Book Review: The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher

The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher
by David and Ruth Ellwand

The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher is a fascinating and slightly creepy little story, told in the format of a journal-within-a-journal and illustrated with exquisite photographs. In the first journal, photographer David Ellwand follows a strange light through the woods to an old, dilapidated house, where he finds a locked chest. When he is able to get the chest open, he discovers that the chest contains some mysterious items, as well as what turns out to be wax phonograph recordings. The recordings tell the story of another photographer named Isaac Wilde, who in 1889 is commissioned as the official photographer on an archaelogical dig into an old hill fort believed to be inhabited by the faerie folk. What Isaac Wilde discovers at the site, and his attempts to photograph it, put him in conflict with the leader of the dig, and lead him, and Ellwand after him, into trouble.

I enjoyed The Mystery of the Fool & the Vanisher and found it an interesting, although quick, read. The photographs are beautiful, and worth going back and spending some time with after the first read. Some of them are pictures of natural settings, others are still life pictures of the "found items" and meticulously constructed out of natural objects. I studied photography as a teen, and had thoughts of being a professional photographer, so the photographs were definitely the highlight of this book for me. My favorite was a dramatic, sepia-toned photograph of the dilapidated house with clouds behind it.

Although I enjoyed the book, I'm not quite sure whether kids and teens would enjoy it or not, and who the audience may be. It may be too simplistic a story for the fiction readers, but too fictional for the non-fiction readers. I think it's most likely to find a home among kids who enjoy the "ology" books, because it has the same kind of "fiction as non-fiction" approach, although it lacks those books' interactivity. It also may appeal to visually-oriented young people and those with an artistic nature. This may be a book to put out in a library display and let kids be drawn in by the eerie cover and the beautiful photographs.

Book Review: Ink Exchange

Ink Exchange
by Melissa Marr

On the surface, Leslie seems like a normal teen, but she hides the truth of her life from her friends. Ever since her mother left, Leslie's life has been difficult. Her father has basically abdicated responsibility for the family, and Leslie's drug-addicted brother controls the house. Leslie tries to pay the bills when she can, and stay out of the way of her brother's drug dealing cronies—especially since some of those cronies raped her with her brother's permission for payment of his debt. Leslie lives in fear, but she's determined to take control of her life. She decides to get a tattoo as a symbol, a promise to herself, and a way to reclaim her own body.

One of Leslie's friends is Aislinn, the new Summer Queen of the faerie. But Aislinn is keeping her own secrets—she doesn't tell Leslie about her new faerie life, or that her new friends are not human. Aislinn wants Leslie to have as normal a life as possible, so she has forbidden any of the faerie to reveal themselves or their nature to Leslie. But keeping secrets can have unforeseen consequences. Leslie doesn't realize that her new tattoo will tie her to the faerie King of the Dark Court, Irial. Nor does she know that Aislinn's friend Niall, who appears to show an interest in her, is really a faerie whose powers are devastating to mortals.

As Leslie becomes more closely tied to the Dark Court, she finds the darkness exhilarating and liberating. But the price that Leslie has to pay for freedom from fear may be more than she is willing to pay.

Ink Exchange is the sequel to Melissa Marr's Wicked Lovely, and if anything, I liked it even better than Wicked Lovely. It's a very different book—much darker, for example—but I thought the writing showed more maturity and I found it a very compelling read.

Leslie is a difficult character to identify with, because she keeps her emotions so tightly restrained due to the devastating events in her recent past. But I think Marr successfully walks the line in portraying a character who is both "broken" and strong. But more interesting than Leslie are some of the faerie characters: Niall, who is tormented by his attraction to Leslie, knowing what will happen if he gets too close, and Irial, a reluctant Dark Lord who isn't entirely evil in spite of the horrifying things he does. I love the duality in these characters, the yin and yang of characters who have aspects of both darkness and light. Irial cares about his people and feels a deep sense of responsibility. If he didn't have both the darkness and the caring, he wouldn't be as good a king for the Dark Court. And conversely, Marr shows the dark side of the Summer King as well.

One thing that upset me is that the Advanced Reading Copy I read is labeled for "Ages 12 and up." I really don't think that this is a book that most twelve-year-olds are ready to read. There are alcohol and drug use, reference to a rape in Leslie's recent past, and some pretty horrifying deaths. I think it would have been more responsible of the publisher to label it as "Ages 14 and up," knowing that twelve-year-olds who are emotionally ready to deal with such things would read it anyway.

Ink Exchange is scheduled for an April 29, 2008 release.

What's the deal with Fairies?

Last week, lectitans asked, What's the deal with fairies?
Why do these creatures captivate our imaginations so? Since I've read 3-1/2 faerie books in the last week (and I have an ongoing fascination with the fey) I wanted to try my hand at answering.

I think part what makes fairies so interesting, even more so than other fantastic creatures, is that they are so similar to us and yet so different. Although the faerie come in many varieties, they are often humanoid, and sometimes look very much like humans. They live in societies like we do, but their societies are based on very different rules. That makes them fascinating and exotic.

Also, dealing with the folk carries with it an element of risk, since they can behave unpredictably (at least to us). You could end up with a valuable gift, or you could be killed or kidnapped for hundreds of years. Even that valuable gift may end up having different results than you expect. So there is a certain excitement in dealing with them, which makes them good fodder for stories.

Finally, I think there's something very appealing in the idea that there is a hidden world or hidden folk just around the corner, if we could only see them. It appeals to our sense of adventure.

And, who knows? Maybe that hidden world does exist. I know that there are rational, intelligent people today who still believe that faeries are real.

Book Review: Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely

by Melissa Marr

Aislinn has the Sight; she can see the faeries all around. It's a genetic trait that she inherited from her mother and her grandmother, who raised her when her mother died. Grams drilled the rules for survival into Aislinn: don't look at the faeries, don't speak to them, don't attract their attention. If the fey know that you can see them, they may blind or kill you.

So when two faeries actually approach Aislinn and talk to her, she's justifiably alarmed. But the danger is greater than even she imagines. For one of the faeries is the Summer King, who has chosen her to test to be his queen, a test with dire consequences for failure. The Summer King has been bound by his mother, the Winter Queen, who is a kind of supernatural version of Mommie Dearest. The Summer King's powers are limited by this binding until he can find his true Queen, but any girl who fails the test is doomed to be subject to the Winter Queen until the next candidate tries. All Aislinn wants is a normal life, but she finds herself trapped in a situation with no good outcome possible.

I have to confess that reading Wicked Lovely immediately (minutes!) after reading Holly Black's ironside, at first it seemed like a pale imitation. Aislinn even digs her fingernails into her palms just like Black's Kaye does. However, as I continued reading, the book drew me in and became a fascinating book in its own right. Melissa Marr's story is unique and surprising and quite delightful. The plot has some surprising twists, and the characters are interesting, including a sizzling love interest.

Note: I originally posted this review late Saturday night at the end of the 48-hour book challenge, and I don't feel that I did the book justice. So I've gone back and edited the review to beef it up a bit.

327 pages

Book Review: ironside

ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale

by Holly Black

As Roiben's coronation as King of the Unseelie Court approaches, Kaye is uncertain where she stands. She doesn't feel like she completely belongs in either world, faerie or human, and she's not certain where she stands with Roiben. The Unseelie Court sees her as a liability and an inconvenience, and they tolerate her only for the sake of their new King. Goaded by some of the Unseelie Court, Kaye publicly declares her love for Roiben and he gives her an impossible quest to prove her love: find a faerie who can tell an untruth. If she succeeds, Kaye will be his consort and sit by his side; if she fails she can never see him again.

While Kaye seeks for something that doesn't exist, she and Corny, who is conflicted after his experience in Faerie, along with Luis from Valiant, are drawn into the impending war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. The devious Silarial, Queen of the Seelie Court, is determined to rule both courts and will stop at nothing to triumph over Roiben.

Like Tithe and Valiant, ironside is a dark and compelling book. Even if I hadn't been reading it for the 48-hour book challenge, I probably would have read it straight through; it's a hard book to put down. Black is brilliant at showing how the faeries can be both horrifying and seductive, often at the same time. But where Tithe conveyed the horrors of the monsters of Faerie, this book is more about the monster within. It's also a great twist that the Queen of the Seelie, or Bright Court, is devious and cruel, while the King of the Unseelie, or Night Court, is a compassionate faerie who struggles to "be like ice" as is required of the Unseelie King.

ironside is definitely my favorite of the series. Holly Black is a gifted writer and I hope that she continues to write YA fantasy.

323 pages

Book Review: Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

by Laini Taylor

Magpie isn't like other faeries. Accompanied by her band of crows, she travels the world, capturing devils that the unwitting humans have released from the bottles in which they've been imprisoned for thousands of years. But when she finds an empty bottle with a broken seal bearing the sign of Magruwen, the Djinn King, she knows that this is no ordinary devil. For Magruwen himself to have sealed the bottle means that its occupant must be powerful. And indeed, the horror that has been unleashed on the world is a monstrous shadow known as the Blackbringer, which devours everything in its path. Magruwen and the other Djinn withdrew from the world millennia ago, and the magic of the faeries has diminished over the years. Magpie and her friends are all that stands between the world and this new horror.

It's hard to describe Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer in a way that does it justice. Start with a richly imagined world, add a heroine who is not only courageous but obsessed, stir in a bunch of other interesting characters, and throw in some stuff about dreams and the relationship and responsibility between a creator and his creations, and you've got a potent mix.

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer is a wonderful book on many levels, but at its core what really makes it work is the interactions between the characters, especially between Magpie and the other characters. Magpie is astonishing in her stubbornness, her determination, and her devotion to her friends. She's a young woman on a mission, and she's not going to let anything stand in her way, even her creator. One of my favorite scenes has her facing off against the Djinn King, creator of the world, in a like-father-like-daughter type contest of wills. The other characters in the book are equally interesting, including a young man who overcomes his physical limitations in surprising ways, and matches Magpie in personal heroism.

434 pages