I'd like to start this review off by talking about how much I love Memer because she's so great, omg. I've only read A Wizard of Earthsea and Gifts, but from what I've seen of them, Le Guin's worlds are always richly detailed. Ansul especially is really brought to life by Memer and her resentment and revolutionary zeal.
Man, this series is fun. The Hero's Guide series is written in lighthearted, wry and immensely readable prose that keeps the action tripping along, and does not shy from showing us how ridiculous our heroes really are, with interesting (if broadly sketched) characters and an excellent sense of humor.
However: as great as the series is as a whole, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle is just a little bit less fun than the first book. Part of it is the rift between Frederic, Liam and Ella: despite all the talk about friendship, we don't actually get to see the princes being friends like we did in the first book, which lessens the impact of their argument. The book in general is more ponderous than the first, too, and although Liam's existential crisis is hilarious at times, his and Frederic's angst, when treated semi-seriously, slows the whole book down. Despite its faults, though, The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle is still very fun. The character matchups don't work precisely as well as they did in the previous book (Gustav and Frederic's friendship is golden), but Gustav and Briar's insult one-upmanship is hilarious, Ruffian's appreciation of Lila's skills is excellent and Liam and Briar's non-relationship turns unexpectedly sweet by the end of the book. Briar Rose in general is this book's stand-out star. She's a little different from the spoiled, one-dimensional villain we had in the first, but, even though she's beginning to realize her own faults, she still throws her weight around like a true coddled queen. I can't wait for her character to develop in book three. Rating: four out of five. It's good, but suffers from sequelitis. Turd rating: two out of five, for the Warlord, Deeb (who's as amusingly petty as always) and Briar. Honestly, this book is best read in short bursts, because Hodgman's sense of humor gets real old real quick. The later sections of the book especially feel self-consciously wacky, though still interesting enough, if you like hobos. Read this book if you like reading things in the bathroom or take really short bus rides.
Rating: Three out of five. It's kind of fun. Sometimes. Turd Rating: One out of five, for use of slurs. Dude called FDR a cripple. That's not cool, man.
Honestly, there isn't much depth to this book—no character development, few plot twists beside the obvious—but the book doesn't really need complexity. The Thief of Always tells a simple, straightforward tale with interesting ideas (Holiday House, where seasons pass in hours, for example) and competent prose, and that's all it really needs.
Rating: four out of five. The Thief of Always knows what it wants to do and does it well. Turd rating: one out of five. Harvey has the lack of empathy that comes from typical childish binary between good and evil, but, well, he's ten. He'll grow out of it. Proclaim your pride and bitterness loudly to the world, but to me speak softly and tell me simply that she doesn't love you. That's Cyrano in a nutshell. His deep-seated insecurities and and low self-esteem make him act like a dick. There's still something admirable about him, of course: he sticks to his guns, even when they're damn stupid guns. He's witty. He's skilled. He's also the ugliest dude this side of Uglyville.
Now that I think about it, reading a hundred books won't be too bad, seeing as how my favorite genres are trashy children's books and trashier romance. I read a lot of fantasy and a lot of YA, though my to-read list coughs up a classic or literary fiction once in a while. If there are lesbians in a book, I'll read it. If there are dragons in a book, I'll read it. And if there are lesbian dragons, I might actually, like, pay money for it.
That being said, I don't like every lesbian dragon romance that comes along. Here's a short explanation of my tastes, organized with a classic book report template under the readmore. I'm about to make a very bad decision.
Don't worry. I've made them before. They're kind of my thing, like the McDonalds jingle or Batman's bat-symbol. If seasoned hunters were to try and track me down, they'd follow a trail of poor life choices instead of droppings or footprints or what have you. Most of my awful decisions are the ordinary kind—staying up ridiculously late reading webcomics or browsing through Tumblr tags, procrastinating on papers and studying, eating Del Taco for three meals in a row—but my next is going to be bad in a more flamboyant way. You ready for it? Here it is: I'm vowing to read a hundred books before school starts up again October 1st. It's not bathing with toasters or exploring the exciting job opportunities provided by the crystal meth industry, especially given that I've read a hundred books already this year, but here's a prediction: sometime after the next three months, I'm going to look back at this blog, sad and abandoned (either me or the blog; you take your pick) and feel terribly, terribly embarrassed. There's that. Bad decision made. Now all I've got to do is prove myself wrong. |