Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb

Title: Dragon Haven

Author: Robin Hobb 
Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Yes. Volume Two of The Rain Wilds Chronicles 
Copyright:  2010

Publisher: Eos trademark of HarperCollins Publishers

Rating: 4 out of 5


Summary:  from Good Reads.

Fifteen dragons have set off on a dangerous trek up the Rain Wild River, in hopes of rediscovering their lost haven, the ancient city of Kelsingra. Accompanying them are a disparate group of rejects from Rain Wild society, including strong and defiant young Thymara; wealthy dragon scholar and Trader's wife Alise; and her companion, the urbane Sedric. These human keepers yearn also to create a new home where they can decide their own fate. But is Kelsingra real or merely a fragment of a glorified past buried deep in the dragons' shared memories?

As they forge ever-deeper into uncharted wilderness, starvation, flashfloods, and predators imperil them all. But as dragons and humans alike soon learn, the most savage threats come from within their own company . . . 

Feelings: 
I enjoyed reading this book and thought it did a really good job continuing the story. The first book didn't really have an ending as most books would even in a series  but it felt more like the end of a chapter. This book did the same thing.

In this book as in the other book there were letters between the Keepers of Birds Detozi and Erek written on messages sent between the cities of Bringtown and Trehaug. At first I found them almost an annoyance but I really enjoyed them in this book. They are a second story in the story of getting the dragons to Kelsingra.

The development of characters in this made the keepers and the dragons into individual characters that seemed fuller than in the first book. Most of the keepers of the dragons began changing from proximity to the dragons as well as the dragons shaping them to become Elderlings. This creates tensions both among the keepers and the dragons. Do the dragons remember what to do? Do the keepers want to become Elderlings? The connects between the keepers and the dragons has grown stronger but both will be changed as a result.

Dangers environmental and within must be face if the journey is to be successful.

I really enjoyed reading this book and will be reading the next in the series. I expected Robin Hobb to be more of a pop them out as fast as possible at the detriment to the story kind of fantasy writer but these have been really enjoyable to read and the characters and story are well developed. I would recommend this series to those that enjoy fantasy with strong women characters.

Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb

Title: Dragon Keeper
Author: Robin Hobb
Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Volume One of The Rain Wilds Chronicles 
Copyright: 2010
Publisher: EOS an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Rating: 4 to 5


Summary:  from Good Reads.
Enter the spellbinding world of dragons . . . and those who tend them

One of the most gifted fantasy authors writing today, "New York Times" bestselling author Robin Hobb has dazzled readers with brilliantly imaginative, emotionally resonant, and compulsively readable tales set in far-flung realms not unlike our own. In this enthralling new novel, she returns to the territory of her beloved Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies with a story of dragons and humans, return and rebirth, and the search for meaning, belonging, and home.

For years, the Trader cities valiantly battled their enemies, the Chalcedeans. But they could not have staved off invasion without the powerful dragon Tintaglia. In return, the Traders promised to help her serpents migrate up the Rain Wild River after a long exile at sea--to find a safe haven and, Tintaglia hopes, to restore her species. But too much time has passed, and the newly hatched dragons are damaged and weak, and many die. The few who survive cannot use their wings; earthbound, they are powerless to hunt and vulnerable to human predators willing to kill them for the fabled healing powers of dragon flesh.

But Tintaglia has vanished and the Traders are weary of the labor and expense of tending useless dragons. The Trader leadership fears that if it stops providing for the young dragons, the hungry and neglected creatures will rampage--or die along the river's acidic muddy banks. To avert catastrophe, the dragons decree a move even farther up the treacherous river to Kelsingra, their ancient, mythical homeland whose mysterious location is locked deep within the dragons' uncertain ancestral memories.

To ensure their safe passage, the Traders recruit a disparate group of young people to care for the damaged creatures and escort them to their new home. Among them is Thymara, an unschooled forest girl of sixteen, and Alise, a wealthy Trader's wife trapped in a loveless marriage, who attaches herself to the expedition as a dragon expert. The two women share a deep kinship with the dragons: Thymara can instinctively communicate with them, and Alise, captivated by their beauty and majesty, has devoted her life to studying them.

Embarking on an arduous journey that holds no promise of return, the band of humans and dragons must make their way along the toxic and inhospitable Rain Wild River--an extraordinary odyssey that will teach them lessons about themselves and one another, as they experience hardships, betrayals, and joys beyond their wildest dreams.

Feelings:
Someone suggested I read one of Robin Hobb's books. I can't remember who at the moment just that when I went to look her up I almost wrote her off as another generic writer of Fantasy. I think the suggestion was for a different series but the library didn't have that so I thought I would give Dragon Keeper a try and see if I liked it. I did. I enjoyed the characters in the book and the dragons have their own personality as well.

When I first started it and there was a Cast of Characters at the beginning I wondered what I was getting into and if I should stop there. I don't really think it was needed but it was nice occasionally to look back at to remind myself of who someone was. Not every character is included nor all the characters include major characters.

The dragon below Thymara was still tearing sticky strips of wizardwood from her case and devouring them. A gray swathe of it stuck to her muzzle. She pawed at it with the small claws on her stubby front leg. To Thymara, she looked like a baby with porridge smeared on its cheeks and hair. (p.31)

This is the first real introduction to the new dragons around which the story will take place and one of our main human characters, Thymara. The dragons while they should be dangerous are not described as such and this is just the beginning of the troubles the Rain Wilders must undergo to care for them. Thymara is not a normal human and because she is more touched by the Rain Wilds at birth than others she is an outcast to everyone except her father.

Her father had black nails. ... Sometimes it seemed such a small difference to her, that her father had been born with black nails on his hands and feet and that she had been born with claws, like a lizard. Such a small difference on which to base a life-or-death decision. (p. 39)

Captain Leftrin is the owner and captain of the liveship Tarman. The Tarman, a barge, is one of the fastest and oldest wizardwood ships. Because of this it is not hurt by the acid waters of Rain Wild River when other ships are.

Alise a Bingtown woman who has given herself up on marriage and decided to become a scholar on Dragons and Elderlings. When Alise is married it is unexpected and she is upset by her new husbands lack of interest in her and his unwillingness to let her go to study the Dragons.

"Dear husband, do you infer that I am not 'well-bred'? For I would agree with you. Some women of my acquaintance would think me absolutely 'unbred' were I to share the details of our private life with them." .... "You would not do that." ... "It would be easiest not to do that if I were away from my usual companions. If, for instance, I went off on a journey to the Rain Winds, to observe the dragons." (p.185)

For most of the book Alise is timid but she does learn grow as the story progresses. All of the characters do to some extent.  This is not a complex book. The setting takes a little getting used to as do all of the different character stories. However, it is all intertwined and done well.

My one complaint is that he book doesn't really have an ending. Be warned if you decide to pick up this book and read it the ending is more like the end of the chapter than the end of the book. Maybe that is why it is considered volumes.

Phantom Hearts Part 1: Bound by Chris Michaels and Reema Farra

Title: Phantom Hearts Part 1: Bound 
Author: Chris Michaels and Reema Farra 
Type: Young Adult Novel in 4 Parts
Genre: Steampunk fantasy
Series: Yes, four parts 
Pages: 107
Copyright: 2012 
Publisher: Darke Media Group 
Rating: 3 out of 5


Reviewer's copy provided by the author.

Summary: from Amazon

“Jason?” Her legs gave way.

There was no denying it anymore. No telling herself someone else had been shot down.

“Jason, you promised.” Her voice cracked. “You said forever.”


Airships, tanks and clockwork automatons chew through the Ilsa, threatening the balance between science and sorcery. Takers of the Dead clear more and more bodies. The Grey Wolves hunt anyone using Majick.

Hannah doesn’t care about anything besides Jason, her forbidden lover. Though she is a slave, and he an Ilsan noble, they meet at night and dream of the time they can run away together. Then the news comes. Hannah refuses to believe it. When she sneaks into his funeral, Hannah is unknowingly plunged into whirlwind of black-market majick and rogue spies. Then she meets Travis, a stranger with dark secrets, who promises to lead her to a secret cult of necromancers where she can bring Jason back.

In this steampunk-fantasy told in pictures and words, Hannah Blue will follow Travis anywhere, do anything, pay any price to find the outlawed majick to be with Jason again.

Feelings:
This is the first book published by Darke Media Group. I think they have some bold ideas and are definitely worth watching. Whether they do well or not will, in my opinion, depend on the quality of work they create. Phantom Hearts Part 1: Bound is a good start but I'm not sure it is good enough to create the kind of hype they need.

Phantom Hearts Part 1: Bound is marketed as an interactive book and to a certain extent it is. I was expecting something a little like a graphic novel when I first read about it. However, it wasn't like that at all. The interactive aspect is where I think the book was weakest. I should note that this is not a book you take to read someplace you don't have Internet because you need Internet for the interactive part of the book.

Phantom Hearts is a young adult (ya) fantasy told in pictures and words with special bonus features. When you purchase the ebook parts 1-4 or the full length novel called the special edition, you'll find bonus codes scattered throughout the story. These codes take you to things like secret majick lessons, extra chapters and a hidden codex. (Phantom Hearts' website)

From this description I would expect short videos, images and many other things. There was one video and to me it wasn't all that exciting. The majick lesson looked like an image that was filmed and zoomed in and out of while someone talked. I know they are working on a tight budget but I expected more videos than just the one but maybe Parts 2-4 will have more. There was an added short story about one of the characters which switched the point of view to first person which was a little hard to get used to after reading the rest in third person. Most of the additional media was a history of the world and important figures where the story is set. I did find this interesting, but the editing of the additional media was not as strong as for book itself.

Phantom Hearts Part 1: Bound could have easily stood on its own without all the additional interactive parts of the story. Some of the history might need to be incorporated into the story but then it could stand alone. This is not to say that I think it should be a stand alone book. The interactive part is what makes Darke Media Group an interesting new idea. I just think that part needs to be strengthened. There were not as many images in the book as I expected. I expected from the beginning of the book that the text would have have small images included on almost every page. This was not the case. After the opening there were a few whole page images but not any small images in the text. It would have benefited from having more small images as well as whole page images.

The story itself was enjoyable to read and followed three very different characters:

1. Hannah Blue is a slave and a Taker of the Dead, she sorts the dead and wounded on the battlefield.
2. Jason Everette is the son of a general and is from an important family in Isla. He is rebellious and does not want to continue the family traditions in government.
3. Marrissa Cabbot is part of the elite arm of the Republican Guard, the Grey Wolves. She is a hunter of those that use majick. Cabbot lets nothing stand in her way as a soldier.

These three characters have a slight connection but not as much as I would have expected having it switch between their perspectives. I was willing to let that go as in the next parts I expect the connection to be developed.

The story is the strongest part of Phantom Hearts Part 1: Bound. The story is incomplete though so it waits to be seen as to whether or not it maintains its strength. I enjoyed reading this story. I think that it has potential to be a new form of media for story lovers. For those interested in reading this I would recommend waiting until the other parts are released. I have been told by the authors that this should be by the end of the year or early next year. I for one really don't like being stopped in the middle of a story.

I have rated this 3 out of 5 because I thought that the interactive parts were weak. I also found the whole page images to be not as bright as the images the story created. While I found them fun, I think they could have added more to the story. The small drawings seemed stronger than the whole page images and yet there were not any after the title pages. I did enjoy the story itself and would recommend this to readers for the story.

Origin by Jessica Khoury

Title: Origin
Author: Jessica Khoury
Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: No
Copyright: 2012
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary: from Good Reads
Pia has grown up in a secret laboratory hidden deep in the Amazon rain forest. She was raised by a team of scientists who have created her to be the start of a new immortal race. But on the night of her seventeenth birthday, Pia discovers a hole in the electric fence that surrounds her sterile home--and sneaks outside the compound for the first time in her life.

Free in the jungle, Pia meets Eio, a boy from a nearby village. Together, they embark on a race against time to discover the truth about Pia's origin--a truth with deadly consequences that will change their lives forever.

Origin is a beautifully told, shocking new way to look at an age-old desire: to live forever, no matter the cost.

Feelings: 
I think this novel brings up some really important questions about mortality and the cost of immortality. Is it worth being immortal if there is going to be no one with which you can share eternity? Is living forever always worth the cost of getting there? Is it worth loving if they grow old and you do not? These are all questions which Khoury addresses in her first novel. Without having spoilers it is hard to address this in more detail.

Pia is immortal and she has been told over and over again how she is perfect and that she will lead the team in creating a race of immortals the only problem is she doesn't know the cost of doing so. On her seventeenth birthday she ventures out of the compound she was born and raised in and never left. In the jungle she finds beauty and a human village which are very different from her. Eio a half native half westerner who was born in the village finds her in the jungle.

"I--it's my birthday. . . . I wanted to see the jungle. I've never been outside of Little Cam before. I wanted to feel what it was like to be outside in the wild."

"Are you a prisoner, Pia bird?"

"No," I say, startled.

"Why have you never left, then?"

"I--they say it's dangerous. Anacondas."

"Anacondas! I have killed an anaconda." (p.81)

This is from the scene where Pia and Eio first met. They collide while running through the jungle at night and Pia is left feeling startled and surprised. Eio is the first boy her age that she has met.

I really enjoyed reading this much more than I thought I was going to. I picked in up because I liked the cover and then when I realized it was first person I wasn't as interested. There were times where I think first person might have put us a little to close to Pia's emotions and moods because at times I wanted some distance from the moody teenager.

I would recommend this book mostly to girls and those interested in immortality.

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Lost Souls 
Author: Cassandra Clare 
Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy 
Series: The Mortal Instruments Book Five 
Copyright: 2012 
Publisher: Simon Pulse 
Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Summary: from Good Reads
What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other. As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. Darkness threatens to claim the Shadowhunters in the harrowing fifth book of the Mortal Instruments series.

Feelings:
I did think that after the fourth book I might stop reading because it seemed a little bit pointless to me. This book is better than the fourth in that there is really something that happens. I have yet to be convinced that the series should have been continued past the third book. I have a feeling that the reason the series has been continued is because Jace and Clary have yet to have sex. This is really the only logical reason I can come up with for it to be going into a sixth book.

This book wasn't all bad and it did bring in some new elements, Simon played a more important role in this story as did other characters besides Jace and Clary. I think the thing that helped this book the most was the fact that Jace and Clary were not the only characters that were the focus. Alec and Magnus had their own story happening as did Isabelle and Simon, Maia and Jordan, and to a smaller extent Luke and Jocelyn.

"The horrible vision of a drunk Isabelle waking up Jocelyn and Luke floated through Jordan's head. ... 'I think I'm changing my mind about you,' she said in a semi-threatening tone that would have been more frightening if she'd been able to focus her eyes on him directly. 'I don't think I like you so much after all.' She stood up, looked down at her feet with a surprised expression--and fell over backward. Only Jordan's quick reflexes allowed him to catch her before she hit the floor." (p. 135)

This may be one of the best senses in the book as it is very like Isabelle and very not like her to act like this.

Sebastian is back again in this book and he has taken Jace (Not a spoiler if the book description says it.) and they are connected in a way that Jace has lost his free will. It takes a while for them to show up in the book for the first part there is a lot of speculation about what is happening. I have to admit pretty easy to guess because if it wasn't the way it is there would be any story. Much of the book felt predictable, this isn't always a bad thing but in this case I'm not sure it is good. The end of this book is another cliff hanger. I'm wondering how many more books there are supposed to be because I don't know if I will read any more of them. When the next one is published I guess I will see then but I have a feeling that by that point I may have forgotten about the series.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Fallen Angels

Author: Cassandra Clare

Type: Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Mortal Instruments Book Four

Copyright: 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Rating: 2 out of 5

Summary: from Good Reads
The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She's training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And - most importantly of all - she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price.

Someone is murdering Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine's Circle, provoking tensions between Downworlders and Shadowhunters that could lead to a second bloody war. Clary's best friend, Simon, can't help her. His mother just found out that he's a vampire and now he's homeless. Everywhere he turns, someone wants him on their side - along with the power of the curse that's wrecking his life. And they're willing to do anything to get what they want. At the same time he's dating two beautiful, dangerous girls - neither of whom knows about the other one.

When Jace begins to pull away from Clary without explaining why, she is forced to delve into the heart of a mystery whose solution reveals her worst nightmare: She herself has set in motion a terrible chain of events that could lead to her losing everything she loves. Even Jace.

Love. Blood. Betrayal. Revenge. The stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

Feelings:
SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS
So we have a new bad guy, well sort of seeing as he is really dead and is only affecting Jace's dreams. I'm not really sure why we even need this book were the City of Glass ended was a very good ending for the series.

This book is mostly about the failure.

Simon as a vampire, yes that's right he suddenly finds himself in a position were girls like him and he doesn't know what to do. So he is dating Isabelle and Maia...seems like a bad idea anyway you look at it since they know each other. Just saying.

Jace and Clary as a couple...although still seems like maybe a little over done here.

Alec and Mangus as a couple. The past gets in the way here.

And there are human baby demons...little Sebastian's.

I really don't think this was a necessary addition to the books. I knew that Clare had left it open for more books when she didn't let them find Sebastian's dead body. But this book wasn't as strong as the other books in the series. It was lacking much of the build up that the other books had. There was foreshadowing...lots of it...but it wasn't as good as the past books. There was also a lack of action and change within characters. It all seemed a bit flat to me compared to the first three.

The romance seems to have been upped a bit in this book and Isabelle seems excellent at walking in on Jace and Clary. I would like to point out that Clary is 15 I think and she seems a little bit young to be having many of the emotions she is having. Just saying seems more like 17 or older.

"I'm sick of trying to pretend I can live without you. Don't you understand that? Can't you see it's killing me?" She stared at him. She could see he meant what he said, could see it in the eyes she knew as well as her own, in the bruised shadows under those eyes, the pulse pounding in his throat. Her desire for answers battled the more primal part of her brain, and lost. "Kiss me then," she whispered, and he pressed his mouth against hers, their hearts slamming together through the thin layers of wet fabric that divided them. (p187)

This is just one of many such sense where Clary and Jace are interrupted and he runs off without really telling her what is going on with him. In the bast books the characters seemed a bit more like adults but in this book it is very obvious that they aren't.

This book really begins where it ends and that is a sad thing because since that is the case it is a real cliff hanger...that is if you still care about the characters at this point.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Title: City of Glass

Author: Cassandra Clare

Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy

Series: The Mortal Instruments Book Three

Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary: from Good Reads
To save her mother’s life, Clary must travel to the City of Glass, the ancestral home of the Shadowhunters—never mind that entering the city without permission is against the Law, and breaking the Law could mean death. To make things worse, she learns that Jace does not want her there, and Simon has been thrown in prison by the Shadowhunters, who are deeply suspicious of a vampire who can withstand sunlight.

As Clary uncovers more about her family’s past, she finds an ally in mysterious Shadowhunter Sebastian. With Valentine mustering the full force of his power to destroy all Shadowhunters forever, their only chance to defeat him is to fight alongside their eternal enemies. But can Downworlders and Shadowhunters put aside their hatred to work together? While Jace realizes exactly how much he’s willing to risk for Clary, can she harness her newfound powers to help save the Glass City—whatever the cost?

Love is a mortal sin and the secrets of the past prove deadly as Clary and Jace face down Valentine in the third installment of bestselling series the Mortal Instruments.

Feelings:
I liked this book maybe more than the other books because Clary is more independent and she seems like stronger character. For a large part of the other two books Clary seemed helpless and in this she seems to be coming into herself and harnessing her individual power.

Many readers will be happy to see a resolution to the Clary Jace romance issue. Saying more would give away parts of the other books but I saw this as a moral problem that was a struggle for the characters all of them, and not something that was going to be easily resolved. If a reader was going to be grossed out and not read because of that then my guess is that you will not make it to this book but it is resolved in a satisfying way.

A new character Sebastian is introduced. There are many hits about him in here and anyone can pretty much guess who he is. This is how Clary describes seeing him for the first time.

She'd felt as if she'd walked around a corner in a strange city and suddenly seen her own brownstone looming up in front of her. A surprising and not entirely pleasant recognition, almost: How can this be here? (p. 175)

I'm not sure there is much more that can be said about Sebastian with out spoilers.

Valentine is at his best in this book although is isn't the biggest character and is discussed more than we actually see him in sense in the book.

 This book I feel like was stronger than the other two books maybe because this could have been the end of the series.