Challenge 11: A Good Writer is an Avid Reader

[eaemilia]

Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a fantastic young adult novel. Although it follows a typical plotline (two warring people, someone falls in love with someone from the other side), the worldbuilding really makes it stand out. I think Laini Taylor did a fantastic job creating a vivid, unique world, and then she populated it interesting characters. Karou does fall into the same mold as most YA heroines, but I found her likable and fun, and I liked how she didn’t just stand around waiting for someone to save her. The side characters really stand out though, and I adore Brimstone and the rest of Karou’s family. Taylor also does a good job creating the people who populate Karou’s human life. I thought it was a nice touch that in the sequel, Karou’s friends come back and are major players in her life. The only character that I did not like was Akiva, who is pretty much like every other YA hero out there, and I felt that the romance was poorly executed between Karou and Akiva. When we learn more about their backstories, their rapid romance makes more sense, but I still wish there had been more development. Daughter of Smoke and Bone is a strong, beautiful book with a wonderful setting and characters, and everything was even better in the sequel Days of Blood and Starlight. The world of Eretz is explored even more in depth, and you learn just how devastated it is. Karou is very much alone for most of this novel, and she has to make a lot of very difficult decisions and from her point of view, it very much seems as though her life is unlikely to get any better. All of the side characters were once again top notch, and I really liked how old characters were kept in the story, like the fabulous Zuzana, instead of tossed to the side. I even liked Akiva some in this book, but that may have been because he was away from Karou and was suffering for one hundred percent of the book. Days of Blood and Starlight is more depressing novel than its predecessor, which makes sense considering it deals with a land utterly devastated by a brutal war, and both protagonists honestly feel as if they have lost everything. This is an excellent follow up to Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and I have the feeling the third book will be even better than both of them.


Shadows of the Empire
Shadows of the Empire is a good choice for a first foray into the Star Wars EU. Unlike most of the books out there, you don’t need to know anything about Star Wars except what is in the movies. This takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi when Luke, Leia, Lando, and Chewie are trying to save Han from Jabba the Hutt. While they obviously don’t manage to, they still have a fun adventure along the way. Vader and the Emperor both show up, but the real villain in this piece is Prince Xizor of the Black Sun, a crime syndicate. Xizor learns of the connection between Luke and Vader and sets out to kill Luke in order to get revenge for against Vader. He obviously fails, but the ride is fun, and the new characters we get introduced are all interesting. I’m particular fan of Xizor who is a match for both Vader and Palpatine. Although he fails, he is still a challenge for Luke to defeat. Shadows of the Empire nicely filled in some of the gap between ESB and RotJ, and produced a fun adventure that had the same tone of Star Wars.


Veneficas Americana
The Veneficas Americana series takes place in a world where magic is common, but where that magic is also devastating the Earth. The series is spilt up into duologies that focus on different generations of the Edwards family. The first duology focuses on Emily and Dreadnaught Stanton. When Emily finds herself in possession in a powerful magical artifact, she and Stanton have to team up, although they would rather do anything but. They end up falling in love and saving the day, but their actions how consequences for themselves and the world. Only the first book of the second duology is out so far, but this one focuses on Will, Emily and Stanton’s youngest son. Through him, we see the way the world has been changed by his parents’ actions, although he is not aware that they were the root of all of the change that occurred. Will’s world is a very divided one, and while he can’t use magic, magic still affects him when a family curse strikes. The series starts in the Reconstruction Era, and by Will’s books we are in 1910. All of them have a very strong sense of time and place, and I found the characters to be interesting, and I liked how there were clear consequences from Emily and Stanton’s actions.