BRW: The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch

The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch
Author: Joseph Delaney
Length: 384 pages
(My) Rating: G

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This book was recommended to me by my little brother. 

Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son. In Delaney's universe, this makes him capable of becoming a spook. Spooks are people who protect normal people from the dead and magical. 

Thomas Ward is apprenticed to the Spook and leaves his parents and oldest brother and his brother's expecting wife. He has no desire to go, but his mother is insistent and tells him that the main reason she married his father, a seventh son, and gave birth to the six brothers before him, was so that he could be born. 

Thomas can see the dead and he is frightened of them. The Spook challenges him to counter his fear and gives him very specific instructions. When Thom obeys, he is protected. 

However, he is young and bound to make mistakes. He really should have told his Master about talking to the girl with the pointed shoes....

Thomas faces many different challenges and accidentally puts his family in very real danger. He really begins to learn why Spooks live alone.

I really enjoyed this book. Though it was written for a younger audience, the plot was unique, and their classifications of different kind of ghosts and other supernatural things was interesting. I could tell that there was something different about his mother, but the author hasn't chosen to reveal what that is yet. 

The beginning was a bit slow to start, but after he joined the Spook it really picked up. 

My dad and brother told me that they'd made the book into a movie (kind of) called Seventh Son, but it was so different that there really wasn't much of a comparison. However, if they HAD made an accurate movie, it would have been pretty creepy, Some of the scenes could be downright frightening if I had read it at night. 

I didn't have many complaints. It was an enjoyable, quick read. I would recommend it for any age. 

Parental Guide

There was really nothing to be worried about in this book. I don't remember any swearing, and there was very little actual violence. The creep factor is fairly high, and dead things are discussed frequently. There is a final scene with some pigs that is somewhat disturbing, but very non-descriptive. 

Book Review Wednesday: Tarzan of the Apes

Here's one you can actually read for free :)

Tarzan of the Apes
Author:Edgar Rice Burroughs
Length: 432 pages
(My) Rating: PG

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Honestly, I can't tell you how much I love this book. My father introduced Tarzan to me when I was pretty young, and he was introduced by his own father. This book series is kind of a family tradition.

With that in mind, I'm trying to give a fair review of this book, but I may have a hard time not being biased. 

If you've only watched Tarzan movies or read funny comics where Tarzan generally speaks like this: 

"Me, Tarzan. You, Jane."

then this book will not be anything like you're expecting. Once Tarzan learns to speak, he is quite fluent, and intelligent.

Tarzan is about a baby whose parents perish in the jungle, and he is found and nurtured by a great ape. (This is actually a more humanoid version of apes, than even gorillas. He is raised among them, and incidentally develops an incredible musculature and superhuman senses. He uses his superior intellect to survive and becomes the leader of his tribe.

Contrary to the old movies, Tarzan is incredibly smart. He teaches himself to read English, though he is unable to speak it since he's never heard it before. As Tarzan reaches adulthood, a group of white people are marooned upon the shore near the same place where his parents were abandoned. He falls in love with a girl named Jane, and ends up saving every member of the party.

Really, you have to read both the first book and the second book to finish the plot, but we'll just review the first book for now.

Edgar Rice Burroughs is very good at writing action. The story flows along at a swift pace, and it was always very easy for me to see what was happening. I found Tarzan's journey from savagery to civilization to be fairly believable and enjoyable.

Tarzan himself is a bit savage at first (understandably so), but Burroughs likes to focus on the fact that inner gentility can overcome learned savagery. Tarzan does some pretty horrifying things occasionally, but in light of his upbringing, he acts pretty admirably. The animals are fairly realistic, and its fun to see Burroughs' views of Africa.

The book has an occasional racist-slur to it, which was fairly standard for the time period that it was written in, but I would argue that Burroughs actually was not racist himself. As much as cannibals are described in awful terms, he is also very sympathetic with the plights of the Africans and their mistreatment from their white employers. More often than not, the whites are portrayed as more savage then the supposed "savages." His greatest injustice is to the servant of Jane, who is described as a large black woman with a very southern accent. Sometimes it is difficult to understand her, and she is a bit pathetic.

In some newer versions of the book, they have modernized her language so that she doesn't sound so base.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about that, not because of the correction of racism, but of the changing of someone else's writing. However, this isn't really the time for that conversation.

Anyway.

I love every book in this series, though some of the later ones get a bit repetitive. Tarzan is portrayed as a truly noble figure, while Jane is portrayed as intelligent, brave, and fairly independent.

I highly recommend this book. It is a quick and interesting read, and full of excitement. There is something appealing about taking humanity to its maximum. It is fun to see what Burroughs ideas are of the basically perfect human form and the abilities that we would develop if we were forced to survive in the jungle.

If you really want, nearly the entire series is available on kindle for only $2.99. Check it out on Amazon: Click here

Parental Guide

There is some language in this book, but very mild. There is quite a bit of violence. Tarzan often kills and eats his food raw. There is talk of cannibalism and torture that goes along with that, but very little is described. 

As far as sexual content, nothing happens. Tarzan is naked in his youth, and for nearly the rest of the book he swings around in a loin cloth. No intimacy occurs. 

Book Review Wednesday: Mirror Sight

Mirror Sight
Author: Kristen Britain
Length: 770 pages
(My) Rating: PG13

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I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed by this book. I was going to review the first book of this series first, but after thinking about it, I decided to review the most recent book first. 

This is book number 5 of the Green Rider series. Usually, I have not been disappointed by Kristen Britain. Her books tend to be fast paced with well-rounded character and interesting plot twists. It is usually very hard to see what's coming next, and that's something I've always really appreciated about the author...until now.

(As a side note, I would recommend reading the first four books first. Otherwise, you will likely be very confused.)

The premise is unexpected. Karigan finds herself propelled into the future to a world with no magic and where her history and time period has been deliberately forgotten. An immortal emperor sits upon the throne, and though Karigan is sure she knows who it is, she is in for a surprise. She must find a way to return home and share her discoveries with her time, before everything is lost and the future that she is living, become real.

Okay, now don't get me wrong. For the most part, this book is interesting and events usually occur very quickly. There were a few slow points where I wished that something exciting would happen, but character development is good too. I did come to care for the people that she encountered, and it was fascinating to see what could occur in Karigan's future.

My beef isn't necessarily with the events in the book, as much as it is with the book itself. 

*Spoiler alert for the next part, but I can't mince on words with this.* 

This book was a colossal waste of time. It was essential the "it was all a dream" plot-line, with a few changes. I'm not saying nothing significant happened. There were a few things that she was able to bring back that will help her time avoid the future that she experienced, but over all, she pretty much forgot everything that happened in the 700+ pages of book, also, because it occurred in the future, she couldn't bring anything back with her, including the memories or the experiences. So, essentially, it never actually happened. 

Lame.

Lame.

 

Lame.

This whole story could have easily been skipped with just having Karigan encounter someone in the starry space who gives her a riddle about the dragon fly weapon and Amberhill. Then, she could have appeared on the table, just like in the book and had the mirror fragments still impact her eye.

Was Cade really crucial? I don't think so. It was just another way of Karigan never finding someone she could be with. I didn't really appreciate the intimacy scene anyway. I wanted Karigan to wait for the right one (though since the events in the future never really happened, that makes the scene even more unnecessary). 

This isn't negated by the fact that she remembers them all at the end, due to Yates interference. In fact, that makes it worse, because now she can pine for someone who never will exist. 

Superlame.

Okay, I'm done.

*Spoilers finished*

There were some points that I really did like in the story, and like I said the book kept me interested and reading. It was fun to see Karigan stir things up and send out ripples of chaos. 

All in all, I hope that the sixth book is better, or I may just leave in disgust. 

Lame.

Parental Guide

I'm giving this book a PG-13, though it was bordering on R. There was an intimacy scene, and though it doesn't describe the actual act, it doesn't really skimp on the foreplay. 

As far as violence goes, there is mention of rape and torture that occurred in the past to a minor (not underage, just not a main character) character, and in some scenes torture is described a bit. People die, though the descriptions are not really gratuitous. 

There is some language, but it is on the mild end of the scale. 

Book Review Wednesday: Song in the Silence

Song in the Silence: The Tale of Lanen Kaelar
Author: Elizabeth Kerner
Length: 384 pages
(My) Rating: PG13

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Many people haven't heard of this book, or the two that follow it. Personally, this is one of my all-time favorite books. 

Lanen Kaelar is an orphan. Her mother abandoned her when she was a baby, and the man who she thought was her father has just passed away. All of her life, she has wanted to travel and in her heart she feels drawn to meet the true-dragons, who may not be real. At the death of her father, she finally is free to follow her dreams. 

However, as she leaves her home, she learns that she isn't who she thinks she is. Her father is actual a man who, even before she was born, promised her to demons and is bent on fulfilling that promise. If that wasn't enough, she finds her way to the true dragons, and finds herself entangled in romance, fate, and destiny. 

This book is really well written. I think I first read it around 2003, and there are a few strange things that might make people uncomfortable. 

*Spoiler*, (Lanen falls in love with a dragon, though it is resolved really well.) 

The book is fast-paced and exciting. Humans are the real villains in this story, and as many enemies as Lanen finds, she also finds a number of allies, human and otherwise. 

The characters are interesting, and the mythology is fun. I really like that the deities in the book (the Lady and the Wind) are very proactive in the protagonists' lives. They are directing events, and it is very obvious that things are happening for a reason. 

I love Lanen. She is a fun protagonist. She is described as not particularly beautiful, but full of life. She is not a Mary Sue, and I like that about her. She is not a good swordswoman, though she is tall and strong. I think she reminded me a bit of myself.

I also really like the dragons. They are not perfect, but she portrays them really well as an older, longer-lived race. It is fun to hear the conversations between the humans and the dragons. 

I would recommend this book to everyone. There are a couple things that bother me, but the intimate scenes are very vague and non-specific. So, though it bothered me on a moral level that a couple in the story were intimate before marriage, there were no visuals to go with the fact, so I found it still readable. 

Other than that, and some swearing, I have no qualms about this book or series. It constantly surprised me, and was not your run-of-the-mill fantasy about dragons. I'm still holding out hope that the author will publish more of these. They are delightful!

Parental Guide

I would rate this book PG-13 on my scale. There is swearing, but it is at a PG-13 level (no f-words or worse). There is violence, but usually it is not very descriptive. Much of the violence occurs to dragons or demons. 

As far as sexual content goes, there is a scene where a man tries to seduce a woman using amulets. The woman resists and nothing really happens, which is great because later you find out they're related. That was a little disturbing, but more because the man is a complete dirtbag. There is also, as I mentioned early, some intimacy between characters, but there is no description of the events, which I really appreciate. These two characters are also married shortly thereafter. 

Book Review Wednesday: The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew
Author: C. S. Lewis
Length: 208 pages
(My) Rating: G

Link to book here

Though The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the first book that C. S. Lewis wrote, chronologically The Magician's Nephew is the first book in The Chronicles of Narnia. 

C. S. Lewis is a very talented writer. Though his books are written using simple language and with children in mind, there is a depth to them that I rarely find in other books. 

Nearly everything in The Magician's Nephew is allegorical, and that makes it even more interesting to read as an adult. Having read this book when I was much younger, it was fun to approach it again and read it with a more mature perspective. 

Lewis writes with an older style and for those who are used to modern books, it could be fairly easy to get bogged down in detail occasionally. This book starts off a little slowly with two children who become friends over their neighboring fence and decide to explore a crawl-space that runs all through their street. 

While trying to sneak into an abandoned house, they instead find themselves in the boy's attic where he's been forbidden to go. He is confronted by his uncle, who is a magician. The uncle tricks the boy and his friend into traveling to another world where he makes a dreadful mistake.

This book delves into the creation of Narnia and provides an explanation for a lot of the things you'll find in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, such as where the light-post came from. It also contains the origin story for the White Witch and how she came to exist in Narnia. Aslan, as always, is an incredible symbol for Christ.

I highly recommend this book for all ages. Even if you aren't religious, it's a great fantasy story.

Parental Guide 

On my scale, this book is probably G.

There are no swear words in this book, and no sexual content. It is written for younger readers, and though it might be a bit intense at times, I feel that it is completely appropriate. It could be read aloud to any age, and I think they would enjoy it. 

Book Review Wednesday: Pawn of Prophecy

Pawn of Prophecy
Author: David Eddings
Length: 262 pages
(My) Rating: PG

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This book series is one that I've enjoyed for a long time. Having finished, Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, I felt the urge to read this one again. Pawn of Prophecy is the first book in David Eddings The Belgariad series. 

The book is excellent. It is written for a younger audience, and there are a few times where the writing isn't the best, but I highly enjoy these books. 

For the most part, the writing is concise and the world interesting. David Eddings' story takes place in what would seem a medieval time setting, but instead takes place on a completely imagined world which is ruled over by seven gods, each who have their own people.  

The story begins with a young boy named Garion who is being raised on a farm by his aunt. He lives a simple life, though occasionally, he sees a dark hooded figure watching him. As events unfold, his quiet normalcy is sent spinning into chaos and he finds out that his aunt and the old storyteller aren't who they appear to be. As he is dragged behind them into a quest that he doesn't understand, he begins to question who he is as well. 

The characters are, for the most part, well written and interesting. I especially like Garion's Aunt Pol, who is the most prominent female character in the story. I really came to love her when I read Polgara the Sorceress, but that is a different book entirely. 

This first book is very exciting and fast-paced. Eddings does a good job of creating not only a world, but a history, and he meshes some very different cultures that have similarities to real-life cultures (i.e. the French, the English, and the Romans.) 

His characters a likable, and as Garion discovers the world around him, more information is revealed about his past and the quest that he and his companions are engaged upon. 

I really like the way that the gods are active characters in this story. They are very real, and for the most part, have a positive impact on the humans around them. 

I have read this story a lot, and recommend it to fantasy lovers everywhere. 

Parental Guide:

On my scale, this book is probably G.

There are no swear words in this book, and no sexual content. There is some violence, which is explained with a bit of detail, but I don't feel as though it glorifies the violence. Instead, it seems to be trying to impress how terrible it really is. It could be read aloud to any age, and I think they would enjoy it. 

Book Review Wednesday: A Memory of Light

A Memory of Light
Author: Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson
Length: 1168 pages
(My) Rating: PG13

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A Memory of Light is the 14th and final book in the Wheel of Time Series. I'm reviewing it out of order, because I wanted to write down my impressions while they were still fresh. 

Overall, I was happy with the conclusion of this series. Some characters died that I wish hadn't, but if no one died, it wouldn't have been a very convincing final battle. Those that died, did so epically, and, as Grig says (I'm paraphrasing), "Sometimes you do something so awesome, that you just can't top it, and you have to die."

That happened with several of the characters. I am sad to see them go, but they died in a fitting way. 

On the other hand, some characters that I thought were going to die, lived. That was rather a pleasant surprise. 

Sanderson and Jordan's writing mingled seamlessly in my opinion. I had heard that Jordan had written much of the final battle by himself, and so I was trying to figure out which parts he wrote, and which ones Sanderson interposed. I was unable to do so. The final three books built up well and supported the final scenes. Many things were explained, and unlike some series where I'm left saying, "..but what about this?" I can't think of a single thing that wasn't wrapped up. There might be some, but if they were, I can't remember them. 

On a personal level, I disliked how little Rand did again. Yes, he fought the biggest bad of them all, but I wanted to have him involved in the conclusions of characters that have been hounding him since the beginning. For example, I wanted one final showdown between him and Padan Fain. Fain's ending was fairly satisfying, but distinctly lacking in Rand al'Thor. It ended up being, as Rand himself says, never about him at all. In some ways, it was much more about the other characters that Jordan created. 

Events in this book moves swiftly and I had a difficult time putting it down, while at the same time, I struggled to finish. That was due mostly to my own reluctance to end a series that I had been reading for such a long time, and not due to the quality of writing itself. 

The ending was happy, and that was a good ending for me. There were some parts I really liked, especially among the conversations between Rand and the Dark One. There were many interesting ideas that were tossed around, and that have made me think in the week or so since I've finished this book. 

Overall, I really did like it, and I'm grateful that Jordan's wife made sure that the series was finished. It was a pretty proper ending. Though I might have done things differently, that doesn't mean that they were done well and appropriately. Many events that seemed to be unexplained finally found meaning and nearly all of Min's prophecies were fulfilled.

I appreciated that almost everyone got a chance to shine. Mat's character is a little weird, but that could just be him transitioning into becoming a married man. I distinctly disliked the Seanchan and their views about Aes Sedai, but I appreciated that Jordan didn't suddenly have them change their minds about centuries of beliefs and traditions. I thought that was well done.

It was a great book and a great series.

Highly recommended.

PARENTAL GUIDE

On my scale, this book is probably PG13. The majority of this book is a battle. There is nearly nothing in the way of sexuality, though there is one scene that is strongly implied between Mat and Tuon (at least, I think that was in this book). As always, I appreciate the way that Jordan handles those scenes. Though there are plenty of descriptions of action and war, Jordan does not dwell on the blood or violence. He tends to describe without being too graphic.

The world that Robert Jordan has created also has its own swear words, which are inoffensive in general. There are a few British swear words that have made their way into the book, but those are few and far between.