Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

As a librarian, I am regularly asked "What is your favorite book." I never have an answer for this. I have many "favorites" depending on my mood and what I need from a book at the moment. However, I will admit to a soft spot for the fantasy genre. I know, I know...it's not for everyone, but the thing is, there's a reason why so many books with cult followings are fantasy. Fantasy like the Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Wheel of Time, and Harry Potter have all the hallmarks of good storytelling--well-developed characters whose lives and fates you care about, suspense, drama, and compelling themes. But on top of the storytelling the writers of good fantasy have the almost other-worldly ability to invent entire worlds that are simultaneously foreign to us and yet recognizable. They develop entire mythologies and histories for the peoples in their books and often new languages, new environments and new cultures. We fantasy fans are so loyal to these invented worlds because we find them so wondrous and believable that we want them to be real.

So yes, generally, fantasy is my "go-to" genre, but I'm picky about what I label "really good fantasy." In the past couple years, I've added Kristin Cashore's Graceling and Fire to this list, along with Shannon Hale's Books of Bayern series and Elizabeth Knox's awesome Dreamhunter Duet. I am happy to say I've recently added another--Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

Incarceron is a prison, created as an experimental closed system to rehabilitate and relocate troublemakers away from the "mainland." The book begins several generations after the invention of Incarceron, when the experiment appears to be going horribly wrong. In the opening scenes we meet Finn, a young man surviving in a gang through ruthlessness and street smarts. Finn can't remember his childhood, but he believes he is from the outside--something those around him dismiss as impossible. Through a chance of fate, Finn comes across an enemy who may be able to get him some answers.

Later, we meet Claudia, daughter of the prison warden, and, in some ways, a prisoner herself. She lives in an artificial world where everyone must stay "authentic" to a medieval time period where loyalty to one's lord and king is all. She has been groomed to marry the prince since childhood but knows she is being manipulated. When she breaks into her father's office looking for proof, she finds a key that connects her to Finn. Can Claudia find the door to the prison before her wedding day and without the queen or her father discovering her? Can Finn trust Claudia with his life and the lives of his companions? Ahh...these are just two of the many deliciously suspenseful questions that get answered by novel's end. This book is just full of imaginative detail and wonderful plot twists that will have you holding your breath as you race to end. And kudos to Catherine Fisher for a bang-up finish with an exciting question left to be answered in the next book in the series (I hate this latest trend of first books having a weak or unresolved ending to ensure the need for a sequel). The sequel, Sapphique will be out in stores December 28. I know I'll be there!


To watch the book trailer for Incarceron, check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMRFsTwwj_U

Green Angel by Alice Hoffman

Green Angel is a brief, haunting, modern fairy tale by prolific novelist Alice Hoffman. The protagonist, Green, lives with her parents and younger sister on a farm outside an unnamed city where they sell their produce. Always considered the quiet one with the knack for gardening, Green is left behind to tend the crops on one trip. Resentful, Green climbs the hill on the farm overlooking the city and witnesses its catastrophic destruction by a mysterious fire bombing.

In what follows, Hoffman illustrates the process of dealing with trauma and grief through the mind of a terrified, lonely 15-year old girl. Each day Green loses herself more in the armor she literally and figuratively builds around person while discovering a valuable talent for survival that helps keep her and those around her alive.

It's been a long time since I've read a book through in one sitting, and I so relished devouring this one. It's a gem of a book, and a powerful parable on the humanity of grief. I can't wait to read the sequel Green Witch.

Shiver

Shiver, a novel by Maggie Stiefvater, reminded me once again that you can’t judge a book by its cover, especially in recent times as publishers have ventured into more sophisticated covers for all manner of young adult books. In the case of Shiver, once glance at the artsy, bi-tonal print on the jacket and I assumed it was a more contemporary, realistic novel. Color me surprised to find it was in fact a werewolf novel, very much in the style of the Twilight series.
Grace has been fascinated by the wolves who live in the woods behind her house ever since being attacked by them as a girl. She feels a particularly strong bond with the strange, yellow-eyed wolf who comes close to her each winter and seems to communicate with his sad stare. When the popular son of a big-wig lawyer is killed by the pack the townspeople rally to take the pack out. Grace cannot help but run to her wolf’s rescue, but in saving him she learns his secret. Enter the desperate, angsty love story, ala Twilight, only this love story’s tension comes not from the “will he or won’t he kill her” question but the “will he or won’t he turn back and leave her forever” question. While some of the story feels a little clichéd and overdramatic, fans of paranormal romance will like the balanced storytelling technique where we get both and Grace and Sam’s perspectives (sort of like Meyer’s Breaking Dawn only more effective, in my opinion). I also thought Stiefvater’s more lyric writing compared favorably to Meyer, though the love story didn’t feel quite so epic to me. However, whether you’re Team Jacob or Team Edward, you’ll definitely want to dive into this tale of werewolf love to see if wolf love can conquer all.

Gone by Lisa McMann

Gone by Lisa McMann is the third and final installment of the creepy, minimalist Wake trilogy. If you haven't read the first two, start there, as this review has spoilers. Main character Janie has the ability, or really, is compelled to enter other people's dreams. In the previous two books, Janie discovers she is not alone in this power and that being able to enter people's dreams has its rewards--she can help people find peace by guiding them in the dream and she can uncover crimes and abuse by observing dreams. Unfortunately, she has also discovered using her "gift" will eventually debilitate her hands into useless claws and cause her to go blind.

In Gone, Janie must make an impossible choice a "Morton's Fork"--either stay in her relationship with her love Cabel and keep using her gift as it cripples her or completely isolate herself from the world and all the joy of love, the way her long-lost father did.

As always, McMann writes in a spare, poetic style rich with emotion and depth. Fans of realism and modernism will like McMann's no-nonsense, life is too complicated for a happy ending approach. Though it certainly involves fantastic elements I would classify it more as contemporary, than fantasy. Gone uses more adult language than the previous two books in the series, but it is authentic to the characters' ages and experiences.
Over all, a very enjoyable series, and I know I'll be standing in line to read her next book, Cryer's Cross in 2011.

Liar

I'm a big fan of the stylistic device known as the "unreliable narrator," especially when employed by an author who knows what he or she is about. And judging by her latest book, Liar, Justine Larbalestier clearly knows what she is about. The narrator Micah introduces herself as a compulsive liar who this time indends to tell the truth: "No lies, no omissions." We learn early on of the death of Micah's sort-of boyfriend Zach (he sees Micah only after school and the relationship is a secret). Micah's narrative jumps around in the telling of her story, and chapters are labeled "Before" or "After" (as in, before or after Zach's murder) and others are labeled "History of Me" and "Family History"; this can be confusing, but stylistically it works to keep you guessing and second-guessing what you know to be true.

I cannot tell you much about this book without giving away some interesting plot and genre twists (is this a mystery...is it sci-fi...no wait, is it a thriller?). Suffice it to say it's very compelling and if you enjoy a good page turner, check this out. It's not your average young adult novel.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

For shame, Madam Librarian. You of all people, should not have been lured in by slick marketing and a cool cover...but, I must admit that I bought into the hype surrounding The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. The book was getting rave reviews from bloggers, the Amazon book trailer was cool, the blurbs on the back cover were wildly complimentary kudos from authors I like. I was fully prepared to love this book.

I did not.

In its defense, the book has many virtues. The premise--a young woman fights for love and survival in a dystopian future where the human race has been mostly overrun by a plague of zombies--is thrilling. The world in which the heroine Mary lives, a fenced-off compound where technology and societal values are approximately those of the late Middle Ages, is richly imagined and increasingly suffocating as we the audience develop sympathy for the narrators' tragic losses (family members turned zombie), lack of choices (marriage and babies are critical for survival), and constant worry about the zombies banging against the fences for her flesh. Early in the book, Mary is forced to go to the sisters, a group of women who live in the cathedral, much like the nunneries of medieval times. Mary's attempts to penetrate the secrets of this all-powerful society are full of suspense and mystique.

Where the author lost me was about midway through the book when Mary and her betrothed Harry, and her best friend Cass and her betrothed Travis (the man Mary actually loved) are forced to make an awful choice. From this point on, Mary becomes obnoxious and unlikable, in part because the book is written in first-person, present tense. I soon got bored with hearing Mary think, and wonder, and suppose on page after page. Had the book been written in 3rd person, the action and dialogue would have spoken for themselves and eliminated the repetitive descriptions of how the narrator was "feeling." Additionally, the interesting plot thread about the sisters remained undeveloped and left me unsatisfied with the ending.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the first of a trilogy (the second book, The Dead Tossed Waves comes out Spring 2010) which somewhat explains the inconclusive ending, but I'm finding this trilogy trend in fantasy novels is giving authors the excuse to write sloppy endings. So no, I didn't love this book; I thought it could have used a lot more editing and revising. But a lot of people did love this book (see starred reviews by School Library Journal, Publishers' Weekly, and MTV), so you may not want to take my word for it. If you give it a shot, let me know what you think...am I missing the boat on this one?

Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd

I'm back from a loooong break and rarin' to go. For my first review of the year, I snagged Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd, a collection of short stories edited by well-known authors (and good friends) Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci. If you haven't noticed, we're currently in the middle of a Geek-Chic Phenomenon wherein, geekiness, nerdiness, dorkdome, etc. have come in to their own and suddenly, being an outsider is a very fashionable brand indeed. I happen to agree with Wikipedia's astute analysis of the geek chic trend, which points out that the Geek-Chic label is largely superficial. However, as a rather dorky person (I heart reading, Star Trek NG, Star Wars, LOTR; I was in band and 4-H in high school, as well as the forestry team), I couldn't resist the premise of this book.

The editors have gathered an all-star team of YA authors to write stories in which the protagonists are all geeks of one ilk or another. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I was surprised by the variety of tone and theme offered in these stories, which ran the gamut from dark, social commentary to silly, entertaining romps. I have to say, I expected better from some of the authors whose work I know and love, but was not let down by John Green and David Levithan. I thought Libba Bray's "It's Just a Jump to the Left" was an interesting commentary on growing up which channeled Judy Blume's ability to nail the fears of a teenage girl while covering more mature concerns. I also enjoyed Sara Zarr's "This is My Audition Monologue," whose intriguing narrarator surprises with her blunt honesty (and, I might add, this story would make for an interesting audition monologue, even if it is long). The majority of stories contain some mature content, mostly language (a lot of which I felt was unnecessary and self-conscious) and some themes. Admittedly, I didn't enjoy every story in the collection, but, found the collection entertaining on the whole. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone with a little geek in them, whether they let it show or not. To read an excerpt or play the game "The Great Geek Escape," check out the publisher website: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/geektastic/index.html.