The Dream-Maker's Magic by Sharon Shinn

Kellen's mother is convinced that her daughter is a boy.  She dresses Kellen like a boy and treats her like a boy.  Kellen's father believes her mother has gone mad and can't take it anymore, so he leaves.  As you can imagine, Kellen grows up a bit of a weirdo and doesn't have any friends until she meets Gryffin, a lame boy who also has a lot of personal problems.  Then Kellen's mother decides to open an inn and she meets a lot of interesting people who help her and Gryffin get what they want out of life.

Did you notice anything about that summary?  Like a lack conflict?  No central plot?  Boringness?  Because those are the problems in this book.

A few weeks ago, I read The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer, and thought it seemed like an unformed writing exercise that wasn't well thought-out.  The Dream-Maker's Magic, unfortunately, had the same feeling--but at about twice the length, I'm less willing to forgive it.  It feels like a short story addendum to one of Shinn's more elaborated series like Twelve Houses or Samaria, stretched out for no reason.

At first I thought The Dream-Maker's Magic had a lot of potential.  I figured Shinn would use Kellen's mother's insistence on her being a boy to explore the question of nature versus nurture and gender identity.  But she doesn't, or if she does she just glosses over it as she moves on to something else.  I also thought the romance between Gryffin and Kellen had great possibility in the beginning, too, but again, it was treated very shallowly and at some point I just lost interest.

This book is misguided and not even interestingly misguided.  Nearly the entire novel needs to be rethought and rewritten in order to make it work, because the story being told here isn't Kellen's--it's Gryffin's.  Gryffin is the one who goes on the greatest journey, risks the most, is put in the greatest danger, reaps the most reward, and is the character around whom the central conflict revolves.  Why in the name of holy heck are we reading about Kellen?? 

I'm not sure I'll be reading any more of Shinn's YA books in the future--I've been disappointed in each of them and I really don't think this is a genre she excels in, although most of her adult sci-fi books are excellent.

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The Book Purge

Image courtesy of macinate

Ever since Angel Month concluded, I've been feeling at loose ends about what to read.  Despite the fact that I spent at least 2 of the four weeks whining about how sick I was of angels, without them I couldn't manage to focus on a single book.  I spent most of the entire week starting and quickly tossing various books, such as:


Captive of Sin by Anna Campbell

At first this was a fun book because it takes place in winter, and it was very wintry outside.  I also thought (and still think) Gideon and Akash are both interesting characters.  But the rest of it was just so clichéed, I couldn't stand it.  What's wrong with me?  I usually eat this stuff up, clichéed or not.


Gateway by Sharon Shinn

Shinn is unquestionably a great writer, and wrote one of my favorite books of all time, Archangel.  I hadn't tried out her YA novels yet before Gateway, though; and I'm not likely to again.  The concept was interesting--modern St. Louis teen is transported to China (seriously, China has got to be the hot new thing these days. Move over, Japan)--but the beginning was so incredibly slow and, again, clichéed.


The Little Book by Selden Edwards

Okay, I haven't officially given up on this book yet, but it's getting close.  I picked this one up at the library because it purported to be a time-travel novel about Nineteenth-Century Vienna.  Awesomesauce (The Illusionist, The Illusionist, The Illusionist).  The beginning started off really well, but it quickly became meandery due to the fact that we're given loads of unnecessary backstory about everyone.  I'm wondering if it's worth continuing--I would like to think so, but the main character is too wacky to be believable.


Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling

The only book that I've been able to stick is HP & The Goblet of Fire.  I freaking love this book!  I started off on audiobook, but had to switch to actual reading because my attention wanders too easily when I'm "listening."  Damn attention!  To repeat:  what's wrong with me?

Which leads me to...

the book purge.

Around the time of Gateway, I started feeling a bit despair-ish and decided my problem was my TBR pile.  Yes, my TBR pile!  Now, we all love having books to read, but there comes a point when the unread books start stressing me out.  And that point is when I can no longer sit in my favorite reading spot, the two-foot space between my bed and bookshelf, which was literally crammed with books.  I couldn't even step in that area anymore, let alone sit!  So I did a book purge, taking out all of the historical romances and urban fantasies I'd collected, except for the ones I still actively wanted to read, and donating them to the library. 

You may gasp with horror, but I have to say I do feel a lot better now.  Sure, this whole thing may have been a transfer of frustration for three books I couldn't finish onto my entire stack of unread books, but at least I can read in my itty-bitty reading nook now.  The two-foot space has become a one and a half-foot space due to the fact that there's still books piled next to my bed, but that's okay.  It's kind of like sitting in a miniature library.

Hopefully, the book purge will take care of this urge I have to READ EVERYTHING very quickly, and I can settle into a book again after I finish HP&tGoF.



How's your reading going this week?

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My Favorite Reads: Archangel

My Favorite Reads is a meme hosted by Alyce from At Home With Books.  You simply blog about books you read and loved before you started book blogging!

The book I chose this week fits into the theme I've set for the month, angels.  It's not only one of my favorite books, but the standard by which I measure all books about angels.

The book:  Archangel by Sharon Shinn



Archangel takes place in another world called Samaria.  There, humans live with angels in a bit of an uneasy partnership:  angels are the governing body, more or less, and since their songs and prayers to Jovah keep Samaria running--bringing water, sunshine, even manna from heaven if they ask for it--humanity is fairly reliant upon them.  And the angels in turn generally feel pretty superior.

The highest-ranking angel in all of Samaria is the Archangel.  As the book opens, the young Gabriel is preparing to take over this post from his predecessor, Raphael.  He knows that in order to rule he must find his Angelica, the human woman (angels are only allowed to marry humans) destined to be his wife.  And when I say destined, I mean Jovah's got his hands all over this world:  most people in Samaria have stones inbedded into their arms at birth that flare when they meet the man or woman they're supposed to marry.

Unfortunately for Gabriel, his Angelica, Rachel, is not inclined to be singing to save the planet or making babies with one who is winged.  In point of fact, she's a slave.  Yes I know--you would think a world ruled by angels would be utopic, but it's not.  There's a nomadic race on Samaria that is considered fair game for slave traders.  The angels look the other way because the nomads don't rely on them to sing prayers--they sing their own prayers, and the angels kind of hate them for it.  Rachel's entire tribe was wiped out in a raid, and now she's a slave in a wealthy household.  And she remembers it was angels that attacked her tribe.  So girl's got some issues.

Nevertheless, Gabriel carries her off to his aerie, and Rachel tries to train for the changing-of-the-archangel ceremony on the Plain of Jordan and learn how to fit into the angelic community.  And she also gets to know her husband, sexy sexy Gabriel.  Yum.  With the wings and the shirtlessness, and the dark looks and leather pants (because angels HAVE to wear leather pants, that's like a rule or something...).

What I love most about this book is the absolute believability of the characters and the setting of Samaria.  I can see most of the locations in my mind--to this day--as if I'd visited them myself.  Shinn really does a great job of transporting you to another world as you read the book.  Rachel and Gabriel I got to know as if they were friends, but even the secondary characters are wonderful.  I was totally pissed when the second book in this series didn't take up where this one left off so I could find out what happened to them after laying awake for nights on end wondering.

Plus, the music--this novel bleeds music.  At the aerie, there's someone singing constantly, and the angels live and breathe music.  Being able to sing is also a pivotal part of Rachel's personality and how she heals herself emotionally from the trauma of being a slave and seeing all her family and friends murdered.  I can't imagine reading this book without mentally trying to set it to music.

Archangel is a brilliantly written novel that has all the themes I love to read about--not just love (I did mention this was a love story, right?), but equality and freedom and even the importance of faith.  I can't recommend it enough.

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