Mini review: Witch Eyes by Scott Tracey

Book form: Kndle format e-book
Genre :LGBT, fantasy, adventure.
Target audience: YA
Source: borrowed




Synopsis:

Braden Michaels, a seventeen-year-old witch boy with a special gift, has lived so far a secluded life with his uncle, John. His gift is called ‘witch eyes’ and it gives him an enormous power but only at a cost of torturous headaches. Although Braden’s uncle does anything to keep his nephew happy and educated it seems that for the boy all roads lead to Belle Dam, a mysterious place he knows nothing about.

One day Braden gets an unusual vision and he knows he must go to Belle Dam no matter what or something terrible will happen. He leaves his uncle behind and lands right in the middle of a sleepy little town where nothing is as it seems to be. He is greeted by a successful lawyer, Lucien Fallon, and taken to a good hotel. Who's arranged that and paid for it? As the story unravels Braden finds out more about his family, his gift and destiny; he also falls for another boy – in fact the last person he should fall for. And somebody tries to kill him. Will he return to a quiet life elsewhere or will he stand up and fight like an adult witch with a history of family feud? Will he be given a choice at all?

What I liked:

Braden was a nice character with a sense of humour and his journey - a good, action-packed adventure. The narration flowed easily so the book was a pleasure to read. What’s more the descriptions of Belle Dam were so intriguing and lively that I actually felt like visiting the place myself. I liked the fact that every detail had its place and its meaning.

The gay content was presented in a very mild way – the feelings were described quite honestly, erotic scenes toned down to nothing more than a few kisses and embraces (but of course every parent must keep in mind the fact that this YA book clearly present gay relationship as something not only natural but also interesting and exciting). Overall the premise (a young gay male witch) I found refreshing – let’s face it, most such books are written by women, about women and for women (girls, females, whatever). There were no love triangles here (what a relief!) and no major cliffhangers at the end although from my point of view it is clear the author plans a continuation – some problems were still left unexplained.

What I didn’t like:

It seems that in plenty of contemporary YA books a teenager must be left alone in dire straits just in order to gauge his or her own potential and mature. It’s actually strange that adults seem to be presented as only a hindrance, not help. This book didn’t break that scheme and I found it a bit silly. After all, it would be only natural for Braden to look to his witch parent for advice and support. Instead, he constantly challenges his father’s knowledge, good faith and pretty much everything else. I know, he is just a little rebel trying to find his own place but it kind of started to grate after some time.

Now something about the romantic thread…you know me, usually I am hard to please when it comes to that. The fact that Braden and Trey (his love interest) fell for each other instantly and both happened to be teenage gays from affluent witch families at variance defied a bit the laws of probability. It also made me think instantly how the ‘Romeo and Julian’ scenario has never really been my cup of tea. Perhaps it was nicely written but also rather cliche and very predictable.

Final verdict:

A nice, light read but a bit lukewarm. Of course I can imagine many teen boys and more than a few girls enjoying the world and characters and I do have to give Witch Eyes points for daring to be different, but it just doesn't change the fact that, in my very humble opinion, we don’t deal here with an YA ground breaking masterpiece. I am not sure whether I will read any other installments of that series.

Mini review: Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin

I got this book as a gift from my good friend, The Red Witch – thank you very much my dear, I do appreciate!

Book info:

Hardcover, 288 pages

Publisher: Harcourt

ISBN: 0151014248

Language: English

Target audience: adults

Genre: fantasy, historical fiction

Summary (from Goodreads):

In the Aeneid, Vergil’s hero, a refugee from Troy, fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was just an obscure, muddy village near seven hills.


Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until she turns eighteen and the suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry her cousin, the handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner—that she will be the cause of a bitter war—and that her husband will not live long. She is visited by Vergil as an oracle, experiencing a kind of time travel. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life which she lost only too early.


What I liked:


First, the idea to present ancient Rome at its very beginning, when it practically didn’t exist as a town, let alone a country, fascinated me. I haven’t read Vergil’s the Aeneid but I was roughly aware what it is about and I wanted to find out more. Le Guin made the obscure world of Bronze Age Italy a place one can feel and taste, a place where the influence of oracles and gods is clearly felt and people live in full accordance with nature and its forces. It is obvious the authoress did a lot of research concerning the daily life and early religious beliefs of proto-Romans and she created a very believable vision of their world which I enjoyed.


The narration was slow and a bit detached but with that mesmerizing, very reflexive, watchful quality of a fairy tale. Overall not unpleasant but still not fully satisfying…ok, you can finds my complaints below.


The main heroine, Lavinia, is also a huge asset here – she  goes from meek, unquestioning, submissive maiden to someone who learns to stand up for herself and her child and lead others. She can be called a kick-ass heroine, for sure; she is determined to make her own choices but also fully aware of her own ficitionality.

What I didn’t like:


It is not exactly a fault but I felt that you cannot read this novel and fully appreciate it without having read Vergil's poem; what’s more, you really ought to have read it recently. Although I knew the outlines of the story of Aeneas sometimes I had to stop reading and remind myself about some details. So be warned: LeGuin's book is less a novel than a commentary  in unconventional because fantasy-scented form. If you haven’t heard about Vergil, Troy  and/or Aeneid, you might feel a bit lost.


Also, having read books with very complicated, dynamic plot lines previously I wished for two things reading Lavinia: more action and more linear narration. I must admit there was very little plot and you got flashes from the future in between. No surprising twists and turns in this one – something which took off the edge, making me less eager to finish this book because I (and the main heroine as well) had been told what would happen even before the action was actually described. I kept waiting for the climax and somehow I missed it. 


Finally I would like to see more of Vergil (Publius Vergilius Maro), apparently a poet with an interesting biography.




Final verdict:

This was still  a very fine, intelligent piece of work, and a pleasure to read, definitely encouraging me to try other LeGuin books.

Review: Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

Cover via Amazon

·  Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages

·  Publisher: Ace (May 1, 1996)

·  Language: English

·  ISBN-10: 0441003257

·  ISBN-13: 978-0441003259

 genre: humorous fantasy,

Synopsis:

The end of the world a.k.a Armageddon is finally scheduled. The evil against the good, global cataclysms, wars, famine, the Moon looking like blood and so on. In order to do it right the son of Satan has to be born and brought up among humans. A demon called Anthony Crowley, working more closely than he should with an angel called Aziraphale, is supposed to ensure the boy goes to the right, influential American family ( a kind of parody of a very old thriller “The Omen”). Things get tangled up because of his clumsiness, one chattering nun, an ordinary Englishman expecting his first newborn baby and a bunch of other strange events. While both Heaven and Hell are in a race to make sure he does what THEY want the devil’s spawn ends up being named Adam (not Damien or Warlock or anything evil) and happens to be raised in a provincial British town by ordinary lower middle class people. It is not exactly something good for his devilishness or the plans of the mighty forces above and below. Even his hell hound turns into an innocuous mongrel who loves chasing cats. The four riders of Apocalypse have obtained their orders though and are determined to carry them out. What will happen to all these people? Will anybody be able to locate the boy and start the end of the world properly? Perhaps a witch or two will come in handy; them and some witchfinders, their natural enemies…and an unusual book with deadly precise prophecies, written by the late Agnes Nutter.

What I liked:

The book should be entitled “Plethora of Chuckles”.

It was a scream from begining to the end, as fast-paced as you would like, and the characters were surprisingly well-rounded for such a light read. Crowley was presented as an intensely cool character, neither completely bad nor completely good. He has realized a couple centuries ago that human beings faced with enough daily aggravations could condemn themselves so he takes it easy now. Aziraphale, an angel and part-time rare book dealer, was his perfect partner in good and bad deeds.

 I was even more impressed with the way Gaiman/Pratchett handled religion, a very delicate issue. They got their laughs without slipping into mockery or trying to disprove anything. It's all to easy for a non-religious author to take the side of hell. That doesn't happen here. Also an in-depth insight into religious matters is not needed to enjoy the book; all you need is a sense of humor, a knowledge of the most basic points of Christian theology/culture and the basic knowledge of Queen songs, the favourite pop band of Crowley.

What I didn’t like:

The romance between the younger witch, Anathema, and poor young Newt, the witch-finder private, was a bit boring and superficial compared to the rest of the book but believe me it is really a minor quibble.

Final verdict:

Without a doubt, one of the funniest books that I have ever read – I strongly recommend it!

A bonus

The best summary I could find - enjoy!

Review: The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger (Souless, Changeless, Blameless)

Review: The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger (Souless, Changeless, Blameless)

Content note: This review includes some mild spoilers for all of books of The Parasol Protectorate series, published so far (Souless, Changeless, Blameless), more or less along the lines of what you would find in the jacket blurbs. If you are highly spoiler-averse, you might want to skip the synopsis section.

Synopsis

The main heroine, Miss Alexia Tarabotti, is a well-bred and surprisingly well-educated spinster with highly independent personality – she is even-minded and calm but she knows perfectly well what she wants and she acts accordingly. Her family, consisting of a step-father, a silly mother and two even sillier half-sisters, doesn’t appreciate Alexia and openly frowns upon her bluestocking interests. After all her opinion hardly matter as she has no marriage prospects and more importantly, no soul – a trait inherited from her biological Italian father, the late Alessandro Tarabotti. So far you can call the story a supernatural Cinderella. Being soulless, referred to politely as preternatural, or impolitely as soul-sucker, her touch cancels out all of the supernatural attributes of vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. Preternaturals, especially female preternaturals, are extremely rare and so Miss Tarabotti’s nature is unknown to everyone outside of herself, the English supernatural community, and the relevant parts of Her Majesty’s Government, Queen Victoria including.

Alexia’s life takes an unexpected turn when a poorly dressed, uncouth vampire attacks her in a library and she kills him using her famous parasol. The Bureau of Unnatural Registry (BUR) is called in to investigate the incident, forcing Miss Tarabotti to renew her acquaintance with Lord Maccon, Earl of Woolsey, and Alpha of the London werewolves. As romance as much as mystery is at the heart of the series, Alexia and Lord Maccon fall in love with each other and get married at the end of the first part. 
In the second installment, Changeless, we see them already living together (a rare thing, the author didn’t shrink from describing a married couple!) and trying hard to adjust to their new situation and duties. Not that their life is peaceful and easy. Somebody tries, unsuccessfully, to kill Alexia as she follows Lord Maccon to his native Scotland, where he had departed rather suddenly one day after talking to a ghost. Alexia travels in a dirigible with one of her sisters, two friends and her faithful secretary, Floote. I must say the dirigibles (a.k.a. Zeppelins) were greater fun than the planes although they were also slower and the food was still awful.

Without giving off too much I must mention that at the end of the second part ludicrous allegations are made against our heroine, but nobody, let alone her husband, listens to her explanations. The worst thing is that she doesn't have a clue how to proceed either. Rational thinking seemed to have flown out the windows of that damp, mouldy Scottish castle, and the third part, Blameless, is about Alexia clearing her unjustly besmirched reputation and making her stubborn husband understand the depth of her attachment. Doing so, she is forced to travel to the native country of her father despite her delicate condition and the fact that all the vampires seem to be hell-bent on finishing her off. In Italy she partially uncovers some mysteries of her dad's childhood (he died in Alexia's infancy so she didn't know anything about him), his ties to Knights Templars and many other things, pleasant or unpleasant but always fascinating, not to mention pesto, the famous Italian delicacy.

What I liked:

All three books entertain through sharp wit, dry commentary, and an unusual array of paranormals but their biggest asset, in my opinion, lies elsewhere. This fantasy series is based on the premise that the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church came about not because King Henry VIII wanted to have a fresher wife by his ample side but because he decided to integrate the supernaturals – namely vampires, werewolves, and ghosts – into English society. The supernaturals stopped being treated as natural enemies of the humankind and their skills were put to good uses with incredible success, creating thus the British Empire. Personally I found such a theory very original if not well-founded.

The romantic thread was presented equally well - the relationship between Alexia and Conall Maccon is so authentically awkward that it becomes nostalgically charming instead of boring. It was so nice to sit back and read about two people whose biggest obstacles were themselves.
I was also fascinated by the secondary characters – the development of Floote, Alexia’s butler/her father’s former valet, who has had much more history with the supernaturals/Templars than we’d known was riveting and the character Madame LeFoux as a liberated French woman in Victorian England was presented perfectly well. Not to mention the long-suffering Beta of the Woolsey pack, professor Lyall, a specialist in sheep.

What I didn’t like:

My only complaint is that we kept getting explanations about the alternative London world that Alexia exists in over and over again. It was slightly boring I must say. Several times, someone mentions Alexia’s odd state, and the effects thereof, and about how greatly disappointed her family was with her. All of this was given ample time and consideration in the first book, there was no need to repeat it in the sequels too.


The final verdict:

I think anyone not fundamentally opposed to the paranormal romance genre will find something, if not everything, to enjoy in Carriger’s series. Personally I am looking forward to reading the next installments (“Heartless” and "Timeless").