Book Reviews for March

I only have three books for you from March, but as of this writing I have four books on the way that I ordered from Barnes and Noble as well as only one chapter each to go before I finish "North and South" and "The Mists of Everness", so there will be PLENTY of reviews for April, I think.

All March books are also by the same author, John C Wright. I got basically all his books for my birthday, and he also authored last month's Book of the Month, "The Golden Age" (have you read it yet?). As each of his books are about 400 pages long, this means getting through three of his books in one month isn't that shabby :)

Orphans of Chaos
I found this book to be a bit disappointing, actually. The premise (four young people are kept trapped in a British boarding school only to discover that they are children of Titans, kept prisoner and hostage by the staff of the school--who are in fact mythological characters like Boreas and Grendel) was great, and this is perhaps Wright's strongest book stylistically, especially in how alive he makes his first-person female narrator; she's perhaps the most completely believable narrator I've read since "David Copperfield". There is, however, a lot of innuendo as well, and crass sexual jokes made by the teen male characters, etc., which really dragged the story down in my opinion. Which is a pity, because the easter eggs for mythology fanatics like myself are also numerous and greatly enjoyable and the narrator's voice is, as I said, superb.

The Phoenix Exultant
Just as strong as the book it is a sequel to, "The Golden Age", this was a novel completely enjoyable from beginning to end. Which is a real marvel because really, NOTHING REALLY HAPPENS. The scene rarely changes. It's very talky. And yet, and yet, and yet . . . it works, really works. I really liked the greater role given to Daphne this time, and look forward to reading the conclusion of the series.

The Last Guardian of Everness
Book of the Month time! This is the best 'modern settings' fantasy I've read since "Prospero's Children", and it's the rare high fantasy set in America, too, which I found quite interesting. It involves manipulating and traveling in dreams, lots of dreaming, as well as an exploration of what happens when the realms of dream and reality bleed together; it's a tale of a very classically influenced version of the apocalypse; it's got magical weapons and corrupt military; yet MORE cameos by such literary and classical figures as Lancelot (sensing a pattern in Wright's work now?); and I will never be able to look at seals the same way again (SHUDDER). There are moments of superb beauty, of frantic action, and moments that scared me more than any book has scared me since I read either "And Then There Were None" or "The Golem's Eye"--I can't remember which I read first :D

The characters are all very well done, and in many ways more alive even than characters in his later books, for they are imbued with a bit more personality instead of philosophy; one of his weaknesses is that of Asimov: The inclination towards using the characters to illustrate a story instead of inhabit it. Thus far he hasn't gone too overboard though, but I'd say that "Everness" fits the standard fantasy novel as far as characters go a bit more cleanly than, say, "The Golden Age". All in all, a fantastic read. It really transports the reader, which is what all good fantasy should do, after all! A warning for language, but other than that I think it was pretty clean. I'd recommend it.