The Dragon's Tooth - N.D. Wilson

The Dragon's Tooth by N.D. Wilson

Random House 2011


Rating: 8
Readability: 9
Impact: Interesting style. Memorable story.


Read it Again: Probably
Recommend It: Yup.




What to Expect

A story with many threads, gripping for all ages, but with the distinct flavor of being written by an understanding father of wild boys (and/or someone who has retained boyish delight).

N.D. Wilson combines the mundaneness of American living with fantastical keys, teeth, and hidden academies. He paints interesting characters and tells the unbelievable in such a normal, unapologetic way that it sends you knee-deep before you realizes you're only sitting in a chair reading a book.

The Dragon's Tooth drops a few characters, which was a little annoying, but forgivable. Overall it will make you scared, sad, and happy, but most of all, eager the next book!

My Squib


The Dragon's Tooth is somehow both darker and more frolicking than most stories. Which is, in some ways, just how Christian fiction should be. N.D. Wilson never lapses into homilies or Scripture verses, but can't help incorporating Biblical themes and language which form part of the backbone of the book. He's a great example of a Christian author--not an author who writes "Christian fiction".

The characters were interesting and I thought Cyrus was a wonderful lead...most of his characters use snarky wit in abundance, but have multiple other differences which make them distinguishable.

His descriptions are often both unique and artistic and his musings on death make me almost ready to forgive him for writing more kid's fiction instead of more Notes form the Tilt-a-Whirl. :-) I shall remain patient in controlled waiting for the rest of the series and hopefully some day...some adult fiction? That would make me blissfully happy.

I haven't been reading a lot of fantasy lately and to start a book of this size, I have to trust the author. I enjoyed every minute of it.

From the Book

If you've read the book we can discuss the finer aspects (including my two favorite characters...both amazing), but if you haven't read it yet, you really should. Should have read it the first week, but remembered to review it...unlike me. ;-)

If you haven't seen the book trailer yet, go check it out here. 

Fiction is good for the soul. And sometimes I need a reminder. Thank you, N.D. Wilson!

The Charlatan's Boy - Jonathan Rogers

The Charlatan's Boy: A Novel by Jonathan Rogers

Waterbrook Press

Rating: 6

Jonathan Rogers has no qualms with creating his own intriguing words and grammar. The Charlatan's Boy is a lively, amusing, and somewhat rambling read from the first person perspective of an unusual orphan boy.

Grady has no idea where he comes from or belongs. The only man he knows is a the showman and scoundrel, Floyd. The two travel through country towns putting on a variety of absurd shows where Grady performs as a wild Feechie, an ugly boy, or a head bump translator. All the while, he tries to come to terms with his trade, lack of identity, and the unreliableness of the most prominent person in his life, Floyd.

The book's humor helps balance the lack of a constant driving force and rising action. Many of the chapters dealing with new people and places, the book never mentions again, which give it a short store or memoir type of feel. The ending seems a bit tidy and out of the blue, but is fairly satisfactory. At least Floyd shows his true colors very clearly and Grady is happy, even if it's all highly unlikely.

Jonathan Rogers is a creative and spicy author. I look forward to watching what he publishes in the future and hope for a little better structure and conclusion.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Necessary Note: I received a free copy of this book from Waterbrook Press for this review.

Howl's Moving Castle - A Ramble

I was first introduced to Howl's Moving Castle at a friend's house three or four years ago. I came in about 1/3 of the way through and was properly confused. The friend loved the book and couldn't reconcile herself with the movie. She gave me a good lecture on how much better the book was. ;-) I still came home wanting to see the rest, but my family isn't big into anime, so it got dropped somewhere.

Then...

I was at another friend's house and I saw it sitting on the shelf and I was like, "Dude! Can we watch this?" And we did. :-)

Then...

We were out at a gigantic mall and had just gotten high on cheesecake before we went book sniffing in Borders. We ended up both buying a copy of Howl's Moving Castle, partly because we wanted to read it and partly because it just smelled so good. Later we felt guilty, so decided to purchase them as gifts for each other. Somehow it felt less like a unwarranted expense.

Then...

I made my sister read it. So far everyone I had talked to liked which ever they experienced first. Book if they read first, movie if they watched first. I liked the movie better, although I enjoyed the book. My sister was far from eager to watch an anime film, but I actually got her drawing pictures from the movie before she even saw it. ;-)

It was getting bad. "I hate fish", "what a pretty fire", and other quotes kept hindering our communication. She simply had to see the movie...and by this time she really wanted to.
(I actually do not hate fish, btw.)

And, on Tuesday in the exhaustion of our recent experiences and the battle against nasty colds we watched it...snuggled up on the couch in the darkness.

It was amazing.

So, that's my experience with Howl's Moving Castle, but I'm pretty sure you want to actually hear about it, not my boring history in relation to it.

The Book

by Diana Wynne Jones and published in 1986 by a division of Harper Collins.

Rollicking, quirky, funny, unexpected, and just plain random. I loved the characters. I enjoyed the story, but felt like it lacked some of the depth and cohesiveness of the movie. It was was really was just plain good story telling, unapologetic and fun. Not a great work of literature, but a good story...especially if you like randomness.

It's uniqueness, surprise words, and characters make it pretty irresistible.

The Movie

Directed and written by Hayao Miyazaki (2004)

English version starring Christian Bale, Jean Simmons, Billy Crystal and Emily Mortimer.

You should see this movie even if you aren't a fan of anime (which there is no reason not to be unless you were scarred by the Pokeman craze...like me).

It's creative and winsome and beautiful.

It's not necessary to love, but I think it is necessary to appreciate. Besides...I'm pretty sure you'll love the characters at least.

The best movies (animated, action, drama, anything) you can watch over and over and still notice new things.

I wouldn't have expected this from a simple (but beautiful) film like this, but it is true. A lot of creative weaving was put into the details to make this story one much larger than two hours can hold, but at the same time very understandable and fun in those two hours.

I noticed new things every time I watched it.

I admit that some of the lines, especially of the romance, could be taken as cheese. For me, they worked. It wasn't taking itself too seriously and somehow Christian Bale (Howl's voice) can just pull of those cool lines that would seem cheesy by anybody else (think Batman Begins). To me it was awesome.

The movie is creative (almost disturbingly with it's flying battleships and hatted blob men), gives food for thought and conversation, has outstanding music, and is beautiful and colorful.

You should try it.

Book vs. Movie

The movie plot is drastically different than the book. I think I like the movie's better.

Normally I think the movie should stick closely to the book. After all, you could just make up your own story if you're going to change it that much. But in this case, I think everything was justified. (I also saw the movie first, so I'm going to be bias.) The most important thing is to stick with the characters. It is unforgivable when when a movie director takes a well loved fictional character and twists them to do something totally uncharacteristic. This is where Howl's Moving Castle comes clean.

The characters are very true to themselves. Howl and Sophie, while they might end up doing some things not in the book, are very true to the spirit of the Howl and Sophie on the printed page. Micheal is a much younger boy in the movie, but his lines and character are very similar. The bad characters are rather drastically changed, but that's okay. :-)

There were three things that were different in the movie that I really liked.

1) Howl, although girls are mentioned, is not always chasing them.

2) The whole Howl curse thing made a lot more sense and was a lot cooler. (Not sure how to explain it better than that.:-)

3) They break out of their various spells without using added magic. Wizardry in general is not portrayed very positively. Sophie does not have magical powers (which I liked better). Although there was a very clear line between "black" magic and not black magic, in the book, it was still used in ways that hardly seemed fair. And at the end Howl goes on being a wizard and Sophie is learning more about the power she has.

I liked how the movie, by the end, kind of seems to be saying that magic has created a lot of problems and when they reverse that magic, life is how it should be. Kind of almost like, Howl was grabbing to much power and that's how his whole curse thing started out.

I don't know how to explain this all very well, but it had a more Lord of the Rings message then a Harry Potter one. (Even if you love Harry Potter, you have to realize that there is a big difference.) It was just more "deep" and cohesive, I thought.

Special Issues

Howl is very interesting.

I love that he loves beauty and that his room is full of color and stuffed animals.

That is just down right awesome.

Near the end Calcifer says that Howl's heart is still that of a child. For some reason, I think this is the sort of child-like wonder G. K. Chesterton and N. D. Wilson would approve of. A fascination with the colorful and the beautiful and the unusual.

In the movie, the character development with Howl is well done and he is certainly more mature in the areas he should be at the end. He loses his selfishness and self proclaimed tendency to run.

Is the movie anti-war?

I don't think so.

Sophie is believable and relatable and still maintains uniqueness and individuality. She is polite and compassionate. Sophie and Howl seem to fairly easily forgive the Witch of the Waste and actually harbor her in their castle. Come to think about it, compassion and kindness play a big part in the movie.

What about the poor prince at the end? The once adorable turnip head? Sophie is his true love, but he is not hers. It's so sad. But you can't stay sad for long considering the circumstances. The Witch of the Waste is awesome in this scene, by the way. :-)

From the Movie

Sophie: "Let's run away. There's no use in fighting."

Howl: "Why? I'm done running away. Finally I've found something worth protecting with my life. Its you."

You can see more awesome quotes here, which for the sake of brevity, I shall not include.

In Conclusion

I could probably ramble on forever...but I'll quit.

I know several other people who have read the book that have not seen the movie, so we should be having some more parties soon. ;-) That will give me some more time for analyzing and enjoying.

If I was going to give this a review I would give the book about a 7 and the movie a 9.

If you watched it and/or read it, tell me what you thought.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

By Darkness Hid - Jill Williamson

By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson
Marcher Lord Press



Rating: 9
Readability: 9
Impact: It certainly restored my faith in fantasy.


Read it Again: Yes
Recommend It: Yes!



What to Expect

An interwoven story of two young people, Vrell and Achan, in an epic clash of good and evil.
A page turner for sure!

My Squib

I haven't tried to read any fantasy for years. Seriously.
In my "youth" (wink) I was a fantasy fanatic.
I read Lloyd Alexander, C. S. Lewis, and Tolkien. I enjoyed some other authors too. (Like Sigmund Brouwer's Wings of Dawn...amazing.) But pretty soon I lost faith in fantasy. Most of it was a weak recap of Lord of the Rings. A lot of it was cheesy, much poorly written, and most of it down right boring.
The only new fantasy I've read in the last several years has been Megan Whalen Turner.

I was able to meet Jill Williamson and hear part of her book in the Author Reading night at the OCW conference. My curiosity was pricked.
I bought the first book.
Why not give fantasy another try?

I am totally thrilled. This book is a treasure. I enjoyed all 500 pages. It was one of those stories that you have to keep reading but you don't want it to end. I thought the ending was cool, but I wasn't ready to be done with it yet!

I can't wait until my next pay check and I can buy book two.

Check out Jill Williamson's blog here.

By Darkness Hid has already won a Christy Award!
Read it and vote for By Darkness Hid for the 2010 Clive Staple Award. Here's how.

Buy By Darkness Hid here!

From the Book

Chapter 1

Achan stumbled through the darkness toward the barn. The morning cold sent shivers through his threadbare orange tunic. He clutched the a wooden milking pail to his side and held a flickering torch to light his way.

And now you must find it and read it yourself. :-)

Phantastes - George MacDonald

Phantastes by George MacDonald
Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co.


Rating: 8
Readability: 7
Impact: 7


Read it Again: I certainly think it would be interesting at some point.
Recommend It: Yes, if you want an unusual read.



What to Expect

A novel typical of George MacDonald's fantasy sends you on an interesting ride through the random yet profound, romantic symbolism of a tale of the inner and outer journey.

My Squib

Everyone remotely interested in fantasy should read George MacDonald.
How ever bazaar and romanticized his work may be, he is truly deserves the title "the father of fantasy".
So many great authors have been profoundly influenced by his work. C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton attribute much of their inspiration to him.

I have never been a fantasy fanatic. I have read a lot of George MacDonald's more "Gothic" novels, but this is actually my first fantasy of his.
Like his other books, it took me about 50 pages to get hooked. From then on it was an easy read.

If you can get over the fact that we no think of fairies as rather childish experiences and so forth, you will enjoy this book to a greater degree.

It has some very cool symbolism, incredible stories, utter bazaarness, innocent romance, and a pure portrayal of honor.

I don't really feel like I caught all of it (but who says he meant for everything to be allegorical?). I really enjoyed it.

Thank you, Hadley, for recommending it and letting me borrow it!

From the Book

I admit that I copied an awful lot of this book out. Most of George MacDonald's writing bothers me. A lot of it is choppy. Some of it just seems absurd. But every once in awhile he really hits something absolutely beautiful.
I can't begin to copy those passages here. I encourage you to pick up the book yourself and fine those few, but precious, gold mines.

"...some strange melodious bird took up its song, and sang, not an ordinary bird-song, with constant repetition of the same melody, but what sounded like a continuous strain, in which one thought was expressed, deepening in intensity as it evolved in progress.
It sounded like a welcome already overshadowed with the coming farewell. As in all sweetest music, a tinge of sadness was in every note. Nor do we know how much of the pleasures even of life we owe to the intermingled sorrows.
Joy cannot unfold the deepest truths, although deepest truths be deepest joy.
Cometh white-robed Sorrow, stooping and wan, and flingeth wide the doors she may not enter. Almost we linger with Sorrow for very love."

"He was in fact a poet without words; the more absorbed and endangered, that the springing waters were dammed back into his soul, where, finding no utterance, they grew, and swelled, and undermined.
He used to lie on his coach, and read a tale of a poem, till the book dropped from his hand, but he dreamed on, he knew not whether awake or asleep, until the opposite roof grew upon his sense and turned golden in the sunrise."

"O light of dead and dying days!
O love; in glory go,
In a rosy, misty, and moony maze,
O'er the pathless peaks of snow.

But what is left for the cold gray soul,
That moans like a wounded dove?
One wine is left in the broken bowl-
'Tis- to love, and love, and love.

Better to sit at the waters' birth,
Than a sea of waves to win;
To live in love that floweth forth,
Than the love that cometh in.

Be thy heart a well of love, my child,
Flowing, and free, and sure;
For a cistern of love, through undefiled,
Keeps not the spirit pure."

"If I mistake not, he will make you weep till your tears are dry forever. Tears are the only cure for weeping."

A Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whalen Turner

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner
Greenwillow Books



Rating: 7
Readability: 7
Impact: 3


Read it Again: Maybe, but I'll read the other books in the series again first.
Recommend it: I certainly highly recommend the Attolia series!

What to Expect

The fourth book of the remarkable Attolia series.
A Conspiracy of Kings does not match up to its series- The Thief (a Newberry Honor Book for 1997), The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia. While it has plenty of the intrigue it relies more heavily on plot and plot twists then it's character development.

Compared to the other three books it isn't anything amazing, but if you didn't have the expectations, it would certainly be a decent page-turner.

My Squib

I thought the plot of this book was good, however, sometimes she sacrificed clarity and character for plot's sake.

I did not feel like the plot was propelled by the characters. Where as the surprises in the earlier books made sense when one went back and looked at the character's clues, Conspiracy of Kings left me pretty befuddled. The characters did not weave and propel the plot forward as much as the plot hurried them along.
Did we not know the real Sounis or was the real Sounis forced into a already crafted plot?

The writing style was certainly not as polished as her last three books. I didn't like that she changed the voice back in forth in places. (Sometimes Eddis is "I" and sometimes Sophos is "I" and sometimes it is omniscient.) It just wasn't as cohesive and satisfying.

Of course I wouldn't have minded hearing more about Gen and Attolia, but I learned to deal with Sophos/Sounis and even to start liking him. :-) I thought her character development and change with him was a good effort...even if the idea of a ruler being forced to act like one is a little old.

Over all, I really enjoyed the book.
I just feel like because she has two totally amazing books and one very good one, she didn't work as hard at touching this one up...and of course no character can be as interesting and complex as Gen.

I think there is a lot to learn from Megan Whelen Turner's writing. She really is a genius. The Queen of Attolia and The Thief are truly masterpieces. The King of Attolia is close...very close. To bad Conspiracy of Kings is so far behind.

All that said, I was disappointed, but I did truly enjoy the book and I can say I'm looking forward to the next one. I'd rather her take the 6 years it took for her second book though and have it be as ingenious.

If you read it, tell me what you thought!

From the Book

"The king of Attolia was passing through his city, on his way to the port to greet ambassadors newly arrived from distant parts of the world.
The king was a newcomer and a foreigner, king only by virtue of political marriage to the queen of Attolia and still unfamiliar to most Attolians. They massed along the Sacred Way to see him for themselves, as well as to cheer their queen, who rode beside him in the open coach.

One member of the crowd, a young man with a broken nose, a lip twisted by scar tissue, and dirty clothes that combined to suggest a person of violent and criminal habits, had a particular need to get close."