#17 The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C Hines

344 pages, Fantasy

Did you ever wonder what happened to your favorite Disney princesses after their happily ever afters? Especially if those princesses were kind of frisky and warrior babe-esque? No? Well, you aren't alone. I have no idea what possessed me to pick this book up at the library, but something about it intrigued me.

The Stepsister Scheme is the story of Princess Danielle's (aka Cinderella) quest to find her kidnapped husband, Prince Armand. The prince and princess had been enjoying their life as newlyweds, Cinderella trying to learn as quickly as possible how to be a 'proper' princess when the unthinkable happens. Cinderella's evil stepsisters have ensorcelled her beloved prince and taken him away to the Kingdom of the Fairies. With the assistance of Snow (Snow White, naturally) and Talia (Sleeping Beauty), special helpers/assassins hired by Armand's mother, Danielle vows to find her husband and rescue him from her stepsisters' evil clutches.

The story is complicated by the fact that, although Danielle loves her husband, love is not enough to conquer all and triumph in this fairy tale world. She has no skills to track him, defend herself or discover the kind of magic that has him bound. In fact, she initially seems to be without any useful skills whatsoever. Here is where her cohorts come in handy.

The reader quickly discovers that the skill and grace with which Talia was fairy-blessed makes her a deadly enemy. She initially takes on the brute force protection of the trio, but Danielle eventually impresses upon Talia her desire to learn to defend herself. Snow's gift is for magic. She primarily uses the infamous magic mirrors for a variety of things, but she knows some spells too. Her general knowledge of magic and fairy tale creatures are useful in many ways as well, and the battle to rescue Armand would be lost without Snow's powerful spell casting ability. Finally, initial uselessness aside, Danielle uses her ability to communicate with many types of creatures to gain their aid throughout her ordeal. She also has a cleverness that the other two don't quite match throughout the story.

This story was brain candy at its finest. It was like someone took the Disney version of a few fairy tales, combined that with the Grimm version and created a strange fan-fic sitcom novel. I can't say that it wasn't entertaining. In fact, it made what would have otherwise been a crappy and dull day fairly interesting. The story did, however, lack any kind of substantial character development, and I wondered if that was perhaps because Hines was using characters already created by someone else. The only exception to this rule was with the character of Talia. In the Grimm version of the tale, Sleeping Beauty is NOT awakened by the kiss of her true love. She is instead wrenched from her unending rest by the birth of twin children, 9 months after the prince (already married, by the way) attempts to rouse her. The sleep and the subsequent awakening have left Talia with many scars, which are touched on in The Stepsister Scheme. Notable about this character is her bravado in the face of, what is to her, sheer terror, and her unorthodox romantic interests.

Like any good fairy tale, The Stepsister Scheme ends with a happily ever after for Danielle, her friends and Prince Armand. This was definitely an entertaining read, but I probably won't read any more books in the Princess series for this project. I would rank this one with 2.5 stars - slightly better than 2 stars, but not quite up to 3.

#16 Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear

430 pages, Fantasy

Blood and Iron is an urban fantasy saga, juxtaposing the nature loving and never aging Fae against the iron and industry of the modern age. There are two camps of Fae - the Daoine Sidhe and the Unseelie Court, the more evil of the two. There is also a human group of Magi, The Prometheus Club, pitted against the Fae and trying to prevent them from gaining a foothold and re-establishing their dominance. All three groups are vying for the support of the newest Merlin, born every 500 years and the embodiment of magic. Gaining the support of the Merlin would turn the tide for the winner of her support.

The Seeker of the Daoine Sidhe, Elaine, was a changeling child, betrayed by her lover (a werewolf) and sold to the Fae. She is bound to service by the Mebd, Queen of the Fae, and her job, in addition to winning the alliance of the Merlin, is to find the other changeling children and bring them home to Faerie. Elaine's mortal mother, Jane, is highly placed in the Prometheus Club. She is driven by rage over her child, taken from her, and has vowed to destroy Faerie. She uses Matthew Magus as pawn in her scheme, for he is also driven by rage against the Fae.

The story finally comes to a head in a mythical battle for survival. A bridge built of blood and iron is forged by the Prometheus Club to cross into Faerie, and Elaine, the Merlin and the Dragon Prince gather all their allies and the Unseelie Court to their aid. Many are lost in the battle on both sides, but there is no clear victor. By the end of the book, the Prometheus Club and the Fae have come to an uneasy truce and will both continue to exist.

To say that I didn't like the book would be an understatement. The plot was convoluted, to say the least. I couldn't understand who the protagonist was supposed to be until I was about halfway through the book. It was more soap opera than story, with too many characters and subplots. What made the book even more disappointing, though, was that I could see so much potential. The prose is absolutely beautiful, and Bear is an extraordinary wordsmith. How sad that there is no meaning or feeling behind her beautiful words! I didn't care about any of the characters in the book, and I was thrilled when I finally got to the last page. Now if only I could get back the three days it took me to read this monstrosity...

I had previously read a science fiction book by Bear, and my feelings were much the same. I originally thought that I didn't like that book because it was sci-fi and not my usual cup of tea. I was apparently wrong. I can honestly say I will never read another book by this author, and I give Blood and Iron 2 stars out of 5. If the prose hadn't been so beautiful, it would definitely rank at 1.

#15 - The Green Rider, by Kristen Britain

471 pages, Fantasy

I decided I needed a good, healthy dose of fantasy to get out of my reading rut and The Green Rider certainly delivered the dose I needed. The Green Rider is set in the realm of Sacoridia, a land steeped in magic but where 'magic' is a dirty word, and magic users are scorned by most society.

Karigan G'ladheon is the brassy, young adult daughter of a wealthy merchant. She has just been in a fight at school with the son of a nobleman, and is going home to explain to her father why she has been expelled. As she worries over what she will tell her father, one of the fabled Green Riders, pierced by two arrows bursts through the woods and onto the road. Karigan goes to help the man who is clearly dying. He tells her that he carries a life or death message for King Zachary, and begs her to accept the responsibility to deliver the message to him. Karigan reluctantly agrees to the behest, the rider makes her swear to never read the message and finally bestows upon her his brooch depicting a golden winged horse. When Karigan grasps the brooch in her hand, she has no idea that by accepting and being accepted by this token, she has awakened in herself the ancient magic of the Green Riders.

With his dying breath, the rider warns Karigan to "Beware the Shadow Man", an ancient agent of evil who has seized the chance to use his forgotten magic to bend the world to his will. In addition to magic, the Shadow Man has tantalized lesser nobles and the passed-over older brother of King Zachary with his gifts of power. He, in addition to the Weapons controlled by the nobles and the wicked would-be king pursue Karigan on her wild flight to deliver her message in time to save her land.

When I read the Aknowledgements page of The Green Rider (yes, I always read them), I was delighted that Kristen Britain thanked, among others, Terry and Jeri Goodkind (see my first entry for more about Terry Goodkind). I took this as a good sign. Britain also thanked a friend for exposing her to The Lord of the Rings books, and I can certainly see their influence in The Green Rider.

Perhaps the mention of Terry Goodkind in the beginning of the book made me have unrealistic expectations of what the story would be like. Goodkind's work has so many different levels, and tends to be quite complex. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy The Green Rider, the story was just much less complicated than I anticipated. Still a thoroughly delightful tale, The Green Rider would be acceptable for a younger audience as well. I would rank this one a 4 out of 5. I already checked out the second book in the series - I can't wait to find out what happens next!

#14 The Truce at Bakura, by Kathy Tyres

341 pages, suggestion (Science Fiction)

Having never read a Star Wars book before, I decided to grab one of the few my father in law recommended over the holidays and dig in.

The Truce at Bakura starts off where the sixth movie (the third that was actually made) leaves off. The Rebel Alliance has just blown up the second Death Star, saving Endor, Vader/Anakin has just killed the Emperor, and all the members of the Alliance are trying to regroup. While they are licking their wounds, they discover among the space debris an ancient probe of some sort containing a message imploring the Intergalactic Empire for urgent assistance arrives from the Outer Rim. Obi Wan speaks to Luke, and, just like that, our favorite rebels - Luke, Leia, Han, Chewy and the droids - are en route to Bakura.

We learn that an evil race of space reptiles, the Ssi-Ruuk, plans to use Bakura as an entry point to the realm of the Empire. They see humans as soulless, lesser beings and want to 'free' them by turning them into a sort of battery to power all their equipment - fighters, freighters, etc. While the Ssi-Ruuk cannot sense the Force, they have captured and brainwashed an orphaned human, Dev Sibwarra, who is Force sensitive but untrained. Dev uses his gift to sense the approach of Luke and the Ssi-Ruuk, in addition to enslaving the Bakurans, set their sights on capturing him, hoping his mastery of the Force will aid them in their conquest.

In addition to the mission of saving Bakura - in cooperation with the Empire's troops stationed there - Luke, Leia and Han all have their own agenda when they arrive at the secluded, Outer Rim planet. Han wants to protect Leia and try to further their relationship, bristling when she 'dismisses' him to do her job. Leia tries to ferret out information about opposition to the Imperial government and align another planet with the Rebels. Luke, is distracted from his higher calling to help the planet and the force user when faced with an attractive young senator who gives rise to somewhat baser desires.

I liked how this book introduced an Imperial general and gave a little of his back story, allowing the reader to experience the internal struggle of a talented general who bristles under the iron fist of the evil Empire. I also enjoyed the few chapters told from Chewy's perspective. It was interesting to finally understand thoughts and emotions from one of my favorite characters. The story itself, while fairly engaging, seemed to use the same formula as the movies - big, bad enemy threatens small and backward planet; Our Heroes swoop in to save said planet in the nick of time; all the 'real' work is done by Luke; formerly evil Force user is converted to the side of the righteous; said Force user dies in the end, absolved of his sins; Luke is sad and lonely; Han and Leia bicker.

Admittedly, this wasn't the best book I've ever read, but I'm a Star Wars geek so I enjoyed it. I would have to go with a 2 out of 5 rating though - the plot was predictable (see above), and unless you are a huge Star Wars fan, this genre is definitely not one I would recommend.

#13 My Life in France, by Julia Child

414 pages, autobiography

Well, after the distaste left in my mouth reading about Julie Powell, I decided to grab Julia Child's autobiography, My Life in France. Although this book was also used to gather material about Julia Child's life for the movie Julie & Julia, I decided to count it as my first foray into the world of biographies. Reading the forward, you learn that Julia dictated this book to her grand-nephew, and he is responsible for the actual writing. That being said, anyone who has watched reruns of The French Chef can see Julia Child's personality behind every word contained within the covers of this work.

My Life in France touches on Julia Child's childhood, young adult experiences, time in college, early beginnings in the OSA (the predecessor to the CIA) and how she met her beloved husband Paul. These experiences were described in what was more of a 'highlights' section in the first chapter. The remainder of the book is like a delightful romp through France (mostly). Julia - via Alex - regales the reader with delightful vignettes of dinner parties, cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu, traveling through the French countryside, shopping at open air markets and embarking on and completing the journey to publish Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The final chapters describe Julia and Paul's final station with the US Government in Norway, their return to America, Julia's time on the delightful public television cooking show, The French Chef, and the writing of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume II -the sequel to her masterwork with Simone Beck and Luisette Bertholle.

Reading this book was actually very enjoyable. Julia Child led an amazingly interesting life. She lived in Sri Lanka, China, France, Germany and Norway. She spoke English and three other languages, learned in her travels with her husband because of his service in the US Government. Her continuous and monumental love and support of her husband, even in the face of highly stressful circumstances was inspiring, as was the fact that she began work on The French Chef when she was 50 years old.

I loved experiencing France (one of my favorite places) through her eyes. And her stomach! As someone who has a tendency to remember travels based on the delicious new food I tried in my destination, I could easily identify with this habit of Julia Child's. Her description of the smells and tastes of Paris and southern France is so vivid that I felt like I was there. Reading this book was a very rewarding experience. Julia Child is a delightful personage, and hearing her words was as enjoyable as it was inspiring. I give this one a 5 out of 5.