"The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom" by Christopher Healy

"The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom" by Christopher Healy

I picked up this title because my 10-year-old daughter insisted I must read it. She tore through this book and was hungry for more (famished, I should say). I did some sleuthing and learned that the second and third books were already published, and what's more, a movie is in the works (according to the author's website, BlueSky, the folks who delighted viewers with Rio and Rio2, are spear-heading the project). 

She actually found this title on accident--our library has "mystery" books for readers to check out. A small pile of books, each wrapped in brown paper (seriously, so charming), was sitting in the YA section and my 8-year-old son, who is venturing more into this kind of literature, picked up this gem. He's not quite the bibliophile his sister and I are, and after he unwrapped it he left it in the van (typical Isaac--wonder where he inherited that behavior from? ...innocent whistling...). Anyway, for some reason the kids and I were stuck in the van a while ago and Alayna was just bored out of her mind, so I told her to peruse through Isaac's book. Hook, line, and sinker.

We discovered the second and third installments were available, but our library was not in possession of copies. Another really awesome thing about my library is they have fulfilled nearly every purchase request I've made in my five-plus years here, and before we knew it I was getting emails notifying me that "The Hero's Guide to Storming the Castle" and "The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw" were waiting patiently on the shelves for Alayna to devour. (Since we requested the books, we got first dibs to read 'em.)

Anyway, what's the book about that Alayna and I are making such a fuss about it?? It's a delightful re-telling of four quintessential fairy tales, but what I adore is how "Hero's Guide" focuses on the princes. Frederic (Cinderella) is a dandy, Gustav (Rapunzel) is a brute, Liam (Sleeping Beauty) is your achetypical and heroic Prince Charming, and Duncan (Snow White) is a quirky and distracted dreamer. Even though they are all as different as can be, they all share one thing in common: they are all known by the bards and minstrels of their kingdoms simply as Prince Charming and the musical story-tellers often get the story wrong about the princes. 

The adventure starts off with Frederic, whose father has scared him as a child into avoiding dangerous and heroic feats. After he and Cinderella are betrothed and they get to know each other better post-ball, she realizes she wants someone more rugged and daring. So she leaves seeking adventure. 

Frederic goes after her, and, in his pursuit of his bride-to-be, runs into Gustav. Gustav is very busy trying to redeem himself from the humiliation inflicted by the bards' telling of his "rescue" of Rapunzel (he's also the youngest and most teased of 17 brothers and is desperate to perform an act of heroism that will get his brothers to stop nagging and mocking him). Even though they are polar opposites, Gustav and Frederic set out to find Cinderella. Of course they encounter Liam (who had just broken his engagement with Briar Rose because she's simply an awful spoiled brat) and Duncan, whose own wife, Snow White, decided she needed a break from him (because he is quite eccentric).

The four princes learn of the evil plans of a vengeful witch, and they set off to foil her grandiose endeavors to get her own name to live on through the ages. 

And that's all I'm going to say, because first, frankly, I think I've given away more than I usually do, and second, it's midnight and I'm suffering from a nasty cold. I'm tired.

Originally I started reading this book because Alayna had begged me to, but after finishing it tonight, I'm actually anxious to see where the story continues in the next books. 

Kudos to Healy for a wonderful story, and on Amy's SOP (Scale of Prudishness), I'm happy to report "Hero's Guide" is perfectly suitable and appropriate for its intended audience (younger YA readers). It really focuses on the wholesome elements of the story and imaginative entertainment. Parents can happily encourage their young readers (or any-aged reader) to explore this story without worrying about "grown up" questions or issues cropping up in the pages. 

"Wings of Nestor" by Devri Walls

"Wings of Nestor" by Devri Walls

Have you ever had a humongous chocolate craving, and as soon as you get your hands of a bag of M&Ms (or any chocolate indulgence of your choice) you eat them and eat them and you devour the whole bag and then it's gone, and you sit back and realize you never really tasted the chocolate?  You were so absorbed in the consumption of your treat that you didn't take the time to pace yourself and enjoy it?  That was so me with this book!  I'm embarrassed to admit it.  But I was so eager to continue the story, I dove right in and almost didn't come up for air.  I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong.  But I read it so fast, the memories of what I read are a blur in my brain.

I wanted to read this one in the ebook version, to see if it had the same formatting errors the first two books had.  The answer to that was, yes, it did, and no, it didn't.  It didn't have the weird paragraphs in the middle of a sentence, but it lacked the italics that helped the reader understand when the characters communicated telepathically.  So, there you go.  Looks like the system still has a few bugs in it.

The 4th book in The Solus series is "Wings of Lomay," to be released sometime later this year (I think).

"Wings of Tavea" by Devri Walls

"Wings of Tavea" by Devri Walls

(sorry, this was the best image I could find!)

I told you this was coming!  Back in February I wrote about Walls' first novel, "Wings of Arian." Last night I finished the second book in the Solus series, "Wings of Tavea."  "Tavea" picks up right where "Arian" left off, with Kiora (the Solus), Emane (the Protector), and Drustan (a shape-shifter) leaving Meros after an enchantment was dropped, which had kept the kingdom safe from evil for a thousand years.  They are not only looking for Dralazar, but are also in search of something else they need to defeat evil:  the Lights.  They meet new magical creatures and discover new enemies.  And a love triangle develops (I feel like I'm 14 again when I read about a good love triangle!).

Walls' scope of imagination blows me away.  I've read my fair share of fantasy books, but she brings new elements to the genre with one-of-a-kind beings, powers, and places.  I feel her story line and characters are positively unique.  I remember reading Mortal Instruments the first time and I thought it was like Harry Potter had a love child with Twilight.  Almost none of that in the Solus series.  And I'm greatly impressed with the development of Walls' writing skills between her first and second book.

Downsides to "Tavea:" the first negative aspect in the book was also found in "Arian."  I don't know if it's in the editing or transferring the ebook into paperback, but there are weird mistakes like paragraphs starting in the middle of a sentence, misplaced quotation marks, etc.  These errors were really distracting at times.  You know in "The Princess Bride" when Vizinni keeps shouting, "Inconceivable!" and Inigo finally says, "I do not think it means what you think it means."  Punctuation and grammar have rules and consistency for a purpose, and when those rules aren't followed for one reason or another, it really takes away from the essence of the story.  At least that's how I felt.  So I hope in future editions of the book those mistakes are taken care of.  Because Devri deserves better than that!  Second downside: I read "Arian" back in February, so remember the basics of the story, but some details escaped me.  I felt "Tavea" didn't have enough story overlap to help the reader remember certain details from the first book.  There's a fine line between under-explaining and over-explaining, and I felt "Tavea" was a little lacking and didn't quite cover all the bases to help the reader know what was going on all the time.

I highly recommend that you all explore Walls' story, and I'm more than anxious to get started on the third book, "Wings of Nestor."

"The Hobbit" by J. R. R. Tolkien

"The Hobbit"

I have four weeks between my book club nights, but for some reason this month I procrastinated the majority of this book until the last two days before our discussion.  I read "The Hobbit" in a great whirlwind, and in fact, the last 20 pages I borrowed my mom's "speed reading" trick of reading on the first and last lines of each paragraph to get the gist of what's going on.

I read "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy about 8 years ago.  Okay, that's a lie.  I read the first two and threw my hands up shortly into the third.  I think I might have mild ADD, because the long descriptive passages in Tokien's books are hard for me to plow through.  I need more dialogue to keep things going, and those moments aren't as common.  But I persisted through "The Hobbit."  I think it was easier because I was slightly more familiar with the story line from watching the cartoon version as a child.  But of course that cartoon was incomplete, but I found the parts of the story that were new to me were really the highlights because I didn't know exactly what was coming.  For example, I loved Beorn, the bear-man.  I loved his character and morphing qualities, his hospitality to Bilbo and the dwarfs, and how he followed them through part of the forest.

My very most favorite part of this story was Bilbo's transformation from being the little bumbling hobbit who fretted over his forgotten handkerchief to the individual who became the leader in fulfilling the plans to restoring the dwarfs' treasure and kingdom.

I saw the movie a few months ago, not knowing it was only a third of the story.  I was slightly appalled that "The Hobbit" book was to become a movie trilogy.  But now that I have read it, I totally understand and I'm eager to see the other cinematic installments.