Rick Riordan - The Lost Hero

I haven't written a review in forever but it's Rick Riordan, who, sadly, only gives me two opportunities a year to gush, so I gotta seize the day.

Jason has a problem. He doesn’t remember anything before waking up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper. His best friend is a kid named Leo, and they’re all students in the Wilderness School, a boarding school for “bad kids.” What he did to end up here, Jason has no idea—except that everything seems very wrong.

Piper has a secret. Her father has been missing for three days, and her vivid nightmares reveal that he’s in terrible danger. Now her boyfriend doesn’t recognize her, and when a freak storm and strange creatures attack during a school field trip, she, Jason, and Leo are whisked away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood. What is going on?

Leo has a way with tools. His new cabin at Camp Half-Blood is filled with them. Seriously, the place beats Wilderness School hands down, with its weapons training, monsters, and fine-looking girls. What’s troubling is the curse everyone keeps talking about, and that a camper’s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist they are all—including Leo—related to a god.

Let me start out by saying that The Lost Hero is amazing. Rick Riordan is amazing. And I'm going to tell you how and why without giving anything, at least anything major, away. Written in the third person, The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus, Book 01) volleys between the individual and combined experiences of Jason, Leo, and Piper; three out of the seven demigods involved in the new prophecy, revealing the secrets they keep, even from each other. The perspective changes between the three every two chapters and I think it translated better here than it did with The Red Pyramid (Kane Chronicles, Book 01). This style also keeps the book from feeling like a total PJ rip-off although there are a handful of glaring similarities which one cannot ignore. That said, the tone is slightly older than early PJ and R. Riordan does acknowledge, later in the story, that Percy and Jason serve as counterpoint to each other.

As for the prose, well, this man can write. It just flows. Jason starts out as the most intriguing of the three protagonists for three main reasons:

1. The story opens with him
2. The mystery surrounding his presence
3. the circumstances of his birth.

However, R. Riordan fangirl I may be, I do think that he could have done more to make the Jason character meatier. By the end I wasn't as interested with him as I was in the beginning which is a shame, really. Leo, now this guy, he was the dark horse of the story. Think Nico minus his Prince of the Undead charm. I found him pretty obnoxious initially but his vulnerability, ingenuity, and all around likability makes him, easily, my favorite of the three. The weak link, in my humble opinion, is Piper who is neither offensive nor spectacular (although it felt like I was being constantly told that she is) but is definitely more likable than other leading-lady type demigods out there. Her godly parent is...blah...but she, at least, isn't as useless as her cabin mates. The one thing I really did like about her is that she knows what she wants and isn't afraid to own up to it. *side-eye Annabeth*

Familiar characters from the PJ books make an appearance, Camp Half-Blood does become their base after all, but they do not figure prominently in the story. Percy is not a part of The Lost Hero at all but his presence, or lack thereof, is keenly felt. By the end, one cannot help but speculate on what his role is going to be in the next installment. There is no question that Percy, who may or may not be "The Son of Neptune" (Heroes of Olympus, Book 2), will be in the next book but I'm positive it's not gonna be his story. The one spoilerish thing I'm going to say about this series is that R. Riordan meshes Greek and Roman Mythology so beautifully and seamlessly (not that much of a spoiler since you'll catch on early anyway) that you don't even question it. The emphasis on how the same God could be two separate deities, genius! Plot-hole problems - solved!

Yipee, already I'm going on and on about the next book in the series - obviously October 2011 cannot come soon enough - so let me end my verbal diarrhea with this:
 
The Lost Hero is amazing. Rick Riordan is amazing. Flaws and all.

The Verdict:

If I had to describe this book in one word; it would be "Impressive". Though I may have a quibble or two, consider my socks rocked. Well played Author, Well played.

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Rick Riordan - The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid The Kane Chronicles, Book 01

In which I attempt to deliver a spoiler-free review AND make sense. First, the blurb:

Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane.

One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a "research experiment" at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives.

Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them--Set--has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe--a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.

The Red Pyramid was a pleasant surprise. I got into the book with pretty low expectations because I adored the the Percy Jackson series so much and didn't think Riordan could follow it up with something (anything!) just as good. And was it just as good? Not really. Maybe it paralleled Percy a little bit too much to be OMG. THAT WAS AMAZING!!!!!, but, I enjoyed the Kane series debut nonetheless and eagerly await the second installment.

Carter and Sadie Kane, the two leads, were just okay for me. Unfortunately, when held against the Percy Jackson standard, okay isn't as interesting as the Camp Half-Blood kids were. I liked Carter well enough but found Sadie a bit grating on my nerves. I didn't really connect with either character but The Red Pyramid is the first book in the Kane Chronicles and my feelings for the two could be subject to change. The book is written in the first person POV with every two chapters alternately "recorded" by the Kanes. Unlike some other folks, I thought the two had distinct voices and personalities which helped me differentiate who was "speaking" - obviously I enjoyed Carter's chapters more since I find sassy 12 year old girls rude and annoying.

The Red Pyramid starts out a bit slow; Its plot is more complex than the PJ books and my lack of knowledge in the Egyptian Mythology department didn't help when assorted Gods and monsters sprung about. Riordan dumps all sorts of information from the get-go which kept me from getting into the story immediately; a little bit like Stephenie Meyer's The Host, but, unlike The Host, the depth of information given is written in a way that drew me in slowly as opposed to losing interest altogether. It gets plenty better though; Riordan does an excellent job meshing Egyptian Mythology with the 21st century (no surprise there) and, for those paying attention, even vaguely references the gods from his Percy Jackson books. I love, love, love it when authors do that and love it even more when it's done well. As mentioned earlier, the parallels between Percy and the Kanes keep it from being an amazing original; Riordan doesn't stray far from the formula that's made him successful: ancient mythology (albeit Egyptian this time), teenagers, birthright/chosen one/etc plots, however, he is talented enough to keep the two series from being identical (thus far).

The verdict? Very Good - even a keeper - but, alas, not as good as his other more popular series. That said, I eagerly await the next book in the Kane Chronicles as well as his Heroes Of Olympus Chronicles. At this point, I'd read anything this man writes.

Final Grade:

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Maggie Stiefvater - Shiver

This was another audio book listen and in all honesty, I would have set it aside if it had not been one of my NaNoReadMo challenge books. Nothing like a public pledge to get the reading mojo going! When I started Shiver, I got the same "it's taking too long to get going" vibe I did when I tried Twilight. Unlike Twilight, though, I actually finished this book. Who knows, I may join a Twilight challenge someday and finish it then but, um, don't hold your breath. ;)

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

We're introduced to Grace, a girl being attacked by wolves, before a certain yellow-eyed wolf challenges the attackers and gets them to back down. Six years later we meet a boy named Sam, working in a local bookstore that just happens to have yellow eyes. A wolf with yellow eyes? A boy with yellow eyes? It couldn't be, could it? Why yes, yes it can. Wolf = Boy. “It's elementary, my dear Watson.”

Anyway…what makes this werewolf story different from all the rest is the fact that the transformation from man to wolf, and vice versa, has nothing to do with the moon. The transition for these wolves is based on the temperature. When the temp drops in the winter, they turn into wolves. When it heats up during summer, they change back to humans. Also, they only get a certain amount of changes before they become a wolf, permanently. The number of changes varies for each person and that's one thing that bugged me. How can it be so random for each person? And why not move to a place that's always warm? This question is brought up in the book but the answer is kind of effed up too. There's just no rhyme or reason to it. It just…IS. I don't like that. I want to know the what's, how's and why's.

I found Sam and Grace's growing relationship to be sweet but it felt like forever before the story picked up and got interesting. Grace's parents were beyond clueless and selfish, never once taking a real interest in their daughter's life. If they had, they would've noticed the dude sleeping in her room. Things finally picked up for me when another girl, Isabel, approached Grace for help regarding her brother Jack. Jack was killed earlier in the book by the wolves yet Isabel tells Grace she has recently seen her brother. Things slow down again because Grace denies knowing anything about the wolves and she and Sam continue their budding relationship. One thing that stood out for me early on was the fact that Grace was bitten by a wolf in the beginning of the book yet she never turned into one. This is what I held onto for a lot of the book – I wanted to know why, Why, WHY?!?! The subject finally came up in the book and I hoped they would take the information to Beck (Sam's mentor/father-figure/fellow wolf-man) so they could really look into her situation and what made it unique. Instead, Grace and Sam talk about it for a little bit and then don't really do anything about it. HELLO!!! She was somehow cured! Get thee to a lab for some analysis, STAT!

In the end, it does turn out that something about when Grace was bitten gives the Scooby Doo gang an idea about finding a cure, but there's one major problem: the temperature is dropping and Sam is facing his final change. This is where things really get good. I applaud the audio book version during this part because the section where they're looking for Sam, and Isabel is checking the sheds on her family's property had me pausing all else as I waited for the outcome. The rest of the book from this point had my full attention. The part in the car just after the accident…heartbreaking!

So, while the beginning and middle were a little slow for me, the final stretch of the book was good enough for me to look back and say I'm glad I read it.

Final Grade:

Around The Net:

Chick Lit Teens: 5/5
The Book Butterfly: 5/5
The Book Smugglers: 5/10
Dear Author: B-
Babbling About Books, and More: B+
My Friend Amy: 4/5

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Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

The winning Twilight formula: Whiny Heroine + Tortured Hero + Unrequited Love + Unfulfilled Sexual Tension = Happy Rabid Fangirls The not-as-successful Breaking Dawn formula: Whiny Heroine + Tortured Hero + Unrequited Love + Obligatory Sex Scenes That Don't Do Anything For Ya + Character Deviations + Stupid Plot Contrivances + The Next Coming Of The Messiah = Errm... Split into three parts, 2/3rds of Breaking Dawn is written from Bella's point of view. In the first few chapters we immediately see the Bella we love or hate or love to hate (depending on your point of view). Same old Bells. She spends the first chapter whining about her new situation, the upcoming wedding, and Edward's atrocious treatment of her that one really cannot help but wonder why she's marrying him. He's such a horrible fiance; buying her an expensive flame-proof and missile-proof benz that wasn't out in Europe yet, much less in America, to replace her old clunker when it "conveniently" died days after the engagement, as if he somehow willed her old truck to die with the sheer power of his mind. She was unhappy about a great many other things too, her fabulous wedding gown, her sky's-the-limit credit card, the ginormous diamond set in her engagement band, ivy-league education etc, etc. Advanced torture, really. Fast forward to the wedding reception, Jacob makes a surprise appearance, in this part you'll find the quiet desperation Bella and Jacob have for each other. To be together even. You see, truly, that had Edward not returned (and without Alice's interference), Bella would be with Jacob, and they would have been happy. After a few blissful minutes in each others arms, Jacob ruins their hallmark moment by obsessing over the newlyweds wedding night. Hijinx ensues then he runs away. After a very verbose description of the wedding (although to be fair, a very beautifully described one), Eddy boy and Bells head on to the most beeyooteeful island in the world for their honeymoon. Once in Isle Esme, Bella morphs into a seduction doyen. After much angst and sexxoring Bella finds herself pregnant within two weeks after their first coupling. Yes, you read that right, she's preggers with a sparkly undead baby that grows in an exponential rate which naturally ticks me and the rest of the 99.9% of her reading public off. I'm all for world building and fantasy and all that, this is after ahh Stephenie Meyer's brainchild, but come on..shouldn't there be some sort of internal consistency or something? When Edward along with 99% of the Cullen clan are mortified by this aberration, Bella contracts Rosalie to play the bodyguard to her Whitney Houston. This is when Sparkly Eddy boy loses much shimmer. By all that is unholy, he practically begs Jakey poo to convince her to abort their baby and then give her a litter of puppies! Puppies!!!!!! Right, ask the man desperately in love with your wife who happens to be her bestfriend and your worst enemy to boot to assist in convincing her to commit adultery against you to save her life. We should all be so lucky. When she finally gives birth (I'm not even going to get into the whole baby chomping out of her stomach thing) she dies. The end..I wish. Captain Sparkles revives her with his super juice (I'm talking about his venom, not the other *headjerk* juice) and sheer will. Two days of writhing in silence later, Bella is reborn as super Vampirella. It seems that she was born fated to be a vamp. She's dazzling, her voice rings and shimmers like a bell, she's has super strength (hurts Edward when she hugs him, even beats Emmet in arm-wrestling! hah!), and, most incredible of all, does not suffer from blood lust. That just pisses me off man, that's a major cop out in Meyer's part. What could have been a beautiful and introspective narrative turned into a cinderella story featuring Edward Cullen as the fairy godmother. There is absolutely no character development. Once turned, Bella metamorphosed from rubbish to platinum with no self-discovery or awareness whatsoever. What about the Cullens you may ask? Well, don't even go there, my condensed opinion is that Edward has turned from Teen Beat heartthrob to poster boy for Depressed Teens, Alice does nothing but bemoan Bella's wardrobe choices, Emmett spends all his time making inappropriate jokes about his brother and sister-in-law's sex life, Rosalie is still the same-old blonde bimbo bitch, Jasper glowers a lot and now goes by Jazz (wtf is that?!), Esme worries, and Carlisle is useless. That's about it. By this time, Jacob has defected from his La Push pack and unwittingly starts his own brandspanking new renegade pack devoted to saving the Cullen clan from turning into Werewolf happy meals. By his side is puppy Seth Clearwater and his bitch sister Leah. The arrival of the Cullen Messiah so named Renesmee Carlie (an obvious play on Renee-Esme Charlie-Carlisle) mark a new dawn (forgive the unintended pun). Jacob has now all but forgotten his old obsession for Bella in lieu for a better option - the baby. Yes, he imprints on the baby. Shades of pedophilia and necrophilia abound. Beyond that there are many more contrived plot devices and hijinxes that I just gloss over (with glazed eyes) simply because it seemed (in my opinion) to be there to just fill up the required word count. I'm not even going to get into other quibbles (like Charlie's acceptance of paranormal existence with nary a batted eyelash) because that shit is just going to give me an aneurysm. At it's best, Breaking Dawn is an easy but painful read. All of this into consideration this book just felt like one really bad fanfic if not a major long-ass epilogue. But hey, everybody in Twilightlandia is happy, Stephenie Meyer is happy (and who wouldn't be with all the cold hard cash she's raking in from suckers that, unfortuantely, includes myself), and the rabid fangirls are happy. So all is well in the world.

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