-I am (as those reading the above points can logicallySome disclaimers before the review:
-I saw the movie first
-I first watched the movie 16 years ago
-I am (as those reading the above points can logically deduce) an adult, not one of the 14-year olds for whom this was intended
- My motivation for reading it now was to read alongside a 14-year old reading it for the first time
- My reason for rating it (which I usually do not do for children’s books) is to make it comparable to other Hugo Award nominees (my reading list, and an award which this book won)
This Harry Potter book is more of the same. The “same� in this case is more fun, adventure, and drama set in a fantastical place with characters for whom you can cheer and jeer. My expectations for this one had been set by the movie—which was perhaps my least liked of all of them. I found the book a much better experience than the film. The book had fewer plotholes, and I was pleased with some of the justifications and rationales given by Rowling to keep us in our state of willing disbelief. The reason for the contest, its history, and the explanations of its dangers were much more clearly stated in the book. I wanted to believe that this event could happen in the land of wizardry, and Rowling helped me to do that. The book also did a much better job with characterization than the movie, particularly with the minor or supporting characters. The movie is even more of a disappointment now that I see that so many characters were combined or omitted. One of my favorite characters (Bagman) did not make it into the movie, and a lot was lost with blurring the roles and appearances of the Weasley characters. It is hard to fault the scriptwriter and movie director though, for the book was simply too long to portray in under 3 hours. In places, the movie even fixes some of Rowling’s plotholes (such as with Crouch) and improves characters (like Neville).
Nothing in this volume has changed my early impression and expectations about Harry Potter: they are fun juvenile books. The emphasis should be laid on “fun,� perhaps, as much as “juvenile.� They’re not great or spectacularly well-written. The realm and its possibilities are simply fun. The protagonists are people one enjoys seeing navigate both social and physical dangers. They continue to be, and I fully expect them to remain, juvenile books as well. Despite their length, that means that there are going to be simplifications and shortcuts, excessive reminders or extensive plain speaking.
While I enjoyed reading and talking about it alongside a juvenile, I am displeased with it as an entry on the Hugo Award list. It being there knocked out a fifth nominee that probably better deserved the recognition. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’s winning the award in 2001 devalues the award and makes it more difficult for me to defend it as a measure of science fiction and fantasy’s best. On the other hand, it is not only by including juvenile literature that the award shows it is not nominating the best. The 2001 awards did not feature a very strong list of nominees, and Harry Potter was more enjoyable than some of the other contenders who must have made it on the list either because it was a really bad year or because of some politicking at the awards....more
I like that the Hugo Awards offers variety in their selections. This was neither mainstream sStoryline: 2/5 Characters: 2/5 Writing Style: 3/5 World: 1/5
I like that the Hugo Awards offers variety in their selections. This was neither mainstream science fiction nor epic fantasy but a nostalgic historical fiction set in a largely realistic WWII America with just the smallest bit of flair. Guessing what that flair was going to be and how it was going to fit with the rest of the story was a nice source of anticipation. I also found myself enjoying the sports-based theme and was convinced (until some internet searching afterwards) that Bishop himself must have played in the CVL, traveled to those away games, and boarded with those roommates. I enjoyed the budding camaraderie early in the story and the evident love of a sport. I was less enamored with the fantasy revelation and development. I thought the historical fiction and the fantasy intersected in just about the most tepid way possible. In fact, aside from love of the game, I found most everything to lack emphasis and connection. There are a lot of themes in the story, but they’re not there for development or social criticism but as backdrops for the tale. I could see the will put into closing the book out with significance and force, but nothing had been sufficiently built up for us to be shocked, satisfied, or wowed with. I am surprised to find (again, with some quick internet searching) that Michael Bishop is a well-known, regarded, and awarded author. Neither the ideas nor the execution sets this above the many generic and most-forgotten books that sit on used bookstore shelves. I am not inspired to read from the author again. ...more
The first two books of the Riddle-Master trilogy had largely gone unrecognized by awards commStoryline: 3/5 Characters: 3/5 Writing Style: 3/5 World: 4/5
The first two books of the Riddle-Master trilogy had largely gone unrecognized by awards committees. Harpist in the Wind, in contrast, received acclaim, garnering both a Hugo and a Locus as well as several other nominations. I started reading the series, in fact, merely to reach this book. After reading the first two, I had wondered, along with others undoubtedly, whether the third was really going to be that much better than The Riddle-Master of Hed and Heir of Sea and Fire. The answer, I can give now after finishing the third and final book, is “Yes.� McKillip finally figured out where she wanted to take the series, and it was not in the direction that the first two books had indicated. For too long the series had masqueraded as an epic, one lacking, however, the scale and depth such a label would have required. The first two books had sketched a world and plot, let us in on some intriguing characters but left readers largely unconnected to the great events occurring in the plot. We were passive spectators to awesome characters whose abilities and roles we did not understand. This striving for and failing to be an epic continues partway into Harpist in the Wind, but then McKillip redirects the story away from plot and on to style. That is where she is going to have her success; that is what is going to get the book the awards. Critics and fans can tell you that she had all along toyed with some more obscure mythology in the story, but it is in this volume that it comes to the forefront. McKillip answers the necessary questions and gives us the hoped for intersections; she even gives a plot climax in keeping with the rest of the story. What readers really get though—beyond a finished story—is a spectacular magic system presented in an artistic voice. Nothing—not the answers, the relationships, the character development, or the resolution—mattered in comparison to presentation of the supernatural world in Harpist in the Wind. In many ways it was an unsatisfying series and a disappointing culmination, but the extra added in the trilogy’s ending volume made it a remarkable book, worth have experienced. ...more
Guards! Guards! is one of my favorite Discworld books to date, and so it was with some anticiStoryline: 2/5 Characters: 3/5 Writing Style: 4/5 World: 3/5
Guards! Guards! is one of my favorite Discworld books to date, and so it was with some anticipation that I started this second of the "City Watch" subseries. And while Men at Arms was not as good as the first and will not be one of my favorites, there are things I very much liked about it. I enjoyed Pratchett teasing us and refusing to bend the story to the reader's desired end. The experience was less excruciating delightful here than it was in the first City Watch book, but it was there, and I was pleased that Pratchett kept that continuity with this sequel. The characters, their identities, and the city of Ankh-Morpork were additional highlights that colored the first and then did so again here.
This story was more of a mystery, and I do not think Pratchett was very adept at writing in that format or in parodying it. In fact, in a somewhat un-Pratchett-like manner, he did not really attempt to subvert the form itself. That was a lost opportunity. Also, it left Pratchett trying to carry the story forward with a plot--one of his weakest points as a writer. There were also some techniques that he has used before which were used again. Unfortunately, some of the archetypes he uses are becoming a little worn with use and predictable. I look forward to the biting inversions, the historical anachronisms, the play on cliches, and so much more, but some of the developments and character types are being recycled. Had he done more with them in this book, had he built them up and filled them in or added more dimensions to them, it might not have looked recycled at all. It seemed, though, that Pratchett stuffed a little too much into this one, and not all of the eccentricities were fully worked out or developed.
I'll still look forward to the next City Watch book (Book #19 it seems). This was good enough to keep that subseries at the top of my Discworld favorites....more
I cannot tell if L. Frank Baum is a genius or a quack. The plot is so often meandering and aimless, and the creations and scenarios are ridiculous, buI cannot tell if L. Frank Baum is a genius or a quack. The plot is so often meandering and aimless, and the creations and scenarios are ridiculous, but the three listeners between the ages of seven and eleven found places to laugh, cried out in frustration when a chapter ended without all the answers given, and cheered the resolution. These books seem so very dumb; but children--as he himself notes in the foreward--seem to delight in them.
For a time, I thought this was going to be better written than the last couple, with Baum alternating between two storylines, but he ends up neglecting one of them for most of the book, and the second one was there to showcase more of Oz. Baum gets us to the plot climax with what seem like very foolish decisions on the part of the main characters, and he resolves the crisis with surprises that were entirely unprepared for. But all the listeners were satisfied. The book definitely ends with the implication that this is all that will be written about the lands of Oz. Coming to these in the 21st century, however, readers will know that the series continued further (8 more books by Baum, and scores by other writers). The child listeners want more, but I am not sure how much more of it I can take......more
Read-aloud with a ten-year-old. My little child readers do not like to give up on a series, and though Nils was not one of their favorites, they stillRead-aloud with a ten-year-old. My little child readers do not like to give up on a series, and though Nils was not one of their favorites, they still had a fondness for it and anticipated the sequel. This sequel is more of a short story collection adding in snippets to or between the starting book. It definitely cannot be read apart from the first, but some portions of the first are reproduced in this Further Adventures text. The highlight of the book was undoubtedly the novelette at the beginning. It was rich in language and description, provided interesting animal characters and scenarios, and a curious problem and solution. It was very unlike the Nils stories, and the connection to the Nils stories only comes belatedly (and quite unnecessarily). I feel comfortable claiming that his was not originally written as a Nils story and was only later added to give the collection more heft. The children did have some fun piecing together when some events must have happened and returned to the original to try to put things in their proper chronology. So it was a successful gift and entertaining read. ...more
Read-aloud with a nine-year-old fan of the series. Every book is noticeably worse now, but Miss Bianca in the Orient is not too different from the lasRead-aloud with a nine-year-old fan of the series. Every book is noticeably worse now, but Miss Bianca in the Orient is not too different from the last three in the series. One of the more unfortunate trends it continues with is the macabre threat to life which send our heroes on their mission. Truly ghastly depictions of impending death have long marked the series, and the vividness of it here exceeds that of prior volumes. This one was also a source of some embarrassment as Sharp, who was writing in 1970, seemed to be going off tropes, rumors, and characterizations of the Orient that probably started circulating closer to 1870. Our author clearly was ill-informed and proceeded with stereotypes and guesses. My child readers were more informed than Sharp and were confused by some of the details. It became one of those books where you stop and explain how the ignorance of authors of yesteryear led them to make assumptions and how differences between peoples and cultures became something to caricature. This would have been more excusable had the book been 150 years old instead of 50 years old. Still, the child listeners still love Miss Bianca and Bernard, despite the many other failings in the story....more
Read-aloud and gift for an eight year old who has thoroughly enjoyed the first three in the series. This one continues with the more cartoon-like qualRead-aloud and gift for an eight year old who has thoroughly enjoyed the first three in the series. This one continues with the more cartoon-like qualities that have marked the series since the second book, but it also keeps up the rich and endearing characterizations of Miss Bianca and Bernard. My child listeners were intent on loving it, and they are hardly critical readers, but even they noticed and commented on the hurried ending and the out-of-nowhere resolutions. They enjoyed the book, but I think everyone can tell that the quality is going down with each installment. ...more
The series first, The Rescuers, was an especially good children's book. It nicely straddled the line between entertainment and education. It challengeThe series first, The Rescuers, was an especially good children's book. It nicely straddled the line between entertainment and education. It challenged young readers with such aspects as an advanced vocabulary and some real world injustices. It was creative, and it was fun. The second book was a caricature of the first and this third much the same. The stories are now cartoons and very much lend themselves to sensational animated movies. Still, The Turret is not entirely without merit, for Sharp evidently cares very much for her two main heroes, Miss Bianca and faithful Bernard. Their characterizations, and their discussions and their relationship keep this book from plunging to the full depths which this plot directed it. And to be honest, children who are reading this are probably not worried over its flaws. There is a clear mission for our duo, a plan put into action, and some drama in its execution. So while it lacks many of the qualities of the first, it remains an entertaining series for child fans. ...more
*I do not usually rate children's books, but this is one of the few such books that was recognized as a Hugo Finalist. It is difficult to rate this as*I do not usually rate children's books, but this is one of the few such books that was recognized as a Hugo Finalist. It is difficult to rate this as an adult because it is not written for an adult. It can only be enjoyed by an adult, I think, by reading with a child or recalling what it is like to be a child.
Showing more of the magical world and taking us through even more daring adventures, Rowling takes the Harry Potter series further along the directions that had been set with the first two volumes. Some of the new characters are every bit as entertaining and endearing as ones established thus far in the series. Those established ones continue in their simple but delightful characterizations. Bringing in more backstory and connecting it to events in the present, this volume not only creates some affecting moments but suggests great mysteries, revelations, and adventures to come. Though the events are a little more frightening and the threats even more dangerous, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban reads even more like a children’s wish fulfillment fantasy, requiring either the perspective of a thirteen-year-old or a more committed suspension of disbelief.
I read this as a finalist for the 2000 Hugo Awards, which generally does not include children's books. If you think of the Hugo Awards as a listing of the five best books in science fiction and fantasy for that year, then it is clear to me that Harry Potter does not belong. The characters are far too two-dimensional, the writing too simple, and the plot far too unbelievable. If, however, you think of the Hugo Awards a contest of fans from contending subgenres, each trying to get their favorite recognized, then it is easier to understand how Harry Potter makes it to the list. Granted, most of the fans of the book were not old enough to vote for the awards, but their parents were. Young adults were. And though I did not read them at the time, I remember the buzz around the books and each new release; the energy and attention to the books - even as works for children - was so great that it should not be surprising that popularity alone thrust it into the limelight. I have a child now that is reading them for the first time, and I am happy to be reading along. The series so far is rightly deserving of being considered a children's classic. I would have rather Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban stayed off the Hugo radar, however, and been recognized only on those lists intended for children....more
A fine second installment to the Harry Potter series, carrying forth most of the best of the first along with all the hallmarks that make for a pre-teA fine second installment to the Harry Potter series, carrying forth most of the best of the first along with all the hallmarks that make for a pre-teen adventure story. The playful writing style and narration that started the first book did not make it into this volume, but Rowling settles into a fast-paced narration that makes for an easy and gripping read. ...more
Not every story needs grand ambitions in order to be enjoyable. The distance between one’s amStoryline: 4/5 Characters: 4/5 Writing Style: 4/5 World: 4/5
Not every story needs grand ambitions in order to be enjoyable. The distance between one’s ambitions and one’s actual achievements with the story can very easily turn into a measure of success, so there is risk in aiming too high. Shaw’s tactic was to promise very little and overdeliver.
This was a very clean tale. “Clean� as in free from extraneous matter. There was something sparsely effective about the writing. Rarely embellished, mostly utilitarian, it also seldom provided anything unnecessarily, focusing rather on the basics: relating the emotion, encountering the unknown, instilling the excitement. The characters were drawn well enough to serve their roles in the tale, but then each was given a single, or perhaps a few, moments in which to vividly bring out their inner selves. These small accentuations suggested a fullness to the characters that other books fail to achieve with more words and effort. The world is built in the same manner. The story occurs on a different planet, perhaps even within a different universe. Differences from our own world, both small and large, are introduced early on, fostering an awareness of possibility. With form and sparseness Shaw again draws more with less. This is a fantasy story, but because of the level of development at which the author’s world resides there are opportunities for technological discovery and innovation. These have the potential to do to the planet and their civilization what science fiction stories do for Earth: introduce radical change. Because of all these components, the story is engaging from beginning to end. When the reader is not unraveling the mysteries of the created world, they are enmeshed in the tensions of conflict, when they are not being led to implicitly make comparisons between the real and the fantastic, they are shown the inner thoughts of relatable characters, and when they are not struck with the breadth of vision, they are busied with the steps taken to achieve goals.
There were times that the sparseness tended to paucity. There were several scenes, characters, technologies, and places that would have been brought to fullness with only a little bit more. More color, components, observations, musings, interactions; there were opportunities for more emotional and fantastical climaxes. Because Shaw was so selective in what he tinkered with in his world, he does tend to adopt certain tropes as backdrop; these sometimes diminished the originality of the tale. Additionally, the story ends satisfactorily without a good hook to make the reader want to read on to the other two volumes in the series. In fact, it is not even obvious that Shaw had planned further volumes at the time of this writing. I have doubts as to whether I want to read on in the series. It is not the abandonment of a series that was unenjoyable but the feeling of being mostly sated and worried that consuming more will take away from the pleasantness with which I now sit....more
Know yourself before stepping in and playing the role of Harry Dresden, Wizard. Know that whaStoryline: 2/5 Characters: 2/5 Writing Style: 2/5 World: 3/5
Know yourself before stepping in and playing the role of Harry Dresden, Wizard. Know that what you want through these 401 breezy pages is to play the part of someone who is thoroughly awesome. The kind of awesomeness where only your ever-so-talented self can save the day. An awesomeness that will superficially pantomime some small token of humility before stepping up and taking charge. This level of awesomeness permits—no requires� you to condescend to both the well- and ill-intended, for only you can comprehend the stakes, take the risks, know and be capable of doing what must be done. You will have to bring some level of self-aggrandizement with you when starting the adventure. Butcher will help you along at times, particularly at action climaxes where our protagonist is artfully silhouetted, with enigmatic and powerful weapon in hand, and adversary in mid-air. Those moments are good, our getting to play the part of Harry Dresden as he, burdened as no one else, digs into that last reserve of energy or tricks, and overcomes. Satisfaction, that. Having your own store of a will-to-greatness will come in handy, however, when our author does not bother to close off alternatives to self-sacrifice and heroic feats. All too often Butcher leads us down paths where a few words would have resolved some misunderstanding or where our ending up in danger is the result of an obviously foolish decision. Too often the author’s story takes us places where, if our own sense of self-importance fails, we might start asking questions about the necessity of the risk, the competence of our protagonist, the reasonableness of the decision. Such questions are a hindrance to momentum, a distraction from willful delusion. Do not succumb. When the adrenaline wanes or the crisis seems unnaturally forced, embrace and appreciate the novelty of the magical world and its queer mix of the exotic and quotidian. This is another source of your awesomeness, from which you are among the few privileged to access. Enjoy it while it lasts, savor every moment. For when the tale ends you have to go back to being normal, everyday, not-magically empowered you. Unless�..unless you go on to the next of the fifteen remaining books in the series�...more
A worthy successor to The Riddle-Master of Hed that provides a better-paced and more coheStoryline: 3/5 Characters: 3/5 Writing Style: 3/5 World: 3/5
A worthy successor to The Riddle-Master of Hed that provides a better-paced and more coherent story but at the expense of lost mystique.
One of the best aspects of Heir of Sea and Fire was the vision for how this story was going to be told. Rather than directly following the protagonist of the first and confronting his experiences, readers instead proceed with the story through a minor-though-significant character from the last book. This reads as a parallel story to the one readers were expecting, then. While this might disappoint those who wanted more Morgan and to pick up directly with the questions and answers with which he was struggling, the loss is balanced by getting to see more from a host of strong female characters. They, and in particular our new protagonist, have stories and quests of their own that are excellently plotted to give them independent agency while linking their stories to the longer, original one. In contrast, one area in which this vision for the sequel suffered was in its helping the reader get back into the narrative. These books were originally published about a year apart, and I read them within two months of one another. Even so, this second in the series cannot be read without a review or a look through the cast of characters at the back. I always feel like using that reference list at the end is a form of cheating, or at least impatience. It is there for readers who read infrequently enough that they need to be reminded of what they’ve forgotten while away from the book or for those who are unwilling to let the author reveal and reconnect at her own pace. McKillip makes no effort at reintroducing the characters and places from the last. This seems to have been written directly after finishing the first and without any consideration that readers might need to be reminded of the names of characters, relationships between them, and the different regions of the map. I realized about half-way into the book that I had confused two characters with nearly identical roles, bringing vague backstory and information from my recollection and imposing it on the wrong character. Also, I realized I was not correctly appreciating the differences and interconnections between An, Aum, and Anuin. These (and others) are not distinct geographic locations but have an overlapping relationship. Often the significance of what is happening is dependent on where it is happening and within whose kingdom it is occurring. So one needs not only to be able to distinguish between the different kings, but also to know their heirs, and which kingdoms they are all tied to. McKillip breezed through these connections, entirely unaware that we readers did not have the same encyclopedic knowledge of lands and people that she did. As a result, confusion unnecessarily enters the story and some of the impact of events and revelations is dampened.
Overall the pacing of this volume is far superior to the hurried and episodic questing of the first. There is more continuity and development in this one, and McKillip’s development of the magic of the world blooms beautifully right before our eyes. Unfortunately our gaze is turned entirely away from some of the more alluring components of the first, such as harping and riddling. Those were left hanging as underdeveloped and incomplete elements with much promise, but it appears that McKillip is finished with them already. The bigger picture mystery involving the Foe and Ancient Rivalries is, if not abandoned, pushed off until later. This was perhaps the single-most unsatisfying choice of McKillip’s because we readers were ready for answers � or at least for developments. Mostly this was a tale of bringing in others to the knowledge that we readers already had in the first, getting us ready, I suppose, for them all to proceed ahead together in the final volume. ...more
There’s always a little disorientation when starting a new fantasy novel. That period trying Storyline: 2/5 Characters: 3/5 Writing Style: 2/5 World: 3/5
There’s always a little disorientation when starting a new fantasy novel. That period trying to keep track of all the new names, pick up on the different titles, lands, alliances, abilities, and whatever else the author decides to make part of their world. Some authors make this more enjoyable than others, but it is always there to some degree. That period lasted a long time into The Sword of Aldones, especially considering it was such a short book. There were just so many characters and circles of allegiances, the relationships between them all important for understanding the emotions and drama. Most of the characters just weren’t on the page enough to imprint on memory early in the book. The coherence with the characters and the proper nouns does finally come, but not before some new disorientation is introduced. Bradley has a lot going on in this brief tale, and I found it surprisingly difficult to follow. The writing, at times, was efficiently flowery and pleasant, marking the book as belonging to a higher class of science fiction. Bradley was especially insistent on showing rather than explaining. When it worked, it worked well. More often than not, however, it was near impossible to understand what was going on. The book is full of hints and understated implications, the reader left unsure when the revelations are going to be made. So often a big reveal would come with the barest of emphasis. The reader can seldom be certain as to when they have the answers. It is not that Bradley was being mysterious but that answers are often given so perfunctorily and incompletely that one can never be sure that it is the final word. The pacing, too, compounded this problem. Some events were foreshadowed and built up while other, equally significant ones were hurried through without preparation or resolution. The reader gets jerked about through the story, sometimes with small spurts moving us only a little forward and other times with great heaves which prevent one from seeing what is being passed along the way.
One of the more promising elements of the novel were the mechanics of the paranormal science on Darkover. I’ve long found tantalizing the pseudo-science and imaginative systems of magic featuring in science fiction and fantasy classics. Whether it be van Vogt’s Null-A, Asimov’s psychohistory, Dickson’s Alternate Laws, or Jordan’s One Power, these can provide delightful anticipation, rewarding fulfillment, or—when they work best—both. The idea of matrix mechanics here provided that delightful anticipation, but by the end of the book I was thoroughly confused as to what was going on. Between the poorly clarified answers, the twists and turns, the rough fantasy worldbuilding, and the incoherent magic system, I experienced most of the book in a fugue. I was genuinely happy with the last page came and put and end to it all. There is a neat world in here; a fairly well-drawn rash, young protagonist; some capable lines of prose; a creative perspective on imperialism; and plenty of action and adventure. It was all in the background of a muddled picture and ultimately was difficult to enjoy. ...more
The only work from Jack Williamson which I had previously read, The Legion of Time, led me toStoryline: 2/5 Characters: 2/5 Writing Style: 3/5 World: 2/5
The only work from Jack Williamson which I had previously read, The Legion of Time, led me to expect a pulp science fiction novel written in the swashbuckling style of the 1930s magazine serials. One can tell from the first page that this is no Legion of Time. In fact, this was not science fiction, but a mythological historical fiction following a character from lore through his new adventures. The first few chapters show a Williamson very much taking seriously the adventure tale, setting the characters into place, putting the mystical objects within reach, giving the backstories, and foreshadowing the trials to come. The merits of the tale should not be overstated, though. Williamson never makes any genuine effort on the historical fiction angle, merely snatching up a known character and slipping him into a period and place which sounds plausible enough and then foregoing any cultural, technological, geographical details that would betray ignorance or error. The defining feature of the book, in fact, was this confidently promising just enough with the writing style, the intentions, and the worldbuilding to lull the reader into accepting as fact that these things had already been accomplished. Thereafter whenever the characters called for depth, Williamson supplies some tawdry exchange. When the plot needed careful planning and positioning, he rammed through with momentum, when the world was ready for some detail and description, our author simply left it out. If the first half of the book was written just capably enough to get you to think that this was something more than pulp action-adventure, the second half was a frenzied dash to the end before you caught on to the fact that it was not.
It looks like this was originally published in Unknown magazine (the fantasy companion to Astounding Science-Fiction, some quick reading tells me). Given the time, I can believe that this stood out as being more capably written than the rest. While Williamson and The Reign of Wizardry might fare well in comparison to his peers of the day, they suffer badly when taken out of that very limited setting....more
Read-aloud with a ten-year-old who loves and rereads the earlier volumes over and over again. This one is more of the same, though perhaps with less pRead-aloud with a ten-year-old who loves and rereads the earlier volumes over and over again. This one is more of the same, though perhaps with less planning and less of a plot than the books before. The Road to Oz sees Dorothy on another trek where the main spectacle is encountering new creatures and lands. The story is meandering, with only the most general goal. It is episodic, great for chapters but failing to provide much of a connected story. There is plenty more creation in this one, Baum bringing in more creatures, places, and characters than perhaps the rest of the series combined thus far. Some of the new creations are quite similar to earlier ones, and one can wonder if the author was starting to run out of ideas. My little listener, as an avid fan, noticed some incongruities and what seemed like mistakes with connections to previous books. Still, the suspension of disbelief and a willingness to trust the author can go a long way, and most of the fun in this one is seeing characters reconnect with one another. My ten-year old listener also regularly anticipated what was going to happen next. Either Baum was a genius writer of children’s book, leading them to expect what he wanted, or he was writing plots with all the sophistication of a 10 year old. ...more
The possibilities promised by the parallel tale format are enticing. See the other point of vStoryline: 1/5 Characters: 3/5 Writing Style: 3/5 World: 2/5
The possibilities promised by the parallel tale format are enticing. See the other point of view, find out about another’s struggles, learn about entirely new relationships and connections, see what happened to minor compatriots or major ones off-page. Nerilka’s Story, a parallel tale to Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern, supplies only a few of these and those only perfunctorily. This is not a story that can be read as a stand-alone. In lieu of development and buildup, McCaffrey gives a long, dry prologue that introduces the world of Pern as presented in the previous books, dutifully cataloging its professions and culture. This prologue does not, however, review the events of Moreta. This was an odd decision on the part of the author since Nerilka’s Story is written as if the reader does indeed know of those events, McCaffrey taking little time to build up suspense or fully explain happenings. The parallel tale itself has little new of interest. There’s no great discovery or revelation. There’s no delightful intersection. There’s no surprising twist. Instead, what is presented are the bits that seemed to have been left out of Moreta. If you were a teenage girl desiring to read a female author, already enthralled with the lands of Pern, having loved Moretta and wanting to know every detail � especially details about another strong, female character � then this book was probably eagerly received and devoured. McCaffrey’s talents are showcased with the circumstances around the main character. Though the characters themselves were nothing exceptional, the situations and interactions they are put through generate some particularly emotional scenes. Otherwise, this mostly read as a very uninspired and lazy attempt by the author to add another Pern book to the series while committing only minimal effort. This was not worth being considered a new Pern book, and it showed the author more as the marketer of a product than an author penning new, fantastical tales....more
Offbeat, not a typical fantasy. Reamy works with so very little, effectively drawing out a shStoryline: 3/5 Characters: 4/5 Writing Style: 4/5 World: 3/5
Offbeat, not a typical fantasy. Reamy works with so very little, effectively drawing out a short story. The plot is simple, the characters easy to distinguish, the fantastical entirely predictable. But one gets to anticipate the plot developments regardless. What befalls each character is memorable nonetheless. The fantastical is delightfully phantasmagorical. Reamy is a writer, a gifted writer working magic with limited material. Blind Voices is also just a little bit sordid, Reamy walking close enough to the line to peer over at horror. It is rare that I get to experience a book whose execution exceeds its ambition. Recommended for those valuing style over substance, brevity in place of length, juxtaposition instead of exposition, and some grotesqueness tainting innocence....more
Do not let the uninspired title, action comic cover art, or the “One man against a wonder plaStoryline: 4/5 Characters: 3/5 Writing Style: 4/5 World: 4/5
Do not let the uninspired title, action comic cover art, or the “One man against a wonder planet� blurb mislead you, this is not simply another science fiction action-adventure. The first clues that this is something more comes in the first sentence of the first paragraph:
“The rain was a slantwise curtain across the dingy street, washing soot from city walls, the taste of it metallic on the lips of the tall, thin man who walked with a loping stride close to the buildings, watching the mouths of doorways, the gaps of alleys with a narrow-eyed intentness.�
That right there puts this a level above a lot of 1960s science fiction and fantasy. The vivid picture, the shifts in attention in the sentence, the slipped-in anticipation. The first chapter gives notice to the reader that Andre Norton knows how to tell a story. And that story, while still of the sword and sorcery variety, had little else generic about it.
Though the thoughtful sentence structure and descriptions would not last far into the book, Norton continued to give more by keeping it full of mystery, slowly parceling out explanations and new puzzles. This is a model of how to build intrigue in a book, of knowing when to give out information and when to withhold. We get to follow along with a character with limited information, Norton usually giving revelations as the protagonist unearths them. It might be unsatisfying to some that our lead character never learns everything, never puts all the pieces together. And sometimes this haziness with the pieces and explanations seemed like it might be a cover for an author who had not herself figured out the answers or how explain what the pieces meant. If so, then it was a good cover, an author playing to her strengths and hiding her weaknesses.
As the book neared its end, it was obvious that there were not enough pages to present the story in the fullness it deserved. Though originally published as a novel, the pacing was too often marked by the hurriedness so common to science fiction and fantasy magazines from a decade earlier. This needed to have been written as an epic. I can imagine the acclaim and grandeur had this been several hundred pages instead of 222. And in some way, perhaps Norton did write her epic. The series apparently went on for more than thirty volumes, the second book coming out just a year later and the third a year after that. The ending here provided enough of a conclusion to fulfill the implied contractual agreement between authors and readers that a story come to an end. One could stop here. One could also decide to read on and on and on and on� I am not in a place right now where I want to take on a thirty-plus volume series, but I found Witchworld to be a treasure, and the temptation to read others in the series is going to lurk persistently in my head for some time I fear....more
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