Books - A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle

And we join Meg, Calvin and Charles Wallace very shortly after they returned from their adventures in A Wrinkle in Time. This installment really had much more meat to it than the first outing and I have to say that I was pleased to see more climaxes in the book. Having three tasks to complete set it up to have three turning points in the story as opposed to the two that were in Wrinkle (though really the second one was much too short in the first book)

We get to experience some new friends and expand the personalities of Meg primarily and Calvin to a lesser degree. Meg really becomes a more likable character as she goes through this book with far less whining and more doing. It made me smile to follow a strong lead character. I look forward to the next installment.

256 Pages

Books - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

So as the story goes I was reading a post on slashdot and there was a reference to the tesseract. I read it but wasn't putting it into context but remembered that it came from a children's book. After a bit of googling and links on wikipedia I then knew the definition but couldn't remember how it played into the original book. I looked at the price of the book on Amazon for either paper or digital and just didn't want to pay $7 for a book that was so short. Luck would have it shortly there after we ended up at the local library for a cub scout meeting and they had a copy on the shelf.

What I have realized is that it really is a short book for children. As I rolled into page 150 or so and they had just gotten to the CENTRAL Central Intelligence building I was just getting into the build up of the story and it came to a really crashing halt at the end as I really wanted it to keep going and give me a bit more of the give and take of a more mature story. I admit that there are 4 more books in the series so everything didn't need to be wrapped up in this book but I would have loved to have more.

That being said she really did a wonderful job of creating interesting and deep characters. While they play to their stereotypes they have more depth than many modern characters. (yes I'm talking about you Bella and Edward) Amazingly she managed to paint a world that more so than not has stood up the the test of time. Instead of getting hung up on the technology of the day such that it feels dated after even a few years we have a story where the details are about the characters rather than the cell phone they carried or the particular gun the were packing, not that there were either in this book.

205 pages (Children's Hard Cover)

Books - Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter

320 Pages

Daily Snapshot Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Books - Blood Cross by Faith Hunter

It is an interesting twist with a much harder "who-done-it?" but with fewer twists. It did bring much more depth to the characters this go 'round. While the vampires do not 'change' during the book's time they do have the chance to tell more of the history and explain more how they ended up where they are. The action section at the end really was a nail bitter but at the same time I was left asking "why" a lot with Jane's actions. I accept that if your only tool is a hammer you look at everything as a nail. But in Jane's case while the hammer may be her biggest and best tool she does have a screwdriver and pliers in her toolbag that might be able to deal with the screw and bolt more effectively. I will just chock it up to the fact that she doesn't really sleep during most of this book and can't make good decisions.

336 Pages

Books - Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

This book was an interesting twist on the paranormal genera. It is typical for the supernaturals to be in hiding from the public or to be out in the open but to have the main character be a kind of supernatural that no one knows about and trying to keep that way while being so close to vampires that are totally out to the public was a new dynamic.

I will say that at times when the inner monologues happen it was a bit hard to read though that may have been due to the different formatting of the kindle ebook and would have looked better on paper and been more distinct. But baring that it was a very well put together "who done it?" with enough twists that you really don't know who it is until the moment the killer is unmasked.

336 pages