The Book List

Another Heaven, Another Earth

Author:: H. M. Hoover
Pages: 217
Setting: Xilan. (It's a planet.)
Means of Aquiration: Borrowed from Home.
Level of Sci-Fi Technogeekoscity: Pretty much nonexistant.

Another Heaven, Another Earth is one of those books that I've always seen around...but I never read it. I saw it at the bookshelf at home when I was there for the weekend, and since it was one of the few books there that I had yet to read, I grabbed it and took it back to the cities with me.

All I can say is: It's about time!

I wish I had read it earlier. Not because I would have enjoyed it more (I enjoyed it perfectly well at age 19), but because the earlier I read it, the more time I would have to enjoy it. It really is a good book. And it's one of those great books where science fiction is the setting, not the whole story. I got the feeling that H.M. Hoover really cared about her characters--they were not just the eyes through which we saw the "gimmick" happen, which was good. (That happens too often in science fiction--the characters (and story) end up secondary to the MacGuffin that the story revolves around. And let's face it: we don't want to care about Macguffins.)

Anyway, it's a very human story, with several pleasant surprises.

Very recommended. I almost want to sit down right now and read it again.

cobwebs

The Facts:

Author:: Karen Romano Young
Pages: 388
Bears slight but startling resemblances to: Anansi Boys. Namely, they both deal with spiders.
Means of Aquiration: Bought it, 20% off (yay coupons!) at Borders.
General Impression: Excellent.

I didn't feel like going straight back to my dorm after arriving in Minneapolis on Sunday, so I took the train to the end of the line and went shopping at Borders (I had a coupon, how could I resist?) I saw several books there that I thought about getting (Note to self: write up a "most wanted" book list), but I eventually settled on this one. I can't comment on how good my choice was, since I still haven't read any of the other potential purchases... but I can say that I am very satisfied with this book.

Cobwebs is creepy, in a very likable way. I hate to fall into puns and clichés here, so to spare myself the shame, I will allow you to insert your own phrase containing some form of "web" and "to weave" here:

Okay, I'm glad that's done with.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this. The main character (Nancy) reminded me of myself when I was in junior high. (I believe Nancy is in high school, but I could be wrong.) Actually, she didn't remind me of myself at all...but I identified with her. That's special, isn't it?

The story, while often fantastic, is somehow also very real. Sometimes dreamlike, sometimes gritty. A book that I want to rub in someone's face while screaming "See?! It is possible to write an original fantasy novel!" (What can I say... some people deserve that.)

(Chevy Chase & Benji are...) Oh Heavenly Dog

Author:: Joe Camp (based on the screenplay by Rod Browning and Joe Camp)
Pages: 139 (plus eight pages of full color photos!)
Setting: London
Means of Aquiration: Picked it up for free at a "bookmobile" (read: library cart full of free books) at the airport.
Literary Merit None whatsoever. It is a good fluff read, though. (Though if you've seen the movie, don't bother trying to find the novelisation. They can hardly be different at all.)
Bizarre visuals: The cover features a cute picture of Benji (the dog) smoking a cigar. Weird.

This book is exactly what I expected it to be--short, easy to read, campy, and from 1980. The cover boasts Now a Major Motion Picture Presentation from Twentieth Century Fox, and I'm not sure what that means. It was cleary published after the "motion picture presentation" came out, because it features stills from the movie. Also, it is based on the script. And what is a "motion picture presentation," anyway?

I can't recommend the book (although I've got nothing against it... I just feel that I would lose my credibility if I did), but the movie's probably decent. Between the two, I would choose to watch the movie, as most of the humor in this comes from the fact that the main character (spoiler! Sort of!) gets turned into a dog. Visual humor, you see. Despite best intentions, it doesn't come across too well on paper.

Even having said that, though, there's no better book to read for forty minutes whilst flying between Milwaukee and Minneapolis. It served its purpose well.

Abhorsen

Author:: Garth Nix
Pages: 518
Setting: Ancelstierre, the Old Kingdom, and Death.
Means of Aquiration: No longer sure.
Should it be read on its own? Absolutely not. While reading Sabriel is optional, you need to read Lirael in order to enjoy (and have any idea what is going on during) this book. Trust me. I read Lirael a couple years ago, and even so I found myself fervently wishing I had reread it before tackling Abhorsen. (Sabriel, though it deals with the same motley crew, is a completely seperate story. The events in Lirael and Abhorsen take place twenty years after those of Sabriel, and many of the book's characters have no idea what happened back then.)

Abhorsen is one of those books where I cry at the end. You know the kind--tragic and wonderful at the same time. Heart-racing, heartbreaking excitement--and suddenly you feel as though you've lost your best friend, only seconds after finding out how close you really were.

Absolutely infuriating. And if you happen to be reading in a public space (such as, say, your dormitory's television lounge), you have to make hasty plans as to how to make it back to your room before anyone sees the tears streaking down your face. Because you really don't want to have to explain, to another stranger that when you read books, you cry.

Not that it is a sad book. In fact, it was wonderful, and it even (a spoiler, I suppose, though you'd nearly expect it, anyway) had a happy end, after a fashion.

In any case, it's worth noting that before I first finished Shade's Children, I was enamored of Garth Nix. And by the time I had forgotten all about him and picked up Sabriel, years later (It took several months before I realised he was the fellow who had also written Shade's Children), he was my favorite author before I finished the third chapter. By the time I finished the book, I wanted to kill him--or marry him. It's hard to say with those things.

Of course, that has nothing to do with Abhorsen in particular, except to say that everything I loved and hated about those books was present once again.

In general, it's exciting--more exciting than you would expect, as it focuses for most of the book on a wearying journey and some scattered politics. Very enjoyable, and it brings everything to a thoroughly satisfying end. (After all, though I neglected to mention it earlier, I was smiling through my tears.)

Terrific book. Reminds me of just how much I adored Sabriel, and makes me realise not only that, but also that I love Lirael and Abhorsen in and of themselves, as well. ...though I still need to read Lirael again.

Thief Lord

Author:: Cornelia Funke
Pages: Don't remember
Setting: Venice!
Read during: in the car during the ride from Racine to Minneapolis, just after winter break
Shall I spoil the ending? No.

When I opened the book, I wasn't sure who this book was going to be about. Was the main character going to be the titular Thief Lord? The funny, not-quite-bumbling detective introduced on the first page? Or perhaps the two brothers he was looking for? I wasn't sure what I was expecting, or even what I wanted. What I got, though, I liked.

Two young boys, newly orphaned, run away from their thoroughly unlikeable relatives... and where better to run but Venice, city of beauty and gold and light and winged lions? Where better, indeed?

Even after having just read and loved Inkheart, I had misgivings about reading Thief Lord. It seemed too clichéd to work... did I really want to read another book about parentless children, being roguish and clever and thwarting adults at every turn? I certainly did not. Happily, that wasn't what Thief Lord was about.

It got a trifle predictable here and there, but in general it remained fresh and exciting, with a couple twists I never would have imagined.

Eragon

Author:: Christopher Paolini
Pages: 497
Setting: Alagaësia. There is, of course, a map in the front of the book.
Means of Aquiration: Been seeing Eragon around for a while. Mom finally bought it when she saw that there was a sequel out. Score!
Level of Inspiration from Lord of the Rings: High.

Ah, Eragon. Beacon of originality! A light of freshness in the dark night of fantasy novels! Let me tell you how it starts out: an orphan farmboy living Nowhere, Fantasyland (who has, of course, been taken in and raised by a townsperson--in this case, his uncle), finds out (in a time of great unrest in the country, although said unrest is only rumors in his backwater town) that Big Stuff is going on, and he's going to be in the middle of it. He is accompanied by an crochety guide who won't answer enough of his questions.

Now, does this sound like anything else you're familiar with? Lord of the Rings? Wheel of Time? Sword of Shannara? Star Wars?

Yeah. I was not enthused.

Despite that, though, I did get into the book fairly quickly. It's got a smirking dragon, which is something, anyway (although rather stereotypical in the category of "dragon companion" personalities). All in all, it's alright. I guess. That's all you really want to know, right? Good.

The magic "ancient language" in Eragon is pretty darn Germanic, too. "Gath un reisa du rakr!" and "Du grind huildr!" both look like things I might have had to translate in my History of the German Language class last semester. (Some meanings are right on, too. Eragon's gata means "path." In Swedish, it means "street." Welden (forest) is very close to German's Wald. Theirra means "their," which isn't quite as much of a giveaway as knifr meaning "knife." Eka means "I," which looks bizarre unless you're familiar with Old German's many baffling versions of "Ich." Stenr is "stone," wyrda is "fate," and I think you get the picture.) A couple other words almost scream "ICELANDIC!" at me.

Of course, the "ancient language" also has the word Aiedail for "morning star." And the language of the dwarves has the phrase "Isidar Mithrim," which almost has to be copyright infringement, doesn't it?

Inkheart

Author:: Cornelia Funke. (If my name were Cornelia Funke, I would write books, too.)
Pages: 534 (548 if you count the excerpt of the sequel, Inkspell.)
Setting: Europe. Modern day Europe. You wouldn't know it, though, except they have some electric lights, and they sometimes drives cars, and there are several references to how miserably people treated books in the Middle Ages.
Means of Aquiration: Someone (my youngest brother, I think) got it for Christmas, which is wonderful. I've been coveting this book ever since I first saw it in Waldenbooks a year(?) ago, but I wouldn't buy it in hardcover.
Importance of Books: Books are extremely important in Inkheart. Everything that happens, happens to books, because of books, or by means of books.

Before I say anything else, I will say this: There is a little gold foil proclamation on the front of this book that exclaims: Soon to be a MAJOR MOTION PICTURE! This means two things. First, you should endeavor to read the book immediately, if not sooner, because as soon as trailers and teasers and reviews start coming out about the movie, you'll already know too much about the story to properly enjoy discovering everything for yourself. (This is not to say that you will not enjoy the book, but simply to say that, as a rule of thumb, everything is better when you experience it for yourself, and this book is worthy of being enjoyed to its fullest extent.) Second, you should read the book before, after, because of, or despite seeing the movie, so long as you go in to it with an open mind.

It really is a good book, and I'd hate to have it ruined for someone.

Also, if you want to read it properly, don't read the description on the back cover. It gives far too much away. The first sentence on the back cover gives away something that isn't even hinted at until page 56 (the second clue doesn't appear until page 69, and nothing's actually stated until Chapter 16, which starts on page 136). I don't know who thought it would be a grand idea to give away the mystery of the first fourth of the book, but I don't think much of them.

Anyway.

This was a wonderfully long book, the sort where you get to the middle, and you realise that a normal book would be over, or just getting into the last two chapters... and you've still got half a book to go! For me, that is a wonderful feeling. Especially with a book I like as much as Inkheart. I read it all yesterday--positively devoured it. I haven't read a book that way for a very, very long time (and I've missed it.)

After my lecture on not letting people spoil books for you, I'm not sure what I can say about the story without giving anything too wonderful away.

There is a wonderful, horrible, evil villain, straight out of fantasy. There is an annoying aunt (who isn't really that bad after all). There is a dad who could win the Atticus Finch Award for being a wonderful father. There is a shifty man who juggles fire. There is a special sort of magic that all bookworms wish they had--now that I've read Inkheart, I'm glad I never did have it. There are fairies and monsters--real and imagined, human and unhuman.

It's a book for people who love adventure (but who might not love it so much if they ever found themselves having one.) It's a book for people who believe in happy endings (although nothing ever ends completely well in real life.) It's a book for people who know and love the characters they read out of stories (even though they have never really met them). Most of all, it is a book for people who love books.

See below for quotes.

Anansi Boys

Author:: Neil Gaiman, Genius.
Pages: 334 (American hardback edition)
Pointless description that leaves out all the best bits and utterly fails to do the book justice: Fat Charlie, an utterly boring person (he's a bookkeeper) finds out that--whoops!--his dad (now deceased) is (was?) a god. Furthermore, he finds out that he has a brother, who is also pretty much godtastic. Lots of things happen from there. (Charlie isn't actually boring. He just--until the book begins--leads a rather dull life. Of course, the book is about what happens after his life stops being boring. =])
Means of Aquiration: From Mom, for Christmas. And in hardcover! Exciting.
Trivia: I followed Neil Gaiman's blog for a while while he was writing this, which was fun. (I have since stopped having any sense of regularity with the sites I visit, so blog-following got a bit tricky.) I was pleased to hear from Mr. Nancy again after American Gods.

Now, I won't say that "this book is the reason Neil Gaiman is my favorite author," because that would be lying. Firstly, Neil Gaiman was my favorite author well before I read this book. Secondly, it isn't even my favorite book from him. But it might as well be, because a "good" book from Gaiman outshines even a "great" book or even an "excellent" book from almost anyone else.

I liked this book. It took a little while for me to get into it, but very soon I was into the swing of things. Fat Charlie's sense of humor made me laugh--he's one of those people who thinks darkly funny, blunt, bitter comments in his head, and he can't resist saying them out loud. (Actually, in that respect, he reminds me a bit of Richard from Neverwhere. Although I can't properly remember any of Neverwhere, they kind of give off the same vibe.) His matter-of-factness was delicious (see the first quote below for an example of this).

Neil Gaiman defies genre. Was the book a crime novel, a mystery, a fantasy, a horror story, a ghost story, a folktale, a comedy? Yes, all of those things. Is it utterly pointless to list every genre that it belongs to? Yes! (What's even more funny is when you have a book like Coraline, and you have to throw "Children's Book" in the mix of categories as well.) I love the fact that Gaiman's stories are about the story, and not about what the story is supposed to be, or where it belongs.

You should read this book.

Also, both times that I tried to type the word "utterly" above, I ended up typing "utterfly" and didn't notice until a couple days later.

Click below for quotes.

Neither Here Nor There

Author:: Bill Bryson, an Iowan cum Brit cum New Englander who likes to travel. Or actually it often seems that he hates to travel, but perhaps that's part of the charm. Actually, I think everyone hates to travel when you get down to it. Anyway.
Pages: 245 of them. (About 45 too many.)
What's it about:Mr. Bryson loses his sanity once again and decides to backpack across Europe.
Means of Aquiration: I put it on my dad's Christmas list, and he got it from my grandmother.
Trivia: Bryson uses the word convivial more than any other author I know.

I'm a fan of Bryson's The Lost Continent, but Neither Here Nor There didn't have quite the charm I was expecting. Perhaps it was the monotony: in each city he visits, the reader is treated to what he does there, which is largely limited to "Found a hotel, which was expensive. Wandered about the city. Visited an old church, and got to drinking."

Just the same, I did quite enjoy it, though it dragged intolerably at the end. I'd be lying if I said I didn't giggle uncontrollably at several points, and while I shant be reading it again for some time, I probably shall dig it out again in the future.

Yay or Nay? Yay.

Click below for quotes.