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Book #2: Graceling, by Kristin Cashore
F-list, this book has a picture of a knife on the front. That is why I picked it up off the table at the bookstore. I will give you three guesses why I bought it, and the first two don't count.
(Okay, here's a hint: the back of the book starts off with Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight.)
What can I say? I have a type! ;)
The only thing that sort of threw me off about this book was that I kept reading Katniss instead of Katsa. this is not a reflection on the lack of Katsa's development. If anything, she's at least as well developed as Katniss, and much more...active in her own life. No, it's because I'm lazy and only read the first few letters of every word. Thank goodness the boy's name was Po.
Katsa is the niece of one of King Randa, who rules one of the seven kingdoms. These kingdoms are almost always at war, except for Mondsea and Lienid, which are removed and an island respectively. Randa's kingdom is in the middle, which should mean he gets overrun by everyone else all the time...but no one does. Instead, they make alliances with him, pay him huge sums of money to move their troops, and generally try to stay on his good side. The reason? Randa commands the Ladykiller.
Or at least he thinks he does. More importantly, she thinks he does. And she kind of hates it, but she's afraid of getting angry because when she gets angry everyone dies, so she does what he says to avoid getting angry with him. In her spare time, she organizes The Council, a group of people within the kingdom (and eventually beyond it) who believe in peace and trying not to kill one another all the time.
Katsa is Graced, which here means that she is really good at one thing. People are Graced cooks, Graced horsetrainers, Graced archers. Katsa is Graced with killing. Barehanded, at the age of NINE, she needed to train with an entire troop of men to even break a sweat.
And then Katsa meets Po, another Graced Killer, and she begins to question her role within Randa's court, within the Council, within the Seven Kingdoms, and eventually, her actual power. Because Po is not actually Graced with killing. He's just Graced with something that makes it look like he is. As they travel together, their Graces develop (as does their relationship, obviously), and eventually they come to Mondsea, which is in turmoil even though the rest of the world thinks they're just fine and love fluffy animals. The king of Mondsea, you see, has a deadly secret. And of course he's bent on world domination, because what else are you going to do in your spare time.
Enter the king's daughter, Po's cousin, a young girl called Bitterblue. She has no grace at all, but she's determined, and afraid of very little. Po gets injured and they have to leave him behind, and even though she's sure it will kill them, Bitterblue tells Katsa about the one way out of her country that a) no one will try to follow them and b) no one will imagine they'd be stupid enough to attempt. In essence, they climb Mount Caradhras, except where the Fellowship turned back, Katsa just picked her Hobbit up and carried her over the mountain. I may have cheered.
All of this spirals into Katsa's discovery of her true Grace and her feelings for Po. It's nothing particularly original, but it is very well done, and I liked the way the stories came together. Katsa's journey, in particular, is great, but I also really liked Bitterblue for her sheer non-magical determination. It's definitely worth a read.
8/10 for map having, fight choreography, political chicanery and being generally awesome.
(Okay, here's a hint: the back of the book starts off with Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight.)
What can I say? I have a type! ;)
The only thing that sort of threw me off about this book was that I kept reading Katniss instead of Katsa. this is not a reflection on the lack of Katsa's development. If anything, she's at least as well developed as Katniss, and much more...active in her own life. No, it's because I'm lazy and only read the first few letters of every word. Thank goodness the boy's name was Po.
Katsa is the niece of one of King Randa, who rules one of the seven kingdoms. These kingdoms are almost always at war, except for Mondsea and Lienid, which are removed and an island respectively. Randa's kingdom is in the middle, which should mean he gets overrun by everyone else all the time...but no one does. Instead, they make alliances with him, pay him huge sums of money to move their troops, and generally try to stay on his good side. The reason? Randa commands the Ladykiller.
Or at least he thinks he does. More importantly, she thinks he does. And she kind of hates it, but she's afraid of getting angry because when she gets angry everyone dies, so she does what he says to avoid getting angry with him. In her spare time, she organizes The Council, a group of people within the kingdom (and eventually beyond it) who believe in peace and trying not to kill one another all the time.
Katsa is Graced, which here means that she is really good at one thing. People are Graced cooks, Graced horsetrainers, Graced archers. Katsa is Graced with killing. Barehanded, at the age of NINE, she needed to train with an entire troop of men to even break a sweat.
And then Katsa meets Po, another Graced Killer, and she begins to question her role within Randa's court, within the Council, within the Seven Kingdoms, and eventually, her actual power. Because Po is not actually Graced with killing. He's just Graced with something that makes it look like he is. As they travel together, their Graces develop (as does their relationship, obviously), and eventually they come to Mondsea, which is in turmoil even though the rest of the world thinks they're just fine and love fluffy animals. The king of Mondsea, you see, has a deadly secret. And of course he's bent on world domination, because what else are you going to do in your spare time.
Enter the king's daughter, Po's cousin, a young girl called Bitterblue. She has no grace at all, but she's determined, and afraid of very little. Po gets injured and they have to leave him behind, and even though she's sure it will kill them, Bitterblue tells Katsa about the one way out of her country that a) no one will try to follow them and b) no one will imagine they'd be stupid enough to attempt. In essence, they climb Mount Caradhras, except where the Fellowship turned back, Katsa just picked her Hobbit up and carried her over the mountain. I may have cheered.
All of this spirals into Katsa's discovery of her true Grace and her feelings for Po. It's nothing particularly original, but it is very well done, and I liked the way the stories came together. Katsa's journey, in particular, is great, but I also really liked Bitterblue for her sheer non-magical determination. It's definitely worth a read.
8/10 for map having, fight choreography, political chicanery and being generally awesome.
no subject
WHY DID I NOT TELL YOU TO READ THIS AGES AGOOO????
I loooove this book! For all the reasons you said.
(I just read Storm Glass and Sea Glass yesterday and have Spy Glass waiting for me at the library. I am not overly impressed besides with the glass stuff and Opal herself and Mara and Leif's brief apperences and I kind of like Kade. The Devlan storyline makes me want to vomit all over everything. ArRRRRJGKAFDSKLAFJDSL)
Errr... yes. GRACELING YAYYY.
no subject
I won't hold it against you. ;)
As for Sea Glass, OMG I KNOW! I was really, really put off by that (seducing someone when they think you're someone else is, like, the ONE THING IN THE WORLD that will make me stop doing ANYTHING, which is why it's been a while since I watched Fringe). They didn't actually ever have sex though, right? I can't remember and I don't want to, because I'm going with "They didn't" and will never believe otherwise.
So far, Spy Glass seems cool...possibly because I forget everything that happened before and my books are in Ontario. I should read my recap and see if I said anything useful...
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I think my biggest problem (besides Devlan and his arch or bullshit whatever is going on) is that I feel like Opal is doing the exact reverse character arch that Yelena went through... so I sort of feel like I'm reading the Study books backwards with Opal slowly delving into madness and inability to trust people and becoming all cynical (for VERY GOOD reasons, I may add) except Yelena didn't have to deal with a creepy fooling-her-into-thinking-he's-her-boyfriend torturer/rapist horrible person who is now apparently good and no one gives a shit about making him pay for his crimes????
Errr... didn't mean to FEELINGS EXPLODE all over your journal.
Katsa would not stand for this shit, that's for sure :p
I think my favorite part of Graceling was when she and Bitterblue crossed the mountain and Katsa learned soooooo much about her Graced ability. It was just such a well done part in a great book.
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KATSA, THOUGH! Oh, I loved the mountain part! Just perfect.
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And the Bards as the sort of musical/folklore/magicians of the land are beautifully thought out.
I LOVE THEM.
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