Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

I finally finished the "Eragon" Series.

I'm gonna give this series a "meh" rating.

I liked the first one, I liked where it was going, but eventually it was dragged out WAAAAY too much.

This is going to sound silly, but the author didn't leave ENOUGH mystery at the end. He had to explain every detail of what happened. Usually I leave a beloved series with satisfaction that the main points were answered, but enough was left over that I still wanted more. When I finished this series, I was relieved.

I read that the author wants to write more about the fictional country he created, but I really hope he does new characters. And I'm not sure I want to read the books even then!

Also, I felt like the villain was too powerful. The entire last book everyone was sure that they couldn't defeat him, and in the end what they did was make him understand what he had done wrong. One of the things I enjoy about fantsy is that the villain is overthrown by the weak hero, because the hero has more love and caring for those around him. Usually the hero will give the villain a chance to change, then proceed to destroy him. In this book, the change was forced on the villain and it destroyed him. Where is the mercy in that?

Then there is my soapbox. The hero decides that he has an innate sense of what is right and what is wrong and that is what will guide him for the rest of his life. I'm sorry. I don't believe that outside of deity, there is such a person that won't eventually submit to the temptation of power. Without Divine guidance, that is. JRR Tolkien had Divine guidance in his Lord of the Rings series, it just was behind the scenes.

I seriously hate it when fantasy writers remove the element of deity from their books. Atheism just doesn't makes sense and sounds hollow. Especially in fantasy, where that is often the POINT. Tolkein and CS Lewis (from which most high fantasy is based upon) took ideas from Norse, Celtic and other mythology (as well as Christian, in Lewis' case) and they had gods of some sort. It wasn't necessarily Christian, but it was some sort of deity. Frodo couldn't destroy the Ring without help.

What I believe Paolini is trying to do is say that man can do everything. Unfortunately, I highly doubt that. Part of the reason I read high fantasy is to remind myself that I can't do it alone. I need help, just like the Frodo, Lucy, etc do. Mind you I am Christian, so be aware of my beliefs.

Also note, that the Harry Potter series had a form of deity. It was tucked beneath the story line and not talked about much, but Dumbledore mentions it a bit. If you don't believe me, go re-read the series. Especially books 6 and 7, especially that chapter in book 7 in the train station (my favorite chapter by the way). JK Rowling, just doesn't make an issue of it.

So, I probably won't be reading these books any more. I own a few of them, but I might give them away. They lacked the luster that a really good ALWAYS has. A connection to the hero.

London: the Biography by Peter Ackroyd

This book seriously took me three to four months to finish. But I was glad I did. Ackroyd took a very unique approach to London by writing a Biography about it.

A biography? About a City? Huh?

That was my first reaction. But I really enjoyed this approach. It make London seem like a living, breathing, entity. Which I think it is, with its breath of life being given by people that live there and the experiences that have shaped its existence.

For example, I had no idea how much London has changed since the Victorian Period. Like other American English Majors when I visited London I assumed I would be able to visit places that existed during the life-time of Charles Dickens. Not so. The City keeps changing and growing.

They have preserved a few buildings and places, but only the extremely famous ones, or ones that are still being used for its original purpose, or nearly. (like the Tower of London...although the purpose of that has changed, it is still basically a royal housing/prison. Although now-a-days it is a tourist attraction. But it has been that since the eighteen hundreds. It still has a PURPOSE). Other buildings, like some of the docks that had existed on the Thames (pronounced "Tems". Get it right! :) ) since the middle ages have been completely bulldozed to make way for a expensive hotel. But whilst bulldozing old buildings, they often find even older ruins underneath, often from Roman times. The complexity of the city is amazing.

Now, not very many people actually LIVE in the city-center of London. Most people live in the suburbs. Also WWII and the Blitz changed the face of London permanently, from buildings being completely destroyed to social barriers being crossed.

This book was FASCINATING, you can tell that Ackroyd simply loves London. It is full of interesting facts about how certain streets and squares have always (and still) have the same professions and types of people on them. Where some old rhymes come from, urban legends, catch-phrases, etc.

I have a really interest in the History of England (if I had been smart, I would have directed my History studies in that direction) and this book was a wonderful eye-opening introduction to London, the heart of England.

So if you are interested in History, especially of the British Isles, this is a very good book for you. Mind you, it is 760 pages long, so it might take you awhile. I heartily recommend it.

The Twin's Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Meh.

No really, that's my opinion of this book. Meh.

I thought it was slow starting, turning into a huge soap opera that was full of sex and murder. Not really my cup of tea, and to be honest, extremely predictable. (Also the character development SUCKED)

This story is about a girl growing up in late Victorian England (possibly Edwardian?) where she discovers that her mother has an identical twin sister, who was raised in an orphanage, instead of in the lap of luxury, like her mother was. Over a miraculous six month period, this impoverished "common" twin is taken into the wealthy home of her sister and becomes just like her.

Then she is mistaken for her twin, blah, blah, blah. In the end everyone has slept with every one and no one knows which twin is which, and one twin kills the other for sleeping with her husband. I was bored in the first chapter, so I skipped to the end and found out the ending.

I think the author intended to be a dark, disturbing novel, but I think she missed the mark. It was too monotonous. There wasn't any real atmosphere in the entire book and all of the "clues" that pointed to the dramatic end were blatantly obvious. Maybe I'm callous.

I just don't like the soap-opera style like that. I get bored, because you know that who ever is writing is going to make it as dramatic as possible, even if it doesn't make any sense.

Also, London doesn't have street cars (correct me if I'm wrong,). It had omnibuses, trains or the Underground. (Yes the underground was around in the early 1900's. The first tunnel was actually created in the late 1800's. Look it up if you don't believe me) Little things like that, that would have taken five minutes of research really make or break a good historical novel. I firmly believe that you have to LIVE somewhere before you can write about it. If not physically, then mentally. Tolkien LIVED in Middle Earth, that is one reason it is so believable.

Not worth a read. I like dark novels every once in a while, but this lacked the atmosphere of a truly GOOD dark novel. Like "White Midnight" by Dia Calhoun. Well it isn't really dark (like Hamlet, but I never think Shakespeare is dark, the ending is just different from his comedies, but that's another post), but it doesn't exactly end well either.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

I've decided that this blog is just for my personal entertainment. As no one really comments on my posts. Maybe its because I only updated it every once in a while.

My latest read: Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan:



Sorry for the Amazon.com image, it was all I could find that wasn't a movie poster.

So I actually started to read this book, got bored and read something else.

Just goes to show you that first impressions are rarely accurate. DEFINATELY WORTH A READ!

I saw the movie and was kind of annoyed that they changed a bunch of stuff, including the fact that the characters looked like they were all 17, which really doesn't work with the premise of the book. So I picked it up again.

And couldn't put it down till I had gotten a hold of and read all five books.

Percy is a kid with issues, he has ADHD and dyslexia and one day after his Math teacher turns into a monster and tries to kill him, he finds out why. He is a demigod, son of one of the Olympic Gods. I won't say who, that is part of the fun of reading the books!

If you like the myths and legends of ancient Greece and Rome, these books are for you. It was kind of like reading Harry Potter again (true story, there are some STRIKING similarities in the plot and the main characters), but instead of being about witches and wizards it is about gods and monsters.

Okay similaries between Harry Potter and Percy Jackson



Percy:

Has a prophey told about him that fortells his DOOM

• Has a hero-complex, with the belief that he MUST help others
• Doesn't know about his birth until a rather spectacular introduction by his Math Teacher turning into a Harpy and tries to kill him.
• Risks everything to save the world

Is this ringing any bells?

Okay Harry:

• Has a prophecy that fortells his DOOM!
  
• Is fated to save the world.
• Has a hero-complex
• Doesn't know who he is until a Giant tells him.

Hmmm....someone should right a book about the similarities between heroes.

Oh wait some one has. If you are interested in Heroes and the patterns that they generally follow check out: "The Hero with A Thousand Faces" by Joseph Campbell. It is more of a book about psychology, but still interesting. (By the way this is what I wrote my thesis on)