A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson

Rating: 7 out of 10
Summary: For nineteen-year-old Harriet Morton, life in 1912 Cambridge is as dry and dull as a biscuit. Her stuffy father and her oppressive aunt Louisa allow her only one outlet: ballet. When a Russian ballet master comes to class searching for dancers to fill the corps of his ballet company before their South American tour, Harriet’s world changes.

Defying her father’s wishes and narrowly escaping the clutches of the man who wishes to marry her, Harriet sneaks off to join the ballet on their journey to the Amazon. There, in the wild, lush jungle, they perform Swan Lake in grand opera houses for the wealthy and culture-deprived rubber barons, and Harriet meets Rom Verney, the handsome and mysterious British exile who owns the most ornate opera house.

Utterly enchanted by both the exotic surroundings and by Rom’s affections, Harriet is swept away by her new life, completely unaware that her father and would-be finacé have begun to track her down. . . .

Commentary: This is what I call a Wish-Fulfillment Novel. Our heroine goes through a great struggle, she’s valiant, she’s humble, she’s likeable and we want her to win! And in the end, she does, and everything works out just great. She has a happy ending. All the right things happen in all the right places. There’s a lot of “coincidences”… but the kind of coincidences that just work out perfectly. Gives you a nice, warm feeling after you finish. With this kind of thing, it’s very easy to slip into stuff that’s too cliche, where the heroine becomes too good, and the happy ending is too happy. Sort of like a campy romance novel.

However, Ibbotson did a good job of not falling into that trap. I read a lot of Ibbotson’s work when I was younger, namely Which Witch? and Island of the Aunts and all those other good childhood classics. When I first this picked this up I thought it was something she’d written more recently for young adults, especially since the cover looked so new and modern. But in fact she wrote it all the way back in the stone age of 1985–which was long before I was born. She’s still got stuff coming out though, which is nice. I get so depressed when authors I like die and inevitably stop writing because they’re… dead (Madeleine L’Engle is a good example).

Back to the book. It was good. Entertaining. Not too sugary. In fact, it woke in me an interest in ballet–I’ve never seen a real production, and I’m determined to catch the next performance of Swan Lake that my city’s ballet company puts on. Ibbotson seems to have done her research well.

Youthful, romantic, interesting… good read.

Soul by Tobsha Learner

Rating: 8 out of 10
Summary: In nineteenth-century Britain, young Lavinia Huntington’s older husband appreciates her lively intellect and seems eager to extend his wife’s education from his study to their bedroom. Lavinia absorbs all he has to teach and glories in the birth of their son.

In twenty-first-century Los Angeles, Julia Huntington studies the human genome, seeking the origins of human emotion. As passionate about her marriage to her beloved Klaus as she is about her life’s work, Julia is delighted to discover that she is pregnant.

Separated by nearly 150 years, Lavinia and Julia suffer the same shock when their men abandon them. Their powerful love becomes painful hate; their intense passion transforms into icy logic. The genes of the Huntington women have formed their emotions–now their life experiences drive them to make decisions that they, and those they love, may long regret.

Commentary: I started reading another of Learner’s novels quite awhile ago, The Witch of Cologne, but I never finished it. However, I really enjoyed Soul–finished it in a day. Learner did a great job of interweaving two stories and two conflicts, transitioning well between one narrative and the next.

I think the best part about this book was the emotion and intensity involved–Learner takes the reader through a whole rollercoaster of ups and downs, and you can feel every single thing that happens to both Lavinia and Julia. I don’t want to reveal too much, but I’m not sure I would have been as strong as Julia, strong enough to hold back from dealing revenge at such a horrible betrayal.

Usually a novel with two narratives can become unbalanced–I’ve read books before where I become far more interested in one story than the other. But Learner did a good job of paralleling Julia’s and Lavinia’s stories.

The one thing I can really pick on is Learner’s central, scientific idea that supposedly tied the two stories together–the question of nature vs. nurture, of whether or not our DNA and basic genetic makeup can determine our behavior. It may be because I am personally so biased (I favor nurture over nature) but I felt that the scientific arguments and evidence presented in Soul were weak and not particularly engaging. The science and genetics weren’t what linked these two related women–their situations and decisions did.

Maybe in the end, especially considering the climax, that is what Learner intended to prove.

Great read, fast-paced and very, very interesting.

Genghis: Lords of the Bow by Conn Iggulden

Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: He came from over the horizon, a single Mongol warrior surrounded by his brothers, sons, and fellow tribesmen. With each battle his legend grew and the ranks of his horsemen swelled, as did his ambition. For centuries, primitive tribes had warred with one another. Now, under Genghis Khan, they have united as one nation, setting their sights on a common enemy: the great, slumbering walled empire of the Chin.

A man who lived for battle and blood, Genghis leads his warriors across the Gobi Desert and into a realm his people had never seen before—with gleaming cities, soaring walls, and canals. Laying siege to one fortress after another, Genghis called upon his cunning and imagination to crush each enemy in a different way, to overcome moats, barriers, deceptions, and superior firepower—until his army faced the ultimate test of all.

In the city of Yenking—modern-day Beijing—the Chin will make their final stand, setting a trap for the Mongol raiders, confident behind their towering walls. But Genghis will strike with breathtaking audacity, never ceasing until the Emperor himself is forced to kneel.

My Thoughts: Second novel in the Genghis series by Conn Iggulden. Here is my review on the first novel. I have to say the second definitely wasn’t as good as the first. It was slower, kind of lumbering–it even lost my attention near the end. Even with this, the good parts were really good–Iggulden’s battle scenes appear in my head like movies.

The biggest problem I had with this novel was that the climax seemed to have happened and wrapped up about 3/4ths of the way through the book. That last quarter really dragged. I got bored. I wanted to read other things.

I was a little disappointed by the lack of character development and relationship development. That was really well done in the first novel, and we could see so well how Genghis grew and changed, how he was influenced by his mother, his brothers, and his wife. Especially in the second novel, his family really fell out of the picture. I’ve read some research about how his first wife, Borte, was one of his strongest political advisors (I may be incorrect) and in this novel, she basically wasn’t around for majority of what happened. A lot of my favorite characters from the first book just kind of disappeared.

The action was great, and it moved along well enough until, again, up to the weirdly placed climax.

I don’t know if Iggulden is going to write a third in the series, but I hope he does.

Mad Kestrel by Misty Massey

Rating: 6 out of 10
Summary: In a world where infants with magical powers are torn from their parents to be raised by the mysterious and powerful Danisoba, who have a monopoly on magic, Kestrel has managed to keep her abilities concealed—and herself free. First hiding in back alleys as a street urchin, she hid when they killed her parents, and then served as a young tavern maid before escaping to sea, where magic is cancelled by water.

Now an adult, as the quartermaster of a pirate ship, Kestrel loves the freedom of living on the seas. But her way of life could end if anyone on board learns her closely guarded secret—that she has magical control over the wind.

One day a black ship appears, and her life changes. Its captain is a handsome rogue of whom Kestrel is strangely, constantly aware.

When Kestrel’s captain is led into a trap and is arrested, she gathers her crew and sets sail in relentless pursuit. . . .

My Thoughts: I’ve read some very positive reviews about this novel, but I’m afraid to say that I was disappointed.

It’s a fast-paced adventure, I’ll give it that, but I just couldn’t empathize or even understand the protagonist. I didn’t really like her as a character–her situation didn’t have a very believable background in my opinion. I get that the whole deal was that Kestrel was the “only woman on a ship full of pirates!” and “she’s a fearless leader!” but it really, really didn’t come through with me.

I’ve read several books about female pirates. One was a young adult novel, Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary Jacky Faber, Ship’s Boy (Jacky Faber Series #1) by L.A. Meyer, and that was fun and cool and all sorts of adventure.

However, the best “female pirates” book I’ve ever read has to be the fictional retelling of the story of Anne Bonny, a real Irish woman who sailed as a pirate in the 1700s. It was Kingston by Starlight by Christopher John Farley, and it was amazing–exotic, poetic, exciting, suspenseful, romantic, everything a pirate novel should be.

Mad Kestrel, to me, just seemed underdeveloped and there was absolutely no chemistry between the main character and her love interest. I didn’t feel it at all.

Didn’t really enjoy this one all that much. Fabulous cover, though.

Kare Kano: His and Her Circumstances (Volumes 1-3) by Masami Tsuda

Rating: 7 out of 10
Summary: Straight As, athlete and overall “Ms. Popularity,” Yukino, is the perfect student. Or at least that”s how she appears to the outside world. But when the curtains are drawn, a lazy young egomaniac lurks who will do anything and everything to be the top student in her school. Yukino finds her resolve put to the test as after years as the Idol of her class a threat emerges in the MORE perfect Soiichiro. A good-natured, studious and athletic boy he is her equal in every way but one – that behind the act is a genuine heart driven to succeed. Yukino is desperate to regain her status anyway she can, but through embarrassing flub-ups at every turn, Soiichiro remains untouched even as they find respect for one another, and maybe, after all the dust has cleared, something more.

Commentary: This was a reread, and I still enjoyed it this time around. Kind of a cliche plotline and I know it sounds pretty phony and shallow from the summary, but Masami Tsuda does a good job of injecting both depth and lighthearted humor into this series.

The version I have is a compilation of volumes one through three, though the cover I have with this review is just of volume 3.

What I like most about Kare Kano (in English: His and Her Circumstances) are the funny bits–it might be a little bit outrageous at times, but on several occasions I’ve laughed out loud. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Tsuda’s drawing style, but the story moves along at a good pace, and all the characters are pretty fleshed-out and unique.

I can find myself relating to Yukino quite a bit, especially the bit about reputation. She’s a very likable character, and I like the way she develops through the story.

Romantic, funny, light read.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Rating: 8 out of 10
Summary: The gold thread shimmers in the fading light . . .

It promises Charlotte Miller a way out of debt, a chance to save her family’s beloved woolen mill. It promises a future for her sister, livelihood for her townsfolk, security against her sinuous and grasping uncle. It might even promise what she didn’t know she needed: lasting hope and true love.

But at what cost?

To get the thread, Charlotte must strike a bargain with its maker, the mysterious Jack Spinner. But the gleam of gold conjures a shadowy past — secrets and bonds ensnaring generations of Millers. And Charlotte’s mill, her family, her friends, her love . . . What do those matter to a powerful stranger who can spin straw into gold? (from book jacket)

Commentary: My experience with novels that are fairytale retellings has generally been positive–East by Edith Pattou, various others by Robin McKinley, Juliet Marillier, etc–and this was no exception. If you couldn’t get it from the summary, Dark as Gold is a retelling of the traditional Rumpelstilskin myth. You know, the one where the strange little goblin man spins straw into gold three times, and asks for the nameless girl’s firstborn child as payment. In order to save her baby, the girl has to guess his name, she wins through some supernatural method, yada yada, everyone’s happy, the end.

I’ve always had several problems with this story–number one being who the heck was Rumpelstilskin? Why did he want her baby? Why did he even offer to help the girl in the first place?

Bunce’s novel fleshes out the myth and has a great story to answer all the questions. This isn’t your usual happy-go-lucky fairy tale though. There’s a sinister undercurrent running throughout the story in the form of unexplainable, supernatural happenings, amplified by the skin-of-your-teeth desperation from Charlotte and her sister in their attempts to keep their beloved family mill running.

The story Bunce creates is well-formed and solid–I can’t find anything wrong with it. The setting is a nice little village in a world on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution; there’s a bit of Big Evil Factory vs. Cute Handmade Peasant Things. But the nostalgia and politicking was kept low and didn’t overshadow the main plot. It takes a little bit to get started, about a 100 pages or so, but once it gets going, it really gets going. The plot moved along really well, and the twists in the story, while I could occasionally predict and see coming, were still interesting and entertaining.

Charlotte was a good, strong heroine, although at times I couldn’t exactly understand a lot of her motives for making decisions that she did. Jack Spinner, aka Rumpelstilskin, was fascinating and gave a really great backstory to all the questions I asked earlier. The romance was also fun and engaging–something I really liked about what Bunce did was that in many novels, the marriage/big get-together is The End, the Final Climax, and doesn’t happen till near the wrapping-up of the novel. However, Bunce showed that romance can and does continue even after the wedding, that marriage isn’t the end of the romance story (as it is so often in so man novels), but that it continues on afterwards.

My final words are: Great story, great idea, great characters, definitely worth your time. It’s classified as Young Adult or Teen fiction, but adults will be able to enjoy this as well.