches on magical apprenticeship, summoning magical creatures, political wars won with magic, the importance of birth names, and a host of magical creatures – imps, foliots, djinn, afrits, marids, and golems). It’s a bit darker than Harry Potter, and politics is a major theme, and there are lots of entertaining historical references, but everything ties together well with the story.

The Amulet of Samarkand starts out with Nathaniel’s apprenticeship, extraordinary magical aptitude, and his need to prove himself. Together with Bartimaeus, Nathaniel sets out to foil a government conspiracy involving the Amulet of Samarkand, with a few setbacks engineered by Kitty Jones and her team of ruffians. It’s an excellent introduction to the series, with the narrative between the perspectives of Bartimaeus and Nathaniel.

The Golem’s Eye sees Nathaniel rising in the ranks of government while Kitty Jones continues to thwart him, as her renegade group, the Resistance, wreaks trouble in the city. The second book is more transitional – it happens two years after Amulet, introduces Kitty’s perspective and establishes her as one of the central characters in the story, reveals a larger conspiracy that is a prelude to book 3, and lays out Nathaniel’s transformation into a ruthless and ambitious politician, John Mandrake.

Ptolemy’s Gate, which is easily the best of the three books, happens another couple of years later. Nathaniel is now London’s most powerful magician, and Kitty has changed her identity and apprenticed herself to a magician in her quest to learn more about Bartimaeus. Here the sinister conspiracy reveals itself, and Kitty, Nathaniel, and Bartimaeus must all overcome their personal differences and work together to save London and set things right. The book reveals a large part of Bartimaeus’ story, gives the wake up call that Nathaniel needs to regain his old self, and explores the relationship between human and djinn, building up to a thrilling climax that effectively concludes the saga.

It’s a perfect blend of all the right elements – humor, history, politics, ambition, adventure, excitement, survival, and compassion, and a great story that is contained completely within the three books, with a sense of finality to it, even though you want it to go on and on. I kept rereading the last few chapters because I couldn’t believe it was over, something that I haven’t done with a book in a long time.

Ok, now someone else should go read it already so I can pour my heart out. Waah.

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My copy: Book 1 paperback upgraded into a hardcover with dustjacket (mooched from the US); Book 2 paperback upgraded into a hardcover without a dustjacket (mooched) then into a hardcover with a dustjacket (mooched again); book 3 hardcover with dustjacket from Powerbooks VIP sale. All US edition (Hyperion/Miramax). Paperback copies of Books 1 & 2 will be passed on to a moocher in Japan (wired_lain!) and the naked hardcover to Flipper friend Cecille.

My rating: Book 1, 5/5 stars; Book 2, 4/5 stars; Book 3, 5/5 stars. Series, 5/5 stars


MirrorMask by Neil Gaiman/ Dave McKean

(The review pertains to the film, but I’m posting it because I have the film book :) )

I have to say that I loved MirrorMask! And since I’m not a Gaiman fan, and I’m very selective on fantasy (I’m really not big into the hardcore stuff), this is saying a lot.

The movie has Dave McKean written all over it; it’s like a picture book brought to life. It’s dark, with a bit of The Nightmare Before Christmas feel to it, only with a Dave McKean look, and it’s funny and creepy and weird all at the same time.

The story is simple enough; any more complicated than that and it’ll overpower the animation and effects. It’s about Helena, a 15 year old girl in a family of circus entertainers, who often wishes she could run off and join real life. After a fight with her parents about her future plans, her mother falls quite ill and Helena is convinced that it is all her fault. On the eve of her mother’s major surgery, she dreams that she is in a strange world with two opposing queens, bizarre creatures, and masked inhabitants. All is not well in this new world – the white queen has fallen ill and can only be restored by the MirrorMask, and it’s up to Helena to find it. But as her adventures continue, she begins to wonder whether she’s in a dream, or something far more sinister.

It’s a very visual movie; there is a lot to take in, as it’s a world unfamiliar to the viewer; but it’s enhanced by the emotion of the story, and the mirror motif is further enhanced by the mirroring of events in the real world (Helena’s real life as she’s replaced by the mirror-self) and the fantasy world.

It’s similar to Coraline, which is similar to one Are You Afraid of the Dark books I read ages ago (only it was better than Coraline).

I don’t know if it was shown here in the Philippines though; it’s dated 2005. I just discovered I had the DVD when Trina told me it was really good. It’s the sort of thing I’d shell out several hundred bucks for to watch over and over again, once for the overall impact, and several times more to catch the nuances… Dave McKean is sooo amazing; I even caught a scene where two hands touching each other looked like Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam, I don’t know if that was intentional, but it’s still pure genius.

You just have to watch this.

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My copy: A squarish hardbound book with dustjacket, the Children’s edition of the film book. Mooched from Canada last year.

My rating: 5/5 stars

photo courtesy of Amazon (http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DPC2HMNXL._SL500_AA240_.jpg)