Another Book Discussion!

I've posted the first of the July book discussion up at the DAW Books blog (dawbooks). It's for the hardcover release of Tracy Hickman's Blood of the Emperor, the third and final novel in his Annals of Drakis series. Now that the last book is out, I can add this series to my TBR pile. *grin* Swing on by and check it out!

Book Review: "Hounded" by Kevin Hearne

I don't read a lot of urban fantasy--I'm just not into it that much, more an epic fantasy person here--but Kevin Hearne was on a panel I was moderating at Comic Con, so I decided to check him out, and I'm glad I did.





Hounded is the first book in his Iron Druid Chronicles (which is now up to four books, going on five). The basic premise is that Atticus is an ancient druid, approximately 2100 years old but who looks 21, and a long time ago, he stole a magical sword from a Celtic god during a battle and he's been hounded (ha!) by the god ever since. In this book, he's hiding in Tempe, Arizona, where he can still connect to the earth, the source of his magical powers, and yet be relatively distant from the gods and the Fae who may be looking for him. But now he's been warned by the Morrigan that he's been found . . . and all sorts of creatures are after him.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the character Atticus, I liked the set-up, I liked the druid magic mixed with the Fae and the gods and even the werewolves. It wasn't oppressively dark in atmosphere and tone, as a majority of urban fantasies are, and while there was certain lots of blood and battles, it was balanced with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Atticus comes across as pratical and realistic and yet still enjoys life. His sidekicks--a wolfhound that he can literally speak to, an elderly Irish woman down the street, and his lawyers--are great characters themselves.

My only real complaint, easy to overlook while your enjoying the novel, is that Atticus' voice doesn't ring true with being 2100 years old. It really sounds more like he's 21, so that aspect of his supposed history is a little hard to swallow. Yes, he points out that he spends a lot of time learning the new vernacular and idioms and keeping up on current culture, and he does slip once in a while in minor ways, but this is written in the first person and at no point did I really feel like he was 2100 years old acting like 21. He felt like 21 all the way through.

But like I said, that's easy to ignore because the rest of the book is so good. So, I definitely recommend that anyone who enjoys urban fantasies . . . and even those who don't . . . check out Hounded by Kevin Hearne. I've already got all of the sequels.

Book Review: "Struck" by Jennifer Bosworth

Struck is the first book by Jennifer Bosworth, as far as I can tell. It's a YA post apocalyptic novel with a rather unique main character and power. The basic premise is that a massive earthquake has destroyed LA, leaving only a single tower remaining in the ruins and a bunch of hungry survivors. One of the survivors is Mia, a young girl with a strange attraction--almost an addition--to lightning. She's been struck multiple times and survived. In the aftermath of the earthquake, she's simply trying to keep herself, her brother, and her traumatized mother alive. But a religious group has risen from the destruction, preaching that an even greater earthquake--one that will not only destroy LA but affect the entire world--is coming . . . and Mia is their key to unlocking that earthquakes power. They want the earthquake to cleanse the earth. A second cult has risen to oppose them, and Mia finds herself caught in the middle.





I liked the magical component in this book, the use of lightning. I also like the post apocalyptic--or is it mid-apocalptic?--aspects of the book. The magical components are unique, not something I've seen recently in books (although there has been lightning wielders in comics and on TV and in movies, of course), and I've always anything apocalyptic. As a YA read, it's a good book.

The feel off the book, though, was slightly off. It's hard to pinpoint, because the writing is fine and the plot is fine . . . but at the same time it felt like this had been scripted and then fleshed out into a book. The plot felt set, and the characters didn't seem to so much live as move through that prescribed plot. I never felt that the decisions made by the characters, their choices, were really theirs, instead, I felt like they were simply doing what they were supposed to be doing. Like I said, it's hard to describe and certainly difficult to pinpoint what exactly was causing this feeling. But that's how I felt reading it. Perhaps it's because it's a YA novel, and I don't generally read them.

In any case, I thought it was an interesting read, simply for the setting and the lightning.