JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.

When I started this book, I wanted to read it as if I were a non-fantasy-reader. Since Game of Thrones became such a phenomenon, more people are opening themselves up to the genre, and it’s easy for me – a huge reader of fantasy – to read Assassin’s Apprentice and review it based on how well it utilises the conventions of fantasy fiction. But this novel, which is the first in a trilogy, has the abilty to engage all readers, even those who aren’t familiar with the genre.

Assassin’s Apprentice is fast-paced and interesting, and the first person narration is believable and realistic. And the journeying in the story doesn’t take 50,000 pages, which is usually what frustrates me about fantasy fiction (*cough* The Queen of the Tearling *cough*). Robin Hobb reveals enough about the world and the characters for the reader to understand the story, but not too much where the reader is going to feel fatigued by the excess information. I assume that Robin reveals more to the reader in the second and third novels in this trilogy.

Robin Hobb’s writing is fluid, and events seem to flow from each other in a natural sequence. There are no disjointed events or conversations that have the reader confused and flicking back through an earlier chapter. Fitz’s motivations and doubts are seen through his actions, not through telling. This is hard to accomplish, especially since fantasy authors have so much information to write down and it’s tempting for them to simply tell the reader things instead of showing them.

What I loved about the main character, Fitz, is that although he’s brave and intelligent, he’s also extremely flawed. His relationships with the other characters are sometimes misguided, or he says or does things that the reader might not understand or agree with. And because he’s flawed, the reader sympathises and engages with him on a greater scale.

My Score: 8/10
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Half the World (Shattered Sea #2) by Joe Abercrombie

Sometimes a girl is touched by Mother War.
Thorn is such a girl. Desperate to avenge her dead father, she lives to fight. But she has been named a murderer by the very man who trained her to kill.

Sometimes a woman becomes a warrior.
She finds herself caught up in the schemes of Father Yarvi, Gettland’s deeply cunning minister. Crossing half the world to find allies against the ruthless High King, she learns harsh lessons of blood and deceit.

Sometimes a warrior becomes a weapon.
Beside her on the journey is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill, a failure in his eyes and hers, but with one chance at redemption.

And weapons are made for one purpose.
Will Thorn forever be a pawn in the hands of the powerful, or can she carve her own path?

Half the World is more interesting and less cliché than the first book, Half a King. This book isn’t told from Yarvi’s point of view anymore. Although Yarvi is in the book, the main character (Thorn) is female, which I feel is rare in fantasy fiction, and she’s a badass son of a *****. She has some witty lines, come backs, and she’s confident. Thorn matures and strengthens her skills over the course of this novel, and Joe Abercrombie has written that gradual growth effectively. At times, she’s weak, and at other times, she’s strong. This sounds like a funny thing to comment on, but it’s easy for a writer to put a strong female character in a novel who doesn’t have any weaknesses. And that’s not believable. Thorn sometimes says this she shouldn’t and sometimes she’s overconfident. At times, this sets her back, believably so.

And this is what’s great about the Shattered Sea novels – all of the characters are flawed and sometimes deformed. Yarvi is half a king, and the other main character, Brand, is the opposite of Thorn. He doubts himself and he’s not a warrior. Over the course of the novel, he develops feelings for Thorn, and at first I thought this a little strange. I didn’t sense an attraction there in the first third of the novel. And then at the end of the novel when they…you know…I seemed a little jarred from it. It didn’t seem organic to have a sex scene between them in this novel.

This book felt like a lot of travel/journey to me, and although a lot of unexpected events occurred, it definitely felt like the novel was in place just to set things up to happen in the final novel, Half a War (due out in August 2015). I think Half the World, which is 500 pages, could’ve been trimmed down a bit. It definitely jumps between the characters a little too often.

I would recommend this to fiction and fantasy lovers, but make sure you read the first in the trilogy.

My Score: 8/10
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The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic… forever.

Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined — animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.

An Excisioner — a practitioner of dark, flesh magic — invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

First of all, the cover is amazing. However, I still don’t quite know what to think of this novel. I liked the idea and I liked the magic/folding, but I don’t think the development of the story was quite what it could have been.

Let’s start off with what the positives of the novel. Ceony is insightful and mature (at most points in the novel), and the romance in the novel is very subtle. It’s not shoved down your throat like a lot of other YA/Fantasy novels. Also, the novel is set in a location that seems very excluded from the rest of the world. This is great, and it makes the protagonist seem isolated and lost. The magic in the novel is unique and interesting and the flashbacks about Magician Thane’s earlier life really add depth to his character.

About halfway through the novel, the main character becomes trapped inside Thane’s heart. I’ll admit, this is a little strange. At first I thought I’d just roll with it, but the idea of her walking through the chambers of his heart, trying to get out, is kind of creepy. And it doesn’t really make sense in relation to the rest of the novel.

I mentioned above that the romance in the novel is subtle, but there are some flaws to it. When Magician Thane first came into the story, I imagined a Dumbledore-ish man. Maybe it’s because of the magician thing, but then I realised he’s actually in his thirties and the main character (who is early twenties) falls in love with him? This didn’t seem real. She didn’t get to spend much actual, face to face time to Magician Thane, and falls in love with him too quickly. Oh and I just can’t get past one part in the novel. When Magician Thane’s heart is ripped out of his chest, Ceony is distraught, and she yells out “You’re too nice to die!”

I think I’ll leave this review at that.

I’d recommend this book to YA lovers, not fantasy lovers. This is book #1 in The Paper Magician Trilogy.

My Score: 7/10
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Half a King (Shattered Sea #1) by Joe Abercrombie

I swore an oath to be avenged on the killers of my father. I may be half a man, but I swore a whole oath
Prince Yarvi has vowed to regain a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea itself. And he must do it all with only one good hand.

The deceived will become the deceiver
Born a weakling in the eyes of his father, Yarvi is alone in a world where a strong arm and a cold heart rule. He cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he must sharpen his mind to a deadly edge.

The betrayed will become the betrayer
Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast and the lost, he finds they can do more to help him become the man he needs to be than any court of nobles could.

Will the usurped become the usurper?
But even with loyal friends at his side, Yarvi’s path may end as it began – in twists, and traps and tragedy…

Finally! A fantasy book that isn’t too heavy. I love the fantasy genre, but sometimes a journey doesn’t need to take 200 pages, nor does the description of lineage. And Joe Abercrombie’s Half a King is just over 300 pages, and is fast-paced and easy to read.

When I say ‘easy to read’, I mean that the story isn’t bogged down with too much description and detail, the main character is three dimensional and therefore relatable, and the events that occur in the novel are realistic and believable. Yarvi isn’t the most handsome or skilled protagonist, and that’s what makes the reader sympathetic towards him. We (the reader) are subjected to his thoughts, doubts and his insecurities, and we keep reading the book because of it.

Joe has written the crowded scenes well – when I say ‘crowded’ I mean scenes with around ten characters in it (also known as Yarvi’s oar buddies when he’s a slave on a ship). As a writer, it’s hard to capture ten different voices and make them stand out to the reader. It’s easy to overcomplicate the exchanges and have the reader confused and desperately flicking back and forth through the pages trying to understand who is saying what. I have great respect to Joe for being able to write those scenes in an easy-to-read way.

There is one negative thing I’ll note about the book. Sometimes the point of view jumps into other heads, which is unnecessary. Although the book is written in third person, it’s mostly focused on Yarvi, so we come to understand his thoughts and feelings. However, occasionally, other characters will be focused on and a sentence or two about their feelings will be featured. This jolts the reader a little and makes them detract themselves from the book.

I’d recommend this book not just for fantasy readers, but for YA readers as well. It’s amazing, and deserves a 10/10 rating. I look forward to reading the second in the series, Half the World (coming out in February 2015).

My Score: 10/10
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The Girl of Fire and Thorns (Fire and Thorns #1) by Rae Carson

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young. Most of the chosen do.

Firstly, I love that the main character is unlike most fantasy protagonists. She’s not beautiful and longed for. She’s actually severely overweight, insecure, and has a problem with overeating (which sounds a little funny now that I say this out aloud). It’s refreshing to have a main character who is unsure of herself and really doesn’t seem like a hero; although, the reader is told this only 50,000 times.

There’s a lot of telling in this novel. Elisa doesn’t believe herself to be worthy of her Godstone, and she makes it known to the reader whenever she can. And then even when she becomes this ‘hero’ she doubts herself to be, she still has insecurities and likes to tell the reader about them.

Let’s quickly talk about the weight issue, because at times, Elisa is the most unrealistic overweight girl I’ve encountered (in reality or in a book). There’s no indication of why she overeats. It seems she does it because she thinks she should (aka the author wants her to), not because she can’t stop. And then the only thing that stops her and helps her lose weight is because she’s kidnapped and forced not to eat her usual rations of food. And let’s not forget the fact that she doesn’t become a ‘hero’ until after she’s thinner and much prettier.

I did like the romance in the story – it was subtle and on the side and it was nice to have a fantasy novel with only a hint of romance. Since this book is also classed as YA, it would’ve been easy for the author to have the romance between Elisa and one of her captors as a central part of the story. But it wasn’t, and I applaud Rae Carson for that.

The best part about this story is the plot and the pace; the world-building is believable and Rae reveals just enough to make us want more, but leaves enough to our imagination so that we want to keep reading the series to find out what happens to all the characters.

I recommend this novel to fantasy and YA readers who are looking for plot and not for character development and/or character believability.

My Score: 7/10
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