596 replies to this topic

[Elraine]

Oh my... You may want to leave such a review on the book so children won't get that traumatized... And write a complaint to the libraries carrying it to pull it off the shelves. I've done that with a few mangas that should NOT have been put on the children's shelves...

[Mara=^.^=]

Oh no, I'm not saying it wasn't a good series - it was marvelously, grotesquely crafted - it was just too damn cruel for my tastes. I have this expectation, when I read books, that if a protagonist goes through hell and back, s/he deserves a happy ending. Or at the very least, a meaningful one. The Edge Chronicles denied me the fulfillment of that expectation. Even more disturbingly, the narrative never gave any indication that such an expectation even existed.

 

In a way, I really respect Twig's character for his ability to keep some semblance of hope, of charity, of honor, and of direction throughout his ordeals. The world he inhabits is so schizophrenic, so unreliable, that he's like a tiny ship cast about in a maelstrom, with no hope of ever finding his way to shore. More often than not his fate is woefully outside his control. There's no anchor. No center of gravity. Even the sky-ships he loves are constantly in a state of flux and uncertainty. Reading a story like that is disorienting, maddening, and alienating. It drags you down into that world, and you feel as though you could plunge over the edge at any minute and fall forever into the who-knows-what. How fitting, then, that the story takes place on a gigantic jutting rock called The Edge, with water eternally pouring off the sides into the nothingness below.

 

Ironically, I think this series would have bothered me a lot less if I had read it as a child. The world of the story is so primordial, pitiless, and savagely simple. It's like something from a long-ago, half-forgotten dream. Although The Edge is populated by sentient beings, their societies do not follow the laws of our world. In our world, there's always some security and structure, because we are a cooperative species with the ability to form strong social bonds. The Edge Chronicles follow not the laws of humankind, but the laws of nature at its most basic. There is no pity, no thought, no conscience...only hunger. It's a world where everything eats everything, both literally and metaphorically, and where any moment might be your last. There's no such thing as an "important character"...everyone's on the menu, and it's dinnertime, baby. I felt like I was looking into humanity's distant past, or maybe even a past before humanity, when our prey-animal ancestors lived in constant fear of being devoured.

 

So yeah, it was disturbing as hell - especially to a neatly-ordered adult mind like my own. If I had read the books as a kid, I think I would have related to them more, understood them more. When I was little, I remember being closer to the savagery of the wild, less shocked by death and decay, and more attuned to the uncertain, staccato rhythm of predator and prey. In my games, toy animals fought and killed and ate each other. I recall one summer day when I sat in my backyard, fascinated, watching for hours as a garter snake slowly swallowed a leopard frog whole. I also remember frequently feeling like I wasn't in control of my destiny, something which Twig certainly experiences. So I get it. I only wish the author could've cut the poor kid a few more breaks. The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking "this isn't fair. He deserves better." I guess it's my sense of justice that's offended most of all. If anyone deserves a huge payoff, it's Twig, but things just don't work that way.

 

The books should come with a warning. Caution: this series contains reminders that life isn't fair, and in the grand scheme of things, every endeavor is futile. Enjoy the illustrations.

 

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Oh my gosh. That does sound like a traumatizing book series. What propelled you to keep reading?

[Mara=^.^=]

Oh my gosh. That does sound like a traumatizing book series. What propelled you to keep reading?

 

The assumption that, in the end, the main character's trials and tribulations would be worth it

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Aaaaaannnndd that never happened, huh??

[Ang]

I picked up book two of this series, thinking it was book one.

I definitely want to read it now. XD;

[Mara=^.^=]

You WANT to torture yourself? Fair enough.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

Uuuhhh.... okay...

[Mara=^.^=]

Finished Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure. So many cool ideas, so much unpredictability, so much suspense...too bad the writing was really amateurish. At least the author improved by the last book.

 

Because of the issues with the prose, I think the movie they're making of the first book might actually be better than the book itself (assuming they don't completely mangle the story).

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Mara=^.^=]

Finished The Relic Master series (The Dark City, The Lost Heiress, The Hidden Coronet, and The Margrave). The last book was 400+ pages, and I read it in like 3 hours...my brain hurts now. I'm not sure how I should feel about the ending... :-/ So many questions left unanswered. I wish there was one more book. I think the author should have axed the entire second novel and wrote another one after The Margrave instead, just dealing with the aftermath. Raffi in particular needed one more book to complete his character development, and the Sekoi prince could use a whole series of his own, though I suppose Carys and Galen both came full circle.

 

Then again, the author (Catherine Fisher) has a longstanding tradition of cutting off her stories five seconds after the climax, before the aftermath can be explored at all. That's what happened with Sapphique, the follow-up to her awesome novel Incarceron...kinda disappointing, as I remember it.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Aaron]

The Old Man and The Sea - Ernest Hemingway and Christy by Catherine Marshall.

[Mara=^.^=]

Just finished Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier, a novel set in historical Transylvania and loosely based on the fairytale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". It centers on a family of sisters who have a secret bond with the mysterious Other Kingdom, where they go to dance at every Full Moon.

 

Definitely recommended for classical fantasy aficionados and "true love" variety romance fans.

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[Katia11]

UGH. I keep getting myself into trilogies or series. WHY..

 

Just read both Scarlet and Cinder which I really liked.. now I gotta wait for Cress...

[SweeneyxxTodd]

UGH. I keep getting myself into trilogies or series. WHY..

 

Just read both Scarlet and Cinder which I really liked.. now I gotta wait for Cress...

 

 

You've joined. I read both of those in like three days back in February. I can't wait for Cress.

[Mara=^.^=]

Who's the author? Sounds like something I might like to read...

 

~*Mara*~ = ^.^ =

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Marissa Meyer.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

There's something called Star Wars: Kenobi that I really want to read, but I haven't found it anywhere else after seeing it at Wal-Mart in the books section... Seeing that I'm a big Star Wars nut, that would be just the read for me, but I can't find it at Barnes & Noble, even though the computer you use there to locate books in the store said it was in stock. I looked all through the section it said the book would be, but I never found it. Grrrr...!!

[SweeneyxxTodd]

Ask at the customer service desk. They always walk there with you to find it.

[JimmyxxCindy4EVER]

I'll try to remember that next time, thanks!

[TheKingInTheNorth]

I just finished "Awoken" by Serra Elinsen (I got it at a promotional sale). I normally can't stand teen romance stories... but this was an exception! I really enjoyed it, and apparently it's already a bestseller on Amazon!

I don't know who this Serra Elinsen is, but if this was really only her first book, I'd say she's going to have a pretty successful career!