This week’s brief review is looking at Sarah J. Maas’ latest novel the Crown of Midnight. It is the second book in A Throne of Glass series.

The stories revolve around the young assassin, Celaena Sardothien. She is working for an evil King in order to win her freedom. Naturally nothing about life is as simple as she pretends. There is the crown prince Dorian and the Captain of the Guard Choal for a love triangle. And then there is her friend, the princess Nehemia, who would like to see Celeana fighting for the people, the land or good in general instead of her own selfish desires.

The novel is a quick read. The pacing is fast. The main character is physically strong. The use of magic should appeal. It is a land that was once seeped in the ancient and mystical, until suddenly it wasn’t – until the King decreed magic was banned and set about slaughtering all its visible remnants. There is an undercurrent of bringing back the forgotten magic – a concept I like.

However, I find the book has been tainted by the Fae. I am not entirely certain I can articulate what it is about fairies that displeases me so. Perhaps it is the fact they are thrown into the world as a seemingly easy way to explain things like magic. Perhaps it is because they are nothing more than lifeless derivatives of Tolkien’s work that I find so insipid. The Fae are always magical, always gorgeous, always faster, smarter, prettier, with golden pale hair and pointed ears. They live forever and are often – especially those following in Tolkien’s glorious footsteps – perfect in morals and rule. This holds true once more. The Fae have been persecuted, driven from the lands/hunted from their homes – slaughtered and killed and etc.

The big twist in the book regarding the main character’s past was not unexpected. I thought it was a bit excessive for two reasons. First it was a bit too predictable – which I suppose would could interpret to mean that the author was successful in setting up the plot. Except that it is an old plot twist that is common to this style of story. The second thing that rubbed me as being slightly off was a comment made by one of the characters, Nehemia. The princess says and does what is most convenient to the plot. At one point she is speaking with the Prince will Assassin and Captain dance in the moonlight.

“Responsibilities. We will always have burdens that no one else can ever understand. That they…will never understand.”

These words bother me even more having finished the book and knowing the big twist. They bother me because it has been implied at several junctions Nehemai know of the twist, yet I do not feel this is accurately expressed in her words – and sometimes in her actions. Of course, it could be related to some other idea yet to come. For while this book certainly felt like a second book in a series, I cannot tell from the story ending or the author’s webpage if this is going to be a trilogy (most common) or longer series (increasingly common). I suppose only time will answer this question.

So, to wrap this up. Yes, Crown of Midnight is a good read. I think it holds up rather well to the first book in the series, Throne of Glass. It is fun, fast and frivolous. It is a solid young-adult fantasy novel that does show the influence of Cinderella in subtle ways.

To say I have had some spare time for reading might be overstating the matter. It was more like I procrastinated the oodles of other work I should be doing and sped-read a couple of books.

The first book I am going to preview was called Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. It is every bit a teen book. All the main and important players – well the heroes of the tale are teenagers; high-schoolers. The villains are adults – but isn’t that always the way?

Yup this is the book cover.

The main character, Kali, is your typical, seventeen year old superhuman. She has insanely inhuman super abilities while fighting the myriad of teenage hormones and awkwardness well associated with high school. It was geared very strongly to that segment of the population. While that isn’t a specifically horrible thing, it is off putting for someone who does not wallow in teenage reminiscent. High school was not the best years of my life and I don’t need to relive them.

The other glaringly irritant for me was the use of science to explain the supernatural. Sometimes I can go along with the ideas presented in meaningless jargon. The use of the DNA triple helix however, I found grating. This may have been due to my recent covering of DNA structure and replication. While it is true, the triple helix was considered as a possible structure, it was very early on ruled out. A good thing as replicating three strands would not work in any logical method I can conceive. I also struggle with how the base pairs could conceivable bond together when bases are held together by specific hydrogen bonding. Even the use of a quadruple helix would have made more sense. It is like the idea behind conservative replication. It was an idea that was ruled out through experimentation. Even though it was inconceivable how it would function, it was a hypothesis – but that doesn’t mean we should claim that superpowers arise from that failed idea.

This is the DNA double helix. Where would the other stand attach?

This doesn’t even touch on the inter-dimensional lines that had to be crossed to further the explanation of how every mythical creature known to mankind actually exists – and perhaps a hundred more too. Of course, I don’t need to have zombies and vampires and hellhounds and … who knows what else all packed into one hormone driven story.

In some ways it is amusing the way that ‘fantasy magic’ is replaced with ‘supernatural, paranormal and psychic’ powers or abilities or creatures in the present, science-grounded society. Essentially these two concepts of the wizard and the psychic work much the same. Their abilities are often similar and often endless, growing with each book in a series or each challenged faced by the hero. I suppose you could argue there is often learned, trained, taught while the abilities of the psychic (and other supernatural creatures) are inherited. Though, often wizards are born in the role (even in Harry Potter) and psychics need to train their abilities.

But that is enough of the negatives.

What I liked about this story was the opening sequence. I liked the powerful fighter. Kali starts as a tough girl, well acquainted with her unusual state. When we first meet, we see Kali hunting. It was an interesting and gripping way to start a story, particularly one written in the first person (a style, wholly over done in modern, supernatural fantasy stories). The first person writing worked in this tale. The plot moved quickly, and while there were moments I want to shake some sense into Kali. At least tell her to listen to the voices around her. I thought she was largely believable. The ending was strong, not surprising, but then that could reflect the solid writing more than anything else. The other strength of this novel was that it is a standalone. There is no sequel, no trilogy to follow. It was a strong, single story with some interesting characters, a lot of teenage drama – but a good solid, quick read. And sometimes it is nice to read something straightforward.

Another Wednesday and another book review. This time I am delving into the young adult section – fantasy still.

Cover for the recent book review – Nameless

A general reminder that as I review the following work, I may give away details you would prefer to discover through actually reading the book. Be warned.

Today’s book review is on Nameless: A Tale of Beauty and Madness by Lili St Crow. This book wins for not having zombies. Also, following hard on the heels of several really unsuccessful reads I found the young adult fairy tale surprisingly good.

It is a successful merge of modern world building (cars, private schools, and high-security mansions) and magic. They come together in the town of New Heaven which is supposed to be part of a larger world. Though the town ends up feeling isolated in a world not that big, I didn’t find this a problem. Most fairy tales take place in isolated kingdoms, so the setting fit for me. That the story is clearly a retelling of Snow White was another positive. It was actually interesting the manner in which the author took elements of the classic fairy tale: the seven ‘dwarves’, the huntsman, the apple, mirrors and the beauty-obsessed queen with her hunger for hearts and twisted it into something fresh yet familiar.

Snow White comes across as a princess – not a spoiled brat, rather a young woman who is well protected. Her roles in life are small and lean towards the domestic – in the manner of smoothing relations between people, calming tempers and other ladylike things. I suppose her character arc is that of growing confidence, for she physically does very little in the narrative. Mostly she quakes in fear and watches the world around her through anxious eyes. A platoon of friends and family (adopted family) actively fight to protect her from the dangers (largely physical) that threaten the Snow White’s life. Yet, while I was reading about this princess character, I was not immediately struck by how men jump to protect women; particularly Snow White. I think this had to do with the supporting cast of strong female characters; including a fierce Red Riding Hood and determined Cinderella (how do you spell sequel?).

Being a fairy tale – granted one that incorporates the modern love of vampires and other supernatural beings – the story ends much as you would expect. The path is littered with a few unexpected interpretations to keep the reader (me) interested. The writing balances carefully between engaging narrative and teen angst which can often overwhelm and destroy a YA novel. While following the typical trials of teenagers (not the most exciting of material choices) the author creates a present day world of magical possibilities. Here magic is anchored in the world and used to accomplish much of what our technology does. I like that. Never does the supernatural feel overpowered.

So, for creating a teen book that doesn’t drag, whine, or become over the top angsty, for subtly incorporating current vampire and fey trends, and for creating an interesting retelling of a classic fairy tale, I would give Nameless a solid pass. It is a good young adult read.