January 2012

Time flies when you're reading great books and this past month has been no exception! Between getting back into the swing of things at school and ringing in the new year (both regular and Chinese) it has been a busy January. But no matter how busy life gets I always find time to curl up with a good book and zen out in fantasy land... I was not too inclined to read anything new so I dug into the familiar and had a month of reading teen fiction sequels: Sapphique by Catherine Fisher, the sequel to Incarceron; Fire by Kristin Cashore, a book based in the same world just years earlier than Graceling; Destined by P.C. and Kristin Cast which is the eighth book in the House of Night Series (if you do not include the Dragon's Oath novella); and Messenger by Lois Lowry which is the third in the Giver Trilogy.

Now I am about to go against everything I have ever said and learned about anything to do with sequels and say that Sapphique was better than Incarceron. It is an anomoly! I have never in all my time liked the second book in a series better than the first. This is mainly due to the fact that authors tend to write in trilogies and bog down the middle book with boring back story that nobody wants to read which was probably sufficiently covered in the first book. Since this was just a sequel with no intention of a third, yet, I found that most of the questions I found myself with at the end of Incarceron were answered. Although I did come out with more philisophical questions about life, the universe, and everything... I had a flash to the scene at the end of MIB where there is an alien using the galaxies as marbles.

Fire was entertaining, filled with lots of crazy archery and action. Who doesn't love a good old fashioned medieval setting with a twist? Throw in a civil war, a dash of mystical powers and I'm hooked. I feel as though if I say anymore I will be giving away too much so if you have read Graceling and are looking for a little teaser to Fire I will leave you with this: you discover more about King Leck's shady past.

There is not much I can say about Destined other than I have read the rest of the books in the series and I am determined to read them all, no matter how many there will be. At this point it is more out of a morbid curiosity as to what happens to the characters than actually enjoying any of the plot. I wish they would just kill off that bitch Neferet!!! She has gotten on my last nerve as a villain... she is just stupid... I am a little frustrated that I got myself into this situation... I will just have to read my way out.

I remember when I was in grade 7 English class reading The Giver, it seems so long ago... that is because it was! Regardless, my love for The Giver and Gathering Blue has not dwindled over the last decade. To my surprise there was a third book released, once stumbling upon Messenger I had to complete the journey I started. I found her use of  a forest to reflet the inherint evil in man was genius, much better than Lord of the Flies hehehe. Before you read further I will advise you that I am about to spoil the end of the book for you. I am not sure I agree with what I interpreted to be her message at the end of the novel, when Matty dies healing the forest, that you should perform self sacrifice in the name of saving (or protecting) the morality of humankind. I think that we are each responsible for leading as ethical of a life as we can and cannot place that weight onto one person's shoulders. It is silly to attempt to live an Augustinian lifestyle (I am refering here to the Roman Empire type of Augustinian not present day) where we punish ourselves constantly, rather we should learn from our mistakes and continue to move forward. I should probably stop here before I start getting all preachy, anyways you should read Messenger because it will make you think.

Catherine Fisher
Kristin Cashore
House of Night Series
Lois Lowry