The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

I'd heard a lot of very good things about this book, so honestly, I expected to love it. And then to my shock, I didn't, exactly. Now don't get me wrong, I intend to read Catching Fire (the next book in the series) as soon as I can get my grubby hands on it. Certain parts of this story and the world-building therein swallowed me entire and are still putting up shelves in my head. On the other hand, other plot pieces made me grind my teeth with frustration, to the point that I was up till four composing this rant in my head.

(Then I promptly forgot it when I staggered awake. Note to self- don't do that again.)

(Also, this rant is going to contain spoilers. If you don't want to read them, don't read the rant)

Okay, let's go through this methodically. Katniss's story is set in a Dystopian Future, in District Twelve of Panem. Each year the Capitol requires each district to send a tribute of a boy and a girl (in addition to everything else the district produces,) to fight to the death in a televised event known as The Hunger Games. This is basically just to prove to all off the districts that they're just cannon fodder and entertainment for The Capital, in case they missed it. (We don't want the colonials to miss it!) The winner gets all kinds of bonuses for their district, and fame and glory- and the loosers die on national television. So far, so good. Machiavellian control, and the details of the world and the system were fantabulous. *hands them nails to help put up shelves*

Katniss's little sister Prim, who is twelve, is one of the children chosen at Random. Katniss, panicking, volunteers in her place. Also good. And it's not really touching since we're in Katniss's head for the book, and this is clearly just the only thing she can do. Not an option, it's just what you do. I did like that part, and it fit very well with Katniss's serious, do-what-needs-to-be-done personality.

The guy whose name is picked is Peeta, who Katniss has an awkward relationship with due to the fact that he probably saved her from starving once. Now, you know, she's going to have to try and kill him. (Also, she never thanked him for the life-saving thing, and any time she thanks him now is just bound to come across as insincere, or just plain not the right time. Throat cutting anyone?) He is nice, and gentle, quiet, pretty good looking, Katniss admits grudgingly, and smart.

It's also clear that Katniss is strong, fast, stealthy, accurate, and pretty much the muscle (and the cunning and beauty) between the two. She's a survivor, everyone says. She's also out of her debth in the Capital, where there are interviews and a training period before the games kick off. This media exposure is vitally important to the survival of any tribute, because for an outrageous fee, "sponsors" can send things to the tributes while the games are ongoing. This is the only contact with the outside world that the tributes will have, and the aid of some water, or food, or a new weapon or armour, or medicine, can be game-changing. But- the sponsors only send you things when they like you. So look good on video...

Katniss only manages to look flighty, in her estimation. Peeta, on the other hand, announces that he's in love with Katniss, and the audience LOVES the star-crossed-lovers bit. LURVE. Katniss, on the other hand, is naht quite so delighted. In fact there is blood, but cannier heads prevail, and she is forced to agree that it makes them both memorable, therefore more sponsor-able, therefore Peeta's a marketing genius, the b***ard, and now she has to kiss him?

(Up to this point, I basically loved the entire story. The games. The world. The stylists and the Mentor. (I less than three Cinna and the Mentor who's name I've forgotten right now. The drunk guy?) The little throwaway detail of the Avox? COMPLETELY BESOTTED. *I go to the store to get all details more material for shelves*)

And then the games start. I will admit that I like intrigue better than violence. Battles of wits have always been closer to my heart than battles of fists. But a good fight is also good for the heart rate.

These fights did nothing for my heart rate.

I think that's not a good thing. If I'm reading about a girl fighting for her life, I want there to be an absolute minimum of yawning on my part. But that's just my opinion, and perhaps I should have read the story when I was fresh, not after midnight.

Anyhow, the games progress. Katniss finds out that Peeta is fighting against her, and then wait he just saved her life, and there were these bees, and it's all very confusing. But after a time, with cunning fun with mines and flowers, there's a rule change announced. There CAN be two winners, if they're both from the same district. The Star Crossed Lovers suddenly have Fate-In-The-Form-Of-The-All-Powerful-Capital smile on them!

And, okay, you know there's a second book, you know they both survive. But once they get out and back into TEH DEADLY INTRIGUE, it turns out that the Capital is not happy with the way the rules had to be bent to keep everyone happy, and they'd better have unmistakable public declarations of love (This is a YA book, keep your mind out of the gutter,) or it will become clear that they were playing the men in charge, and then they die, as do their families.

The love thing, the intrigue, I loved it all. It was cunning and wonderful. *takes a moment to huggle* On the other hand, there were the games themselves.

This is where I began to beat my head against a wall.

Okay, so it's a fight to the death. Yes? Yes. At some point with 24 fighters, you'd think that Katniss at some point or other would have to make a hard decision- do I kill them? It's him or me but I want to live. Some kind of struggle. Moral struggle, yes? Or even if she's going HELL no, I want to live! I'm shooting first- she's sixteen. She's never killed anyone. She might have a hesitation before firing, or some regret later.

Nope. None of this. Because of the way the deaths "happen," her two kills are a vengance killing (revenging a twelve year old girl who liked to sing. I mean, can you tug the heartstrings more? CAN YOU?) and a mercy killing. (Of the nastiest, most possibly-insane character. NO regret there.) Basically she survived a death tourney with her hands clean.

GAHHHHHHHHHHH.

*pulls head away from wall* Now, if it was because she was extra cunning and stealthy, I could accept that better, but basically no, everyone killed each other for her while she was busy buying food with kisses.

I mean, I know this is YA, but, I mean, trauma plz? Shouldn't there be some PTSD? I WANT PTSD.

*cough*

Okay, perhaps I should read Catching Fire before ranting about this. Maybe I should never loudly express my desire for characters to suffer from PTSD.

BUT~! And again I say BUT- Peeta is the "gentle, sweet, quiet" character, and HE kills people outright. Katniss is supposed to be the "strong, cunning, survivor" character! She has more guilt about an Avox than about anything she does in the games! *sulk* I DEMAND EQUAL RIGHTS FOR GUILT.

Okay, I'm done now. I gave it three stars out of five. I want Catching Fire NOW please. *scrabbles at locked door of uncaring library*

This book clearly brings out the best in me.

P.S. Possibly my anger at the Games is because I read a draft of a story a friend had written, which was SO MUCH BETTER. I am srys, it was wonderful and I stare at her to finish it. It dealt with the MORAL ISSUES OF KILLING PEOPLE, and also I kinda want to kidnap Varesh and feed him chocolate till he's my friend. Please, you know who you are. Please write DimTour. I will totally mail you chocolate from exotic places.

AND ALSO- The mutts. I say in all seriousness, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? It was two a.m. when I was reading this, and I thought I had fallen asleep and started writing strange things into the story again. I had to literally bang my head on a doorframe and call up someone on the internet, to verify that what I was reading was the right book. WHAT? What is the POINT? Could you not have added wild dogs, or just plan supra clever wild dogs, without making them- what were they even supposed to me? Zombies? I just don't see the POINT! For me it was the only real false note in the whole book. Is it explained in Catching Fire? I just am so confused...

Under In The Mere, Catherynne M. Valente

I thought I had difficulty putting Tithe in a mental box, and then I read this. I'm not even going to TRY to box it.

As best as I can describe it, the book is a collection of short stories, each narrated by a character in the court of King Arthur. (Guenevere doesn't get to talk, and neither does the king.) And if you open up the book when Lancelot is talking, you know the difference between him and the Green Knight. The voices are vividly different.

I say narrated, but that's not right. It's almost stream-of-concsiousness, as the characters regret and accept and anguish and plot for the future.

What damosel is this? What damosel is this?

Perhaps I am nothing but a white arm. Perhaps the body which is me diffuses at the water's surface into nothing but light, light and wetness and blue. Maybe I am nothing but samite, pregnant with silver, and out of those sleeve come endless swords, dropping like lakelight from my hems. Will you come down to me and discover if my body continues below the rippling?

I thought not.
-the Lady of the Lake

I'm sure there is a genre name for this- post-modern fantasy, perhaps- but it was new to me. Perhaps because of the drug-like quality of the writing style, or perhaps because of the jolt before dropping into someone else's head, I couldn't read it all in one sitting. I mention this because I usually do read books all at once (it's a failing, I know, PLEASE DON"T LOOK AT ME THAT WAY?) and also because did want to read more. (Unlike, perhaps, the Summa which I am STILL very happy to walk away from for a while. Just to let it sit and regrow my mind...) But yes, before I was distracted by traumatizing memories of Aquinas, I was saying I had to leave the Valente for a while, and go wash dishes or sleep or such. Reading it is just like, lighting a handful of sparklers inside your head*. Awesome, but at some point the sparklers burn out, and things have to heal before you can light them up again.

The voices in these stories are old, and weighed down with memories. In the case of the lady of the lake, they almost have no concept of time anymore, if they ever had it. They are ground down by lives, sins, responsibilities, war, the way a king will bend all the lives surrounding him around him like a knot in a board distorts the grain, by, memories and cruelty and love. (They have difficulty seeing the difference between hatred and love, in a few notable cases.)

I- am having difficulty describing this book with any degree of coherence. *deep breath*

The voices are myriad with imagery. Cunningly imaginative imagery that finds its way into your head through unexpected chinks in your bones and makes you pause days later**. The plot is a shadow that stays at your back, whispering mockingly in your ears. The individual stories, even if you've read the "originals", are horrifying and aesthetically pleasing. The whole thing is crafted, all the strands of the stories tethered secure with nails or circling with malice intent to reappear.

It's most definitely not for everyone. The story gets graphic at points. (Which, I mean, c'mon, you're dealing with Camelot here. I think their morals and little indiscretions in the river have been pretty much flaunted to every conceivable corner of the sky.) But I will say that I went through an Arthurian Stage, where I read every bit of it that was available at my pathetic library, and this is the first tale that has made me warm to Mordred, much less LIKE Morgan le Fay. (That was a freaky shocker.) Oh, and if you're looking for a Christian retelling of the Christian myth of King Arthur, for heaven's sake look elsewhere. (SPOILER ALERT: There's incest you guys. GASP.) But for pure magical prose, reading this is a good idea. It's, good. I gave it four stars out of five.

---

*Metaphorical sparklers. I have not ever, nor do I intend to, nor do I condone the use of; lighting incinerary devices inside of one's cranium. That is between you and your gods. Srsly. Plz don't, I'd feel guilty, and think of the coroners! (I should have used the Seltzer Down The Spine metaphor, shouldn't I have?)

** Mordred's lies are his "other boy." Galahad talks of his father Lancelet being broken on a wheel made of women's legs- the Lady, Elaine and Guenevere. Kay sees his orders as a snake which climbs inside his armour and eggs him on, eatings its self as any part of the order is completed.

The Monsterology Handbook; A Practical Course In Monsters, by Ernest Drake

This fun "reference" book is divided into four sections; Beasts of the Earth, Beasts of Water, Beasts of the Air, and Semi-Human Beasts. It's presented as a field guide to Monsters of the world, lavishly illustrated and with information on the beasts' food, habitat, appearance, forms of attack or flight, and general notes.

The general idea, is of course, that the Beast of Myth are there for the study of the diligent Monsterologists, and this books will aid them in their pursuit and cataloguing of the Beasts. While most of the Monsters featured are from European Myth, there are also a few choice selections from Asian and modern North American Tales.

The facts and little stories about the beasts in this book were fun and informative. I didn't know that- for example- there were several varieties of unicorn from different parts of the world. However, it was the lovely illustrations that sold it for me. Having the unicorns all wonderfully laid out for perusal and comparison was what made me think wistfully of stories to write where the hero or heroine carried a book like this. I gave the book four stars out of five.

Tithe, Holly Black

I've been trying to figure out a mental box to put this book into for the past week. So far, no box fits.

I tried Paranormal Romance (e.g. twilight)

-Kaye hasn't ever been one of the cool or popular kids in any school she goes to. But after she moves back home for her mother's sake, a popular boy starts following her around, obsessed with her.
Only she's the one who's accidentally glamourized him, and he's not enticing at all. He's so far from being the romantic attachment that it's laughable.

I tried Faerie Seduction.

-One of the main characters is seduced by a Knight of the Unseelie court

Only the said main character is also a male, and that does not end romantically in the least. HECK no.

I tried Tam Lin

-Kaye meets a mysterious knight in the woods, and soon finds herself drawn into a mysterious web of seduction, sacrifice and betrayal surrounding the ritual sacrifice know as the Tithe.

Only, Roiben isn't the one being sacrificed for the Tithe, or if he is, it's already happened, and the rescue is not in the traditional sense, and the whole notion of rescue is kinda iffy. Who's rescued again?

The best summing up of the story I can find is this quote from the book.

"What about you and your knight? I mean, look at [the scratches on] your arms; is that normal?"
"Makes me shiver when I touch them," Corny said reverently.
"At least we're scaring each other."
"Yeah, well, I better get back home. What's next on the faerie agenda?"
Kay shrugged. "I get sacrificed, I guess."
"Great. When is that?"

And no, I know it doesn't actually make any sense. ^_^ But it gives you a flash of the sense of the book.

The major sense of the whole book, for me, is people coping with things outside of their control. Kaye, Roiben, Corny, Janet; they're all just pawns in the hands of all the Adults/Royalty/Courts/So-Called-Friends. OH, and TRUST NO ONE. (Wow, that was incoherent. It's a good book, okay? I am only coherent about meh or bad books!)

I mean, it's also GRITTY. I almost put the book down several times in the first few chapters, just because it felt nasty to read. (I kept reading because of my declaration on Goodreads that I was reading it, and several people wanting to know what I thought about it. And then I needed to know how it ended.) I don't usually read Urban Fantasy, or if I do I suppose it's more hopeful. Kaye is not a hopeful character, and her world is not pretty.

Despite the off-putting nature of the first part of the book, I'm glad I kept going, and I even think I'll look up more by the author. This is a book that stays with you, and gets better on reflection. (Unlike Twilight Some Books I could mention but won't.) I gave it four stars out of five. (I am so glad that my edition has this cover art. It's my fave. ^__^)

Many random newsling bits! (I just had iced coffee, plz 2 escuse the italics.)

Okay! So, first of all, I was unwisely reading author interviews with a certain Sarah Rees Breenan who I might have mentioned in the past, and I came across a rather MAJOR spoiler for Demon's Lexicon. This caused me to exclaim "Oh DARN" out loud, and then I did the only logical thing. I tweeted her to complain about it.

And then, you guys, she REPLIED.

It's a true story. I mention this not because it makes me famous- (though really, I mean, someone who's toured with Scott Westerfield spoke to me on Twitter. You may all bask in my glow from over There-) I mention it because it's a very smart business move! Before THIS WONDROUS EVENT I had her book on my to-buy list, and I read her blog. Now that a great person who has been published spoke to me, I feel connected to the Great One, and her book is at the TOP of my list. *beams*

(Also, the same thing happened with Stephanie Perkins and Abby Rustad, back in the day, with similar Obsession-Inspiring results. I love you both passionately. Don't worry, I also live on a rock in the north atlantic. No need to fret!)

I OTHER news, Bahnree posted this video,

And my MC for the-novel-tenatively-known-as-J4 promptly broke into in my head, playing pool, fighting boys, smoking, and generally being Awesome Illegal. SO awesome Illegal. (Smoking kills, kids.) Perhaps I should do something about her anger issues...

Nah.

Oh, and my other news? Right. My laptop, though I love it, I'm rather hard on it. Using a computer for 8+ hours a day every day for a year and half, and loaning it out to small siblings, apparently has a negative effect. (I'm so sorry, Yinsen. Plz 2 get better soon.) Right now, the screen doesn't work unless I hold it at an acute angle. Which means I either can't see what I'm typing, or I hold the computer at a spectacularly carpal-tunnel-incucing angle. This makes typing difficult. (I am not really patient when it comes to computers. Either it works NOW, or I give up on computers and just spend more time on youtube and/or facebook and/or LiveJournal.) My options to fix Yinsen are either;

1. Send it away to the big hospital for computers in the city (separation for three-plus weeks?)
2. Buy a new computer? (I don't function with Windows, so at least a grand and a half for an OS which doesn't inspire festive thoughts of suicide.)
3. Or buy a DVI to mini-DVI adapter and use a secondary monitor liberated from Daddy. (Twenty dollars from Apple Canada, at least two weeks shipping, maybe more.)

I'm leaning towards option three, but either way, what this boils down to is that I'm not going to be posting or writing in type very much for the next little while. At least until the new year. I plan on writing on paper (gasp!) and reading some of my lovely new books.

I know, I can hear you weeping from here. Try to get over it and have a good Christmas, Kay?

An Earthly Knight, by Janet McNaughton

I have a bit of a stand-off-ish relationship with Janet McNaughton. On the one hand, I usually enjoy reading her books- and on the other, I think I discovered them about two years too late. So I ALMOST buy into the story, but not quite.

I fully admit that this is one of my weirder failings. I can watch or read something that's totally outside of my demographic and enjoy it (tinkerbell movie anyone?) but if it's just outside, I'll twiddle my fingers and glare angrily at the story instead of just enjoying it. Sigh, it's a hard life I lead.

^_^

ANYHOW. The story. Sixteen-year-old Jennie lives in Scotland in the twelfth century. Her older sister has recently disgraced the family in some scandal that isn't immediately apparent, so Jenny- the younger daughter- is suddenly fresh meat in the marriage market. She's catch of the day, in fact, and ends up being paraded around in front of Prince William, who is the likely heir to the throne despite being the younger son, since the king has sworn to be celibate. Everyone keeps warning her obliquely about the Prince and his reputation with teh wenches, and then encouraging her to marry him in the next breath. Drama...

However! Jennie has her own secrets, which are primarily centred around the mysterious young man who is camping out in her tocher, Carter Hall. Tam Lin by name, he has a dark past. *dramatic music* A Dark Past Which Will Soon Be Entwined With Her Own Future, and that of their child...

Yes, you read that right. Tam Lin knocks her up. *nods* Basically, their relationship follows this pattern

1. Tam Lin finds her in the woods, defenceless, and does not kidnap or rape her. (Point Tam!)
2. They meet again and make magic eyes at eachother
3. He poaches catches her a hare and some salmon (on her father's land,) and cooks it for her.
4. He gives her a dress which then turns out to be made of cobwebs and leaves, and is glamourized to make everyone fall in love with her.
5. He knocks her up. (To be fair, she kinda jumped him and wouldn't let go. I had to read that scene three times until I was sure what had just happened. It was weird.)
6. He tells her to go enter a convent, he couldn't ask her to save him from his bondage to the queen of the fairies, who is apparently a cougar with a mean streak. I COULN'T ASK YOU TO SAVE ME FROM THE QUEEN WHO IS JEALOUS THAT I LOVE YOU MORE THAN HER.

Jennie: Wait, you're the Queen's Lover?

Tam: Look at it from my perspective! I was fourteen! I didn't know what I was doing! Now I do, if you know what I mean and I think that you do.*wink wink nudge nudge*

Jennie: But I thought I was special!

Tam: You ARE special, honey! Sex ain't love, and I didn't know what love was till we, uh, talked. Talked, that's right. What about that rescuing me?

And she does rescue him. I'm not going to say HOW she does, because if you've read anything Tam Lin related you already know how, and if you haven't, I wouldn't want to spoil your lol whut? moment.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really a Tam Lin fan. I mean, he's okay, he's just. Weird Romance. Weird Glamourizing. Weird all around. (And then he refuses to marry her until he can provide for her? Which is like, a year after the baby is born? THIS IS THE TWELFTH CENTURY. MAKE A HONEST WOMAN OUT OF THE GIRL WHO SAVED YOUR SOUL . Ahem.) I do like Jenny though. Her trying to fumble through court intrigues and everything spiralling out past her control felt real, and she was a likeable character. I very much liked Jennie' sister Isobel, who, it turns out, killed the man who was going to kill her, and then married a harper. Go Isobel! I liked most of the minor characters, including her Brother Eudo.

(After Jennie has called off her engagment to William at the alter, because she's pregnant.)

Eudo: "Well, you got out of that Betrothal in the worst way possible, but I'm glad you did."

As with Dragon Seer, I wouldn't be too concerned to see my little sisters reading it, and I gave it three stars out of five.

I'm currently watching a horde of locusts devour my day. So no post today, sorry.

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND, Y'ALL!