Critique

I absolutely love this series. What I like about them especially is that they’re totally different from the standard young adult magic book. The winding narrative and voice of the heroine harkens strongly to a Mark Twain, fitting considering the time period the books are supposed to be set in. While the books are loosely connected to each other, each is really a separate story, and Eff is just a regular magician, not some child of promise upon whom the weight of the world stands. It’s refreshing to have a series of magic, fantasy stories that don’t work off of the same formulaic premise.

As to this addition to the series, if it’s possible, I actually like Across the Great Barrier better than the first, which is atypical to most fantasy series. I like that the story doesn’t focus on one single issue, but meanders around, similar to how regular life would go. Eff is a lovable character who you route for, and she always feels very tangible, making decisions that seem in character, and someone who comes across as a very real person.

Critique

Being as this is such a great classic of literature, both for children and adults, I don’t add that much value by reviewing it and recommending it. However, I thought it would be fun to post something so much older in the midst of my reviews for books published recently. This is my attempt to say, “Don’t forget about me” for the old books that still have a lot of value.

In many ways, the reason that The Hobbit is such a popular book that has stood the test of time is Tolkein’s attention to detail and story. The world of Middle Earth feels tangible, and I would state outright that most of the fantasy books out nowadays are either rehashes of Tolkein’s world, or just action-driven stories that don’t take the time to delve into the setting, characters, or story with much depth. They’re fun reads, but nothing that will prompt any intellectual thought or multiple reads. Comparing books to food, The Hobbit is like a filet mignon while many of these recent books are more like a fast food cheeseburger. Both are meat, technically, but the filet is a much more satisfying meal even though it takes longer to make and eat.

Critique

As always, Le Guin delivers what you’d expect, a fantasy book of true literary quality. Unlike many of the emerging fantasy texts throughout the past 20 years or so, especially since the Harry Potter craze, The Earthsea books force the reader to wrestle with many of the same issues that we have to face as real people. Her first book in the series, A Wizard of Earthsea shows the inherent evil within us all, and the ability we have to overcome it only by facing it. The second book, The Tombs of Atuan, delineates the struggles surrounding pride and power. This book delves into the desire to pursue eternal life, thus interrupting the balance between life and nature, humans and the natural laws we’re subject to just as much as anything else. The most interesting element that Le Guin unearths in her take on the concept of eternal life is that her characters, in their pursuit, lose their true identity, their name, and wash into oblivion and nothingness. 

I was talking with a new co-worker about the kinds of books and movies that we’re into, and she actually laughed at the fact that I love fantasy, saying that she isn’t interested in anything in that genre because it’s unrealistic and could never happen. She does, however, love romantic comedies, which in my opinion are easily as unrealistic if not more so because of their lighthearted and sometimes shallow treatment of relationships between men and women. Sure, I’m never going to ride a dragon or walk through a wardrobe (at least as far as I’ve experienced so far), but the universal truths exhumed in books like Ender’s Game, The Lord of the Rings, or this series are much more accurate to our own human experiences. Long live good literature!

The other books in this series are A Wizard of Earthsea (book 1), The Tombs of Atuan (book 2), Tehanu (book 4), Tales from Earthsea (book 5), and The Other Wind (book 6)

Critique

This book is a wonderful twist on ‘magical worlds’. Instead of following the typical conventions of the magical fantasy genre, Wrede recreates our own history, complete with the same people, like Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. The only difference is that the world operates openly in magic. There are magic schools everywhere throughout the world, and several branches of magic that emerged from various cultures.

Set in what would have been the settler time of American history, Wrede tells the story through the eyes of Eff, who narrates in an honest and personal style that makes it a very enjoyable read. Also, Wrede keeps more with the genre of literature during that time period with a tone that harkens to Mark Twain or Willa Cather. My personal favorite part, however, is the fact that unlike most stories about magic, this isn’t about one child hero who needs to save the world from the greatest evil that history has ever known or ever will know. It’s a story about a girl’s personal journey with her own power and her process of growing up, and the evils that she faces are not necessarily related to terrible magical creatures that threaten to end life as everyone knows it. Although there’s a little of that as well.

This is the first book in what seems to be a very promising series.

Critique

Unlike the previous addition to this series, this is less a chronicle about the great wizard Sparrowhawk/Ged in his younger and foolish years, and more about one story that builds to a final climax. It’s not surprising that this was awarded a Newbery honor, since it gives insight into the struggle a young priestess faces as she starts to see the world get broader. This expansion of her worldview calls into question the nature of religion and the worship of beings that seem not to hear her or have any power in the world any longer.

As always with LeGuin’s works, it’s a merger of real life story-telling elements with a fantasy world, unlike many of the fantasy works today, which rely far too heavily on the fantasy tropes and battles with very little story element to fall back on. I recommend this book to all readers 12+.

The other books in this series are A Wizard of Earthsea (book 1), The Farthest Shore (book 3), Tehanu (book 4), Tales from Earthsea (book 5), and The Other Wind (book 6).

Critique

Certainly the best of the writing so far, Paolini still relies too heavily on the fantasy to carry the book and doesn’t create anything original in the depth of his characters, the aesthetics and language or the storyline as a whole. The revelations about Eragon’s past regarding his parentage and the deaths at the end are not surprising, and therefore not really all that compelling as elements of the story. The pacing is better than the second book, and the complexity is better than the two previous, but it still could easily have been several hundred pages shorter and employed more literary devices. It’s mostly action and will appeal to a young audience interested in fast-paced page-turners rife with magic, dragons, battles and death-defying heroics, but an older audience may not find it as ‘magical’.

The other books in this series so far are Eragon (book 1) and Eldest (book 2) with the fourth and final on its way.  

Critique

Not that the book is a masterpiece of classic literature, but the movie is terrible. Relying far too heavily on computer graphics and ‘epic’ battles to carry the weight of the film, Eragon’s story is basically nonexistent. It rushes through the dialogue and the connection of the characters that happens at least at some level throughout the book, not to mention that the movie and book differ significantly throughout the process.

Saphira suddenly becomes a full-sized dragon just after learning to fly as a small baby dragon; much of the journey that Brom and Eragon go through is nonexistent, so when he dies you don’t care; Eragon and Murtagh have no bonding time, so you don’t care about Murtagh either, and the dwarves look stupid, not to mention that the elves don’t have pointed ears.

The biggest faux pas, though, was that Shade uses magic to conjure up his own ‘smoke dragon’ in order to fight Saphira in the air. Not only was it cheesy, but it diminishes any of the difficulty in the fight between Shade and Eragon, which basically sets up one of the major themes throughout the next book.

The acting was fine for what it was. Sometimes the bad high British accents used so often in films like these gets tiresome, but there’s not much more one would expect. However, great actors like Jeremy Irons and John Malkovich don’t need to be in a film like this, especially since John Malkovich only appears for about 5 minutes max. They don’t add anything to the experience.

All in all, it’s a terrible movie, and even hardcore Paolini fans will be sorely disappointed, and real film aficionados will likely not be able to stomach more than 5 minutes.

Critique

Although this book involves more characters at a deeper level, I feel like it’s a decline from the first. Now that the pacing has slowed, and the page turning elements are not as prevalent, the story doesn’t carry as well throughout, especially with such a long text. I feel that there could have been plenty of editing done to make it tighter and shorter while telling the same story.

I was hoping that Paolini’s writing would mature as he got older, but it’s still missing much of what makes a story really evergreen, causing more than one read and generational staying power. I do like that he’s taken us to a place in the story where he can educate us about the magic of the world in more depth, but elves, dwarves, dragons and magic are nothing new in this genre, so even that’s not enough to keep me really interested. There are points where things pick up, but not enough to carry the whole work.

The other books in this series so far are Eragon (book 1) and Brisingr (book 3) with the fourth and final on its way. 

Critique

There’s no doubt that this is a fun story, and it’s impressive to see such an undertaking not only written by a 17-year-old Paolini, but fought for and published by one and the same. Often it’s not writing a good book that’s difficult, but getting it published, especially for someone so young. However, the fact still remains that nearly every fantasy element employed has been pulled from other fantasy novels. Even the idea of Riders and dragons being able to communicate with each other has been around since MacCaffrey started weaving the tales of Pern, and possibly even before then.

So, it then comes down to the text itself, and even though it got many rave reviews, I believe it could have been more than it was. Agreed, it’s a story that creates anticipation and constant fluid page turning, but it doesn’t carry the weight of a novel that requires or garners another read. The great, long-lasting fantasy and science fiction books, even in the genre of young adult, will be the ones that employ all of the classic literary devices and generate more than just an edge-of-your-seat read. Ultimately, it’s still an entertaining read, excellent for the rainy day or the ride on the train, and more than likely you’re not going to consider it a waste of time.

The other books in this series so far are Eldest (book 2) and Brisingr (book 3) with the fourth and final on its way.  

Critique

One of the most tantalizing elements to McCaffrey’s works of fantasy is that she’s created a world in Pern with its own life. All of the rules and regulations, the traditions and histories, and the social structures as a whole are unique to this world, let alone that it involves dragons and fire lizards. The Harper Hall trilogy is a great addition to the world of Pern because rather than focusing on the glorious lives of the Riders, its main characters are simple folk with simple, but important dreams. They take the reader from the bird’s eye view of the world straight into focus on everyday people, living and working in Pern. It really makes the world feel entirely alive. I recommend this trilogy to any readers 11+.

There are many books in the Pern series, but the other two in this trilogy specifically are Dragonsong (book 1) and Dragonsinger (book 2).