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.

A Thousand Ships

Book Title: A Thousand Ships

Author: Natalie Haynes

Date Started: April 16th 2020

Date Completed: April 25th 2020

Genres: Historical, Mythology

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

With a somewhat weighted heart, I have to admit that I didn't find anything particularly special about A Thousand Ships. It's plainly written, ticks all the boxes for a Greek myth retelling, but doesn't really put a twist on anything. Yes, it's giving voice to the women who are often glossed over in the canon, but there are other novels and short story collections that, in my opinion, do the same thing in a more interesting and creative way. That doesn't mean this book is without its strengths, however.

A Thousand Ships is like reading a book of Greek myths - direct, simple, self-contained but still connecting to the greater arc of the universe that was Ancient Greece and its surrounding kingdoms - which is probably the point. My problem was going into this expecting a novel, which made it feel fragmented at the start. When I noticed that it was trying to echo the old story collections, things started to take shape. But, honestly, I feel like this was a chance to flesh out the women's lives alongside their part in the poems, but all it really did was narrate the traditional tales in their voice. Which is fine, and obviously still necessary (and the fact that the women were painted in varying colours was very refreshing), but I was honestly expecting more.

I do wonder what it would be like to read this without knowing the original Greek myths in detail; I think you might be a bit lost. There's a lot of information and names and connections, and many different myths in this novel. It's not really a just retelling of the Trojan War, but more of a big chunk of Greek history since it also retells The Odyssey, (a bit of The Aeneid) and adapts multiple other miscellaneous tales through connections in family relations, time jumps and even parallels to the current events. That, I did like. Greek mythology is hard to appreciate without understanding the bigger picture because literally everything ties into something else - it's like Marvel on steroids, and actually motivated. But for a beginner, that's quite a deep pool to be thrown into at first.

That being said, I am going to, ironically, completely contradict what I just said and suggest that A Thousand Ships might also be a good introduction to 'feminist' Greek mythology. While there's a lot of references that aren't necessarily coherent unless you know the history, I think it's possible to accept you don't recognise the names or connections and keep reading. And what it does do is touch on just about anything you could possibly be interested in within Greek mythology, and from the viewpoints of the women. I actually think the fact that I already knew the stories and have read a fair heap of feminist retellings/essays on the myths mean that nothing felt especially new for me. But had I read this when I was studying classics in college, I probably would have been in love.

Night of the Dragon

Book Title: Night of the Dragon

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Shadow of the Fox #3

Date Started: April 17th 2020

Date Completed: April 19th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Historical

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thanks to NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

Look, the Shadow of the Fox trilogy has been fun. I've made a lot of arguments pointing out my issues with it, but I have also tried to make it clear I found a lot of entertainment in it as well. I got what I was expecting, ups and downs, the whole way through and that counts for a lot.

I've had the same pet peeves about the writing style throughout the series; flippant narration, abundant cliches, overly-direct plot clues, confusing perspectives etc. What felt more prominent in Night of the Dragon was that a lot of things are said to sound cool rather than to make sense. When a character says two contradicting sentences mere lines apart it pulls you out of the narrative as a reader because you question yourself and the author - which is fine in a first draft but at this point, it contributes to making everything feel messy.

For this last instalment, we basically have a massive battle from very early on - or rather four or five battles because the baddies and 'rules' keep (predictably) changing. With all the illusions and confusing perspectives, it's not the easiest to keep track of, but it is definitely entertaining. The rest is as expected: melodrama, romantic angst, monster fighting. Kudos to Kagawa for not totally copping out at the end, which she definitely had the opportunity to do. I'm sure a lot of people will be really satisfied even if the might see it coming.

Really, the only thing that really disappointed me was the fact that Tatsumi's transformation had zero impact (there are quite a few events in this that you could cut out of the book and the actual plot wouldn't be affected but this was the only one I was genuinely frustrated by). Other than that, you get to see all the characters doing their thing, Yumeko has a cool arc and finale, and the monsters are demons are at the top of their game.

In a nutshell: exciting, engaging, eye-rolling, but enjoyable. This trilogy has given me some much-needed respite over the week I read all three in. It's a worthy addition to the catalogue of YA, not least for its freshness and authentic exploration of Japanese mythology; but it's probably tedious for those outside of the direct YA audience.

Soul of the Sword

Book Title: Soul of the Sword

Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: Shadow of the Fox #2

Date Started: April 15th 2020

Date Completed: April 17th 2020

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Historical

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

Despite my complaints about the first book in the Shadow of the Fox series, I clearly didn't hate it because I was craving more literally the next day. Considering I'm stuck inside and out of work, why not? Ultimately, it comes down to this: they're not the best written, but hell if these books aren't entertaining and exciting - like actually exciting. And that's commendable.

I have the same pet peeves with the writing style as the first book (too direct, flippant, messy), but the characters were way better this time round. Things felt more weighty as a result, and I could take it all a bit more seriously. Maybe their motivations are clearer, maybe they've been given more layers, but whatever the reason, I didn't want to hit them every time they said something in their head because it was so stupid.

Soul of the Sword is a less explorative of Japanese mythology than its predecessor; it uses a more common YA situation and plot. A lot less happens. Well, not much happens at all, in fact. I wouldn't say it's fallen victim to filler book syndrome, but perhaps there were two things that Kagawa needed to happen in the middle of the series and she built up what she could around that. That's totally fine if you're marathoning the series like me, but I could see myself getting frustrated with it if I was reading at a normal pace.

If you read my previous review, you'll maybe remember me saying that I would rather not have the love angst. Yeah, I didn't get my wish - and you can just tell that isn't going to change in the last book. Brooding male love interests are just boring at this point - if they were ever interesting. I also notice that YA seems very quick to defend men being assholes by revealing a long tragic past, and then letting them be not very nice with is... something to note. In all fairness, Tatsumi is certainly a mild instance of this, but if Yumeko doesn't have words with him in Night of the Dragon, I'll have something to say about all this.

Look, I blazed through Soul of the Sword, and I think I'll just go straight to the last one (since that was actually the book I was given for free to review). My expectations are a little mixed, but I'm sure it'll be entertaining for a few hours and that's all I'm asking for.