I've posted entries about a number of books from Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, so if you are in need of the back story, take a few minutes to visit these earlier entries: Troublemaker (entry 25) and Eleven on Top, Twelve Sharp, Lean Mean Thirteen, and Fearless Fourteen (entries 38-41). As I do when reading every book about the hapless Jersey bail bonds agent, while reading Fifteen I alternately found myself wondering why I was reading such silly stuff and laughing hysterically. I've said it before: for simple fun reading, you can't beat this series.
In Fifteen the caper includes a barbecue contest, a maniac with a cleaver, and a serial arsonist. But really, who cares? The pleasure here is in the regular cast of characters, silly incidents, and zingy one-liners. I smile just thinking about it and plan to upload Sizzling Sixteen soon.
De Lint is a "master of contemporary magical fiction," claims his book-cover biography, and the evidence firmly supports this. I discovered and quickly devoured the master's Newford series approximately five years ago and have kept up on new releases since then (visit this link to see the 24 titles, the most recent of which was released in 2009). The use of "series" is a bit misleading here, as the books don't come out as volumes of an ongoing saga. Instead, it's the setting--the fictional North American city of Newford (a hodgepodge of many large cities)--and semi-regular cast of characters--both real and supernatural--that unite the books. There may be several books in which a previously primary character does not appear at all, followed by one in which he/she/it appears tangentially, and and then four or five books down the line finally ends up a focus again. Likewise, events and areas in Newford occasionally overlap, but just as often whole new areas of the city are explored. The final result is a richly imagined realistic world in which the improbable often occurs.
In The Mystery of Grace, the improbable is still central to the story, but the setting and characters are new. It's essentially a love story set in the American Southwest, but otherworldly elements--such as death--complicate the tale. Like all of de Lint's novels, there are many meaning-of-life questions considered without any answers reached. And, while I enjoyed the book for its non-conclusive exploration, it left me a bit dissatisfied. Partly I missed the richness of the Newford world, but I was also a bit annoyed by the overt "spirituality" of the book. I'm not sure if it's de Lint or me who has changed, but the religious connotations struck me as more dominant in this book than his earlier works. While I would highly recommend it to the increasing number of people who consider themselves "spiritual, non-religious," those with more traditional religious beliefs or those without religious belief may be less enthralled. Instead, I'd recommend checking out the Newford series.
I'm not a fan of short-story collections, preferring full-length novels because of their richer character and plot development. There are a few authors, however, for whom I make an exception and check out their shorter fiction, and King is among those. I know there are many people who might not accept King's work as serious "literature" because of his frequent forays into the supernatural, fantasy, and flat-out weird, but I strongly feel that's a narrow view--and one all too commonly held when it comes to authors of SciFi and fantasy. In truth, I feel there are few writers today who have the narrative skill and storytelling power King exhibits again and again, across genre and format.
The four stories in this collection (called "long stories" on the book jacket) aptly demonstrate King's remarkable ability to engage readers and draw them through to the plot's conclusion--despite the fact that the tales told are dark and distasteful. As soon as the premise of each story became clear (murder of a spouse, betrayal of a best friend, rape and revenge, discovery of a spouse's horrible secret), I paused to think about whether I really wanted to continue. However, as any fan of King knows, that opportunity to consider turning back came a little too far down the road: having started the trip under King's skillful direction, I felt compelled to see the journey though. Even knowing there were likely no "happy" endings, and further burdened by the fact that there were no supernatural elements (which would at least allow me the luxury to discount them as improbable), I continued to the destination King set. And, as disturbing as those conclusions were, amongst my feelings of relief upon completing the book, I also experienced a moment of joy: the joy of having a light shone into the darkness to reveal what resides there--without needing to investigate it alone.
I remember being fascinated by the Salem witch trials when I was a teen, but since then I haven't given them much thought. This novel does a nice job of establishing a believable context for a story about a young scholar who discovers a "lost" Salem witch, never recorded in history books. The witch also ends up being her great-great grandmother, and the story's protagonist follows the chain of succession to the modern day, only to find that she herself is a witch--with inherent witchy powers. (The author bio informs the reader that Howe herself is the descendant of two women involved in the Salem trials--one of whom was executed--although it doesn't, alas, state whether she has special powers.) In addition to a good tale, the novel explores the role of "wise" women in pre-American European settlements, provides background on the witch trials in the 1600s, and encourages the reader to consider the ways in which societies can make something "real" for periods of time.
The first book in one of Patterson's co-authored (one reason for his prolific production) TeenLit series, Witch & Wizard tells the story of a brother and sister dragged from their homes and imprisoned in the middle of the night by a newly "elected" totalitarian regime, which promptly charges and convicts them of witchcraft. While formerly unaware of their powers, the teens come into their own through a process of conflict and need for survival and join a group of runaway children set on (of course) saving the world. I wouldn't say it's the best of its type, and I prefer Patterson's Maximum Ride series (entries 87-89), but the straight-forward style and sense of humor will appeal to Tween and Teen boys and girls.
One of the things I most enjoy about national conferences is the authors and keynote speakers that populate them. During the National Council of Teachers of English Convention in Chicago this November, my colleague Marsha and I treated ourselves to two lunches--the first with the wonderful poet Billy Collins and the second a combined gig featuring James Patterson and Anthony Horowitz--two TeenLit authors. While I had read a couple of Patterson's adult thrillers in airports over the years, I hadn't checked out his teen offerings. Since Marsha started with the Maximum Ride series (he has many), I decided to start there.
The books require readers to accept the premise that there has been successful hybridization across species--genetic manipulation that has resulted in Max and her "flock." By initial appearances human, avian genes have been added that resulted in the kids--six of them ranging from 17-year-old max to 8-year-old Angel--growing winds, light bones, super strength, and any number of amazing abilities that unfurl daily (mind control, super speed, talking to fish, etc.).
The science may be iffy, but the mad scientists, who kept the children in cages for years to experiment on them and are, of course, planning to take over the world, add just the details needed to accept the idea. These three books follow Max and her flock as they learn to live on their own, look for their birth parents, and--yes--save the world.
All joking aside, the plots are fast-paced and adventurous and the kids are appealing, and Patterson's bare-bones writing style suits the teen genre well. The fact that he was a brilliant conversationalist at the conference adds to my review, no doubt, but these are worth checking out and sharing with young adult readers--both boys and girls.
I chose this book based on Amazon's recommendation and the fact that both Cory Doctorow and Stephen King provided blurbs for the jacket. King said, "Robert Charles Wilson is a hell of a storyteller," and since I think King is quite the storyteller himself, I thought this was pretty high praise. The book turned out compelling enough to keep me going through 400+ pages of small font (My perspective has been skewed by all the TeenLit I read these days.), but it's a hard book to describe in many ways.
Mainly the problem of describing the novel arises in assigning it a genre. Wilson is considered a SciFi author, and I suppose that loosely fits things--but very loosely. The story is set in a futuristic 22nd-Century America, but one that looks much more like things did in the 18th century. There are scattered pockets of technology, but on the whole it's much more of a feudal society, with landowners and serfs, a mixed civil and religious political structure with military leanings. There's a constant war that is being waged to maintain the American borders--and a corresponding flag of 13 stripes and 60 stars. It's low tech enough to keep it out of the Steampunk genre, yet there's a flavor of something futuristic at the same time--in a collapse type of way common to Post-Apocalyptic novels, but well after any horror has dissipated.
With all that aside, the novel is primarily a story of friendship--between a lower-born aspiring author (the book's narrator) and the aristocratic son of the slain US President. The two travel across country, engage in numerous battle scenes, make critiques of high society and religion, and comment on socialism and totalitarianism. All in all there is a bit of something in here for everyone, and while I think that it's a more male-oriented plot, there is enough drama and interest to pull most readers along.
