Book Review: A Wizard of Earthsea

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin is an old school fantasy novel.  It is a short, fairly quick read.  At least for me it was.  I liked the old school style, though.  It wasn't too fast paced.  Le Guin paced the novel a little slower than most books today are which I appreciated because it allowed her to develop the characters and world in subtle details that I think can be missed. 

The first half of the book is the story of Ged’s childhood and how he ended up becoming a wizard.  Ged is the one to be impatient and rush.  Ogion, his master, is more patient and takes his time.  While this is a pretty average pairing of over excitable student and wise master, the way Le Guin approached it was refreshing to me.

The second half of the story covers what happens when Ged is out on his own.  He has to clean up a figurative mess he made while at the school for wizards because he was in such a hurry to prove himself.  There are some powerful lessons in this second half if one chooses to look for them.

Overall, I enjoyed the book quite a bit.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

So, I'm going to cheat a little.  This review is of the whole Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, not just one book.  It's easier that way - and I catch up some.

This is a series of 5 books by Rick Riordan.  Percy starts out at 12 and the series ends when he turns 16.  Overall I have to say I liked the books.  Keep in mind they are aimed at kids, not adults.  If you go into it looking for an adult level reading experience, you will be disappointed.  But, from a young teenage perspective (which is the intended audience), this is a great series.  It is fast paced, fairly heavy on the action and a fun subject.

I would say my biggest negative critique is that I don't know if the character development across the series was quite enough.  To go from 12 to 16 in the series, it felt a little like Percy didn't grow up much despite getting older.  Maybe that's just me, though.  Like I said, these are intended to be kids books.

In the end, I though the series was a fun read.  That, to me, is the most important since it may help inspire kids to read more.  I would recommend it to most adults looking for a pure, simple, fun set of books to read as well as most kids.

Room

I also finished reading Room by Emma Donoghue this week.  I must confess, this one I started reading quite a while ago but just didn't finish.  I am glad I did, though.

Room is told from the point of view of a little boy who turns five part way through the book.  The first half is alright.  I wasn't overly impressed, but Donoghue does an excellent job of telling what's going on through the eyes of a five year old and making it believable without being annoying.

It's the second half that I loved.  Here's your warning - I am going to give away one tiny bit of the book.  So, stop here if you don't want to know anything about what happens in the second half.  The way Donoghue treats the transition from Jack and Ma's captivity to their freedom  is amazing.  She contrasts Jack's sense of fear and distrust of anything that isn't Room with Ma's intense craving for life to be normal again.  Those conflicting points of view are what really make the second half for me.

Again, I am torn between loving the ending and being frustrated at not having a clear happy ever after.  I won't say what happens in the end but there are a number of questions unanswered at the end.  On the other hand, Donoghue chose a brilliant place to end the book as well.

I would say that this is a book worth checking out for anyone interested in fiction, relationships, psychology, or things along those lines.  Think Jaycee Dugard, even though this was written before she was discovered.

A Memory of Light

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson.  I've been debating how to review this book.  Two big reasons.  One, it is book number fourteen, the final book, in a long running fantasy series (Book 1 - The Eye of the World - was published in 1990).  Two, it's taken FOREVER to be published and I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't gotten there yet.  But, here goes.

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.  It does a great job of tying up a significant number of story lines that came out in the rest of the series.  Just as in the other couple books Sanderson wrote after Jordan died, to me Sanderson stayed true to the characters and tone Jordan began. 

There were a few parts that seemed to bog down to me.  I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, but parts of The Last Battle seemed to be a bit too detailed to me as does some of the events in this book leading up to it.  I could have done without some of the detail.  I can see what they were trying to do in writing those scenes the way they did, though.

The other issue I had was that some of the Talents and abilities in characters like Egwene and Aviehenda seemed to have gotten left behind in this book.  I don't know if that was intentional due to an agreement that they didn't fit in as well in this book, or if there was just so much else crammed in this book that these details got missed.  I am going to think it was intentional and not sloppiness.

I do like how the book ends despite it also being frustrating to me.  There are still some unanswered questions and scenarios.  Now, don't get me wrong, the major story lines are all tied up well.  It's just that there is a definite sense of "But what happened after that?" to some of it.  I can't give any examples without giving away stuff, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

In the end I would say this book and the entire Wheel of Time series is one any fantasy fan should read at least once in their lives.  Jordan has done a great job of creating a cohesive fantasy world, spinning out a myriad of different story lines, and bringing them back together again for a cohesive ending.

20 Hrs., 40 Min.

I've actually finished two books in my Goodreads challenge so far.  But, I'm going to review my second one first.  Partly because it's shorter and a stand alone book so it's easier for me to figure out how to write about it without giving anything away.  And, partly because I'm also linking up to Trifextra's weekend challenge with this book.

The book is 20 Hrs., 40 Min by Amelia Earhart.  The 33 word quote I chose for the Trifextra challenge is this:

“…on the flight I think two questions have been asked of me most frequently.  First: Was I afraid?  Second: What did I wear?  I’m sorry to be a disappointment in answering the first…”

 

I love the idea that these were the two most frequently asked questions upon Earhart's return from being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.  By the way, she goes on to say she was not afraid on the flight.

 

The book is a quick, easy read.  From a literary stand point I didn't find much remarkable about it.  But, I don't think that is a fair way to judge the book.  Earhart's voice comes through clearly in her writing, so much so that she has become a person I would put on my list of famous people in history I wish I could meet.  She is straight forward in her telling of this part of her story and gives credit where credit is due.

 

Earhart wrote the book shortly after the flight was made.  She points out several times she was merely a passenger on this flight.  She is careful to make clear she felt the credit for the flight should be focused on Wilmer Stultz, the pilot, and Louis Gordon, the mechanic, who actually flew the plane.  Earhart came across to me as someone who was not looking for the fame but was willing to use it to advance one of her passions - aviation.

 

Interestingly, aviation was NOT Earhart's main love.  She, at heart, called herself a social worker.  She was working in a settlement house prior to Friendship's flight across the Atlantic and, once in England, her favorite part of the trip was visiting settlement houses in London.

 

Overall I enjoyed the book.  While some dispute how much of her fame was deserved and how much she merely capitalized on the work of others, after reading this, I think she was very aware of this balance.  Some of her fame came from the work of others and she acknowledged this.  Yet, Earhart also did many things to earn the fame in her own right, such as setting the female aviation altitude record at one point.

Reading Challenge

As if I didn't have enough else to do with a 6 month old, working with teenagers full time, writing here, participating in different writing challenges each week, a large variety of craft projects and trying to get back in shape for this summer, I've found something else to add to my list of things to do!

I'm taking Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge.  As you can see on my page, there is now a little bar that keeps track of the books I read this year.  Anyone who knows me well would ordinarily laugh at the goal of reading 100 books in a year.  I at least used to be able to do that in 6 months, or less.  But, given all of the above items, I figured this would be a challenge but not overly outrageous.

A bonus for you lucky readers, I'll try to review at least a little about the books I read here.  Please keep in mind that I'm not any kind of professional reviewer, but I'll do the best I can to give you a coherent grasp of what I think of the books I read.

Wish me luck!