Powers, by Ursula K. Le Guin (Read-a-thon # 5)

Sponsored by coraa and ellen_fremendon.

This is the third book in Le Guin's Annals of the Western Shore trilogy; I read the awesomely depressing Gifts a while back, which did not inspire me to read more, and apparently mixed up this and the actual book two, Voices. However, this is only loosely connected with Gifts (not sure about Voices and reads fine on its own. Thankfully, though rather solemn and melancholy, it is not awesomely depressing.

Gavir, a boy who occasionally has visions of the future, and his sister Salla are house slaves, brought up in material comfort with the free children of the house. Unsurprisingly, Le Guin excels at showing the emotional and political complexity of the situation - her motto, like oursin's, is "it's always more complicated" - without downplaying its horrors.

I am making this book sound excruciating and tract-like, I realize. I actually liked it, though I didn't love it. The final section, in which all the seemingly episodic elements come together, is very moving. But the structure is oddly unbalanced, with various episodes given uneven amounts of space - I don't think Gavir's stay in the wooden city of the bandits needed to have all the verbiage it was given, especially compared to his time in the marshes. I also didn't find him a very compelling character, and was consistently more interested in the worldbuilding, the ideas, and the beauty of the prose than in him as a person.

I am amused to note that I have now read enough of Le Guin that when someone informs Gavir that he is the long-awaited chosen one, contrary to what I'd think if that happened in most YA fantasy, I immediately thought, "That won't end well!"

I seem to recall that the cover was initially whitewashed, then changed at Le Guin's request. SIGH. It's quite a beautiful cover, though I note that if the actual Gavir had half the model's intensity, I would have liked him a lot more, and also that contrary to what the glowy light around POWERS implies, his psychic power, while emotionally important, is given comparatively little page-time and only affects the plot once.

I will read Voices at some point, since people seem to like that one the best.

Powers (Annals of the Western Shore)

Enchanted Glass, by Diana Wynne Jones (Read-a-thon # 6)

Sponsored by jonquil.

Andrew Hope inherits his grandfather's peculiar house, recalcitrant gardener and housekeeper, magical responsibilities, and the care of a teenage boy, Aidan Cain, who has an inexhaustible wallet, a name no one seems able to remember, and a lot of mysterious pursuers. A farrago of magical counterparts, were-dogs, and giant vegetables, not to mention actual giants, ensues. I particularly enjoyed the climactic mingling of a Faerie battle with a rigged contest at the fair for various Best Bits of Garden Produce.

I wouldn't say this is one of my favorite Jones novels - the characters have bright surfaces but not a lot of depth, and the end is more one thing after another than an orchestrated and coherent climax - but it's very funny, with particularly good running jokes about extremely big vegetables and cauliflower cheese. It reminded me a bit of the underrated The Ogre Downstairs (the one with the magic chemistry set.)

Enchanted Glass

The Ogre Downstairs

The Lion Hunter, by Elizabeth Wein (Read-a-Thon # 7)

Sponsored by sartorias. (I already read A Coalition of Lions and The Sunbird.)

In a land based on ancient Ethiopia, the royal child-spy Telemakos recovers from his horrendous last mission, only to find that the reward of a job well-done is another job. And that's about all I can say about the plot without spoilers.

Excellent. Intense. Harsh. Really great job of characterizing a baby; also an excellent portrayal of PTSD.

...and I think I'll just start reading The Empty Kingdom now rather than writing up this book, then actually write something once I've finished that. Thank goodness I waited to read this one until I had them both!

The Lion Hunter (The Mark of Solomon)

The Empty Kingdom (The Mark of Solomon)

The Empty Kingdom, by Elizabeth Wein (Read-a-Thon # 8)

Sponsored by sartorias.

Damn, that was a good book. I'll hold off on a write-up till a little later, when it'll get more eyes.

Escape to Witch Mountain, by Alexander Key (Read-a-thon # 9)

A classic psychic kids novel which I somehow failed to read until now.

Tony, who is telekinetic, and Tia, who can talk to animals, open locks, and has perfect recall - but can't speak - are brother and sister psychic orphans, hated and feared by a world that doesn't understand them, and pursued by the parts of the world that understand them all too well. They flee an evil orphanage, are helped by an athletic Irish priest (who looks like a zombie trying to conceal his undead state with way too much eyeliner in the illustrations), rescue bears, and seek their origins.

I've liked some of Key's other books better - this was a bit unsubtle and slight, with a seriously rickety plot, though it did have one good twist at the end (why Tia can't speak.)

Sadly, the best bits consisted of unintentional comedy:

A cold finger of doubt crept suddenly into Tony's mind.

That reminds me of the classic "And then the hand of fate stepped in."

When Tony and Tia explain how their uncle died in a revolution and plaintively ask why people are violent and cruel, the kindly Irish priest explains, "Because human rights and human suffering mean nothing to a communist."

Five pages later, Tony and Tia explain about how their people managed things, without money, greed, or conflict. The kindly Irish priest says, "Imagine! A small group, advanced far beyond the idea of personal profit, coming to a greedy commercial world..." He rhapsodizes on in this vein for some time, unaware that he seems to be describing... communists!

No, I've never seen the movie.

Escape to Witch Mountain