REVIEW: Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Going Bovine 

by Libba Bray

“These are hard times. The world hurts. We live in fear and forget to walk with hope. But hope has not forgotten you. So ask it to dinner. It's probably hungry and would appreciate the invitation.” 

All 16-year-old Cameron wants to do is detach and snark and perhaps get with his sister's hot friend. When he comes down with Mad Cow disease, however, everything is off the table. There is no cure. That is, until Cameron sees a beautiful punk rock angel in his hospital room who tells him he must go on a quest to find Doctor X, rescue him from the forces of darkness threatening to destroy the universe, and get his cure. With nothing to loose, he sets off on a roadtrip across America with a hypochondriac dwarf and a lawn gnome who claims he is the god Baldur from Norse mythology.

The thing that hooked me before I even picked up the book was that this was a retelling of Don Quixote. I regret to say, I have never read the original, but there were definite iconic moments I grasped, like tilting with windmill giants, the sidekick, the black knight, and the family who keep trying to bring him back to their reality.

The beginning is brilliant. Cameron describes the best day in his life, the day he went to Disney World, until he rode on the It's a Small World ride, had a weird feeling that they had all died and this was the afterlife, and nearly drowned trying to find what was behind one of the access doors in the ride, sure it was something mystical. Fast forward to 16 years later when Cameron is pretty unlikable. He doesn't try, because why should he? But that all changes when he accepts the quest. He discovers there are things worth fighting for.

This book has some pretty incredible moments. Bray captures images with such weighted specificity. Every piece of the landscape informs the emotional state of Cameron. She is brilliant at creating these moments where reality completely bends and a veil is torn to see what metaphysical things are going on beneath every day life. And yet you are never quite sure if Cameron is really there. Is he traveling across the US, or still hallucinating in his hospital bed? Did he see those fire giants with swinging arms, or was it the disease? She creates these scenes that instill mind-bending terror and awe at the inexplicably and dispassion of such occurrences. In the end, it doesn't matter if it all happened in his head or not. His emotional journey from apathy to deep and painful caring is the same. Bray doesn't pull punches and lets the story play out to it's often heartbreaking conclusions. It is a beautiful and HI-larious story about connecting, and living life and having adventures while you can.

She also gives some great commentary on media and modern public schools which made me laugh.

I highly recommend this book.

Books like this
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz

REVIEW: Boxers and Saints

Boxers and Saints

by Gene Luen Yang

“What is China but a people and their stories?” 

Boxers and Saints are two companion graphic novels that tell the two sides of the Boxer Rebellion in China in 1898. Boxers follows Little Bao, a boy whose village is bullied and oppressed by Christian foreigners. Vowing to put a stop to it, he and his followers become imbued with the power of the ancient gods and fight the "foreign devils" and "secondary devils" -- the Chinese who converted to Christianity. Spurred on by the spirit of the Emperor who united China, his actions become more and more ruthless until he can no longer tell if his crusade is just. Saints tells the story of Four-Girl who is neglected and abused by her family and finds a home in the local Catholic Church. Baptized as Vibiana, she struggles with her purpose in life. Seeing visions of Joan of Arc, she wants to be a female warrior and lead her people to freedom, but the Boxer Rebellion is coming nearer and nearer, bringing death and destruction in its wake. When the time comes, what will her role be?

It has been a few months since I read these books, so please bear with me. These stories are beautifully told, but brutal and dark. Yang pulls no punches here. He does not flinch from letting his protagonists make very wrong choices. The images are beautiful and striking as each character is lead by visions of their own spiritual guide. I love watching how their two stories intersect and impact each other through life, both at odds, both with good intentions. 

The ending to Boxers leaves you with a kick to the stomach, as does Saints, but there is a kernel of hope at the very very end that makes you feel that people are not entirely terrible. 

REVIEW: The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

The Last Dragonslayer

by Jasper Fforde

“Quarkbeasts, for all their fearsome looks, are obedient to a fault. They are nine-tenths velociraptor and kitchen blender and one-tenth Labrador. It was the Labrador tenth that I valued most.” 

Please forgive me if this review makes no sense. I have Thursday mush brain.

One of my favorite authors, Jasper Fforde, who brought us the Thursday Next series, tells us the tale of Jennifer Strange, a foundling who works for Kazam Mystical Arts Management, a company that contracts out wizards to do home repairs. Magic was once a powerful force in the world, and it is waning. Those who once could turn lead into gold now can barely manage to unclog a drain without help. When a prophecy declares that the last dragon will die on Sunday at noon, the magical community wonders if that means magic will be gone for good. Greedy land grabbers to wait with baited breath along the dragon land border with flags and twine, companies vie for merchandising contracts, and the two countries on either side of the territory are preparing for war. It is up to Jennifer and her pet, the terrifying Quarkbeast, to get to the bottom of this situation while trying to keep Kazam from falling apart.

This was an absolutely charming book. It felt like Harry Potter with all the serious parts taken out and all the goofy random fun stuff kept in.  For a while I thought it was just fluff, especially with Jennifer blithely and confidently sailing through the administrative troubles of Kazam, but the second she doesn't have a witty comeback, you know shit has hit the fan. Those are the juiciest moments, when she is vulnerable and out of her element and must regroup to succeed. I also cheered that Jennifer was a non-magical ADMINISTRATOR! She made sure people filled out the correct form for x or y spell and took care of the more artistically-minded magic workers.

The world is a charming mix of the medieval (wizards, dragons, castles, kings) and the modern (Jennifer's orange VW Bug, plumbing, paperwork, merchandising). Fforde is king of the mash up, and spices it with wonderful jokes like this: “It was written in the ancient RUNIX spell-language, and is read-only and can't be modified.” And a moose illusion that will not go away. And a Dragonslayer headquarters which is a bit like Ghostbusters.

I highly recommend this book if you love whimsy and kick ass female characters.

Other Jasper Fforde Books I Have Reviewed
Thursday Next: First Among Sequels 
The Fourth Bear
Shades of Grey

REVIEW: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress

by Marissa Meyer

“I am an explorer,' she whispered, 'setting courageously off into the wild unknown.' It was not a daydream she'd ever had before, but she felt the familiar comfort of her imagination wrapping around her. She was an archeologist, a scientist, a treasure hunter. She was a master of land and sea. 'My life is an adventure.' she said, growing confident as she opened her eyes again. 'I will not be shackled to this satellite anymore.'

Thorne tilted his head to one side. He waited for three heartbeats before sliding one hand down into hers. 'I have no idea what you're talking about,' he said. 'But we'll go with it.” 

Beginning where Scarlet left off, Cinder, Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf are on their ship (voiced by Iko, their droid compatriot) trying to think of a plan to overthrow the Lunar Queen, stop her from marrying Prince Kai and taking over the world. It is not a B movie, I swear. On a satellite circling earth, we find Cress, a long-haired Lunar shell (non-magical Lunar), who has spent her life working for the Queen, hacking their security feeds, monitoring their transmissions, and hiding Lunar movements. In all that time of solitude, she has fallen in love with earth, and more specifically with the dashing and suave Captain Thorne whom she knows is hiding a heart of gold under his selfish exterior. She teams up with our heroes, but when Thorne attempts to rescue her from her lonely outpost, Cress' guardian, the Lunar Thaumaturge finds them, and sends the satellite hurling to earth. In the process, Thorne is blinded (the witch throws the prince from the tower, he lands in thorns and his eyes are gouged out). Cress, newly shorn, and a blind Thorne must find their way across the desert, join Cinder and stop the royal wedding. 

Oh my god, these books are like fairy tale catnip for me. They are perfectly crafted adaptations. They touch on every single iconic moment of the original tales, but it is woven seamlessly into a new compelling science fiction political drama/ adventure novel. In every book, the heroines become more and more pleasing. Cinder was a determined kick-ass heroine along the model that we have seen before. Scarlet was a kick-ass heroine with beautiful weaknesses and flaws. Cress is a quirky shut-in damsel-in-distress, but in a way that does not diminish her complexity or humanness. She does not have awesome fighting powers, but is an intelligent and valuable contributer to the team. Meyer writes strong female characters who do not have to be physically strong, and I adore that. 

The women are not the only ones who develop in this book. Captain Thorne, swashbuckling wannabe extraordinaire who was introduced in Scarlet, must show his quality when he and Cress face the relentless desert, and underneath his swagger he has grit, determination, and genuine tenderness.He is not just prancing comic relief, but a man who deserves the love Cress feels for him. 

Dr. Erland also finds himself on a journey of self triggered by the revelation of his fatherhood, as he attempts to reconcile highly immoral medical practices and his conscience. In my head, I cast Saul Rubinek as Dr. Erland and I think it is perfect. Make the movie now, please. 

We also meet an assholic Lunar guard who might turn into the prince of the next book, Winter. I am super excited!

One last thing I appreciate (of the many things I appreciate in these books) is how Meyer writes romance. There (so far) has been no sex in these books, but the tantalizingly sensual way the characters fall in love is so erotic that there doesn't need to be. How one character touches another softly, or even imagines being touched, is so tinglingly delicious. And yes, romance is a thing, but the focus is saving the kingdom, which shows that their priorities are in order. 

READ THESE BOOKS. That is all. 

The Lunar Chronicles

Cinder

Scarlet

REVIEW: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

“I used to think the world was broken down by tribes,' I said. 'By Black and White. By Indian and White. But I know this isn't true. The world is only broken into two tribes: the people who are assholes and the people who are not.” 

Junior lives on the Spokane Indian Reservation, stuck in a life that has no forward momentum. You are born here, you live here, and you die here, poor as dirt and often mired in a despair that his family and community try to escape in dangerous and addictive ways. After becoming enraged that the textbook he was handed in class was the same one his mother used as a child, he is entreated by his teacher (the target of Junior's book-flinging anger who is saturated with regret) to get out. Junior takes his destiny into his own hands and enrolls in elite school miles away from the reservation, often hitchhiking back and forth. Despite his disadvantages, he begins to thrive, but at what cost? His reservation sees him as a traitor. How can he reconcile his heritage with his dreams?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is witty, hopeful and heartbreaking. Junior's voice is so authentic, a teenage boy with an awareness of his community through the lens of his own wants and desires. Often times he is selfish and shallow, but that's being human for you. He begins as one thing, a weakling with an oddly shaped body due to a birth defect to a significant presence at his new school. He is allowed to blossom, rather then stunting and rotting in a place with no space to grow. The tragedy is that those he has left behind remain in this cycle of despair that has lasted generations. Is it betraying his heritage to abandon his community? Is it self preservation? Junior wrestles with these questions as the story continues, through tragedy, pain and bittersweet victory. 

Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

Monument 14

by Emmy Laybourne

“Your mother hollers that you're going to miss the bus. She can see it coming down the street. You don't stop and hug her and tell her you love her. You don't thank her for being a good, kind, patient mother. Of course not- you launch yourself down the stairs and make a run for the corner.

Only, if it's the last you'll ever see your mother, you sort of start to wish you'd stopped and did those things. Maybe even missed the bus.

But the bus was barreling down our street so I ran.” 

Dean is on his way to school, sometime in the near future, when the apocalypse hits. A massive volcano sets of a chain of events (hail storms, earthquakes, tidal waves) that lead to the bus crashing right outside a Greenway (basically a Walmart). Kids die and the survivors take shelter in the store. The earthquakes lead to chemical weapons escaping from NORAD, and soon no one can go outside without risk of contamination and violent reactions. Dean and the kids (ranging from kindergarten to high school) must work together to survive in the midst of of the most devastating disaster in the nation's history.

As you know, I love survival books. This is probably one of my favorites. It has a milder Lord of the Flies feel, with hormones raging, but not to the extent of the classic. Alliances are forged and broken, love is found and lost. Yet, we never really get too close to any of the characters. They are all still mysteries in Dean's eyes. You get the feeling that you can never really know a person, even if you are locked in a Walmart with them during the apocalypse. The kids are smart, blocking ventilation, creating zones, using resources wisely, creating a home and a routine for the younger kids, finding ways to communicate with the outside world. You wonder how long this community can last and if their destruction will be internal or external. The ending is surprisingly the end of a section, but hardly the end of their story. I am not at all surprised to find out that there are several more books in this world after the end of the story, and I can't wait to read them!

REVIEW: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Breadcrumbs

by Anne Ursu

“A boy got a splinter in his eye, and his heart turned cold. Only two people noticed. One was a witch, and she took him for her own. The other was his best friend. And she went after him in ill-considered shoes, brave and completely unprepared.” 

Hazel has moved from a more progressive, creative school to a traditional school in a new neighborhood. She feels so out of place. All the things she enjoyed about learning are discouraged. Her only touchstone is her best friend Jack. They let their imaginations run wild, inventing stories and playing baseball as superheros who are not allowed to use their powers. However, one day, Jack gets something in his eye, and he is completely different. He is mean to Hazel and doesn't care about what they used to care about. And then he disappears. Everyone thinks he went to visit his aunt, but Hazel knows something is wrong. She knows he was stolen by the Snow Queen. She must embark on a mission, facing wolves, witches, and ice, to save her best friend... who might not want to be saved.

I thought I would like this book a lot more than I did. "The Snow Queen" is one of my favorite tales. I felt this book was a bit lackluster for several reasons. First, the Snow Queen is a metaphor and a story they make up, as well as a real, concrete, straight from the fairy tale being. It straddled the land of metaphor and the land of reality. I almost wish that it remained in the land of metaphor, and used the story of the Snow Queen in a magic realism sense to depict the loss of a friend. But it wheels completely into the realm of fantasy, at times being slavishly loyal to the original, and at other times going strangely off the rails.

I did enjoy her constant allusions to other books like Lord of the Rings, Wrinkle in Time, Chronicles of Narnia, the Golden Compass, but it was a "huh I am in on the joke" enjoyment, rather than enjoying them for their artistic purpose. More than that, I liked her use of other Anderson fairy tales woven into Hazel's strange adventures in the snowy forest. The woods were mysterious and dream-like; unpredictable threats could jump out at any moment disguised as goodness. It made the journey disjointed and disorienting.

The ending was also unsatisfying, not because it is ambiguous, which it is, but because there are several elements left unexplained, like why the Snow Queen gave Jack the puzzle and what would have happened had he completed it.

Throughout, the book had a rather condescending tone towards science and "grown up things." It rankled me a bit, because science can go hand in hand with imagination, it is not the enemy. Hazel railed against anyone she perceived not to have an imagination which made me dislike her a little.

I appreciated Ursu's playful language, however, and the fact that she did not make the Snow Queen a villain in the traditional sense. There were several ancillary characters like Martin, Hazel's friend's imaginative uncle, who were delightful to read, if a bit flat.

It is a lovely story about how friendships change over time, but I felt it could have been stronger. I know several friends who enjoyed it, however, so perhaps I have missed something.