Book Review - The High Druid's Blade

As many friends and regular readers know, I've been a fan of Terry Brooks since I was introduced to Sword, Wishsong and Elfstones books in Junior High School. I devoured them and found a taste for his style of fantasy adventure. For many years after that I regularly read each of his books as they were released and eagerly looked forward to the next volume. In recent years, I haven't been as diligent at keeping on top of his yearly (sometimes twice yearly) releases but I still have a fair amount of nostalgia towards Brook and Shannara and I am indebted to his books for helping to respark a love of reading that threatened to wane a little through middle school.

In his latest book, The High Druid's Blade, we're introduced to new characters and new plot but it does have a large sense of familiarity. The book is set within the Federation reign and druid rebirth sometime after the High Druid and Dark Legacy series. The book is listed as part of the Defenders of Shannara series but I've read that the intent is to have 3 stand alone novels in the series rather than a serial story. So, as you might expect, this novel wraps things up with moderate tidiness.

As is common in other Shannara stories, the central characters in this book are descendants of a powerful family. This time, it's the Leah family. Even though the Leah's have been involved in the novels since the first Shannara book, I believe this is the first time a Leah was the central character rather than a supporting actor helping out the Ohmsfords or others.

We are introduced to teenage brother and sister Paxton and Chrysallin Leah. Paxon spends his days managing the family air shipping business while Chrys apparently spends her days trying to get into trouble by being a flirty little teenage troublemaker. For those unfamiliar with the family heritage, Brooks gives us a little background and points readers to the heirloom sword of Leah which, many years ago, held mystical powers and helped slay demons and turn the courses of numerous battles. Today it hangs as a reminder of days gone by.

Once we're adequately appraised of the mundane lifestyle of the Leah's things are thrown into upheaval. Chrys's friend rushes over to Paxon to reveal that Chyrs has just made a stupid bet in a dice game and gambled away her freedom to a stranger. Paxon races to the pub to get details and help pay the debt but instead finds Arcannen, the man who won Chrys. He shows Paxon, from a distance, that Chrys is very willingly boarding his airship bound for the big city where she'll serve in his house of ill repute. Paxon tries to fight the situation but cannot. Instead, he rushes home, grabs some supplies and the sword of Leah and sets of to free his sister.

As you might expect, Arcannen is not your ordinary businessman looking to add another harlot to his bordello. Rather, he hoped Paxon would come for his sister and bring the sword. And yet, in spite of an elaborate scheme, Paxon somehow manages to free his sister and return home. While there was some fun action in the escape scene and there was magic involved, the whole thing felt way too lucky to be believable.

Setting believability aside, Paxon returns home and is approached by the druids who want him to come and wield the sword of Leah in a sort of bodyguard position. Since he was disatisfied with the airship business anyway, he agrees and leaves his home and family, exacting a promise from Chrys that she'll stay safe and not make any stupid decisions. He spends the next many months training and learning how to use a sword properly and how to hone the innate magic of the family heriloom. Naturally Chrys is not safe and Arcannen makes an appearance again causing Paxon to set off on a quest, this time with the help of the druids though still largely on his own. There are a few moderate twists and turns in the plot though even those had a twinge of familiarity as I think back to earlier Shannara books.

The plot was relatively quick and fluid with solid adventure elements and fair character building. In my experience, I've generally found the psychological interactions between the characters to be stronger than some of the story arcs in Brooks' books. This time, they felt pretty balanced at the detriment of the character building. Sadly they felt a little watered down and static. I definitely enjoyed the book for the nostalgia and for the fun adventure that always permeates the Shannara story. But I missed some of the depth and meat that's been present in Brooks' work of the past. Compared with some of his more epic stories (such as the Genesis or Heritage series) or his more contemporary Knight & Void stories, this book felt a little more flat or maybe more "bubble-gum"-y. A night light adventure but not much more too it. That said, it did accomplish its goal. It entertained me and I had fun reading it. Even when believability was stretched I was still drawn in enough to enjoy the story and accept the little hiccups. So not the best Brooks out there, but still an adventure worthy of the Shannara title.



3 out of 5 stars

View all of my reviews on Goodreads.com

Books Read in 2014

For the past few years (2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009) I've had a goal to read and review a bunch of books over the course of each year.

My goal has been to average a book per week and end up with 50 books read and reviewed at the end of the year. I usually don't include smaller books (early middle grade, picture books, etc) unless I feel really strongly about them.  In 2013, I was significantly below my goal.  Oh well.

This year (2014) I plan to improve on my downturn in 2013.  If I hit 50, great, but at the very least, I hope to reach 40 books read in 2014.  I will also try to share all of my reviews here so you can get a feel for what I liked or didn't like.  That said, I generally only pick up a book to read it if I feel like it "speaks to me" in some way, so chances are, most of my reviews will be fairly positive.  Even then, I'm sure I'll come across some stinkers.  :)

If you have any suggestions for books to read or ways I can make my reading goal more exciting, please let me know.

And now, without further ado, here's the list of books I've read so far in 2014:
(I will be updating this post each time a new book is read/reviewed)

1. The Martian
2. The Forbidden Stone (The Copernicus Legacy Book 1)
3. At First Light
4. The Orphanage of Miracles
5. The High Druid's Blade
6. The Conjuring Glass (The Phoenix Girls Book 1)
7. Death in Venice and other tales
8. The Bluest Eye
9.  

And for additional reference, here's a link to my "to be read" list over at Goodreads. This list includes purchased books on my bookshelves (but not read) as well as tons of books that have been recommended to me over the years. As you can see, the list is huge...and never really shrinks since there are always new recommendations coming in. So tell me...what good books have you read lately that I should add to my list? Any that I "MUST" get to ~immediately? :-)

Book Review - The Orphanage of Miracles

Even though the high level premise felt similar to other books, The Orphanage of Miracles caught my attention with the subtle variety in the plot. The story takes place in an unknown medieval land where magic is real and an evil sorcerer has waged war against the people and king. Seems like a pretty mundane synopsis. The difference comes with the idea of the Orphanage of Miracles. Not much is told about this Orphanage other than that it exists as a mystical place somewhere in the land where miracles are somehow manufactured. I immediately thought of Miracle Max from The Princess Bride, but after that imagery died down, I gave the book a chance. The book has two main stories working to meet one another.

A girl named Kelsey has left her home on a quest to find the Orphanage of Miracles. There’s a disaster in her home town and she’s determined to help if she can. She’s not thinking about the bigger picture of getting a miracle for the entire land as a way of ending the war. As she travels, Kelsey meets some interesting characters who both help and hinder her journey.

Meanwhile, a parallel story is presented. The reader finds out that the Orphanage DOES exist but something isn’t quite right. We follow the life of Nicholas, a young orphan inside the Orphanage. We learn that the orphans each assigned a different specific job or calling to perform. Nicholas and his friends have had bad luck trying to find their perfect calling but they are excited because their new prospect involves working directly with the creation and cultivation of Miracles. As Nicholas’s story progresses, it becomes very clear that there are major problems at the Orphanage. The entire Orphanage is shrouded in mystery both from the outside world and even to those living and working inside its walls.

As the story progressed, I saw a number of moral allegories presented. Some were more veiled than others. I think for the intended age range (grade schoolers, probably maxing out at middle school), the symbolism and suggestions may be subtle enough to be interesting ideas without being overt commentary on ethics or other moral issues. I personally found the messages to be refreshing in their veiled subtlety as a way of helping present some thoughtful ideals for children to digest.

There were a few times where I felt like the editing could have been tightened up again. The biggest problem I felt was that the mystery was perhaps a bit too obtuse which could lead to unnecessary confusion. There were a lot of elements that were left very vague or completely undefined. I saw this as a core plot device to keep even the nature of the mystery intentionally ambiguous. This became problematic during the last few chapters of the book when the revelations came flowing out with such rapidity as to be a little disorienting. Still, this imbalance was acceptable in light of the length and nature of the story.

I really enjoyed the light tone and writing of this book. The presentation of the story and the mystery were both compelling and easily accessible for young readers. I didn’t initially know that this was the first book in a series. The book ends with a nice conclusion that wraps up a lot of the core mysteries and issues with the story but it also opens up a compelling new plot that I’m genuinely interested in following up in the next book. Overall, this is a nice, light read with slightly deeper themes and ideas lingering just below the surface.


3 out of 5 stars



View all of my reviews on Goodreads.com

Book Review - At First Light

I received a free copy of At First Light as a gift in exchange for an honest review. The adventure premise of the book was compelling enough for me to accept though I must say that even just reading the initial book summary I was a bit concerned as to the quality and nature of the novel. At First Light is an ambitious story that, in my opinion, tries to do too much all at once. The book bounces between two distinct story lines for the first half (or more?) of the book with nothing to link the two other than the knowledge from the synopsis that they will intersect at some point.

Plot one focuses on Jesse and his adrenaline-addict style life. He races his motorcycle up and down mountain roads and around blind turns just to get his blood rising. He’s dissatisfied with his life as a construction foreman and recklessly bounces around the site Parkour style trying to bring some excitement to the job. After the “last straw” on the job site, he sets off aimlessly on his motorcycle and randomly stops at a roadside diner in the middle of the lumber harvesting mountains of British Columbia. He narrowly avoids a fight, talks himself into a job and stumbles across a pair of other adrenaline seekers…this time in the form of hang gliders looking to use the science of air flow to take the ultimate flight. His engineering skills come in handy as he devises the best way to use the current and fly the peaks.

Plot two happens simultaneously and focuses on Piper, a young woman from a family with two much money. In an effort to make a statement to her parents, Piper has run off to South America and is hiding out in the city of Manaus. One morning she stumbles across a child tied to a post and being sold on the street like livestock. Piper is enraged and tries to stop the sale. The natives laugh at her and try to conclude their business. Fortunately for Piper, she has plenty of money so she goes ahead and buys the girl. She takes the girl into her hotel room, cleans her up and feeds her. Then Piper decides to turn the event into her own personal crusade and sets out to find a way to reunite the young girl with her family. Piper hires a boat and sails up the Amazon in search of the native tribe. She learns that the tribe not only has trouble with slavery but also with the ultra-violent leader of a neighboring tribe. Turns out this guy is sadistic and evil and has methodically murdered all of the men and works to maintain his power and influence by spewing terror around the area.

These two plots bounce back and forth for a while, moving between one another every few chapters. Each story was interesting but without being directly connected, the alternating from one to another was distracting and felt disjointed. It also felt like each story potentially suffered from full and proper development because of the need to keep each story balanced against the other. Thus instead of two separate, distinct fully alive stories, I found myself reading two stories trying to mesh their tone and feel against one another. The result felt less than satisfying.

The latest in my irregular blog updates

Row, row, row your blog, gently through the Interwebs.

So it’s been another couple of months since my last posts. Real life just keeps getting in the way of fun hobbies and pastimes. Sorry about that.

Here’s a 30 second list of highlights and lowlights since my last posts:

• Youngest child turns 10 years old amid some celebration…but sadly we’ve still been too busy to have a birthday party for her (though she did just get a cool new bed and a fresh coat of paint in her bedroom)
• Oldest son hospitalized with RSV and Pneumonia compounded with crazy Allergy and Asthma flare up
• I spent a couple of days learning new games and just solidly board gaming at SaltCon (Northern Utah’s board game convention)
• Celebrated my two boys earning their next rank advancements in Boy Scouts
• Watched a bunch of “end of school year” programs and concerts as my kids finished up another successful year of classes
• Enjoyed the fun art at our city’s “chalk art festival”
• Reveled in the joy of years gone by at the Utah Renaissance Festival
• Hiked around the foothills of our community
• Took the boys out for our annual community Father and Sons campout
• Repaired a bunch of sprinkler heads and otherwise started cleaning up the yard for summer
• Watched highlights of the road to the World Cup…Goooooooalll!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!