Originally posted at LiveJournal on January 16, 2012.
See here for info on the End of the World reading challenge.
I'm in the middle of two books right now, and will be heading to Barnes and Noble soon for more from my To Read list.
My impressions so far:
The story takes place in an alternate history -- a 19th-century world in which Egypt is still ruled by a pharaoh. A pharaoh who is spreading his brutal empire, conquering other nations with his army of mummies. Only Venice, it seems, has been spared, as it is protected by a mysterious, benevolent water spirit.
But not all of Venice's citizens are so respectful of their protector -- already they persecute the resident mermaid community, using them to pull boats during regattas, keeping them trapped in Venice's polluted canals. And now, a girl named Merle and her friend Serafin have discovered a plot among some of Venice's leaders to kidnap the water queen, and use her for their selfish gain.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through, and overall, I like the story. It has hints of The Little Mermaid and Alice Through the Looking Glass, but with its own twists. The characters are believable and relatable, though sometimes Merle's irreverence gets annoying -- but then again, it makes sense given her difficult background, never having been able to trust other people.
What bothers me more is how cluttered the story feels with various plot points. Besides the mermaids and the water queen, there's also a conflict involving flying stone lions, and another conflict involving the powers of hell. And something about a separate dimension, and phantoms.
But at least there's a pretty strong thread, focused on Merle's experience, to keep all of these elements together, and the action is definitely interesting. There's really no telling how the story will end, especially since it's only the first part of a trilogy (in the U.S., it's called the Dark Reflections trilogy). A more definitive review will be posted to my Juv/YA blog.
The whole Prophesied Chosen One trope has gotten old. In some stories, like Harry Potter, it works and feels unique. In others, like Un Lun Dun (so far, at least. I'll see how I feel further into the book), it just feels contrived. Why can't the people of Un Lun Dun fight for themselves? Why are they putting all their stock in a single 12-year-old from a separate dimension?
On a more positive note, I do like the concept of UnLondon, and the hint of other alternate-cities like Parisn't and Sans Francisco :)
Edit 01-27-12: Yep, not getting through this one. It's just dragging on from one random thing to another -- oh, look, sky pirates on a giant fly. Oh look, a sun with a hole in the middle. Oh look, a half dozen Harry Potter rip-offs. Blah blah chosen kid, blah blah prophesies, blah blah villain whose name no one wants to say. I just can't get into the conflict or characters, so I'm afraid it's back to the library for Un Lun Dun.
See here for info on the End of the World reading challenge.
I'm in the middle of two books right now, and will be heading to Barnes and Noble soon for more from my To Read list.
My impressions so far:
- Vandens Karaliene (The Queen of Water), by Kai Meyer.
The story takes place in an alternate history -- a 19th-century world in which Egypt is still ruled by a pharaoh. A pharaoh who is spreading his brutal empire, conquering other nations with his army of mummies. Only Venice, it seems, has been spared, as it is protected by a mysterious, benevolent water spirit.
But not all of Venice's citizens are so respectful of their protector -- already they persecute the resident mermaid community, using them to pull boats during regattas, keeping them trapped in Venice's polluted canals. And now, a girl named Merle and her friend Serafin have discovered a plot among some of Venice's leaders to kidnap the water queen, and use her for their selfish gain.
I'm about 3/4 of the way through, and overall, I like the story. It has hints of The Little Mermaid and Alice Through the Looking Glass, but with its own twists. The characters are believable and relatable, though sometimes Merle's irreverence gets annoying -- but then again, it makes sense given her difficult background, never having been able to trust other people.
What bothers me more is how cluttered the story feels with various plot points. Besides the mermaids and the water queen, there's also a conflict involving flying stone lions, and another conflict involving the powers of hell. And something about a separate dimension, and phantoms.
But at least there's a pretty strong thread, focused on Merle's experience, to keep all of these elements together, and the action is definitely interesting. There's really no telling how the story will end, especially since it's only the first part of a trilogy (in the U.S., it's called the Dark Reflections trilogy). A more definitive review will be posted to my Juv/YA blog.
- Un Lun Dun, by China Miéville.
The whole Prophesied Chosen One trope has gotten old. In some stories, like Harry Potter, it works and feels unique. In others, like Un Lun Dun (so far, at least. I'll see how I feel further into the book), it just feels contrived. Why can't the people of Un Lun Dun fight for themselves? Why are they putting all their stock in a single 12-year-old from a separate dimension?
On a more positive note, I do like the concept of UnLondon, and the hint of other alternate-cities like Parisn't and Sans Francisco :)
Edit 01-27-12: Yep, not getting through this one. It's just dragging on from one random thing to another -- oh, look, sky pirates on a giant fly. Oh look, a sun with a hole in the middle. Oh look, a half dozen Harry Potter rip-offs. Blah blah chosen kid, blah blah prophesies, blah blah villain whose name no one wants to say. I just can't get into the conflict or characters, so I'm afraid it's back to the library for Un Lun Dun.
Comments
Post a Comment