Twisted Kingdom

Because last month was Neil Gaiman for author of the month, I thought I would review Coraline today.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Published by Harper Trophy in 2002

The day after they moved in,
Coraline went exploring....

In Coraline's family's new flat are twenty-one windows and fourteen doors. Thirteen of the doors open and close.

The fourteenth is locked, and on the other side is only a brick wall, until the day Coraline unlocks the door to find a passage to another flat in another house just like her own.

Only it's different.

At first, things seem marvelous in the other flat. The food is better. The toy box is filled with wind-up angels that flutter around the bedroom, books whose pictures writhe and crawl and shimmer, little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there's another mother, and another father, and they want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to change her and never let her go.

Other children are trapped there as well, lost souls behind the mirrors. Coraline is their only hope of rescue. She will have to fight with all her wits and all the tools she can find if she is to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.

Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Neil Gaiman will delight readers with his first novel for all ages.

This is the fourth book I have read by Neil Gaiman. I have also read Good Omens (which he wrote with Terry Pratchett), Stardust, and Neverwhere. I keep on reading him because I keep on enjoying his books. I think Stardust is probably my favourite, and I cannot wait to see the movie (it looks really good), but this was an enjoyable read as well.

For those of you planning on joining in with Stainless Steel Droppings R.I.P. Challenge this year, this is a perfect book! Very dark and creepy, that's for sure. It could almost be called a faery tale, but a very dark one. This book is perfect for children because when you are growing up there are always moments when you feel like your parents are not doing everything that they can for you, and that you sometimes wish that you had different ones. So, when Coraline explores her house and finds a secret door to a new family, for a time it seems like a dream come true. No matter how much they looked like her parents, though, and how much they treated her like their whole world, they were not the parents that had raised her and they were not the parents that she wanted to live with forever.

While this book is perfect for all ages, it is also a very good adventure story for the young reader, and it reminds the older readers of just how bad it was to be living with the folks from time to time. It is only a short book, 194 pages, but it fits those pages. It does not feel rushed, it flows very well, and there are lots of interesting characters to meet in both words. There is also a cat, which, I think is a great addition to the cast of characters. Coraline is a smart girl, and Gaiman shows what it is like to be young very well.

Overall, another great Gaiman for readers everywhere to enjoy. One of these days I might pick up the audio version because I have heard good things about it. I think that everyone should read Gaiman, though, very worth the time!

Lifelong friends, they went their separate ways. Now they are together again, though each holds secrets from the others in his heart. They speak of a world shadowed with rumors of war. They speak of tales of strange monsters, creatures of myth, creatures of legend. They do not speak of their secrets. Not then. Not until a chance encounter with a beautiful, sorrowful woman, who bears a magical crystal staff, draws the companions deeper into the shadows, forever changing their lives and shaping the fate of the world.

No one expected them to be heroes.

Least of all, them.

Dragons of the Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, 4.5/5
Published by Wizards of the Coast in 1984

I have read Margaret Weis before, back in the days when I used to read science fiction predominately I read her Stars of the Guardian quartet. Well, that's a lie. I bought the first three and was not aware until recently that their was a fourth. This was the days before Amazon and things to search and see that I missed a book. One of these days I will see if I can track the quartet down and read it in its entirety.

I know lots of people that are big fans of the Dragonlance series. There are people that collect the whole set, buying them second-hand every chance that they have. I have always wanted to read Dragonlance, but it is a big under-taking. When you start a series you feel like you should read all of them at some point and time, and there are a lot of books in this series. But, Weis is the author of the month for June, so I thought I would finally give these books a try. The reason that I read this in non-June is because I am really bad with reading the same author in a row.

Anyways, on to the book. It is amazing how many times I have been told to read these books over the years. Even people that do not really read all that often told me to read this quartet, and I just kept putting it off. That was bad of me because in all honesty, I loved this book. I needed a good fantasy story, and this really rewarded me for taking the time to read it. It's Tolkeinish. There are dwarves, elves, humans, and other creatures. There is a quest that they have to complete in order to overcome the "bad" people. There are also dragons, fire-breathing ones. But, really, it is hard to come up with original ideas anymore, it is just up to the authors to make the story their own.

The characters in this book are great. There was none that I disliked (of the good people). There is Tanis, the apparent leader of the group. To the humans, he is a half-elf. To the elves, he is half-human. He is also the bit of ill-fated hero. He was kicked out of his home, in a manner of speaking, because of some complications. He is also the tormented lover, but I think that will be dealt with more in the later books. An interesting characteristic for this fine hero is that he does not like to fight. That is the characteristic of most elves in this book, though.

Then, we have Sturm Brightblade. He is your typical knight in shining armour. He is all about honour and protecting the damsel in distress (or just women in general). He takes his vows very seriously and he always keeps his word. He can be a bit annoying at times, especially for those that are not big fans of the damsel in distress scenerio. Moving on, we have Goldmoon. She is the female main character in this book, but thankfully does not fall subject to the roles that women sometimes takes in fantasy. She is very empowering and she plays a special role in this book. She suffers a lot in this book and has one of heart-breaking scenes in the book. Riverwind is her boyfriend of sorts. It is a long story, but it is because of a quest that he goes on to win the hand of Riverwind that starts the group on their adventure.

There is also Raistlin, a magic-user. He is a dark character and you are never really sure of him, but he balances out the characters nicely. There is also his twin brother Caramon, who is the exact opposite of his brother. I feel bad for him a lot during the book because he is very protective of Raistlin and I do not find that he appreciates it very much. He is the warrior of the group. Then, there is Flint, who is funny. He does not mean to be, but he gets himself into some interesting situations because he is very stubborn. He is also the oldest member of the group, but not always the wisest. Lastly we have Tasslehoff Burrfoot who is a kender (handler). I love him, he was really my favourite character. He is incapable of fear and he has a tendency to "borrow" interesting things. He is just great! So funny and he really gets himself into the most interesting situations.

They really are an unlikely group of heroes and a heroine. I enjoyed every page of this book. It has quite the overview of emotions in it, and it is very promising for the other three books in this series.