Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal

This book had a very interesting system of magic, but that's about all I found interesting. Sure the book is an easy read. The description says it's a cross between Pride and Prejudice and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell and that is very accurate. However I felt as if I was simply reading Pride and Prejudice fanfiction; which is not to say that it was bad. No I enjoyed the plot and the characters, but overall it felt stiff. Like the author was trying to hard to color inside the lines. I'm curious about how the sequels are since the book ends with the characters being old and gray.

Shades of Milk and Honey is the story of Jane and her sister Melody. Jane is well, a Plain Jane and Melody is lovelier than all the world's beauties apparently. So Jane is the elder sister and is clearly supposed to be Elizabeth Bennett and Melody is supposed to be Mary mixed with Lydia. Basically the two sisters are jealous of each other while trying to navigate the social niceties of the regency period. They both are introduced to a revolving door of handsome suitors, some who turn out well, and others who reveal themselves to be rouges.

Despite my snarkniess I really did enjoy this book. I just have been so set in finding fantasy read a likes to Howl's Moving Castle that this one just struck me as only "okay". I think the problem is that the story was too grounded in reality where as I seem to like the more fantastical and whimsy of magic. As I said earlier I am curious about the sequels, and maybe someday I will read them but as for now I'm closing the book on this story and moving on to the next.

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

“There you are, darling. So sorry I'm late.”

I'm having a flashback to Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle film. Which is good, that has been my prerequisite for books lately. Kiersten White wow's us with a fantastic YA Fantasy book about a stubborn girl named Jessa. Jessa is from the island country of Melei (in my mind I think it's like Hawaii or the Caribbean Islands) but she is half-Albion. Thanks to that she has received the opportunity to study in Albion at a prestigious school her father teaches at. Though he is a huge jerk and refuses to acknowledge his illegitimate child.

On her way home from school she meets Finn, and enigma within an enigma. He is a mysterious lord who rescued her from the unwanted advances of another gentleman, things get more confusing with each meeting she has with Finn. Sometimes he's flirty and funny, other times he seems to ignore her very presence or wants nothing to do with her. One night she receives a mysterious package from him, in it is a beautiful dress and an invite to a ball, an because of this she is drawn into a world she does not fully understand. One of long standing grudges and magic. Can Jessa save everybody and find romance in the process?

I love, love, love this book. I'm literary going to be rushing to the bookstore next payday to buy a paperback of this book because I adore it so much. It has romance, wit, well rounded and relatable characters. Thinly veiled allusions to British and American colonialism and the effects it has on the natives (i.e. not good). This book deals slightly with prejudice and racism, but those issues take more of a back seat to the main plot point. I would have like to maybe have this dealt with a little more in depth, but alas I cannot always have what I want. The book is a nicely paced fantasy adventure with a heroine who actually is worth caring about. They only thing I did not like was how rushed the ending felt. This book could have easily ended in a cliffhanger and spurred a sequel, but instead the resolutions were all crammed into the last few chapters. Despite this I would still like to see a sequel. I feel like there is a lot more that can be told about this world, and it doesn't necessarily have to be about Jessa and Finn (à la Castle In The Air).

Overall this was a solid read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes Howl's Moving Castle or The Paper Magician series.

The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Ceony is fast on her way to completing her apprenticeship as a Folder to her mentor/boyfriend Emery Thane. Due to their student/teacher relationship they have decided to keep there romance a secret until Ceony graduates, not that people don't suspect they are a bit too close because they do. To combat the gossip that Ceony had an unfair advantage in passing her exams to complete her apprenticeship, Emery sends her to study with another Folder temporarily. Only this Folder hates Emery and dislikes Ceony even more. Ceony finds herself losing focus on studying for her final exam when Excisioner Saraj Prendi escapes from prison to once again go after Ceony and the secrets she learned last year from former Gaffer turned Excisioner Grath Cobalt. Ceony can bond and unbond to materials at will, a magical art long forgotten.

Ceony is ordered by the Cabinet and Criminal Affairs to stay out of the investigation to find Saraj, but Ceony cannot help it. She goes after him, again and again. Each time finding that Saraj is making his way closer and closer to London, and not out of the country as Criminal Affairs believes. On top of this Ceony must navigate her way with Magician Bailey, her temporary mentor, and with the sudden silence from Emery Thane. Has he lost interest in her?

All in all this book was amazing! Seriously this series is one of the best things to happen to me ever. My only complaint is that it was too short! I wanted more happy endings at the end. I was happy Emery and Ceony are engaged at the end, kind of. A little epilogue with them happily married is all I'm asking for seriously! Well I suppose I shall just have to scour the internet for fanfiction to satisfy my curiosity.

The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

The adventure continues in The Glass Magician! Ceony Twill is an apprentice Folder to Magician Emery Thane who is struggling to keep her feelings for her mentor hidden. Ever since she trekked through Emery Thane's heart and rescued him from his ex-wife and Excisioner Lira, Ceony has found herself falling in love with her teacher. But she hasn't broached the subject with Emery even after reading his fortune with a Fortuity Box confirmed that she and Emery were destined to be together.

Soon Ceony finds herself in the middle of a cat and mouse game with the other Excisioners from Lira's group. Wanting to know what she did to defeat Lira three months ago, and how to reverse it. Ceony must find a way to stop the Excisioners and continue her studies in Folding, but it's hard to do when her mind is so focused on her feelings for Emery, and examining the possible feelings he might hold for her.

This book was amazing! I could have finished it in one sitting if I didn't have this pesky thing called life interrupting me. The slow burn romance between Ceony and Emery was perfect. It wasn't rushed and it didn't feel like it came out of no where like in some books. There was beautiful romantic tension à la Numair and Daine from Tamora Pierce's Immortals Quartet. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Continuing on my quest to find books similar to Diana Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle I found The Paper Magician Trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg and I have to say I was delighted by this book.

It starts off a bit slow introducing us to Ceony and Emery Thane, as well as focusing on world building. Then the book really takes off with a twist I seriously did not see coming!

The Paper Magician is the story of Ceony Twill who after completing her classes at Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined she is assigned to be a Folder (a magician who works in paper) rather than being a Smelter (a magician who works in metal) like she wanted. There are less students signing up to be Folders, so some students like Ceony are assigned to the study. Ceony is distressed by these turn of events and wows the audience with some very lovely snark. Which her new teacher Magician Emery Thane all takes in stride.

Eventually Ceony resolves herself to being a Folder and even finds that she doesn't mind it so much as she once did. She gets into a routine with Thane and advances quite quickly in her studies. When everything is looking up for Ceony finally, the calm bubble that she has created bursts with a visit from Emery Thane's ex-wife and magician on the run, Lira. Lira is an Excisioner (a magician who works in the dark arts, flesh magic). She takes Emery Thane's heart and Ceony manages to keep him from dying by quickly folding a paper heart to keep him alive. Ceony goes further when it looks like no one can save Emery Thane, and goes after Lira to recover her teacher's heart.

Through a series of magic booby traps Ceony finds herself traversing through Emery's heart and seeing who exactly Emery Thane is and was. She has to navigate the four chambers of his heart, see his greatest triumphs, fears, and regrets; all while fleeing from Lira who has followed her. But the deeper into his heart Ceony gets, the more questions arise. With the clock ticking will Ceony save her mentor before it's too late?

This book was fantastic. It has a very slow buildup to the action but once you get there the novel's pace quickens quite a bit. My only complaint is that the book, and the sequels, are all very short. I just know I am going to want more!

Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken

This book was a wild ride from start to finish. Recently I have been looking for books that are similar to Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones and through my sleuthing I came across this title.

It is the story of a girl names Sydelle who is from a small desert town that is in the middle of a ten year drought. She is a talented weaver and longs to travel. We find out early on that there have been some political upheavals since the death of the king, but to Sydelle it is all a far away thought when your very survival hangs in the balance from the drought. Then suddenly these problems are brought to her doorstep with the wizard Wayland North. He has sensitive information about the king's death that could prevent a war, but he is being chased by an evil wizard and an army. To slow down those who are pursuing him he brings forth a rainstorm, breaking the ten year drought. Thankful for his help Sydelle's parents, the leaders of the village, offer a reward for Wayland telling him to take anything he wants. What he wants is Sydelle. Sydelle is angry at North because he has forced her to leave her home against her will and has left her village under siege. Too make matters worse North is keeping things from her, important things, like why he choose her, what this is all really about, and about North's mysterious past.

Like I said this book is comparable to Howl's Moving Castle, but it's similar in such a way where the feel of the story is alike without it seeming like you're reading the exact same thing over again. This is a marvelous book that every fan of fantasy books will enjoy. My only complaint is that I cannot find an eBook copy to buy of this book anywhere, and I know it has to be somewhere as I read this through my library's overdrive program. Alas I have resigned myself to buy a physical copy (don't feel too sorry for me it's not as all dramatic as that).

Tamora Pierce: An Author Review

I was going to write a review of all of my favorite Tamora Pierce Novels (i.e. all of them) but I decided to review them all as a whole rather than individually. When I was in the fifth grade I had not yet discovered the incredible world of reading. I read when I had to, and usually short books I was more interested in watching television than reading. (I mean I still love TV but now it had reading to compete with.) A year or so prior my friend had suggested the “Alanna books” for me to read but I forgot about them until one fateful day at my elementary school library. I was browsing for a book and was unable to find anything I liked, so remembering the books my friend Zoë recommended I asked my school librarian, Miss Skibbe (whom I would later work at a Public Library and befriend her sister. Life is weird y’all), and she found the book (Alanna the First Adventure) for me. Still I was determined to stubbornly cling to the “I don’t like to read” persona all the cool kids had, but through a month’s worth of SSR (Silent Selected Reading) time I became addicted. Since the school library did not have the rest of the series, (they had First Test of the Protector of the Small series which I read next and was really confused the whole time) I braved a visit to the public library during the summer reading kickoff party of 2003 with my parents and checked out the next book in the Songs of the Lioness Quartet: In The Hand of the Goddess. What proceeded next was a series of visits to the library to read all the series and then to re-read them a million times until my maternal grandparents bought all of the books for me on my birthday in 2004. 

By the time I was in the sixth grade my teacher tried to encourage me to read something other than Tamora Pierce books to no success. I loved reading, but I was only interested in the Tortall books. I was then introduced to fanfiction and was content for a while longer to continue my Tamora Pierce only reading list. Eventually I did begin to read other books, lots of other books as being monogamous to one series is not within my character. But Tamora Pierce books taught me so much, they taught me about working for your dreams, feminism, sex, relationships, friends, growing up, the feudal system, and so much more. So without much further ado I bring you a cohesive author study thirteen years in the making.

Songs of the Lioness

This series is about a girl Alanna who wishes to become a knight, meanwhile her twin brother Thom has no desire to become a knight and instead wants to study magic. Devising a plan and convincing the adults in their life to keep it secret from their father and the world, they switch places. Alanna cuts her hair and dons the persona of Alan, while Thom goes off to study magic and become a mage.  Alanna discovered training to be a knight and keeping her gender a secret harder than she initially thought, but she sticks to her guns and continues on. She makes new friends while at the Palace in the Tortall capital, Corus. She befriends the Crown Prince Jonathan, his cousin Gary, Raoul, Alex, and the King of Thieves George Cooper among several others. Throughout the first book Alanna deals with the demands of Palace life and her ever changing body. She finds ways to hide her newly grown breasts by binding them first with linen and then with a special corset, and then deals with getting her period for the first time by totally freaking out. I can relate to that last one. She reveals her true gender to first George, then to Prince Jonathan through a series of events that lead her to fight a powerful old race trapped in an abandon city in the desert. By the end of the first book she becomes Jonathan’s squire.

In the second book Alanna is well into her squire years and has become a teenager with all the lovely hormonal changes that brings. She and Jonathan begin a relationship and Alanna works out how she will reveal herself to the court and what she will do after she has been knighted. Alanna’s plans go haywire when Jonathan’s evil cousin the mage Duke Roger concocts a plan to usurp the throne by killing Jonathan and his parents. Alanna uncovers his plans after her Ordeal of Knighthood, injured and tired; she faces the duke and kills him in a trial by combat. (Yeah trial by combat my fellow GoT buds.) She is revealed to be a woman during this fight as well, shocking those who knew her, and confirming what others had suspected all along. Afterwards Alanna leaves the capital to have adventures with her newly earned shield. She winds up in the southern deserts of Tortall fighting the patriarchy. Her and Jonathan reunite and he proposes to her which she ultimately turns down and ends up with George. Her stupid brother brings her arch nemesis back to life because bringing back a traitor with a strong claim to the throne is always a sound plan. In the final book of the series Alanna goes on a quest for a magical stone to bring back to her King. Then she ruins Duke Roger’s plan to usurp the throne again, because who didn’t see that coming?

Don’t mistake my snark for a lack of love for these books; I’m just naturally a snarky person.

The Immortals

This is probably my favorite series Tamora Pierce wrote. This story tells the tale of Veralidane Sarrasri or Daine an orphan in Galla who is picked up by Onua the assistant horse mistress to the Queen’s Riders (think like the King’s Musketeers from ye old France).  Daine discovers she has wild magic, which allows her to talk to animals among other things. She becomes the student of the Great and Powerful Oz Numair Salmalín. She meets familiar characters like Alanna and her husband George, King Jonathan and others we were introduced to in Songs of the Lioness.  Meanwhile the people of Tortall are dealing with immortals being released from the divine realms wreaking havoc all over. Creatures of myth such as centaurs, unicorns, griffins and many more are suddenly thrown back into the mix á la Jurassic Park. Daine discovers who her father is and saves the country along with her friends.

This series is truly one of my favorite of all time. It has magic and romance along with adventure.

Protector of the Small

               

Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl to try for her shield since King Jonathan made it into law that women were allowed to. But she is put on probation because the patriarchy is a bitch. The Lioness, Alanna is not allowed to have any contact with her what so ever because they are afraid she’ll use her witchcraft to magically allow Kel to become a knight. Kel is up for the challenge though. Having been raised in the Yamani Islands (basically Japan to Tortall’s Europe) she already is an outsider and she is use to having to prove her worth. And prove her worth she does through four books of patriarchy smashing feminism, and not the man hating feminism either, actual equality and peace loving feminism! She makes friends new and old and proves that girls are just as good as boys.

What I like most about this series is that while Kel has a few romantic interests that is not the focus. Her gaining her shield is the focus, and then her quest to find the Nothing Man and stop him from using necromancy and murdering children to make terrible war machines. While you may think this is just a rehashing of the Songs of the Lioness series it’s not. Kel is forthwith about her gender and she faces all new problems and some familiar problems we have dealt with before in Tamora Pierce’s books. But Kel has a special place in my heart, and not just because her shield ends up having an owl on it. Cause obviously I love owls, but I adore Kel and her fickle heart because of who she is. 

Daughter of the Lioness

This is the first duology Tamora Pierce wrote in this universe.  This series focuses on Alanna and George’s daughter Alianne or Aly. Aly is at the same time nothing and exactly like her mother. Aly wishes to become a spy for her father and grandfather but they refuse her. It’s too dangerous they say. Aly fights with her father and newly returned mother from the front lines of the Scanian War. Aly then decides she is going on a sailing adventure to give her parents some space while she decides what she wants to be when she grows up. Unfortunately things do not go smoothly; Aly is kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in the Copper Isles.

 She is bought by a rich noble family and winds up in a cat and mouse game for the throne. Backed by the Trickster God and her once crow now human love interest Aly stealthily plays the game of thrones (I couldn’t resist the comparison). She works hard to get the daughter of the family of her masters on the throne as queen and stop the race wars happening in the Isles. Eventually she is freed from slavery, and even refuses to go home when her father arrives to bring her home, Aly assures him she is well and not to worry, she has found her place in the world.

This is Caitie’s favorite of the Tamora Pierce Tortall series, and this series were the first books I ever bought the day they were released in hardback.

Beka Cooper

Now this series seems to have several names but according to Goodreads it’s called Beka Cooper so we shall stick with that. I haven’t actually read this series yet, as I am anxious that it won’t be as good as the rest and it will disappoint me, and also because I am a master procrastinator.

This series is about George Cooper’s however many times Great Grandma who worked for the Provost’s Guard, (Like the City Watch in Got, or the local police) which is kind of ironic considering that George becomes the King of Thieves. Though later he become the unofficial Spymaster for King Jonathan after he marries Alanna and forsakes his life of crime. That’s all I know about this series. Eventually I will read it, I own all the books, but I am currently working my way through the Song of Ice and Fire series if you couldn’t tell by my copious GoT references.

Emelan

Tamora Pierce also wrote another series about four mages and their mentors set in the fictional world of Emelan. Now I have read all the books of this 

series but I did not like is as well as the Tortall books. The story follows Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja as they navigate the world with their unconventional magic. They find mentors and apprentices of their own as they grow and become formidable mages in their own rights. 

Upcoming Titles

Tamora Pierce has some interesting books she is working on in the Tortall universe. First up are stories about Numair Salmalín when he was still in Carthak and called Arram Draper, which should be interesting to learn the events that lead to him, fleeing to Tortall working as a magician and eventually becoming the friend and ally to King Jonathan. She also has a book coming up about the girl Maura of Dunlath from Wolf-Speaker. Not sure what it will be about, but what I am most excited about is her book that will be about Kel and her squire. At the end of Lady Knight it was heavily implied that Kel would be open to a relationship with Dom, and while I do like that there was less romance in the Protector of the Small series, I am a shipper at heart.