NJ: Young Fantasy Reads Book Group (Paramus) discussion

This is the Thread for Books Read by the Young Fantasy Reads Book Group in 2013:

UGLIES, Uglies 1........................................................Scott Westerfeld...............11/21/13
THE HOST, Host 1.....................................................Stephenie Meyers.............10/17/13
THE SCORPIO RACES.................................................Maggie Stiefvator............09/19/13
THE GRAVEYARD BOOK............................................Neil Gaiman.....................08/15/13
PODKAYNE OF MARS................................................Robert Heinlein................07/18/13
THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY.....................................Victoria Forester...............06/20/13
IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS, Lioness 2..........Tamora Pierce...................05/16/13
A HAT FULL OF SKY, Tiffany Aching 2....................Terry Pratchett.................04/18/13
THE GRIMM LEGACY, Grimm 1................................Polly Shulman..................03/21/13
ENDER'S SHADOW, Shadow 1...................................Orson Scott Card...............02/21/13
CATCHING FIRE, Katniss 2........................................Suzanne Collins................01/17/13

The following accounts are reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2013 Philip J De Parto


UGLIES, Uglies 1
The group felt that, based on the vocabulary and plot simplification, this book was written for teens on the younger end of the YA spectrum. Comparisons were made to the classic TWILIGHT ZONE episode, "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You" and to BRAVE NEW WORLD (with prettiness substituting for soma). Jeni and Taras felt that there was a lot of repetition within the book and that it would have benefited by shortening it. Phil did not have this reaction. There was discussion of anorexia and invasive species both in our world and in that of the novel.

THE HOST, Host 1
The book has crossover appeal to both the YA and adult market and to both the romance and science fiction fan. Karen felt that the book was written much better than the Twilight series. Phil was surprised that he enjoyed it as much as he did, that this was the fastest 800+ page novel he could recall having read.

The book is told from the point of view of Wanderer (later Wanda), an extra-terrestrial centipede whose race has taken over the Earth by doing an Invasion-of-the-Body -Snatchers number. The creature got her name because unlike most members of her race who settle down on one world in one host body, she has spent time on all 8 occupied worlds/races.

THE SCORPIO RACES
The book is set on Thisby, a hardscrabble island in the North Atlantic. This is the only place in the world frequented by the capall uisce, a fierce amphibious equine more commonly known in folklore as a kelpie. The creatures can sometimes be semi-tamed, but it is a dangerous pursuit, rather like attempting to domesticate a tiger. The Scorpio Races are held along the shore every year in early November.

Phil, Jeni and Liz like the book. Taras and Karen were cool to it. Taras felt it would have made a good novel had 3/4 of the narrative been trimmed. Phil praised the description and characterization, reading a number of short passages to illustrate his points.

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK
The book won the Hugo, Newberry and Carnegie Awards, the last two honors bestowed by the American and British library associations for best book for young people.

The book is the story of Nobody Owens, a lad raised in a graveyard by the spectral populace after his family were slain by a knife-wielding killer named Jack when Bod (Noboby) was a toddler. While the ghosts are confined to the graveyard, the grounds are a destination for a number of supernatural characters of good and ill intent.

The work is a series of adventures great and small: a trip through the ghoul gate; a ritual dance between living and dead; an encounter with a pair of bullies; always with a sinister figure of Jack (the Ripper?) lurking in the background, waiting for another shot at the one who got away. My favorite section was Bod's encounter with the ghost of the witch Elizabeth, which was the author's inspiration for writing the novel.

PODKAYNE OF MARS
Much of the discussion revolved around whether or not this was a sexist or a feminist work. Phil (and to a lesser extent, Taras) argued that it was a feminist book: not only is a capable woman the central character, but so is the competent villain. Expecting a teenaged girl from the boondocks to be any more assertive in some situations, argued Phil, would be unrealistic. Jeni and Liz were not buying it. They felt the gender role expectations made the book dated at best and often a cause to cringe. Everyone agreed that Heinlein's original ending was better than the one his publisher caused him to tack on.

THE GIRL WHO COULD FLY
The first section of the books is set in Lowland County where "the cows outnumber the people by ninety-three to one." Piper McCloud was born with the ability to defy gravity, a power which causes her no-nonsense, down-to-earth, god-fearin' parents no end of embarrassment. They home school their child, keeping her away from contact with everyone else except the family doctor. The deception can only be kept up so long. Eventually the word gets out, newspapermen come to investigate, crowds gather round the homestead and the Department of Containment, Security and First Contact arrives on the scene to take her away from the gawkers and place her in a school with other children with special abilities.

The second section of the book, Piper's interaction with the other children, was my favorite part of the book. I thought the relationships between the special kids were very well handled and reminiscent of the Harry Potter books. Unfortunately, books of this sort need a villain, and the villain is Doctor Letitia Hellion. Although she pretends to have the welfare of the children at heart, she is actually trying to destroy them, or at least that part of them that makes them special. Soon the children are planning a break-out, but they are betrayed, captured and tortured. They again make plans, but with a different objective this time. Instead of trying to escape, they decide to take over running the operation.

While there are some nice set pieces like the heroic singing of the cricket, Sebastian, and the complicated schemes of super genius Conrad, but the book's greatest strength is the personalities of the children. Piper is a fine creation, she's not the smartest or the most powerful of the kids, but her strong moral compass makes her a memorable heroine.

IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS, Lioness 2
This is the second volume in The Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce and follows the path of Alanna to become the first female knight of the realm in over 100 years.

This was one of the group's better discussions, with tangents into related areas of myth, faerie tales and allegory. Jeni and Phil agreed that the books was more tightly focused on Alanna than the first book, but had different takes on this. Jeni enjoyed the more straightforward storyline while Phil missed all the side interactions with the supporting cast. Barry felt the heroine was too perfect. Liz thought that the work would be enjoyed by both teen girls and boys and that it presented a role-model for girls that was for less common when it was written than it is in a post-Buffy world.

A HAT FULL OF SKY, Tiffany Aching 2
The books are a mixture of adventure, philosophy and slapstick, with the slapstick provided by the Nac Mac Geegle, the wee free men of the first book. Granny Weatherwax, the greatest witch in the world and the main character in WITCHES ABROAD and other tales of the discworld, plays an important role as well. But it is Tiffany herself who is the greatest delight of the book as she continues to learn about both magic and herself. Both this book and THE WEE FREE MEN are highly recommended.

THE GRIMM LEGACY, Grimm 1
The Young Fantasy Reads Group met at Barnes & Noble in Paramus on Thursday, March 21, 2013 to discuss THE GRIMM LEGACY by past guest speaker Polly Shulman LEGACY is set in the New York Circulating Materials Repository which has three secret collections: The Grimm Collection (magic items from faerie tales and elsewhere), The Wells Bequest (science fiction devices), and the Gibson Chrestomathy (computer / cyberpunk items). Geeky Elizabeth Rew is recommended for a position as a Page (a gofer) at the Repository by one of her teachers (and former Repository employee), Stan Mauskopf. Elizabeth and her fellow Pages Marc Merritt, Anjall Rao, and Aaron Rosendorn are advised to keep their eyes open for anything suspicious because magic items have gone missing and replaced with convincing forgeries. Then Dr Lee Rust, the head of the Repository, goes missing himself. Fearing this may be an inside job, the Pages, who do not truly trust each other, decide to solve the case themselves.

Everyone who read the book, including Jeni, who could not make the event, enjoyed the book. Karen REALLY liked it.

ENDER'S SHADOW, Shadow 1
Shadow relates mostly the same events as ENDER'S GAME, but is told from the viewpoint of Bean, Ender's second-in-command. The gimmick works because GAME is primarily a plot-driven novel and SHADOW is primarily character-driven. I'm not sure how someone who has not read GAME would react to SHADOW, but I think it would work. Definitely recommended for people who have read ENDER'S GAME.

CATCHING FIRE, Katniss 2
The author raises stakes considerably in this work. Katniss' unorthodox victory in the first volume is interpreted as a political statement by the repressed Districts. The Capital orders a new Hunger Games contest to assert their control over the Districts, but the dissident Underground works together to sabotage the Games and free several of the contestants, a televised act which incites a flat-out revolt in over half of the Districts.

There has been some criticism of Collins for ripping off the concept of the Manga, BATTLE ROYALE. I have not read / seen the work, but taken on its own merits, I remain impressed with the characterization, plotting and world building of the author and recommend the series.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I enjoyed Uglies as much as I imagined I would. The world that Scott Westerfeld paints is complex and believable. It was fun reading, though Tally annoyed me a few times. She felt like a true character to me, a girl who originally bought into society’s concept of how you should act and look. Due to her curiosity and innate intelligence, Tally sees the errors in her thinking.

Because I read the back of the 2nd book, I knew how this first book was supposed to end. It was fun trying to figure out how that end was going to come to pass. The part that I found interesting is the twist of what happens to Tally’s friends.

Though I must say that I would NOT recommend reading the rest of the series: Pretties and Specials. I was not impressed at all by either. Each book was a basically a carbon copy of the first with only slight variations in setting, but ultimately the same conflicts and repeated character arcs. Very disappointing.