Derek Landy - Skulduggery Pleasant

Title: Skulduggery Pleasant (Skulduggery Pleasant, book 1)
Author: Derek Landy
Pub. year: 2007
Pages: 380
Editor: HarperCollins
Summary: Meet Skulduggery Pleasant:
Ace Detective
Snappy Dresser
Razor–tongued Wit
Crackerjack Sorcerer
and
Walking, Talking,
Fire-throwing Skeleton
—as well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgley, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old.

These two alone must defeat an all-consuming ancient evil.
The end of the world?
Over his dead body.

So, Muffin here gave me this book as a gift months ago but it took me a little while to read it. I was willing to, but you know, massive TBR pile and stuff... Anyway, now I've read it and really enjoyed it, so let's talk about it!

You kind of dive into this funny story full of sarcasm, skeleton, magic, crappy cars, bad guys who wants to rule the world, and so on.

Stephanie is a clever and determined girl, and I really like the fact that she wasn't "oh yay, magic is real and in five seconds I'm like a super duper magic badass". It's cleverly written and realistic—as far as it can be in a fantasy novel ;). And Skulduggery, this witty skeleton who made me think of Harry Dresden (from The Dresden Files), is endearing as he grow attached to Stephanie. I liked how he's not at all patronizing with her and take her not as a yound teenage girl but as a person who seems to him strong enough to take care of herself.
Plus, there's a whole bunch of other peculiar characters in those two's life, which makes it even more awesome.

Magic is a bit renewed here, even if there's obviously some clichés about it in the story, but it was quite well introduced and some of its specifications were quite appealing to me! Don't want to spoil it for you so you'll have to read it or trust me.

I thought it was a story mostly for children, but as I read it I realised it is one of those who can be read at any age. And that's pretty awesome. I enjoyed it very much myself so Yay against prejudice!
Now, you know what you have to do if you think you'll like it!

Quotes:

'If you hear any screaming,' he said, 'that'll be me.'

'The gap was gaping. It was a gaping gap.'

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John Green - Looking for Alaska

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
Pub. year: 2005
Pages: 263
Editor: HarperCollins

Summary: "In the dark beside me, she smelled of sweat and sunshine and vanilla, and on that thin-mooned night I could see little more than her silhouette, but even in the dark, I could see her eyes - fierce emeralds. And not just beautiful, but hot too."
Alaska Young. Gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, screwed up - and utterly fascinating. Miles Halter couldn't not be more in love with her. But when tragedy strikes, Miles discovers the value and the pain of living and loving unconditionnaly.
Nothing will ever be the same.

I wasn't in a hurry to read this book because I heard it was really similar to Paper Towns. I didn't want to spoil my reading by reading it shortly after.
But to be honest, if obviously there are some similar points in the plot, they are to me completely different books. They don't deal with the same kind of stuff, the reflexions are different and I wasn't bored at any moment.

What I like with John Green books is that there always is an incursion of things you don't particularly know about, and he gives us the opportunity to learn about new writers by integrating them in his stories. It fits him really well, and in a really smart way.

I also very much enjoyed the deepness of the characters. Miles, Alaska, The Colonel, Takumi, Lara, the Old Man... even the Eagle. They're not just random characters with no background, they are very different from one another, moving and enjoyable. Characters are probably the thing that matters the most to me in books, because the whole story is built around them. They carry it.

In the end, I think I chose the perfect moment in my life to read it because of what was going on around me when I did it (about a month ago). It moved me and made me think about a lot of stuff (like it did for Paper Towns, but a lot more).

As you probably have guessed by now, John Green's books are not just random teenage books for teenagers. They are smart, funny, they make you think, they make you laugh, and sometimes cry. They are really good books for teenagers but adults too. So give it a try, if you haven't already!

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Gregory Maguire - Wicked

Title: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, book 1)
Author: Gregory Maguire
Pub. year: 1995
Pages: 407
Editor: HarperCollins

Summary: When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum’s classic tale, we heard only her side of the story.
But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch?
Where did she come from?
How did she become so wicked?
And what is the true nature of evil?

I saw the Musical Wicked last summer and fell in love with it. So when I heard about the book it came from, I wanted to read it really badly. Luckily, a friend offered it to me as a gift for my birthday, and I read it as soon as I could.

Unfortunately, it was not as entertaining and moving as the Musical for me. Even if I liked to learn about Elphaba's life a little bit more, I was often bored while reading. And the characters were quite different. It was hard for me to appreciate some of them like I did in the Musical. I know I shouldn't compare while reading a book, but it was too different and really less enjoyable for me.

In this book, we follow Elphaba from birth during her journey. We discover a lot more about her life, and why she does what she does, but I had trouble liking her. I didn't find her moving, even if her personality was complex and unstable. I felt like I was watching everything from behind a veil so I didn't truely entered the story.

I was a bit pissed with the author when each time I started to find a part entertaining, he jumped a few years later, losing my attention again and again.

I didn't hate that book, but I didn't like it either. Even the political issues that were raised in the Musical are boring and not as well exploited here. At least I laughed a bit at some replicas.

As a result, I don't feel really enthousiastic about this reading, and quite disappointed...


Quote :
"'I shall pray for you soul,' promised Nessarose.
'I shall wait for your shoes,' Elphie answered."
p.325

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Mary Shelley - Frankenstein

Title: Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus
Author: Mary Shelley
Pub. year: 1918
Pages: 202
Editor: HarperCollins
Summary: ′It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open...′

Written when Mary Shelley was only nineteen-years old, this chilling tale of a young scientist′s desire to create life still resonates today. Victor Frankenstein′s monster is stitched together from the stolen limbs of the dead, and the result is a grotesque being who, rejected by his maker, sets out on a journey to reek his revenge.

Having always heard about this story, I wanted to read it and know exactly what it was. The cover was pretty cool, which helps. I'm not fond of classic books, but once in a while, it doesn't hurt.

It's nice to know the true story as it was written (even if I was a bit disappointed by the fact that there was no "IT'S ALIIIIVE" =D), like I did for Dracula or other well known stories/myths. The epistolary style brings a much more personnal dimension to the story, allowing us to understand with their own words what's going on, like being inside the mind of the characters.

I felt sad for the creature, his loneliness. I was always balanced between affection and horror about him. Both him and his creator had ambivalant personnality. I won't judge Frankenstein (the master, not the creature, just to be clear for those who confuse them) because I don't know what I would have done if I created that kind of creature... but I don't think this story would have been the same if he accepted him, and if he faced the consequences of his acts.
It feels like everything is just working to bring both of them to a really sad ending. All the decisions, everything that's happening... It's kind of oppressing in that way.

Anyway, it was nice to enter in that kind of reflexion afterwards. I can't say I loved it, but it was rewarding and I'm glad I read it.

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Clive Barker - Abarat

Title: Abarat (Abarat, books 1 & 2)
Author: Clive Barker
Pub. year: 2002
Pages: 388
Editor: HarperCollins

Summary: Abarat: an archipelago of amazement and wonder. A land made up of twenty-five islands, each one representing one hour of the day, each one a unique place of adventure and danger (and one mysterious place out of time), all ruled over by the evil Christopher Carrion, Lord of Midnight, and his monstrous grandmother, Mater Motley. Candy Quackenbush, a 16-year old from Chickentown, Minnesota, crosses by accident from our world into Abarat, and discovers she has been there many, many times before. She has friends there and she has enemies. As Candy makes her journey between all the islands of the archipelago, she will discover a plot by Christopher Carrion to block out the Sun, Moon and stars to achieve a condition of Permanent Midnight. In order to prevent this disaster, Candy must find the courage to confront the Lord of Midnight; and in doing so come to know who she really is: a revelation which will transform her own understanding of her place in the epic events.

I already presented many of my favorite books to you, and I don't think this would feel right if I don't add Abarat to the list. I discovered this book by chance at the bookstore—the cover was beautiful, I knew the author from The Thief of Always (excellent book by the way) and the story seemed intriguing enough for me to go home with the first two books. Probably one of my best compulsive bought of the latest years.



The story works around some classical fantasy elements—a young and courageous girl with a greater destiny, magical creatures, an epic quest to save the world—but beyond all that there is something really fascinating about this story. I don't know if it is because the illustrations (by the author himself) are dazzling, or because the creatures living in the Abarat are so weird that you can't even begin to imagine where they come from, but it seems impossible to remain untouched by these books. Candy is the typical hero that you look upon to, flawed but oh so human, and all the people she meets on her journey are so surprising, terrific and terrible that it's impossible to forget them.

With the third book going out this month, the Abarat quartet will surely be one of the must have for a very long time, fit as well for children as for adults. Original, full of magic, mysteries, epic adventures and emotion, it has everything to seduce the reader, including delightful paintings (don't get the massmarket paperback or you will miss them!) and complex characters. Well, is there anything that could be missing? Oh yes, humour—forget it, it's also funny. If you a have some hours to spare, you definitely should spend them in the Abarat. The islands frozen in time are waiting for you!

Scarebaby, scarebaby,
Where do you run?
Out in the graveyard,
To have some fun?
Dancing with skeletons
Up from the ground?
Doing a jig
On the burial mound?

Scarebaby, scarebaby,
Horrid you are!
With the wings of a bat,
And a face with a scar,
The fangs of a vampire,
The tail of a snake;
You open your mouth
And the noise that you make
Is a song that the Devil sings,
Bitter and loud.
Tell me, my baby,
Was your mother proud?

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Diana Wynne Jones - Howl's Moving Castle

Title: Howl's Moving Castle (Castle series, book 1)
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Pub. year: 2009
Pages: 304
Editor: HarperCollins Children's Books

Summary: In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark smoke from its four thin turrets, appeared on the horizon, everyone thought it was the Witch. The castle, however, belonged to Wizard Howl, who, it was said, liked to suck the souls of young girls.
The Hatter sisters--Sophie, Lettie, and Martha--and all the other girls were warned not to venture into the streets alone. But that was only the beginning.
In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?

After telling you about all those authors I love, I couldn't miss on the great Diana Wynne Jones, the one who—though I didn't know it at the time—wrote the book that inspired Hayao Miyazaki's eponym movie, one of my ever favorites. I am not going to tell you about this movie, but really, you should see it. Best animation movie ever—or close to be. So back to business: Diana Wynne Jones. Not only the lady was an amazing story teller, she had a way with words that makes them almost as magic as her stories. With a little down-to-earth and lots of demon/magic formulas/potions/sorcerers/moving castle, she brews this kind of story that makes you open your eyes wide and find again in yourself this little excitement that you had when you were a kid, and that some of us still have. Or is it because some of us are still kids?



This "Castle series" is composed of three books. In the first one, we follow the strong willed Sophie, changed into an old lady by the Witch of the Waste, who gets on board of Howl's moving castle. Howl is reputed to be a terrible magician eating ladies' hearts, but in fact he's just a gigolo, slightly lazy and stubborn, who made a pact with a fire demon—the delightfully funny Calcifer, in charge of moving the Castle. Sophie will try to break the promise binding them together while visiting the country and trying herself at magic, of course! In the second book, meet Abdullah, who by an extraordinary set of events finds himself a magic carpet, and meets a princess to save from the claws of an evil being. In this Arabian Nights atmosphere, we follow him and his annoying bottle genius to the rescue of not one, but a whole bunch of princesses... including Sophie, of course! In the third book, a young lady called Charmain is called to tend the house of a sick magician. The house has many tricks in its pocket for her, and while she tries to be a good helper at the royal castle's library, she will have to solve a mystery with the great Howl himself...

If Howl and Sophie are the constant characters of the series, you won't see them that often. What you will see is loads of original characters, magic everywhere, great adventures, mysteries and suspense... well, everything that makes a perfect fantasy book. Kids or not kids, who could deny the talent of the wonderful Diana Wynne Jones?

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