The Screaming Staircase - 4.5 stars

Second edition cover

     The Screaming Staircase by Johnathan Stroud is another new book I picked up recently. Johnathan Stroud wrote the Bartimeaus Sequence - I reviewed the first book in that series earlier. I've liked most of what I've read from Stroud. A few of his stand-alone novels didn't appeal to me much, but I've always liked the Bartimeaus Sequence, so when I saw he was writing another series, I gave it a go.

     The Screaming Staircase is the first book in the Lockwood and Co. series. It could be only a trilogy, which would be a shame, but since it's not finished yet - the second book in the series, The Whispering Skull, only came out September 2014 - I don't know. But so far, I've really enjoyed the first two books, so I'm probably going to be getting myself any sequels he comes up with.

     This story is set in London. A sinister Problem has been troubling the world for nearly fifty years now. All manner of ghosts and spirits have begun to appear in rapidly increasing numbers, and they don't appear to be friendly. Unfortunately, only young people have the ability to perceive these spirits. Many different agencies have sprung up, employing hundreds of adolescents and children to find and destroy these Visitors, as the spirits are called.. Lucy Carlyle is a brave and talented young agent with the ability to hear the Visitors. When she teams up with clever, charismatic Anthony Lockwood and his mildly repulsive assistant George, they all have hopes that the agency is about to make its mark on the world.

     Unfortunately this is not to be, and after their latest case ends disastrously with a house going up in flames, Lockwood and Co. face the possible end of their new agency. To save it, they must brave the most dangerous haunted house in London, perhaps in all of England. Combe Carey Hall has a reputation of spirits and hauntings that stretches back several centuries - long before the Problem really began. Can the three intrepid agents survive the horrors of the Screaming Staircase and the Red Room? Can they put an end to the haunting of Combe Carey Hall, or will they be the next three lives the forces of that house have taken?

     The Screaming Staircase was definitely a page-turner. Stroud balanced the comfy relationship of the three-person agency with a lot of fast-paced action and really dangerous situations. I was also really captivated by the originality of the plot. The story is set in slightly post-modern London, but it wasn't sci-fi at all. Something else that I found was interesting was the fact that agents use rapiers to fight Visitors - what's not to like about some dashing teens with flashing, silver-coated blades? Furthermore, there was definitely a mystery element to this story, and although the clues were there, I was kept deliciously guessing the entire time. I think you can agree that that's a mark of very good story-telling.

First edition cover

     As for the characters of The Screaming Staircase, they display Stroud's trademark sarcasm and humor. If you're like me and couldn't get enough of Bartimeaus in the Bartimeaus Sequence then the characters in Lockwood and Co. have a taste of that same sharp wit and irresistible, careless charm. Lucy is a very plucky and extremely admirable young lady. I didn't expect her to be my favorite, but she is, hand's down. It's also hard not to be charmed into liking the irrepressible Lockwood, and though I still have my doubts about George, he turned out to be a good egg after all. 

     Another mark of Stroud's ability to write very, very good stories is the Visitors. The descriptions of ghosts, spirits, and other things not quite of this world that stem from the Problem are incredibly riveting, and though I really should say 'realistic' that's what I'm going to go with. I honestly wished I hadn't started to read the climax after dark, because what they encountered in the Red Room was actually pretty scary stuff. If you've got a problem with getting emotionally involved with a book and getting as freaked out as the characters are, then you'll probably want to save The Screaming Staircase for strictly daytime reading.

     Other than that, The Screaming Staircase was a captivating and fun read from an author I know and trust to write good, high-quality material and tell intriguing stories. I'm actually really impatient for the next book to be published.

Link to series website: http://www.lockwoodandco.com/

Ascendance Trilogy - 5 stars

     In these past few months, I (Noodle) have been reading some new books, ones I see suggested on the blogs I follow or that I find at the library or on Amazon. Some of those have gotten reviews, and more reviews of these new books are coming still. For instance, Poison is a book I found on another blog, and Snow White and Rose Red and The Grimm Legacy were both stumble-upons. As you can see by recent reviews, I have liked some of these new books I've been reading, while others have been duds. But just a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a real gold-mine.

     The Ascendance Trilogy, by Jennifer A. Nielsen has suddenly become one of my very favorite trilogies. Ever.

     It's going to be hard to review this trilogy, though, because a lot of what makes it good is that it kept me guessing the entire time. Not just in the first book or the second, but the whole time, in every book. Furthermore, part of what makes this trilogy so brilliant is the slow reveal of secrets. I actually sort of ruined one of the biggest secrets of The False Prince for myself by reading the little summary of it that's up on Amazon. So the most important advice I can give you about this series is: Don't read anything that's been written about the books. Basically everything will be some kind of spoiler.

     I know that sounds weird, but it really is true. 

     With that kind of warning, I'll try and do my best to write some sort of review of this trilogy. It won't be my best, or my most thorough, but I'll give it a shot.

     First of all, the Ascendance trilogy is one of the most impossible series to put down. It's one of the most suspenseful stories I have ever read. And in my book, any story that I hate having to put down and step away from is one that's worth reading and rereading. Secondly, I can't and won't write much about the events of The False Prince, The Runaway King, and The Shadow Throne. It would give away way, way too much. But I think I can safely give a little starter for The False Prince, just so you know what you're getting into when you start reading. Because I know you will.

     Sage is an orphan boy, quick on his feet, quick with his tongue, quick with his hands. A few days before he turns fifteen, a nobleman called Connor buys him as a servant. But instead of serving tables for the rest of his life, Sage has become a part of a daring scheme that Connor has concocted. A scheme which treads very close to being treason. Sage has no choice but to cooperate with Connor, however, because if he doesn't, he'll never be heard from again.

     Sage's secrets are slowly revealed all the way through the first book,and you never quite know what he's getting at and what his plans are until the very last pages of the very last chapter. I can't/won't say a word about the other two because that would give away way too much of the story, but they're very bit as good and suspenseful as The False Prince. 

     I can say a few things about the characters of the Ascendance trilogy. Sage, the main character and narrator, is funny, quick-witted, and probably the smartest fictional person I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. He's very distinct, and I was constantly on that fine line between laughing at his jokes and groaning at his seemingly stupid mistakes the whole time I was reading. Sage is genuine. He has a good sense of what is right and wrong, and although sometimes he seems like a no-good thief, he's probably one of the most honest people in the entire trilogy. He's also the kind of person that naturally takes the lead and comes up with the ideas and plans. Sage is what makes the Ascendance trilogy as good as it is. They wouldn't be the same without him. 

     Other characters, such as Imogen, the mute serving girl, Mott, Connor's bodyguard, and the other two orphan boys, Tobias and Roden, are also incredibly varied and unique. Nielsen did an amazing job when she created them. They're complex and well-rounded characters who all add so much to the story just by being there on the pages. 

     As for setting, there are king and queens, as the titles should indicate, but the story isn't set in a medieval world. I suppose I would have to say it has some of the characteristics of 14th century Europe. There are swords and chain mail, but there was also the one cannon, so it's not strictly a Middle-Ages type of setting. And although it qualifies as a fantasy story, there is not magic - Sage gets out of every one of his scrapes through sheer luck and his sharp mind.
     In the end, I have to say that in the Ascendance trilogy, Jennifer A. Nielsen did a wonderful job of bringing together a cast of unforgettable and entertaining characters, a complex and mysterious plot, and a mastery of the art of suspense. I can't speak highly enough of them - though maybe that's obvious by now. They're complicated enough to be satisfying for adult and teen readers, but there's so much action going on all the time that my younger siblings will probably like them a lot if I can just get them to read them. I rarely advise people to buy books, especially when it's so much easier to just check things out from the library. But with this trilogy, I'm going to make an exception. These are definitely worth buying so that you can have them around all the time. If I could rate higher than 5 stars, I would.

Link to author website: http://www.jennielsen.com/

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy (guest review) ~ 5 stars

Guest review by Eli Hansen

     Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn is the title of an epic fantasy series by Tad Williams. The title is deceptive, since the name of the trilogy is not the name of the three books, which are titled The Dragonbone Chair, The Stone of Farewell, and To Green Angel Tower. My name is Eli Hansen, and epic fantasy is definitely my cup of tea – perfect for my guest review on my sister's blog.

     One thing we can all agree on is that this is an exceptionally long story. Altogether, the edition of the series that I own was about 2600 pages long. That's close to even the Harry Potter series, and I can assure you that Tad Williams' writing is much more complex than J. K. Rowling's early work. 

     In fair warning, this series was also one of the slowest series to "get in to" that I've ever read. Some reviewers say it takes 100 pages in to the first book to really get moving, others say 200 pages, and others say it takes half of the book before the story really get started. In my opinion the story really didn't get so exciting that I didn't want to put the book down until I was 600 pages in, almost all the way through the first book! Even for a seasoned reader, that's a long time to stick with a book that just doesn't seem all that great at first glance before you get to the good part. I would almost have to say it was poor writing. To me, the set up for the rest of the story was worth it, but I've had a hard time getting other readers (like my sister!) past the long intro to the rest of the trilogy without losing their interest. 

     Once you do get past the intro, however, you get to all the good things that I enjoy about Tad Williams' writing. For one thing, he keeps it real. The protagonist of his story starts out as a servant boy at the castle and over the course of 2600 pages, he develops from a simple adolescent who dreams of achieving great things, but would rather avoid responsibility, to being a strong leader and actually becoming the ruler of the human kingdom. But the development of this young man's character is never as if the author waved a magic wand and suddenly made him into a saint with all the virtues of a fairytale hero. Through the experiences he faces, the character actually comes to adulthood. I don't know any better example of character development in a piece of fictional writing.

     The other fantasy races that Tad Williams uses in his story also help to keep it real. He takes races like elves and dwarves and succeeds in making them really unique and distinct. Their motivations, their thoughts, and their culture are different and much stronger than the stereotypes that are typically portrayed for those races. 

     Another characteristic of Tad Williams' writing is that it's very dark. The situations his characters encounter can be very desperate, and you never actually know which ones will survive to see "happily ever after." Personally, I enjoyed the dark style of writing in the series; however, I know it can be offputting to some. Who wants to read about more suffering when there's already plenty of it to go around in the real world? As a sidenote, of all the books that Tad Williams has written, this is actually the least dark and grim.

     The plot of the series is definitely archetypical of the classic fantasy or fairytale type of story. It has some elements of mystery mixed in as well. I guess the reason I like it so much is that it is such an epic fantasy tale, but it does not resort to the kinds ofdeus ex machina and implausibilities that are so common in the genre, like waving the author's magic wand to change a formerly shallow and selfish character into a brave and self-sacrificing hero with no explanation for his change of heart. The characters, though, are the best part of the story – all very realistic in their choices and their motivations.

     The length of the story and the dark style of writing definitely make it a series for an experienced reader. There is some adult content; while it's not too overt, nor is it the focus of the story, it's there, so beware. The best thing I can say about the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series is that it will blow you away with its depth. It takes a plotline that really is a classic example of fantasy and makes it so much more than its stereotype. A piece of "easy reading" it is not, but if you like writing that challenges you and really makes you think to keep up with the author, you will really enjoy Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. I encourage you to give it a read!

     Noodle: Thanks, Eli! He has is own website and blog over at www.elihansenart.com which you should really check out. Eli asked me to review this series, but I really think we can all agree he did a better job of it than it than I would have.

The Other Boleyn Girl ~ 1.5 stars

The Other Boleyn Girl, by Phillipa Gregory, is a book I picked up at a friend’s house. It’s a historical fiction set in England during the time of King Henry the VIII, the English king who is known for having six wives. The Other Boleyn Girl is the story of Mary Boleyn, the sister of King Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Note: This book is what I would consider an adult level book, so while I will try and be discreet in my word-choice, I don't intend to beat around the bush in stating the facts of what this book contains.

I won't go into much detail describing the incredibly complicated plot, which is full of surprising twists and turns and a great deal of intrigue. I thought the plot was pretty good, with a very human main character with human feelings - although her moral code wasn't quite up scratch, according to me. Basically, this book is set in a time period when people behaved very immorally, and any historical book written about King Henry VIII’s court would have to at least mention a few of these immoral practices. The Other Boleyn Girl, narrated by the sister of the second wife of the king, does more than mention - the plot of the book revolves around them. The Other Boleyn Girl is also a very character driven. Most, if not all, of the characters in the story participate in highly immoral practices, and so these get a fair amount of pages dedicated to describing them.

For these reasons, I didn’t find it to be a very pleasant story. I have never been fond of stories that contain much of this sort of material because to me it's highly inappropriate and distasteful to read about. I can tolerate a certain extent of the kinds of immoral material I found in The Other Boleyn Girl, as long as the story itself is still interesting and entertaining. But because The Other Boleyn Girl was, at least the way I see it, entirely about sinful people and their sinful actions, I didn’t enjoy it very much at all.

In other aspects, such as how well it was written and how well the characters were developed, I’m sure the author did a very good job. Mary Boleyn was a very human character, and very well-developed - I just didn't approve of the things she did. In other respects, it seemed to be a very historically accurate book. I'm no expert of 16th century England, but if she was faking the details, she did a very impressive job of it. If it hadn’t been for the central role that unappealing immoral and improper behaviors played in the story, I might have given it a higher rating that 1.5 stars. This is a book I’d only advise to people who enjoy that sort of material or are very interested in that historical period, and it’s certainly not a book I’d suggest to readers younger than seventeen or eighteen.

The Grimm Legacy ~ 3 stars

     The Grimm Legacy, by Polly Shulman, was a spontaneous read for me. I've never heard of Shulman before, or read any of her writing, but when I stumbled across the book on Amazon, I thought it looked interesting, particularly the cover. The description also said that it involved the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, like Hansel and Gretel, The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and lots of the more obscure ones - ever heard of Jordina and Joringel? That one isn't exactly a bedtime story, I can tell you that. But I like fairy tales - even the obscure ones - so I decided to give The Grimm Legacy a go.

     The Grimm Legacy starts out like some sort of modern day mystery-and-magic story, with an ordinary teenage girl called Elizabeth going to an ordinary high school and having ordinary crushes on -- well, not on ordinary guys, but you get the idea. The story quickly takes a turn in a very interesting direction, however, when Elizabeth is hired to work at a library/museum call the repository. The repository contains the largest collection of items in the world. And not just any collection. Not only do they have one of nearly every kind of shoe, household item, tool, article of clothing, and even book that has ever been created, there are also special vaults that hold certain, important, powerful items.

     Items that appear to come straight from the pages of the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales. And when Elizabeth is allowed to work in these vaults, she learns that some of them are actually really magical, just like in the stories. These magical items, along with anything else in this enormous collection, can be borrowed. But some of the magical items are losing their power or being replaced with fakes! It's up to Elizabeth and her coworkers, Anjali, Marc, and Aaron, to solve the mystery and return the items - without getting themselves caught, fired, or turned into statues by the thief. 

     For the first five or six pages of The Grimm Legacy, I was wondering if this was going to turn out to be another middle-grade level story about problems in school, witches and wizards, and teen romances. I've read a few of those, and they've never struck me as particularly interesting, or well-written. But The Grimm Legacy isn't one of those - it's amazingly unique. Although it does have elements of a middle-age story about a girl in high school with crushes on boys, it also has a dash of magic that spruces up that otherwise dreary concept and makes it something that's actually very entertaining to read.

     I was, however, a little disappointed by the romance. Elizabeth starts the book with a crush on Marc, a basketball player for her school's team. She also gets to know Aaron, who works with her at the repository. For most of the book, I was never sure which guy she'd end up with, because Marc sometimes seemed to be dating Anjali, who Aaron had a crush on. I know, confusing. And that was part of what turned me off. But the romances were also a little cookie-cutter - a little too perfect. Maybe that's just me, but they didn't really detract from the story.

     In the end, I liked it enough to be interested in how it ended, and I may check out the sequel, The Well's Bequest. It's not a book I'm going to reread frequently, but it was fun while it lasted. And it was a pretty well-written story, with an interesting plot, and just enough characters to be fun, without getting over-complicated. It's not really a boys' book, but my younger sister is reading it now, and I think she's going to like it at least as much as I did.

Link to author website: http://www.pollyshulman.com/