New-ish Release: The Winged Girl of Knossos

The Winged Girl of Knossos isn't actually a new book. It was written in 1933 by Erick Berry, pen name for Evangel Allena Champlin Best. It was a Newbery Honor Book but was sadly out of print for many years. Thankfully, Paul Dry Books has reprinted it because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished reading it a couple of weeks ago.

The "winged girl" is Inas, daughter of Daidalos. He is an inventor who longs to soar like the birds and she is an adventurer who does everything from sponge diving to bull jumping. Their home is ancient Crete, under the reign of King Minos. This story brings to life an era that time has turned into myth. Ariadne, the labyrinth and the minotaur, and Theseus are all real and they all have their places in Inas' tale.

Not only did Berry use an impressive vocabulary but she knew the right amount of tension to keep readers of all ages engaged and the historical setting is incredibly accessible. Best of all, the strong, active female character of Inas was truly ahead of her time. I suppose this is why the book received Honors. I keep thinking about the various adventures, the setting, the idea that myths come out of facts. I'm really looking forward to getting this book into our local elementary school so that more kids can enjoy it and be exposed to its ideas.

Digging in the past,
K

New Release: Norse Mythology

It is becoming a new tradition for me to sneak a Neil Gaiman read into March Magics/DWJ March each year. Neil was such great friends with Diana and Terry that it just feels right to add him into the mix. Anyway, he obliged me this year by having a new book out-- Norse Mythology --and I was able to fit it in right at the end of the month.

The book title is pretty self-explanatory. Neil read original sources (Prose Edda and Poetic Edda, not in their original language) and, simply, retold the stories in a way to capture modern readers. The time flies by as you read about how the world was formed, how Thor got his hammer, and how Loki is seriously the worst. I'm not a huge mythology person but even I was caught up by each of these tales and transported to another world of giants and serpents and gods. I don't know how Gaiman does what he does but he did it again in this book.

With rapt attention,
K

#RIPXI : 7, The Raven King

Though the book that I read this month (listened to really) for RIP was The Raven King, the final book in Maggie Stiefvater's Raven Cycle, I'm going to talk about the series as a whole. There will be vague spoilers so if this series has been sitting on your TBR forever, just go pick it up already!!

Back in April, The Raven King came out and everyone was so excited and singing the praises of Blue Sargent and her friends and I started to wonder if maybe this series that I had determined wasn't for me might be something that I would enjoy after all. In May, I needed an audiobook and The Raven Boys was available and I quickly found myself walking all around my neighborhood, sitting outside in the sun, taking naps where I didn't sleep ... anything to make more listening time. I fell instantly for Blue and the boys from Aglionby Academy. Then there was a ridiculously long wait until July for books two and three and an even more ridiculous wait until the end of September for the final book. Still, because I never really stopped thinking about the characters through all of that time, I feel like I've been living with this story in my head for over four months straight!

Though it had a bit of a Diana Wynne Jones ending (too much, too fast, need to reread), I couldn't have been more wrong about this series and I should have picked it up years ago. Not only did it have many things that I already enjoy (magic, dreams, ghosts), it also had things that I didn't know I needed in my reading life -- prep school, teen boys, and queer romance. I especially loved the unconsummated relationships for some reason. I also found myself drawn to the Gray Man, which I never expected. I wish he had been in the final story just a little bit more. I was glad that some characters redeemed themselves and others were able to prove that they belonged. The revelation about Blue was entirely unexpected and I would really like to read the whole series again to see how/if that fact was foreshadowed. I'm trying to think of anything that I didn't like about the series but nothing comes to mind. Oh wait ... Noah's end was a bit unsatisfying to me. It could have been part of that rushed ending though. I might have missed just what exactly happened. Otherwise, it was pretty much awesome from beginning to end.

So, essential question ... which version of the books should I buy? US? UK?

Reveling after my wrongness,
K

Spending Time with Neil

As the first casting decisions for the upcoming miniseries came out, I decided it was time to reread American Gods and to see what Neil decided to add back in to the Author's Preferred Text edition. I liked this story much more than I did when I first read it almost five years ago. At that time, I had just gotten started with Neil with books like Coraline and Good Omens and didn't really know to expect sex or violence in his stories. But now that I know him and his work better, there was nothing unexpected in the book and I was more able to focus on the details of the story and the mythology. I can't find where but I know I've seen Neil himself say that his fans can be divided into two groups, those who love American Gods and those who hate it. It is definitely a divisive book, dark and brooding with just a touch of redemption at times. This time through I appreciated the crafting of the characters and the vivid sense of each place that Shadow found himself in. Anyway, the casting decisions so far have been stellar and I'm really looking forward to watching the miniseries hopefully late this year.

The Art of Neil Gaiman is a comprehensive review of almost everything Neil has done in comics, novels, film, and children's books by Hayley Campbell, a young family friend who a journalist and the daughter of illustrator Eddie Campbell. She had access to all of the stray papers in his attic and to him and his memories. It was really interesting to read how his career evolved, which things he loved working on and which were more like "work", and what things he would possibly like to write in the future. This is a book for diehard Gaiman fans and it was a fascinating inside look.

Worshipping at the altar,
K

New Release: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

When you set out to read a Salman Rushdie novel, you can assume you will encounter a few things -- extraordinary characters (and ordinary characters, of course), history, philosophy, and irreverence. Rushdie does not disappoint in Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, a tale of rivalry -- that of evil versus good, religion versus reason, and fear versus knowledge. Our narrator lives in a world one-thousand years from now, where a War of the Worlds--our world and the supernatural world of the jinn--has happened now, in our time, to bring about an age of enlightenment.

What you will encounter in this book are strangenesses: people who float and others who are crushed, human lie-detectors and human lightning rods. You will also find many normal people--poets, philosophers, landladies, and wives--who are drawn into the fantastic by those around them and are brought to their knees, some at the whims of evil Ifrits, others by the hands of their own fellow men, and finally some by mere chance. And finally, you will find love -- some true and original, some mere shadows or facsimiles of those loves.

If you are familiar at all with Rushdie's views and novels, you will probably guess what event, what change in the hearts and minds of men, could bring about peace and enlightenment for centuries. It will not be a viewpoint popular with all readers but his reasoning and his use of modern-day examples of corruption and failings in humankind are undeniable. This book made me sad about the world we live in and left me wondering if there is an actual way that we could eventually attain a world of peace and brotherly love without the intervention of supernatural forces. I enjoyed this read, however painful it was.

Without much faith,
K

p.s. I received an advance reader's edition of this book from LibraryThing.

Joining Up: Once Upon A Time VIII

Now that DWJ March is over, I am moving on to my next highly-anticipated reading event ...

Once Upon A Time Challenge VIII!

Though this event kicked off at the start of spring, March 20th, and I've just spent a month reading nothing but fantasy, I'm quite excited to join this well-loved event again this year. I will be choosing books that fall under any of four categories--Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology--to enjoy between now and June 21st.

As I usually do, I'll be mostly reading books from my own shelves. Here are some of my possibilities:

The Emerald Atlas (reread) and The Fire Chronicle by John Stephens

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers
The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker

The Apothecary by Maile Meloy
Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander

and the ones I'll be reading for sure for the Top 100 Chapter Books project ...

The Black Cauldron, The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King by Lloyd Alexander

The Children of Green Knowe (reread) by L.M. Boston

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Half Magic (reread) by Edward Eager

Have you signed up for this event? What is the first book you have chosen to read?

With magic and adventure,

K

#DWJMarch: Book Highlight -- The Game

The Game

2007

Fantasy/Mythology

Hayley lives with her Grandma and Grandad because she is an orphan. Grandma is overly strict and controlling but, if she finds him alone, Grandad will usually teach her about "forbidden" things like the solar system and cartoons. One day, he tells her about the most forbidden topic of all -- the mythosphere. This is a network of strands that circle the Earth and contain the various myths from human culture. Strands grow thick when similar myths are combined by topic. Then one day, Hayley meets a man who takes her for a walk on one of these strands. This opens up a new world to her and she is happy. Unfortunately, her grandma doesn't see this as a good thing and banishes her to an aunt's home in Scotland. As a stopping point, Hayley visits another aunt in Ireland. Here she finds a troop of cousins and she joins them in a secret game played in the mythosphere. Apparently, this is the true home of her family and Hayley soon learns that there is much more to her history than she ever knew.

Reviews

Charlotte's Library, August 2010

Here There Be Books, March 2013

Iris On Books, January 2013

Someone's Read It Already, May 2008

Tif Talks Books, April 2012

We Be Reading, August 2009

Share your The Game love today!

#DWJMarch: Book Highlight -- Eight Days of Luke

Eight Days of Luke

Fantasy/Mythology

1975

Eight days in the life of unhappy orphan David Allard, with characters based on Norse mythology, most notably Luke (Loki).

Reviews

The Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia, October 2013

The Book Smugglers, May 2012

We Be Reading, March 2012

Things Mean A Lot, March 2012

Bella on Books, January 2010

Share your Eight Days of Luke love today!

Once Upon a Time VII Kick-Off Post

Running from March 21st to June 21st this year is the seventh annual Once Upon a Time Challenge, hosted as always by the magnificent Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings.

I have, of course, already been reading fantasy for the last month during DWJ March but, going forward, I am choosing to attempt Quest the First -- to read five books that fall into any of the four OUaT categories -- fantasy, folklore, fairy tale, mythology.

First, I will be participating in the read-along of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. If you're interested, the details are here.

And here are the other books that I will choose from.

Advent by James Treadwell (fantasy) -- first in a trilogy
Rumo & His Miraculous Adventures by Walter Moers (fantasy) -- part of the Zamonia series
Greenwitch by Susan Cooper (fantasy, folklore, mythology) -- third in the Dark is Rising series
The Blood Binding by Helen Stringer (fantasy) -- novella from the Spellbinder series
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor (fantasy) -- first in a series
Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith (mythology) -- from my Canongate Myths box set
The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde (fantasy) -- second in a series

Are you participating this year? Have you read any of these? Is it strange that they're all series books or is that par for the course these days with fantasy?

Setting off on another fulfilling journey,
K

RIP Read #14: The Dark is Rising (Book v. Movie)

Today is the Top 100 Chapter Books discussion for The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper over at The Estella Society so head on over there if you have read this book or any of the series. I would love to hear your thoughts on it!

Without any reservations, I thought this book (and the one before it in the series, Under Sea, Over Stone) were awesome. They're exciting adventures with real heft, history and consequence. So, I also decided to watch the recent film version of this, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (2007), even though it had terrible reviews and fans of the book universally despised it.

I have to say, that as a film on its own, it wasn't awful. It was your standard Hollywood kid adventure film with a bit of goofiness (kind of like the recent Disney Jules Verne-based films) where the kid hero's hormones usually get the best of him. But as an interpretation of the book, it was absolutely dreadful. One critical blog post was called The Dark is Sinking. Here is a bit from it --

During filming in Bucharest, Romania there was a joke on The Dark is Rising set that only three things have been changed from the original 1973 novel: the nationality of lead character Will Stanton, changed from English to American; his age changed from 11 to 13; and everything else that happens in the story. A solo quest by an 11-year-old is no longer solo; family values have been deemed out of date — the happy, loving Stanton family rewritten dysfunctional; a series of five books bereft of a single love interest has been re-imagined with the lead character chasing the fairer sex, pleading in the trailer “I can't save the world! I don't even know how to talk to a girl!” Angered, disgusted fans are reporting little interest in their hero’s new, most ordinary of plights.

The title of the article in The Guardian was The Dark is Rising, so avoid it if you can where they complain about the removal of most of the pagan lore with no added explanation of why any of these mysterious things would then be happening in the world. And Susan Cooper's own interview with NPR (Author 'Uncertain' About 'Dark' Leap to Big Screen) is quite depressing when she attempts to defend Will's age and circumstances from the book against the screenwriter's complaints.

After watching the film, I have to completely agree with critics and book fans alike. Even from the very first moments of this film, you know it is not what it should/could have been. With cheesy effects, a total miscasting of most of the characters (except for Chris Eccleston as the super baddie who is creepy and intimidating but still, sadly, out of place) and a complete change of Will's temperament, this film lost the soul of Cooper's story. It also didn't make much sense to still have a villain on horseback when the setting was brought forward to modern times. And it was a WHITE horse! How can the villain be on a white horse? Not to mention that by stripping out the pagan signs and lore and turning Will into a savior completely undermined the point of the story. The fight between Light and Dark on earth is older than Christianity. That was one of Cooper's main themes.

Verdict: Blech. There's nothing really wrong with the film as a film so I don't want to say avoid it but the book is SO much better. It has meaning and integrity and depth. The film has none of those things. Eh, I'm going to say it. Read the book, avoid the film.

Depressed by Hollywood's lack of soul,
K

RIP VII Reads #10 & 11: The Sandman Volumes 1 & 2

During Read-a-Thon, I decided to finally start one of the few Neil Gaiman works that I hadn't read yet -- The Sandman graphic novels. It's somewhat strange to experience the work of a beloved artist in another medium. I mean, I've seen Mirrormask, Stardust and Coraline but those were interpreted and fleshed out by other people. I'm not sure if I'm making sense but these collections, even with various artists through the different issues, felt more like the essence of Gaiman -- his pacing, his words.

So far, Volume 1: Preludes & Nocturnes and Volume 2: The Doll's House are part of a continuing story -- the story of Morpheus' capture, confinement, escape and restoration to power as Lord of the Dream World. As you can expect from Gaiman, some parts of the story are beautiful and lyrical, others are shockingly dark and demented. The graphic aspect of some of it was quite uncomfortable to read but then, quick as a flash, the scene would be over and done with, Gaiman and The Dream King leading you on to another more pleasant illusion.

I'm definitely curious enough to keep reading this series. I've heard that it gets better and better as it goes along and I'm already entranced by Morpheus and intrigued by his sister, Death. Also, I feel like I won't fully "know" one of my favorite authors without reading it all. I'll probably only make it through once but it will be a journey worth taking.

Hoping the bedbugs don't bite,

K

April Read-Along: Fire and Hemlock

There was a lot of interest in a Fire and Hemlock read-along during Diana Wynne Jones Month but, since it is being re-released this month (YAY!), I decided to wait to schedule it so that the book was easier to get. The release date is April 12 in the U.S. and I wanted to also work around Carl's Mistborn read-along and work with the Once Upon a Time Challenge and Dewey's Read-a-Thon on April 21. What a busy month!

I was thinking that we could start the reading on or around April 19th and start our discussion on Friday, April 27th (and likely continue it through that weekend). We're lucky to have a couple of Fire and Hemlock devotees that are planning to join in the discussion too! I'll probably be asking each participant for a question or discussion topic because I think this will work best if each participant can get opinions and thoughts on their own nagging questions. This is a book that leaves many readers a bit confused!

Since this is a re-read for me, I wanted to expand the experience a bit and hopefully have a more informed experience with F&H. Because the story is based on two Scottish folk tales--Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer--I plan on doing some preliminary reading during the first half of the month. If any of you would like to join me for that, please do! These are the books I got from the library --

Tam Lin by Susan Cooper (picture book)
Tam Lin by Jane Yolen (picture book)
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
Stories from Scotland by Barbara Ker Wilson (Oxford Children's Myths and Legends series)
The Book of Ballads by Charles Vess

If you want to join in the read-along, simply leave a comment below. I'll have a list of participants below. If you want to discuss the book on Twitter before April 27th, use the hashtag #fireandhemlock. This is definitely a book that benefits from having reading buddies!

Participants:
1.

Preparing for an adventure,
K

DWJ March: The Game

Right before Witch Week, I squeezed in a reread of The Game. It's one of Diana's shorter novels and is a standalone. It follows Hayley, an orphan who has grown up with her kind but busy grandfather and her bossy and strict grandmother. She has a feeling that their family might be a bit different but doesn't learn exactly how different until she gets in trouble and is sent away. This is when she meets her aunts and her cousins and they invite her to play "The Game".

I didn't love this book when I read it in 2009 because it felt a bit too bare bones. Because it covers such a wide territory of gods, goddesses, myths and astrology, I just felt like there wasn't enough explanation to make it feel like a successful story -- especially for a kid/teen who would have even less background knowledge of these subjects than I do. I stand by that evaluation but I will also say that my reread was a success in that I do appreciate it more now and have a better opinion of it overall. It's a clever story and a fun read. It just also makes me want to take some sort of mythology course.

I still don't really like the freaky US cover shown above so I may go looking for the UK one below. It's more symbolic of the story and less like a police composite of what Hayley might look like.

Getting schooled in mythology,
K

Spring Challenge: Once Upon A Time VI

Hooray! It's officially Spring which means it's time again for the Once Upon A Time Challenge!

From the intro post --

Wednesday, March 21st begins the sixth annual Once Upon a Time Challenge. This is a reading and viewing event that encompasses four broad categories: Fairy Tale, Folklore, Fantasy and Mythology, including the seemingly countless sub-genres and blending of genres that fall within this spectrum. The challenge continues through Tuesday, June 19th and allows for very minor (1 book only) participation as well as more immersion depending on your reading/viewing whims.

As I'm still knee-deep in Diana Wynne Jones month, I have a couple more reads that will qualify for both so I'll be signing up for

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time categories. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

My potential reads include, but are not limited to --

*Dark Lord of Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones
*The Game by Diana Wynne Jones
*Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones (read-along to begin in April -- stay tuned for a post!)
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (no, I've never read it!)
*Wicked by Gregory Maguire
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (Carl is hosting a read-along in April)
*Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman (Carl is hosting a read-along in May)

*Starred titles are rereads. All of these books are on my shelves except for Mistborn and The Princess Bride.

I will also surely be reading some eligible books with Z so I'll definitely count those too. I'm assuming that this will be another over-achieving challenge for me but that's just part of why I love it so. ::grin::

Are you joining the challenge this year? What book(s) are you looking forward to reading this spring?

Planning another fantastic spring,
K

DWJ March: Eight Days of Luke

I know you're all going to start questioning my truthfulness when I keep raving about every new Diana Wynne Jones book I read but I'm going to have to risk that. Eight Days of Luke is a fantastic book! With its roots in Norse mythology, this is a story about the gods among us and their occasional need for human assistance. In fact, if you thought American Gods was too dark or too harsh, you might want to try this book instead. Here's what Neil Gaiman had to say about the similarities --

... a few people want to know whether American Gods was inspired by Diana Wynne Jones’s novel “8 Days of Luke”. Not exactly, although they bear an odd relationship, like second cousins once removed or something. About six or seven years ago, I had an idea for a structure for a story, all about the gods and the days of the week. I chewed it and played with it and was terribly happy with it. And then the penny dropped, and I realised, gloomily, that I’d managed, working back from first principles, to come up with a wonderful structure for a story -- but one that Diana had already used, in her brilliant “8 Days of Luke.” So I put it down as one of those places where our heads went to the same sort of place (it happened with the nursery rhyme How Many Miles To Babylon, and in several other times and places) and, with regret, I abandoned it. Or almost. I kept Mr Wednesday, and the day of his meeting, in the back of my head, and when I came to put American Gods together, he was there, ready and waiting.

 Eight Days of Luke was published in 1975, the year I was born, but is a remarkably well-preserved story. I didn't feel that any part of it was dated at all. There are arcades and radio programs rather than video games and television but they didn't seem like something that couldn't exist naturally now. And the language seems surprisingly modern. A modern Brit might think differently but I can't speak to that! This is another story where Diana plays with family dynamics, especially dysfunctional ones, and in a very interesting way. David, the main character, is an orphan who is forced to constantly prove his "gratefulness" to his aunt and uncle and cousin who are caring for him. It is a rather revolting situation but also entirely believable. This book is just so well crafted that I enjoyed every minute of reading it. If you can find a copy (it's out of print in the U.S. right now), grab it. I'll be reading it again sooner than later.

Starting on Sunday,
K

"Shadow had done three years in prison."

June 19th is the tenth anniversary of the release of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. Not many novels have their anniversaries celebrated and so I couldn't resist reading it right now (not to mention the number of times that it's been recommended to me by many of you readers when I show it on my TBR list). Now that I've finished, I can definitely understand the celebration of this novel as an essential piece of the American literary canon.

Shadow is a convict, getting ready to finish his sentence and head home to his beautiful wife. He ends up being released early though due to his wife's accidental death, and on his way home he is approached by a mysterious older gentleman who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. Soon after, Shadow is working for Wednesday and moving back and forth across America, meeting other strange characters and discovering that the new world may have more ties to the old than he ever could have believed.

There were parts of this story that were difficult to read because of their graphic nature (violent and sexual). There were other parts that were uplifting and beautiful. The characters (including many gods, as you can guess by the title) were fascinating and diverse. I couldn't put this one down and I was constantly amazed by the way that Gaiman pieced together so many myths and histories in a subtle and seamless way. When I started the book, I wasn't even sure I would like it but, by the end, I was convinced that it is the kind of novel that changes you as you read it. It won't change your beliefs but rather will cause you to question if you should believe or not. I plan to brush up on world mythologies and then to read the anniversary edition of this novel which is longer and is Gaiman's "preferred edition". There will be a live webchat with Neil Gaiman about the novel on June 21st (I don't see a time listed yet but will update if I find one), the day the anniversary edition is released.

This is another of my reads for the Once Upon a Time V Challenge.

Saying a little prayer, just in case,
K


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