Uprooted

Book Title: Uprooted

Author: Naomi Novik

Date Started: May 23rd 2020

Date Completed: May 30th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Historical, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

Uprooted blew my expectations out of the water, and I loved everything about it. There's familiar fairytales, different fairytales, old magic, new magic, everything you could ask of a fantasy novel and more. I've read and enjoyed some other Naomi Novik books very much in the past, but none of them come close to this.

Surprisingly enough, things go from bad to worse, and then even worse in this book. We're given a situation, the characters finally seem to have figured it out, and then something else terrible happens that they have to fight for. And as things get worse and worse for the characters, it gets better and better for the reader. I can't remember the last time I was so excited for the story not to be over, for the evil to become something completely unexpected, for the characters to be in peril again. And, looking back, so much happens to Agnieszka over the course of this book, but it doesn't feel rushed at all. I was blown along every single time, clueless to where we could possibly be heading next but very excited for it.

The story is really the triumph of this book, but the world itself is absolutely dripping with magic. It feels halfway between traditional fairytales and what we're maybe a bit more used to from high fantasy these days, but it was the kind of dark, gory fantasy that old folklore thrived off of. What's more, Novik plays with the morality of the world and its people; there isn't really good or bad, just grey areas that rely on the character to make the best decision in the situation, even if they don't have great options.

What really pulls you through this story is Agnieszka and Kasia and Sarkan - all of whom I love dearly. I could write an essay on how awesome Kasia is, especially considering she's not even the central character. That's left to Agnieszka, who is strong-willed and clever and out of her depth and scared and makes a ton of mistakes but does them magnificently and works damn hard to repair them. That's what you really want in a leading character, especially in a story that twists and weaves into a whole saga of battles and spells and misunderstandings.

The Name of the Wind

Book Title: The Name of the Wind

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Series: The Kingkiller Chronicles #1

Date Started: May 16th 2020

Date Completed: May 23rd 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

I've been hearing good things about this book for years, and honestly it was the size putting me off more than anything. Yet here we are; I read it in a week, for hours at a time because I simply didn't want to stop. It's the kind of book where I was completely immersed within seconds and looked up to find it an hour had already past. So I would say ten more minutes, and then it would be another hour later. Oops?

My mind is taken up with a lot of story theory, particularly around structure, at the moment. And The Name of the Wind turned out to be an exceptional cure for that. It, somehow, breaks all the rules and fulfils them at the same time. It seemingly has no goal, it wanders everywhere, it's like an epic with no end, only fuelled by secrets and mystery. And that works so well and I can't quite work out why - and that's its own kind of magic.

The world is vibrantly rich, mixing a lot of the staple elements of high fantasy since Tolkein with other things too. It feels familiar enough to sink into, with enough of its own uniqueness to be exicting. Book lovers aren't really rare, and music and theatre play their parts in exposition a lot of the time, but it's so nice to see these things weighed in so heavily and so personally in a protagonist. Instead of just giving the world a bit of flavour, it colours it completely.

Kvothe, himself, is a great fantasy hero. He's a good person but with all the thrilling ruffian qualities of an alluring fantasy protagonist. Yes, I'm inclined to a lot of the things he is so of course find him engaging, but he's compelling from so many standpoints - and we're only a third of the way through his tale up until his mid-20s! This is in no small part to do with the fact that all the characters are investable, even if they aren't likeable. They feel like complimenting or opposing forces to him and his journey, and to the world in general.

I don't feel like I've made the best job of praising this book; I was honestly considering not writing a review at all and just leaving a five-star rating, but being stuck indoors with no paid work for the foreseeable future is as good an excuse to attempt a review as any. The Name of the Wind was exactly what I expected and more. I may be putting off The Wise Man's Fear for a while, in no small part because of its length, but also because the final book still hasn't been released and I can't see myself being able to hold back for too long.

A Pocketful of Crows

Book Title: A Pocketful of Crows

Author: Joanne M. Harris

Date Started: May 14th 2020

Date Completed: May 16th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Fairytale, Historical

Quality Rating: Two Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Two Stars

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

A Pocketful of Crows was not a fun read for me, to put it lightly. To summarise if you don't want to read all my rantings: whatever it was trying to achieve it didn't, and whatever else was added to the mix along the way wasn't enough to help me get on with it. There are minor spoilers ahead because I had to get out why this book was so utterly infuriating for me, but I'd be surprised if you couldn't see them coming from the first chapter anyway. The book's saving grace was that it was over quickly.

The first thing became apparent to me was the fact that there's no description. Anywhere. Which is really bizarre, especially for a book that's selling itself so strongly on being a fairytale. You can't just list things like mountains and rivers and trees and think that counts as magical. Sure, traditional fairytales don't overload themselves with extensive details about how everything looks or feels, but they are absolutely overflowing with imagery. There is no rhyme or reason to what is listed (it's the same things over and over again, but they don't enrich any metaphors or even give us a specific sense of place or aesthetics). They're just included, I assume, to sound 'mystical', but with no motivation behind them, it fails.

To carry on with the misunderstanding of what a folktale or fairytale is, it feels like nothing happens in this book because we skip over the actual story events. Yes, you're right, fairytales do act in a detached and out-of-time fashion, but they still work because we 1) have the metaphors and imagery to fill in the blanks, 2) are already placed in a situation that we recognise and can fill in other blanks, and 3) are not being overloaded by other information. 80% of this book is listing the same things over and over again, and our unbearable protagonist speaking her mind. It's too much, it's distracting and pointless. I'll also make a point that Harris clearly thinks she's retelling Cinderella (the book itself is literally referenced and comparisons to the protagonist are made again and again), but it's actually a very derivative Little Mermaid narrative, and I'm not sure the author noticed that was what she was writing.

So, okay, structural and technical aspects aside, was the book really that bad? Well, honestly I don't know because I found it hard to care because the characters have no conscience and therefore no fears. Which, actually, means yes. Okay, I get that the protagonist falls in love and is then scorned when she's rejected (clichés abound if you haven't noticed) to the point of wanting revenge. Fine. But if not one really considers their morality or has a moment of doubt (the other characters as well), then there aren't any stakes. So what if they ruin someone else's life? They don't seem to care, and neither does anyone else. 'That's fine, though, because it's a first-person narration so we understand the character's innermost thoughts.' No, we don't. I also think it's a completely stupid idea to use a first-person perspective when the main 'excuse' the book falls back on all the time its supposedly timeless, detached folktale style - which is the exact opposite of what first-person prose achieves. Don't even get me started on the 'I have no name' trope, because you do. You have loads of them whether you like it or not, you can't just ignore them if they bind you because it suits the later narrative.

One thing that I am genuinely confused about (along with the magic rules, but that just wasn't thought through enough) was the fact that the heroine is actually everything she is villainised to be. Isn't she? She is a witch, in some form, right? She has cursed the castle. She has done all the things they've said she did. Of course, I get the feeling we're supposed to think they've making her a scapegoat, but I just don't get it. Sure, they're acting in an exaggerated way because of the misogynistic society, but they're aren't actually fabricating anything. I don't get it. My only conclusion is that Harris is trying to make us see anyone but the heroine as an enemy (which is ironic, because I can't bear the protagonist at all). Don't even get me started on the 

I thought this book was just bad when I was reading it. But then I got to the end where there's this meta-narrative backstory, and I realised that had been the problem the whole time. Harris had been forcing and manipulating everything so that the final 'twist' worked, and in doing so completely sacrificed her story. Somehow, that makes me less frustrated than everything else, because it's just misjudged rather than having no skill. But wow, that was on big mess of a book just so you could have your feminist twist - which honestly doesn't feel particularly feminist. And I don't mean that because it has a female character who is capable of wickedness, or there are women that are selfish, those things are perfectly valid. I say it because there are dozens of sexist clichés thrown into this thing, and at the end it's all dismissed like it never happened, and the women are practically deified, and it's just not that simple. Implying so is honestly patronising.

Sabriel

Book Title: Sabriel

Author: Garth Nix

Series: The Old Kingdom #1

Date Started: May 12th 2020

Date Completed: May 14th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Sabriel is, of course, a classic in the genre of fantasy adventure books. One that I never got round to reading as a kid for whatever reason. That was probably unfortunate; I probably would've loved this novel when I was younger. As it is, I enjoyed reading the book, and will continue with the series, but wasn't blown away.

The Old Kingdom is put together with some pretty cool ideas, complex yet well-explained and intuitive. There's quite a magic system for the Abhorsens and Charters Mages and Clayrs and Royals and... But I kept up with it for the most part. I also think Nix had a nice amount of worldbuilding while staying focused on the story, which is often an issue with a lot of fantasy novels released today. Authors get so caught up in trying to explain every detail behind their world or magic systems that they forget they're telling a story about people. Nix knew what the reader would be able to work out for themselves, gave just enough detail to give the world flavour, and then got on with it.

It's impressive how long the book goes with Sabriel by itself and still manages to be engaging. Sabriel's internal monologue, or at least her prose, was blissfully practical and intelligent; the temptation to make your hero dum just to give them an obstacle when they're on their own is one many an author gives in to. Nix just raised the stakes, and it works better on both ends. I will admit that I had more fun once Mogget and then Touchstone had been added to the mix, just for a little more friction, you know.

A mention has to go to the title-character and heroine herself. Like I said, she's practical and intelligent, just faced with higher stakes than many novels. Perhaps her lack of hesitancy at some points lost a deeper emotive impact, but honestly I loved the fact that she was just a badass and faced her obstacles head-on. She still failed, but she didn't wallow in self-pity, she just got on with it. The fact that her gender isn't even commented on is frankly kinda revolutionary, especially in a book from the 1990s (this book is older than me, oh no).

I think why this book didn't get five stars for me was the fact I wanted more from it. It felt very simple, even though it weaved a good story with a lot of worldbuilding around it. Maybe I was expecting more, or perhaps something more different to other fantasy books I've read (because it definitely wasn't anything I hadn't seen before - though arguably this was the predecessor to those other examples). As I mentioned, had I read this as a child/early teen it probably would've been on my favourites list - I would encourage you to put it in the hands of young readers if you can.

The Tombs of Atuan

Book Title: The Tombs of Atuan

Author: Ursula K. Le Guin

Series: Earthsea Cycle #2

Date Started: May 10th 2020

Date Completed: May 11th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

The Tombs of Atuan was surprisingly short but had a whole lot of information packed in. This series seems to be gradually exploring its world with epic-like tales from different corners of it, and that's exciting. I will say that it's very good (just one of the cornerstones of modern fantasy, you know), but in a detached way, honestly. It feels like myth; it feels like something out of time and place (in terms of how it was written) and like a folktale that has always been. There's something magnificently spellbinding and confounding about that.

The Earthsea Cycle is famous for its worldbuilding, and there are few fantasy worlds as rich as this (and I've read a heap of fantasy, trust me). The idea of being fascinated by your own world is clearly what drives every step of Le Guin's stories - she points it out herself in her afterword. That's something we don't often get in modern novels, I guess in part because we're very attached to having our 'protagonist' that we come back to every time. And having an anchor in a central character is storytelling 1.1. It's fascinating, then, to read Le Guin's work which pivots on protagonists from book to book in order to show different perspectives, cultures and stories. Ged, the hero of A Wizard from Earthsea, is involved in The Tombs of Atuan but without having to be the protagonist. His presence is comforting and exciting, but I was no less invested because I had to get familiar with a new heroine at the heart of the book.

I mentioned in my review of the first book how interesting it was to read Le Guin's own afterword, written several decades after the book had been published. This was the case once again, raising some elements I hadn't necessarily considered while reading. It's true, this is a story that shows a heroine who needs help from a man to succeed - something that we criticise these days in post-(post?)-feminist terms. But it's also true that Arha, or Tenar, has to access her bravery and find an outlet of power for herself that actually does empower her. It's the reality that often in oppressive societies something has to be given from outside to introduce the idea of something new, and isn't taking that new information and processing it to succeed still a very personal and challenging thing for each individual? This was written in the 60s, remember, but it's still very relevant, partly because, perhaps, it's not trying to be perfect in its metaphors. It's just a story. Whether you can learn from it or not is a side effect.

Castle in the Air

Book Title: Castle in the Air

Author: Diana Wynne Jones

Series: Howl's Moving Castle #2

Date Started: May 4th 2020

Date Completed: May 10th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

A lot of people know the story of Howl's Moving Castle, whether from the Ghibli animation or Diana Wynne Jones' book. Fewer people are aware there are sequels, I feel, and that's a shame because this was a lot of fun to read. I think I would've prefered it as a kid as opposed to a twenty-something, but it was still a nice burst of fantastical adventure and humour.

Wynne Jones' world of Ingary, Zanzib and the various other countries that make up its map is genuinely fantastic. It's an obvious parallel to our world (for those of you who've read the book, you'll know I mean this literally), but it has these tiny edges of the fantastic, these flairs of the bizarre and whimsical. Obviously, there are djinns and fire spirits and wizards and moving castles, but it comes down to the stories too: Castle in the Air begins as somewhat of a retelling of Aladdin and other 1001 Nights tales but merges other stories like The 12 Dancing Princesses and even some Wizard of Oz vibes into something new. (For a book written in the late 80s, it's also got a satisfyingly feminist twist, though it takes a while to get to it.)

I loved how large the story felt, like an epic poem, but how neatly everything tied up in a contained way. Threads from within the story itself ended up being the solutions the characters were looking for - coming from literally right under their noses. It felt even more like a fairy tale because of that. On the downside of this was the fact that, while reading it, it seemed to work far better episodically by chapter than read all at once. This is perfect (and a fair bit better than normal books) if you're reading to a child every night, just a bit slow for older readers perhaps.

Admittedly, I enjoyed Castle in the Air way more once Sophie (heroine of Howl's Moving Castle) showed up. She's such a strong character, her little involvement in the story was well crafted, and she is sadly more engaging than Abdullah - when she's in a scene, your attention is so focused on her, and she lights it up. That being said, the initial cast of this novel is still engaging in a fairytale-like way. They play off the tropes in old stories like that, but sometimes the long-winded poetic dialogue grinds you down.

I don't even know how many years it's been since I read Howl's Moving Castle, but I hope I won't take as long to get around to the last novel in this series. I didn't actually know Sophie and co from the first book were going to make an appearance, but looking at the synopsis for House of Many Ways it seems like they'll have a bigger part in the final instalment, which honestly makes me very excited.

One Hundred Shadows

Book Title: One Hundred Shadows

Author: Hwang Jungeun

Date Started: May 2nd 2020

Date Completed: May 4th 2020

Genres: Contemporary, Magical Realism

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I read Kong's Garden, a short story by Hwang, a few months ago and was curious to read one of her novels. It was a quick read, but one I wish I could've read sitting under a tree in summer. It washes over you in a sort of daze like summer sunlight.

One Hundred Shadows reminded me why I love magical realism so much - and, probably, why other some people don't. It's a heightened reality, there's no clear ending, and you can lose yourself in applying metaphors and trying to make sense of the magical elements. Really, you have to let go of complete understanding and let yourself feel it out without having control over it; then it gets its way under your skin and stays there. I'll probably remember it more in glimmers than a whole story, but that's how these kinds of narratives are put together and why they feel so visceral for me.

These themes of class and society, tradition and youth, are so prevalent in Korean art. I've come across it in literature, film, music again and again - but they always find new ways to explore it. There're parts where I don't even think it's consciously investigated by the storyteller, it's just a big part of their culture and the way their relationships with other people build. It's one of the wonderful things art and the gift of translation can do: it can make you feel closer to the culture and start to build bridges to real understanding.

My one complaint about the book was that it was so short! I could've read it in one sitting if I didn't want to spin it out more. In all fairness, it suited the story and the style very well, but I still wanted more of it at the end.

Normal People

Book Title: Normal People

Author: Sally Rooney

Date Started: April 25th 2020

Date Completed: May 2nd 2020

Genres: Contemporary, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Normal People was sent to me by a friend who I think might have actually run to the postbox the minute she finished reading it. Basically; a pretty strong recommendation. And, although it's different from what I usually read, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It's fluidly written, easy to fall into, and just a nice read overall. (Or perhaps I should say comforting since it's definitely a bittersweet sort of book.)

Rooney explores a whole host of things through the on/off undefinable relationship of two people, Connall and Marianne. We begin in secondary school and follow in snapshots all the way until they're graduated adults in the real world. A bit like a coming-of-age drama for adults - but deliberately not - it's honest about a lot of issues that YA novels don't, mostly for fear of being unmarketable. The most notable being sexuality, the difficulties that come with navigating it, and how all other facets of society end up feeding into it. Personally, the exploration of the class system was more interesting for me. But I suppose the normalised representation of sex and mental health difficulties, their bluntness and complexity, is arguably groundbreaking in and of itself.

As I've said, Normal People was very easy to slip into. It's well written; nothing much really happens, but you're compelled anyway. That, of course, is down to the honesty on the page. It feels real. I didn't necessarily relate wholly to either character (though I suspect there are many people who would), but in elements of both. The fact that Marianne and Connall's relationship really isn't easy to pin down is something that I think we sorely needed to see, as well. Half the experience of this book is sitting back and going 'yeah, I know that feeling'. And that's a hard thing to write.

At the end of the day, I think what Rooney is trying to say is less that 'there is no such thing as normal,' and more that being confused and mess up (or 'damaged') is totally normal. That's a comforting thing to hear every now and then.