Ship of Destiny: A Review

January 13, 2010 5 Comments

Wow. What a ride. I finished up Ship of Destiny–the culminating volume of Robin Hobb’s mammoth Liveship Traders trilogy–a few days ago. I can understand why Hobb is such a popular writer. In this trilogy, she deftly and masterfully handles a sprawling plot,  an immersive world, multiple points-of-view, and several character arcs. Ship of Destiny is a BIG book (800 pages!), but it is all muscle and bone; no flab. At no point did I feel that the book was padded.

Chaos has come to Bingtown in the wake of Chalcedean attacks, the disappearance of the Satrap and the earthquake in the Rain Wilds. The long-dormant dragon Tintaglia has awakened and is in search of others of her kind. Althea Vestrit sails on the mad Paragon in search of her family’s liveship, Vivacia, now in the hands of the charming and ruthless pirate Captain Kennit. Meanwhile, Althea’s nephew Wintrow, under the auspices of Kennit, learns what it is to be a man. Malta Vestrit, in enemy hands, puts her Trader cunning to good use while her fiance searches desperately for her. There is a sense of great change throughout the book, of things broken and made anew–dragons are in the world again!–and a knowing that nothing will be the same again. The story rushes the majority of the characters into the Pirate Isles, where sailors and Satrap, liveships and dragon and serpents, pirates and soldiers, all meet in one long multi-stage encounter. Yep, it can get pretty intense!

But what makes this trilogy so fascinating to me is how Hobb, in spite of the scope, never loses sight of her characters. In spite of the talk of destiny and fate, I never felt like the characters were pawns in service of the Story (except for one glaring incident involving Kennit which still does not ring true to me); rather they and their actions make the story. Hobb takes special care in developing all of her characters, especially the pirate Captain Kennit (who I loathe, in a weird fascinated/repulsed kinda way). I enjoyed watching Malta grow from a spoiled brat into an independent, smart young woman. I found the tortured Paragon to be a deeply sympathetic and interesting character.

If you love epics, this ambitious nautical fantasy certainly delivers. Thanks to my friend M. for introducing me to Hobb’s work! *waves* (See, it only took me a couple years to go through all the Hobb novels you sent :D ).

Filed Under: Uncategorized

note to self:

January 12, 2010 2 Comments

If I am bored writing it, then most likely people will be bored reading it.

Don’t torture yourself.

Filed Under: random, writing process

64 books in 52 weeks, and looking ahead

January 6, 2010 11 Comments

At the beginning of 2009, I committed to reading 52 books in 52 weeks. By the end of the year I had read 64. However, that number does not accurately represent all the reading I did last year. It doesn’t take into account blog posts, magazine articles, anthologies, all the books I only partially read (reasons: I got bored, I was re-reading my favorite parts, I was interested in just a few chapters of a reference book).

The bulk of my reading was in the fantasy genre. No surprise there. Fantasy is my first love, and what I write. I discovered several trilogies and series that I enjoyed–Garth Nix’s Keys of the Kingdom, Angie Sage’s Septimus Heap books, the Crosspointe novels by Diana Pharoah Francis, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, Nathalie Mallet’s Prince Amir series and Robin Hobbs’ Liveship Traders trilogy. I read Neil Gaiman and Elizabeth Bear for the first time. I rediscovered Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series. A lot of Young Adult and Middle Grade books made it into my reading pile.

I balanced the shorter books with doorstoppers like Charles Dickens and A Suitable Boy. I wanted to read more classics, but only managed a small handful. Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth ranks as the book I’m most ambivalent about, the one I found both fascinating and repulsive. It was like a horrific trainwreck that I couldn’t wrench my gaze away from.

I read some non-fiction, but not as much I would’ve liked. Mark Kurlansky’s Cod and Salt rank as the two of the more enjoyable ones. I only read one book on American history–Joseph Ellis’ American Creation. Outliers was fascinating, Your Child’s Growing Minds was informative and The Creative Habit inspirational. Karen Andreola’s comprehensive A Charlotte Mason Companion rekindled in me the desire for a literature-and-nature-rich education in our home. It made me view parenting and schooling as two sides of the same coin; it brought home to me the importance of character in a child’s education.

My reading goal for 2010 is 75 books (but no beating myself up if I don’t get there), and expand my non-fiction reading. I want to read at least three books each in the categories of American history, creativity and theology. I want to read much more about history and other cultures. I want to read science books (any recommendations?).

If I get any classics in this year, it’ll be gravy.

I’m also changing the way I review books on this blog. I’ll list my monthly reads with little to no commentary, and do separate review posts for those books I feel the need to say a lot about it.

Do you have reading goals for the year?

Filed Under: challenges, goals, reading

reading roundup

January 3, 2010 3 Comments

I discovered Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson in December, one of my most exciting book finds of the year. It has an awesome premise (what if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Great Evil?), an original and very cool magic system and appealing characters. It has adventure and romance, sacrifice and danger, armies and heists, grand balls and desperate missions, martial-arts-style magic and so much more. I loved Vin’s character arc–how she went from being this beaten-down street urchin to a confident courageous young woman. The sequel is wending its way to my mailbox soon (squee!).

Nathalie Mallet’s The Princes of the Golden Cage and The King’s Daughters draw inspiration  from non-medieval Western European sources. The first is set in an Arabic/Persian-type culture, complete with harems and eunuchs and a Grand Vizier. Prince Amir is one of the Sultan’s many sons, confined to the Golden Cage with his brothers until the Sultan chooses a successor. Amir has tried to be as unobtrusive as possible, avoiding politics and duels to the death as his brothers vie for their father’s favor. But now a mysterious force is murdering his brothers one by one and Amir is dragged in the thick of it…especially since he is looked upon as a suspect.

The sequel finds Amir in the northern Russian-inspired land of his beloved Princess Eva, where he sets about committing terrible faux pas and investigating the kidnappings of Eva’s sisters. I like Mallet’s willingness to be ruthless with her characters’ lives and emotions. The twist at the very end is something I did not expect, but makes total sense in hindsight. I’m looking forward to the next installment.

I finished Unseen Academicals (Terry Pratchett) in the nick of time–on New Year’s Eve. I found it to be more ponderous and less witty than I am used to in a Pratchett novel. Not to say it wasn’t good, but it didn’t feel as sparkly and pithy as most of Pratchett’s novels are. Still, Pratchett’s signature style–his humor, intelligence, and way with words–is stamped all over it. I love how he holds the Discworld up as a mirror in which we see ourselves.

Random non-fiction reads: Celtic Mythology (one of David’s college books from his not-quite Celtic Studies minor), Salt: A World History (very entertaining, but heavy on the recipes and tangents into the fishing industry) and The Bronte Myth (author Lucasta Miller sifts through the biographical material to trace the development of the half-truths and enigmas surrounding the Bronte sisters. I was disappointed at the lack of attention paid to Anne, but this exploration of how biographies are molded by their authors’ agendas, including those of Charlotte attempting to redeem the characters of her deceased sisters, is very readable and interesting).

That’s it for December! Any good books you read?

Filed Under: reading, reviews

New Year’s Resolutions

January 1, 2010 2 Comments

All over the blogosphere, people are posting their New Year’s resolutions: reading challenges; writing goals; blogging and financial and creative and exercise goals–and, hand-in-hand with that, tips for staying the course.

I admit to being a list junkie. I LOVE planning. I love setting and writing down goals. I make lists everywhere–on the whiteboard, in notebooks, on virtual stickies, in Word, on scraps of paper, on the backs of envelopes. Setting goals satisfies my inner control freak, the Grand Vizier of Over-Planning.

However, I approach this latest season of goal-setting with more caution than in the past. The way to 2010 (a New Beginning! a Fresh Start!) is strewn with the shards of past goals, fragile dreams that did not withstand reality. Instead of taking a flying leap into the future, aiming for the stars, my goals for the next year are to keep doing what I’m doing now, but more so and more regularly.

I’m going to read more books than last year (I did make it to 64 last night!), spread over more genres (more on that later).

I’ll write, but I’m setting the bar low: one completed first draft or one complete revision (novels, of course!). I’m not going to chain myself to a story that isn’t working for me just so that my stats look good. I’m giving myself the time to play with my writing, the freedom to abandon projects, the gift of not having to keep my eye on the numbers. Everything else–more novels, short stories, submissions, acceptances–is gravy.

I’m going to get back to my pre-December piano practice levels, and then some.

I’ll continue to homeschool my kiddos, and resist the temptation to get lost in mounds of research and the starry-eyed pursuit of new curricula. The focus this year will be on active teaching, on nurturing a love of learning, on building up the whole child, on character traits as well as academic rigor.

I’ll pursue new avenues to creativity, but keep them light, fun and playful. I’ll draw when I want to, I’ll take pictures when I want to. I’ll work on making this blog better–maybe a new design, finally change that header picture, write better content on a more consistent basis.

2009 had some rough patches and I’m fine seeing it go. Do you have any resolutions for the new year?

Filed Under: goals
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