Comfort Reads: Villains by Necessity by Eve Forward

From Amazon's website:  "With the banishment of Evil from the realms, the final victory of Good is assured-unless a few stalwart antiheroes can save the world from a serious and potentially fatal imbalance. First novelist Forward explores the complications that arise from a surfeit of "goodness" in the world. The result is a skewed version of the epic fantasy that features an assassin, a thief, an evil sorceress, a dark knight, and an implacable druid as the villains-turned-heroes who must restore the delicate balance of opposing forces before their world disappears in a blinding flash of Goodness and Light. Fans of role-playing games will recognize many familiar conventions in this seriocomic fantasy adventure. A candidate for fantasy collections in large libraries."

Rather hilariously, I've already reviewed this book, and I hadn't realized it until I went to the Amazon page and saw my own review for it there!  I will paste my review in and add a few thoughts.

In a twist on the usual fantasy story, Forward's heroes are not classically good-hearted heroes, but instead villains. Including an assassin, an evil sorceress, a greedy thief, and a black knight, the main characters are likable and intriguing. They band together to save the world from destruction by the powers of good.

In the beginning, I found the characters one-dimensional. However, as the story quickly unfolded, I was fascinated to see that both character introspection and interaction developed their personalities to an amazing degree. After that, even minor, short-lived characters managed to grab my attention fully.

There are a number of sly digs at other fantasy works, which make Villains By Necessity an even funnier book if you're well-read in fantasy novels.

I wrote that review in 2000 when I apparently was unable to actually remember plot points or characters from the book.  Villains by Necessity does many things wrong.  I won't lie to you.  It's not extremely well written.  There are many plot holes if you think about it too long.  I think the author confuses the nature of good and evil with law and chaos (which is a no, no especially since the author is clearly a fan of early Dungeons and Dragons.)  However, it's still fun if you're well-read in fantasy. 

I can't really recommend that you buy it since it is rather expensive (having been out of print for ages), but if you know anyone who owns it, or if your library has it, try to read it if you like fantasy or Dungeons and Dragons.  It's take on concepts present in most fantasy novels is interesting and refreshing. 

I will admit that when I was younger, a particular favorite of mine included the skewering of Dragonlance that was more meaningful because I had just finished reading the original Dragonlance trilogy.  Nowadays, I enjoy Sam (the book's main character and an assassin) and relationships with the other villains around him much more.  The parody has become less enjoyable, but the things I considered boring at that time have become more.  Such is life. 

Heroes Adrift by Moira J. Moore

From the author's website:  "Shield Dunleavy Mallorough and Source Shintaro Karish are summoned by the Empress and charged with the task of finding the descendents of her exiled sister. Lee and Taro recognize they are ill-suited to the task, but they are in no position to refuse. So, in search of lost royalty, they travel to the Southern Islands, where the heat is unbearable, the clothing is just short of optional, and the less-than-friendly locals couldn’t care less that Lee and Taro are working for the Empress."

Before I go anywhere with this review, I'd like to give Moore a shout out for creating a genuinely gender blind world when it comes to power and relationships.  In the Lee and Taro books, homosexual and heterosexual relations are both norms and Lee never knows off hand what a person's sexual orientation is.  Additionally, people in power are as likely to be women as men and being a heir is all about birth order and family rather than gender, but it's never pointed out. It just is.  I realized after I read the first book and appreciated that fact, that I've never read a book like that before.

Whew, what a lot changes in this book for the characters.  The Empress ships Lee and Karish off to the Southern Islands and every thing changes, and that is really for the good.  The series needed a bit of a shake up and this did it splendidly.  As it turns out, in my last review of the series, I was terribly incorrect.  Lee and Karish do become romantically involved in this book and, oddly, it doesn't seem to be a major plot point, which is nice, because these two have a lot of other issues to worry about.
 
I was quite taken with the description of the culture in the Southern Islands as well as what Lee and Karish do when they realize that they have literally no money and no method to make money.  While this does seem false that the Empress would fail to give them some money or at least make them aware of what would occur (did she really not know), it provided an entertaining reason for Lee to join a traveling circus as a performer.  Her bench dancing skills really do allow for a lot of story telling in this series, and rightly so.  Honestly, I wish they had more about bench dancing most books since it's one of the more original world building ideas that Moore describes.

The circus and the Islands provide change to the heroes since in this new world, Lee is the attractive and talented one and Karish is not.  This rightly causes Karish to doubt himself quite a bit after the adulation he's received in the empire while Lee gains a bit of confidence in herself and, in many ways, realizes that she has the upper hand in their relationship.  While this has been true for awhile, it's only on the Southern Islands that she accepts this and does something with it.  This clearly thrills Karish, but Lee is still left doubting and one gets the feeling that it will not be smooth sailing for their working or personal relationship when they return to High Scape.

The search for the missing heir, while interesting, takes second place to the more interesting story of Lee becoming accustomed to the islands.  While it is interesting, most of the time, I'm still left wishing they'd go back to the story of the circus.  I think with Moore, I prefer her characterization and world building to her mystery plots.
 
As an aside, I will point out once again that this series is staying pretty damned interesting to me.  Of course, book three is usually when I love a book series the most and everything after it all comes apart, so maybe it is good that my library doesn't have the next few books in the series?  No, it's not.  I'm requesting that they purchase!

Cannot wait to read the next book.  I think I know what I'm loading onto my nook for my travels to Seattle!

Verdict:  8.  I think the move away from High Scape and the normal parts of the Empire revitalized the series some what and changed up Lee and Karish, making it a stronger book than the immediate prequel.

Thoughts:  I'm kind of sad that had to leave the Southern Islands!  Also, my favorite cover so far even if I can't picture Lee wearing anything so revealing.

Lee and Taro books

1. Resenting the Hero
2. The Hero Strikes Back
3. Heroes Adrift

The Hero Strikes Back by Moira Moore

From the author's website:  "The weather in the city of High Scape has taken an unnatural turn. It’s snowing in the middle of summer, and the townsfolk are desperate for Shield Dunleavy Mallorough and Source Shintaro Karish to fix it – which they can’t, but try explaining that to an angry mob.

Meanwhile, there’s a crazed killer targeting aristocrats. Karish has forfeited the Dukedom of Westsea to continue working as a Source, but Lee fears that technicality  won’t matter to the murderer."

I'm still amazed at how much I'm enjoying this series.  While I definitely did not enjoy the continuation of Lee and Karish's story as much as the first book, this story gives us some great insight into why both Lee and Karish are the way they are (with conversations with both mothers), and it gives a good plot involving High Scape (the weather and its relationship to a bunch of aristocrat hate killings).

Lee frustrates a bit more in this book than she did previously.  While in Resenting the Hero her inability to understand emotions or even feel them to the same extent others do is frustrating, in The Hero Strikes Back she comes across as obtuse or purposely ignorant, which is much worse.  Still, this is only highlighted in her relationship with Karish.  In other instances, her emotional decisions and responses seem more natural.  Obviously this is to prevent Lee from realizing that Karish is madly infatuated with her, but it makes their scenes stilted occasionally.

On the other hand, I liked the mystery/action plot of The Hero Strikes Back just a bit more.  First, we're kept in High Scape for the entirety of the book, which is nice since High Scape is supposedly an important city in the world.  Second, both Karish and Lee feature in the majority of the book as opposed to Karish's disappearance for a good portion of the first book.

I hope Lee and Karish both get a better feel for their powers in the third book and that we find out more about what Lee is capable of after this second novel.  I also hope that Lee gets involved with her new aristocratic friend since I doubt the author will be putting Lee and Karish together anytime soon!

Verdict:  7.  I liked it, but not as much as I liked the first book in the series.  Still, it was pleasant, easy to read, and fun.  What more can I ask for this summer?

Thoughts:  Still hate the name Taro.  Still effing hate the covers.

Lee and Taro books

1. Resenting the Hero
2. The Hero Strikes Back

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines

From the author's website:  "Cinderella–whose real name is Danielle Whiteshore (nee Danielle de Glas)–does marry Prince Armand.  And if you can ignore the pigeon incident, their wedding is a dream come true.


But not long after the “happily ever after,” Danielle is attacked by her stepsister Charlotte, who suddenly has all sorts of magic to call upon.  And though Talia–otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty–comes to the rescue (she’s a martial arts master, and all those fairy blessings make her almost unbeatable), Charlotte gets away.
That’s when Danielle discovers a number of disturbing facts: Armand has been kidnapped and taken to the realm of the Fairies; Danielle is pregnant with his child; and the Queen has her own very secret service that consists of Talia and Snow (White, of course).  Snow is an expert at mirror magic and heavy duty flirting.


Can the three princesses track down Armand and extract both the prince and themselves from the clutches of some of fantasyland’s most nefarious villains?"

Remember when I said in my review of Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance that I spent a significant amount of time trying to choose the rating I wanted to give to the book which I felt bordered between a five and a six?  Well, second verse same as the first.  Here's another pleasant, but slightly lackluster book.  This time it's a little easier for me to give the six rating because I know exactly where a great portion of lackluster feeling is coming from.

The book follows the story of Danielle (Cinderella) in her quest to find her missing husband, Prince Armand, who I assume is simply charming.  She does this with the help of Talia (Sleeping Beauty), a girl given many a gift by faeries, and Snow (White), an expert in mirror magic.  Danielle, not to put too fine a point on it, is nice.  She's sickly nice.  She's the kind of nice that makes your teeth rot.  She doesn't kill bad guys even if they are majorly bad and she tries to believe in everyone she meets.  She's also a great portion of the problem I have with this book.   Danielle's actions with regards to her stepsisters and to other characters in the book drove me mad.  Why does she always try to understand and forgive them?  I must be a total hater, but I like a character with some teeth like Talia. 

Additionally, while Snow and Talia had interesting stories behind their powers that made sense with regards to their faerie tale stories, Danielle seems to have no reason she can communicate with animals, nor is there a reason why her mother was able to turn herself into a tree that could gift things to Danielle.  The answer is simply, "It seems to be magic."  

I also didn't enjoy the random turns into humor this book made.  It seemed like Hines was attempting to be serious the majority of the time, but decided to include lots of humorous bits. 

So, after all that bitching, why the good score?  I adored Talia and Snow and their relationship with each other.  I enjoyed the easy feel of the book, which was perfect for early summer.  Really, have I mentioned that I adore Talia?  I did?  Let me reiterate.  She's everything I wanted Danielle to be.  Brave, sure of herself, hard, but still with flaws.  She is a heroine in all of her glory. 

I think I'm going to give the follow up book a read to see if the focus moves away from Danielle towards the group more as a whole. 

Verdict:  6.  Not my favorite book, but decent light fare that I hope will improve with a different focus in later books.

Thoughts:  I'm stuck in a rut of books that I rate five to six.  I can't wait to get past it.

Resenting The Hero by Moira J. Moore

From the author's website:  "Dunleavy Mallorough has trained her entire life to be a Shield, and she approaches her role with discipline and a wry sense of humor she generally keeps to herself. Lord Shintaro Karish is handsome, charismatic, and the last Source Dunleavy wanted as a partner. The Pair is assigned to High Scape, a city so besieged by disasters that seven bonded Pairs are needed to combat it. But when an inexplicable force strikes down every other Source and Shield, Dunleavy and Shintaro much put aside their differences in order to defeat the unnatural and the unexpected."

Look at that stupid silly cover.  Look at that title.  I know what you're thinking, because I thought it too.  I'm sure that everyone who passes this novel in the bookstore thinks the same thing, if it's even on the shelves.  "That's a comedic fantasy."  Maybe you thought it was a childish Piers Anthony pun filled level of humor.  Maybe you thought it more mature and sophisticated humor like Pratchett or Christopher Moore.  I thought it looked incredibly silly myself and the copy on the back of the book didn't help matters.  I read the back several times at the store and passed it by each damned time.  Then, the bloggers started to chat about it and it seemed it wasn't a comedic fantasy at all and many of them seemed to either hate it or love it.

This novel is actually just plan old fantasy.  And how you like it might depend upon how much you like the main character of Lee and how well you're willing to forgive her foibles and prejudices.  As for me, I'm a forgiving sort when I like a main character, and I did.

When we're introduced to her, she's at the beginning of being forced into a permanent non-optional working relationship with a man whom has been the source of a lot of gossip, both positive and negative.  Lee is an introverted, quiet, reliable, and naive person.  She takes the gossip as gospel and it causes both her and Taro (a name I hated since I kept thinking of taro plants and now I will only be calling him Karish from here on in) a world of problems, further complicated by the fact that the two of them are both very good at their respective jobs.  Yes, there are times I wanted to force Lee to see Karish for what he was.  When she does make concessions and when she realizes that she is prejudiced, you can see her trying to force him into what she expects him to be, even though this is not to her advantage.

Humorously, the novel is really about the relationship (non-romantic) between these two people, but Karish spends a great deal of the novel out of commission, so it really comes down to Lee and her feelings about the relationship they have.  Yes, there is a mystery and there is a villain, but the important meat of the novel is how Karish and Lee get along. 

I felt the writing was a bit weak, in a tell don't show way, and I had given it a seven or eight in my head when I realized that I wasn't blogging about it or moving it off my GoodReads list because I kept enjoying picking it up to read a section from it again and I was enjoying it more than any of the other books that I was supposed to be reading.  That says a lot to me.  Mostly it says that I tried to buy the sequel at Barnes and Noble today and they didn't have it.  Hello, library.  Get me the next two, please!

Verdict:  9.  I've read many better written books, but ask many how many I've enjoyed as much?

Thoughts:  I'm still shocked at the horrifying covers they've given this series as well as the little press besides bloggers who are clearly (and deservedly) infatuated with it.

Lee and Taro books

1. Resenting the Hero
2. The Hero Strikes Back

That's What He Said: Song of Susannah by Stephen King

First things first.  I'm introducing yet another new feature on my blog -- "That's What He Said".  I know, a silly title, but it's a play off of a silly joke between my husband and me.  In this little series, I'll give you my husband's reviews on books.  We have some overlapping tastes (mainly in nonfiction, sci-fi, and fantasy), but he likes a good horror, military novel, and thriller as well.  I plan on getting a small video memo of what he says and translating it into a shortened version of my usual review, verdict, and thoughts.  I hope you like this new feature!

Important to note is that my husband and I rate things very differently, so until he gets a guideline on how my rating of 10 works, I won't be including these reviews in my rating counts.

From the author's site:  "Susannah, now pregnant, has yet another taking control of her.  The demon-mother, Mia, uses Susannah and Black Thirteen to transport to New York City of 1999.  Jake, Oy, and Pere Callahan must rescue Susannah while Eddie and Roland transport to the Maine of 1977.  A vacant lot in New York is the prize that must be saved and ties these together."

Excerpt at USA Today.


It's hard for me to write this review, because I'm going off voice notes and my husband is asleep.  In fact, this one will be mostly a series of thoughts on the novel.
 
To sum up, this story focuses on the group that has been separated into three subgroups, each with their own story line.  My husband picked the Eddie/Roland story as the one he discussed the most, but that might have been because I prodded him about King's use of himself as a character.

In the Dark Tower Series, Steven King is a character in his own book because Roland and his crew realize they are characters written by Steven King.  He's written the first book and it's sitting in his garage when Roland comes in.  My husband applauded King for the skill in using himself in the books convincingly, which we both agreed was a good conceit for this long series and for King's love of meta and shared universes (see Flagg).

My husband stated that  especially like it for a latter King book, though it is not as good as Carrie, Cujo, or Salem's Lot.  He also mentioned that though the pacing of the book definitely gives it the feeling of being a good penultimate book, curiously, very little actually happens in the book.

Verdict:  7.  An above-average score for this last book which is one of the more coherent, less scattered of the latter books of this series, which were written and published very quickly.


Thoughts:  Probably best not to start here, but if you've made it this far through the series, why not keep going with this decent continuation?

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

From the author's website:  "Graceling, my debut novel, is the story of Katsa, who has been able to kill people with her bare hands since she was eight. Katsa lives in the seven kingdoms, where very occasionally, a person is born with an extreme skill called a Grace. Gracelings are feared and exploited in the seven kingdoms, and none moreso than Katsa, who's expected to do the dirty work of torture and punishment for her uncle, King Randa. But then she meets a mysterious stranger named Po, who is also a Graced fighter and the first person ever to challenge her in a fight. The two form a bond, and each discovers truths they never imagined about themselves, each other, and a terrible danger that is spreading slowly through the seven kingdoms."

This is a hard review for me to write. Instinctively, I loved this book, but after I spent several days thinking about it occasionally, I was able to see that it had many flaws that ruined its perfection for me. And this book did come so close to perfection for me. This is, in fact, a good example of how I can be 'intense' in my love for something. Because it is so good, I pull it apart more than I would a mediocre book.

A Graceling is a human with a special skill or 'grace' that is superhuman. In the world that author builds, Gracelings are feared and respected servants to those in power, and world changing humans in their own rights. I felt that beyond the concept of gracelings, the world building in this book was rather poor. The author has little skill with naming people or places, and does not manage to convey how far each country is from those around it, nor does she explain how Gracelings are kept in check by those they serve. However, I barely noticed this on my first read through due to the author's skillful writing, her deft characterizations, and the strength of the initial graceling concept, which is almost like taking the idea of a superhero and inserting it into a fantasy world.

Katsa, the main character of the book, is very skillfully written. I often dislike the saintly characters that some fantasy heroines can be, and Katsa is not that. She is a confused girl, often sure of her own stupidity or ugliness. She has realistic fears, and realistic confidence in herself. It is a shame that such a well-written character has to deal with Po. Po is, unfortunately, more of a Mary Sue. He's good, thoughtful, loving, accepting, and he believes in the greater good. His grace is amazing and it can defy the ultimate evil. He loves Katsa through and through and only forgives her when she hits him! The only conflict on his part comes much later in the story and felt tacked on. I didn't notice this weakness of character on Po's part until after much thought about the book, which says something of the story.

There are a number of themes that run through this book, including Katsa's genuine dislike of marriage and motherhood (inspired by a society in which men are the kings of the castle literally and figuratively), her rejection of evil authority, the inability to fight against those who are harming that which we love, and her discovery and need to fix the fact that other girls and women are unable to cope with life as she can due to their lack of her 'grace'. And these themes worked for me, so much so that I was literally offended by reviews I saw on Amazon that warned parents that this book advocates against marriage and parenthood. This book does not advocate against marriage. It advocates against a society where women are powerless in marriage. These are greatly different arguments to make. Katsa's disdain of marriage and motherhood do not come without cost to her, and are well realized. When her lover asks about marriage and promises her every freedom within that marriage, she quickly points out that she would always know that she had been given that freedom. It's a beautiful scene due to the fact that she loves the person who has proposed, but cannot give in.

Unfortunately, for all that this theme exists, Po is the catalyst to most of Katsa's actions. Why does Katsa do what she does? Because of Po. He asks her the right questions or springs to mind at all the right times so that Katsa can do good. At one critical scene, Katsa knows that to save the world, she must leave Po, and she literally cannot do it until he forces her to. And once she does, she is always reminding herself that she left him and now she cannot fail him. This seems to weaken the themes I felt the author was trying to promote.

Ultimately, however, I still loved this book. It's an excellent young adult fantasy, and an outstanding debut. Katsa stands head and shoulders above most heroines, and, in the end, she makes a choice I respect. I can't wait to read more books by this author.

Verdict: 8. I added it to my "for keeps" wishlist right after reading the library book I got.

Thoughts: Seriously, the country and character names... they lack a certain something. Po? Bitterblue? West? East?