Review

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

By J.K. Rowling

Scholastic

ISBN: 0-439-06486-4

5 stars

Ah, the second book in my Harry Potter re-read this summer and what a wonderful story this one is.  OK, I’ll probably say that about all of them so get over it now.  Before I forget to mention it, there will be a number of spoilers in this one so stop reading now if you prefer not to know.

The short re-cap of this installment — Harry joins Ron and Hermione for their second year at Hogwarts.  Harry finds out he’s a parseltongue (he can talk to snakes) and starts to hear voices, student turn up petrified, and the Chamber of Secrets is rumored to have been opened by the heir of Slytherin.

Flying cars, the Whomping Willow, and Dobby the house elf.  Dobby is probably one of my favorite characters, just below Ginny Weasley.  When he died in book seven, I was so upset, maybe even more upset than when Dumbledore died because I wasn’t expecting it.  He’s amusing, sort of pathetic, and shows you just how awful the Malfoy’s are as a family.  It’s not just Draco, it’s all of them.  We learn more about Hagrid and we get to see how nasty some of the creatures are that he loves so dearly.  I’m with Ron all that way on this one; I prefer the dragon to the gargantuan sized spiders.  They are way too creepy, crawly, and there is something very disturbing about all those all those eyes looking back at you.  Ginny joins the rest of the Weasley clan at school in year two and I love her shyness and the crush she has on Harry.  It’s so cute.  Still hating Snape as I expected to.  Nasty, mean, greasy, undermining — I have nothing nice to say about him and that will not be changing.  I know what’s coming and re-reading makes me dislike him ever more than ever.  The Weasley twins set off more fireworks in this one and it’s nice to see their future in humor retail emerging.  Such talent these two boys have for destruction but it’s all in good fun and someone has to be the comic relief.

Details, details, details.  Rowling does such a great job of putting so many tiny hints in these books.  First, the idea that Harry can talk to snakes appears in the Sorcerer’s Stone when he unleashes the snake at the zoo and now it’s explained even more here by Dumbledore when he tells Harry that part of Voldermort’s power was transferred to Harry when he attacked him.  What I like even more is that it’s left out there for us to wonder what will happen with that bit of information later.  I also like the mention of werewolves in this one preparing us for a new professor in book three which I will tell you now is my favorite.  🙂

Not having read these early books in such a long time makes me very happy to be doing so now.  They are a treat to read and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  I can easily classify this series as a comfort read.

The Queen of Attolia

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The Queen of Attolia

By Megan Whalen Turner

Greenwillow Books

ISBN: 978-0-06-084182-9

4 stars

I read The Thief, the first book in Whalen Turner’s series, back in March of this year.  I liked it but wasn’t blown away at the start.  The more I thought of it though, the more I liked it which was what make me want to read The Queen of Attolia.

Eugenides, the Queen of Eddis’s royal thief, is caught once more, this time by the queen of Attolia.  Captured sneaking out of her castle, he’s thrown in prison, and as punishment, she cuts off his hand and returns him back to his queen.  Thrown into a depressive state over the loss of his hand, and essentially his livelihood, he hides from everyone and everything.  When he finally manages to pull himself out of his stupor, he finds his country at war with Attolia, and several other neighboring countries threatening war, and he feels he must finds a way to bring peace.

Megan Whalen Turner is very good at weaving an intricate tale that allows you get lulled into a story only to be taken aback by a small confession from a character.  Yes, it was probably something I should have seen coming, but I was content to ride this one out waiting patiently to see how it would end, which is very odd for me.  To be honest, there’s not a lot of action in this book even with the wars going on.  There’s a lot of strategy talk though but there’s something interesting about it that I when I got to the end I wanted to pick up The King of Attolia right away.  While it may not be a huge cliff hanger at the end, it’s enough that you want to know how things will be working out.

What I really enjoy about these books are the stories within the story.  Characters tell tales, mostly about their gods and goddesses, but I find these fables so wonderful.  It provides great background for some of the actions of the main characters and you do see the stories mirroring each other in some places.  Whalen Turner brings a nice balance to the religious aspect and while it isn’t overt, it’s interesting to see how each character deals with their beliefs.  I don’t usually care for religion in my fiction but it’s subtle and so well blended that it feels more a part of the story rather than an add on.

I’m reading The King of Attolia and will be hoping that my library has A Conspiracy of Kings, the fourth book in the series.

Kraken: An Anatomy

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Kraken: An Anatomy

By China Mieville

Ballentine Books

eISBN: 978-0-345-52185-9

4 stars

Billy Harrow is boring and nothing much happens in his life.  He’s a curator at London’s Natural History museum and has an uncanny ability to make creatures look alive in formaldehyde.  Giving a tour one day to a small group of people, a normal occurrence that comes with the job, he finds the museum’s most famous exhibit, a giant squid, missing.  The cops are called, interviews granted, and no leads emerge.  Billy goes home and tells two friends about the missing squid, or squidnapping if you will, and his odd day.  What follows is a strange tale of squid worshippers, encounters with Londonmancers who predict the city’s future, magicians, gods, familiars, gunfarmers, chaos Nazis, and Star Trek fanatics.

I’m at a loss as to how to describe this book.  In genre terms, it’s fantasy.  It’s a caper of sorts, but it’s really not.  It’s a mystery, but it’s not exactly.  There’s so much going on in this book that I feel that if I talk only about one portion, then I wouldn’t be doing it justice.  On the other hand, if I don’t tell you about it all, then I won’t make it come alive.

My first experience with Mieville’s writing was The City & The City.  It’s a dark, detective, police procedural and even though it wasn’t my regular reading, I enjoyed it.  I thought this would be somewhat the same but it’s not at all.  It’s funny, witty, strange, downright weird, and chaotic in parts.  He takes you to the story’s abyss and pulls you back in.  (Oh, come on, I couldn’t resist.)  There’s a long list of characters that range from the most bland to the oddest of people and one who actually is what his name suggests — a tattoo.  He talks by moving around on a man’s back, slightly creepy but very effective.  There’s a god who flits back and forth into stone statues and the odd Star Trek figurine trying to help Billy track down the stolen squid and at the same time he’s also trying to put down a strike by familiars.  Then there are soothsayers who cut holes in the skin of the city (the asphalt serves as the city’s skin) to read its guts and predict the future.  There are otherworldly hit men and a police force that deals in the supernatural.

Here’s the hard part about this review — I enjoyed this book.  A lot.  Thanks to this book, there are many new words that I want to incorporate into my vocabulary — Google-fu, Krakenists (people who worship the Kraken god), and squipnapping to name three.  Although, admittedly, squidnapping is going to be much harder to slip in during normal conversation.  It amused me, made me think of paperback thriller books you can buy at the grocery store, and made me add Mieville to my list of must-read authors but the books itself is impossible for me describe.

What I can say is that Mieville is a master story-teller able to incorporate a wide range of pop culture along with numerous religious arguments you never really knew you’d find yourself thinking about while reading a book about a giant squid that has been kidnapped.

I spent several days ruminating over this review and I still don’t think I’ve provided anything useful.  It’s strange book but a good mix of everything.  It’s fantasy (the story takes place in an alternate London) but offers so much more.

Here’s what I will say to wrap this up and staunch the bit of a love fest I have going on — if you’re looking for something completely out of the ordinary, try this one.  It won’t disappoint, just make sure you go in with an open mind and a good bit of, “Oh, OK, that’s where we’re going with this.  Then lead on,” attitude.

The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea

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The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea

By Philip Hoare

Ecco: Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 978-0-06-197621-6

4 stars

I’ve always been fascinated by whales — the size, intelligence, and grace of such large animals. As a child I wanted to be a marine biologist, a dream I’m sure that was prompted by a childhood trip to Sea World but that’s a story for another time.

Philip Hoare is an interesting writer. He’s clearly a man in love with his subject and that I can appreciate. He has the same childlike fascination I have with whales and that’s what drove me to this book. Hoare’s also a man obsessed with Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, something I am not. Following Ishmael’s footsteps — yes, the infamous “Call me Ishmael” character of the named book — he takes the reader on a journey to quench a lifelong interest and come to an understanding with an animal we humans only understand through their death.

Interweaving a lot of Melville throughout the first part of the book, it feels a bit like a literature lecture of sorts. While I found Melville’s relationship with Nathanial Hawthorne during his years of writing his famous tome to be somewhat relevant, I also felt like I wanted him to get on with the whale talk. Maybe I was expecting something more scientific but I can’t say that the first part intrigued me as much as the last.

He does get into whaling and what it meant for the world in general and I have to admit that I didn’t really know there were so many uses for a single whale. It’s so much more than just the oil and meat but the skins for shoes, intestines for laces, ambergris for perfume. If you don’t know what ambergris is, well, it’s whale poo. Anyway, I was somewhat aware of the enormous carnage whaling created but when put in terms of lighting Victorian England, the need for whale oil seemed so much more destructive. For a species with no natural enemies, man managed to become the death of these creatures.

I wanted to be blown away by this book and in many ways I was but it also felt like I was left wanting more. It’s a travelogue of sorts and you follow Hoare on his quest to find the meaning of the whale to him. While I found it interesting, I felt it didn’t do much for my quest.

There are some very good facts and he has done his research well casting himself far and wide to discover everything he can from early whaling to the modern day culling to the science of whales. At one point he even communes with a few trying to understand them better.

It’s a good book and a great look at creatures we know so little about. I’m glad to have read it. Hoare has an evocative style that makes you want to turn and ask him a question while reading. This style, even if you have no interest in whales, is enough reason to read this book.

Witch Week – Read for Diana Wynne Jones Week

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Witch Week

By Diana Wynne Jones

Greenwillow Books

ISBN: 0-688-12374-0

4 stars

Diana Wynne Jones is an author I’ve meant to read for a long time. In fact, I’ve had Howl’s Moving Castle on my list for many years now and never got around to reading it. So when I saw that Jenny’s at Jenny’s Books was hosting a Diana Wynne Jones Week, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to read one of her books. A quick library search made me realize I was in for a challenge in just picking a book (she’s a prolific writer) but decided on Witch Week and put Howl’s Moving Castle on hold as well.

Witch Week is about students at a boarding school in England. It’s an alternative England where magic is banned and witches are burned when found. The school, Larwood House, is home to many witch orphans so when a note is found in classroom 6B that says, “Someone in this class is a witch,” chaos begins. The note starts off a flurry of accidental discoveries by students, false accusations are hurled at everyone, and an inquisitor is brought to the school to find the witch.

I started this book with visions of Harry Potter. Boarding school, witches, you know, general Harry Potter stuff. I found a book full of something else entirely. The magic is different and it’s a wonderful sort of magic that comes from being and it’s enchanting to see the students find themselves in the mess they create.

The students. I don’t know where to start with this one because I didn’t actually like any of them at the start. They’re all mean in a way, some catty, some obnoxious and I couldn’t understand why I was supposed to dislike them all. Eventually, I began to see the kids emerge and you do like them more and more. They’re real kids, and by the end, very likable people. The school is full of oddball characters — for instance, Miss Hodge, who wants desperately to marry Mr. Wentworth, another teacher at the school. She’s intent on making him like her and seeing the value in becoming her husband that she’s short sighted about everything else. She’s incredibly annoying and the use of her brain is relegated to finding a husband instead of helping any of the children.

There are some amusing and funny moments along the way that make the story very entertaining. While I was let down by the ending, not in a bad way I was just hoping that it would go another way, I think there is a sequel to this one (Year of the Griffin maybe) and sequels always make me happy so my deal with the ending is minor.

I don’t know why Wynne Jones never made it high up on my TBR but thanks to this week, I now have another author to add to my list and about 40 books to pick from for my next read. That makes me happy I took the time to read this one.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

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Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

By J.K. Rowling

Scholastic Press

ISBN: 0-590-35340-3

5 stars

This summer I thought I would re-read the Harry Potter books. A lot of people are talking about them and it reminded me how much I loved this series. I haven’t read the books in so long and I thought it was a good time to start from the beginning again.

I’m not going to do a full re-cap or review of the book. I’m going to say — and yes, it’s a generalized statement but I think also a rather true one — that most people know what the books are about so this is all I’m going to say by means of a re-cap:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is the first book in the series. This is the book where Harry finds out he’s a wizard, goes off to Hogwarts, makes friends with Ron and Hermione, learns to fly a broomstick and play quidditch, makes enemies of Professor Snape and Draco Malfoy, and starts to understand what it means to be the boy who lived.

Good? I am. Now, let’s move on. I haven’t read this book in several years but as soon as I cracked the cover, I remembered how much I loved the world that Rowling created. There are so many wonderfully magical things, creatures, and people that I wonder how someone could not be swept away. There are also a lot of little details that I didn’t remember, for instance, the fact that Dumbledore wears high heeled shoes and is a lot flashier than I remembered him to be. I relished the fact that I still don’t like Snape (I don’t know how anyone can and I still won’t forgive him even in the last book for all the horror he inflicted for an old grudge, among many other things.) and how snarky and cruel Draco can be. Hermione is slightly unlikable at the start but I found it fun to see Harry and Ron become her friends and the three become inseparable. Oh and Ginny. Ginny is one of my favorites and I love her enthusiasm and crush on Harry. I find it so endearing. Ahhh….is all I want to say when she points at him in the train station. Hagrid, oh Hagrid, you big, lovable oaf. A dragon? Really? And who else would name a three-headed snarling beast of a dog Fluffy? Yes, Hagrid would. When Harry’s first year finally comes to an end and he has to return to the Dursley’s I don’t feel disappointed at all. I look forward to opening the next book and continuing the adventure.

The books are not perfect and there are some awkward bits of dialogue and this book, being the shortest in the series, is not nearly as detailed as the later books but the enchanting nature of the story itself makes all of that fade away for me. There is something very endearing about Harry that makes me always want to cheer him on even when he’s being stupid. The world of Hogwarts is an amazing place to fall in to and there are some wonderful characters to take on the journey with you.

The Good Thief

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The Good Thief

By Hannah Tinti

Dial Press

ISBN: 978-0-385-33745-8

3.75 stars

The Good Thief is a good story, although, it took me a little while to find it. I wasn’t sure of this book for the first few chapters but decided to keep reading and found an interesting tale of family and survival.

Ren is 12 years old. He’s an orphan who is missing one hand, and without that hand, he has no hope of being adopted. He knows nothing of his family, he has no idea how he lost his hand, and only knows that his future is bleak. When a man shows up claiming to be his sibling, the brothers at St. Anthony’s Orphanage for Boys send him on his way with Benjamin Nab without asking too many questions as if they know this is Ren’s only chance to escape his sad future. Benjamin is a conman with plans for Ren and his missing hand. With nothing to his name, no family, and nowhere to go, Ren finds himself in an uncomfortable position. A good little thief himself, Ren throws his lot in with Benjamin and finds a home, a family of sorts, and friends.

This book is sort of gothic, some of it is dark, and some of it is morbid. I liked Ren though and I think that kept me in the story. Honestly, I found some of it unsavory, and while I truly didn’t dislike any of the other characters, I found their actions unlikeable. This unfortunately made my attention flag a bit. Short aside here — I can’t really tell you what I found so unlikable since I’ve read and liked books with much worse in them. There was just something here that made me flinch a bit and I honestly don’t know what that was. So there you have it, a completely unsatisfactory explanation. Sometimes like and dislike can’t be explained fully, it’s just is.

This book has been on my list for a few months, and though I think I can say that I enjoyed this book in the end, I didn’t love this book like I anticipated. At one point my husband asked me what I was reading and what it was about. After a brief description, he promptly asked why I was still reading it. Maybe my short redux was showing my dislike early on I can’t say. I will admit that my description was rather on the morbid side though. I don’t know if I became strangely fascinated by but what I was reading or what but I did finish and in the end was rewarded with a good little tale about New England scam artists, grave robbers, murderers, thieves, and a bit of adventure.

Ren does get answers to many of his questions about his life, finds out what loyalty means, and ends up with a family. It does come down to a satisfying conclusion, and I don’t always need a happy ending, but sometimes I think it helps. This was one of those times. Ren’s a pathetic, one-handed orphan who steals, but I felt some sympathy for him and had to follow him to the end, if only to make sure he got there all right.

The Dead Travel Fast

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The Dead Travel Fast

By Deanna Raybourn

Mira Books

ISBN: 978-0-7783-2765-3

3.5 stars

Theodora Lestrange is a woman alone but she’s not unhappy with her status. She intends to pursue her writing and hopes to make a living at it. For a woman in 1858, it’s an admirable but tough choice to make. Unfortunately, her brother-in-law doesn’t consider this normal and feels that something should be done. When Theodora receives a letter from an old friend asking her to come and visit her in Transylvania, she decides that it’s the change she needs and takes off for the strange land. Once there, she finds herself in an old, drafty castle with a Count and Countess, wolves, rumors of the dead returning, and a death in the castle. Theodora finds herself drawn into the world these people inhabit and dares to fall in love with the Count.

I haven’t read anything by Raybourn and have heard that it would be best to start with the Lady Julia Grey series. I ignored that and went right for this one, mostly because that’s what my library had. I can’t say it was better or worse than any of the others not having read them, but I found this one to be a good distraction of a read. Theodora was interesting in that she’s not the typical woman of the time. She’s outspoken, has a career, and has no interest in marriage or children. I did find it odd that she was a writer that didn’t seem to write much though. It’s mentioned here and there that she spent a morning or afternoon writing but it doesn’t feel part of the character. In the end, there is a book but it feels tacked on a bit as if it was meant to remind you all along that she was a writer. While there is talk of vampires and werewolves, the folk tales and rumors don’t feel fully developed and the love story, which feels like it should be a much larger piece, feels a little stifled. Also, the character of Theodora had a small but annoying habit of saying, “I warmed to my theme…” when she was arguing, disagreeing, or trying to prove a point. She may have been warmed, but I felt annoyed by it. Not sure why it bothered me so much but it did.

I don’t want this to turn into a negative review because it’s not. I flew through this book in a day so I can’t say that I didn’t like it. There were several aspects though that didn’t feel fully put together though. I do think I will seek out a few of her other books and give them a try when I have a chance. There was something that made this compulsively readable and I want to see what else she has to offer.