Ugh (also book review)
Jul. 12th, 2008 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesDropped my glasses today while getting out of the shower, then stepped on them. As a result, the arms are bent all funny. So, now I have to go see if I can get them repaired. Thankfully, I can see without them, and still have my old pair. Also managed to sleep 12 hours -- I came home late last night and just passed out. (Yesterday, I had to stop at the mall to get a pair of sneakers.)
Incidentally, I discovered that being hit by a car took about half of the life out of my sneakers. Normally sneakers last about two years before I walk through the soles at the heels. This time, the cloth part of the left shoe ripped open -- exactly the part that hit the concrete first when I was hit by a car last August. Should have asked the insurance company for $40 for a new pair of shoes.
So, I always run into this when reviewing books that are sequels. How much do I say about things without spoiling earlier books? Almost makes me want to write reviews for series, rather than individual books.
That being said, I enjoyed this series, as a sort of large-scale fantasy. The world was interesting, I liked the characters, and the plot worked for me. I think it was technically listed as young adult, but it's perfectly readable as an adult -- which is good. I mean, I hate returning to my childhood favorites and discovering they stunk. Don't want to wish that on someone else.
On the other hand, the thing about this that I did notice is that the first book in the trilogy works as a stand-alone novel, but the other two really were better sold as one book. I've noticed that a lot in trilogies -- the Matrix movie trilogy being a wonderful example. The first movie could either stand alone or segue into a series. The second pretty much ends on a cliffhanger that the third needs to wrap up. Doesn't seem to be unusual -- the old Star Wars trilogy does this (with Han frozen in carbonite, and Luke barely surviving his duel with Vader in Cloud City), Lord of the Rings does this (the books, not the movies, which decided to not have Shelob show up unto Return of the King). It kinds of irritates me. I'd rather have seen the Lirael & Abhorsen story packaged as one book, with the third book in the trilogy dealing with someone else. Then again, it would have been a very, very long book.
It also would let one address one of my pet peeves with epic fantasy. Here there might be spoilers. So, there was a big, world-shaking event that Our Heroes had to stop. There's plenty of International Incidents crawling around. And I kind of want to know: what happens next? Sure, Our Heroes defeated the Big Bad Evil Guy*, but there's still all the strings he was pulling around normal humans. What happens next? (I kind of want to start a webcomic taking place a couple of years after a BBEG is defeated by a Plucky Band of Heroes, just to chronicle what happens.)
* For the record, I love that term, which I mostly adapted from the Order of the Stick comic/Giant in the Playground message board.
So, this review isn't as much about the book but my thoughts on fantasy.
Next on the reading list: Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik. I have some pretty long thoughts on the Temeraire series, so expect my review for that to be more than just 'Whee! Book #5'. I've also been putting my book reviews on , if you want to see them.
Incidentally, I discovered that being hit by a car took about half of the life out of my sneakers. Normally sneakers last about two years before I walk through the soles at the heels. This time, the cloth part of the left shoe ripped open -- exactly the part that hit the concrete first when I was hit by a car last August. Should have asked the insurance company for $40 for a new pair of shoes.
So, I always run into this when reviewing books that are sequels. How much do I say about things without spoiling earlier books? Almost makes me want to write reviews for series, rather than individual books.
That being said, I enjoyed this series, as a sort of large-scale fantasy. The world was interesting, I liked the characters, and the plot worked for me. I think it was technically listed as young adult, but it's perfectly readable as an adult -- which is good. I mean, I hate returning to my childhood favorites and discovering they stunk. Don't want to wish that on someone else.
On the other hand, the thing about this that I did notice is that the first book in the trilogy works as a stand-alone novel, but the other two really were better sold as one book. I've noticed that a lot in trilogies -- the Matrix movie trilogy being a wonderful example. The first movie could either stand alone or segue into a series. The second pretty much ends on a cliffhanger that the third needs to wrap up. Doesn't seem to be unusual -- the old Star Wars trilogy does this (with Han frozen in carbonite, and Luke barely surviving his duel with Vader in Cloud City), Lord of the Rings does this (the books, not the movies, which decided to not have Shelob show up unto Return of the King). It kinds of irritates me. I'd rather have seen the Lirael & Abhorsen story packaged as one book, with the third book in the trilogy dealing with someone else. Then again, it would have been a very, very long book.
It also would let one address one of my pet peeves with epic fantasy. Here there might be spoilers. So, there was a big, world-shaking event that Our Heroes had to stop. There's plenty of International Incidents crawling around. And I kind of want to know: what happens next? Sure, Our Heroes defeated the Big Bad Evil Guy*, but there's still all the strings he was pulling around normal humans. What happens next? (I kind of want to start a webcomic taking place a couple of years after a BBEG is defeated by a Plucky Band of Heroes, just to chronicle what happens.)
* For the record, I love that term, which I mostly adapted from the Order of the Stick comic/Giant in the Playground message board.
So, this review isn't as much about the book but my thoughts on fantasy.
Next on the reading list: Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik. I have some pretty long thoughts on the Temeraire series, so expect my review for that to be more than just 'Whee! Book #5'. I've also been putting my book reviews on , if you want to see them.
