Karsten Knight: Wildfire

Wildfire
Karsten Knight
Published July 26, 2011 by Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1442421177
400 Pages

Synopsis
Adopted girl gets in a brutal fight with a chick at school and then has a negative confrontation with her murdering sister, which results in her sister disappearing, and her (Ashline) transferring to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere. Enter random friends and strangers. Then weird things start to happen. It seems the core group of kids has been summoned to the school by a blind psychic who talks to people who aren't there, and - oh yeah - they are all reincarnated gods and goddesses. Adventures ensue, including learning about their powers AND each other. Relationships form, drama erupts. Balance cute guys, evil plots, a manipulative sister, and an end confrontation that leaves you guessing.

Musings
Hmm.... I kept waiting for this book to start. It had a good idea, but the follow through lacked punch. After the first 100 pages, I kept looking at the amount of pages left and thinking, "he's not really leaving himself much time for rising action." or "I bet there is some major twist or ah-ha at the end that makes it all worth it!" Alas, no.... I enjoyed it while I was reading it, but was highly disappointed when it was over.

I chose this novel purely because it was girls youth fiction written by a man (and not a girly man either). I was interested to see how he would tell the story, especially from a female heroine's point of view. I suppose he did as well as some female authors, but overall I wasn't as impressed as I hoped to be.

There are several odd things about this story. Eve didn't have any clear motivation to act the way she did, other than being a confused, spoiled brat. And, why did the author spend so much time introducing characters if he wasn't going to do anything with them? Especially the ones he killed off. What propose did they serve to the story? Maybe it is because the story isn't finished yet, but I felt kinda taken in by the whole thing.


SPOILER
The story acts like you know nothing about all the random gods and goddess it haphazardly pulls from different cultures, then expects you to know at the end that Kokopelli is the trickster. At least, I think it expects you to know, cause if you don't, the end is major confusing and kind of a letdown.
END SPOILER

**As long as you don't skip ahead that is not much of a spoiler, and may give you some additional insight to the last page...

Knight had all the gods ever made up in history at his disposal.  Why did he choose the ones he did? Humph. Great possibilities, poor execution. So what? You're a goddess, now what? What's the point? What major thing are you expected to do with your life? Is the fate of the world on your shoulders? What makes you special, other an having cool powers? Oh, you're waiting to die so you can be reincarnated... That's... Cool... Bah!

The idea of the Cloak is a very cool concept. It left me wanting to know much more, and almost being willing to read the sequel to this book, when it comes out. And yes, unless the publisher fires the author, there will be a sequel. This book did not resolve in anyway, and set itself up for continuation. Guess I'll wait and see.

Finally - i just have to say - teenage sexuality kinda freaks me out in current youth fiction. I guess I am getting old, but when not written well, I can't help but wonder, what is wrong with these kids parents? And if the guy already graduated, and the girl is not a senior... Is that statutory rape? I don't really remember the genera of youth fiction from when I was growing up. We had kid books about horses or cartoony RL Stein monsters. If you wanted to read something with a little more oomph, you went for adult fiction by authors who weren't as wordy as others. I read Catherine Coulter and John Saul as a teenager. Some youth authors do it well by implying the sex scene or skipping over it entirely, but I don't really want to read about two kids having sex. It makes me feel icky.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone without a specific reason. ....

-Rita

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Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus

The Night Circus
Erin Morgenstern
Published September 13th 2011 by Doubleday
ISBN: 0385534639
387 Pages

Synopsis
This was a complicated tale of two people locked in a competition they didn't understand, and pitted against each other by two opposite schools of thoughts. The Circus would become their game board, and all the people and characters within small pieces to be manipulated. There can only be one winner, but how does one win? Through exhibition of unique magical skill. The players build off of each other, and their creations, until the circus grows to uncontrollable proportions.




Musings
I chose to read this book for three reasons - the unique cover art, the idea of a quirky paranormal story told in the setting of a circus, and the amount of hype surrounding author Erin Morgenstern's first novel.

Reading this novel was just as dizzying and ethereal as the story itself. I felt addicted to it, and constantly wanted to read it, but after reading for an hour, had to set it down - only to crave it again. When I finished the book, I was sad. I wanted there to be more to the story, more for me to dig into.

The tale itself, in the recounting, is pretty light and not all that powerful. The characters have little depth, and not much in the way of back story.  It is difficult to empathize, and the 'how' of the magic is never elaborated on, but the way she tells the story - breaking up the timeline, and feeding you bits and pieces at a time, and the elegance and sensory descriptions she uses to paint not only the visual picture, but the aroma, temperature, and emotional feel of each important place in the story - makes it all worthwhile. I began to crave going to the circus in the story, and experiencing the possibility of endless imagination.

Become a rêveur, a dreamer... Follow the circus.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique read.

-Rita

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-Rita

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