Recent reading - a touch of fantasy
Mar. 3rd, 2004 02:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustThe Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
It still amazes me that Terry Pratchett can turn out a Discworld book every six months like clockwork, each one as good as or better than the last. Like The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The Wee Free Men is being marketed as a Discworld novel for young readers. Maybe the publishers are trying to introduce more kids to Pratchett - which is a good thing. But it would be a shame if adult readers passed up this book because of its labelling. Thanks for lending it to me,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monkeydan.
Tiffany Aching is nine years old - but she's the kind of nine year old who reads the dictionary from cover to cover and uses a frying pan on river monsters instead of running away. She would rather be a witch than a silly princess. And when the Queen of the Fairies kidnaps her baby brother, it's up to Tiffany to save him - with the help of the Wee Free Men.
Normally, I prefer the Guards books to the Witches books. Maybe it's because I can relate more to the busy multicultural city of Ankh-Morpork than to closeknit rural communities like Lancre. But I enjoyed The Wee Free Men very much. Tiffany has to learn witching from the ground up. And in the process, the reader finds out what it really means to be a witch. "We look to the edges," one of the characters says. "There's a lot of edges, more than people know. Between life and death, this world and the next, night and day, right and wrong... and they need watchin'. We watch 'em, we guard the sum of things." And there's a lot of poignancy in the relationship between Tiffany and her Granny Aching. The end result is an entertaining story infused with the usual Pratchett insight.
The word is that the next Discworld book will be a sequel to The Wee Free Men. A Hat Full of Sky is due to be released in May.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A McKillip
This book is on just about every 'classics of fantasy literature' list there is. It was originally published thirty years ago. Since then, Patricia A McKillip has written many other fantasy novels, and each one is like a jewel. I mean, her stories are always lyrical and fablelike, and she has the most beautiful style. I'm not one of those self-confessed style whores - for me, character is the hook - but I do appreciate nice prose and craftsmanship. It gives me confidence that I'm in good hands.
Sybel is the only daughter of a powerful wizard and she has inherited his gifts. She lives alone on her mountain, with only the company of the legendary beasts that have been summoned to her. Then one day a young warrior comes to her, exhausted from battle, with a baby he pleads for her to raise. Not just any baby, but the illegitimate son of a queen and her lover. And Sybel, who has never before cared about anything but her animals, reluctantly agrees to take the child in...
This is a beautiful, beautiful, deeply moving book. It deals with love and power and revenge and truth, and the writing shines. I can see why this book has garnered such praise, and I'm glad I found a copy of it at last.
Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
I first encountered Carol Berg through her Rai-Kirah trilogy, which has been waiting patiently on my 'to read' pile for some time now. But when I read the blurb for her newest book, the standalone novel Song of the Beast, I had to skip straight to it.
Because the blurb sums up the plot so perfectly, I'll just quote it here:
Aidan MacAllister. Beloved of the gods, he could transform the souls of men with his voice and harp...
At 13, the sound of dragons flying overhead gave him songs beyond human understanding.
At 14, Aidan was considered the finest musician of his generation, primed to become a legend.
At 21, his cousin the king imprisoned him for treason and sentenced him to silence.
At 38, Aidan is suddenly released, a scarred, voiceless wreck of the man he once was, with but one desire - to discover what he had done to warrant such punishment...
I was hooked. A really interesting main character in a compelling situation. Aidan has endured so much suffering with such dignity that you can't help but cheer for him. There's a fine line between angst that pulls at your heartstrings and angst that is self-indulgent and wallowy, and fortunately Berg knows the difference.
While some of the plot developments are predictable, there are also some surprises. I'm not sure how much reread value it has for me, given that a large part of its draw is the mystery behind Aidan's situation. But overall this is still a solidly written book, and I enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
It still amazes me that Terry Pratchett can turn out a Discworld book every six months like clockwork, each one as good as or better than the last. Like The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The Wee Free Men is being marketed as a Discworld novel for young readers. Maybe the publishers are trying to introduce more kids to Pratchett - which is a good thing. But it would be a shame if adult readers passed up this book because of its labelling. Thanks for lending it to me,
monkeydan.Tiffany Aching is nine years old - but she's the kind of nine year old who reads the dictionary from cover to cover and uses a frying pan on river monsters instead of running away. She would rather be a witch than a silly princess. And when the Queen of the Fairies kidnaps her baby brother, it's up to Tiffany to save him - with the help of the Wee Free Men.
Normally, I prefer the Guards books to the Witches books. Maybe it's because I can relate more to the busy multicultural city of Ankh-Morpork than to closeknit rural communities like Lancre. But I enjoyed The Wee Free Men very much. Tiffany has to learn witching from the ground up. And in the process, the reader finds out what it really means to be a witch. "We look to the edges," one of the characters says. "There's a lot of edges, more than people know. Between life and death, this world and the next, night and day, right and wrong... and they need watchin'. We watch 'em, we guard the sum of things." And there's a lot of poignancy in the relationship between Tiffany and her Granny Aching. The end result is an entertaining story infused with the usual Pratchett insight.
The word is that the next Discworld book will be a sequel to The Wee Free Men. A Hat Full of Sky is due to be released in May.
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A McKillip
This book is on just about every 'classics of fantasy literature' list there is. It was originally published thirty years ago. Since then, Patricia A McKillip has written many other fantasy novels, and each one is like a jewel. I mean, her stories are always lyrical and fablelike, and she has the most beautiful style. I'm not one of those self-confessed style whores - for me, character is the hook - but I do appreciate nice prose and craftsmanship. It gives me confidence that I'm in good hands.
Sybel is the only daughter of a powerful wizard and she has inherited his gifts. She lives alone on her mountain, with only the company of the legendary beasts that have been summoned to her. Then one day a young warrior comes to her, exhausted from battle, with a baby he pleads for her to raise. Not just any baby, but the illegitimate son of a queen and her lover. And Sybel, who has never before cared about anything but her animals, reluctantly agrees to take the child in...
This is a beautiful, beautiful, deeply moving book. It deals with love and power and revenge and truth, and the writing shines. I can see why this book has garnered such praise, and I'm glad I found a copy of it at last.
Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
I first encountered Carol Berg through her Rai-Kirah trilogy, which has been waiting patiently on my 'to read' pile for some time now. But when I read the blurb for her newest book, the standalone novel Song of the Beast, I had to skip straight to it.
Because the blurb sums up the plot so perfectly, I'll just quote it here:
Aidan MacAllister. Beloved of the gods, he could transform the souls of men with his voice and harp...
At 13, the sound of dragons flying overhead gave him songs beyond human understanding.
At 14, Aidan was considered the finest musician of his generation, primed to become a legend.
At 21, his cousin the king imprisoned him for treason and sentenced him to silence.
At 38, Aidan is suddenly released, a scarred, voiceless wreck of the man he once was, with but one desire - to discover what he had done to warrant such punishment...
I was hooked. A really interesting main character in a compelling situation. Aidan has endured so much suffering with such dignity that you can't help but cheer for him. There's a fine line between angst that pulls at your heartstrings and angst that is self-indulgent and wallowy, and fortunately Berg knows the difference.
While some of the plot developments are predictable, there are also some surprises. I'm not sure how much reread value it has for me, given that a large part of its draw is the mystery behind Aidan's situation. But overall this is still a solidly written book, and I enjoyed the ride while it lasted.
