Book Review: "LightLand" by H.L. McCutchen

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

When Lottie gets a gift from her father, a box made from her favorite old tree, she puts it away. Years later, after ignoring it, she and her friend Lewis end up using it to accidentally travel to another world called LightLand. But the two end up getting separated and have to try to reunite, even when a dangerous being called the NightKing threatens them.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Lottie is an odd young girl raised by her father in a small town. She doesn't care what anyone thinks of her and is very stubborn. She lost her mother at a young age and is known for her great memory.

Lewis is Lottie's best friend. He doesn't speak and hasn't since she has known him. Like Lottie, Lewis has no problem with being seen as odd. He also sleeps with his eyes open. His father disappeared when he was three but it's unknown if that caused his loss of speech. He draws odd pictures and admits he doesn't know what they mean.

Ms. d'Avignon is Lottie and Lewis' new teacher. She surprises everyone by causing Lewis to smile and challenges Lottie to do better in school. Oddly enough, she seems to know things she shouldn't, like when she reads Lottie's mind or when she knew about the gym coach and what Lottie said to him.

The Night King is a mysterious figure who threatens everyone who lives in Lightland. When the sun goes down he rules and anyone who he catches loses his memories.

LEWIS' FATHER-SPOILERS

We learn early on that Lewis' father went missing years ago. He and Lottie don't discuss it. Eventually we learn about the Night King and his identity.

There is only one hint about their relationship, when he meets some mice, they assume he is the Night King, presumably because they look similar. And when he sleeps with his eyes open they state that he is just like the Night King. So instead of seeing a build up of hints, we pretty much figure it out right away with the mice.

THE NIGHT KING

The Night King reveals that he believes he is from LightLand, originally. Lewis tries to argue with him, pointing out the stories of his father's history. But he says they were all false memories. He doesn't offer any actual proof of this, however. And he seems determined to be angry, even when Lewis tries to remind him of his wife.

He is an adequate villain in that he comes across as deeply disturbed. I didn't doubt that he was capable of great evil. And I suppose more about him could be learned in another book.

LOTTIE'S MEMORIES

Lottie loses certain memories, which is horrible because she can usually recall almost anything from her childhood. Even if it happened when she was small. There isn't any explanation of why this is.

Her father gave her a box to put in memories (this box being made of a special tree) and she never used it. But this doesn't matter, until it does. I was left kind of confused.

I get that the tree had magic that brought her to Light Land, but how did it take her memories? Or was it something else? She gets them back when she arrives in LightLand, and we don't discuss the loss again.

LIGHTLAND

The world is kind of confusing, as its inhabitants don't fully explain it. Lottie travels though her wooden box, and travels home by going to sleep. Lewis on the other hand, doesn't come home (this isn't explained but we just assume it's because of who he is related to).

The world is full of taking animals, including a bird named Umber who guides Lottie. She later learns it came from her first drawing, a picture of a bird. So LightLand doesn't just bring memories of living beings to life, but nonliving as well.

You can also bring memories to life. Lewis remembers his two dogs and they appear. And Lottie remembers a story told to her about her grandfather, only to have him show up as a young man. But they don't last. Interestingly enough, she wonders if she could summon her dead mother.

Also it's revealed that people who have lost their own memories are sustained by others' remembering them. It happend to a character named Robert.

Umber later reveals that only solid memories are citizens of LightLand. Which is why Lottie's grandfather disappears.

ALICE'S INSIGHT

There is a student in Lewis and Lotties' class named Alice. When Lewis writes his strange markings on the chalkboard she is called on by the teacher to interpret it. Oddly enough, the girl doesn't blow them off as nonsense. Instead she expains a vague story, and seems confused at the insight, herself.

Later on, Lottie goes to her to show more of Lewis' writings. I liked that it showed the stubborn Lottie making a friend. It made her more likable and showed a slight arc.

But the insight didn't really add much to the story other than that.

LOTTIE'S DILEMMA-SPOILERS

When Lewis is left in LightLand, Lottie gets a call from his mom, saying she had to rush off for a week because of an emergency. I thought this was kind of convenient. What are the odds that she would leave without ever seeing her son? I guess she is rather selfish. And since her son cannot speak, she just rambles on, assuming the mute boy is listening.

This gives Lottie a week to find and bring back her friend. Also it gives her the option to do it alone or ask for help.

LOTTIE'S TEACHER

Ms. d'Avignon is likable and she ends up being a confidant for Lottie, who admits the truth about Lewis. Like the NightKing, I think more will be revealed about her in the future. After all, it's never explained how she knows things she shouldn't. I am guessing she has some connection to LightLand herself. If not, it would be strange that she believed Lottie so easily. Also, it's hinted that she might have an attraction to Lottie's father.

Ms. d'Avignon also ends up helping explain why the box is so important. She theorizes that because it spanned a time where important memories were made, between Lottie and her mother, it became a bridge to LightLand. I appreciated the discussion she, Lottie and Lottie's father had.

VEIL OF OBLIVION

The NightKing has hundreds of sacks that contain memories that he has stolen over the years. Some of the memories are so awful that they can kill. One is called the Veil of Oblivion.

Lottie only learns about it from Umber, and that's more than halfway through the story. Even then, Umber doesn't explain just what it is, only that the bird believes that Lottie can defeat it and face the King. It explains that without it, they believe the king will have no power.

LEWIS' ABILITIES-SPOILERS

When Lewis is trapped in the NightKing's castle, he learns that he can will things to happen. He causes a narrow crack to grow until its big enough for him to use. And then it closes behind him.

There seems to be another side affect, as later on he wants to give the Veil over to Umber, but finds his body resisting. We get an explanation that this is the NightKing's spell. But his mouse friend whispers to him and breaks the spell easily.

LEWIS' WORDS

When Lewis meets his father, he finally speaks. He is thrilled to do it, finally show his father that he is not afraid of him. He doesn't really explain why he refuses to talk but we do get some insight. He wishes Lottie were there to speak for him, so for some reason he had decided to rely on her.

It's interesting that the NightKing asks if he still doesn't speak, meaning he was like this long before his father went missing.

LOTTIE'S JOURNEY

Lottie eventually heads off to rescue Lewis, when she figures out how to return to LightLand. She doesn't go alone, and is accompanied by Robert, the young man who previously lost all of his memories.

GOODBYE ROBERT

After Robert finds Lewis, the Mouse tells him to jump from the window and rally the citizens out of hiding. Lewis decides to stay and find Lottie, even though he is scared to face the NightKing.

I wasn't sure exactly why this was necessary. Perhaps giving Lewis the chance to leave and not taking it would show bravery and help his arc. But I never really expected him to leave Lottie behind (even though Robert said she might have already escaped). And I didn't understand why Robert needed to leave other than the fact it left Lewis to be the hero on his own.

CLIMAX

Lottie meets the NightKing, who mocks her for not summoning her dead mother. He explains he is linked through her because of the bags he has, that hold many of her memories. And also that her memories are powerful and interfering with his. So he attempts to wipe hers away (by killing her, unlike what he normally does). Lewis shows up. And the NightKing is defeated by an item that Lottie obtained earlier.

THE SPECIAL TREE-SPOILERS

In the end, Lottie throws her cherry tree seed into the veil of oblivion in order to destroy it. I suppose it adds up. After all we are told from the beginning that the tree was special. It was so strong it created a gateway to LightLand.

CONCLUSION

LightLand has many strong points. Lottie, Lewis and Ms. D'Avignon are all distinct, likable characters. The LightKing is creepy and mysterious. Both Lewis and Lottie go through arcs, Lottie learning to trust her father and her new teacher as well as make a new friend from her class.

Lewis' arc might be percieved as slightly forced, as he only talks when he is put in an extreme circumstance. But he goes from learning to reply on Lottie for everything, including his speech, from meeting and escaping the NightKing. I still wish he had struggled more with the influence that the NightKing had upon him, instead of that one scene.

The world of LightLand is interesting and has lots of potential. Enough is revealed in this first story to spark your interest in hope of learning more. And the truth about the NightKing is a theme that I hope will occur.

I give “LightLand” three and half stars.

Book Review: "Tomorrow's Magic" by Pamela F. Service

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Welly and Heather are two teenagers living in a post-nuclear war world. While attending a boarding school, they meet Earl, a young man who was found after losing his memory. The three become friends, eventually leaving the school and learning the truth about Earl and the fight to save the future of humanity.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Earl starts out as a loner who becomes friends with Heather and Welly with some hesitancy. Eventually he regains his memory. From then on he struggles with feelings of inadequancy as well as putting the lives of his friends at risk.

Welly admits he hates his bad eyesight and wishes he could easily lose weight. Compared to Heather he is less adventurous but their friendship stars they both don't fit in at school.

Heather is an adventurous girl who doesn't fit in with the other girls at her school. She is rather plain looking and although she doesn't speak of it, wishes she were pretty. After her father remarried she became estranged from her family.

Morgan Le fey is our a stock villain. Not that every villain needs to be sympathetic, but I wish she had some more depth to her. She thinks Merlin is naive and tries to convince him to join her but her arguments never come off as pursuasive. It was never in doubt that Merlin would reject her offer and her history is rather vague. Perhaps to be expanded upon in the third book.

PACING & INTRODUCTION-SPOILERS

In the beginning we meet Welly and Heather, and not long after Earl. There is an intruder at the school and then we see that Earl has nightmares. Eventually people show up claiming to be relatives of Earl's, so he decides to run away. Welly and Heather go with him.

The pacing isn't fast, but we get to learn about the main characters as well as the world, so I would say it's an adequate opening. Just not fast paced.

There are attacks from muties as well as other creatures. The story is pretty well balanced between action and exposition.

TWO STORIES

This book is actually two books in one. The first story dealing with restoring Merlin's memories as well as finding Avalon and King Arthur; The second book takes place years later where Arthur has claimed his title as king and built a court. Most of the second story has to do with Merlin trying to regain his abilities of prophecy as well as uniting the country under Arthur. Heather's gift is revealed as well.

THE DEATH OF MERLIN

Less than halfway thought the first book, Merlin ends up falling down a well. It's obvious to Heather and Welly that he died. Which is why Morgan leaves. I always feel slightly annoyed when a main character is shown to die when the story isn't even near over. The odds of it being a true death are none existant and I always feel that you shouldn't present something as shocking, when its obviously not. But it served as a cliffhanger ending and allowed Morgan to leave Welly and Heather be.

I thought it was amazing that only sheer luck prevented him from his death, as there were ropes that stopped his fall.

MERLIN'S MEMORIES

After almost falling to his death, Merlin hits his head and all of his memories come back. That kind of surprised me, since we live in a world with magic, I expected something magic related to restore his memories. I almost wish he had used magic by instinct instead, as he had done earlier in the story, actually making himself invisible. Perhaps this burst of magic could have been so strong as to unlock his memories.

I almost expected Merlin's personality to change after a lifetime of memories came back to him. The world he lived in was nothing like the one he resided in now. And he had only been in this one a few years. I felt he should have immediately have become more like a mentor figure, or at least a big brother. Or at least have some traditional, old fashioned ideas on some topics.

But perhaps since his memory is restored well before their relationships are established, the author thought it would muddle things up. I think it would have been interesting to establish a relationship and then realize you never actually knew the person, because the person never knew themselves.

MERLIN'S POWERS

While Merlin regains his memories he doesn't regain his magical abilities all at once. He gradually regains them over the course of the first story. He manages to defend his friends from slavers, as well as from Morgan.

MERLIN'S ANGER AT THE WORLD

Merlin admits a few times that he is furious that the world has been abused and destroyed. Most of the populace was destroyed by war, as well as most animals. Mutant people live as well as mutated animals, consisting of a threat.

I found his anger kind of melodramatic, as if everything just went to seed without him around. He never realizes that the majority of the planet had no say in the wars that were fought and had no power over anything.

His generalization makes him appear naive and considering how old he is supposed to be, rather unbelievable. Not to mention he never asks how the world changed after he was gone for hundreds of years. Did people just become more selfish and entitiled? How do they stop it from happening again?

He never seems to understand that men have always had wars, even when he was around, it's just that the weapons are bigger now and more dangerous.

ABANDONING & TEMPTING-SPOILERS

After the group has stayed at a nice family's farm long enough for Welly to recover from his illness, Merlin eventually gets in a fight and leaves his friends behind. It's obvious that he still feels guilty for dragging them into danger.

Afterwards Morgan shows up and tempts both of them, showing visions of themselves in the future as they desperately wish to be. I never really thought either would abandon Merlin, but I think the scene showed a part of Morgan's powers and how strong she could possibly be. So it did serve a purpose, as well as showing that our main characters could stand up to her, even without help.

MERLIN'S PAST

I think the author assumed everyone knew the details of the King Arthur stories, so perhaps she didn't have to flesh anything out for us. But I wanted to learn more, and it wouldn't have bothered me if some liberties were taken. Merlin vaguely mentions a woman named Nimue and how she was sent by Morgan to gain his friendship and learn magic. Eventually she betrayed him.

Merlin also mentions that Arthur was betrayed by his last wife but the king seems to get over that rather quickly.

HEATHER'S STRUGGLES-SPOILERS

When Heather develops her own magical skills, she is rather anxious about them. She feels alone, and as someone who lacked friends previously, she is familiar with that emotion. She complains she didn't want her abilities and doesnt want others to know. To compound the situation, a young man named Kyle ends up badgering her a few times throughout the story.

Turns out he thinks magic is dangerous (he's not wrong there) and evil (this is often true too). I felt like his presence was merely there to make Heather feel more like a victim and grow more angry. After all, her and Kyle never develop a friendship, more like a casual acquintance as he tries to teach her to sing.

If perhaps he had been made to be a real friend and included in the story, he would have served a better purpose. But as Heather barely knows him, it's not hard to blow him off when he becomes rude.

MERLIN'S STRUGGLES-SPOILERS

Merlin struggles with guilt, from not being able to prophecize adequately and for putting his friends at risk. But the fact is, he worries about the former quite often, while the latter rather comes out of the blue. He always worries for Heather and Welly of course.

Also, the young boy from the first book, where they stayed at a farm, returns. Turns out his whole family was killed by mutants. Merlin feels awful. Later the boy dies in battle while holding a flag. Merlin is heartbroken but expresses this through sarcasm and anger.

I was surprised at his bitterness and wondered how many battles he had witnessed in his past life, and how often did he feel responsible for deaths of soldiers or innocent bystanders. Did he experience this a lot, and was now just sick of it, perhaps growing cynical? I wish I could have learned more about his past.

HEATHER & MERLIN-SPOILERS

Because of her new abilities, Heather confides in Merlin more often as no one else is aware of what she can do. He seems happy to have her near, admitting he feels less alone. I thought this was interesting, because he had never before admitted that being the only sorcerer around had made him lonely in his old life. Unless you remember the vague reference to Nimue where he said that Morgan knew his weakness.

On the positive side, the relationship feels natural and doesn't happen all at once, we merely see that they are spending more time together and are comforted by each others' presence. There are hints at there closeness being romantic so when it comes to fruition near the end it feels deserved.

ARTHUR & MERLIN

Arthur isn't in the book except near the end but he doesn't really appear in the sequel that much either. I suppose the relationship between the two is a mentor and a student, even though they are the same age now. They joke often with each other.

I admit I was disappointed with their relationship. I expected it to be much deeper since they had such a long history but it's never delved into. And neither Welly or Heather feel any jealousy towards Arthur (to be fair he and Merlin just don't come across as close). Nor is there any awe or a feeling of not belonging in his presence from our main characters.

Also when it comes to the character of Arthur himself there just isn't enough time to flesh out any character. It's hinted that there is a romance between him and a Queen he meets but the relationship happened off the pages so it felt forced.

THE NEGLECT OF WELLY

For the most part I feel that both stories dwell on Heather and Merlin while Welly feels to be neglected. He does develop, showing bravery later on and actually fighting in a serious battle. This in contrast to who he is in the beginning, someone who thinks little of himself and lagging behind Heather.

Although I have to be honest, it's most likely that his character and his relationship with Merlin was to be developed in the next story. Apparently in this one, Heather gets kidnapped and its up to him and Merlin to rescue her.

THE AMULET & THE SEDUCTION OF HEATHER-SPOILERS

After a visit home, Heather recieves a gift from her mother who admits she had some magical ability and Heather probably does too. The amulet is supposed to aid Heather's gifts and it seems to. But it was rather naive for her to keep it, since right afterwards she learns her mother lied to her and had Merlin hidden in her dungeon.

I suppose it could be argued that the amulet was already influencing her, and she is too weak to resist it.

MERLIN'S GUILT-SPOILERS

A fake letter is delivered to Merlin from Heather, saying she has left with Welly. Merlin is upset, thinking he dragged Heather into this conflict and that he never should have. I was surprised he believed such an obvious lie as it had been clear for some time that she was willing to risk her life for his and that he was the most important person in her life.

It's a basic trope, some misunderstanding that keeps two people apart for a time until it's realized to be false and they are reunited. I always have mixed feelings, because I never feel like the deception is good enough to be believed. And the character that has to believe it ends up looking quite stupid for the sake of the plot.

CLIMAX

In the first story, they find Avalon despite Morgan's interference and Arthur along with it. As for the second, Merlin searches for Welly and Heather and fights Morgan.

CONCLUSION

The strong point of the story is that all the main characters are distinct and likable. They all struggle, grow and face their fears. Even if Welly is neglected on this front. They all feel real and relatable, even Merlin.

The storyline of a modern version of King Arthur isn't original, but that doesn't stop it from being interesting. The world is explained just enough to understand it and perhaps that's to its credit, as many science fiction and fantasy stories build such a huge world that the characters are neglected entirely.

The weak points are mostly the lack of Merlin's and Arthur's history and relationship. I felt more should have been revealed, perhaps putting a wedge between Merlin and his young friends.

Sometimes Merlin can come across as overly dramatic, which I didn't expect from an old man, even if he is in a teenager's body. I would have liked it if he had been portrayed as more mature, even if it put a gap between him and his friends. And in fact I think it would have made the relationships more interesting.

Merlin had a whole other life and yet he doesn't seem to have any secrets or anything worth sharing in detail.

I give “Tomorrow's Magic” three stars.

Book Review: "The Thief" by Megan Whalen Turner

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

After being imprisoned for stealing the King's of Sounis' seal, Gen is eager to be free again. He eagerly accepts the task of stealing...whatever they want him to. But the task proves dangerous as he and his escorts enter another country named Eddis, where if they are caught, the Queen will behead them.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Gen, short for Eugenides is a young thief. He doesn't trust anyone and has no problem starting fights. Also, he can be overly confident. We learn from the beginning that his mother died from falling to her death when he was only ten. Gen later reveals his father was a soldier. For the most part, Gen remains a mystery until the end of the story.

Sophos is a young Duke. He is rather meek at first but gradually starts to share details about his life with Gen. Turns out this father doesn't think he is suited to be a duke. He loves learning and books, instead of physical activities like riding and sword fighting.

Pol works for Sopho's father. He is the head of the guards and is rather stern with Gen. Even so, he does help him heal his wounds from prison.

Ambiades is a man who travels and trains Sophos. He is harsh on his sparring partner and rather arrogant. He shares a strong dislike for Gen, who he thinks is a coward. He is protective of his items as it turns out his father lost his title and his wealth.

The Magus is in charge of the quest. He is rather strict and has no love for Gen. Later we learn that all of his family was killed by a plague.

PACING

The story statrs off with Gen being taken out of prison. He gets the vague details and then he and his escorts depart. The best part of the story, with the most suspense, is when Gen has to find the stone necklace in a maze. After that there is a chase scene, and near the end of the story, a second chase scene. Even so, for the most part I wouldn't call it a fast paced story.

MYTHOLOGY

There are four myths that are told in the story. Most are told by the Magus, but Gen tells one as well. The first is a creation myth about how earth created the sun, then the moon, and then the sky.

The second, the birth of the god Eugenides, the god of thieves. Which Gen, himself, tells.

The third, Eugenides and the sky god's thunderbolts.

And lastly, Eugenides and the great fire. Gen tells this story, because the Magus wanted to compare Gen's version to him.

I found them interesting as self contained stories but they didn't really add any dimension to the characters or even the story. I just think the author loved mythology and wanted to write her own.

GEN'S PUNISHMENT

Gen ends up getting accused of taking extra food. In respone he is taken and whipped. Gen is furious at the turn of events and vows revenge. That is probably the first scene where we see him truly feel anger and learn about some of his motivation. His hatred seems to be the only thing pushing him on.

GEN'S DREAMS

Gen has dreams of a woman in white. She tells him not to offend the gods (I guess she isn't one of them?) and to be cautious because many have gone and perished. I guess she is supposed to be evidence that some sort of deities exist and its not all myth. But he has a vision when he finds the amulet and is told to take it.

I am not sure what dimension this added to the story. Gen didn't seem particularly religious but he admits that he isn't sure if he can take it, because of his childhood tales. So perhaps that was a religious conversion?

RELATIONSHIPS

One problem I have with the story is relationships, mainly the story doesn't have any. The only character that Gen actually comes to like is Sophos. I suppose he has a grudging respect for Pol. He despises Ambiades and this never really develops into anything else. Not even respect.

GEOGRAPHY LESSON

When the group nears Eddis, they learn of another country named Atollia. Turns out that Eddis controls the only easy path between Sounis and that country, and they are the wealthiest trading countries. I did find this interesting and appreciated the effort of history being presented.

GEN THE RESCUER

Gen ends up pointing out to the Magus that the area they are on will be destroyed by a river. And if they stay (while he is in the maze looking for the stone) they will be drowned. Unfortunately Gen doesn't come off as truly caring about anyones' lives, not even Sophos. And although I wanted to like him and have some relationship developed, there wasn't much more than temporary respect from the Magus.

THE MAZE-SPOILERS

Gen spends a few nights with only a lamp and has an alotted amount of time each night before he must return, or else he will be lost and trapped. He comes across bones of those who previously attempted to find the stone. Not to mention doors that threaten to close behind him and forever trap him. He even has to face water that threatens to drown him.

There is on particular scene where Gen has a panic attack, thinking that he will forever be trapped inside. It was the most relatable scene in the whole book. So many authors write characters who never get scared, or when they do it's quite rational and it doesn't really overtake the character. Gen actually admits that he was freaking out over nothing. He simply let his emotions get the better of him.

DEATHS-SPOILERS

Gen manages to sneak off when guards from Atollia show up. Eventually he ends up in jail with Sophos. There Sophos reveals that both Pol and Ambiades were killed. We get a flashback scene with them but we don't witness their demise.

Gen actually says he wished he could have killed Ambiades himself. I don't think he deserved that kind of hatred, he was a jerk but that Gen actually felt as though this deserved being killed felt overblown.

If anything it should have softened Ambiades to him, causing regret of the fact that they had gotten on so badly. Some sympathy should have been in order. If not when Gen first learned of Ambiades' past then when he learned of his death.

CLIMAX

Gen meets the Queen of Atollia and shows his usual arrogance and overconfidence. Later, he, Sophos and the Magus manage to escape only to be chased by the guards. In the end they arrive safely in the kingdom of Eddis.

TWIST ENDING-SPOILERS

Gen himself is a prince who created a reputation for himself as a thief and swiped it from Pol. There are some problems with this. Mainly that the story is told by Gen. Yes, he doesn't tell the reader much. He acts as though Pol lost the necklace. He even pretends to search for it, which is fine.

What isn't is fine is when we go into Gen's mind: He's furious because the Magus dismissed him risking his life (he says he can copy the lost amulet) while in fact Gen had been expecting him to react in horror that he had failed at his mission. That's where the anger should have been focused, on Gen's plan at pissing off the Magus and how it failed.

I felt like that was what we would have learned if we had been in his mind. It all felt so clunkily written in an attempt to be clever and withhold information from the reader.

Also, after being whipped, Gen thinks he wants more than to get the amulet and be famous (he's already a famous prince, but I guess he wants to prove himself?). He wants to be given the credit for being a king maker. But he already planned that he would just take it back to his own Queen. So who did he want to make a king, exactly? I was left completely confused.

Not to mention he calls his escorts overeducated. I was left thinking he was annoyed because he wasn't educated, when in reality that being a prince, he knew more than any of them. So did he call them overeducated as sarcasm? Did he think non-royals who are educared think they are so smart that he was actually making fun of them? I couldn't make sense of any of it.

CONCLUSION

Of all the characters, the only when I grew to like was Sophos. I never knew enough about Pol to like him. And while I was sympathetic for Ambiades, his character never develops any relationship with Gen so he was wasted. As for Gen, the only feeling I was felt was sympathy when he was mistreated. Otherwise I only felt indifference. I never understood his motivation and I suspect because I was supposed to be kept at bay so the twist ending could take me by surprise. But it just left me confused.

Perhaps the story would have been better told if Gen wasn't the main character. Or the story wasn't told in first person.

As for the story itself, it wasn't a bad idea. But the lack of relationships and motivations caused the story to become sterile. Some parts are amusing and some are interesting, like the maze. The myths were intersting but they didn't make up for everything else.

I give “The Thief” two stars.

Book Review: "Lawless" by Jeffrey Salane

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

M Freeman has spent her young life rather sheltered as she has been homeschooled and raised by her mother. But she knows she wants to get into a special school called “Lawless” where her father went as a child. Now that her father has passed on, it means more than ever.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

M is smart and eager to learn but slightly naive. She seems to be rather singleminded, as she has put all her hopes going to a school she knows nothing about.

Zara is M's guardian. The older girl is sarcastic and cynical. For the most part, she doesn't seem to really care about M.

Merlyn is a young man who starts school the same time as M. He meets her on the ride to the airport and is rather geeky. He is good with tech.

Cal is a handsome blonde boy whom M seems to have a slight crush on. But revelations cause her not to know how to feel about him.

Mrs. Watts is a teacher and ends up being on M's final exam quest.

PACING

The pacing of the story is good. We get M's interview and then her trip home. We may not jump right into the action but there is enough mystery to move the story along and make the reader curious. Even when M gets home there are twists. By the time she makes it to the airport and the action starts, I was kept interested.

THE FULBRIGHTS

A shadowy organization called the Fulbrights are a threat to the Lawless school. M meets them in the beginning at the airport. Oddly enough, M sees them seem to shimmer. Not much is told to M about them until near the end of the book.

WHY ME?-SPOILERS

From the plane ride M ends up asleep and then awakes in the cock pit. She has to land the plane because there is no pilot. Although she thought she saw someone.

I was surprised that M didn't go crazy to Zara or at least to the first adult she met off the plane. I would have been furious. She is just a child, and this is the kind of organization that they're running?

It wasn't even Lawless involved in this madness. She is told someone think's she is special (and perhaps worth testing...) so they just look incompetent. And when M points out she saw a man they blow her off and call her crazy. They just snarkily tell her they landed the plane remotely.

I would be thinking this had all been a mistake and I needed to get out of there the first opportunity. Or at least I would second guess myself. But M only seems annoyed. Not furious.

THAT WAS LUCKY-SPOILERS

When M is required to go to Orientation she loses her ID so she sneaks her way in. This involves getting creative and ending up in the ceiling. I suppose it would make sense if all she needed to do was hear the information given and not be seen as present. But she ends up crashing through the ceiling.

Instead of falling to her death she ends up getting caught in some wires. I found it rather silly that she only escaped death by being lucky. I get that the ending was clever, when the head of the school introduces her. But it felt rather stupid.

They knew her ID would have been stolen since she was the mark, and should would have to risk her life. What would have happened if there had been no wires? Oops, I guess we're having a funeral after orientation, guys.

M'S MOTHER

M admits her relationship with her mother isn't really good. It's very formal and when M leaves home, she doesn't even get to talk to her mother alone.

Then it's revealed she has gone missing while M is at school. But she makes a return while M is on her final exam quest. I actually liked this scene.

For once, M shows some emotion, arguing and yelling at her mom. She rightly gets mad at not being told what's going on and explains how worried she was. But this is all cut short and we don't learn anything more about her mother.

M'S FATHER

M's father died in a plane crash, leaving M with a moonrock necklace. She learns that he was very smart and actually invented a cypher used at the school.

SECRETS REVEALED-SPOILERS

In the beginning, M believes both of her parents are art historians. All she really knows about her dad was he attended a school called Lawless. But when she arrives at the school she learns the truth: her father was a master art thief and her mother a con artist. Turns out only a graduate of the school can speak about it, so her mother could not. Only her father, and he passed away.

Eventually M learns that her father was killed, his death wasn't an accident.

SEND HER HOME-SPOILERS

There is a scene halfway though the story where M is threatened to be sent home. I didn't really think she would be sent away, but perhaps the scene had to happen so we could see Zara defending M. And perhaps to see how ruthless and uncaring people like Mrs. Watts were.

Later, Zara reveals that Ronin are those who fail at Lawless. They spend the rest of their life on a watch list, being kept on lock down. Perhaps Zara was thinking about how bad this would be for M, although I don't really understand why she cared.

MYSTERIES GALORE

Various mysteries are presented throughout the story, which helps with the pacing. We start with an empty envelope and meet Zara, who is obviously not what she seems. And when M arrives at the school, it she learns the truth about her parents, all the while her witnessing an adult on the plane is brushed off. No one seems honest. Eventually she even gets a map that has secret information on it. It's the story's strong point.

THE PROBLEM WITH M

I think the main problem with M is that she never doubts her decision to come to lawless. She never thinks, what am I doing here? Or, these people are crazy, I can't trust them. Instead she stays rather naive, assuming that Lawless are the good guys and Fulbrights are the bad ones.

After all, they just steal stuff. No big deal. I was annoyed at her shallowness. Did she ever stop and think that maybe stealing was bad? Maybe it was motivated by greed? What if when stealing, someone got in the way? What if you had to hurt them, or kill them in order to complete the theft? Could she do that? Should she? But M never thinks of these very likely scenarios.

SCHOOL LIFE-SPOILERS

I thought some of the ideas were interesting. Like M being made a mark on her first day and losing all of her items.

Also the idea of “the Box” as some super scifi place where you coud be transported anyway was unique. I just thought M's reaction to it should have been more awed. I felt like I had been transported to Star Trek. How on earth did they get such technology? The room wasn't all an illusion as it actually transformed physically. But I didn't understand how it worked at all.

The jacket with the bells on it was interesting as well, and I liked having to watch M and her teammates work together to get their target.

WE'RE FRIENDS NOW

M admits early on that she is a loner. As such, I would have expected her to have a hard time making friends. But there are no awkward moments. No misunderstandings, no lack of social skills. I wanted to see her form a same-sex relationship and then try one with a boy and realize it's not the same at all.

But there was no friendship process exactly. She has teammates when they have to tag a student, but besides some sarcasm traded there wasn't any sense of relationships developing and the difficulties involved.

I suppose the bulk of the story is focused on the separate tasks and adding mystery. So the relationship angle is completely neglected. It's unfortunate.

TRUST NO ONE?

M gets betrayed by one character who isn't a friend. Then she starts to almost like a character even though she was told not to trust them. In the end she gets betrayed but this character comes back and helps her.

M thinks things are not black and white. But I just didn't care about the betrayal because I barely knew the character who did the betraying. And I was starting to get annoyed at the excuses being made for them.

CAL'S MISTAKE-SPOILERS

During their team mission, Cal ends up using the jacket of bells on their target, which electrocutes them. He does this all with ease, smiling when it happens. This creeps out the other kids, especially M, who doesn't understand who he is.

Cal gets reprimanded and the whole school shuns him for a bit. Because thieves steal, but they never hurt anyone. Ever. As illogical as that seems.

In reality it's not hard to believe a school that specializes in breaking laws would have a subset of students who would laugh at the idea of some sort of moral code.

THE MASTERS

M learns about a group of leaders in Lawless called the Masters. Turns out her father was a member and so was Mrs. Watts, who seemed to have a history with him.

A BLACK HOLE

In the 1600s, a man named Jonathan Wild was known as the king of thieves. When finally imprisoned he read science books that lead him to the idea of black holes. When M asks why, Zara says that Wild was crazy.

His followers eventually divided into the fulbrights and the lawless. It felt rather vague and unnecessary. As if the author felt that the story needed a bigger threat than two criminal institutions fighting each other. He he had to throw in a way to threaten the whole universe.

CLIMAX

M ends up returning to Lawless where she discovers everyone is on break. There she meets Fox Lawless and retrieves her painting. But it turns out everyone is evil (big surprise) but M gets help from a surprising source to escape.

CONCLUSION

The story itself is an intesting idea that's not executed well. A secret school where kids learn to be criminals. And yet it somehow falls flat.

It's strong points are in the pacing and the suspense. But the pay off isn't always fulfilling and often times, the reaction feels overblown.

As for the weak points...firstly, the character of M is shallow and lacks any depth. She wants to go to a school she knows nothing about and when she gets there, never once doubts her goal. Even with suspicous behavior around her. Perhaps this story would have been better told as a YA, where the reality of immoral behavior could have been addressed, and not ignored.

Secondly, the relationships or lack of them. All other characters are just outlines with vague characteristics (Merlyn the geek, Cal the mysterious cute guy) without any history. And yet I was supposed to believe they were all friends with M.

M doesn't even have a relationship with her own mother. You would think this would affect her own social skills. Because I didn't know any of the characters I never cared about them. Not even when one is kidnapped and another betrays M.

I give “Lawless” two and half stars.

Book Review: "The Night Dance" by Suzanne Weyn

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Based on the fairy tale “the twelve dancing princesses”, Rowena and her sisters live a sheltered life thanks to their father. Rowena dreams of freedom and her mother. The girls eventually find a secret tunnel under their room but their father is determined to discover why every night their slippers are ruined, even though they are locked in their rooms.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Rowena is the main character and the only sister we get to know. She dreams of a normal life, and starts having visions throughout the story.

Sir Bedivere is a knight that followed King Arthur and ends up having to return excalibur to a lake. But he doesn't know where to start. One of his hands is paralyzed. He is rather self conscious about it. Not much about his life is known before the scene, except his love for his king.

Morgan Le Fey is actually a side character throughout the story. She has taken place where she can watch over who she sees a threat to her power.

Sir Ethan is an overprotective father of twelve daughters. After his wife went off and vanished he kind of goes crazy and builds a huge wall so he daughters can never leave home.

Vivianne is a great sorcerer who spends the most of her story trapped. But we do get her history revealed to us. She loves her husband and daughters dearly.

TRUE LOVE OR LIES?-SPOILERS

When Sir Ethan was younger, he got lost in the woods and met a beautiful woman. So he married her and never left the woods.

Vivienne admits it was all manipulation, as she cast a spell to bring her an ideal lover. Sir Ethan had no say in the matter and we are not told much of his life before then. Did he have a family? Perhaps a woman he was courting? It says he was in the military, was he taking part in a war?

Apparently Vivianne doesn't care about free will. And yet she says that eventually their relationship becomes real love. How would she know? Does the spell have a release date? Did Sir Ethan eventually get to return to his old life instead of living as a hermit in the woods? Don't think so. This whole relationship feels obsessive and a perversion.

Ethan even reveals he doesn't know if its real love or not, but he doesn't care.

VIVIENNE'S HISTORY

Turns out that Vivienne was a great Sorcerer who worked close with Merlin. People became jealous because of this and her life was threatened so she ran off into the woods. But she didn't want to be alone so she made Sir Ethan come to her.

But she is so important that every so often she goes off without telling her husband a thing so she can still be useful to King Arthur. I don't know why Merlin wouldn't be more important and why she is even necessary. She gave him the sword and asked that after he dies that it was returned to her.

Eventually Morgan le Fey traps her under a lake, because I guess she isn't powerful enough to kill her.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Rowena shares the gift of her mother and has visions. She sees Bedivere and immediately falls in love. Unfortunately it comes across as a shallow relationship based on nothing more than sexual attraction. Him noting how beautiful and graceful she is; Her noting how handsome and brave he is, ect.

I understand that most romantice relationships start this way but they have to evolve into something more. But this one never does. Even when Rowena and Bedivere actually meet. They don't learn much about each other and it seems obvious that Rowena is merely starved for affection.

The dialogue between them is particularly awful as it's not realistic, instead they speak as though they are reciting bad poetry. The majority of their relationship is spent talking about how much they love each other, not actually getting to know each other or developing their relationship.

NORMAL GIRLS

When the daughters learn that there father is putting locks on their doors (because of their ruined slippers) they decided to complain. They wonder why they can't be normal girls who go to parties and meet men. Shouldn't some of them already by married?

I kept wondering, why hadn't any of them asked this before? They weren't children anymore and yet they never thought to ask why they were kept as slaves behind a wall? This cetainly isn't treated as an argument that they have had before. Especially considering where it leads.

Ethan finally admits they are right and says perhaps he needs to find them matches.

If the girls had been sheltered their entire lives, shouldn't they have been happy to be able to marry and leave? Their father may be kind of crazy, but I doubt he would force them to marry someone they completely hated.

MORGAN LE FEY

After sensing Vivienne's power, Morgan thinks that she is trying to contact her daughters. So she goes there in disguise, hoping to find out if they girls know anything. She wants to prevent Vivienne from getting Excalbur because it went missing in battle because she wants it for herself.

Unfortunately I found her more annoying than threatening. I certainly never hated her. She never considers killing off any of the girls, and if she had I think she might have came across more menacing.

The final and first real encounter with her near the end was lacking. And I thought it was odd that in the history lesson we learn she seduced a knight and used him to trap Vivienne. But he is never mentioned again.

MORGAN'S SPELL-SPOILERS

Morgan casts a spell to distract the girls when she decides they are too much of a threat. They might actually discover where Vivienne is, because she spoke to them through a scrying bowl and led them underground to a secret tunnel. So she makes the tunnel take them to a magical place that leads to dresses and music. Not to mention men with stag's heads. The girls dance with them all night, every night, forgetting about their mother.

THE GIRLS MEET A MAN

After spending all of their youth and adulthood away from any men, when they first get to meet one, they immediately start flirting. I thought this was unrealistic.

In reality they would have treated him rather oddly, perhaps like they would treat a girl. After all, they are sheltered like children. They have never been courted and never met a man to flirt with. And besides being forbidden to be around any men, they haven't been taught any boundaries or had any expectations put on them.

By all accounts this scene should have been silly. And yet the girls come across as femme fatals who are eager to seduce a man.

WE CAN TRUST THE STAG MEN

I understand that there is a spell that makes the girls rather docile and tempts them to keep returning even though they have no idea what this place is. But When I learned that the girls' asked one of the stag men for a sleeping potion I was left stunned.

Did the spell also make the girls not just docile, but stupid as well? I expect they got this idea while back in their room, not under the spell. So when the potion nearly kills the man I couldn't believe how stupid they were. Didn't any of them think this might be a bad idea?

VIVIENNE AND HER DAUGHTERS

When it comes to their mother, the Rowena and Eleanore have different feelings. Eleanore is mad because she thinks her mother abandoned them. I didn't get to know any of the girls besides Rowena and her. But Twelve girls are a lot, so I wouldn't expect to get to know all of them. After all, we still have Bedivere, Vivienne and Morgan Le Fey with their own stories. Even so, I wish there had been a way to at least make them more distinct characters.

SIR ETHAN'S INSANITY

It's obvious that Ethan isn't emotionally stable. And yet the girls never discuss this. They complain that they don't get to meet men and marry but never seriously admit that their father is nuts. They also complain that one will be handed over as a prize (when in reality a story taken in this time period would not put romantic love before all, as arranged marriages were the norm throughout most of history.)

I get that the point was to show that Ethan felt betrayed by a woman he married for love (even though he didn't, he was under a spell that was never taken off as far as we know). But nothing works because it's never acknowledged what screwed him up, not just being abandoned to raise twelve girls, but to have had no choice to the marriage to a woman who had many secrets in the first place.

FACE OFF?

The problem is that there is no real fight between Morgan and Vivienne. Morgan uses vines of trees to attack Sir Bedivere and Rowena. Besides her rock monster and using a man's form to attack Bedivere (earlier on) she isn't really threatening. It's all very anticlimatic.

VIVIENNE AND HER HUSBAND

When Vivienne returns it's a shock to Ethan. But they reconcile rather easily which I feel was unrealistic. Maybe this was due to the lack of time left in the book. But I feel like Ethan has had a long time to think about his relationship with Vivienne and how it was obviously a perversion. And yet he never seems to realize that. I guess he was just mad that she left.

But when she explains why, all is forgiven. It annoyed me that the whole thing Ethan is a submissive man unless it comes to his daughters, then he is just an irrational jerk. This could be made sense of, but only if his past relationship was considered to be immoral.

CLIMAX

Rowena pretends to give Bedivere the sleeping potion and he follows them underground. Morgan Le Fey follows them. Eventually Vivienne is freed, there is a brief fight with Morgan and they return home.

CONCLUSION

“The Twelve Dancing princesses” doesn't give you too much to go of off, so there is plenty of opportunity for creativity. And this take does try to be original, mainly because it occurs during the reign of King Arthur and incorporates Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake.

Unfortunately I found myself rather indifferent to characters that were either portrayed as shallow or were barely portrayed at all, like Eleanore.

The romance between Sir Bedivere and Rowena dominates the story, even though they don't actually meet until halfway through. They fall in love in a matter of minutes and their romance is portrayed as flowery, shallow and in the manner of a bad romance novel.

Morgan le Fey is a rather underwhelming character and Vivienne comes across as selfish, while Ethan is an unacknowledged victim. He never got a choice in his marriage and seems traumatized by it. I felt bad for him but he doesn't get any redemption since his trauma isn't really acknowledged.

It's not the worst adaption I have read of this fairy tale, but it's also not good. The story itself had potentional but the characters didn't help.

I give “The Night Dance” two stars.

Book Review: "The Candle Man" by Glenn Dakin

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Theo spends his life in a huge mansion, with only a few individuals to keep him company. A dangerous illness keeps him from a life until one day he gets a message for a secret meeting. This meeting changes everything and suddenly he realizes nothing is what he thought it was, not even himself.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Theo is a sheltered young man, rather meek with only his curiosity pushing him. His knowledge of life is limited, which sometimes leads to silly observations. I found this aspect of him charming.

Dr. Saint is a supposed doctor who is in charge of Theo, making sure he gets treatment for his illness.

Mr. Nicely is the butler. He is rather subservient to Dr. Saint.

Tristus is a garghoul that seems to have his own agenda, while he watches over Theo.

Magnus is an older man who has been watching over Theo from afar.

Sam is Magnus' grandson. He is enthusiastic and eager for adventure.

Chloe is a young women who is sarcastic, bold, and cynical.

PACING

We get an introduction chapter where we see how sheltered and strange Theo's life is. On the second chapter things get more interesting, as Theo learns his caretakers have secrets and by the third chapter, Theo learn's that something really is wrong with him. So the story doesn't wait long to get started.

From then one we get plenty of action including multiple chase scenes. So the story isn't slow by any means. And there are some good cliffhanger chapter endings.

USE OF HUMOR

There are some very silly moments, more in the first portion of the book. Although some of jokes are hit or miss for me. Some of Theo's observations are disturbing while other succeed at being funny.

I had to smile when he thought of coffee as "the brown death". While his spouting that happiness was dangerous was disturbing. But I think the latter was supposed to express the more important teachings of his guardians.

TWO SOCIETIES

The story is about the fight between two groups, the Society of Good Works and the Society of Unrelenting Vigilance. The latter made to watch the former.

I found most of the scenes were Dr. Saint ranted about doing good deeds to be kind of silly. I didn't take him serious as a villain because I couldn't believe that he believed what he was saying. And sadly, I think it could have been done well, because what they want to do is take peoples freedoms to make a better world. They see individualism as dangerous. So their collectivists. No different then communists, socialists and marxists. Seeing how there is so much material to go off of, I was let down that it felt so cheesy.

And the idea is genius, even if its an exaggeration of what politicans already do. Call yourself the Society of Good Deeds. Use buzzwords that the masses have already been trained to respond to. Equality. Justice. Antiracist. Antibigotry. Who can be against those things? No one. And the fact that those who are using these words don't care about anyone but themselves and manipulating others' emotions to gain power, well, most people are too dumb to notice.

THE MERCY TUBE

We learn pretty fast that there is a mechanical device called the mercy tube that Theo has to use every night. It's for his illness. But he doesn't know exactly what his illness is and we aren't told why he believes he is ill. I guess he has just been told his whole life so he believes it.

Regardless, we do eventually learn what the real purpose of the tube is but there isn't any detail given to how it is supposed to work.

THEO & CHLOE

There interactions are funny at first, because Chloe knows all about him. She makes fun of the fact that all he knows are silly fairy tales as well as the fact that he thinks that Sam is dangerous because he wants to be happy and thows jelly beans into his mouth. That line made me laugh but in reality I wish Chloe had realized how screwed up that Theo was.

His reasoning skills are that of a child much younger than him. I eventually expected her to take him more seriously. But she only does that when she sees him use his skill to melt someone.

Theo is often confused by Chloe's behavior but he soon grows to respect her. He realizes the fact that she has been putting her life on the line and continues to do so, is amazing. But instead of this being a gradual process where he sees her actions and he expresses awe through his own he expresses it awkwardly, through his thoughts. And it felt kind of cheesy and overdone.

RELATIONSHIPS

I think one thing that is severely lacking in the story is relationships. The only real relationship that Theo has with anyone is Chloe. He has no real relationship with Dr. Saint, certainly there isn't any trust. Theo just goes along because he is naive and has no reason not to trust him.

Mr. Nicely could be considered more well intentioned, or at least more friendly. But still, not much of an actual relationship.

I guess what I am saying is that Theo can't be crushed about Dr. Saint lying, because Dr. Saint isn't a mentor or protector character. Theo is mad because of the lie of his life, not because he trusted anything Dr. Saint said or did specifically.

I wanted him to recall a moment of kindess between them, so he could feel betrayed. I understand that in order for the story to jump right in, there was time to form any deep relationship. But we could have flashed back a few times, making the truth all the more hard to bear for Theo.

It would have also been nice if Magnus had become a sort of mentor character as well. But he is barely in the story. Also i would have liked it if Sam had become a friend, and perhaps we could see the contrast between an opposite sex friendship and a same sex friendship. And how Theo handled these differences which he had never encountered before.

AWKWARD WRITING

The first time we meet Tristus, we don't actually meet him. Theo tries to get out a window only to be swept up into the air. The chapter ends, and in the next chapter, Theo is placed back on the ground. The writing it rather strange, as he gets about two seconds to think about the terrifying incident that just occured and that some sort of monster just swooped in.

And then he is busy being greeted by two strangers. And that's it for Tristus.

The lack of attention spent on this amazing incident baffled me. I wanted Theo to freak out, to scream, to faint, to do something. To speculate about what just happened to him and who or what just appeared and vanished. Because I wanted to do those things too. The importance of this scene was completly underplayed.

WHAT HAPPENED TO WICKLAND?-SPOILERS

We first learn about the previous candlman when Theo finds a secret room. One thing I found strange was that the photograph looked just like Theo. I get that it's later revealed that the previous candleman is an ancestor of Theo's, but wouldn't they merely have a slight resemblance, or none at all? How many of us look nothing like our grandparents?

After that, he and Chloe track down one of the burglars. He has information about the Candle man (it was mentioned when they first met Theo). Turns out his grandpa had a series of novels based opon the Candleman. It was as popular as Sherlock holmes. Then suddenly they stopped publishing them and all the old ones disappeared. Then the government made up some garbage and seized the books.

I found this explanation partly interesting, and partly vague. I kept thinking, that's nice. But where is the important part? Turns out it's a map they end up being given by the burglar.

THE ASCENDENCY

No one knows what the ascendency is. Eventually we learn it is merely Theo. I thought it was underwhelming and had hoped for more mystery.

A DECEPTIVE DEATH-SPOILERS

Turns out that a character supposedly died. I say supposedly because this character has a copy of her...so I didn't really believe they had died. So it ellicted no shock or anxiety from me.

NICELY'S CHANGE-SPOILERS

Near the end of the story Mr. Nicely turns against Dr. Saint, and tries to kill him. There are few hints that this may happen. But mostly its just Dr. Saint mistreating Mr. Nicely. But I kind of assume he has done this all of Theo's life. He doesn't exactly come off as a nice guy. I could understand someone realizing they had been brainwashed but the effort isn't done with Nicely. We just don't know him well enough or see this development.

THE MYSTERY OF TRISTUS-SPOILERS

We eventually learn that Tristus is a ghargoul that has been summoned by Dr. Saint. Tristus refuses to speak to the doctor and does his bidding begrudgingly. But we are not sure why. We get a few scenes here and there as Tristus hunts down Theo. And eventually Tristus becomes an ally and we get a short scene where he and Theo have a discussion near the end of the story.

But I felt the author was assuming they had some sort of relationship by that point. I mean Tristus does save Theo's life. But they don't even know each other. I feel the story was demanding to elicit emotions it wasn't entitled to because it hadn't been earned.

THE TRUTH ABOUT WICKLAND-SPOILERS

Dr. Saint reveals that the ghosts that Theo met earlier were people killed by the candleman. Turns out he killed innocent people quite often. So maybe he wasn't the hero he was made out to be in the books. But Theo realizes this doesn't mean he shouldn't stop Dr. Saint. But it might have caused him to realize he needs help with his abilities. And an unlikley person may be of assistance.

CLIMAX

Theo has to face Dr. Saint and overcome his fear. Throught most of the story he admits to himself that he terrified of facing him again. And when he merely hears the man's voice earlier in the story it terrifies him. So by doing so it's the end of his arc. He faces the dodo as well, and makes a bold move.

REDEMPTION-SPOILERS

Theo ends up asking for the Dodo to help him learn about his abilities since this man knows all about it. I honestly didn't know if Theo could help kill him. He killed others, but it always happened by accident or when he had little chance to stop and think about it. There wasn't any real debate about if he should kill him or if it was moral. That kind of bothered me.

Also as much as I had seen of the Dodo, I had little sympathy for him. So I honestly didn't care that he was spared. I wanted to be upset if he died or relieved if he wasn't. But I didn't feel much of anything. I think the point was that Theo had matured and after learning about the truth about his ancestor feared turning out like him.

CONCLUSION

I liked both Chloe and Theo, but was indifferent to the other characters because I learned next to nothing about them.

I felt the world held potentional with creatures like garghouls and smoglodytes exisiting, but not enough detail was given to exactly what they were. Or perhaps what was given was just dull. I only cared about Tristus because I was curious about him. And I never had my curiosity rewarded with answers. Although I get this was only the first in the series, I wanted something to reward my time.

The same goes for the dodo and the candleman.

As for the two societies, it would have been interesting to delve into their beliefs in a more serious manner, but they were both kind of jokes. And I understand this is a childrens' novel but I think it could have been handled with enough seriousness to make the villain threatening without being dull to kids.

The story isn't dull or slow paced, so I wasn't ever bored.

I give the Candleman" two and a half stars.

Book Review: "The Death Collector" by Justin Richards

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Three Londoners get involved with a mystery after a man is killed at a museum. Eventually they are all brought together because of a piece of paper in a wallet. But they don't all get along, especially when one claims to have seen a monster.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Eddie is a fourteen year old pick-pocket with no friends and no family.

Liz Oldfield is a young woman who lives and takes care of her elderly father, the reverend. She loves the theater and dreams of acting.

George Archer is a nineteen year old man who works at a museum.

Sir William Protheroe is an older man who works with George at the museum.

PACING

The main characters are George, Liz and Eddie. Each character gets in introductory scene and then slowly each character runs into another until all of them confide in each other about their events. Even so the pacing isn't as fast as you would expect.

Usually when the narrator goes back and forth between characters, it really helps. I found it interesting in the beginning, but it doesn't keep shooting strange scenes like the opening. By page eighty-four the characters are all together out of a three-hundred and twenty page book.

TRUSTING LIZ

When George meets Liz its revealed that he can't help but trust her. He seems infatuated but it's not portrayed like that, instead it's revealed that he feels that “Liz has a keen intelligence and obvious beauty”. But why would that make her trustworthy?

It's as though the author is forcing these characters together, when in reality George would just take the wallet and leave. Or the more obvious answer, that he would see how pretty she was and would want her to stay and would share something about himself. But revealing that he witnessed a murder would come off as showing off and lacking sincerity. It would make George unlikable. Perhaps he would mention a vague summary of events without revealing the murder.

I feel as though the scene was meant to show how amazing Liz is. After all, George imagined a middle aged spinster and got a beautiful and smart young woman. Even so, he comes off as naive and slightly sexist while she comes off as far superior.

OPPRESSED LIZ?

Eventually we see that Liz lives with her elderly father and helps take care of him.

At first, I sensed no negative feelings towards her father. Simply respect and perhaps a slight affection. But later it's revealed that Liz loves acting and has argued with her father about the theater, which he sees as frivolous and evil. This seems like a cartoonish portrayal of a puritanical patriarch. Luckily it's only mentioned in passing (though that alone is odd, because it makes it hard to feel bad for Liz).

It would be believable if perhaps we saw a good side of her father. But we barely see him at all. And even his so called ignorant attitude is simply spoken of as something that happened in the past. So we never see Liz being abused in any way, nor do we see her being kind to her father and loving him even though she thinks she is wrong. Instead we get the idea that she believes herself to be oppressed, when in reality she seems treated well. To be fair, it could be a lot worse. Liz could have been called a feminist and her father could have been portrayed far worse.

THE SEANCE & JOKESTER LIZ

George and Liz end up going to séance in an attempt to contact the dead man Albert Wilkes. Neither of them believe in such a thing and were roped into going. Turns out the whole things is scam, and Liz being the smarter of the two (we kind of figured this out before as it seems the author's intent for Liz to be the smart one) realizes this right away.

Anyway, Liz decides to play along and seems to be enjoying herself. But I was instantly confused. Her character didn't seem like a jokster at all, she didn't even seem to have that much of a sense of humor. It was as though the author was suddenly inserting a new personality. It never came back by the way. Liz never makes any jokes after this or reveals any history of pranks.

Also, it turns out a ghost actually shows up and spells out 'ORIMO'. I don't know why it didn't start at the beginning of the name at least. But it's kind of obvious who it was spelling considering the death at the beginning of the book.

USELESS GEORGE-SPOILERS

The problem is that George kind of looks dumb in a few scenes. In fact, he kind of has to be dumb. When he witnesses someone die and say a name, he assumes that person is supposed to be able to help. Sir William has to point out that he was probably saying who killed him. And later Liz points out the importance of the paper and is mad that he didn't say that all the other pages of the diary were blank. She sounds annoyed at his stupidity and he submissivly takes her insult.

Now George does prove he is not an idiot as he helps make a plan to rescue two characters. It's just that he seems kind of dumb before this. And I think it was unnecessary to make him dumb in order to elevate Liz and for the plot (so we don't learn the obvious about last words and a death).

RELATIONSHIPS

George seems to have a crush on Liz but this is never explored.

Eddie points out that Liz is close to his age but her relationship seems more motherly towards him. A few times she worries about him when he is left behind or in trouble.

Sir William is a mentor character to all the characters.

Eddie doesn't like George when he first meets him and later I guess they get on okay. George just tells him in one scene that he likes him, but doesn't explain why and I didn't understand why either. He barely knew him. If anything, all he could feel was sympathy.

The real problem these relationships feel so shallow and never develop is because these characters don't really have a history.

HISTORY-SPOILERS

Eddie vaguely mentions he has no family or home. His mom died and then he left home and came back to find his dad gone and taken his sister. There is no more mention of it after that. I wish it had been explored more.

Liz takes care of her father but should probably be married or courting someone. Why isn't she? She is described as being beautiful and smart so young men must have tried to court her. How long has she been her father's sole caretaker? Did her mother recently pass?

George has even less of a history. I can't really tell you anything about him.

ROLES-SPOILERS

When it comes to character roles each character has a different one to play.

Eddie is streetsmart and ends up being a help. He causes a distraction for George and Liz to escape. He distracts the lackies for them on another occasion. He is the one who ropes them into a séance which ends up being helpful (kinda). He also sneaks around and finds out about tunnels that help them run and hide.

George works at a museum so he has access to it as well as being interesting in machines and this skill comes into play in the finale. Liz ends up finding about the dead body and the dinosaur bone because her father the reverend is contacted when the body is discovered and she is allowed to tag along.

Sir William is the the smartest and just tends to know things. Also he finds out about a traitor in the museum and leads them to the foundry where he speculates about their villain.

OUR VILLAINS

It's eventually revealed who our villain is but we mostly see his lackies thoughout the story. In fact there is only one scene with our villain before it is revealed that he is the villian. But it's not really shocking seeing how a character died.

I didn't really develop hatred nor did I feel like the villain was interesting. I get that he's power hungry and kind of crazy but I wish I had seen it slightly more before the finale.

DEAD MEN, DINOSAURS AND SCIFI-SPOILERS

There are interesting moments throughout the book that really make you curious. For instance, in the opening we see a dead man come home for tea and to take the dog for a walk.

Later we dig up said dead man and learn that his legs are broken and his bones replaced with some dinosaur bones. Things like this really caught my attention. Unfortunately none of it comes together like I would have hoped, that is, as puzzle pieces.

WILL EXPLAINS IT ALL-SPOILERS

Sir William ends up helping the characters alot, like when he explains about the Crystal Palace. This is important because we get a fragment of paper that says something about a crystal. He notes that word Crystal is capitalized like a name.

Near the climax, Sir William explains just what Lorimore has been up to. The fact is...I felt like I never would have understood if he hadn't. I didn't feel like there were nearly enough clues to figure it out. I couldn't have an “aha!” moment because I wasn't coming up with crazy ideas for the finale.

ALBERT & GEORGE-SPOILERS

There are a few scenes where George tries to get through to Albert. But it's hard to feel anything seeing how the reader never gets to see any relationship between them. Albert is dead to begin with and we don't get any flashbacks.

CLIMAX

Two characters end up getting caught by the villain while the others plan to rescue them. We finally meet the villain and here about his plan which is quite dramatic. Eventually they all manage to stop his evil plan.

CONCLUSION

The story idea itself is decent. It's just the characters are so lackluster that I found I didn't care about them. How could I, when I knew next to nothing about them? And sometimes they weren't even portrayed consistently, like Liz.

I found most of the ideas original and interesting. I just never felt like things came together well. The story kind of felt like it was best when it tried to be a mystery while the scifi element was kind of tacked on, inserted in certain parts without much detail.

I give "The Death Collector" two and half stars.

Book Review: "Capt. Hook" by J.V. Hart

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Before Captain Hook was the character we all know, he was a young man attending Eton. There he faces bullying and falls in love with a beautiful young women. While eventually learning about life at sea.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

James is the bastard son of a wealthy man. He has never been close to anyone but his Aunt Emily. He makes no attempt to fit in and is portrayed as a victim rather fast.

Roger is a fellow student who ends up friends with James. There isn't any particular reason why they become friends. Roger doesn't see James as normal but he doesn't seem intimidated by him, like everyone else. But we don't know why because we never learn anything about Roger. There is no process of developing friendship and they are just instantly friends.

Ananova is the daughter of a sultan. She is beautiful and smart as well as athletic and graceful. We get the feeling that she has been oppressed most of her life. But we don't go into any details about it and how difficult it must have been for her to have been raised in the middle east.

Arthur Darling is an upperclassmen who sets himself up as the villain from the beginning, when he is rude to James' aunt. James overreacts but Arthur still comes across worse. He abuses James through most of the story through the legal system of upperclassmen disciplining lowerclassmen.

PACING

Pacing is slower some parts and faster in others. Mainly faster during the sports match, when James attempts a rescue, and near the climax. But the slower pacing isn't slow to the point where it bothered me. There were enough interesting things going on in between these action scenes.

STRUCTURE-SPOILERS

The story is set up like this, the first part is James introduction to school life, Arthur and Ananova.

Eventually we get a reprieve from school life when James attempts to rescue Ananova. Then we go back to school, James ends up having a climax with Arthur.

After that, James is sent to work as a cabin boy as punishment. This slowly leads to the realization about the cargo and a climax.

JAMES' FATHER

James father is mentioned briefly and appears in the the story about two times I think. He is set up not necessarily as bad, but as neglectful. James doesn't seem to know him well enough to hate him but he does seem to resent him.

The only moment where he laments his lack of a relationship is when he wins a game, and he wonders why his father wasn't there. Or it might have just been the narrators comments. Hard to tell.

ANANOVA & JAMES

James and Ananova as both portrayed rather shallowly. James is a victim, brought up in a world of wealth that he doesn't belong in and Ananova is forced to leave England against her will and forbidden to ever talk to James (because his father is so famous that even the Queen knows who James is).

Add this to the fact that they fall in love almost instantly and yet spend such little time together. So the reader can only assume they find each other physically attractive, and that's basically it.

Also, as far as we know, James has never had any real relationships with anyone his own age before Roger. But just like his friendship just happens, so does this romance. Is he prone to falling head over heels for pretty girls? Because there seems no precedence for this sudden sentimentality (unless you count his love for his aunt, which we never learn about).

Their relationship often doesn't make sense either, like Ananova magically knowing that James has come after her on her ship to rescue her...because they had one conversation. And only because She sees a small boat from far away and just knows its him.

So much of their so called relationship is James and Ananova telling us about it, instead of actually watching it happen.

THE FAILED RESCUE-SPOILERS

James and Roger go to see Ananova. James says he will kidnap her (I don't know why). There is no discussion about what will happen afterwards. Not with Roger or Ananova herself. So they get off the ship on a horse (I am assuming the water is shallow...even though the ship probably wouldn't be) and get to shore, and get arrested.

So there was no point to anything. And James doesn't even seem to think of it as a failure. He thinks Ananova must adore him and never apologize for his failed rescue.

Sounds more like a saint then a real person. If Ananova was as bold as they portrayed her, she would have roundly scolded James for getting her hopes up and then having no actual plan.

ANANOVA

The problem with Ananova is similar to James, we learn so little about her. And yet we are told by the author that she is a goddess. That's how the Queen thinks of her. That's how James thinks of her. It's kind of cheesy to have two different characters think the same thing (James might be lovestruck but a Queen would most likely not call a girl a goddess even if she knew her well).

Her main reason of existance is so that James can rescue her, even though he fails at that. So it would explain why she has no real personality or history to speak of.

WHO IS JAMES?

I found myself confused about who exactly James was. At first he was a victim, with a neglectful father and no real relationships to speak of his whole life, except for his aunt. But I never got to see his mistreatments as a child, so I was kind of taken aback at how out of proportion his reaction was to being slighted by Arthur in the beginning. I expected to learn more of his past and was disappointed not to.

Sometimes I think the author got that James might be slightly crazy (like when he bites arthur) but it was never really expanded upon. Why did he wish to plan the deaths of those who hurt him? Was he joking or serious? I didn't want to think he was serious, so he had to be mentally unstable. When he looked at the names on the bookshelf while being hit, I kept thinking that this was a coping mechanism that he must have always had, which meant he must have been abused before. But the author never reveals this.

For the most part this insane aspect of his personality was ignored, until it came out in full force when he fought Arthur. During this event, James comes off as sadistic and creepy. I might have not understood his motivations throughout the book but I always felt bad for him. But suddenly I didn't feel bad at all, I thought he was quite evil and Arthur was the one who was being abused far worse than he had ever abused James.

JAMES THE SADIST

There is bit about James telling Arthur to squeal like a pig that was extremly disturbing. I suddenly wondered who else James may have abused in his childhood. But the author is so oblivious he just kept pouring it on, as though the reader should have taken pleasure from the pain and humiliation that Arthur suffered. And that sadism was fine for James, so it should be fine for you too.

We all love seeing villains we hate receive their due, but the hero seldom enjoys having to kill the villain or hurt him. He just sees it as a necessary evil. And sometimes the villain is the one who ends up hurting or killing himself through his own anger and hatred.

THE SPIDER

James likes science and spends time in school laboratory. There he meets a spider who for some reason obeys him like a dog. And he later uses her spider web to make a vest that is nearly indestructable.

I think it was supposed to add some allure to his character but it didn't really make any sense to me. How on earth did he know how to make a vest, seeing as how he was brought up in wealth? It just felt like a clumsily put together concept designed to make James seem mysterious.

JAMES THE HERO-SPOILERS

In the last part of the book, James learns the truth, that the ship he is working on is picking up and delivering slaves from Africa (even though Slavery is banned in England). James is furious and seriously shaken to learn that his father is a slaver.

First of all, James shouldn't have been surprised, as far he knows, his dad could be the devil, because he never knew him. And he seemed to have little delusion that his father was moral. Perhaps it would have been surprising, but not earth shattering.

Even so, James seems to have no real moral convictions throughout the entire book, unless you count him being mad at Arthur for being rude to Aunt Emily. And that felt more like James being emotionally unstable than any real convictions.

He says “bad form” throughout the book but it has no real meaning, perhaps merely pertaining to appearing to have manners. After all, he thinks cheating is fine and even says so. And it's clear from the way he treats Arthur in the climax that he thinks he should do whatever he wants in retaliation if he feels abused.

JAMES' BELIEFS

Another confusing aspect is James' religious beliefs. He says in one breath that he believes Adam and Eve literally happened, but so did every other manner of mythology, including Greek myths. He doesn't seem to get the contradiction which is silly, seeing how he he lives in a culturally christian society.

And when the captain on his ship starts spouting scripture to justify slavery (never mind that it's illegal in his country of origin) James vows that no man should ever justify evil in the name of religion. This comes so out of the blue and feels so unlike James. He is not self righteous, certainly not in a religious sense.

SETTING UP NEVERLAND

There is no real explanation in how James discovers a magical island in the future, he just dreams about it a few times in the book. I kinda get that he felt victimized and wanted a place of all his own, so perhaps he could make up a place. Maybe coming from his mental instability (but that's never expounded upon, remember?).

So instead we are led to believe him wanting a magical place will lead him one day to finding not just any island, but the specific one he made up. So him and Ananova could live happily ever after or something.

It's vague and feels like it was thrown in last minute, as if the author forgot that this James should have a connection to neverland. So he went back in and inserted a few lines about daydreams that occurred.

CLIMAX

James ends up facing a new enemy at sea and becomse a hero and a captain. The story ends with hints that someday he will find a magical island. But no real idea how.

CONCLUSION

The story of James before he became a captain could be interesting. Unfortunately the author doesn't seem to know who James really is and never goes into his past. We only get a two dimensional view, and the same goes for his love interest, Ananova.

They have no real relationship, but fall in love in a matter of seconds. Nor does James have any real relationship with his only friend, Roger.

The story seems to meander around, not knowing where its going and events sometimes feel disconnected. Not that it's boring, it's not. I just kept waiting for pieces to come together, and they never did.

I give “Capt. Hook” one and half stars.