Graceling

Graceling

By Kristin Cashore

In a world where people born with an extreme skill - called a Grace - are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of the skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she first meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po's friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace - or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away...a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

So I have been meaning to read this book for a long time. It's been recommended to me several times and I've actually gotten it from the library three times. I just never have managed to get around to reading it before this fourth time.

I felt like this definitely had a first book in a series type feel. What I mean is that there a lot of aspects of this world that are unexplored. I hope that as the series goes on, some of the ideas or questions I thought of will be addressed.

I felt like the romance was a little weak, but it wasn't really the focus of the story. Katsa says from the beginning that she never wants to marry and she never wants children, and, because of her Grace there is really no one who could ever force her too. I didn't really agree with some of her reasoning, but I had to respect that she stood by what she said, even when (THIS IS NOT REALLY A SPOILER) she realizes that she has come to really care for Po. Sadly, I could not get over my mental picture of a sexy panda bear every time his name came up.
In this world, which as far as I can tell is called The Seven Kingdoms (why is it always the seven kingdoms?), the Graced are very easily spotted, they all have heterochromia. Gracelings have two different colored eyes. Sometimes their eye color doesn't settle into different colors until weeks, months, or even years after birth.

Once the Graced are identified they belong to the king and are sent to his court to be raised. If the child's Grace is useful, they remain there in the king's service. In the event that the child has a useless Grace, it is sent home with apologies, because it will be difficult for the family. There is a great deal of fear and superstition attached to Gracelings and they tend to be avoided.

Honestly, I don't know how this country keeps going without simply collapsing. Almost all of the Kings, which are really more like Warlords, are horrible rulers. They are corrupt and are constantly squabbling. I may need to read through it a few more times to get how it works, but most of the rulers of each kingdom are distantly related to each other.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting concept and world. I thought that the storyline was weak in some spots and I predicted who the villain was, almost as soon as he was mentioned for the first time. It's attempt to be surprising backfired a little. I hope that the later books will improve though.

This definitely young adult, which shouldn't mean that I don't expect as much from it, but sadly does. I think I may just be a little to old to enjoy it as much as if I were, oh, about 14-15.

I'm trying to think of any other books I've read that really use heterochromia, but all I can think of are mangas, which have an overabundance of strange hair and eye colors. Maybe some of my readers *hint,hint* will be able to think of some titles.

Dragons Be Here

First off, I want to say sorry for the long absence. I got caught up in a lot of homework and then it was just really hard to get started again. But I'm back now and hopefully I'll be able to keep this up for a while yet.

Seraphina

By Rachel Hartman



'Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.'

Seraphina is one of the best dragon books I've read in a long time and I felt like I really couldn't sum it up anymore concisely then the summary on the back of the book.

 It begins with both a birth and a funeral. Prince Rufus has been found murdered in a suspiciously draconian method and this does not bode well for continued peace.

Seraphina is a very gifted musician who is the assistant to the court composer and whose father is intimately involved with making sure the treaty is kept. She gains much attention for the haunting solo she plays at this funeral and soon she is teaching Princess Glisselda harpsichord.

Of course soon she has learned things she'd rather not and Seraphina's deepest secret is threatening to be revealed.

One of the things I love most about this book is the dragons themselves. While they may look human it is very plain to anyone who meets them that they are not. They move awkwardly and stiffly, their blood is silver, and they don't understand emotions well at all. The newer the dragon the more obvious their wrongness.

Political intrigue and mystery are also elements that I really enjoy in this book. There are players on both sides that don't want the treaty to work. On the human side, we have The Sons of St. Ogdo, who believe that Dragons are all monsters that should be wiped out and not allowed to integrate their evil into society. While on the dragon side, we have old Dragon Generals who feel that they gain very little with this peace and lose much, most notably their hoards.

It is very unclear throughout the book, until the end that is, just who it is that benefits from the death of Prince Rufus.

Someone did complain that some of the names in this book were too similar and that made it confusing, but I didn't find it to be that much of a distraction.

There is some romance, but I thought that it felt more like a subplot rather then a major component of the plotline.

Overall I found this to be a very sophisticated young adult book. It's 467 pages so it's longer then some of the books I've reviewed but I don't think it's a laborious length at all.

Two for the Price of One

Today I'm writing about two books by the same author, yay, hence the title of the post.

I love this author's name, Vivian Vande Velde. It sounds so fantastical. I'm sure that it's a pen name but still. Okay, I just wanted to get that out there before I started to talk about the books.

Dragon's Bait

By Vivian Vande Velde

Accused of being a witch by a greedy neighbor Aly is left as an appeasement to a dragon that has recently moved into the area.

The dragon isn't interested and would have passed by but Aly herself unwittingly draws his attention. 

Now Aly is faced with the decision of whether or not to take the dragon, Selendrile, up on his offer of revenge, and is that really what she wants?

Dragon's Bait is a very short book, only 196 pages. It was the first book by this author that I ever read and it was a good representation of the kind of books she writes. Quirky, yet it seems like a straightforward story at first glance. It's probably most suited for 10-15 years old but its an entertaining simple story anyway.

There are many classic fantasy elements to this story: A falsely accused main character, a young female left as an offering to a dragon, a quest of revenge, disguises that may or may not work in real life.

There are some twists as well, dragons can speak any language but only when they have taken on that shape which uses that language.

I have to confess I hate books that seem to have an obvious moral to the story. It always makes me feel like the author just created a story for the sake of rubbing a moral in my face. But someone else pointed out to me that there is a small moral at the end of this book. And I'm not telling you what it is so you have to go read it yourself.

Heir Apparent

By Vivian Vande Velde

At an unspecified point in the future, technology will have progressed to the point that you can go to gaming centers and be completely immersed in a variety of games. 

You are the character and the character is you. Your thoughts are your character's thoughts and your character's pain is your pain.

For Giannine's birthday her father's secretary sends her a gift card to Rasmussen Gaming Center and she's determined to make the most of it even braving a protest to get into the center.

Heir Apparent is a game with many ways to win. All you have to do is survive long enough to be crowned king. Unfortunately Giannine isn't as good at this as she would like and she keeps dying. 

Then something happens. It's different this time and she receives a message from outside the game. The equipment she's connected to has been damaged and they can't pull her out because of her immersion. The only way to get out is for her to win the game, but she only has a few hours left before permanent brain damage occurs. 

Now Giannine is stuck in a court full of deceivers with no idea of who to trust and time is running out.

I found Giannine a little annoying at first but I kept reading because I found the premise of the book to be so intriguing.

This is a little longer than Dragon's Bait, about 250 pages I would guess. It's perfect for 12 and up.