Tag Archives: fantasy

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Posted by melydia on December 21, 2012 None comments

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (unabridged audiobook read by Ari Graynor; 14 hrs on 12 discs): Clary is an ordinary teenager living an ordinary life until the night she meets a trio of demon hunters. They are just as surprised to see her as she is, since they are usually invisible to mundanes. She barely has time to get used to the idea of demons being real before her mother is attacked by one. With the help of shadow hunter Jace, Clary begins the search for her mother and answers to questions about her past. The writing is nothing special – things land “with a dull thud” and people let out breaths they didn’t know they were holding – and I saw every single plot twist coming a mile away. But the characters are fun and the world building clearly extensive. I admit, I was a little put off at first by the main character sharing a name (and hair color) with the author. Luckily, Clary didn’t come across as too glaring of an author insertion. I’ve heard the series goes downhill after a few books, but I think I’ll at least give it one more volume. This world is way too much fun to give up just yet.

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Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan and Brian Selznick

Posted by melydia on October 12, 2012 None comments

Marly’s Ghost by David Levithan, illustrated by Brian Selznick: In this “remix” of Dickens’s classic Christmas Carol, teenaged Ben must cope with his girlfriend’s death by being visited by the spirits of love past, present, and future. The idea was clever, and it was fun picking out which characters were which from the original story, but the re-used dialogue was out of place, coming across as stilted and meaningless. If Levithan had either always had the characters speaking like Dickens or paraphrased the original lines, it would have been smoother. All the same, I enjoyed this short book, and the illustrations were nice.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle

Posted by melydia on October 9, 2012 None comments

A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle (unabridged audiobook read by the author; 7 hrs 19 min on 6 discs): Years have passed since the last books; now Charles Wallace is in high school and Meg is married and pregnant. When the President calls with concerns about nuclear war with the (fictional) South American country of Vespugia, Meg’s mother-in-law gives Charles Wallace an ancient rune that seems to control weather, and charges him to stop the war. Charles ends up traveling through time, following the lineage of ancient Welsh settlers. This was probably my favorite of the series so far. I got a little sick of hearing the rune over and over, but all in all I enjoyed the unweaving of the legend. Recommended for fans of time travel fiction, and I don’t think one needs to have read the previous books to appreciate this one.

A note on the audio: L’Engle has a strange way of pronouncing “nothing.” She separates the syllables: nuth-thing. It’s just a little odd.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle

Posted by melydia on October 2, 2012 None comments

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle (unabridged audiobook read by the author; 5 hrs on 4 discs): Charles Wallace has fallen deathly ill, and so Meg and Calvin must journey inside his mitochondria to combat the evil that is making him ill. It’s terribly strange, and honestly not all that interesting. I mean, the cherubim was kind of neat-sounding, but the farandolae was obnoxious and the Eckthroi were too nebulous to be truly menacing. Too much of the book was taken up with “what do I do” and “what’s going on” and not enough actual plot. And, of course, the solution was visible from a mile off. But maybe I’d have appreciated this more as a child.

A note on the audio: I am always wary of books read by the author, but L’Engle was fine. My only real complaint was that the recording was poor quality (or maybe just old), making all the S sounds loud and lispy. Then again, perhaps L’Engle really has a lisp, in which case never mind. :)

(I have a lisp too.)

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Posted by melydia on September 28, 2012 1 comments

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman: When Richard Mayhew helps a bleeding girl on the sidewalk, his life is turned utterly upside-down. First his fiance dumps him, then he seems to no longer exist: taxis won’t stop for him, people don’t notice him unless he speaks directly to them, then forget him immediately after. He then journeys into London Below, a strange world of magic and sewers and abandoned tube stations. This is Gaiman’s forte: take the real world and then flip it on its head, revealing the strange beauty beneath. There’s a real sense of wonder woven throughout the story, making me desperately want to visit these places, meet these characters, see these sights. The villians were nefarious and even the heroes were a bit disturbing at times. I think my favorites were Old Bailey and the marquis, though I wasn’t sure how I felt about the marquis for quite a bit of the tale. If you’re looking to try out Gaiman, this is a good book to start with.

Side note: did anyone else notice that the physical description of Richard Mayhew very much resembles Gaiman himself?

Also posted on BookCrossing.

P.S. – I’m seeing Neil Gaiman speak tonight at George Mason University. Yay! :D

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The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Posted by melydia on September 21, 2012 2 comments

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo (unabridged audiobook read by Graeme Malcolm; 3.5 hrs on 4 discs): Despereaux is a small mouse with large ears who loves music and falls in love with a human princess. Roscuro is a dungeon rat who loves light. Miggory Sow is a slow-witted, half-deaf serving girl who longs for more. Their stories intertwine to form one lovely little fairy tale. I think my favorite part was how involved the narrator was, constantly talking directly to the reader as if you’re there in the room with them. This is the sort of book I would have enjoyed as a kid.

A note on the audio: Malcolm was fantastic. I’ll have to be on the lookout for other books read by him.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Posted by melydia on September 18, 2012 2 comments

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (unabridged audiobook read by Hope Davis; 6 hrs on 5 discs): Meg Murry is an ordinary girl in an extraordinary family: her parents are scientists, her baby brother is a prodigy. One day they are visited by the mysterious Mrs. Whatsit, who takes them on an amazing adventure to combat evil personified. I read this before, back in college, and I’d forgotten how overtly religious it is. Sure, there’s plenty of science, but also quite a bit of talk about faith and god. Which is fine, as it manages not to be too preachy. As with the first time I read it, I wasn’t all that excited about it. I mean, sure, it was fine, and maybe I would have loved it as a child, but as an adult it came across as just kind of strange. That said, I still intend to read the rest of the Time Quintet, which I haven’t read before, to see what further adventures lie in store for the Murry family.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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Stuart Little by E.B. White

Posted by melydia on September 14, 2012 None comments

Stuart Little by E.B. White (unabridged audiobook read by Julie Harris; 2 hrs on 2 discs): Perhaps I would have felt differently growing up with this book, but as an adult this book struck me as profoundly weird. First off, a human couple give birth to a mouse, and no one seems to think this is at all strange. Their first son is human; their second son is a rodent. What? Anyway, this is basically a collection of Stuart’s various adventures, including boating, substitute teaching, and courting a 2-inch tall human girl. I don’t even know. The ending is left completely open, which I suppose could be inspiring for a young imagination, but I didn’t know it was coming so I was a little confused at the end. Oh well. It was fine, and there were parts that were funny just because they were so strange.

Also posted on BookCrossing.

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Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke

Posted by melydia on September 11, 2012 None comments

Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke: I do not read all that quickly, but I managed to inhale all 660 pages of this book in three evenings. I simply could not get enough of the Inkworld. Everybody’s here and everything’s falling apart. Mo may or may not be the Bluejay, Meggie’s heart is conflicted, Fenoglio has lost the power of words, and Orpheus is screwing everything up. I’m actually looking forward to re-reading this trilogy so I can savor it, rather than obsessively reading just one more chapter because I just have to know what happens next. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so completely sucked into a story and I loved every moment of it. Highly recommended.

A note on the trilogy: I read Inkheart and Inkdeath, but listened to Inkspell, read by Brendan Fraser. The other two books had different narrators, but this way I was able to hear Inkdeath with Fraser’s amazing narration in my head.

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Inkspell by Cornelia Funke

Posted by melydia on August 28, 2012 3 comments

Inkspell by Cornelia Funke (unabridged audiobook read by Brendan Fraser; 18 hrs 46 min on 16 discs): Meggie and Farid enter the Inkworld in search of Dustfinger and find it much changed from the lands described in Inkheart. A new reader, Orpheus, has started reading people into and out of books. Meanwhile, Mortola and Basta are still on the hunt for Mo. Unlike the previous book, this story takes place almost entirely within the Inkworld, and it is a fantastic place. I wanted so badly to visit, even with all the danger involved. And I fell a little bit in love with most of the characters, most especially the impulsive Farid. And oh, I was so happy to already have the third book on hand to start immediately after this one. Some may find Inkheart a little slow, but Inkspell is anything but. So much fun.

A note on the audio: Fraser made this book come alive. I knew he was a talented narrator, but he made me want to stay in my car longer just to hear what happened next. I laughed, I cried, I squealed in delight. Now I’m sad because he’s only read two books and I’ve listened to them both. I guess I need to watch more of his movies.

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