Out of the Silent Planet

Title: Out of the Silent Planet  (Space Trilogy, #1)

Author: C.S. Lewis

Summary:  Dr. Ransom, a philologist, is kidnapped by two men who truly deserve the title of "evil scientist":  Weston and Devine.  They take him to Malacandra, which is called Mars on the earth.  Weston and Devine have a philosophy of imperialism on a large scale, and they plan to annihilate the inhabitants of Malacandra to make room for humans.  The Oyarsa of Malacandra, who is the leader of Mars under Maleldil (an allegory for God), sent for Weston and Devine.  Weston and Devine, misunderstanding Oyarsa's gesture of friendship as an intention to use them for human sacrifices, left Malacandra and returned with Ransom to use for a sacrifice.  Ransom escapes and meets the hrossa, which are like seals, the sorns, huge herdsmen slightly reminiscent of Cyclops (but with both eyes), and the pfifltriggi (sp?), creatures dwarflike in their love of working metals.  

Stars: 9.  It was a little hard to work through, but I loved the description and new words.  I promise myself I will reread it later.  In the daytime.  

Violence: 6.  This is more of a thoughtful book, but they killed a sea monster (I forgot what it was called, but Ransom helped kill it, disobeying the eldil who spoke to him.)  

Romance: 6, for when Ransom and his hross friend discussed hross love (not in too much detail or with too much abandon, for it didn't go into the physicalities of it).  

Language: 0-1

Appropriate for:  Older teen/adult

Other: This was a good step up from The Chronicles of Narnia (I still like the story of the Chronicles better, but this was great too).  It contained more challenging vocabulary, more tangled allegory, and great description.  I had to look up no less than 15 words in the dictionary.  

Runemarks

Title: Runemarks

Author: Joanne Harris

Summary: Maddy Smith is a Fiery.  She has a rune, which allows her to do magic.  When she meets a wandering Fiery named One-Eye, she never guesses the truth.  When he sends her below ground to find a treasure called The Whisperer, she discovers Loki, one of the old Norse gods, and he tells her that old One-Eye is actually Odin, the head honcho.  At least, he was the head honcho before the big war.  Now the rest of the gods aren't fully on his side. Maddy and Loki, with the guidance of the Whisperer, venture to the Underworld, where the showdown will occur between Odin and the Nameless.  The Nameless turns out to be the most unexpected character of all.  

Stars:  4-5  

Violence: 7, because when the Nameless speaks, everyone's nose bleeds.  Also, a lot of battling and casting runes happens - which usually involves violence.    

Romance: 4.  Hel, goddess of the Underworld, trades Loki for Balder.  Originally, she had asked Loki to kill Balder so that she and Balder could be together in the Underworld.  (Evidently Balder was god of sunshine or something, so he was handsome.  But really . . . a handsome god named Balder?)  

Language:  4; it contained d--n and b-----d.  

Appropriate for: Young adults

Other: It was like Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid, what with all the glamours.  And I could draw a connection between runes and hieroglyphs.  

The world was almost confusingly complex.  One set of gods is confusing enough.  Two sets is just crazy.  Maybe the Norse gods were that numerous and befuddling originally.  Well, the author could have explained them better.  

This book seemed anti-Christian or something.  The titles of some of the antagonists were parsons and bishops (and this wasn't the kind of book where the "bad guy" is the protagonist, like Macbeth).  The Nameless, who was really, really, greedy and bad and terrible etc., was called the Ancient of Days.  The antagonist was the established church.  The church sometimes had communion, which was a black-magic connection of the entire church and the Nameless.  It's as if the author is saying that the church is bad.  And that makes me not so sure about this book.  

Beauty

Title: Beauty

Author: Robin McKinley

Summary: Beauty's father wanders into an enchanted castle, where he is shown hospitality.  As he leaves, he picks a rose for Beauty.  But the Beast, the owner of the castle, tells him that he must bring back his daughter to live with the Beast or else come back alone and die.  Beauty comes to live with the Beast and discovers that he is not what he seems.  When she agrees to marry him, he turns into a prince.  

Stars: 8.  I like books that retell familiar stories (fairy tales and Shakespeare, for example).  

Violence: 3 for when the Beast sends the horse off by smacking it on the flank with his claws.  He frightens the invisible servants with a roar so loud that it actually tumbles Beauty over.  

Romance: 6, since it is a princess story.  It isn't graphic, though.  The invisible servants try to make Beauty wear a dress that she considers . . . immodest . . . but it isn't described in that much graphic detail.  (That was one of my favorite scenes.)  

Language: 0

Appropriate for: 9+  

Other: I really liked the description of places, especially of the castle.  The invisible servants were - to say the least - amusing.  

El Dorado

Title: El Dorado (sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel, or one of the sequels)

Author: Baroness Emmuska Orczy  (Her full name is Emma "Emmuska" Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orczi.  No wonder she shortened it!)  

Summary: In revolutionary France, Armand St. Just, a follower of the Scarlet Pimpernel (aka Percy Blakeney, his sister's husband) falls in love with an actress, Mlle. Jeanne Lange, while working for his leader in enemy country.  (Percy, an Englishman against the French Revolution, is famed for rescuing innocents from the blade of Madame Guillotine under the guise of the Scarlet Pimpernel.  However, some in France know his true identity.  Percy's mission at the beginning of the book is to rescue the young Dauphin from a cruel prison in France.)  Jeanne is not a supporter of murdering "aristos" and saves Armand's life by hiding him.  She is arrested, giving Percy a double mission:  rescue the Dauphin and Jeanne.  Armand doesn't trust his leader, supposedly in the madness of his love, and goes back to save Jeanne himself.  The long and short of it is, Percy goes back to save Armand and gets captured himself.  The French starve Percy, trying to make him tell them where he's put the Dauphin.  Finally, after about seventeen days, he seems to give.  He says that he will lead them to the place.  They take Percy's wife Marguerite (also Armand's sister) and Armand as insurance.  Eventually, Percy trades places with one of the Frenchmen in a powerful position in the hierarchy and rescues his wife and brother-in-law.  

Stars: 6

Violence: 7.  Percy was kept on bread and water for seventeen days.  During this time period, he was also not allowed to sleep.  Every time the author talked about him, she mentioned something about a deathly appearance and waxy hands and sunken eyes and . . . well, it was extremely creepy.  

Romance: 7.  This book could partially be classified under "romance."  I didn't read it for the romance, though . . . I liked the mystery of the first book in this series and decided to read the sequel.  Believe me, though, the mystery was better in the first book (The Scarlet Pimpernel).  

Language: 5.  Lots of "demm'd."  There might have been some others.  

Appropriate for: Young adult or adult.  (I read the first book when I was, what, 10?  Oh well.  I get more out of it now that I'm older.)

Other: On Goodreads (yes, I am on Goodreads) the author profile for the Baroness mentioned that she was most famous for The Scarlet Pimpernel.  It also mentioned that she tried to write sequels, but they were not so popular.  I can see why.  The trick Sir Percy used at the end of this book wasn't at all like the one in the previous book.  I was amazed at the end of The Scarlet Pimpernel.  I had this feeling of "Oh.  That's it?" at the end of El Dorado.  I'll admit that the exchange of letters was clever, but I really felt that the Baroness could have come up with something a bit more original for the ending.  

The Lost Hero

Title: The Lost Hero (part of the Heroes of Olympus series, sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

Author: Rick Riordan

Summary: Jason wakes up on a bus with a bunch of strange kids.  He can't even remember who he is.  Piper and Leo, his friends, are duly unsettled, but they accompany the rest of the bus kids to the Grand Canyon.  In the Grand Canyon, storm spirits attack.  The teacher, Coach Hedge, is carried away.  Annabeth comes, steering a flying chariot, and brings the three demigods to Camp Half-Blood.  It is revealed that Percy is missing and the goddess Hera is being held prisoner.  Leo is claimed by Hephaestus, Jason by Zeus, and Piper by Aphrodite.  There's something odd about Jason, though.  He seems to prefer calling gods by their Roman names.  The three set out to rescue Hera.  Each is visited by strange phantoms:  Leo by "Dirt Woman" and his old babysitter; Jason by wolves; and Piper by a large giant.  They finally follow the trail through to the Wolf House and free Hera.  By the time they return, Jason has almost all of his memories back.  He recalls that Thalia is his sister, and that he came from a camp of Roman demigods.  Annabeth then understands that her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, is at the other camp.  Jason warns that they aren't as friendly over there . . .

Stars: 5

Violence: 5. Violence was in this book, granted, but it wasn't very graphic.  Piper cut off an Earthborn's six arms, but the monster didn't bleed or scream.  In fact, the scene was used for humor.  "The Earthborn looked down, very surprised. He mumbled, 'Arms go bye-bye.'"  When monsters died, they disintegrated into the ground.  No blood.  

Romance: 5. There were a few kisses discussed, including Percy/Annabeth and Jason/Piper.  

Language: 0

Appropriate for: See, I'm not really sure about this.  The writing style made me think 8-9 year olds, but the content made me think 14-15 year olds.  

Other: I wouldn't really call this good literature.  It's got a great plot line, but it needs a little bit of remodeling as regards the tone and vocabulary and all.  

Mockingjay

Title: Mockingjay


Author: Suzanne Collins


Summary: Katniss Everdeen, symbol of the rebellion in Panem and victor of the Hunger Games, is caught between two powerful forces: the Capitol and District 13. The President of the Capitol, Snow, has Peeta and several other former victors in his grasp. The President of District 13 is Coin, and Prim, Katniss' mother, Gale, and several other District 12 refugees are in her power. Peeta returns to Katniss, but he's a "hijacked" (essentially brainwashed) person, and he believes Katniss is a murderer and a mutt. Katniss reaches the Capitol along with the rebels. When they take over, President Coin allows Katniss to shoot President Snow with an arrow, but Katniss' arrow finds its mark instead in President Coin. Snow, who had already been ailing, dies. Gale gets a job in 2. Katniss' mother gets a job in 4. Katniss and Peeta go back to 12, marry, and have two kids.


Stars: 7


Violence: 8. There was a lot of fighting and pain.


Romance: 5. There was a bit of Katniss/Gale and a lot of Katniss/Peeta. Essentially, Katniss was torn between Gale and Peeta, but she picked Peeta in the end. ". . . I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellowthat means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that."


Language: 0


Appropriate for: 10-14


Other: If this were a movie, I think it would be rated a PG-13 for all the violence and romance, but it is pretty harmless as a book. I might not want to watch the movie, but I really liked the book.

Pretend You Don't See Her

Title:  Pretend You Don't See Her


Author:  Mary Higgins Clark


Summary:  Lacey, a real estate agent, is in charge of the apartment of a young woman named Heather who was killed in a car crash.  When the mother of Heather, Isabelle, is murdered while looking through Heather's diary, Lacey is just coming in.  The murderer ran away, but as Isabelle dies, she tells Lacey to take the diary to Heather's father, Jimmy.  When it is evident that Lacey's life was in danger, she must go into a Witness Protection Program and move to Minnesota under another name.  She joins an exercise club, meets a young man, and gets a job.  On one of her phone calls with her mother, Mona, Lacey tells her where she is.  Mona buys a newspaper from Minnesota, just to feel close to Lacey, and takes it to a restaurant on her date.  Someone in the restaurant sees the newspaper and tells the murderer.  The murderer is back on her tail.  She evades him, goes to the airport, and flies to New York.  The murderer trails her, but the police are also trailing her.  The murderer comes down to shoot her, but she throws a glass paperweight and his bullet goes astray.  The police come in and catch him.


Stars:  5 for a great plot, but this is not a genre I like. 


Violence:  6, because there were some shootouts and Isabelle is shot. 


Romance:  4 for a kiss on the cheek, and some romantic worries and references to "a man in her life." 


Language:  3 for exclamations including the name of God or Jesus. 


Appropriate for:  Older young adults/younger adults, if that makes any sense.  Okay, there's the young adult category.  So the older end of that category.  Then there's the adult category.  The younger end of that category, see? 


Other:  This book kept my attention.  I was so caught up in Lacey's troubles that I had to keep reading.

Nobody's Princess

Title: Nobody's Princess


Author: Esther Friesner


Summary: Helen of Sparta learns to fight with her older brothers, Castor and Polydeuces.  She goes to Calydon and meets Atalanta and helps her fight the giant boar.  Then, on their journey home, her brothers stop by Delphi to learn their destiny.  Helen meets the Pythia.  Castor and Polydeuces set off to Iolkos to find the Golden Fleece with Prince Jason.  They send Helen back to Sparta, but Helen wants to go look for the Golden Fleece.  The Pythia helps Helen by saying that she has been told that Helen should not leave Delphi on the day Castor and Polydeuces had decreed.  The soldiers would go back without her and they would receive news from Delphi.  The Pythia had not had any word from the god Apollo, only from Helen.  A fisherman's daughter masqueraded as Helen, since she was supposed to be in Delphi, and Helen dressed as a boy to follow her brothers and Prince Jason. 


Stars: 8


Violence: 4 because there were some fights, such as the scene with the boar. 


Romance: 2 for some talking about "women's matters" at the "time each month when -"


Language: 0


Appropriate for: 12 to 14


Other: I liked this because it was from Helen's viewpoint.  It said what happened before Troy.

Book of a Thousand Days

Title: Book of a Thousand Days


Author: Shannon Hale


Summary:  Dashti is a mucker who lives on the Asian steppes.  When she is orphaned, she goes to be lady's maid to one of the "gentry," Lady Saren.  Saren will not marry Lord Khasar, because she wants to marry Khan Tegus.  Lord Khasar is favored by her father, but Saren doesn't want to marry him.  So her father shuts her in a three-story brick tower with Dashti and a seven-year supply of food.  The only openings to the outside are tiny ventilation holes and a refuse flap.  Through this refuse flap Dashti has a conversation with Khan Tegus, pretending to be Saren.  Ordinarily this would be a crime, but Saren commanded Dashti.  Then Lord Khasar comes and speaks through the hole after Tegus leaves.  He kills all the guards.  Finally, Dashti finds an escape hole.  Saren's city, Titor's Garden, was destroyed by Khasar.  She manages to reach Tegus' city, Song for Evela, with Saren.  She gets work with Saren in the kitchens as a scrubber.  She is summoned to Tegus to sing for his leg and a friend to be healed.  She pretends to be Saren (again on Saren's orders).  Saren shares that Khasar is a wolf shape-changer.  Then she sneaks out and tries to make the sieging lord Khasar become his wolf form by singing the wolf-song.  It works, and Khasar dies.  But then Tegus wants to marry her, thinking she is Saren.  Dashti can't so she runs away and leaves her journal behind.  She is found out and about to be killed for pretending to be Saren when Tegus defends her (with words) in front of the council.  Saren doesn't want to marry Tegus so Dashti marries Tegus. 


Stars:  9 for a very developed plot. 


Violence: 6 for arrows shooting at a wolf, "gentry" slapping each other and some muckers, and mention of war. 


Romance: 5, because it was not very descriptive, it just described the smells of people.  But it still mentioned kissing. 


Language: 0 (yes, I KNOW that I've said this before, but there were no bad words).


Appropriate for: Older children to young adults. 


Other: I liked the format, how it was laid out as Dashti's journal.  I also admired how the plot was intricate and developed.  I liked the small ink drawings periodically in the text.  They looked as if they really were drawn with a brush.  They almost look like watercolor painted only in black.

Aphrodite's Blessings

Title: Aphrodite's Blessings

Subtitle:  Love Stories from the Greek Myths

Author: Clemence McLaren

Summary:  This is a compilation of three retellings of Greek myths about love and the goddess of love, Aphrodite.  They are told in first person, from the view of the heroine.  One retells the story of how Atalanta outran everyone except for one clever young man who thought to ask the goddess of love herself.  Then there's the story of Andromeda insisting on marrying Perseus after he saved her from the vile sea monster.  The last is the tale of Psyche, who was fortunate enough to have Eros himself, son of Aphrodite, fall in love with her.  He takes her to a beautiful villa with invisible servants.  He only comes at night when it is so dark that she cannot see him.  He is gone in the morning.  But Psyche's sisters give her the idea to hide a candle in the room and look at her husband when he was asleep.  She did, but he woke up.  She found that he was Eros, and he left her.  But Aphrodite decided to give Psyche another chance and gave her four tasks.  The first three she accomplished with the help of animals, and the last she had to go into the Underworld.  She accomplished them and was reunited with Eros. 

Stars: 7

Violence: 3, because of Perseus killing the sea monster. 

Romance: 6 because of kissing (of course all the couples kissed).  Also bare shoulders (of Eros) but it didn't describe anything horribly indecent. 

Language: 0 again.  I know, I know, it was supposed to be 1-10, but how can I help it if it wasn't even a 1? 

Appropriate for: Young adult. 

Other: I enjoy McLaren's retellings (such as Waiting for Odysseus) because they take women into account.