The Silver Bowl

Title: The Silver Bowl

Author: Diane Stanley

Publisher: Harper (2011)

Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy

Length: 307 pages

Synopsis:  Molly's mother went mad and her father's a drunkard.  She's not even a little surprised when, at seven years old, her father decides to ship her off to the king's castle to work as a scullery maid.  What does surprise her are the visions that occasionally possess her, shocking visions of death and destruction that always come true.  Before her arrival at the castle, there was no way for Molly to know when the visions would strike, but when she's promoted to silver-polisher, she discovers that simply polishing a particular silver bowl brings them on.  These aren't any ordinary visions though.  They all pertain to the royal family, and none of them are good.

My Rating: 3 Stars

My Opinion: 

This is a well constructed little story.  It's got all the elements it should: rather appealing characters, logical character development, a decent plot.  And yet, unlike Molly's silver, it just doesn't shine.  The setting is a bit odd: fictional kingdoms with fictional geography (not to mention magic), and yet there are still somehow mentions of ancient Greece, Rome, and Persia.  It doesn't feel as fully imagined as it might, especially given that the underlying structure is sound.  Though there's nothing really wrong with this book, I don't see it shooting to the top of anyone's favorite book lists or the bestsellers' list either.

The Hobbit

Title: The Hobbit

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

Publisher: Mariner Books (2012)

Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Classics,

Length: 276 pages

Synopsis:  "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."  Thus begins a grand adventure with the most unlikely of adventurers at its center.  Bilbo Baggins, the humblest of hobbits, meets with goblins, dragons, dwarves, wizards, and elves in his journey "there and back again."  Danger awaits at every turn, and Bilbo knows that if he ever makes it back to his hobbit-hole in the Shire, he will never be the same again. 

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Opinion:
I don't need to shape anyone's opinion about this book.  I couldn't hope to, at this point, more than 70 years after it was written, in the wake of an enormous movie franchise and with legions of fans more numerous than the goblins of the Misty Mountains.  But I have an opinion, and might as well share it.  What struck me most about this rereading was the language.  This was, actually, the first time I've read the book for myself.  It was read to me as a young child, and I loved it.  Now, reading it myself, it somehow seems even more special.  The conversational tone of the narrative and poetic language are reminiscent of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series (which makes sense as the two authors were friends and the books were written for the same audience around the same time).  But what strikes me most is how special this particular tone is now.  There's no way a book like this, with its paternal, articulate tone, could be written today.  It would come across, at best, as pretentious or condescending.  We don't talk like this anymore.  We can't get away with the second person point of view Tolkien often uses, as if he were sitting beside the reader telling the story himself, just as he originally did with his own children.  It adds something to The Hobbit that couldn't work in The Lord of the Rings.  Where that series is, in the truest sense of the word, an epic, The Hobbit is fanciful, endearing, and, in an odd way, fragile despite its timelessness.  It's unique and irreplaceable.  Thankfully, I don't think we'll ever have to worry about it going out of style.

This Dark Endeavor

Title: This Dark Endeavor

Author: Kenneth Oppel

Publisher: Simon and Schuster (2011)

Genre(s): Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Length: 298 pages

Synopsis:  The wealthy Frankenstein family lives in a grand chateau in Geneva, and in the eighteenth century, the latest heirs of the family name, sixteen year old twin brothers Konrad and Victor Frankenstein, the sixteen-year old twin sons of the Frankenstein dynasty, live an almost idyllic lifestyle.  They share their home, a vast chateau in Geneva, with doting parents and a distantly related cousin, Elizabeth, who was adopted into the family after being abandoned by her own.  The tranquility of their lives is shattered, however, when Konrad falls dangerously ill.  No medicine seems able to help him, and, in desperation, Victor turns to the secret library of alchemical texts he discovered in a secret basement of the chateau.  His research unearths an Elixir of Life that could hold the answer to saving his brother...provided, of course, it works.  But alchemy is dangerous, illegal in Geneva and taboo in the Frankenstein household.  How far is Victor willing to go with his endeavors, and to what end?

My Rating: 4 Stars

My Opinion: 

Dark endeavors indeed!  A prequel of sorts to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this novel is a quick but disturbing read.  The film rights have already been purchased, and with Oppel's knack for cinematic action sequences, abrupt plot twists, and vivid description, it has the potential for a rollicking big-screen debut.  The downside to this fast-paced, plot driven adventure is a somewhat unlikeable protagonist.  Victor is entirely believable as a sixteen-year-old boy, but by the same token, his occasionally erratic, often dangerous behavior is disturbing.  For readers, being shepherded through the story by an increasingly unreliable narrator is somewhat akin to the situations Victor's family members find themselves in as his single-minded quest begins to unfold.  The real question is what motivates this disturbed young man, which Oppel unfurls beautifully.  He is an identical twin with, he feels, everything to prove; the conflicting desires to maintain the status quo and to set himself apart from his brother.  The result?  A young man who is, rather frequently, quite scary.  This Dark Endeavor sets Victor on a twisting path down which he will continue in the book's sequel, Such Wicked Intent.  I must admit, I think it will get worse for Victor before it gets better, if, indeed, it ever does.