Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure by Bill Willingham

Legenderry: A Steampunk Adventure by Bill Willingham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I will always compare everything Bill Willingham does to Fables, fair or unfair. And it seems to pale in comparison. I normally love when modern writers borrow characters from the classics, and Willingham has done this with characters from the pulp action, fantasy and adventure of the 19th and Early 20th century and integrated them into the Steampunk framework of his imagination. I was more inspired by the artwork than the actual story. As far as the narrative itself, it was vaguely interesting. I think the cameos were the most fascinating aspect. If my library gets the next volume, I would read it.



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Fairest, Volume 4: Of Mice and Men by Marc Andreyko (Writer), Shawn McManus (Illustrations)

Fairest, Vol 4: Of Men and Mice by Marc Andreyko
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Huge Warning! Do not read this if you haven't read the later volumes of Fables. I made that mistake, and there's a pretty huge spoiler. I had accidentally spoiled myself already on the DC.Wikia website, but that doesn't make it any better. That aside, this was good. Kind of a freaky story. About one of Cinderella's Mice turned Human carriage drivers who becomes acquainted with the pleasures of human woman, with long-lasting consequences.

Cinderella is like a female version of Bond, in ways I don't really like. But overall, I like her lethal abilities and her spycraft. I find it really cool that her helpers are the non-human fables, like the three blind mice. Some aspects of this are pretty dark, but readers of the Fables and Fairest series should not find that surprising.

Good, but not my favorite of this series, and not on the level of Fables.

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Fables, Vol. 15: Rose Red by Bill Willingham

Cinderella, Vol. 2: Fables are Forever by Chris Roberson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this quite a bit. It follows the superspy motif perfectly, with a solid foundation of fairy tales and folklore. It's a fun read and definitely for fans of spy thrillers. Cinderella's arch nemesis is someone very familiar, but never seen in this particular way. I can't say anything more without it being an absolute spoiler. I absolutely love the cover art by Chrissie Zullo. Her style is so distinctive. Just her artwork makes these worth checking out. A lovely adjunct to the Fables series, and this falls in shortly after Fables, Vol. 15: Rose Red.

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Cinderella, Vol.2: Fables are Forever by Chris Roberson

Cinderella, Vol. 2: Fables are Forever by Chris Roberson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this quite a bit. It follows the superspy motif perfectly, with a solid foundation of fairy tales and folklore. It's a fun read and definitely for fans of spy thrillers. Cinderella's arch nemesis is someone very familiar, but never seen in this particular way. I can't say anything more without it being an absolute spoiler. I absolutely love the cover art by Chrissie Zullo. Her style is so distinctive. Just her artwork makes these worth checking out. A lovely adjunct to the Fables series, and this falls in shortly after Fables, Vol. 15: Rose Red.

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Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's been a long while since I read this, but I remembered absolutely loving it. My memories were correct. In fact, I read every book by Diana Wynne Jones I could get my hands on growing up. I've finally gotten a chance to reread this, and I'm glad I choose the audiobook format. Jenny Sterlin was brilliant. She utilizes her voice distinctly for the varied characters. She even makes a distinction between Old Sophie and New Sophie very well. I recommend listening to the audio if you have a chance.

Howl is a real character. He's what you would rightly call an amiable rogue. Howl's imperfections are very much part of his charm. I liked how Sophie spent most of the book annoyed with Howl, but you could tell that she had fallen in love with him. She was awful jealous."I think she doth protest too much." Howl will admit that he's a coward, and he's extremely vain. He's not above manipulating people. But Sophie is a perfect match for him. She doesn't put up with his bull, but at the same time, she's good for him and both Michael, his apprentice.

I love Sophie. She's an awesome character. What pluck despite her timidity and low self-esteem. I liked how as she was under the old age spell, she came into her own and it's understandable. She was freed from the fears and restrictions that had ruled her life as the Oldest Daughter. The older you get, the less you have to lose, and the more you are willing to call it like it is, but also you realize that life is valuable and each moment could be your last. Sophie comes into her own and realizes that she has a unique ability to create magic of her own.

Calcifer is a character. He's a fire demon who has made a pact with Howl. He pretty much runs the castle, and he's incredibly grumpy about it. You could tell that Sophie and Calcifer grew quite fond of each other.

One of the things I love about fantasy most is the world-building and the way that the imagination has free reign. The descriptions of things that are completely imaginary and even from our normal lives, but with an interesting twist. Ms. Wynne Jones knew her fantasy and I could see how influential she was to Neil Gaiman as an author. That twisted convergence of fantasy and the lightest edge of the horrific. The Witch of the Waste is on the periphery of this novel, but she's a disturbing presence. Also, she's a cautionary tale to those who are corrupted by magic.

There's nothing to complex about this story. But simplicity can be gorgeous, and a well-told story outweighs author tricks that pad a novel unnecessarily. I consider this a fantasy classic.

**A note about the movie:

I do so much love the Anime version of this. It's gorgeous, and I can watch it again and again! There are some changes between it and the novel, but it's a great adjunct and exploration of the novel in a visual format. Definitely recommend it, but the source material is where you want to start. Read this book!

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The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

The Iron Trial by Holly Black

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


Overall, this was a good book, but I had a few quibbles, but they did majorly affect my rating in a not-so good way.  Let's talk about the bad first.

Callum's behavior was pretty reprehensible.  He stole and damaged property and never had to face the wrongness of most of his actions.  I'm not trying to be moralistic here, but those actions made me think less of him. I almost didn't want to finish the book. In light of later revelations, it felt even more manipulative to have him committing not so minor infringements.  I feel that books for young readers don't have to be ethics primers, but honestly there are consequences when we do wrong.   When books for younger readers overlook that, it makes me feel uneasy inside. And with all honestly, this reader was already rooting for Callum to grow in character over the course of the book.  I'm not sure he did in crucial ways. There are some major plot spoilers that I can't go into, but even in light of the story direction, I wasn't okay with that.

The ending was too abrupt and clearly was a sequel bait.  I don't like the tendency to create series that aren't terribly self-contained.  I feel that it's better to write a story that feels complete even if I don't continue the series.  I know that this is probably a minor thing for other readers, but it's increasingly becoming an issue for me.

While I wasn't enamored of the narrator, it didn't affect my rating that much.  He wasn't terrible, just a little more flat than I liked.

What I loved;

*I felt that the story did keep me guessing. There were some reversals that I seriously didn't expect and kudos to the authors for that.
*The Magisterium is beautifully described and some aspects felt very unique. I loved how the food source is based on things that might grow underground, but they have tastes that you wouldn't attribute to something like dried lichen or mushrooms. The skills tests were fun.
*The developing friendship between Callum and his fellow students in his cohort. It reminded me of my time in professional school and how you tend to look to people in your class as a support system.
*I loved the ethnic/racial diversity. It's so easy to do it and have it be a normal part of the story. There was no reason for everyone of the students to be white/European, and I was glad that the authors didn't go that way with the story.
*The dark aspects of the story appealed.  I like that middle grade/juvenile fiction can be done well with serious tension and thrills without assuming younger readers can't handle it.
*The pet wolf Havoc. I was so, so in love. I want!

I'm going to give this 3.5 stars.  I imagine some would rate it higher, but with the issues versus the kudos, I think it's a very fair rating.



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The Real Boy by Anne Ursu

The Real Boy by Anne Ursu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had to put a lot of thought into this review. Anne Ursu has done that to me with her last two books. I enjoyed her Cronus Chronicles series and it was novel in that it presents a family with people of mixed racial heritage in a very normal, everyday fashion, and I loved that about the books. Plus, it was just plain fun Greek Mythology fantasy with a spunky heroine and her good natured cousin along for the ride.

With Breadcrumbs, she gave us a young girl who touched me deeply. Her internal life and her attachment to a friend as an effort to deal with loneliness and rejection was a visceral ache. I think with The Real Boy, she has strummed that emotional chord again.

Oscar is an orphan who was 'bought' by a charmer to watch over his shop, do the cleaning, and to prepare his herbs for the potions he sells. It is never explicitly stated, but I believe that Oscar has autism. He has sense-related issues (will only eat bread because he doesn't like the feel of other foods), he has trouble looking people in the eye, and blurts out things and doesn't understand social cues, he's got a genius level intellect but others may perceive him as not all there. Oscar starts to believe he's not a real boy because he is viewed as so different.

This touched me deeply, that this boy would feel so isolated and feel so unworthy. This is real, how cruel people are to those who are different. It breaks my heart in fact to see him suffer this way. I think this aspect of the book resonated deeply with me. I also appreciated Oscar's developing friendship with Callie, an apprentice to a healer who has no magic.

The world-building was less impactful. I felt like there was more to be discovered and understood. Although I appreciated how the story builds slowly and the reader's understanding expands with continued reading, too much was assumed in this book, and too little spelled out. The concept of how magic was so crucial to the small island that Oscar lives on, with the folktale of the wizards who became large trees so they could watch over the island, that was pretty cool. Although I feel it sort of becomes less clear and tangible as the story goes along. I would say the reveal towards the end was quite interesting, but to talk about that too much would be a spoiler.

Fundamentally, I feel that Ursu excelled with the emotional landscape of this story, but the fantastical foundation suffers in contrast. Oscar is an unforgettable little boy. His emotional journey speaks to my heart. For that alone, I gave this four stars. I was conflicted because I don't think this book measures up as well as far as a fantasy novel. As with Breadcrumbs, I wonder how much of the emotional depths will register with the young audience it's aimed at. It would be a great thing if kids who feel isolated because of their oddness would feel touched by Oscar's story and would understand that they aren't alone after all.

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