Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page

Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
Blurb:
I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission.

Review:

First of all, I must confess that I have an abiding affection for the Oz books which started in late grade school when I discovered the set at my local library. The books are full of wonder and friendship, mixed with just the right amount of peril and the absurd.

When I saw an Oz-inspired YA book, I had to get it (thanks again, public library!). This book delivers exactly what it claims to: a dark, twisted reimagining of the Oz story, in which some of the beloved characters have been twisted into evil monstrosities and the carefree magic of the realm has been drained, leaving the country a shadow of what it was. Throughout the story, there are even cameos (and minor roles) for many of the characters who were written into the original series. It's abundantly clear that the author has read - and loved - the original series as much as anyone can.

The main character is about as typical YA fantasy heroine as you can get: teenaged girl with family and self-image issues learns that she is stronger than she knows. And hey, she has pink hair - at least for part of the book. Neat.

Here's my main gripe about this book: the entire narrative is designed to set up the series, but nothing is resolved within this book. Okay, maybe the protagonist learns "to believe in herself." Woo-hoo.

I guess this can be boiled down to a marketing decision. On the back cover of the book is what look to be the plot of this story: "Your mission: Remove the Tin Woodman's heart. Steal the Scarecrow's brain. Take the Lion's courage. And then - Dorothy must die."

Punchy, right? This book is going to be all rock 'em, sock 'em, let's-save-Oz.

But no.

(SEMI-SPOILER)

That bit of promise on the back cover is what is discovered in the FINAL FOUR PAGES. The entire book leads up to a conclusion - post large as life on the BACK COVER - so close to the end of the book that it's practically on the end papers.

(END SEMI-SPOILERS)

Overall, the book was fun. I love an excuse to return to Oz and experience the magic again, even if it's in a grimdark setting. I'm a little disappointed in the non-resolution of the plot and the Setting Up a Series Syndrome, but all in all this is a book well worth the read.

Will I continue reading the series?
Yeah, maybe. Depends how long between books and whether or not I'd just rather read the original series.


3.5 Stars!

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell

The Lost Fleet: Dauntless by Jack Campbell
Book 1 of The Lost Fleet

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century-and losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled and stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John "Black Jack" Geary-a man who's emerged from a century-long hibernation to find he has been heroically idealized beyond belief. Now, he must live up to his own legend.

Review:
Just as Fantasy has many subgenres (high, epic, dark, urban, historical, etc), so does Science Fiction have its subgenres: speculative, dystopian/post-apocalyptic, space opera, alternate history, to name a few.  One of the currently popular genres is "military science fiction" - which I sincerely hope needs no explanation.

The blurb on the back of the book is about as much setup as you need for this story.  A soldier has awakened from a century of cryogenic sleep to find the war that he almost died in is still raging on, that his fleet is in danger, and that he might be the only one that can rescue the Alliance fleet from a dilemma of their own making.  Bam.  Action.

Campbell doesn't pull any punches with getting the action started.  In fact, the whole book reminded me (favorably) of the early episodes of Battlestar: Galactica, in which thousands of lives are at stake and there is no time for careful contemplation.  Geary makes a decent protagonist, if not exactly a ground-breaking one (another white male soldier/space marine, anyone?), and his core decency gives the book a moral core, while his impatience and frustration with the decayed discipline among his fellows gives the book some emotional drive.

One thing that science fiction has traditionally excelled in is being rather egalatarian about gender and race issues, from Uhura on Star Trek to Lady Jessica in the Dune series.  While Campbell plays it safe with the race and gender or his protagonist, he isn't hidebound into forcing an all-white, all-male cast.  Two characters Geary brushes against regularly are female: a ship's captain and a civilian co-president.  The fact that the author was willing to place two women in places of authority - authority "Black Jack" Geary never questions - was good enough that I won't be too disappointed that the rest of the cast seems to have a Y chromosome.  Better than nothing.

The plot of the book reads like the pilot episode of a new smash-bang sci-fi roller coaster, with death and danger around every corner, followed by political machinations and power plays in rapid succession.  Adventure!  Schemes!  Heroes/heroines!  Sacrifice!  Excitement!

And since this feels like a pilot episode, absolutely nothing is resolved - not that it should be.  The initial encounter is teed up and the whole dramatic arc is plotted in front of you:  Will Geary be able to get the fleet home?  How many will survive?  What other adventures wait for our fleet before the end?

Not exactly the deepest book every written, but not disappointing, either.  If you're looking for a by-the-numbers military fantasy, then this is a solid book to pick up.  At 293 pages, it won't be a heavy read by any definition of the phrase.
 
3.5 stars!
Will I read the sequels?
Oh, yes.  Mm-hmm.  Yep.

PEW PEW PEW!

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. 

Review:
I read this relatively short book (146 pages) during a business trip, read in small chunks over the course of several days and one flight, and that higglety-pigglety reading messes with my recollection and impressions, but I'll give it a try.

First of all, Shirley Jackson (author of The Haunting of Hill House, "The Birds," and "The Lottery" among others) is great at setting mood.  Mary Katherine Blackwood is the narrator and through her eyes the reader is exposed to the prejudices and petty cruelties of small-town life.

Years before, everyone in the family died of brutal poisoning at the dinner table, leading to Mary Katherine's older sister Constance being accused of murder.  Though she was eventually acquitted, the scars run deep in the family.  Uncle Julian is obsessed with keeping massive records of that last day, trying to capture everything his dead family members said and did.  Constance can barely leave the house except to go to the garden.  Only Mary Katherine ("Merricat") is brave or jaded enough to go into town and buy the necessary groceries and other supplies.

At first, the reader is given to feeling pity for this family, and especially for the youngest who has to face the not-so-subtle insults and thinly veiled threats that the (understandably) anxious villagers inflict.  Though she is eighteen, Merricat feels like a much younger narrator, obsessed with keeping a set pattern and often playing odd sorts of games in her head.  She believes in sympathetic magic, as if nailing a book to a tree will protect the family from further upheavals.  Without a strong family or social standing to protect them from indignities and social cuts, Merricat resorts to the only things she can think of:  habit and superstition.

With the arrival of their cousin Charles, Merricat's world is spun out of control.  While our narrator sees him as the ultimate evil - someone who might take Constance away or change their style of life - the reader musto feel sympathy for the man who has come into what can only be described as a lunatic asylum and tries to straighten things out.  Normal, well-adjusted human behavior is juxtaposed alongside Merricat's surreal and maddening habits and the pity once felt for the family is eroded until the narrator can no longer be trusted.

With a narrator who is reliable (she certainly doesn't lie about how neurotic she is) but coming unhinged all the same, the story starts to take on new dimensions.  Why would an otherwise intelligent adult believe in magic?  Why must every week be the same?  Why can she not allow Constance to change her routines?  How far will our narrator and her family go to preserve their shambles of a life?  When the reader can see the narrator as an adult trapped in a child's mind - and a dangerously damaged child at that - nothing seems secure.  Nothing is secure.

The new "deluxe edition" (pictured above) has some delightfully creepy yet not overtly horror-inspired art.  No one should pick up this book thinking it's a "scary" book a la Stephen King.  It is very disturbing, though, and the closer the book gets to the final pages, the more the reader can see the depth of Merricat's frothing madness.

While this book is well-written and the character/narrator transformation is genuinely intriguing, I have to say that this is still not exactly my cup of tea, but I think almost anyone should get some enjoyment out of it.  And at less than 150 pages, it's a short read that packs a delightfully creepy punch.

3.5 stars.

The Shining Part Two

Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals (from Goodreads).

I did feel the book moved slowly in the beginning, only gaining speed near the end.  There was one unanswered question I had from The Shining. It was the part when Jack is thinking about what happened when he beat up a student of his. Because it was from Jack’s perspective you can see why he was so angry at the kid but there was one small line that I only caught because I was listening to the story. Jack hinted at believing that the kid “knew something” about Jack and I could never figure out what Jack thought the student knew. Jack never mentioned it aloud or in his thoughts throughout the book  and it was never referred to again. There is a twist in Doctor Sleep that answers that small question. I have no idea if anyone ever caught it but it bothered me.

Only one inconsistency I found between the two books was that Dan in Doctor Sleep mentioned something about his mother Wendy never going to college, where in The Shining she did go to college. It is where she and Jack first met. I cannot remember if she finished and got a degree or if she quit once they got married but either way it was a small detail that seemed incorrect.

This book was not scary like its predecessor but I do not think it was meant to be. We learn more about the gift of shining and the area of the Overlook Hotel is still important. The main point of the book was to see Danny again and find out if he can live after that horrible winter in the mountains.

I enjoyed this book and am glad that King took the time to write about what happened to young Danny. This is a slow-moving book and King takes his time in telling it. Avid and loyal readers will enjoy this book.

3.5 stars

Book Review: Cuckoo's Calling by JK Rowling

Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling)
Series:  Cormoran Strike, Book 1

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

Review:
Normally I let a book stew in my mind for a while before I write a review, but I don't know if that is going to help me out with this one. I have to confess that mystery is generally not my genre of choice, but my coworker told me that this book had a terrific ending and that it was worth a read anyway.  So here I am.

As the blurb says, this is about a down-on-his-luck detective trying to solve a case about a world-famous supermodel whose death was ruled a suicide.  As with many series' initial books, there are a lot of moving parts to this story:  there's the relationship with Strike and his family and his past, his growing friendship with his new secretary Robin, his finances, his injury - and of course there's the whole part of the book about a potentially murderer supermodel, who had a fine slew of her own problems. 

At 455 pages (US Hardcover) this is not a "light reading" sort of book.  With all the moving pieces and web of characters zipping in and out of the narrative, you have to pay close attention.  Strike interviews character after character, his clever secretary using her wiles to track them down one by one, and there is always the impression that something increasingly important is being revealed with every scene.  Something is being revealed with every interview or conversation, no matter how unreliable or biased the character seems to be, and of course the author/Strike doesn't reveal which details are the important ones, since that's pretty much what makes a mystery interesting.  

As the book goes along, the stakes rise (as they should with any fiction story), and the characters introduced and details revealed become more and more engaging.  But, still, right up until the Big Reveal, I was pretty much at a loss for what was about to happen.

Did the ending surprise me?  Yes, yes it did.  Did I have a clue who the real murderer was?  No, no I did not.  In that respect, I suppose this book was fairly well done.

And that's the problem I have with the mystery genre.  The book is only considered "good" if the reader has no idea what's really going on as they get into the final passages of the book.  If done correctly, everything makes complete sense in retrospect.  And that, in return makes me feel like a drooling moron as I'm reading a mystery.  (This is because, as my husband tells me, I am doing it wrong.  Apparently that's not "how you read a mystery."  I was unaware, until last night, that one is capable of reading an entire genre wrong.)

Apparently you're supposed to enjoy the setup and the suspense and maybe take a few stabs at figuring it out - but I don't have the patience for that.  When I pick a HF, I enjoy reading the historical context and seeing the characters move through real historical events.  If the characters are well-written, I know exactly why they are doing what they are doing and the importance of their actions (or unimportance, depending on the period and character).  When I'm reading a fantasy and the protagonist is trying to accomplish their goal, I completely understand what they're looking for and why.

Mystery takes all of that and says "Nuh-uh, honey.  You wanna know?  Well, tough beans.  Read the last twenty pages if you want cheat like a dirty cheater, but you're only cheating yourself.  Now sit down and shut up."

So yeah.
Cuckoo's Calling.  How about I get back to that?
A lot of people picked it up because Rowling wrote it.  I wasn't going to touch it (see "Issues with the genre," above) but I read it anyway.  There are a few writing tics that become increasingly irritating once you notice them.  It's like someone popping their gum or chewing really loudly:  if you don't even notice it, it's not a problem.  But once you DO notice it, then it's all you can hear and it makes you want to punch the person.  No?  Just me?

First, for almost every character, we get a heavy-handed description of what they look like the second they enter a scene.  This isn't the worst thing ever, but cumbersome homemade metaphor spring up in the work like weeds and draw the attention from the story and into the heavy use of language.  Next, "show don't tell" is a rule that I'm not a stickler for, but once you notice that many situations are accompanied by an explanation why that person is here and what they are doing and how that matters, instead of just letting the reader figure it out - it becomes more "literary loud chewing" and that's all I could notice. 

If you like mysteries in general, I suppose this one is just as good as any of them.  The ending took me completely off-guard, and in retrospect, all of the little clues made complete sense.  But that doesn't change the fact that for most of the book, I felt like an idiot.

3.5/5 Stars - Well executed, clever reveals, decent characterization.  Did not change my disinterest in the mystery genre.