Release of Rising Book 1: Resistance, by Laura Josephsen

I couldn't be MORE excited to announce the release of this book! 

Blurb:

All Alphonse wants is a quiet summer at home before his final months at university. What he gets is a half-dead stranger on his doorstep and the task of delivering a package to the leader of his home country. Not long after he boards a train toward the capital, he's attacked by knights, elite soldiers of the neighboring king.

Alphonse is temporarily rescued by Mairwyn, a mechanic with a haunted past and a deep hatred of knights. Together, they attempt to carry out Alphonse's urgent errand, only to learn that if they fail, countless people will die.

And even if they succeed, they may not be able to prevent the war that lurks on the horizon.

Now, I had the pleasure of reading this myself a few months back. First of all, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Laura's writing. She always yanks you right into the story and writes characters that refuse to leave you alone when you are trying to sleep at night. Her book, Resistance, does all of the above! 

It's such a unique blend of fantasy, sci-fi, and romance (my favorite!) with characters you either love at first (um, headstrong Mairwyn!) or grow to love (the endearing Alphonse.) The character development was rich and solid and completely intriguing - sometimes those tortured pasts were difficult to read - and the romance unfolded beautifully as Mairywyn and Alphonse discovered their love for each other while discovering themselves. I can't wait for the sequel! (Seriously, Laura, get on that! *twiddles thumbs* *waits* *WAITS*)

Author Bio:

Laura Josephsen lives with her family in Tennessee. She is a co-author of the Restorationseries and the author of Confessions from the Realm of the Underworld (Also Known as High School). She likes music, reading, socks, rainy days, chocolate, coffee, and sci-fi and fantasy tales.

Now, for the good stuff...


The links!

Rising Book 1: Resistance:

Kindle at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0079DJ3HC
Paperback at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Rising-Book-1-Resistance/dp/1469904357/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329773440&sr=1-4
Nook at B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rising-book-1-laura-josephsen/1108828628?ean=2940013930056
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/132824
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13412367-resistance


Also, go check out her awesome blog at:  http://laurajosephsen.blogspot.com/

HAPPY READING!!

A Tribute to Jim Butcher...Or, More Accurately, His Tribute To Himself...

Every so often, I'll search the world wide web for information on authors I love. You know, it's kinda like that quote by J. D. Salinger in the Catcher in the Rye (one of my favorite books, btw) :

"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it. That doesn't happen much, though."

Well, for me, one of those authors is Jim Butcher, who wrote The Dresden Files and one of my favorite fantasy series, Codex Alera. I even have an autographed map of Alera (thanks, John!!).

His books are so much fun - I LOVE his sense of humor - and he writes some of the best battle scenes I've ever read. Not that I'm an authority on the subject...

Which brings me back to the topic of "the author bio." Yeah, yeah...I know what you're thinking. "He went to X school and studied INSERT-ENGLISHY-SUBJECT and currently lives in Z, Washington."

Pshaw! If only....

This is JIM BUTCHER.

His author bio is as entertaining as his novels!

Ahem! *clears throat*

"Jim Butcher read his first fantasy novel when he was seven years old--
the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. By the time he turned eight,
he'd added the rest of the Narnia books, the Prydain Chronicles, every
book about Star Wars he could find, a great many Star Trek novels and
the Lord of the Rings to his count.

So he was pretty much doomed from the start.

Love of fantasy, his personal gateway drug, drew him toward a fairly
eclectic spread of interests: horseback riding (including trick riding,
stunt riding, drill riding, and competitive stunt racing), archery,
martial arts, costuming, music and theater. He played a lot of role-
playing games, a lot of fantasy-based tactical computer games, and
eventually got into live-action roleplay where players beat each other
up with boffer weapons.

So, really, he can fly his nerd flag with pretty much anyone, and
frequently does.

He took up writing to be able to produce fantasy novels with swords and
horses in them, and determinedly wrote terrible fantasy books until,
just to prove a point to his writing teacher, he decided to take every
piece of her advice; fill out outlines and worksheets, and design
stories and characters just the way she'd been telling him to do for
about three years. He was certain that once she saw what hideous art it
produced, she would be proven wrong and repent the error of her ways.
The result was the Dresden Files, which sure showed *her*.

She has not yet admitted her mistake and recanted her philosophy on
writing.  ( <-- I love this!)

Jim has performed in dramas, musicals, and vocal groups in front of
live audiences of thousands and on TV. He has performed exhibition
riding in multiple arenas, and fallen from running horses a truly
ridiculous number of times. He was once cursed by an Amazon witch
doctor in rural Brazil, has apparently begun writing about himself in
the third person, and is hardly ever sick at sea.

He also writes books occasionally.

Jim stands accused of writing the Dresden Files and the Codex Alera.

He's plead insanity, but the jury is still out on that one. He lives in

Missouri with his wife, romantic suspense and paranormal romance writer

Shannon K. Butcher (who is really pretty and way out of his league), <--I love this, too!

his son, and a ferocious guard dog."

Awesome. :)

See why he writes great battle scenes??  :)

FLY THAT NERD FLAG, JIM!! (while you're writing more books, please :D  )

***If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

The Iron Knight by Julie Kagawa

WARNING: If you have NOT read the previous Iron Fey novels by Ms. Kagawa, and have any intent on doing so, read the following at your own risk...for, here there be spoilers. :)

I've just had the pleasure of reading Ms. Kagawa's final installment in her New York Times bestselling series, IRON FEY, and all I can say is...WOW.

Ms. Kagawa wasn't lying to us. If we thought we knew Ash before, we hadn't seen anything yet! And you'll be even more in love with him when you've read his story. Just you wait Team Ash...you're in for a treat! *fans face*

If you remember, The Iron Queen left us emotionally conflicted (um, utterly distraught? ready to throw my Kindle?). We were relieved the war between Winter, Summer, and Iron ended and the Nevernever would survive, but there was just one little, itty bitty catch. Ash, our beloved Winter Prince, realizes he can't be with the woman he loves without it physically killing him. He simply cannot exist as a Fey in Meghan's Iron Kingdom (remember dear friends, iron is toxic to faeries). So, what does our dashing knight in shining armor do? Well, he sets out on a quest to find a way to be with the woman he loves, and, in the process, discovers that in order to be with her, he must become mortal.

*gasp*

The Iron Knight begins with Ash and the infamous and seemingly omnipresent Puck (who's just as hilarious and flippant as ever) seeking out a particular, annoying cat in hopes of finding a way for Ash to become mortal. What the Winter Prince needs is a soul, and the journey to gaining that soul is treacherous and agonizing and full of heart-wrenching discoveries.

With Puck and a few other surprise (ahem!) guests at his side, Ash faces his haunting past. We finally begin to understand the "ice" in "Ice-boy." Ms. Kagawa's writerly skill and prowess forces us to live Ash's torment and agony. We feel the weight of his decision and we are devastated when he finally discovers what he must sacrifice in order to be with Meghan Chase.

Filled with adventure, suspense, humor, and romance, The Iron Knight is sure to leave the reader completely satisfied. It is a perfect and beautifully crafted ending to the Iron Fey Series, and while I'm still coming down from my happy cloud, I'm sad to part with Ms. Kagawa's rich and exciting Fey world.

That is...for now. :) She's announced a SECOND Iron Fey trilogy starring Meghan's younger brother, Ethan. It'll take place several years after the first trilogy.

Thank you, Julie Kagawa, for introducing us to such a wonderful group of "friends" and sharing their fantastic journey with us. Can't wait for more!

The Iron Knight will be released in October 2011!




*If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!


Here's a link to my review for the rest of The Iron Fey series

Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

Gorgeous Cover!

I'll start with this. Ready? Picture it....

London.

Time travel.

History.

Dark haired hottie. *sigh* 

Is it a wonder I finished it in an afternoon? :)

German author Kerstin Gier managed to combine all elements in the first of her Ruby Red Trilogy! (translated to English this past May)

For 16 year-old Gwyneth, time-travel is real. At least that's what she's always been told. Her family had the fortunate (or unfortunate) circumstance of inheriting the gene. And, as predicted by Sir Isaac Newton, this gene would appear for the last time in her cousin, Charlotte. Charlotte was prepared all along for the day her time-traveling gene would express itself. The only problem is, the gene doesn't express itself in Charlotte, it shows up in Gwyneth. And the unsuspecting Gwyneth is thrust into 18th Century London with sneakers and her cell phone.

To make matters worse, she's got a time-traveling "guardian", 19 year-old Gideon de Villiers, who is arrogant, condescending, and...gorgeous. And the more the pair travel to the past, the more they realize they are part of a plot that could get them killed.

Unlike most "first books in a series" I've read, this one isn't a "stand alone". Nothing is really resolved. Throughout the book, the mystery builds and builds (I still don't really know what's going on), the ending is a romantic cliffhanger, and you are left desperate for the sequel (which, by the way, there is a teaser Chapter 1 at the end...that doesn't help either).

But, the story was so much fun - hilarious at times! - and I would recommend it to anyone wanting any of the said elements above. As for me, I'm impatient for Spring 2012!

Happy Reading!

Find it on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Red-Trilogy/dp/0805092528


*If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Okay, I downloaded this on my Kindle while Ben and I were at the pool one afternoon and finished it later that night! (Ben...THANK YOU for understanding!) Could not put it down!

Anna and the French Kiss is about a girl named - you guess it - Anna. Anna Oliphant, in fact, (poor girl) is from Atlanta and is "forced" to attend a boarding school in Paris her senior year of high school. (Yes, forced. She doesn't know a lick of French.) The story follows her as she struggles NOT to stand out as both the new kid and an American (not that she's not proud, she just wants to blend in), while discovering herself as she tries not to fall in love with the beautiful French-American boy with perfect dark hair and a charming British accent, Etienne St. Clair. *swoons* After all, everyone adores him and he's already got himself a girlfriend. He's just giving her his undivided attention because he's a really nice guy...right?

Perkins paints a vivid picture of Paris - the culture, the sights, the smells, the language - in a way that makes you forget you aren't actually there (and makes you somewhat sad when you realize you're not). What I also love about this story is the writing. Perkins' voice is so strong and engaging - it was one of the reasons I couldn't put the book down, as well as wanting to know what happened between Anna and Etienne St. Clair. *swoons again*

I will not give any more away... :)

For any of you in the mood to be transported to Paris (yes please!) and for a charming love story (don't let my use of "charming" fool you. Anna is spunky, smart, funny, feisty...awesome!), read this! Just make sure you don't have any pending engagements first. :)

Happy reading!

***If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Now, if you haven't read The Maze Runner (you can read my review here) and have even the slightest hope of doing so, I might suggest you stop reading this.

Don't say I didn't warn you. 

Ready? Here goes.

It's taken me a few days to figure out what to say. On the one hand, I couldn't put this book down. But on the other hand...(I have five more fingers, yes, I know) it took more of an apocalyptic turn.

The Scorch Trials picks up right where The Maze Runner leaves off. The boys (and Teresa) are safe and being cared for by the strangers that rescued them. Except the sense of safety lasts maybe two pages before you're thrust into yet another mind-boggling, unending sense of hopelessness with the realization that this "safety net" was all a ploy, just another part of the Trials. There is something even greater, something more dangerous, they have to endure - all in the name of saving the human race from total destruction.

Their next mission: to walk north 100 miles to a new "safe-haven". Sounds easy, right? Well, maybe I should mention the 100 miles is across barren wasteland scorched into oblivion by solar flares, equipped with magnificent electrical storms with no place for you to hide, unbearable and blinding heat, and diseased zombie-humans on the prowl.

I don't feel I can give an adequate review beyond this point. Mainly because I'm not a fan of zombies and I hate being scared. That being said, this book wasn't the kind that left me waking up in the middle of the night thinking every shadow was a zombie (and, consequently, making me attack my dog). No, no, no. Despite fearing whatever monstrosity lurked on the next page, I simply HAD to turn it ("click" for you Kindle readers). I had to know what was going to happen next. With all the unanswered questions, thrilling pace, plot twists, I had to go on.

Needless to say, by the end I was exhausted, worried I was going to slowly mutate into a zombie. Well, not really. But, if you like dystopian/zombie/apocalyptic novels, definitely give these a try. Even though this particular blend isn't my favorite, I'll still read the third and final installment of his series, The Death Cure which will be released October 11, 2011.

Happy reading!

***If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

It seems I've been on a "dystopian" kick lately and need to fix that so I don't turn myself into a conspiracy theorist. That being said, I intend to go straight to this book's sequel, The Scorch Trials, before switching genres. But first, let's talk about The Maze Runner.

Thomas wakes up in a elevator shaft. His memory has been wiped clean; he can't remember his age, where he came from, or his family. All he can remember is his first name. The elevator stops, the doors open, and the story unfolds.

He's trapped in the heart of a maze with other teenage boys, some of which have survived there for a couple years. There are four "doors" that lead from their Homestead into the maze. Every day, a select group of boys, called "runners", runs into the maze in hopes of solving it. And, every night, the "doors" close--their only protection from the monsters that dwell inside the maze. The Maze Runner follows Thomas and his inexplicable need to be a "runner" as he struggles to solve the puzzle before the monsters kill the lot of them.

This book held me captivated to the very end! The pacing was so perfect it was borderline tiresome, and Dashner's world-building was incredibly thorough and "believable". If I could compare this to anything, I would say it's like a cross between Ender's Game and Lord of the Flies.

Now...to download the sequel! Where's my Kindle? :)

***If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I can safely say that from page one, my kindle didn't leave my hands. Except when I went to sleep. And when I went to sleep, I dreamt I was in a spaceship somewhere, suspended in the universe. Now, I'm not really one for 'thrillers'. And I'm pretty picky with sci-fi. The reason being that most sci-fi revolves strictly around ideas. While ideas are interesting, if I don't connect emotionally to the characters, I stop caring about the story. So here's Across the Universe: a thriller meets murder mystery meets sci-fi adventure, with strong character development and hints of romance. I'm there!

Amy has been cryogenically frozen. The process is quite painful, and Revis goes into some fascinating if not gruesome details. (No, it's not like Austin Powers. Not even close. You won't even consider being frozen after this.) She's supposed to be thawed once Godspeed (a spaceship the size of a small country) lands at its intended destination--a new Earth. The journey is estimated to take 300 years. But Amy's accidently thawed 50 years before arrival. And the ship that awaits her is occupied by a few thousand brainwashed citizens--all with brown hair, brown eyes, and tan skin--that are ruled by a tyrant. This tyrant doesn't tolerate differences. It doesn't matter if Amy tries to hide her Earthen origins. Her bright red hair and pale skin already give her away.

The story switches back and forth between two different POVs: Amy's, and a boy her age named Elder, who's training to be next in command of the Godspeed. The pair work together in order to find out who's been unplugging the other cryogenically frozen passengers and leaving them to die. What they find instead are decades of lies--lies that threaten the voyage of Godspeed itself.

Of course, we're left with a semi-cliffhanger ending. I believe the second installment of this intended trilogy will be released later this year.

You can find the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Across-Universe-Beth-Revis/dp/1595143971

Happy Reading!...and if you shirk all your other household duties, don't say I didn't warn you!

Matched by Ally Condie

Thanks to Lauren (my amazing cousin) for this recommendation! This was a fabulous story. Once I was about 39% into it (according to my Kindle), I could NOT put it down. Did I mention this was a fabulous story?

The setting is some time in the future within a dystopia that feels more like a utopia...at first. Citizens' lives are completely controlled and monitored, but that's not really a bad thing. How could it be? They've got nice homes, perfect families, and they don't have to worry about disease, famine, jobs, marriage--because Society has already chosen it for them through years and years of study and probability. But that's the problem for Cassia. She's stumbled across the beauty of choice and free will. Unfortunately, now she wants to make her own choices about everything. She can't 'go gently' any more.

At age 17 Cassia has been Matched. Society has chosen the best spouse for her--which happens to be her best friend, Xander. That's where her problems start. Not because she doesn't care for her friend. It's because she's accidentally fallen in love with someone else, someone that helps her discover what it is to feel and what it means to be free. And Society would destroy their lives before ever allowing that.

This story was like a 1984 meets Gattaca. Exciting to the very end as the world around Cassia changes with rumors of a rebellion. We're left hanging with the promise of its sequel Crossed, which will be released this November. Thanks Ms. Condie for an intriguing read!

Go check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Matched-Ally-Condie/dp/0525423648

The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa

Julie Kagawa is to blame for my delay in 'journaling'. I try to blog about books I read, as I read them. But this series was so captivating that instead of writing about book one, I kept reading. And reading. And last night, I finished! It's been awhile since I've read a series that's taken over my thoughtlife. So, Julie Kagawa if you ever, ever read this, PLEASE HURRY UP AND FINISH THE IRON KNIGHT! (book 4 in her series). I'm dying over here!

The Iron Fey series is about sixteen-year old Meghan Chase that discovers she's actually a half-blood faerie princess, her real father being the Summer King Oberon. That's only the beginning of the faerie-twisted, Shakespearean-esque satire set in the modern day. Her best friend on Earth is the comical, fun-spirited Robbie, whose actually Robin Goodfellow from a Midsummer Night's Dream, sent to protect her. And, of course, like all Shakespeare stories, Meghan falls in love with the son of the winter Queen Mab and Meghan's elven-family's enemy: the Winter Prince, Ash. He's the Hot-Boy-With-Sword: dark hair, lean, muscular, with silver eyes, skilled fighter, and an icy-demeanor that only Meghan can melt. It's...beautiful.

With technology in the real world growing exponentially, a new power has risen in the Nevernever: the Iron Kingdom. Iron is toxic to faeries and threatens to destroy all of the Nevernever. The series follows Meghan as she finds love while embracing her place in the Nevernever. It's an exciting, unputdownable adventure, with memorable and funny characters whose development I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The ending of book three is both perfectly satisfying and heart wrenching (still suffering). Ms. Kagawa's balance of action and romance is perfect--the scenes are described beautifully while capturing emotion that yanks the reader right into the story. (Which is why I've gotten nothing done all week...ahem...Ben's started to metabolize his own muscle.)

A little caution: there's some language throughout the series. It tapers off drastically after the first book.

They are, as follows:
The Iron King, a novella called A Winter's Passage, The Iron Daughter, The Iron Queen.

The fourth and final installment, The Iron Knight, is slated for release in the fall. AND it's supposed to be told from Ash's perspective. But please, Julie. HURRY! Don't do this to me!


***If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

"It was a dark and stormy night."




Yes. It begins that way. And it's perfect.
I know, I know. I can see you over there--arching your brow. No, I did not read this in grade school. I can recall the topic rising in a discussion, though the memory's fleeting and a bit hazy. Probably because it was a dream. That being said, I've always been curious about that little wrinkle and have finally, as an adult, read it for myself. And I'm so glad I did. What an enjoyable read!
A brief (very) summary:
Margaret "Meg" Murry is equivalent to the school's reject. She's so brilliant she's odd, wears glasses and braces, and can't seem to control her tongue. What a delightful person. She can't help it; her parents are scientists. Her father's gone strangely missing, and her mother--she doesn't seem concerned about him in the slightest.


Then one day Meg's brother, the 'prodigal' Charles Wallace (who didn't start speaking till age 4, and once he opened his mouth, started using words like 'exclusive'), leads her to Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which. Mrs. Whatsit is the most talkative (to the annoyance of her other two companions), Mrs. Who only speaks by quoting other novels, in their native tongue (Latin, German, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.), and Mrs. Which who is the most guarded, most wise. Those three eccentric, funny women explain the 'tesseract'--sort of like a wormhole you squeeze through to travel through space faster than light-speed. According to the three women, that is where Mr. Murry has been. And it is because of this 'tesser-ing' he's trapped in 'The Black Thing'--a dark cloud of evil threatening to infiltrate the galaxy.


On a fantastic adventure where things--and people--aren't really as/who they appear, Meg learns to use her inner strength to rescue her father and save her brother Charles Wallace from evil.

Would I recommend? Absolutely!

Crime and Punishment

By Fyodor Dostoevsky

Now this is a novel that's been on my reading list for a few years--ever since reading War & Peace (which is one of my favorite novels of all time). I say that because War & Peace was the first piece of Russian literature I can recall reading and piqued my interest in Russian culture. So it was with high expectations I delved into Dostoevsky's masterpiece, and those expectations were duly met--just not in the ways I was expecting.

Imagine yourself meeting a brilliant young man with the entire world at his fingertips and then witness him murder an old woman--with an ax. But rather than feel for the murdered woman, you empathize with the ax-murderer. That is what Dostoevsky has done with Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov (Ah! Those Russian names!).

Raskolnikov is in a terrible predicament. He's poor, all the hopes of his mother and sister rest upon his successes (that are not forthcoming), and he's miserable in isolation within the filthy, dark, cramped walls of a hole for a room within the heart of hot, crowded St. Petersburg. That is the very breeding ground for the idea that forms in his head: isn't he justified in killing an old pawnbroker woman--a louse--that no one will mourn, in order to use her money to achieve great things for mankind? Sacrifices must be made for greatness, or so he's convinced himself. Just look at the 'great' men like Napoleon (he uses this comparison often), and all the men whose blood was spilt in order for Napoleon to achieve what he did. Raskolnikov thought he was a great man, therefor, like Napoleon, above the common moral law.

And thus begins our story. As a reader you understand Raskolnikov's logic and motivations, no matter how twisted they may be. You watch how his pride (probably his greatest vice) fails to let him recognize the error in his judgement. You watch that pride torment and suck the life from him, as he withers to a sickly specter of a human. And towards the end, when he finally confesses his crime, you ache when he still doesn't understand his error. To him, the only reason he failed was because he was found out. And because he was found out, this meant he wasn't a 'great man'. He wasn't a Napoleon. It was this thought alone that crushed him.

It isn't until the very end when the constant love of a harlot woman brings him back to humanity. And it is only then that he can realize the weight of his crime, thus the very beginnings of the soul wrenching, painful process of the heart's reconstruction. Dostoevsky leaves us with that, as, he claims, the process of healing and redemption would be another story altogether.

Despite the very heavy subject matter, the author does implement humor. There are many other characters that enrich the world Raskolnikov lives in and as a reader you appreciate the reprieve from our main character's torment. The dialogue is so very real and candid--it's just like the flow in conversations you'd expect to have with people every day which made the characters themselves that much more believable.

Which leaves me with this. I take away a good many things from the books I read--particularly those written in a time other than the present. And from this story, there is one fact that really stood out: how a man could commit something so evil, yet be so thoroughly convinced that what he was doing was truly for the benefit of mankind. And that, I believe, is the most frightening kind of evil.


***If you like YA Fantasy, check out my book, GAIA'S SECRET. The sequel is coming soon!

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

I have finished it. Just this morning. My expectations were high--I'd even watched most of the TV series: Legend of the Seeker (which I enjoyed up until the point of taking a hiatus, and went back to it, the scales removed from my eyes, and I saw it for what it was). Why can't producers stick to the story as it is? It would be SOOO much better.

Well. I initially enjoyed the journey Terry Goodkind sent me on--always running from evil with never a moment to breathe, magic of all kinds threatening to kill off the persevering Richard Cypher; the exotically beautiful Kahlan that, for a reason we find out much later, he can not be with (or, consequently, live without. I'm a sucker for love stories); the eccentric and witty Zeddicus Z'ul Zorander, Wizard of the First Order. And I was right there, ready to enjoy the rest of the series until we met the terrible, violent, sadistic in ways I would never have imagined, Mord-Sith.

From that particular phase of torture and beyond, I was...lost. While I understand what Goodkind's doing, it reminded me of why I generally prefer YA Fantasy--the moral dilemma's aren't as 'ugly' and 'disturbing' as adult fantasy can be. That being said, I enjoyed this book, the journey, and his creativity, but his representation of 'evil'--which earns every bit of the word--is just not the kind I enjoy reading about. Maybe some day I'll read more of this series, but for now, I'm still worn out from enduring Richard's gruesome torture.

Next up...Crime and Punishment!

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

The reason I picked up this story was because of it's author. Don't get me wrong, the titles in the 1800's leave nothing to the imagination. They tell you exactly what the story is about. Besides, how can a book about princesses and goblins be boring?

But I'll return to my first point. George MacDonald was a favorite of JRR Tolkien and C.S. Lewis (all time favorite author's of mine) and Lewis Carroll, so I simply had to check him out for myself.

On the surface, The Princess and the Goblin is a fantastical adventure. All the elements of Fantasy: monsters (the horrid, malevolent goblins and their terrifying pets), dark tunnels beneath the earth, murderous plots of revenge, Princesses, Kings and Queens, a 'fairy godmother'. But what I appreciated most about the story were the strong moral and spiritual themes that George MacDonald wove into the very fabric of the plot and characters. After all, he was a pastor.

Our heroine is Princess Irene and our hero is the simple son of a miner, Curdie. Although, MacDonald makes a point to inform the reader that Curdie has the courage and bravery of a King, which makes him one despite his 'class'. Curdie works in the mines and discovers the goblins evil plot, while the Princess makes a discovery of her own: her great-great-great-great grandmother lives up the old stairs in her house. It's just that Princess Irene is the only one that can see her. The Grandmother is beautiful, despite her old-old-old age and can appear as a light in the sky, and gives the Princess a gift of thread, which eventually leads our heroine to saving the hero. And together, the Princess and Curdie save the entire palace from disaster at the hands of the Goblins.

MacDonald puts great emphasis on believing in the things that are unseen--having faith and trusting in that faith to guide and protect you (through the Grandmother). And it takes a childlike innocence to accept it. Irene has a disposition to accept more readily while the hero, Curdie, has to learn to accept--which he eventually does. MacDonald used the Princess as model of virtue: always telling the truth, admitting when you're wrong, and keeping your word.

The style of writing is so conversational, I felt as if I were sitting at the fire with my legs crossed sipping hot cocoa while my grandfather was reading me a story. This is definitely one I'll be sharing with my kids some day (should we have them). It has a sequel, The Princess and Curdie, which I plan to read soon. The adventures and themes are timeless and I would recommend this to anyone wanting to escape into the heart of childlike innocence.