Book Review: "The Blue Roan Child" by Jamieson Findlay

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

An orphan raised at a stable, Syeira bonds with a mare named Arwin who has her two foals taken away. Together, the two set off to rescue them and for the first time she leaves home. Along the way she meets many interesting people and faces much danger.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS

Syeira isn't particularly brave or strong, but Arwin pushes her to leave home and eventually risk her life. Besides the loves of horses, the love of her late mother also gives her strength. She ends up being forced into an adventure she never intended. But this only serves to make her more realistic.

Blacklock Davy is the man who originally captured Arwin and her foals. And eventually he is the one who chases after Syeira when she gets the foals back.

Lord Ran of Stormsythe, rules the city of Swabban. He has forced all of its inhabitants from inventing amazing and wonderful things into building him fighting machines. He dreams only nightmares and this seems to have driven him mad.

Grulla, the Fighting Crone, is who Syiera is sent to stay with at the Thurkport stables when she reveals she has no place to stay. She and Syiera share a love of horses. Although she acts gruff and blunt, she is actually very fond of Syiera.

Marlow the spicetrader is a man whom Syiera meets in Thurkport. He helps her locate the stables.

PACING

The story does start rather fast. By the end of chapter one, Syeira has decided to help Arwin escape and and left home for good. But from there, the story is often more about meeting characters who can help her then moving fast. Which is fine, but if you are looking for an action packed story, this is not it. There are a few scenes where danger threatens and Syeria is running for her life, but these scenes are few enough for you to appreciate them.

JUST SYEIRA & ARWIN THE MARE

Throughout the story, Syeira meets many different characters, all of which contribute to her growth or help her in some way. Grulla and Marlow being the only two that end up being a bigger part. But they are much older than her. I would have liked her to have one character that she met along the way that was someone of her own age and stuck around. Although I think Marlow and Grulla became like foster parents, and its hinted that she will see them again in the end. And perhaps the author thought since Syeira was an orphan, this was the most important type of relationship to develop.

HISTORY OF CHARACTERS

I thought it was important to mention that both Marlow and Grulla are given a history to explain their characters. Marlow recalls that he never married and had children, so it's obvious he is alone in life, and probably used to it. But for some reason he feels called to help Syiera, and likes her, against his better judgment.

Grulla, on the other hand gets a long, extended history which she reveals to Syeira herself. Because of this, Grulla feels real, and I was generally interested in her story and how she got the way she was.

SIR GEMYIND-SPOILERS

Traveling through the woods, Syeira comes across an older man who cannot retain short-term memories, but remembers his childhood very well. It turns out he has taken a drug, a flower called “pale Madeleine” and this eventually caused short-term memory loss. But it allows you to return to your older memories and live them all over again. I found Gemynd's story original and interesting. Also, I got to see Syeira tempted to use the drugs, even after seeing the horrible side affects. It really made her relatable.

OUR VILLAIN-VAGUE SPOILERS

For the most of the story, finding the foals is our goal, and we have no villain. It's simply a race against time, as the foals will be taken beyond her reach. Eventually, Davy becomes our villain. And then Ran. I found Ran's story of an island of nightmares eerie and haunting. And that scene is one of the favorites. But a part of me wishes that Syiera had more interaction with him, as he is villain of the last portion of the book.

ONLY A DREAM

Syeira is lulled into a trap by a creepy, talking bird. He tells her its his job to hunt down dreams, like herself. This scene was creepy and fascinating, and we actually start to wonder if Syiera is real at all. Jamison has a gift for such eerie writing. The bird, the Strike, is written particularly well. All he does is talk, and yet he is so detached and disturbing that he becomes the most hated character in the story. Even more so then the insane Ran.

SCENT PICTURES

Arwin the Mare can communicate with Syeira. The mare blows out through her nose and Syeira can experience memories of the horse. This is one thing that helps them develop a special bond, as Arwin isn't too sure of her new rider.

ORIGINALITY

One aspect of the book I especially like was the originality. Scent pictures, a herb that can create synonyms in your mind, a mechanical city, an island of nightmares and a talking bird. It never feels like a basic fairy tale, even though there are fairy-tale elements. Perhaps because it follows no set pattern. There may be a talking bird, but no magical explanation is given. We don't know if Syeira believes the story that Ran gives her, about the island of nightmares. Or if she just thinks he is crazy. Anything seems plausible.

DAVY & SYEIRA-SPOILERS

Eventually, Davy is an ally and he hints that he knows more about Syeira then he lets on. He tells her that her name is a gypsy name. And although we don't hear him say it, in the next part of the story, Syeira says he said that he would tell her everything. Which means that apparently he knew all about her and her history. But then he dies and we learn no more.

Syeira is distraught when this occurs. And so was I. I suppose the point was for her to move one and realize she didn't need to know her past, because she had a future. But Davy's only use was to be her rescuer, and it was this that made him feel rather two-dimensional. He just wasn't in the story enough for me to get to know him. Which is sad, considering how deep Grulla's character was. A mystery was set off when Davy spared Syeira's life, so I was expecting some sort of big reveal. When he died, I felt robbed.

EXPLICIT CONTENT- SPOILERS

Punishment from the King is to have one's ears cut off. We are told that Davy had this happen to him.

CONCLUSION

Jamieson creates a likable heroine, and a unique world. Small parts of the story will entrance you, and most of the time I was so interested I didn't mind the slower pacing. It was really only the ending that I found lacking, particularly the use of Blacklock Davy. I would also have liked another character that was near her age. I give “The Blue Roan Child” three and a half stars.

Book review: "The Five Fakirs of Faizabad" by P.B. Kerr

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

The twins have to take a test where they grant three wishes to someone. If they are judged worthy, they pass, if not, they lose their abilities for a year. So John sets of with Groanin and Phillipa goes off alone. But there is also the problem of the homeostasis, which Nimrod discovers is off and goes to investigate.

THE ANNOYANCE OF PHILLIPA

Phillipa still comes off rather unlikable. In one scene, she is horrified to discover a place where murderers and many other criminals are kept is...not very nice. She never seems to understand reality because she lives in a bubble. And in another, she asks if someone knows that “synthetic fur is the ethical choice”? Any normal person would say that making animals suffer and die when synthetic fur is affordable and widely available is immoral.

Whenever she tries to express herself in any way, it comes across so awkward. Like when she has to handle a tough situation: “...she felt entirely equal to the situation that presented itself. And she supposed that was all down to what Nimrod called 'experience'. The kind of experience that told it just might be a good idea to enter the room invisibly.”

Who thinks that way? I could maybe understand Nimrod phrasing something so oddly, but a fourteen year old girl? Any normal person would write: Having been through her share of adventures, Phillipa knew it would be a good idea to enter invisibly.

Also, when Phillipa turns some bad guys into animals, and they accidentally get killed, she is suddenly reminded of how her mom killed people in the book three. And she doesn't want to be like her. But at the time, and in every book after, Phillipa never cared at all. Does Kerr not think we remember the other books?

Also, after Phillipa is separated from the others on the flying carpet, she meets Nimrod. She completely breaks down, babbling and sobbing and becoming hysterical. We have had five books where people have almost died and she never once reacted this way. It feels like another character altogether. Don't get me wrong, I would love for this to be considered development but it can't. It's just inconsistent. Development would be gradual and over time. Not out of the blue.

NIMROD

Nimrod'a charm is completely dead, as it was murdered in the last book. He keeps feeling less and less realistic, as if he is some sort of god that lives outside of regular society and all of the stupid, little people. He hilariously asserts “how little he knows” when he has some sort of spiritual experience. This coming from the man who seems to think he knows everything.

RULES OF REALITY

I do feel the story has kind of lost any sense of logic or rules that we must play by. New things are thrown in to the point where I don't even try to make sense of it.

When Groanin almost dies, he is in purgatory. When Rakshasas dies, he is reincarnated. So basically whatever you believe is real and applied to you?

Does that mean murderers that believe they are good people get rewarded in the afterlife? What if one believes he will meet a loved one in the afterlife, and that loves one believes there is no afterlife? Do you get to meet a fake loved one? Doesn't that make everything false, even the afterlife?

And later it is asserted that God is real and there is proof of that. So God made it so every religion is true and whatever you want to believe is real? Everything is so contradictory and poorly explained its as if the author expects his readers to have no real sense of critical thinking.

LETS LEARN A LESSON

Stories benefit from characters learning to change and grow. It shows character growth and makes a character relatable. But in order to not seem preachy, an author must be delicate to show and not tell. Unfortunately, Kerr does not know how to do that.

Nimrod actually says that he has spoiled the twins. Which is odd, because throughout the series, the fact that they come from an affluent family is almost never mentioned which would be the real source of their spoiling.

He wants to teach them about “economic and social reality”. So he makes them stay at a crappy hotel for a day. And even though he makes it so the twins cannot use djinn power, it makes little to no difference on the rest of their lives. They will just use it whenever they want to after this event.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CONSEQUENCES?

The idea of using djinn power (as mentioned in the first book) and using up your own power has been completely discarded. There are never any negative consequences for the main characters (only Dybbuk or Zadie). There is a threat of the twins losing their powers, but it never gets brought up again. You would think two teenagers with god-like powers might cause some trouble. But apparently not. Not even tempted, it seems.

RACIST GROANIN?

In a weird part of the book, Nimrod straight out calls Groanin a racist. It wasn't funny, just weird. Groanin has been complaining about foreign cultures and lands for five books and been Nimrod's butler for a long time. If he was really such a horrible person, wouldn't this have been called out long ago? Wouldn't Nimrod have fired him?

No one really believes he is racist. He just hates traveling and the inconveniences it carries. He always stereotypes races and cultures but he doesn't actually believe himself to be better simply because of his race. We know because he never treats anyone badly nor says one race is better than another.

JERUSALEM-THE UNCOMFORTABLE CITY

One of my favorite parts of the series is the places that are traveled to. Every city, every culture explored and examined with a curious and appreciate eye. Venice? Beautiful. China? Amazing. India? Great. Jerusalem? It's an uncomfortable place.

Yes, Nimrod actually says he feels uncomfortable there. This is a djinn who argued for the eating of dogs, mind you.

This was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever read in any book, let alone this series. I was completely taken aback. I was expecting something flowery and vague, about how it was the birthplace of the three of the worlds largest religions and full of history.

What I got was an awkward rambling about how there were seven religions there and they were all fighting. (What religions? Who knows? He doesn't' say.) And the hotel he was staying at had been hit by a terrorist attack (What kind of terrorist? I don't know. Just a terrorist.) Yes, there is a lot of turmoil in the middle east. But Kerr doesn't seem to know how to talk about this in any real sense. Words like “Islam” and “Judaism” are never used. Are the readers supposed to be too stupid to know or so smart he doesn't need to be specific about anything?

TIME TRAVEL-SPOILERS

Time travel is used to make it so the story never happened. I don't care that it's unoriginal, just that it doesn't make much sense. It's stated that since two characters who helped them on the adventure are staying at Shangri-la, then when they go back, this adventure will never have happened. In that case, how did they get there to stay in the first place? Just seemed trying to be clever but coming off as illogical.

CONCLUSION

It was inevitable that a story couldn't be carried forever by a unique world. The characters of John and Phillipa refuse to develop in any way at at all, while charming characters like Nimrod and Groanin have become arrogant and condescending. I can't help feeling that so many aspects of the book felt weird because politics were pushed awkwardly into the story. Kerr seems to forget every other book he has written in this series and hopes you do too. There just isn't any consistency. I give “The Five Fakirs of Faizabad” one and half stars.

Book Review: "The Eye of the Forest" by P.B. Kerr

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

The twins and Nimrod travel to South America to stop an unknown enemy from awakening an evil force. But they are faced with enemies and traps on all sides.

OUR CAST OF CHARACTERS

John unfortunately comes off as unlikable as Phillipa usually does. He instantly dislikes the new character Zadie and makes more than a few cruel comments. And although he misses Rakshasas, this doesn't make up for his annoying behavior. Also, he wants to leave a character to die, because he doesn't like her.

Phillipa is still the same. Making arrogant and ignorant comments. She still assumes she knows more than everyone around her.

Nimrod is losing his charm. He no longer comes off as witty and wise. Instead condescending and arrogant.

Groanin comes along and makes his usual blunt comments. Probably the most likable character in the book. Although he wants to leave a character for dead, so that doesn't say much about the caliber of characters in this story.

Dybbuk is only in a small portion of this book. He seems to have learned nothing from his past mistakes. There really isn't any time to hope for development. I am disappointed, because although he was rather predictable and selfish and the last book, I had high hopes that he would develop through realizing the horrible mistakes he made. He didn't.

NEW CHARACTERS-SPOILERS

Zadie starts as a friend if Phillipa, and I had hopes that she would help develop the mechanical twin. But this was soon lost. Apparently Zadie is obnoxious and no one likes her. This hatred becomes tiresome and makes our characters seem petty and childlike. Even Groanin. I think Kerr thought it would be funny if they hated her, but I think this is another mistake that I have previous talked about: making everything a joke.

I kept waiting to figure out why she was there. If not to help develop Phillipa or John, she had to have some purpose. When I found it, I wasn't impressed. (She is responsible for something bad.) If anything, I was annoyed. I could feel nothing, because the supposed backstory about her and another characters are told to us, and never shown. Not through flashbacks or anything. Also, she was just hypnotized, so who cares?

Sicky is a native who becomes a guide to the twins. His head is shrunken slightly from his body. He felt like a cartoon character with not much intelligence. Nothing about him seemed believable, not lack of desire for revenge or the desire to fix his disfigurement.

NEGLECTING DYBBUK

It seems Kerr could think of no way of incorporating Dybbuk into the main plot so he threw him into the end. It wasn't a terrible idea, after all Dybbuk could have easily been into denial about his past mistakes, and continued on the wrong path. But it just wasn't believable because the reader gets to only see the end of what should have been a full story.

WHO IS THE VILLAIN? SPOILERS

The villain who is in charge of the explorers who seek out the eye of the forest is a mystery. When it was finally discovered, I didn't feel much surprised or vindicated. I guess it had to be someone we already knew since it would be hard to add a new villain so late in the story. Oh, I'll just say it, it's Virgil Mcreeby.

PROPHECY

There is a prophecy mentioned early on about twins. I thought it was almost clever, the way it turned out to be not what we thought. Except that it's brought up, then never spoken of again by Nimrod. It felt like an oversight. If Nimrod thought the twins were part of a prophecy, wouldn't he have filled them in? Instead, we never speak of it, and when it is mentioned again, I was like, “Oh, yeah, I forgot about that thing.” It just never felt important.

IT'S NOT MAGIC, IT'S GLOBAL WARMING

There is an odd moment early on in the book where it is discovered that they cannot travel by whirlwind. It's speculated that it is because of global warming. It was such an odd moment that took me right out of the book. I wanted to say, “hey, they changed it to climate change, although they may change it again in another decade.” To throw politics into a fairy tale just felt weird. I am generally not a fan of these kinds of things, because they date books too. And years from now kids who read this book won't have a clue what they are talking about.

THE PROBLEM OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

When it comes to Phillipa, instead of showing, we get told that she is “too diplomatic” to express her anger at being abandoned by someone. And when she puts her life at risk, we have to be reminded how beloved she is, by Groanin, who says how much he loves her. It's like a neon sign by the author saying: “Phillipa is great! Smart and brave. Groanin says so.” Just stop.

Also, when it's pointed out that Lupuna trees are cut down and are important to the country, she shows extreme arrogance when she says they should stop. It's their livelihood. But she is too sheltered and privileged to know that, apparently. There is a perfect chance to make her struggle with power given to her, but instead she tells it to Nimrod after making the so-called hard decision to give it up.

As for Nimrod, he makes a few smarmy comments, one about how he doesn't want a to make a new religion, because there are far too many. Right. The stupid masses and their religion. That really made me wince.

Another time he says to John that American's can't understand words with more than three syllables. He is quickly becoming a jackass. Regarding the argument about how Christmas trees are cut down that he makes to Phillipa, he sounds like an idiot. Basically he says cutting down Christmas trees is the same as destroying the rain forest. No, really. When in reality those trees are planted to be sold, and then replaced. Unlike the Lupuna trees, which are just destroyed. But smart Phillipa can't see through this bad argument.

WHY, FINLEY? SPOILERS

John makes a note that he thought Finlay was helping out the villain of the story. Even though he makes no mention of this suspicion at all. There were also no hints about that. Didn't Finlay hate his dad the last time we checked? I wonder if Kerr remembers what he wrote.

JUST IGNORANT

When the group gets almost killed by Xuanaci, and they will most likely get killed by a wish gone awry, he points out they are ignorant. So it's okay that they tried to kill them all. Or something. This could have gone so much better if a different argument was made. As such, it just came across as stupid. He simply should have said that all lives are sacred, and maybe one day they could change and evolve, so they should try to save the Xuanaci.

SIDE STORY-SPOILERS

There is a side story about the twins' parents, Layla and Edward. I didn't quite get why Layla had to lose her body in the last book. Mrs. Trump going into a coma so she could have her body seemed macabre. So when she ended up going to South America, the same continent that the kids ended up going to later, I knew there had to be a reason. Except there wasn't. As djinnternal mail can be used at any distance, so it didn't matter that she was there. On the plus side, there is a random Marlon Brando reference that no one under thirty will understand.

Anyway, Layla uses her powers to control the governmental army to get a plane and put the lives of others in danger, because she can't use a whirlwind. It would be immoral you know, with global warming and all.

Now there is actually a point to this story, which is to resolve the relationship of Edward and his wife. He admits he is terrified of her, and how she can easily kill anyone she wants. So she agrees to swear off her powers again. The only problem? This came way too late. When Layla murdered the two intruders in her house, she was judge, jury and executioner. And the twins didn't even flinch. So it all feels all bottled up and put away for later, when Kerr suddenly remembers that murder might not be a good idea. Even if your a self-righteous djinn.

JOHN'S DREAMS-SPOILERS

John falls asleep next to a Lupuna tree and dreams an answer up crucial to the plot. Kerr tells us how dangerous they are, with people falling asleep next to them and waking up centuries later. But apparently Nimrod didn't think it was that important to tell John that, even though judging by his reaction, he knew all about it. This just doesn't make sense. Nimrod sees the trees and points them out, but doesn't share the crucial information he knows about them? If he didn't see them, that would make sense. But he points them out to John.

CLIMAX-SPOILERS

Near the end of the book, Phillipa ends up discovering the power of a gift she received in the previous book: her slippers. I couldn't help but feel this was thrown in at the last minute. I kept thinking, this wasn't planned when you wrote the ending of the last book, was it? I seriously doubt it. It felt cheap. I thought, well at least we will have a good conversation between her and Dybbuk. Wrong. Dybbuk is out cold, so she just tries to awaken him by telling him he's not bad. That doesn't work. Big surprise. So she leaves him to be evil.

CONCLUSION

John and Phillipa still don't develop, and it's getting more hopeless for them. Zadie could have been a female friend to Phillipa, but instead we get another annoying character. And although there is a mentioning of a prophecy to restore a djinn's power, Dybbuk still feels shoehorned into the story. There is plenty of adventure and monsters to meet, from giant mosquitoes to killer piranha. Unfortunately, the characters distract from this. Not to mention so much bad logic that you would think a teenager was writing this book. I give “The Eye of the Forest” two and a half stars.