Trickster's Queen - Tamora Pierce

Trickster's Queen
Tamora Pierce
Random House
Copyright: 2004
9780375828782

The Amazon.com product description:

Aly’s adventure continues. . . . No longer a slave, Alanna’s daughter is now spying as part of an underground rebellion against the colonial rulers of the Copper Isles. The people in the rebellion believe that a prophecy in which a new queen will rise up to take the throne is about to be realized. Aly is busy keeping the potential teenage queen and her younger siblings safe, while also keeping her in the dark about her future. But Aly, who is usually adept at anticipating danger and changes, is in for a few nasty surprises.

Trickster's Queen is the concluding volume to the duology about Alianne, the daughter of Alanna from the Song of the Lioness Quartet and the sequel to Trickster's Choice. It's also another really good read. I'm kind of disappointed that I had it on my shelves for over a year before I got around to reading the book. It should have been finished much sooner than that.

While this book picks up where the first book left off, there are some very interesting twists and turns, although some aspects of the ending can be predicted from the start, others come as complete surprises. Dovasary really comes into her own in this book, as does Nawat. All of the characters are well thought out and interesting as people too, even the secondary characters.

Definitely a good book for any teen girl (or adult) who likes fantasy, it's a different type of storyline. Where the other books have girls who want to fight, Aly wants to follow her father and become a spy/spymistress instead. A good reminder that there's more than one path you can follow to do what you want. I also liked that the "girl power" message wasn't overly in-your-face, unlike some of Tamora Pierce's books.

Overall, I really liked this book a lot.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - March 29

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted at One Person's Journey Through A World Of Books each week. Thanks for keeping me on track with my reading.

In the last week I read:
Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce: YA fiction and a good read.

Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce: The sequel to Trickster's Choice. Another book I quite enjoyed. Now I just have to review it.

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal Romance. Read for Royal Reviews. Now I just have to write up the review and send it off.

Wild Horse Annie and The Last Of The Mustangs: The Life of Velma Johnston by Alison Griffiths and David Cruise: Non fiction biography.

Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West by Marguerite Henry. A cross between a biography and a novel, written for nine to twelve year olds, though it's just as good a read for adults.

What I'm reading right now:

The Aeneid by Virgil. Translated by Robert Fitzgerald. With only a month to go on the Pre-Printing Press Challenge, I've really got to get going with these books again.

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. The newest book in the Mercy Thompson series.

What I'm planning to read:

The Breath of Allah by Tempest O'Rourke. This book was sent to me for review a couple of weeks ago when I had that really nasty cold. I'm finally feeling up to tackling it now.

Trickster's Choice - Tamora Pierce

Trickster's Choice
Tamora Pierce
Random House
Copyright: 2004
978-0375828799

The Amazon.com product description:

Tamora Pierce brings readers another Tortall adventure! Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the first lady knight in Tortall. Young Aly follows in the quieter footsteps of her father, however, delighting in the art of spying. When she is captured and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Islands, it is this skill that makes a difference in a world filled with political intrigue, murderous conspiracy, and warring gods. This is the first of two books featuring Alianne.

 In terms of the timeline for the Tortall novels, these two are the last ones so far. Trickster's Choice and its sequel, Trickster's Queen are set after all the other books: the Lioness Quartet, the Immortals Quartet and the Keladry books.

These two books are a bit different from most of the others Tamora Pierce has written too. First of all, they're written for slightly older teens IMHO, given that Aly is older in the first book, much like the Beka Cooper series. And then, where all the other books in the world of Tortall have been written in sets of four, there are only the two books in this set.

Aside from those pieces of trivia, the important thing about these books is that they're well written, and good stories. I was reading the second book, Trickster's Queen last night, and the next thing I realized was that it was after one in the morning. Where did the time go?

Of course, that's true of most of the Tortall novels, but I liked this one more than most of them. I didn't find that the "Girls are as good as boys/girls can be whatever they want to be" message to be as in-your-face present as it is in some of Tamora Pierce's books, which I really appreciated. That's the one thing about her books that I don't really care for.

Overall, Trickster's Choice is a good, solid read that is longer than most of the other books the author's written in this world. It's also a book I'm likely to find myself re-reading in the future.

Wild Horse Annie and The Last of the Mustangs: The Life of Velma Johnston -

Wild Horse Annie and The Last of the Mustangs: The Life of Velma Johnston 
David Cruise and Alison Griffiths
Scribner
Copyright: 2010
978-1416553359

The Amazon.com product description:

In 1950, Velma Johnston was a secretary at an insurance company in Reno, Nevada. Twenty years later, she had become a national hero, responsible for spurring Congress into passing legislation that protected wild horses, a feat that cemented her renown as "Wild Horse Annie." This stirring biography is the first to tell the story of Johnston's life and her extraordinary dedication to the mustangs that represent the spirit of the West.
Veteran writers David Cruise and Alison Griffiths paint a vivid portrait of this intrepid woman, who survived a cruelly disfiguring bout with polio as a child and channeled her energy and intellect into her career and marriage -- until she encountered a truck of injured, half-dead horses on her way to work in 1950. Those horses, destined for a pet food rendering plant, launched Johnston into a decades-long campaign against ranchers and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to stop the roundup and slaughter of mustangs. At a time when animal rights was barely a cause and women were still expected to stay at home, Johnston embarked on dangerous vigilante missions to free captured horses and document roundups, and began a highly organized one-woman campaign to raise public awareness of their plight, all while continuing to work and maintain a household.
Johnston's courage, determination, and innovative tactics -- she initiated a children's letter-writing campaign that flooded Congress with more mail than it had received on any issue except the Vietnam War -- pitted her against ranchers and powerful politicians, but eventually won her support and admiration around the world, including the friendship of celebrated children's author Marguerite Henry, who fictionalized her story in a children's novel.
In this absorbing and carefully researched biography, Cruise and Griffiths depict the ups and downs of a remarkable woman's life and mission, reveal her lasting legacy, and capture the romance and magic of the wild horses that inspired her. 

As a kid I'd read the Marguerite Henry version of this story: Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West several times. As a result, I picked up this book as soon as I saw it. I thought it was pretty good, and Wild Horse Annie is definitely thought provoking. I'm still not sure if Velma Johnston is a person I'd like, but I definitely admire her determination.

Don't think that you know the whole story just because you've read the aforementioned book by Marguerite Henry. I was surprised by just how much of the story she'd changed for the book she wrote. The basic facts are the same, but she completely changed a lot of the background information, as well as some of the events.

Wild Horse Annie is both an exciting and an ambiguous read. Exciting because there's a definite feeling of danger in some of what Velma is doing to publicize what was happening to the mustangs, and in the way she's chosen to break laws, but also ambiguous because by the end of the book it's still not clear just how well she's succeeded in her quest, even today.

A good read, especially if you like horses, but, honestly, this wasn't my favorite biography read. I'll still recommend it though, as the book is thought provoking to say the least.

Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West - Marguerite Henry

Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West
Marguerite Henry
Aladdin Publishing
Printing Date: 1992
978-0689716010

The Amazon.com product description:

Horses were in Annie Bronn's blood. For as long as she could remember, she had been fascinated by the spirited wild mustangs that roamed free throughout the West. So when greedy cattlemen started to round up the mustangs for slaughter, Annie knew it was up to her to save the breed.
The true story of Wild Horse Annie's crusade to save the mustangs is inspiring. Readers will cheer her on, all the way to the White House, in her struggle to preserve these beautiful creatures from extinction. 

 I've enjoyed Marguerite Henry's books from Misty of Chincoteague on. I think I've read every one of them. So, they're from the 1950's and 1960's, but they're still good reads for everyone from nine years to ninety-nine years of age.

What inspired this particular re-read was seeing the new book Wild Horse Annie, which is a biography of the main character of this book. I'd thought so, and wanted to double-check my memory before reading the new one.

One thing that makes this book a bit different from Marguerite Henry's other ones is the illustrator. Most of the books were illustrated by Wesley Dennis, but Robert Lougheed has done a wonderful job on Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West. All the illustrations are black and white, but they're a mix of paintings and line art sketches.

Although, the core of the book is the true story of Annie Bronn, I was surprised when I read the new biography of how much of the story had been changed. Mostly to make the characters and the course of events more clear and understandable for younger readers. The book also ends on much more of a high point.

This is definitely a good read for anyone who's horse-crazy, kid or adult.

What Would You Recommend? - Naomi Novik

 This is a question I get asked all the time working in the bookstore: "What would you recommend for somebody who loved "_________"? (fill in the blank)" Usually I can come up with something, but that something can be a bit of a wild guess if it's not a book or genre I normally read. This is where you helpful people come in. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

This week I'm asking about the books by Naomi Novik. I've read the first three in the Temeraire series: His Majesty's Dragon,The Black Powder War and Throne Of Jade and loved them, but I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with recommendations for other books people who liked this world might like. I've heard the books being described simply as "Napoleonic Wars with dragons" and Naomi Novik has made a very different world here, using her dragons in a manner I've never seen before. The books aren't quite pure fantasy, being set in our world, but neither are they fully urban fantasy, being set in so much of an earlier time.

Too often though because it's not quite one thing or the other, it's made it difficult to make other suggestions. I've had enough people say they liked these, but they don't like fantasy or something similar. What would you suggest?

Traitor's Sun - Marion Zimmer Bradley

Traitor's Sun
Marion Zimmer Bradley
DAW Books
Copyright: 1998
9780886778118

The jacket blurb:

The power of laran

It has been fifteen years since Marguerida Alton returned to Darkover, discovered the terrifying powers of her special laran, and fell in love with Mikhail Lanart-Hastur, heir designate to the regency of Darkover. With the proper instruction, Marguerida has has, over time, learned to control her telepathic Gift, and can even work with her unique shadow matrix.

Now Marguerida's life is more settled - though no less hectic. As the second-in-command to the aging Regent, Regis Hastur, life in Comyn Castle for Marguerida and Mikhail is far from serene.

But the current tensions on Darkover have more to do with the Terran Federation than with anything internal to Darkover. For nearly ten years, Lyle Belfontaine, the corrupt and ambitious Station Chief at Federation Headquarters in Thendara, has been pressuring Comyn Council to relinquish Darkover's Protected status and join the Federation as a full member planet. Yet this is something Comyn Council will never agree to do, for it would mean the death of their culture and the rape of their planetary resources.

But when a military coup rocks the Federation, cutting off all communication with local envoys, Belfontaine sees an opportunity to wrest by force what he has been unable to gain thorugh diplomacy and plans a violent takeover on Darkover.

Can Mikhail and Marguerida face the might of Terrann weapons with only their combined telepathic laran powers?

The sequel to The Shadow Matrix and Exile's Song, Traitor's Sun is both connected to the previous books and a stand-alone in a sense. I'm almost more inclined to view it as a stand-alone in the world of Darkover: the book is set fifteen years after The Shadow Matrix and the main viewpoint characters are all new: Herm Aldaran and his wife, Katherine, and Dominic, the son of Marguerida and Mikhail. Even the plot lines are all new ones.

This book is signaling the end of an era in more ways than one: The changing characters, for example, and also the way the Terran Federation is falling apart, although there have been hints of that beginning in the previous books. Things are never going to be the same again, even on Darkover.

Definitely a needed book in the world of Darkover, it matches up nicely with Rediscovery in some ways - that being the introduction of the Terran Empire/Federation to Darkover, and this one being about the last days. Who knows what's going to happen next now?

Traitor's Sun winds things up very nicely, and yet at the same time leaves them open for some future date. Overall, I really liked reading this book.

The Shadow Matrix - Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Shadow Matrix
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Daw Books
Copyright: 1999
978-0886778125

Amazon.com product description:

After spending her youth in the Terran Empire, Margaret Alton returns to Darkover, the planet of her birth. There she discovers she has the Alton Gift--forced rapport and compulsion--one of the strongest and most dangerous of the inherited "Laran" gifts of the telepathic Comyn--the ruling families of Darkover. And even as she struggles to control her newfound powers, Margaret finds herself falling in love with the Regent to the royal Elhalyn Domain, a man she has been forbidden to marry, for their alliance would irrevocably alter the power balance of their planet!.

 Not the best description for this book at all, but I didn't have my copy of The Shadow Matrix handy to copy off the jacket blurb myself. The Shadow Matrix picks up more or less where Exile's Song left off, as Margaret is busy learning about the mental gifts she has and her role in Darkovan society. At the same time, Mikhail, the heir to Regis Hastur has been made the Regent to the Elhalyn Domain, the family who, historically have been the Kings of Darkover. All this causes a whole new set of problems to replace the ones solved in the previous book.

I found that even though this was a re-read of the book, it still picked me up and swept me along into the story. The characters are vivid and full of life, problems and all. There was the occasional line of dialogue that was incredibly stilted, but not too much overall.

To really enjoy The Shadow Matrix though, you really need to have read Exile's Song, as so many of the events in this book build off of what happened in the previous book. I liked it, and if you like the Darkover books, you might find yourself agreeing that these two books are the best in the series.

Waiting On Wednesday - Silver Borne

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted each week at the Breaking The Spine blog. It's really neat seeing what everyone's waiting to read.

My pick this week is Patricia Brigg's next novel in the Mercy Thompson series: Silver Borne. Thankfully, I don't have too much longer to wait. It's supposed to be out on March 30th.

The amazon.com product description:

All-new action in the #1 New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series

When mechanic and shapeshifter Mercy Thompson attempts to return a powerful Fae book she'd previously borrowed in an act of desperation, she finds the bookstore locked up and closed down.

It seems the book contains secret knowledge-and the Fae will do just about anything to keep it out of the wrong hands. And if that doesn't take enough of Mercy's attention, her friend Samuel is struggling with his wolf side-leaving Mercy to cover for him, lest his own father declare Sam's life forfeit.

All in all, Mercy has had better days. And if she isn't careful, she might not have many more to live...

Exile's Song - Marion Zimmer Bradley

Exile's Song
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Daw Books
Copyright: 1996
978-0886777340

The jacket blurb:

She was Margaret Alton, the daughter of Lew Alton, the Darkovan representative to the Terran Imperial Senate, but she remembered almost nothing about the plantet of her birth, or her early and tumultuous childhood. What fleetimg memories disturbed her sleep were fragments of terror - a strange silver man and a screaming woman with hair that circled her head like a ring of fire.

Since leaving Darkover as a child, Margaret has lived her life on Thetis. Lew and her stepmother, Dotima, were gone much of the year, working in the Senate, struggling to keep Darkover safe from the all-consuming imperialism of the Terran Federation. She hardly knew her father, a brooding man who, when he returned to Thetis was prone to long bouts of drinking. At these times his normally morose and uncommunicative demeanor would take on an even darker hue...times when he seemed to look at Margaret and see someone else - someone he did not want to remember. As soon as Margaret was of age, she fled her stormy home and took refuge on University. Here Margaret, strangely uncomfortable around her peers found solace in the isolation of study. She excelled in music and was granted the position of assistant to her mentor, renowned musicologist, Dr. Ivor Davidson. This prestigious job took her to many worlds and when she and Professor Davidson were assigned to collect folk songs on Darkover, Margaret was curious and pleased.

But once on Darkover, Margaret's innocent excitement quickly waned. The world of her birth evoked long-buried memories, painful and terrifying, and she soon found herself falling deeper and deeper into a waking dream that threatened to become a nightmare. Margaret began to hear voices in her head - one voice in particular which seemed to confront her at every turn - and she wondered if she were losing her mind.

Beneath the light of the Red Sun, as Margaret slowly unraveled the veiled and mysterious secrets of her heritage, she found herself driven by a destiny more dreadful than any nightmare. For the screaming woman and the silver man were merely markers on a trail - a trail which lead into Margaret's own mind, and towards a trap which had been set for her centuries before her birth...

Although a relative latecomer in the Darkover series, this was the first book set in the world of the Bloody Sun that I'd ever read. As such, even though it's billed as being the follow-up to The Heritage of Hastur and Sharra's Exile, I found Exile's Song to be a very good introduction to the world. It lays out who the characters are, and as Margaret finds out about the world, so do we.

Darkover is a very interesting world, being a series that's spanned several decades in writing. I know of some titles that date to the 1970's (Darkover Landfall) and I think that some of the books are even earlier than that. And the most recent book in the series just came out this past January: The Hastur Lord. It's a world that's evolved as it was written, with some very neat concepts melding both science fiction and fantasy.

Almost from the first pages of Exile's Song I really got to like Margaret and feel for her - even on this re-read of the book. She's an intelligent, strong character with a very definite set of beliefs and now she's on a planet where everyone else has some very strong ideas about her place and what she should be doing, while expecting Margaret to have all the background knowledge that she doesn't have, all resulting in some very interesting situations and conflicts.

Exile's Song is the first book about Margaret, so while things are resolved by the end of the book, there are some hints of interesting things to come in The Shadow Matrix. Which is interesting all on it's own, even in the implications of the title.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? - March 22

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted at One Person's Journey Through A World Of Books.

I know I completely skipped last week's post, (and all the reviews this week, which I'm now paying for), but I'm back.

This past week I read:
Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin. A non fiction book on spinning with both a drop spindle and a spinning wheel.

The Collegium Chronicles: Foundation by Mercedes Lackey. Fantasy, the first book of the Collegium Chronicles series. A re-read.

Exile's Song by Marion Zimmer Bradley. One of the Darkover series of books.

The Shadow Matrix by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Another Darkover novel, and the sequel to Exile's Song.

Traitor's Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The sequel to the previous two books.

The Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce. An omnibus edition of Alanna: The First Adventure, In The Hand Of The Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like A Man and Lioness Rampant. Teen books but a fun read nonetheless.

What I'm reading now:
The Aeneid by Virgil. Possibly going to get abandoned like so many other books lately

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon. For Royal Reviews.

Trickster's Choice by Tamora Pierce.

What am I planning to read?
Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce


Mustang: Wild Spirit Of The West by Marguerite Henry (if I can find my old copy)

Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning - Judith MacKenzie McCuin

Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning
Judith MacKenzine McCuin
Wiley Publishing
Copyright: 2007
978-0470098455

The amazon.com product description:

With its soothing, meditative effect, handspinning is a relaxing hobby, and the beautiful yarns you create are an even better reward. This visual guide shows you the basics, beginning with the tools and fibers, and takes you through spinning, plying, making novelty yarns, using exotic fibers, dyeing, and more. Whether you use an inexpensive hand spindle or splurge on a spinning wheel, stick with wool or try alpaca, cashmere, or cotton, you'll learn how to create fun, original, one-of-a-kind yarns that you can knit or weave into truly unique, handmade, and all-natural creations.
Concise two-page lessons show you all the steps to a skill and are ideal for quick review

• The skill demonstrated is defined and described
• Detailed color photos demonstrate each step
• Step-by-step instructions accompany each photo
• Helpful tips provide additional guidance
  

Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning is the first reference book on the subject that I bought myself after I got my spinning wheel a couple of years ago. The explanations are simple and concise, and well illustrated with full color photos.

There are sections on drop spindles of various types as well as on the different types of spinning wheels - how they work and how to care for them. Most of the book though is on different types of fibers and different spinning techniques. I'd read the book before when I first got it, and now reading it again I found that it made a lot of sense (and told me what the techniques I was using are called). Not just for spinning singles out of fiber, but also for plying and fiber care both for common fibers and exotic.

I find it rather neat that the model of wheel used in some of the photos is the same as the one I have: the Ashford Traveller, but that doesn't have any effect on the information in the book.

Overall, Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning is a good book for both the beginner and for someone who is a bit more advanced, although there are times when I wish they'd gone into more detail on various techniques. On the basis of this book, I'd recommend other books in the Teach Yourself Visually series too - at least for their crafting books.

Another plus for this book is that it's available in bookstores. It's the only one I've seen on the shelf to date, and so I didn't have to special order it.

Update

I know I've let All Booked Up slide badly this week. I'm sorry.  I haven't lost interest in the blog or abandoned it. It's also not because I haven't been reading. Completely the opposite in fact.

I ended up with a really bad cold last week (I'm still feeling it) and just didn't have the energy or focus to write up proper reviews or anything. I've still been reading however (only thing to do when I couldn't sleep).

The books that need to be reviewed now:
Teach Yourself Visually Handspinning by Judith MacKenzie McCuin
Exile's Song by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Shadow Matrix by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Traitor's Sun by Marion Zimmer Bradley

I also need to come up with a book and read it this week for my guest review slot at Royal Reviews.

What Would You Recommend? - Diana Gabaldon

This is a question I get asked all the time working in the bookstore: "What would you recommend for somebody who loved "_________"? (fill in the blank)" Usually I can come up with something, but that something can be a bit of a wild guess if it's not a book or genre I normally read. This is where you helpful people come in. If you have a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

Diana Gabaldon's books are popular and well-known, especially the main series, the Outlander books. Long and detailed, they're not quite any one category: there's time travel, romance, historical fiction and more. I'm finding though lately that I've got to be in the "right" mood to read and enjoy them. Either way, they're books I get a fair number of requests for.

Now, there's an unknown wait again for the next book to be released. I haven't seen any rumors yet of new titles for the book, and no hints for a date. So, what should I recommend to tide readers over until the next book comes out, whether it'll be a sequel to An Echo In The Bone, or one of the Lord John novels.

The Collegium Chronicles: Foundation - Mercedes Lackey

The Collegium Chronicles: Foundation
Mercedes Lackey
DAW Books
Copyright: 2008
9780756405243

The amazon.com product description:

In this chronicle of the early history of Valdemar, a thirteen-year­old orphan named Magpie escapes a life of slavery in the gem mines when he is chosen by one of the magical companion horses of Valdemar to be trained as a herald. Thrust into the center of a legend in the making, Magpie discovers talents he never knew he had-and witnesses the founding of the great Heralds' Collegium.

Discovering that the sequel to this book is finally available for pre-order for next October inspired me to re-read Foundation yesterday. My original review is here: The Collegium Chronicles: Foundation.

Most of my opinions haven't changed between the last time I read the book and now. It still seems rather suited to the same teen audience as the Arrows series (Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight, Arrow's Fall), but that suited me just fine this time around.

I said last time as well that Mags fits the 'formula' for Mercedes Lackey's characters. I still feel that way, but she's taken some aspects to more of an extreme this time. Namely the rough background aspect. Mags, before being Chosen lived a life rather like that of Vetch at the beginning of Joust.

On the other hand, I found myself paying more attention to the actual starting of the Collegium this time around. It's interesting, because the Collegium is just something that we take for granted as being a part of Heraldic, Bardic, and Healer's training. Just because the Last Herald Mage trilogy is the only one where there is no Collegium. Seeing all the doubts and 'what-if's' when we know it's going to work is interesting.

I'd forgotten just how many loose ends Foundation left hanging for the sequel. Frankly, I'm not sure there's even one resolved by  the end of the book, and the story built to it's climax very quickly. Still, I definitely enjoyed the read, and I'm waiting for Intrigue, the next book.