One imperfect letter, one missing page

129. *Fledgling by Octavia Butler (320)

I liked this book, the worldbuilding and characterization were very thorough and the plot was captivating. There were some aspectes of the story that were disturbing, though I suppose that is hardly surprising given the author.


130. The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley (216)

Anthology of short stories by Robin McKinley. They're all beautifully written and none of the stories are particularly tense (sometimes to the point of being anticlimactic, unfortunately).

The Door in the Hedge
The kingdom borders the fairy land and the occasional infant boy and teenage girl are kidnapped by the faeries. Nobody expects the beautiful, accomplished (though surprisingly not Mary Sueish) princess to be taken, because the faeries have always before been careful not to end families, and she is the only one. But, of course...

The writing, the language of the story is typical fantastic beautiful McKinley. I used to like this story - at least, the first half of it - but this time reading it, I couldn't help but wonder about all the unanswered questions. Why do the faeries have to steal children? Why do the people living in that kingdom stand for it? Neither is adequately, convincingly explained and if you really think about it, it's horrifying.

Even so, there really are no "bad guys" in this story, and it just sort of meanders along from start to finish. Unfortunately, though, the resolution doesn't really make much sense or explain things.

The Princess and the Frog
This story is much better - we're dropped into the middle of a conflict of wills where an evil smiling wizard or mage or what-have-you is slowly, insidiously taking over the kingdom from the inside. The princess is spunky and holds her own as well as she can, and the frog is great. Once again the climax leaves a little to be desired, though.

The Hunting of the Hind
The princess in this story is one of my favorite fairy-tale princesses. She is reminiscent of Aerin from The Hero and the Crown, the all-but-forgotten daughter of a king's second marriage who nonetheless loves her country and her family. For her beloved brother, she embarks on a quest that a dozen men have already failed at.

As with the other stories, I like the first half of the story but the second half doesn't quite live up to it. There is too much love at first sight as a replacement for plot and the climax is wanting. Also, I always thought there was more chemistry between Korah and Sellena than between any other pairing.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses
The twelve princess dance holes through their slippers every night and a retired soldier takes the challenge of finding out how and why.

Definitely the strongest story of the bunch, start to finish. There are a few unexplained bits, but overall it works. This is my favorite story in the book.

130 / 150 books. 87% done!

72 / 75 *new books. 96% done!

5 / 10 ^non-fiction. 50% done!

36846 / 45000 pages. 82% done!
Audiobooks: 26h30m

126. *The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Glittering Storm by Stephen Cole, read by Elisabeth Sladen (1:11)

Sarah Jane catches an old woman burgling her house early one morning, looking for gold. Not surpririsingly, it all leads back to aliens.

A fairly light story, so far as the Whoverse goes, which is to be expected in the Sarah Jane Adventures. It was fine. I enjoyed it. Not much else to say, really.

126 / 150 books. 84% done!

70 / 75 *new books. 93% done!

5 / 10 ^non-fiction. 50% done!

35478 / 45000 pages. 79% done!

124. *Ash by Malinda Lo (272)

Ash lives with her father near a forest which is known for the fairy tales told about it. Few believe those tales anymore, but Ash's mother is one who does and after she dies, Ash begins having experiences that make her believe as well.

I enjoyed this book, though not as much as I had hoped. It's a retelling of the story of Cinderella, but unlike most fairy tale retellings I've read, the plot diverges from the familiar tale and becomes something very different. The plot and the writing style were quite good, the few characters that we got to know well were intriguing, and I liked many of the departures Lo made from the fairy tale.

Part of my problem with this book is the details that were left out. There were parts of the story that were missing - important characters that we learned almost nothing about - vital scenes that we didn't see. This gave the whole thing a slightly disjointed feel. In the reverse of so many books today, an additional ten or twenty pages could have added a great deal without harming the integrity of the story.

Also, part of the reason I originally picked this book up was because it was supposed to be "a lesbian retelling of Cinderella (...) in Ash’s world, homosexuality is entirely normal. People are more likely to be heterosexual, but nobody blinks when they see a same-sex couple." (Lo) I thought that was an interesting idea. Unfortunately, unless I missed something, it wasn't until half if not two-thirds of the way through the book that anybody saw or even mentioned a homosexual couple, Ash's new friend in the city never considerd the possibility that she might not be looking for a husband, and Ash's ambitious sister never considered flirting with any wealthy women. While nobody commented when they did see homosexual couples, nothing else seemed to support it being a normal part of life. This aspect of the story was tacked on after most of the story had already been written, and unfortunately it shows by not being particularly well integrated into the rest of the tale.

124 / 150 books. 83% done!

69 / 75 *new books. 92% done!

5 / 10 ^non-fiction. 50% done!

35280 / 45000 pages. 78% done!

Audiobooks: 26h30m