Brief Book Reviews: Runaways Volume 3, Artemis Fowl graphic novel 2

Honestly, both of these books are pretty much more of the same: Good art, compelling storylines, and if you've enjoyed the previous ones in the series you'll probably enjoy them as well. I actually read some other things in between, but these seemed best grouped together.


Runaways: The Good Die Young

Still enjoying the series, the artwork, etc. No surprise as I'm a fan of Brian K. Vaughan's Ex Machina series.

The one thing I do have to say about this one is that the "missing" on the cover was a little too apt for my library copy: someone had pulled out the last page of several chapters, presumably for the pinups spaced throughout the book. Augh! Seriously, people: if you love it that much, buy your own copy to deface. Or if you're a broke kid, maybe find some change on the sidewalk and pay for a nice colour photocopy of the page you want? Defacing library books is Not OK.

I reported it to the librarian and she said she'd take the copy out of circulation, which sort of makes me sad because now it's harder for people to get a copy. I wonder if the library is allowed to photocopy a missing page to put the book back in circulation?


The Artemis Fowl #2: Arctic Incident Graphic Novel

Again, more of the same, in a good way. I'm definitely getting curious about author Eoin Colfer since as I was scanning for audiobooks I noticed his "book six of three" of the Hitchhiker's Guide series. Don't tell me anything about it: I checked it out and am looking forwards to giving it a go myself once I finish Gibson's Zero History Unabridged Cd. I got that one out because the waiting list was way shorter for the audiobook than it was for the actual novel, and it's turned out to be a perfect complement to my new habit of crocheting on the bus.

Brief book review: Redeeming the Lost by Elizabeth Kerner

I had requested this one from the library, but I'm not exactly sure how it came to be recommended to me... might have been an impulse request from the library's website which helpfully enables impulse-reading by having a "Recently Reviewed Items" section on the front page with pretty covers for you to click on. Have I mentioned lately how much I love my library?


Redeeming the Lost by Elizabeth Kerner

Quick Review: I found the mechanics of telling the story more unusual than the plot in this tale of dragons and humans

(Much) Longer Notes: I probably shouldn't have started with this book, which seems to be the last in a series. But it did start with a lengthy description of past events told from the point of view of a few characters re-evaluating their lives. That actually worked pretty well from the point of view of getting me on the same page as other readers, but I admit I was almost ready to put it down unfinished because it was a bit too long to go without any driving plot.

In the end, I enjoyed the book, but I found it... very strange. Not in terms of the plot, which is somewhat standard fantasy fare with dragons and humans coming to an uneasy truce in order to defeat great evil together. But in terms of how it was told. It switched characters *constantly* in what I would have expected to be a nearly pathological way, but somehow it worked. I'm not sure if it's because the point of view switches were matched onto a consistent thread of story or what, but once I got used to the swapping I actually found it a great way to tell the story.

The other thing I found very weird about it was that the book felt incredibly easy to put down. Rather than just one big climax, it felt like there were many small ones after which I was happy to close the book and could have just let the story end there. I actually might have, but I knew I wanted to write a review and I'd feel silly saying I'd just given up after the first climax because it seemed like a good place to end. Glad I finished it, but it definitely felt odd.

Most of the weirdness I got used to and even learned to enjoy, but I did rather hate the archaic language often used by the dragons. I get that the author was trying to convey their age and alien-ness in another way, but I'm just not a fan of Ye Olde English esp in fantasy novels unless it's used quite sparingly. I've seen this language switch done way better without language that came across as a horrible fantasy cliché. Sorry.

Overall, one of Susan's friends nailed it when she commented that it looked like the sort of story we'd read in grade school back when we were obsessed with Mercedes Lackey and Anne McCaffery. It's a good enough story (if not a very novel one) and one that actually feels pretty suitable to a younger readership. What made it a little more interesting as an adult reader was the way in which the story was told, which was a little more unique than the story itself.

I probably won't go back and read the other novels now that I know how it all ends, but I don't regret reading the end first because it seemed like a good stand-alone novel once you got through the background section.