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grav_ityGirls are Awesome, Here There Be Dragons, re-imagined world, acting their ages (instead of their shoe size), remarkable maturity wrt sex and general all around awesomeness.
I really, really loved this book, you guys. I knew by the bottom of page two that it was probably getting a 10, and then by the end of the chapter, I was afraid I'd have to stop reading it because of The Story of Owen, but I decided there were enough differences that I could keep going (and, frankly, the fact that I came up with some similar ideas without reading this book first indicates that it's just common sense, I think), and I am REALLY glad I did, because I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK.
Here There Be Spoilers!
Like in Steel, Vaughn gives us a heroine with an odd hobby (here rock climbing instead of fencing), that will be useful later (she's super strong and not afraid of heights), but unlike in Steel, there's nothing magical in this world. It's a straight up alternate universe, where dragons exist, have always existed, and have (mostly) always been feared.
Vaughn sets this up perfectly. The first chapter sees Kay rock climbing and her biggest fear is not falling or the very real danger that she might get eaten by a dragon, but the fact that some guy has asked her to homecoming, and she doesn't know what to say to him. All though the book, the "real" worldliness of the dragons is highlighted like that, and it's funny, heartbreaking and always, always brilliant.
I think the reason I loved this books so much was how SIMPLE and UNDERSTATED everything was. It just happened. It was breathtakingly natural. It didn't feel like fantasy at all. That's quite an achievement, I think, and one that couldn't have been easy to pull off, but it was a lot of fun to read.
Also fun to read was Kay trying to figure out her relationship with Jon, her friend-turned-boyfriend. Her best friend Tam just cannot figure out why they don't have sex, and Kay just can't figure out why anyone would want to, and it's so amazingly 17 of them that my heart ached a bit. And then, of course, it becomes central to the plot because, once another Dragon War starts, the traditional way to appease them is to offer up a virgin in a white dress (and Jon, when he figures out what Kay is going to do volunteers to go instead and then calls her on her "sexist bullshit" when she says no, and I KIND OF LOVE HIM). (And the best part is that when Kay and Artegal are cooking up this plan in the first place, she's all "Why does it have to be a virgin?" and he's all "I have no idea, it was your idea. We can't even tell!" and she's all "Really?" and he's all "Yeah, you all pretty much look the same to us. How do you tell?" and she's all "Uh..." and I was all "I. Must not. Make out with this book. AT THE WALK-IN CLINIC!")
There were some surprising heavy themes here, the obvious ones of prejudice and growing up, but also some amazing takes on forgiveness and what it means to sacrifice. I was really impressed with it, because it never felt like I was getting hit over the head with a sledge hammer, but at the same time, there was a LOT going on in the story. It was really well put together.
Oh, and there's FLYING. I ADORE THE FLYING. And I may have had a tiny palpitation when Artegal said the elders would ground him, but it turned out okay, so I didn't have to worry.
I love this book so I'm not even shaving off half a point for kind of sweeping Canada under the rug (mentioning Vancouver twice doesn't count).
And I haven't even said anything even really cool about it yet! You'll have to read it for yourself.
10/10, for DRAGONS and AWESOMENESS and CLEVERNESS and for talking about geography and so on.
I really, really loved this book, you guys. I knew by the bottom of page two that it was probably getting a 10, and then by the end of the chapter, I was afraid I'd have to stop reading it because of The Story of Owen, but I decided there were enough differences that I could keep going (and, frankly, the fact that I came up with some similar ideas without reading this book first indicates that it's just common sense, I think), and I am REALLY glad I did, because I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK.
Here There Be Spoilers!
Like in Steel, Vaughn gives us a heroine with an odd hobby (here rock climbing instead of fencing), that will be useful later (she's super strong and not afraid of heights), but unlike in Steel, there's nothing magical in this world. It's a straight up alternate universe, where dragons exist, have always existed, and have (mostly) always been feared.
Vaughn sets this up perfectly. The first chapter sees Kay rock climbing and her biggest fear is not falling or the very real danger that she might get eaten by a dragon, but the fact that some guy has asked her to homecoming, and she doesn't know what to say to him. All though the book, the "real" worldliness of the dragons is highlighted like that, and it's funny, heartbreaking and always, always brilliant.
I think the reason I loved this books so much was how SIMPLE and UNDERSTATED everything was. It just happened. It was breathtakingly natural. It didn't feel like fantasy at all. That's quite an achievement, I think, and one that couldn't have been easy to pull off, but it was a lot of fun to read.
Also fun to read was Kay trying to figure out her relationship with Jon, her friend-turned-boyfriend. Her best friend Tam just cannot figure out why they don't have sex, and Kay just can't figure out why anyone would want to, and it's so amazingly 17 of them that my heart ached a bit. And then, of course, it becomes central to the plot because, once another Dragon War starts, the traditional way to appease them is to offer up a virgin in a white dress (and Jon, when he figures out what Kay is going to do volunteers to go instead and then calls her on her "sexist bullshit" when she says no, and I KIND OF LOVE HIM). (And the best part is that when Kay and Artegal are cooking up this plan in the first place, she's all "Why does it have to be a virgin?" and he's all "I have no idea, it was your idea. We can't even tell!" and she's all "Really?" and he's all "Yeah, you all pretty much look the same to us. How do you tell?" and she's all "Uh..." and I was all "I. Must not. Make out with this book. AT THE WALK-IN CLINIC!")
There were some surprising heavy themes here, the obvious ones of prejudice and growing up, but also some amazing takes on forgiveness and what it means to sacrifice. I was really impressed with it, because it never felt like I was getting hit over the head with a sledge hammer, but at the same time, there was a LOT going on in the story. It was really well put together.
Oh, and there's FLYING. I ADORE THE FLYING. And I may have had a tiny palpitation when Artegal said the elders would ground him, but it turned out okay, so I didn't have to worry.
I love this book so I'm not even shaving off half a point for kind of sweeping Canada under the rug (mentioning Vancouver twice doesn't count).
And I haven't even said anything even really cool about it yet! You'll have to read it for yourself.
10/10, for DRAGONS and AWESOMENESS and CLEVERNESS and for talking about geography and so on.
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Date: 2011-06-06 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-06 01:53 am (UTC)