Tag Archives: book review

Book cover for Ready Player One; image from the internet.

Title: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Tags: Boy Fantasy, VR, Dystopian Future

Reflections: With the impending release of the video adaptation, I was recently lent the book Ready Play One. After a week of effort, I finally finished reading it. I also finished reading the third and final installment in Patrick Weekes’ Rogues of the Republic series, The Paladin Caper. I bring this up because there are some strong similarities between these high fantasy novels; only one was well written and one was boring.

As I have mentioned in an older post, the Rogues of the Republic series is a blending of Ocean’s 11 crossed with high fantasy Dungeons and Dragons. Ready Player One is a nearly dystopian, virtual reality fantasy that was written by someone who loves the idea of D&D. Both books pull heavily on D&D style fantasy elements and trops. The difference is Ready Player One references D&D with key phrases like: I collected my ring of power and stashed in my bag of holding with an ancient sword that added +5 to my attack value. Yes, there are lots of terms from D&D embedded in the book, but there is less of an integration of the concepts. Mostly it is a series of references that do not help with world emersion.

Whereas in Rogues of the Republic the D&D elements come out as character types and world design. Only these are not simple flat caricatures, the book has a complex ensemble that includes a shapeshifting unicorn, a talking warhammer, a death priests, a wizard and many others. Despite the large cast of characters, they are all interesting and individual with complete backstories and personal goals. It is fun to watch how they all interact together on the page.

Book cover for Ready Player One; image from the internet.

Both books focus around a fetch quest and even include some con work to accomplish the main quest. While the fetch quest of Ready Player One is the main point of the book. It spends a great deal of time coming up with clever riddles that are so vague they could literally reference anything – as long is it was part of the 1980’s. The unique (selling?) feature of Ready Player One is the constant passing reference to music, movies, and occasional books from the 1980’s. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the references that can be used by the reader to understand the oblique clues. The clues must all be explained and even then there is no logic or elegant flow to their reasoning.

In contrast, the Rogues of the Republic is an over the top con-theft story. That wraps nicely together come the end. Internally, the world is logical. The heist may be ridiculous but it is written in such a way that sweeps the reader along. The surprising twists seem to come out of nowhere, but in the end it does make sense. Everything works and then it all ties together.

The biggest difference between the two stories is the method of telling, or the style of the author. Rogues of the Republic is well written and highly entertaining. The characters are complex, the world is internally consistent, and the banter between individuals is vastly amusing. The author is good about including diversity, adding some social commentary in a way that is not hamfisted or last minute additions. Most importantly, Patrick Weekes is good about showing and not just telling. There is lots of action, the characters are always doing something, even if doing involves conversing with someone else.

Cover for Patrick Weekes’ book, The Paladin, third in the Rogues of the Republic series. Image from the internet.

Ready Player One suffers from poor writing, that is largely boring. There are long swaths of exposition (the first 10 chapters), which demonstrate a poor concept of their world and a number of logical concerns (internally speaking). The dialogue between characters sounds is largely dumb – with all characters sounding like 15 year old boys. And let’s face it, 15 year old boy are not known for their witticisms. The first conversation that final broke up the monotony of the main character’s stream of conscious thought devolved into a series of 1980’s style insults with no purpose or substance.

Also the author spends way too much time explaining… well everything. Including words. With the story set in a not to distant future, focussing mostly on the virtual reality of that time, you would expect the audience to be mostly young boys (teenagers). Much of the content is wish fulfillment for male nerds. So, it baffles me that the author spends the first half-dozen (or more) chapters defining terms like VR, XP, PvP, and MMO. Granted, my mother might not know these terms, but then I don’t think she would have picked up this book anyway. The other one that really stood out to me, was the discussion about how people could make money in this alternate VR world as though it was something new. People have been buying and selling skins for years now. And even I know about marketplaces and microtransactions. Mostly, it seemed like Clive was writing about Gabe and Valve. (personal perspective only)

While Ready Player One is far from the worst book I have read, it is not one that I would strongly recommend. It is filled with tons of 80’s references which fail to develop into anything more than “hey, remember the 80’s, cause like, yeah… that’s all I got”.

If you want something more, something well written, fun and still filled with crazy high fantasy elements, then pick up Rogues of the Republic instead. This trilogy is filled with all the D&D references you could want, all the major heist adventure you could hope for and is actually well written too!

Winter Book Shelf – The Princess Game

Book cover for The Princess Game; image from the internet.

Title: The Princess Game: A Reimagining of Sleeping Beauty

Author: Melanie Cellier

Series: The Four Kingdoms

Tags: Young Adult, Fairy Tale

Reflections: I don’t usually like to read books out of order. I make a point of starting series with book one. This not always the best method, but one that I am a stickler for following. Except in this instance. Belonging to the Four Kingdoms series this was book 4 and I have not read the others. Though it does read comfortably as a stand alone novel.

The Princess Game was a cute re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty. It was safe and light but I rather liked it. I am a sucker for hidden identities. Particularly when a person pretends to be one thing during the day and something else at night. Not surprisingly I am a huge fan of Zorro. And there were elements of that dual identity throughout the book.

While I appreciate the idea of making Sleeping Beauty more of an active participant in her life, I did find the curse a little on the weak side. Granted, this was because of some interference of various fairy godmothers (to be discussed later). Instead of death or sleep, the princess is cursed to have her gifted intelligence put to sleep – in effect becoming an idiot. Only, through some more magical manipulations, Sleeping Beauty is forced to have the appearance of an idiot, while she keeps her fierce intelligence to herself.

Book cover for The Princess Game; image from the internet.

I appreciate that the book celebrates the importance of intelligence, but overall this a very low impact curse. Mostly it means that when seen by others who know who she is, our heroic princess must play the part of flighty airhead. This seemed to take the route of keeping her conversation on topics of clothes or in a pinch anything that is not related to the current topic of discourse. Cute, but not high stakes.

My other complaint comes in the form of an over abundance of fairy godmothers. It seems at times the characters are tripping over these gift-giving magical creatures. It feels a bit like a cheat to have everything solved so easily by someone else. Though, this re-imagining did try to stay rather close to the Disney version, complete with the requirement of True-Love’s Kiss. Like with many other stories, there was a lack of subtlety that would have made the simple, familiar plot a little more intriguing.

Still, with a target audience of young adults, there is nothing offensive in the story. And I did like the princess turn spy, so overall I would give this a 3 out of 5.

Winter Book Shelf – The Earl of Brass

Book cover for the Earl of Brass; image from the internet.

Title: The Earl of Brass

Author: Kara Jorgensen

Tags: Clockwork, Adult, Fantasy

Reflections:

I suppose my first impressions were that the book was fine. There was nothing overtly offensive about the story or the writing. But that was a lazy anwer and the more I reflected, the more dissatisfied I became.

Our lead male, Eilian Sorrell is an exceedingly flat character. A moral snob when it suits him and selfish, moody brat the rest of the time. When we are first introduced to the next earl, he is standing on the deck of an airship bemoaning his wealthy status. How fate be so cruel as to saddle him with wealth and status? Oh, the tragedy of it all…

Only the unthinkable happens and the airship goes down in flames and destruction. Our melancholy hero is anything but heroic in these moments as he pushes his way past screaming mothers and dying passengers. Eilian failed to garner my sympathy when he is one of very few individuals to survive this terrible incident then spends the rest of the book feeling sorry for himself. For you see, Eilian lost his arm – though not his life. And this makes him somewhat of an outsider in his old social circles. Mostly he whines about his sad state of existence while completely ignoring how lucky he is to be alive.

Our lady heroine, Hadley Fenice, has all the disadvantages of dead parents and brother, low income and female gender paired with sharp wit and mechanical genius. While I am attracted to the cross-dressing aspects of Hadley’s adventure, the fact is she plays such a backseat role. Partly because her marvelous mechanicals serve very little purpose in the overall plot.

This brings me to the two biggest complaints I have for the story: the choice of setting and the obviousness of the message.

The author chose to set her story in an a clockwork Victorian England. But then spends the rest of the book pointing out how terrible this time was for … practically everybody. It was a time of rampant racism, sexism and classism. (and probably even more -isms) So, why bother when you are going to just complain about how it is not fair for women, or any person belonging to another culture? And why is this message delivered in such a ham-fisted manner?

The mystical people of utopian society found in the desert, where an odd inclusion and seemed to be placed only to prove how backwards Victorian England was. But really, don’t we already know that Victorian ideals are anything but ideal?

Also, why build the world’s most complex mechanical prosthetic when really the story veres off to some random treasure hunting tangent? It seemed that the clockwork window-dressings were forced upon the world. While mostly selfish main characters tried to feel better about themselves by professing the ideas of equality.

I cannot complete fault the message. Equality is important, but there are far better ways of expressing the idea – such as creating a functioning world where equality exists. This book was nearly preachy in its message, bland in its characters, and confusing in its world design. So, now that I have finally written my book review, I will give it a conservative 2.5 / 5. Hopefully the author will mature in her writing and create more impactful writing for I think they have potential.

Winter Book Shelf – Coiled

I know it is has been a long time since I posted a book review. The end of last year (October – December) was a little chaotic for and I simply had no time for reading. However, the New Year has brought a few days of binge reading. Now it is a matter of recording my thoughts about what I have read to share with you. Don’t worry, these will be very short as work is starting to pick up again.

The first book from my Winter Book Shelf Reading List up for review is Coiled.

Book cover for Coiled by H.L. Burke, taken from the internet.

Title: Coiled

Author: H.L. Burke

Tags: Young Adult, Fairy Tale / Myth

Reflections: Coiled was a cute, young adult fairy tale/romantic myth. Set in a world feeling like ancient Rome/Greece, Princess Laidra is cursed. While her sister dominates her Kingdom’s court and parents affection, Laidra is relegated to the shadows. Until the day she is taken as sacrifice for a monstrous serpent. Escaping her captors, Laidra washes ashore of the island guarding another cursed child. Prince Calen is isolated from the world even more than Laidra. But alone in the dark, they can become friends. At least until those tormenting Calen come to finish off the prince.

The book is cute, predictable and decently written. The target audience is younger and while I enjoyed having the time to read, it was not the most gripping of tales. The world is different from traditional medieval fairy tales, so that was a nice change. However, I would have prefered more focus on the character development. Instead the plot focuses on the convoluted relations of one rather dysfunctional family, how parents ruin the lives of their children and demigods are mostly selfish, vindictive jerks.

In the end, my biggest complaint was the seemingly random fetch-quest the main characters are set to solve their problems. And it does solve everything. All their personal problems are dealt with by collecting magic water from the well of life (or something like that). How this action changes the long standing opinions of others is a bit of mystery to me, but the story had to end somehow and in reality interpersonal relations are difficult to resolve.

Overall, this is a competent story that gets points for its less common setting but failed to inspire more than “it was fine” rating from me. I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Schooled in Magic – Book Review

Image of the book cover, Schooled in Magic by Christopher Nuttall. Image from the internet.

Good news – I have gained more employment. Bad news – I will have even less time for reading and writing reviews. Thus I anticipate this is going to be my last post for a while.

Schooled in Magic is the first in a fantasy series by Christopher Nuttall. Our female protagonist, Emily, has a tragic sort of life when she is pulled into another world rife with necromancers, danger and magic. When it is discovered she also has sorceress potential, Emily is sent off to the prestigious Whitehall School.

The story is fine, the writing is sufficient and the characters are okay. This I realize is hardly a stellar review. Well, the book lacked that hook to engage my attention and perhaps I was not in the right mood for that style of book.

The plot was not the most interesting and is far from original. When we are introduced to Emily, we learn she leads the most sad of sad lives. She is a tragic high school student with nearly no friends. Teased and bullied by other students and verbally abused by her stepfather, Emily retreats into books. While I too love literature and libraries, I did not need my mother to fail as a parent for me to enjoy them. Emily’s mother not only married an abusive second husband (after the first one vanishes – I bet I can guess where he went!), but she remains in this abusive relationship. And while I recognize people do behave in this manner – it is becoming a bit of trope in the world of fantasy. At least it feels that way to me.

Image of the book cover, Schooled in Magic by Christopher Nuttall. Image from the internet.

Then suddenly, Emily is whisked away to another world where a necromancer plans on sacrificing her life because she is the Child of Destiny (her mother’s name is Destiny). While the book does try to play with this idea – even Emily recognizes she cannot be the person prophesized – the story also falls back to Emily being super special. You’re a Wizard Harry Emily! I suppose I should have known from the title of the book that much of it would revolve around Emily learning magic in a world reminiscent of Harry Potter – if more students died and the magic was a bit meaner. Harry Potter at high school I suppose. Even the teachers are meaner.

I appreciated the rather pragmatic view of the main character who is willing to sell the ideas of our world to this new land (with its more medieval structure). However, it was difficult for the American heroine to sell me on how there is no classism in the US. Yeah, for pointing out how the social structure of the past was bad. Sadly the presentation of such information was not interesting, and it was presented by a character whose home world is far from perfect.

Anyway, for a younger audience, I think this book would be more interesting. And perhaps the series picks up over time. For me it was mediocre, which was a bit sad as I actually paid for this book. But as I mentioned earlier, I may just not have been in the mood for the story. At this point I would give it 3 out of 5 stars. Nothing offensive but nothing noteworthy.

Star Nomad – Book Review

Despite my personal bias I find myself reading a number of science fiction books of late. Before you get excited, these are not serious, heavy, intense science fiction books exploring quantum metaphysics the existential relationship between artificial intelligence and souls. These are light, space-opera type books packed with space pirates, laser battles and a hint of romance. Oh, and occasionally an alien – but not always.

Book cover for Star Nomad, book one in the Fallen Empire series. Image from the internet.

Star Nomad is the first of the novel in Lindsay Buroker’s Fallen Empire series. It doesn’t have any aliens. It does have space pirates!

Our daring protagonist is a survivor of the recent war between Empire and rebel Alliance. She is determined to return home and reclaim her daughter and the first step in accomplishing this goal will be acquiring a ship – a freighter, not a warship. In the wake of all great space adventures our heroine does not have a huge arsenal at her disposal. Rather the odds are stacked heavily against her. She is joined however by a colourful caste of crew and passengers which include the hated cyborg, loyal engineer, security office running from the mafia, passenger with a love of narcotics and a monk with some dubious morals.

This is a book heavy in the tradition of Star Wars and Firefly – two science fiction universes I love. From Star Wars we have the existence of space magic. This comes in the form of the mystic Starseers and probably my least favourite aspect of the work so far.

While the opening of Star Nomad struck me heavily with its familiarity to Firefly. My worries that I was destined to read a pale version of the TV cult classic disappeared as the author’s own strong voice came through. This is not a space-western. The similarities in the crew are superficial at best. There is depth to these characters that makes for great reading.

Book cover for Honor’s Flight, book 2 in the Fallen Empire series. Image from the internet.

However, one of the things that I am really starting to enjoy are the different perspectives of interstellar governance. The war between the Empire and the Alliance is over at the start of the first story. The characters are now dealing with the consequences of war and the emergence of a new ruling body. With characters coming from both sides of the conflict we are able to glimpse some of the problems inherent in rebuilding afterwards.

While I might be spoiling somethings, I really found the discussion over the oppression of the Empire being compared to the current lawlessness under Alliance leadership. Is it really repressive that civilians are denied access to weapons? Or was the order and safety provided by those rules a worthwhile trade off. The presentation of this debate has been interesting to follow – especially as it is packaged in this fun, futuristic setting!

So far, I am loving this series. Star Nomad achieves the 5 out of 5 star rating. It has a solid plot, a caste of interesting characters and successful use of banter. I like this book and recommend it to fans of the lighter aspects of science fiction.

The Watchmaker’s Daughter – Book Review

I read the Watchmaker’s Daughter last week and have been ruminating on a book review since then. I have been having problems as this was a book I neither loved nor hated. It is not dreadfully written nor brilliantly told. Having not sparked a strong reaction one way or the other, in the end all I can really say is that the book was Okay.

Book cover for the Watchmaker’s Daughter. Image from the internet.

The Watchmaker’s Daughter is the first book in the Glass and Steele series by C.J. Archer. It starts, unsurprisingly with the daughter of a recently deceased watchmaker struggling to survive after her fiance dumps her and takes over her father’s business. Set in Victorian England (or something like that), the all important element of magic is alluded to briefly then introduced at the end of the story.

And that, I believe is one of the key reasons I was so lukewarm towards this novel – it felt like an introduction. I understand that this is book one in a series. However, I still want the story to feel complete and the threads left dangling made the story feel far from that. While I understand that authors, particularly of series, need to leave some threads loose to work into the subsequent books, these were rather large concepts. Why does magic exist in this world? Why are so few aware of it? I suppose the staunch defenders will say the book covered these points in the two paragraphs dedicated to magic – it is scary so most magicians were killed and thus the few remaining are hiding. That is an extremely weak response to the problem. There is no feel of magic in a world that is designed to be a real representation of historical times. For this to work you need weave the idea (or fear or love for or …) of magic into the world.

The other aspect that felt completely unresolved was the extremely negative reactions of other watchmakers to our female protagonist. Even India Steele herself comments on how peculiar this behaviour is. The lack of detailed histories, the predictable nature of the plot and the lack of depth to the characters made for a somewhat bland story. The mystery of the characters never felt important. The writing was fine, but there was no spark in style to really capture the reader. Our lead female wavered uncertainly between being a strong independent female – though right no I am struggling to think of an instance when she showed true strength – and the love interest of a romance novel. There was some promise in the secondary characters who at least demonstrated a little diversity, though all were subservient to the alpha male.

To balance out the negatives, I will say I liked the blending of American and British cultures. There were some amusing moments, as half the important characters came from America.

Would I recommend this book? It is difficult to answer. I want to support new voices and writers. And I am sure there are people who would derive much enjoyment from the book. It was, for me, too flat and simplistic a read to put forth effort of recommendation. With that I would give it a 3 out of 5 (or maybe a 3.5 out of 5 – as this time I feel I might be unnecessarily harsh towards the book). It was okay, not great or stellar but not terrible either. You might like it.

 

A Mortal Song – Book Review

My book review of A Mortal Song will contain some spoilers – you have been warned. This young adult fantasy-fairy tale novel by Megan Crewe was, in short, good.

The book cover of A Mortal Song. Image from the internet.

I loved the Japanese setting, partly because I had been there. I have seen Mount Fuji – I have actually climbed it! I have been to Tokyo. I know what the inside of a high school looks like and I have certainly stopped at many of the numerous shrines that litter Japan’s landscape. Yes, they really are found everywhere.

I enjoyed the coming of age story as Sora discovers the truth about her family and heritage. The book took an interesting look at the idea of children swapped at birth. It explored the related emotions of learning your parents will tell lies, even though they still love you.

A Mortal Song has all the classic elements of a youth novel. The leads are children – well, I suppose at 17 they are more like young adults – who must save the world (or the mountain) including the adults. There is self-discovery, first loves, a bit of betrayal and monster fighting. I love that the ending does not hinge on the girl with the most powerful weapons. Words are just as strong as emotions and can overcome even the scariest of demons.

Our lead heroine, Sora, is believable. Her turmoil of emotions draw the reader through her joys, fears, and uncertainties. The relations she builds with the other characters are strong and realistic. The motivations are clear. The threat of Mt. Fuji’s anger is felt by the rest of the world. This creates a solid connection between the fantasy of the story and the world in which the story is set. The stakes are real for the characters.

From the book cover of A Mortal Song. Image from the internet.

Despite the Japanese influence in the setting, character names and religion, the books is not overwhelmed with Japanese words. It is very accessible. In fact, I would have enjoyed a little more reference to Japan’s culture and language, but recognize this may not be approachable for many readers. The notes and pieces that were included felt well-researched and authentic.

A Mortal Song is filled with solid writing, a fast-paced plot and characters the reader can relate to. The journey of Sora teaches us that being human is a good thing. In fact, even humans can help the kami and prevent mountains from erupting. The ending is bitter-sweet in the way that growing up is.

For a star rating, A Mortal Song gets 5 out of 5. Great writing and solid story.

Gates of Thread and Stone – Book Review

Book Review: Gates of Thread and Stone

The Gates of Thread and Stone book; not the copy I read as mine was an ebook. The image comes from the internet.

Author: Lori M. Lee

I am not entirely certain how I feel this book. It was not what I expected when I started it. Of course that brings up the question of what did I expect?

Well, I thought there would be more of a discovery of magic. I thought there would be greater discussion of the relationship between the main lead, Kai and her adopted brother Reev. I certainly expected the book to stay within the city. In that way, I thought there would be more exploration of the city.

Even now I am struggling to find the words to describe the book. Was the writing to indistinct? Is this a reflection of an underdeveloped world? Or, did I fail to engage as a reader? Was I not paying sufficient attention?

Written in the first person we follow Kai’s journey of self-discovery as she learns about her biological parents (at least her father) while trying to rescue her adopted brother. There was a number of elements that made this story feel familiar. The relationship between Kai and Reev reminded me strongly of Kaylin and Severn in the Chronicles of Elantra. I think it was the adoption of the female lead by the very protective, brother-figure with undertones or suggestions of something else that made that connection for me.

The relationship between Avan and Kai was reminiscent of another young adult story I read where both characters turned out to be magical-humans. This seemed stronger later when with the introduction of G-10, who also seemed highly attracted to Kai. And this brings me to the first element of disappointment. The manner in which the three males and really only characters to receive significant development, all appear to fall for the charms of our main female lead. It was a little cliched. While this might not be so terrible depending on how the story plays out. This was book one in the series, and I can certainly foresee the setup of love triangles. But I could be doing the author an injustice. Perhaps, this story will bare more in common with a College of Magics and the leading couple will accept the overwhelming changes brought by the final acts of the book and not enter more expected romantic entanglements.

I think the second thing I would like to comment on is the overused idea that characters are stronger when they can fight, physically an opponent. The fact that Kai’s greatest achievement is killing another individual is ultimately boring. It makes the pacing of the story rather bland as the story becomes a laundry list of places to go and people to meet. It is very linear. Go to set-piece A, learn X, which causes you to access set-piece B. I suppose because this took us out of the city without really spending as much time exploring the city.

Yes, I am sure some people would argue that a great deal of time was spent in different districts of the city. True, but it did not develop, not really. The setting was a strange creation and very confusing. It needed more attention, more exploration to be anything other than the unstructured mess in the background.

Gates of Thread and Stone book cover; image from the internet.

My problem rests on the uncertainty of where this story takes place. There are a number of teasing references which lead me to suppose the Gates of Thread and Stone is supposed to take place in a post-apocalyptic future. Except, their recent past is not our present. It takes place in some world rich in magic and technology common to steampunk fantasy. It includes a random assortment of our ancient gods who hold power and manipulate the setting. It left me unsettled as I could not reconcile the regular allusions to our world with the magic and steampunk-like elements of the book’s world. Is this supposed to be some futuristic version of our reality? Am I really missing a better understanding of the book because I am not conversant in world religions?

I think a greater development of the world in which the Gates of Thread and Stone take place would have grounded the story. The city should have been treated like a character and developed and explored in more detail. Instead, what I have pieced together, leaves me with a sour taste.

So, while in many ways I think it was interesting, with mostly competent writing, I would give the Gates of Thread and Stone a 3 out of 5. I do not this book, but I cannot hate either. It was okay. But perhaps other readers have found more in its pages to recommend it more highly.

The Bear and the Nightingale – A book review

Book cover for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet.

The Bear and the Nightingale is the first book (as far as I can tell) by author Katherine Arden. It is a fairy tale of sorts set in old-timey Russia.

I don’t know a lot about Russian fairy tales, so I cannot say if this was a retelling of a single tale or a compilation of several. From the writing and the feel of it I would guess that this is an original tale heavily influenced and pulling on multiple other classic folk tales. Further, I have little schooling in Russian history. So, I cannot place the period of the writing nor comment on the authenticity of the setting. The world certainly felt vaguely medieval, set in a time where the Grand Princes bowed to the Khan overlords. A time of feudal lords, when the word of the Christian God was still in the process of displacing the hearth-tales of small wood-sprites and local fairies.

The world of the Bear and the Nightingale was richly developed. With particular success seen in the tension created between ordained worshipers of the Christian God and those who still followed the old practices. I was really struck with the manner of creating characters both good and evil (or good and misguided) that followed both religions.

Image for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet. The date holds reflects the release of the book – I assume.

The narrative meandered between perspectives with general success. With this style of storytelling we had a much better idea of motivations propelling the various characters as they moved throughout the story. At the same time, I feel several perspectives became lost or reduced in the telling. And that was confusing come the end of the tale when some people, who I thought would be more important earlier, were left off in the distances – far from action of the main thread.

I would say that the biggest weakness was the ending. It seemed the story was so busy trying to wrap itself up in poetry and mystery that much was left unresolved. I was left feeling unsatisfied with the culmination of various characters. The Frost-God was teased but nothing much came of him. Even Vasya, our primary protagonist, was just left. This was particularly perplexing when earlier passages tease her death being needed to resolve the main conflict.

If the internal contradictions were intentional, then I would say the author’s purpose and story became lost in her attempt of subtly. Otherwise, this is an example of immature writing, a story requiring greater polishing.

Finally, I am left wondering at the title: The Bear and the Nightingale. The Bear was certainly clear, but the Nightingale appeared at the end of the story and seemed largely inconsequential.

In the end, I am unclear how well I liked the book. I did like it. It was different and interesting. The writing felt like an old-time fairy tale which certainly appealed. I liked Vasya and her family. Only her family came and went from the story and I feel was not as well realized as it could have been.

Book cover for The Bear and the Nightingale; from the internet.

Upon consideration, I would say The Bear and the Nightingale has a spirit similar to Uprooted by Naomi Novik. In fact they both held that same promise of a good, interesting fairy tale, but left me feeling a little empty at the end.

In conclusion, I suppose I would give the story a 4 out of 5.