Wanderlust: An Exploration of Fantasy and Sci-fi Art and Literature

Covertalk

2010-03-01T04:24:00.000-08:00

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

2010-02-27T14:51:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-02-26T10:43:00.001-08:00

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

2009-06-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well, It's summer again, my online lit class is over, and I have the time once more to read fluffy young-adult fantasy books. Although I think you will not find me as tolerant as last summer. Here are some flash reviews to get started:

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (read last August)

LOVED the beginning. The book started with the happy ending, a

nd I savored every bit of it, slowly, waiting for everything to go horribly, horribly wrong. Best line in the book came in the middle: "And then Bella vomited a fountain of blood." I actually stopped there and reread the beginning, wanting to save all the sweet horrors of the second half of the book for as long as possible. Man was I disappointed. No one died, and Bella turned into a perfect person with no problems. Not even bloodlust. Nothing dramatic happened, and the volturi problem wasn't even taken care of forever. And Renesme is so perfect it's sickening. I am not as enamored with Twilight as I was when I last posted to this blog. Not at all.

Temeraire, Books 1 and 2 by Naomi Novik (read sometime last fall)

Nice plot structure, good ideas, great potential... I really wanted to care about this one. But in the end it fell flat, and I read the final battle without engagement, not really caring who won or lost. Read the 2nd one for the sake of her world, and I was hoping she'd improve in characterisation, but still found myself just not caring. (And I so wanted these to be good- perhaps some of you are not as picky?)

Dragon and Liberator (Dragonback #6) by Timothy Zahn (read last Christmas Break)

Finally, a satisfying conclusion to a fantasy/sci-fi series! (If you haven't heard of it, this one is like High fantasy- in space! Start with Dragon and Thief) High-paced action right till the end, and he actually ties in everything from the five preceding books. Zahn is a master, and it was so refreshing to watch him work, after all the other stuff I've been reading lately. Sure I would have appreciated more of a wind-down at the end, he could have spent some more time with his characters after the crisis, but he did just enough to keep me happy. I've been reading these books as they came out, one a year for the past 6 years, and I put down the final one feeling full. Thank you, Mr Zahn.

Wow, I just realized I have about three drafts saved from last summer that never got published. So instead of saving this for later when I can tweak the writing and add even more book reviews, I'm gonna publish it RIGHT NOW and write another one for later.

I know I don't have any readers, but if anyone stumbles across this (or follows the link I'm about to post in my facebook status), thanks for reading. Let me know if you found anything interesting, want to talk about anything, or have any suggestions/critique/insults for me.

Twilit Ramblings

2008-06-12T13:58:00.003-07:00

Hello, Friends. I created this blog almost a month ago, and have since failed to give it more than a passing thought. I beg your indulgence. I am, you see, one of those people who find it easier to begin an endeavor than to faithfully follow through and bring all my ideas to fruition. I am afraid that if I continue in this vein of lackadaisical procrastination I will never be pleased with my accomplishments, and therefore as of today I am renewing my efforts to be responsible and faithful in all my communications and efforts. If all this sounds overly formal, please be advised that I began reading Wuthering Heights (by Emily Bronte) yesterday evening and my mind is somewhat lodged in a form of speech and phrasing long out of date in our modern era. And why, you ask, have I developed this sudden interest in the classics? There's a question that brings us back to our main topic. I am, you see, reading Wuthering Heights as a direct result of reading Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer.

So let's talk about Twilight. I'll be surprised if you haven't heard of it, as it's actually something of a phenomena in YA literature right now. I was first introduced this August, on the first or second day of my acquaintance with my roommate-to-be. Upon discovering that I had not read the series she disappeared into her room and came back with a stack of three books, which she deposited into my hands and commanded me to read. My first week of college was spent in reading these books (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse) They spared me any depression I may have felt about that awkward stage where I didn't have anyone to sit with in the cafeteria; a good book gave me something to do.

(The following may contain small spoilers)

The Twilight Saga is about vampires and romance. There are even werewolves, an added bonus:-p. I'm actually not a connoisseur of the whole vampire-romance genre, and this may have been the first book I read which treated vampires in a serious manner. The reason I am not a reader of vampire literature is that, well, I don't really want to hear about biting people and sucking their blood. It's never been one of the myths that particularly appealed to me. Any books that treated vampires as the good guys must have something of a skewed morality, and, well, reading about struggles against the damned just never really appealed to me. So why is Twilight different? The Vampires are vegetarians, for one thing. The vampire family in Twilight, the Cullens, have agreed to live by hunting animals instead of humans. They pretend to be humans, even going to high school. This, of course, is where Edward met Bella.

Bella is the hero of the story. She moves to live with her dad in a small town in Washington called Forks. She is determined she will hate the rainy town, until she meets the Cullens. They are all pale and beautiul, and Edward the most beautiful of all. But Edward seems to have a strange aversion to her. This is the complication in their relationship: Edward thirsts for her blood more than for that of any other human he has ever encountered. As the story progresses, however, his love for her becomes stronger than his other inclinations. Bella becomes the first human to discover the Cullen's secret, and her love for Edward grows even as their relationship puts her in ever greater danger.

Enough plot summary. Go read the book.

The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with what Meyer has done with these books. She has taken a very old idea (vampires) and made it completely her own, with enough twists on the original concept to keep readers engaged and guessing. The two aspects of the plot are A.) a modern fantasy thriller and B.) a teen prince-charming style romance. The romance is handled very well. So sweet and gentle it is almost too much to bear, but with enough tension and insecurities on both sides that it is believable, and one does not tire of it all the way through. As for the thriller bit... I must warn you, these books are addictive. Each book is over 500 pages (Eclipse is 640) and yet I finished each book in one day earlier this week. Granted it's summer and I had the time, but still.

On the subject of Stephenie Meyer, I just discovered something fun. Further down on the Twilight page is an interview with Meyer labeled Amazon.com's Significant Seven. In answering these questions she makes it clear that Orson Scott Card is one of her most admired authors. It's nice to know that my favorite authors like each other. On an even more sidetracked note, both Orson Scott Card and Stephenie Meyer are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Somehow I had always thought of Card as some other denomination, so that was something of a surprise. I know, religion doesn't matter in terms of good writing. It can, however, be an interesting lens through which to view their work.

And while we're on religion, I do appreciate the high morality that is present in the Twilight Saga. It's done very sneakily, too, with Bella herself having no religion and she and Edward working through temptations and tension to arrive at the right conclusion. It's nice to read a book for teens that's against pre-marital sex while taking the issue seriously and not sounding preachy.

So, do I have any crit? Well, the one part of the books that I find difficult to reconcile is Jacob. He is Edward's rival for Bella's affections. For some time, he annoyed me. I wished he would go away and stop complicating things. Werewolves, also, struck me as a bit of overkill. Right now, however, I'm inclined to let all that go. Jacob... well, he adds a whole something else to the books. Perhaps they would have been fine without him, but having him balance out Edward adds so much tension and plot. If this was my story he would not have existed, but this is Stephenie's story and he definitely has a part to play. I didn't like how so much of New Moon happened while Edward was away; but Stephenie is sneaky. It kept me reading until Edward entered the story again. ... Obviously I am too enamored of these books just now to serve as a harsh critic.

I'm not the only one. Many of my friends have read Twilight, and some are much more obsessed than I. Facebook applications are filled with Twilight related stuff. (My favorite is a piece of flair that reads, "Edward Cullen: Raising the stakes for boyfriends everywhere.") There's a movie coming out in December (does anyone else think the trailer looks crappy? I don't think this will translate to film very well) and August 2nd (the release date for Breaking Dawn, the final book) is marked on many calendars.

I'm in a praising mood, so let's all hail Stephenie Meyer and her beautiful, addictive books. I can't wait to see how this ride ends.

P.S. Did I say Eclipse is the reason I'm reading Wuthering Heights? It is indeed. Meyer references Wuthering Heights all through Eclipse. Bella and Edward discuss it on several occasions, and compare their relationships and troubles to those in Wuthering Heights. So not only is Meyer giving us good stuff to read today, she's also getting us to read the classics. Sneaky!

P.P.S. One more thought- I've yet to meet a male fan of Twilight. Do they exist, or does this sort of thing appeal only to the ladies?

Let's Start

2008-05-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends.

Welcome! I had the rare chance to spend a few hours inside Borders the other day, and it occurred to me that I would be very happy to have a job reviewing new Science Fiction and Fantasy. I am a true romantic, and I feel that myth is often the best place to find truth. There are, however, a great deal of crappy books in the genre. When I read something that is sub-par, sometimes I feel the need to analyze just what went wrong, with the purpose of avoiding such mistakes myself. I have decided to create this blog to give me a place to put such analysis, and it will also serve as a general place to let me explore everything about the Science Fiction and Fantasy Industry. I'm majoring in illustration, so the covers are just as important to me as the stories.

Enough mission-statement babble. This will become what it will become, and I hope you enjoy it.

Some excellent writers:

J.R.R. Tolkien- He is the god of fantasy writing. This will always be so.

Orson Scott Card- My current favourite. Well-known for Ender's Game.

Patricia McKillip- She has a dreamy style, a very immersive take on high fantasy. I've yet to be disappointed.

Recent Aquisitions:

The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card

The Hound of Rowan: Book one of The Tapestry by Henry H. Neff (a very pretty book for young readers. Expect full review soon.)

Eagerly Awaiting:

Dragon and Liberator: The Sixth Dragonback Adventure by Timothy Zahn- May 27

Breaking Dawn: The Twilight Saga, Book 4 by Stephanie Meyer- August 2