Star of the Morning - Lynn Kurland

Oh, this book. I don't choose favorites, but if I did, I'm pretty sure this would be it. It's got everything. EVERYTHING. Perilous quests, mysterious pasts, and a hefty helping of romance, all written with an underappreciated tinge of humor. And the main character is a sassy, sword-wielding shieldmaiden that relies only on her skills to get by. What more could you want?

Morgan of Melksham has no tolerance for magic. As someone who grew up with a sword in hand, finger waggling mutterers simply have no place in her life. Morgan was taken in by a kind-hearted old man who ran an orphanage after a group of mercenaries found her abandoned in an evil forest. As she grew, her swordplay improved; this was helped considerably by a stint on the other side of the island, home to a tower where only the most desperate go to train and only the most determined make it out with the mark of one who has completed training. Morgan was one of these determined individuals, and after leaving the tower, she became a blade for hire, settling petty disputes between neighboring lords and taking on sieges. This all changed when she received a mysterious summons from the man who had raised her and given her a home. Abandoning her current siege, she returns to the orphanage to find its lord waiting for her with a dangerous quest: the king of Neroche has lost his magic, his borders are being invaded by foul creatures, and an enspelled dagger might be able to help him. Morgan is tasked with bearing the knife to Neroche.

Meanwhile in Neroche, King Adhemar is seeking a way to compensate for the unexplained loss of his powers; one minute he was fighting and his sword was responding to the magic in his blood, and the next thing you know, the magelight went out and he found himself powerless. His younger brother and the archmage of the realm, Miach, suggests finding a wielder for the magic sword that has hung in the castle for centuries. With the help of the wielder, they would be able to beat back the creatures that were overrunning the borders. Adhemar leaves Neroche and travels incognito in search of this wielder. Along the way, he runs into Morgan, who promptly knocks him out and steals his best pair of socks in payment for following her. The two are met by a few of Morgan's mercenary friends, and they end up traveling together. Back in Neroche, Miach hasn't received any messages from Adhemar, so he decides to check in himself and see what's happening. Searching for them proves harder than he expected, but he sees the magelight of the sword and is able to follow it. Upon arrival, he discovers that it was not Adhemar who called the magic, but Morgan, a seemingly insignificant wench from a backwater island. Morgan, who is very seasick from the trip across the ocean, refuses to acknowledge that she summoned the magic.

Miach decides to stay for a while, not only to assist in the search, but also so he can be close to Morgan, who he finds himself drawn to despite her rough nature. As the group draws closer to Neroche, so do Miach and Morgan. Disguising his true identity under the pretense of being a farmer, he helps Morgan as she struggles with the realization that she has magic in her blood. Along the way, he realizes that there is more to Morgan than there seems, and he eventually realizes that she is the one that Neroche needs to wield the sword. He hides this information from Adhemar and Morgan, afraid that the woman he has come to love will become nothing more than a pet to the crown. Miach has to decide which is more important: his duty or his heart. However, once they reach Neroche, everything will come out, one way or another. In the interest of not spoiling the ending, I'll leave it at that.

Pros:

• Star of the Morning has virtually every characteristic you could want in a book
• Never a dull moment
• Strong female lead

Cons:

• The rather abrupt ending always leaves me feeling like I'm missing something
• Somewhere along the way, it seems like the focus goes away from the quest to Neroche and becomes a series of smaller plots
• This storyline degrades a little as the series goes on

Stone Rider - David Hofmeyr

Welcome to Blackwater, one of the many poor towns struggling to get by. The air is slowly killing everyone, and the only way out is Sky-Base, a luxurious fortress in the sky where the only thing you have to worry about is what you should order for your next meal. It's not easy to get there, though. The answer lies in the bykes, futuristic mounts that are passed down through generations of families while collecting imprints of each rider's consciousness. Winning byke races gets you base points, and once you get enough, you are granted access to Sky-Base. Racing comes at a cost, though; most of them are dangerous and have high fatality rates, but the racers will do anything to get off the ground. Most of them form tribes to increase their chances of survival, all of them with different traits meant to identify them.

Adam lives with his brother in Blackwater, helping to support the household since the race that took his brother's leg. He saves up his money in the hopes of entering the Blackwater Trail, the toughest race out of them all. He has a major crush on the local byke mechanic, Sadie, but he's too scared to do anything about it. Everything changes when a mysterious rider, Kane, shows up in town. Impressed with each other's skills, the two boys hit it off, but they attract the attention of a local tribe. When tragedy results, Adam has no choice but to enter the Blackwater Trail. Despite his plans to race alone, he ends up joining forces with Kane and, eventually, Sadie. Together, they struggle against the forces of nature and the conniving minds at Sky-Base. Along the way, they learn more about themselves and each other, but there can only be one winner.

First off, let me say that this did not seem like my type of book. Based on the blurb on the back cover, it seemed like the author was trying to take an old concept (bikes) and turn it into some futuristic concept (bykes that interface with the user so they work together and ride better). This did not seem particularly appealing to me, but since it came in my book subscription box, I felt I at least had to try it out. Starting off, it was pretty slow. I can usually orient myself pretty well as to where a story is taking place, but the only thing I pulled from the opening chapters was that poor people lived on the ground in a western-style community (with bykes instead of horses and slingshots instead of guns) and rich people lived at something called Sky-Base. Making the assumption that Adam would be taking part in the big race, I kept reading in the hopes that it would all clear up then. Boy, did it ever! And I didn't even have to wait until the actual race started. A few chapters before race day, things really start heating up. The rest of the book kept my attention really well. There was a lot more action and I knew where things stood a little better. At the risk of sounding repetitive, I was yet again reminded me of the Hunger Games. The authority figures in Blackwater and on Sky-Base all bet on the riders and see the races as a huge game. They even rig the trail for optimum action, much like the Gamemakers.

 Overall, it was an okay read. It's not one that I'll beg friends to read, but it was pretty interesting once I figured out what was going on. Happy reading!

Pros:

• A "can't-put-it-down" read once you get to the race
• Good character development
• Has a lot of different dynamic elements to capture your attention

Cons: 

• Fair bit of language
• One fairly graphic scene between Sadie and Adam
• Really slow start

The Walled City - Ryan Graudin

Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife. These are the three rules you follow if you want to survive in Hak Nam, the Walled City where everything goes. Prostitutes, drug lords, murderers, thieves, and society's worst all make their homes in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods, away from the watchful eyes of the main city's law enforcement. But it's not just criminals who live in Hak Nam.

Based on a real place, the Walled City follows three young people who struggle to survive within the city's boundaries. Mei Yee was sold by her father and taken from her home to a brothel owned by the most notorious drug lord in the city, Longwai. There, she catches the eye of a wealthy client from the main city. He offers her the chance to get away from the brothel, but recent events give her mixed feelings about leaving. Jin Ling lives in Hak Nam as she desperately searches for her sister in every brothel she comes across. Forced to disguise herself as a boy to avoid scrutiny, Jin picks up the skills necessary to survive in Hak Nam and the enemies to use them on. Her inability to check Longwai's brothel on her own leads her to break one of the rules and work with a boy that says he can help. Dai is in Hak Nam after being accused of a triple murder in the main city. To avoid arrest, he flees to the Walled City for sanctuary while his family tries to clear his name. While there, he runs errands as a drug boy to collect information that could get him pardoned in the main city, but he is running out of time to complete his mission. When he tries to infiltrate Longwai's brothel, he takes on Jin as a partner to increase his chances of success. As the clock winds down for the Walled City, the three main characters are drawn together in a desperate struggle for survival.

This book had a lot of parallels to the Hunger Games, but it's very intense; there's no funny Capitol people to break up the violence of the arena and no reprieve from the madness in the city. Mei Yee's forced prostitution, and that of all of the girls she lives with in the brothel, is disturbing at best. Despite its intensity, I could hardly put the Walled City down, especially knowing that it's based on a real place. I stayed up long into the night reading to the end because I just had to know what happened. If you're looking for a read that's in your comfort zone, this probably isn't for you. If, however, you're interested in reading about the gritty struggle to escape a horrible life and the choices that came with it, you might try this novel.

Pros:

• Intense, non-stop action keeps you interested
• Historical storyline based on the Kowloon Walled City
• Well-developed characters

Cons:

• Language
• Intense, non-stop action might be a little much for some readers
• Mei Yee's situation (including sexual abuse) is definitely intense for young readers

If you prefer watching the book trailer, here it is.

Eragon - Christopher Paolini

Most people recognize Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings as popular fantasy series, but I think it's safe to say that many of those same people have no idea what Eragon is. In fact, the few times I've mentioned Eragon in a conversation, the reply has been "isn't that the ranger from Lord of the Rings?" This is usually followed by an outraged explanation of the difference between the two and a soliloquy on why Eragon should be teleported to the top of the individual's reading stack. Giving said soliloquies gets tiring after a while, which is why I'm making my very first post about this underestimated series. If you really don't want to read the full summary and analysis, skip all the way to the bottom for the handy dandy bullet list of pros and cons.

First, some background. The story is set in the mythical land of Alagaësia, a place where Dragon Riders once ruled. One of them, Galbatorix, gained power and betrayed them all, killing those who were in opposition and eventually becoming the King. This betrayal came about after the death of his dragon, which pushed him to the brink of insanity because of the severance of the bond between dragon and rider. When the story starts, Galbatorix is ruling the land with an iron fist and trying to get his grubby mitts on the few remaining dragon eggs so he can control the riders they hatch for and cause even more mayhem. A group of rebels, the Varden, does its best to overthrow his tyranny, but isn't very effective because of the lack of resources.

Okay, enough background and on to the storyline. Eragon, the main character of the series, is a farm boy who lives with his uncle and cousin in a small town in the middle of nowhere. During a hunting trip, he comes into contact with a mysterious stone. Hoping to make a buck or two, he takes it home but is shocked to discover that it's actually one of the only remaining dragon eggs. The egg brings all sorts of unwanted attention to the little town, and the end result is that Eragon leaves his home with the now-hatched dragon in search of the Varden. He travels with Brom, a gruff storyteller who works on training Eragon to be the next Dragon Rider. Galbatorix, of course, is not horribly keen on having an independent Rider, so he sends out various assailants to try to stop their progress. Permanently, if you know what I mean. Their travels take them across the length and breadth of Alagaësia as they race to reach the Varden. In the interest of not completely ruining the story for you, I'm not going to give any specifics past this point. Suffice it to say that there's lots of magic, fighting, and tragedy, exactly what you'd expect from a good fantasy novel. Hopefully, this is enough to convince you to give her a go.

In terms of how it reads, it falls right between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. It's not as tedious to read as Lord of the Rings and it's not as easy as Harry Potter. If you aren't following what's going on, it's not hard to get lost in all of the name-dropping. Because of that, I'd say the age range starts in the teens and goes up indefinitely. 

I would be remiss in my duties as an honest blogger if I ignored the movie, as much as I would like to. I'm sure you've heard the expression "the book was better", and if you hadn't before, you have now. I'm sad to say that Eragon is the ultimate setup for "the book was better" complaints. It's not that they changed most of the major characters from their bookish selves (at least the ones they didn't completely eliminate), or that they totally changed the plot, or the absolutely horrifying simplification of an amazingly complex journey. I'm just joking, it actually is all those things. I can think of exactly one scene in the entire movie that went according to the book, and it was only about 30 seconds long. I was more disappointed than when I found out that Peeves wasn't in the Harry Potter movies and Tom Bombadil got cut from LOTR. I've found that the easiest way to deal with it is to pretend it's a standalone movie with no connection to the book. If you are interested in the movie, here's the trailer.



And, as promised, here's the summary of my summary.

Pros:

• HERE THERE BE DRAGONS!
• Intriguing and well-executed storyline
• Character development

Cons:

•  With so much name-dropping, it's not too hard to get confused by plot progression
• Does the movie count? No, seriously. 
• Did I mention the movie? 

This is one of my favorite series, and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Happy reading!