Magic is the genius way of explaining (or not) the effect of music on people. Also why people go gaga over musicians. You might like this book if you love music (thus the five stars). And while music is the antagonist in this book (it has a life of its own!), it also made people -- reflect, at the very least.
"every note was as sharp as a bell and as simple as sunlight so that in the prism of the brain it broke up and flashed into a million colors ... and then the music unfolded in his head ... the fall of the notes conjured up memories of the mine where he'd been born and dwarf bread just like mum used to hammer on her anvil, and the moment when he first realized he'd fallen in love ... and more than anything else he wanted to be home ..."
I love the puns and references to Elvis (or in this case elvish which means elf like), rock music (Music/Band with Rocks In - hah!) and people throwing their underthings on stage. I think this book is brilliant. Wait, I think most Discworld books are brilliant.
I recently went back to listening to audiobooks to catch up on my reading list. I would put my earphones on during my commute to and from work. This, however, is not a book I would listen to in public. It makes me snigger in the most awkward moments and let's face it, anytime you snigger without people knowing the reason why is awkward.
I thought it's safe to start reading Strange the Dreamer because I only have to wait until October for the Muse of Nightmares to come out. Should've waited longer before I did because this book ended with the mother of all cliffhangers. Am I'm exaggerating? Yes. Is the ending a cliffhanger. A big fat YES. I haven't really read like really, really, really read in a long time and I thought Laini Taylor will save me from this reading slump. She did. But at a price. The one star I knocked off is for the ending (d'oh). I loved the book, of course (because Laini Taylor). I mean, I can't not love a book that makes me want to ugly-cry in public (as in inside the tram while I was heading home from work) merely because of the words that it used.
I'll be honest. The concept can be compared to the Smoke and Bone trilogy if you think about it.
One species falling in love with another ... remember the whole "Once upon a time, an angel fell in love with a devil" thing? In Smoke and Bone it's angels and monsters. In Strange the Dreamer, it's humans and gods. The beauty, however, lies in how she created a whole new world (not the song, heh) that somehow equals the Smoke and Bone trilogy. Something THAT amazing is hard to top but lo and behold, she creates another world that you cannot help but care about with a whole new set of characters that you cannot help but fall in love with. I don't mean to be poetic (wait, is that poetic enough?) so ... gaaaaaah for the lack of more coherent words.
It took a couple tries before I got into this book. I started reading and then I stopped and read something else. I tried again and stopped and read something else until finally I started reading again and didn't stop.
I thought this was a better story than the first book. I mean, who likes to read about incest? There's also a certain feel-good air even through the twisted circumstances. I guess this is because of the teenager protagonist and his intentions. I'm curious what happens with Bradley, though. From the very beginning this has been a straight-up detective/investigative/suspense story but from what I've read so far it looks like this will turn into something ... paranormal(?). I mean, it's Stephen King but this might ruin the trilogy for me. Lol.
I guess we'll see.
I think any book trying to give its two-cents on religion, sexuality, racism and people getting immersed in virtual reality in the age of the almighty internet is very ambitious. This is one of those books although it was disguised in a SUPER AWESOME scifi, virtual reality game/treasure hunt and it.SUCKED.ME.IN.
The book's hype came from the use of 80s pop culture which was the same reason I was hesitant to read it. For a non-gamer 90's kid, this wasn't very appealing. I thought I might have problems relating to whatever was "in" in the 80s. I was born early-mid 80s but I was too busy running around in diapers and later on trying to learn how to spell my name that I didn't bother with TV or anything else until the 90s. I know of Monty Python, the game Joust, the album 2112 etc but I didn't watch/play/listen to them over 4 dozen times to be able to memorize the words ... okay maybe I played Joust one too many times but you get the drift. Surprisingly, I loved this book. I think it helped that I chose to get the audiobook instead of getting it on print. The book might be very descriptive but that worked for me too. It's the only way I (again, a 90s, non gamer kid) can understand what everything was all about. The author took his time and painstakingly described each game's rules and how you played it as well as the scenes and lyrics of songs. The little facts about the game developers, the musician, etc also didn't hurt. I think it made up for me not knowing every detail of what was popular then.
This is one book I would absolutely LOVE to see on the big screen … provided Hollywood doesn't mess it up. I could do without the cheesy love thing dialogue at the end of the book, though. Spoiler, I know but that was already a given, right? In the love interest regard, this book got predictable.
It seems, for a children's book, this one is full of goodbyes. Not to mention graphic, morbid deaths and then there's a little bit of divorce too. It's funny how the ending bothers me more than the beginning, though. I mean his whole family was murdered brutally in at the beginning of the story but I was more sad when he had to leave the one he grew up with. And yes, I took down one star because of that lol.
This is a coming of age story told in a paranormal setting and has lots of adventures, big and small. The character, Bod, is cute and endearing and I fell in love with him and I liked that there's no you're-not-my-real-parents scenario because it gets old. I fell in love with Silas too ... heh. I would've wanted a bit more peek into the honor guards' duties and how they came to be. I dunno, something more. ***SPOILER ALERT*** Also an explanation of why Scarlett was scared of Bod. I didn't think it was because he let the Sleer's take Jack Frost. I kept thinking she saw something else but the book didn't say so.
I'm not over analyzing but the book left me with a lot of questions. I can't decide whether it's good or bad yet. Lol.
I do love a story with a happy ending. And I like that the author spent time to tell the readers what happened to the other characters, no matter how brief their role was. Actually it's like saying no character is big or small. But that was the downside too. It was hard to know where to focus. The book is called the Septimus Heap series but it was the Queenling that was sort of the focus. If there was any focus at all. I realize he was thought to be dead and people don't often think of dead people but the fact that the series was named after him tells us he'd end up being alive one way or another. But of course, as Marcia said, things have a way of working out on its own. Eventually.
Now this is a kid's book, it may be too much of a kid's book for me and it was a bit predictable but that was fine. What bothers me is how they spell some words. Adding "e" at the end of some words and misspelling terms on purpose. It's cute but for that reason I wouldn't advise kids to read this, maybe the parents could read it to them or they could get the audiobook. Children are the most impressionable people. Their minds are susceptible so there's a risk they may carry that growing up. Especially during this age when Tweeting and micro blogs force us to change and shorten words.
The characters? I loved all the characters. Especially Marcia. The bad guy was pretty funny too.
Overall, I really liked it. Apart from what I've written above this is pretty good for light reading. And, although this is the first of a series, it's also a good stand alone book.
Very funny though not for the faint-hearted, conservatives, easily piqued and those who take things too seriously. I especially liked his chapter on religion although I'm not sure I agree when he said all Protestants had to do was say a few Hail Mary's and feel guilty a lot ... I thought it was the Roman Catholics who do that? Lol. Four stars only 'cause it's really not something I haven't heard before. He just has a different tone of saying things. It's like he has his own version of sarcastic (and I love sarcasm). I'm also rating the audiobook (narrated by himself) so I thought it was more fun and would probably give only a three if I was just reading it.
