Forever Neverland - Heather Killough-Walden

I was a bit apprehensive about this novel as I found the other book by Heather Killough-Walden a disappointment. It was one of my first reviews and it can be found here http://rushbysrantsandreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/avengers-angel-lost-angels-book-one.html
I slated it! I was unsure whether to bother with this read and I am so glad I did. I read it in a couple of days and couldn't put it down. I was back to reading in the staffroom and at every available point! Here's why.
I have a long standing obsession with pirates. I believe Captain Hook was one of my first fangirly infatuations at the tender age of... well, lets just say I was young OK! The story of Peter Pan is a complicated one I won't get into now and the idea of a sequel has always left me feeling uncertain. This one is a very different take on it, and it worked for me, we find Wendy Darling being bounced between therapists, John has grown into a disbelieving nerd and Michael a troubled child. Peter has become a nightmare of a teenager who has turned to motor cycles and drink, not a bad thing usually but in this case...

Killough-Walden does all the characters justice, keeping them in check with the originals and adding her own spin on it. The hate between Hook and Pan is explored in detail and the reader learns some abhorrent things about the young hero of Neverland. He comes across as a sulky obnoxious spoilt young man who hasn't learnt a thing since leaving Neverland. He has grown up a bit, in body, but certainly not in mind.

The language in the novel is half decent as well and the action scenes are so well written I could not stop reading, I ignored most things going on around me while I was churning through the pages. The only thing that bothered me was the repeated use of the phrase 'off of' (as in get off of my ship) I find this phrase awkward and it could easily be avoided with a bit of a re-write (Get your ass off my ship)

Apart from this, the novel was a splendid read. The romantic aspect of it was cute and the detail which she writes in is fab. If you're a fan of Peter Pan and fancy a bit of a guilty pleasure, this is the book for you!

The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkein

Things have been a bit crazy in life lately so haven't had as much time for reading as I would have liked. I have also chosen to read a rather difficult book so its taken a bit longer than I first thought. Sorry for my silence but there you have it, life happens sometimes and you can't help but get swept up in it.



This book is a classic! There can be no other word for it. I once read the set when I was in my early teens and cannot remember much of it. I have watched the films countless times and seeing how I enjoyed The Hobbit I thought I would give them another bash. Maybe I would enjoy them more with 'older' eyes. I did!

Tolkien may be a plagiarising numpty (for want of a better word) but that man can write a decent story in a fantastical world. There are elements that everyone will recognise, for instance, the naming of a river 'Wetwang' is familiar to me. Not as a childhood insult you immature lot, but as a village located near where I live. There are many sources of inspiration in the novel and some of them you can't help but notice. I found some of these a little jarring to read, it jolts you out of the world at times and leaves the reader feeling a bit jilted. However, the world Tolkien has created is rich and diverse and it soon stops being an issue.

The best part of this novel, for me, was discovering the characters all over again. There is so much more detail in the books about the individual characters and how they interact. The Frodo in the book has so much more spirit and fire than the version in the film and is much more likable. Sam is also more fun and invokes more interest from the reader. I would go so far to say that the characters Peter Jackson has made are a watered down version of the ones in the novel, a lot was lost in translation from book to film.

I will say this however, the book is a tough read. The word order in some places make the meaning hard to grasp and at times, it can be a bit of a slog. I don't know whether Tolkien did this in purpose - it does give the words a sort of ethereal quality - or whether it is a product of the time it was written in. Either way, this novel is not for the feint-hearted but for those that want to see what the father of all fantasy novels is like.

The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold

This is one of my favourite stories and I have read it more than once. I have recently re-read it and have decided to pop a review up so I can share its greatness with my readers. 

The novel follows the journey of the hero as he returns to his native lands after spending some time as a galley slave. It turns out he was the only soldier not ransomed after a siege by a jealous military rival. The story begins as he arrives home for the first time in nineteen months and follows from there. His old patroness employs him as a tutor for her granddaughter and despite his best efforts to live a quiet life in an out of the way province, he is soon thrust into the fore-front of the royal court. He is easy to relate to and a genuine sympathy is evoke from the very beginning of the novel as he goes through the readjustment to his new surroundings. The support cast in the novel are also very well written and add another level to the novel, they work for good, or ill, some of them you can't help to hate, all of them are balanced and well rounded, complete characters

The world building in the novel is very good but the best aspect is the detail on the religious beliefs of the characters. The Gods play an active part, albeit through the willing participation of the characters, and this is one of the key themes - free will  and fate, or divine intervention. It is an interesting aspect of the novel and well worth reading for this reason. The rest of the world is well written and presented in an aspect that is easy to understand. The language is easy to follow and its for this reason that I have read this novel again and again.

There are plenty of political complications in the plot line that the central story doesn't occupy you until the second half of the novel. This is not a problem, there is enough going on to keep a reader absorbed and interested. The pace picks up and the tension in the novel makes this a very good book. I've hardly touched on the aspects of magic and how it ties with religion and metaphysics in the novel and there is much much more I could say about how great it is but that would be me waffling on. Go and read the book for yourself and you'll see how great it truly is.

Orphan (The Key to Magic) - H Jonas Rhynedahll

A brief return to books that I often find hit and miss: ones that Amazon recommend to me via email. I've had this one on my Kindle for a while and have been meaning to get round to it however the lure of The Hobbit was too much to resist. Still, here we are now with my thoughts on my latest read.

The book was a good read, the heroes of the book were instantly likeable and followed a decent journey through to the end. It wasn't all easy for them and there was a large amount of pain and suffering along the way. The main protagonist, Mar, is easy to relate to and a genuine care for what happens to him builds from the very start of the novel. The action begins right at the start of the novel and leaves the reader asking questions and wanting to know more about whats going on. The other 'hero' type character is introduced when he saves Mar from certain doom in the first chapter. Although not as likeable as the hero, he certainly has an air of mystery about him which keeps a reader interested and wanting to know more.

The world building in this novel is very good and a credit to the author, it seems complete and some of the desert setting made a nice change to read about. I certainly enjoy reading about different settings and the ruins in this novel made for a nice change. It had an Indiana Jones feel to it and was a pleasure to learn about. The general plot of the book was decent as well, interesting enough to keep me interested and yet different enough to have its own unique take on things.

However, this novel is far from perfect. Aside from a couple of spelling errors - which I am coming to accept as a fact of life with all novels - there are a few things that could have made this book a lot better. Overly complicated names began to be a bit of a bugbear with this novel. They seem other worldly and may add a fantasy feel to the book but they are also a pain to actually read. For example 'Ihthyrl Magics' would be much easier to read as Ethereal; names also get this sort of treatment, 'Rynthrahl, Freghth and Karhle' are all examples of those that would be better off simplified. Just makes it easier to read. The other aspect that made this book a bit difficult to follow in places was the narrative, towards the end, it jumps from side to side without much warning and at times it made it hard to understand which side was which. Again, something that could have been simplified to make it easier to read

My final point is on the magic of the world. How it works was explained as scientifically as such a thing could be and that worked well. What I found hard to believe that the street thief Mar could learn in half a day, by trial and error no less, what took magicians years to perfect. It was the only thing I found grating in the novel and although it is a central point to the plot, could have been altered to be more 'realistic'.

Other than these points, this is a very good novel and I shall be on the look out for the sequel in the near future.