Covertalk

The illustrated covers on the left are the ones I read when I was first discovering these books. The pale-faced women with the dark hair seemed the perfect accompaniment. The style is very plain and stark, which suited the bleak fantasy of Nix's world. I saw the new covers and was shocked. Is it merely sentiment, or is there more to it than that?

I've examined them now, and the new covers aren't bad. I'm assuming the design are meant to be charter marks, which is the way magic is channeled Sabriel's world. The fiery edges are meant to convey the power of the magical current, and the simplicity of the design probably speaks to the finality and mystery of Death.

Thats all well and good- but I would arguethat the plain lyricism of the original covers conveys all that and more. The new ones are too slick. Too shiny. Give me an hour in photoshop, and I could do as well. These easy computer generated graphics read to me as

a cheapening of Garth Nix's vision. His world was more than charter magic and Death. It is complex, and reading one gets the feeling of ancient history. This is what the original covers display: a world older than our own, a people nobler than our own, a life filled with a different sort of danger. The charter marks are more than magical sigils. They are part of a network, laid down by people, defended by the abhorsens. It is a disservice to the whole system to portray the marks so graphically, and without any of the rest to back it up. Aside from all this, the original illustrations are beautiful and enticing. The flatness of traditional media

works perfectly for stories from the Old Kingdom, and after reading the books I now view these covers as old friends.

In the Coils of the Snake by Clare B. Dunkle

I picked this book up because it was a bargain book, on sale for under two dollars, at my campus bookstore. It had a pretty cover, and the plot about humans, elves, and goblins seemed interesting. It's juvenile/YA; grades 6-10 according to Amazon. It is also the third book in the Hollow Kingdom trilogy- I have not read the others, and I am about to spoil the ending of this one. Be warned.

As the book started out, I was really impressed! The plot was about a girl who was going to marry a goblin. This is not something you see everyday. The background is that the Goblin King has to marry a human or an elf, for some magical reason. The Goblins in the book are sufficiently goblin-esque, but doughty, with a sense of honor, and likeable characteristics. The fact that a girl had been raised to think of the Goblins as wonderful, raised to be their queen, was a pretty interesting concept. Different, and pleasant. I wanted that to work out for her. There should be an appropriate number of hardships, to make the book interesting, but I really wanted this arranged marriage thing to work. For the novelty of it all. (Here's a YA medieval fantasy where a girl escapes to, rather than from, her arranged marriage. I remember enjoying it.)

Then, enter the elves. The prissy, beautiful, oh-so-perfect and perfectly sickening elves. Long story short, it's magically better for a goblin king to marry an elf than a human, so the Goblin-King drops his bride-to-be in favor of a kidnapped elf girl who doesn't want him- traded by her king for another magical reason. The original human girl, Miranda, runs away from the goblin caves and is taken into captivity by the elves. A for-your-protection form of captivity, where she is treated ever so perfectly and everything is ever so nice, and she falls in "love" with the elf king. It was like Twilight all over again- he was beautiful and sparkly and smotheringly overprotective, and he gets the girl. A few more things happen, the end.

I felt gypped.

Maybe I could have dealt with it, but the "romance" was entirely unbelievable. He treated her like a child, she eventually decided she liked it, and they fell in "love." And she was meant to be the Goblin Queen. She was meant for so much more.

In the author's defense, I did some research on the series and discovered that the first two books actually take place far before Miranda's time- and that the first book is, indeed, about a human who marries a goblin. So perhaps the author had already written the book I wanted to read. I'll have to find out. Maybe the third book was more of a political wrap-up in her mind, something that had to take place for the elves and goblins of her world, and she let the characters and romance suffer to follow her agenda. Also, maybe if I'd read it when I was younger, I too would have fallen for the beautiful and boring elves.

One Year Later...

Well, almost a year. I am bad at this blogging business. My posts are so infrequent as to be non-existent! I've been reading some rather good blogs lately, however, and feel inspired to try again.

The real problem is that I haven't had much time for reading. Perhaps at some point I shall have to reconsider the focus of this blog.

For now, we'll go through my pleasure reading and dig out some recommendations.

Sabriel, by Garth Nix

Did anyone else read this series when they were twelve? I did, and remember it fondly. While looking for audio books to listen to on an upcoming airplane voyage, I came across an audio recording read by Tim Curry. Surprise: it wasn't good just because I was twelve. Garth Nix has a sophisticated writing style that is a pleasure to listen to, and as this book deals primarily with Death and The Dead it is much darker than most things I read when I was twelve, and therefore holds up better to adult scrutiny. Tim Curry's performance is absolutely stellar, and adds a lot to the grim and wonderful mood of the book. I am especially enjoying his personification of the demon-eternally-bound-in-cat-form, Mogget. Tim Curry also recorded the sequels, Lirael and Abhorsen (thanks to the recording I now know how to correctly pronounce Abhorsen (And seriously, what is with the covers of the new editions I just linked to?!)) which I am looking forward to when I have finished Sabriel.

Lost Boys, by Orson Scott Card

This was the first audio book I really got into, when I decided last semester that having something to listen to would make my art homework easier to stomach. This actually worked, by the way!

Orson Scott Card is brilliant, which we already know. This book was very autobiographical, realistic, and with increasing hints of horror. You're reading/listening along, hearing about squabbling children, mormon drama, hellish coworkers- and you're not sure why you're still interested, but you are. And then the ending hit me over the head with a sledgehammer and left me hiding under blankets and weeping, devastated, but in a wonderful way. This is a book that makes you feel. Very worth reading.

The Good Neighbors by Holly Black

The author of Tithe (what a horrible new cover!), Valiant (god, that's even worse!), and the Spiderwick Chronicles (which I haven't read on account of them looking a bit too childish) has been working on a Graphic Novel series. I just finished the second book, which I received for Christmas. It's a bit too early to make a judgement call on the series, as they're coming out once a year, but so far I like them. The art seems a bit stiff at times (almost trying too hard) but mostly it's very beautiful, and the story is compelling. I am quite pleased with the twist at the end of the second volume.

William Blake

I am currently very inspired by this guy and his illuminated books.

http://www.blakearchive.org

Just for fun

Someone who shall remain unnamed linked me to this the other day:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4811300/1/Frenetic_in_Forks

It's a Doctor Who/ Twilight crossover fanfic, and the author does a nice job voicing David Tennant's Doctor. I'm not sure if it's finished or not, as I've yet to finish reading what's posted right now. It's interesting how Rose and The Doctor make Bella and Edward appear sadly flat.

And that's all I've got for right now! Next time, maybe we'll compare and contrast some covers. The new editions of a lot the stuff I linked above make me sad.

-Grace out