Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First off, I love the cover. It's gorgeous, even on a computer screen, and is a nice change from the ubiquitous pretty girl in a ball gown which seems to be on about every third YA book being published these days. The drawing is fabulous, and really helped me to visualize how the Hartmann saw the world that she was building.

Second, the world building. Far be it from me to go all squealing fan girly, but dang it, this was some good world building. The richness is unbelievable, from philosophy to religion to music. I loved everything about the world of Goredd and the dragons and the dragon/human interaction.

Third, the richness of the characters. Seraphina is internally conflicted, and occasionally filled with self-loathing, which is her birthright. As the daughter of a dragon and a human, she is considered a freak, and an abomination by every one who knows about her parentage, right down to her own father. Her status of a half-breed, though, in a sense, is freeing. Her loyalties are not with one, nor the other, and she can choose who, and what, to believe in based upon what is right, not what is expected. Lucien Kiggs, her love interest, is almost always worthy of her regard. And how refreshing is it to have a Princess - Gisselda - who is not inane, who is not petty, and who is more than just a pretty face?

The first half of the book is a bit of a rough go, but the last half is a headlong rush to the finish. It's not that the first half is poorly paced, it just took me a while to warm up to the characters and to become so deeply engrossed in the story that it played itself out across my mind like actors on a stage.

Finally, the love story between Linn - Seraphina's mother - and Claude - her father - is almost unbearably poignant. I don't know if Hartman plans to write a prequel, or a story, that tells Linn's story, but I hope she does. Just the little bits and pieces that she gave her readers in this book, through Seraphina, about Linn and about her decision to leave behind her people because she fell in love with a human is so compelling that thinking about it hurts a little bit.

I really, really liked this book.

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a YA fantasy title by Laini Taylor.



It's not her first novel, but it feels like her breakthrough novel into the big leagues.

And what a breakthrough it is.

This book is simply gorgeous. It is set in Prague, which has the benefit of being both familiar and exotic. It is also a city that has always fascinated me, so one of the things that I really loved about the book is that it is set in Prague. The main character, Karou, is also familiar yet exotic, an artistic girl with azure hair. The fantasy elements are also beautifully realized. One of the things that really sets this book apart from others is the world building.

I read the book on kindle, but I feel like I need to drive to Barnes and Noble so I can hold this book in my hands, because there are aspects of it that I suspect will be lovely in print form. Sections of the book are separated by pages that are empty save two poetic lines and an image of a feather. This works well on kindle, but may be breathtaking in print.

The only real complaint I have is that it ended with the obligatory cliff-hanger. This is common in series novels, and it drives me crazy. Mostly it drives me crazy because I don't know when the next novel will be published. I do know that I will be reading it.

In summary, I loved this book. I loved the characters, I loved the mythology that Laini Taylor created to define the two warring races, I loved the way that the worlds, and the wishes, worked. Ms. Taylor took risks in the writing of this book. The risks paid off. 4 1/2 stars (5 on amazon).

Still Playing Catch-Up: The Spirit Ring

This was a kindle daily deal that I got for 99 cents! A bargain & a pretty darned good book at that. It's regularly priced at $6.99, which is a reasonable price for a book of this quality. I am interested in reading more by this author.



REVIEW:

I picked this book up as one of the kindle special offers, for a mere 99 cents. Prior to reading this book, I had never read anything by this author, though I have looked at several of her books. I am a fan of a good fantasy, and I also enjoy books written for young adults. This book, to me, felt very much like it would be marketed as a YA book. It was a very quick read, and definitely kept my attention. I finished it in a few hours.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Spirit Ring. I especially liked the setting of Renaissance Italy. This is out of the norm for a fantasy novel, as most fantasy novelists seem to set their books in very medieval worlds. This one included elements of science, as we would expect for a book set during the Renaissance, which was a hotbed of scientific exploration. I also enjoyed the main character, Fiametta, a young woman. The young male lead, Thur, is left somewhat underdeveloped, in my opinion, but I did like the character. He shows a rather surprising streak of resourcefulness for one who appeared so stolid and ordinary for most of the book. In fact, the resourcefulness displayed by both Thur and Fiametta was one of my favorite parts of the book.

With respect to things that I thought were weak, I really felt that the "magic" part of the book was left underexplained and underexplored. The final "battle" was also a bit over-the-top. The ending was nice, but not extraordinary.

I would give this book somewhere between three and four stars, but closer to three than four. I enjoyed it, and would recommend it, but with some reservations. Someone who only enjoys very detailed, gritty fantasy would likely find this book lacking. Someone who enjoys a lot of romance might also find it underwhelming. The most logical audience for this book, to me, is a reader of any age who enjoys clean, young adult, fantasy.

I do plan to pick up the first book in one of Ms. Bujold's series, as I very much enjoyed her writing style.