Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue

Book three of the Raven Cycle
By Maggie Stiefvater
Available now from Scholastic Press
Review copy
Read my Maggie Stiefvater tag

Ever since I finished this book, I've been discussing it with fellow fans.  It's been a little hard since the book wasn't out yet and we had to keep the discussion quiet, so as not to spoil new developments for others.

But that is my number one reaction to this book, and this series as a whole.  I need to talk about it.  I need to pour over the details and make crazy theories about what I think is going to happen next.  I ponder each detail: Is that a clue? A red herring?  Just a bit of flavor?  It's hard to believe that there is only one book to go.

The Raven Cycle has a notably slow, meandering pace.  BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE picks up the pace.  I thought that it didn't go so fast as to be jarring compared to the previous two books, but one person I talked to thought it moved a hair to quick in the beginning.  It's very clear that things are getting serious.  One of Blue's greatest secrets is revealed (to some people), there are deaths, and the book ends with one very shocking revelation.

BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE adds several characters to the already crowded ensemble.  My favorite was Piper, wife to the apparent villain of the story.  (He comes on strong, but finishes weak.)  The banter between Piper and Greenmantle is hilarious, a wonderfully conscienceless counterpoint to the banter between the raven boys and Blue.  There is still time to develop the existing characters further.  This is really Blue's book, with a strong assist from Adam.  I particularly liked the focus on Blue's abilities and finding ways to be more than just a battery.  I also liked that it seems like Blue and Gansey's budding relationship might not explode into irrevocable drama with Adam.  Maybe Maggie Stiefvater could pull it off, but I am afraid of standard teen drama bogging the final book down.

So far, however, this series hasn't let me down yet.  I am in love with the characters, the tone, the unexplained magic of it all.  Okay, one development in particular strikes me as coming out of the blue, but I enjoyed it enough to roll with it.  (Plus, it led to an adorable scene of Ronan and Adam racing shopping carts in a parking lot.  Those boys.)  I can't wait for the inevitable doom that is sure to come with the end of the cycle, because I have enjoyed the lead up so much.

Review: The Sunbird

Book three of the Lion Hunters
By Elizabeth Wein
Available now from Open Road Media
Review copy
Read my review of The Winter Prince

The first three books of the Lion Hunters series switch focus between three members of a family: Medraut, then his legitimate half-sister Goewin, and then his son Telemekos.  This means that although the books build on each other, they also stand fairly well on their own.  (The last two books focus on Telemekos and should be read as a duology.)

Hosted by Angie

THE SUNBIRD first came out in 2004, and in some ways feels dated despite only being ten years old.  It is very short compared to most current YA novels, although it cannot be confused with an MG novel despite Telemekos's youth.  (He's eleven.)  The Lion Hunters novels address some very dark themes, including torture and dehuminization in this entry.

The start of the series plays with Arthurian mythology, but the series does not stick to a traditional path.  THE SUNBIRD takes place in Aksum, now known as Ethiopia.  Telemekos is half-British and half-Aksumite, but he is still accomplished at hiding in plain sight despite his distinctive pale hair.  It is that skill that causes the Emperor to recruit him.  Plague is spreading through Europe, and quarantine has been instituted to protect Aksum.  But there are those who would take this as a chance to make money on the black market, no matter the risk of spreading disease.

In THE SUNBIRD, Elizabeth Wein skillfully weaves together an espionage adventure with a coming of age and the story of a broken but loving family.  Medraut does not speak, and Goewin is a princess of Britain first, grooming her nephew (who is unknowingly the heir apparent).  Fans of her breakout novels CODE NAME VERITY and ROSE UNDER FIRE will not be surprised at the depth of emotion in THE SUNBIRD nor the exploration of darker themes.

This historical fantasy will appeal to fans of Megan Whalen Turner and Jennifer A. Nielsen, which also feature clever and secretive young boys having adventures with consequences for entire nations.  I do recommend reading THE WINTER PRINCE and A COALITION OF LIONS first.  It is not necessary to understand THE SUNBIRD, but it makes the experience richer.  Plus, they're also terrific novels.  This series is criminally underrated.

Review: The Winter Prince

Book One of The Lion Hunters
Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Wein
Available now from Open Road Media (orig. published in 1993)
Review copy

This is a little bit of a Retro Review for me, although not entirely.  I just about burst with glee when I saw that THE WINTER PRINCE and A COALITION OF LIONS were back in print.  Two reasons for this: 1) I needed a copy of THE WINTER PRINCE for my own and 2) Now I can spread the love more easily!  If the last three books come back into print that will just be the icing on the cake.  (Warning: do not read the fourth book until you have the fifth book handy.)

Hosted by Angie

Nowadays Elizabeth Wein is well known as the author of smash hit CODE NAME VERITY.  But once upon a time she was Elizabeth E. Wein, debut author of an Arthurian retelling called THE WINTER PRINCE.  Artos has three children.  Medraut, the oldest, is a illegitimate and cannot inherit.  Lleu, the prince, is beautiful and fragile and talented and spoiled.  Goewin, his twin, will not inherit either since she is a woman.  The children love each other, but there's also a great deal of resentment and hurt feelings between them.

THE WINTER PRINCE is written like a letter from Medraut to his aunt and mother, Morgause.  She's a cruel woman with a terrible hold on her sons, but at the same time almost understandable as a woman trying to grasp all the power a woman can have.  Medraut perhaps loves and hates her even more than her loves and hates Lleu.

There isn't much of a plot to THE WINTER PRINCE.  It's a book about a relationship, and two people coming to terms with who they are.  It's wonderfully written, Wein's prose lending the book a fittingly seductive and sharp beauty.  It's a little messy, just like it's protagonist, and swiftly covers a great deal of time.  It's one of those books that sticks in your mind long after you read it, and comes back to you immediately once you read the first sentence again.

It's just everything I want out of a book on the Matter of Britain.  And believe me, I'm an Arthurian geek and I want a lot.  It has questions of honor and what makes a good ruler, family and romance, and it's all bound up in insane episodes of cruelty, incest, and violence.  It holds its own with some of the greats of Arthurian legend, like Malory and Marie de France and Rosemary Sutcliff.

Let's all give a big hand to Open Road for reprinting this under appreciated classic.  They've done it quite nicely, with a biography of Wein in the back and illustrations prefacing each chapter.  The illustrations by the author have a nicely simple, old-fashioned look to them. 

Review: Cold Cereal

By Adam Rex
Available now from Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins)
Review Copy

I loved Adam Rex's first foray into middle grade books, the award-winning THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY. COLD CEREAL, unlike SMEKDAY, doesn't begin with an alien invasion and thus takes a bit longer to get off the ground. Instead, we're introduced to the Cold Cereal Trilogy's rather large ensemble which includes Erno and Emily Utz, twins who look nothing alike and live with their foster father and giant nanny, and Scottish Play Doe, the new kid in school who sees strange things. One of those things being Mick, a clurichaun who claims that local company Goodco is capturing magical creatures.

But once COLD CEREAL gets going, it's a terrific ride. There's a variety of things being mocked, from the claims made on the side of children's cereal boxes to mystical cults. Even symbolism takes a hint. And it isn't just leprechauns and pooka's running around Goodborough - there's many unexpected legends waiting to make their appearances.

There are lots of riddles to solve, which I always loved in books as a child.  There's nothing like trying to play along. I really enjoyed the two sibling relationships.  Scott and his little sister Polly get on each other's nerves and Erno and Emily are forced into false competition, but both are obviously loving.  I think Biggs might be my favorite side character, if only because his scenes were always hilarious.

The ARC didn't contain all of the illustrations, but the ones I could see were terrific.  Adam Rex's illustrations are detailed and I love the comics done to illustrate Goodco's commericals.  (It's a wonder Goodco ever rose to prominence considering one of they sold "Burlap Crisp" with a surly magical spokesman.) You can see some of the illustrations on his blog, as well as download yourself a Mick paper doll.

Today it seems like many trilogies take that as an excuse to leave the first book open-ended. While the evil Goodco still exists, COLD CEREAL does have an actual climax.  Scott, Erno, Emily, and their friends prove to be a formidable opposition to the cereal corporation.  I look forward to the next book in the trilogy!