Book Review: "Defy" by Sara B. Larson

Love and conflict: it seems like you can't find the one without the other in most books. Of course we wouldn't want it any other way though. Being able to hope, ache, and follow the characters through their struggles is what allows us to form a bond with them, share in their triumphs and feel their pain.

Well, there's plenty of both romance and conflict in Defy, a new YA fantasy novel by Sara B. Larson. The book's general themes are listed as "Identity, princes, adventure stories, magic, and conspiracies." And that's a fair assessment of the book's key elements, but not of the plot itself, which is more imaginative than the one-word assessments imply.

Alexa and her twin brother Marcel are raised on the border of two warring countries, until their parents are killed in a raid. In order to stay together, Alexa becomes Alex, and both join the army. They rapidly move up the ranks until both find themselves in Prince Damian's elite personal guard. But when the war escalates, and Marcel is killed protecting the prince, Alex is left alone with her secret.

The next assassination attempt at the castle results in Prince Damian being taken captive, along with Alex and her fellow guard Rylan. But all is not what it appears: Prince Damian, outwardly a spoiled and entitled pain in the rump, has actually been working with those on the other side of the war to help end the violence. But Rylan, who has always been there to support and stand beside Alex, doesn't trust Damian or his motives. And the longer the three of them are stuck in close quarters together, the greater the risk of Alex's secret being revealed. Which, of course, happens eventually. Spoiler alert: Both Damian and Rylan already knew. Now in the midst of a daring plan to bring peace to her country and install Damian as king, Alex has to face down her feelings for both the men who love her: Damian, powerful and full of secrets; and Rylan, steadfast and protective.

While the agony of choosing between two people who have declared themselves to you is nothing new for a YA novel, it can be written very successfully. In my own writing, I've found the trick to be in making sure I don't treat the premise as something that's tired and overused; if in my mind I make it something new and novel, my writing turns out exciting too. Despite the exciting premise of this book, the setup for Alexa's character and the potential for her to be a Katniss Everdeen-like heroine, Larson's YA debut falls flat. When I was reading it, I felt like she didn't really sell some of the roles being played. For example, when Damian first starts opening up to Alex when she's guarding the prince's suite, there's no real prelude to it. No reason for him to suddenly do a personality flip from the spoiled brat he played to the sentimental, caring person for whom Alexa comes to have feelings.

This kind of unrealistic character is highlighted by the fact that Alexa's character is so very well developed. She's incredibly empathetic, with realistic fears for her country and her future, even as she feels helpless to impact any of it. Her only choice, she feels, is to continue the charade and hope that the situation improves sooner rather than later. And I felt those things for her too, by knowing her thoughts and seeing the story through her eyes. She is strong, capable, and earns herself a prestigious place as a prince's personal guard through her own abilities with a sword, instead of with stereotypical feminine wiles. Unfortunately, this strong character goes all to bits and pieces as soon as she figures out that two boys like her. Instead of a sword-slinging female warrior she degenerates into an emotional puddle of lovelorn insecurities, which I felt was completely unlike the character she was made out to be in the beginning of the novel. Thankfully she redeemed herself a little in the end when it came time to choose between Damian and Rylan, but I was still disappointed in this depiction of a woman becoming powerless and governed by her feelings alone when a love interest (or two) was introduced. The author set this up perfectly for a series that will eventually culminate in Alexa and Damian being together, but I'm hoping that in the mean time Alexa will have a chance to redeem herself as a strong female protagonist with some backbone.

Larson attempts to broach some serious topics through Alexa, like rape, war, and loving your country even when you don't necessarily agree with what its leader is doing. And during a period of change and confusion like adolescence, these are issues that many adolescents are working their own way through. But unfortunately like Damian's trite character, the language of the book is lacking to give depth and significance to these themes. Instead the social commentary aspect comes off as overly simplistic, becoming more a motivator for Alexa to succeed (which is still important) than a real topic to be addressed in its own right. Opportunities to open discussions about feminism, sexuality, and loyalty are, I felt, wasted in Larson's rush to reach the climax of the romance instead of further developing the story at large.

If you're looking for a fairly engaging but unsubstantial read to keep you entertained for a stormy weekend, and you liked the Twilight books, consider picking up a copy of Sara B. Larson's YA debut novel Defy. It will be available at your local independent bookstore starting on January 7th.

Best-Known Books Set In The States

Business Insider has come out with this awesome map of the US, with each state represented by what they've determined to be the most well-known book that took place there. And while I'm ashamed to admit that my home state of Washington is still so closely associated with Twilight, I think this is a pretty accurate list. Check it out!

Book Review: "Seven for a Secret" by Lyndsay Faye

I'm a strong proponent of the old caution to never judge a book - to read or not to read it - by its cover. The same advice should be applied to book titles, too; after all, The Name of the Rose is not about flower gardening. But at this point I have to make a confession: I picked up Lyndsay Faye's latest novel, Seven for a Secret, solely because of the title. It references a children's rhyme that's always been intriguing to me, about counting crows and what their numbers mean. 

As misguided as my motivations for picking up this book may have been, I haven't for a second regretted it. This is actually Faye's second mystery centered around main character Timothy Wilde, but it was a wonderful and entirely understandable stand-alone novel as well. It's 1845, and New York City is abuzz with three things: the Democratic party, abolition, and Irish immigration. As a member of the newly formed Copper Stars, Wilde is sworn to uphold the law. But when that means compromising his own moral code, he's willing to overlook legal routes in the interest of protecting common citizens. When a wealthy black woman comes to him for help finding her kidnapped sister and son, that will mean bending the law possibly even farther than he can justify in order to solve the case. 

Lucy Adams's family, free blacks from Albany, has been taken by blackbirders. Since slavery was illegal in New York but not in other parts of the country, many escaped slaves made for the empire state. However, they weren't safe even after reaching the north. A landmark court case had determined that slaves who were recaptured and identified must, as stolen property, be returned to their owners in the south. Unscrupulous whites looking to turn a quick profit would capture free New Yorkers of color and claim that they were escaped slaves in court. Although free, for all intents and purposes blacks had no legal rights, and so were nearly always carted away to be sold into slavery at a tidy profit. The conscienceless people who were responsible for this practice were known as blackbirders. 

What starts as a simple kidnapping case gets complicated fast. Wilde rescues Lucy's family with the help of his vice-ridden brother Valentine, another copper star, and the Adams family hides in Valentine's house until Mr. Adams is due to return to New York. But when Timothy Wilde comes to check on the family, he finds Lucy dead in Valentine's bed and Delia and Jonah missing yet again. 

In a race to uncover the truth behind the murder and keep suspicion away from Valentine, Wilde enlists the help of a craggy Dutch cohort and a group of free black vigilantes who were close with the Adams family. Wilde follows the case deep into the Democratic party and its immigrant constituency, through an old case of his and into the ethical gray area of racial tensions of the time. The closer he gets to uncovering the truth about Lucy Adams, her murder and her family, the more of his own life and career he risks. 

Faye takes an immensely complicated time in American history and uses it to build an incredible story of suspense. The subtleties of the politics of the time are presented with precision and detail, clearly laying out the conflicted nature of Wilde's position: he's a copper star with a sworn duty to protect New Yorkers, which he really takes to heart, but the law prevents him from standing up to people like blackbirders who prey on a particular portion of the population. Wilde doesn't believe in slavery, but during that time blacks competed directly with Irish immigrants for any kind of work. The Irish, as whites and therefore voters, made up the majority of the Democratic party that funded the Copper Stars. So being an abolitionist detective trying to solve the murder of a black woman at the expense of the party's image put Wilde in a very risky position. 

I simply cannot overstate the skill with which Faye wove all the threads of this marvelous, engaging story through to the end. There are enough references to the first Timothy Wilde mystery, The Gods of Gotham, that Faye can establish how the previous story line impacted Wilde, but characters from the first book who reappear are re-introduced with context. That way, I could understand the closeness of the relationships without having to see them form for myself. 

Another aspect of the times and setting to which Faye pays admirable attention is the language. She begins the book with a dictionary of "flash," the idiomatic slang of the lower classes. She stays true to this vernacular too, switching back and forth between flash and "proper" English as the situation and company in the setting dictate. It's frankly a fascinating language, and it brings a wonderful color to the dialogue. 

Most of us are not experts on the early history of New York City and the nuances of race relations there. Faye takes this courteously into account, and builds lack of experience with this into Wilde's own reactions to and discoveries. As a result he's constantly being reminded of the cruelties and inequalities to which even free blacks were subjected. Examples include admission of a black man's testimony in court (it was worthless) and blacks being barred from voting unless they owned a practically unobtainable amount of property. Every time he makes an egalitarian assumption that proves mistaken, Wilde reacts with shock at the way "free" blacks are treated, which reflected my own fascination and horror at the situation.

By virtue of the complex story line and detailed historical accuracy, I think that this would make an amazing book club read. Faye and her husband even put together a recipe for the Wildes' secret punch that you might drink at your book club meeting! If you like political intrigue that has more adventure and suspense than mayhem and gore, and are fond of colorful characters whose complex relationships play seamlessly into the plot, consider picking up a Timothy Wilde mystery by Lyndsay Faye. The Gods of Gotham and Seven for a Secret are both available now at your local independent bookstore.  

Book Review: "Wigrum" by Daniel Canty

Wigrum is not a novel in the traditional sense; rather, it's a collection of objects and descriptions of those objects that the main character collected and kept. Canty originally published Wigrum in 2011, in French, and will be released this fall as an English translation by Oana Avasilichioaei.

Sebastian Wigrum, the protagonist who only appears once at the very beginning of the novel, spent his life collecting small pieces of people's lives: hazelnuts, pieces of string, keys, and the like. Upon his disappearance in October of 1994, Wigrum's collection is documented and published, following his last request. The result is a glimpse into the ordinary, everyday things that gave meaning to people's lives, blurring the line between fiction and reality.

The book is arranged as a catalog, alphabetically, featuring items that Wigrum kept in separate groupings. There are sketches and footnotes to go along with each item's history, featuring a unique layout to the book that won Canty the 2011 Grand Prize in the Quebec Graphic Design Competition Grafika.



The individual items don't have a connection to Wigrum himself. Instead, they're more like flash fiction pieces, each telling a meaningful story that could easily be either fact or fiction. Some of my favorite objects in the collection are a bundle of love letters never sent, a bottle full of Chinese fortunes, and a cosmonaut pocket watch. Many of the objects reference things like missiles, and one particular reference to bananas at the beginning of the book, hint that Canty may have been heavily been influenced by Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. Unlike Pynchon's writing though, Wigrum is much easier to read in short bursts because of the book's innovative format.

If you're ready for a new kind of novel that blends the line between reality and fiction in small ways that are nonetheless important, if you like flash fiction, or if you want a peek into the lives of random, ordinary people who have extraordinary stories to tell, pick up a copy of Wigrum by Daniel Canty. It will be released in English in October of this year, and is presently available in French.

While You're Waiting....

Many genres, particularly ones that fall under the SpecFic umbrella, have in recent years really begun to embrace the idea of more unconventional gender and sexual orientations in literature. If you're interested in exploring more from that area of SpecFic, I highly recommend a blog called Parallel Worlds, where you'll find lots of great, informative book reviews. Nearly all of the books there will feature non-normative gender or gender roles, and minimal sexual content. Check it out while you're waiting for the next review here!

Book Review: "Guests on Earth" by Lee Smith

Lee Smith's latest novel is a story of unexpected comradery and self-discovery in a mental hospital. Evalina Toussaint, our protagonist, grew up in New Orleans with her beautiful, vibrant mother whom Evalina adores. They are happy together, and life just seems to get better when her mother becomes pregnant. The father moves them all to a nice house in the suburbs, but shortly after Evalina's baby brother is born he sickens and dies. Evalina's mother, once so full of hope and life, soon follows.

The father, wracked with guilt, brings Evalina home to live with his other family - including a wife and other children. That works about as well as one would expect, and overcome by grief and her new hostile environment, Evalina finds herself shipped off to Highland Hospital in Asheland, North Carolina. It is one of the most defining moments of her entire life, and possibly one of the best things to ever happen to her.

The year is 1936. As she quickly recovers from her depression at Highland, Evalina soon makes friends with both fellow patients and with staff memebers. Notable among these are Mrs. Carroll, who encourages Evalina's natural talent for the piano, and the mercurial but fascinating Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of the famous writer. Both of these women take Evalina under their wings, in their own separate ways, to teach her lessons about life, loss, and love.

Thanks to her talent for piano and much encouragement from all of her fellows, Evalina eventually leaves Hillcrest to attend music school. She eventually ventures abroad to perform, but her career stutters and collapses after a series of personal tragedies. Evalina finds herself once more a patient at Hillcrest, perhaps the only place where she has ever really felt at home. She reconnects with Zelda and eventually finds herself more staff member than patient as she slowly recovers from her loss. Hillcrest remains her home until the fateful night when it burned down, taking many patients along with it.

Smith paints a beautiful protagonist who acknowledges the flaws in her own point of view as a narrator, but still strives to show ups, the reader, the beauty she found in a life that was not what society said she "should" want or be a part of. I also strongly identified with Smith's portrayal of the people who had been committed to Hillcrest, not as madly frothing lunatics but as normal, feeling people with demons and challenges, who needed help and encouragement to overcome their problems and who worked hard to do so. Evalina and her fellow patients have a lot of fun in each other's company and get into more than a little mischief on occasion.

One of my favorite parts is when Evalina begins to acknowledge Zelda's shortcomings and troubles underneath her manic vibrancy and energy, recognizing the person as well as the presence. Another of my favorite moments was the Christmas scene, when Evalina finds herself in kind of a trance with the piano, as though continuing to play it will allow her to clearly see the whispers on the edge of her consciousness of what happened to her when she left Highland.

The sentiments of pain, healing, and accepting that what the societal ideal of "healthy" and "happy" are isn't necessarily what's best for a given person are very sweet and give the reader a subtle message of self-acceptance and serenity in spite of - maybe because of - the human condition.

If you liked The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow or other stories of quiet, graceful struggle and eventual self-discovery, set against a backdrop of beautifully described scenery and memorable characters, pick up a copy of Guests on Earth by Lee Smith. It's available starting October 15th at your local independently-owned bookstore.

Book Review: "Seed" by Rob Ziegler

I've heard it said of late in the book world that the term "post apocalyptic" has become overused and trite; it's "over" as far as literary trends go. I disagree wholeheartedly with this assessment, as someone who loves to read and has written more than one tale of a future world of war and desperation. Even were that not the case, there's really no term other than gloriously post apocalyptic to describe Rob Ziegler's first book, Seed, a thrilling novel about the harsh future of the Human Race.

Severe climate change forces humanity in North America into a yearly migration pattern to plant crops in the North when the winter is over, then move back South to avoid the freezing weather extremes in the winter. These specially designed, genetically programmed seeds that withstand such a harsh environment all come form Satori, a strange and insular living compound built on top of what was Detroit.

Brood and his strange younger brother, Pollo, are migrant con men scratching out a living in competition with La Chupacabra, a massive organized crime ring preying on migrants. When they hear of a strange woman from Satori, the Corn Mother, who has defected and is starting an open settlement, Brood and Pollo are caught up in the search for this new little Eden. Brood makes it. But Pollo is swept off to Satori itself, with severe consequences.

Meanwhile Doss, an agent for the defunct U.S. government, is sent to find the Corn Mother. If the government can capture her and her genetic technology, and lessen their crippling dependency on Satori, they may have a chance to regain some influence. But stuck between Satori and La Chupacabra, Doss finds herself caught up in the fight of her life alongside Brood and an army of tough-luck child soldiers.

While Doss and Brood make their way toward the Corn Mother and each other, another part of the story unfolds within Satori itself: Sumedha, one of the genetically engineered humanoids who oversee Satori, searches for a genetic mutation that would allow humans to survive the harsh planetary climate like Satori does. Pursuing this genetic graft though will have severe consequences for Satori as a living thing, as well as bringing together Doss, Brood, Pollo and Sumedha to determine Satori's future and the future of humanity.

Even though the characters from each of these story branches don't come together until the very end, I felt the connection between them very keenly. Three very different protagonists with points of view that vary significantly all orbited around the central issue of Satori's presence and what it meant, lending complexity to the story without giving most of it away. A particular point of interest to me in this vein was the open animosity between Brood and La Chupacabra, often ending in blood, and how it was juxtaposed with Doss's status as a figure very well respected by the gang. She is even gifted by the gang's leader with two young Chupe soldiers as bodyguards.

Zeigler also does a wonderful job of creating a mentality for a hopeless migrant population entirely dependent on something that they fear, hate, envy, and don't understand: Satori. To keep themselves going they turn to crime, to drugs, to religion; to anything that will keep them going for one more day. The idea of the Corn Mother, leaving Satori to set up a new beacon of hope for migrant people, fell perfectly into this pattern of the search for something mystical and better.

I will say that if you don't speak Spanish, you'll have a hard time understanding most of the migrants, particularly Brood and Pollo, and members of La Chupacabra.

The complexity of Satori, a living building perfectly designed as a closed system to withstand the harsh environment, is truly brilliant and more than a little bit fascinating. Add to that the question of life versus sentience, and what a lack of sentience means for a living thing, and you've got an important ethical puzzle cleverly woven into an action-packed thrill ride of blood, guts, glory and desperation.

If you like Ender's Game-type moral and political complexity but are ready for something grittier and more visceral, I highly recommend Seed by Rob Ziegler. It was released in 2011, and is available now in both hardback and paperback. Just look for the awesome and distinctive cover art at your favorite local bookstore!