Monday, July 30, 2018

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett



I had a lot of expectations going into this book, having really liked Good Omens and hearing tons of praise about Pratchett's works, particularly the Discworld stories. When it finally came time to get to the first book of the series, I was braced for anything, whether it would be excitement or disappointment. So, let's just get to it.

Rincewind is a failed wizard merely trying to find his way in life when he comes across the strangest and most dangerous thing ever seen in Discworld...a tourist. A simple man named Twoflower has come from the Counterweight Continent looking to see the sights with a camera and Luggage full of gold...and teeth.  Rincewind soon finds himself Twoflower's unwilling guide and the two of them seek out all the exciting sights that Twoflower has longed to see...including bar fights, dangerous temples, and dragons. Of course.

If I was going to use one word to describe this book it would be...cheeky. The whole book has that wonderful, cheeky, British humor that I happen to love. It's remarkably dry humor that captures Rincewind's exasperation, Twoflower's naivety, and the confused and sometimes murder-y reactions of everyone they come across. One of my favorite gags was right in the beginning: Rincewind is trying to explain how the Twoflower's camera works and so just tells the people he wants to photograph that there's a little demon inside the box that paints their picture, while privately thinking that the box captures the image using light...only to discover that there actually is a tiny demon in the box that paints the photos. The tiny ways in which the book plays with your expectations is a ton of fun and I really enjoyed it.

The book is set up, not as one long story, but as four short stories with their own beginnings, middles, and ends. While they do come together to tell one long, cohesive story, it does mean that it starts over and re-explains things over again at the beginning of each segment. This didn't bother me too much, but some people might find it a bit repetitive. That seems to be something that most people aren't sure about when reading this book. The set-ups take a lot of time, but I found the pay off to be worth the wait. There's just a lot to get through until you get there.

This is the book that sets up the Discworld and it does so wonderfully. I found that I really liked this place. The characters are a ton of fun, the set up of the world and the logic on which it runs is incredibly imaginative, and, as I said earlier, the cheeky tone is just spot on. It was never really "laugh out loud" funny, but it's defiantly fun and will leave you smiling the whole time you're reading. There's a reason Discworld has become known for being one of the best developed literary universes and anyone looking to get into it has my seal of approval.

Final Verdict
This book was a lot of fun. While the set-up and pacing took there time, there was a lot of humor and character that I really enjoyed. If you feel like exploring Pratchett's world for yourself, than I'd say that it's definitely worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: Desperate Castle Wives....

Monday, July 2, 2018

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas




Super powered beings? Good. Victorian England? Good. Clever writing and interesting ideas. Good. There's a formula here for a good story and just the type I like to read. Still, can too much of a good thing turn out to be a bad thing or does this only guarantee greatness? Let's begin.

Evelyn Windum is very bored with her life in society and the endless barrage of unsavory suitors, boring parties, and her mother's constant fussing in regards to Evelyn's "reputation". Her only joy is that she has her sister, Rose, with her for most of the dreadfully boring season. But when her sister suddenly goes missing, Evelyn throws propriety and reputation out the door in order to find her. The only souls willing to help her are the enigmatic "master detective" Mr. Kent, and the brooding Mr. Braddock, who believes that Evelyn and her sister possess some kind of extraordinary powers. Though she's skeptical at first, Evelyn soon discovers that Mr. Braddock's theory is not only accurate, but opens her eyes to a world lying just beneath the surface that she'd never encountered before.

Initially, I was a bit worried about Evelyn as a character. I feared her sarcasm and nonchalance would lead her into the "selfish, tragic Mary-Sue who complains about everything and hardly does any of the work but still gets the credit" territory. Thankfully, I was completely wrong. While she is sarcastic, she is successfully so and actually got some good laughs out of me while I was reading this.  And while her modern (perhaps too modern) mentality about Victorian society was brought up, it wasn't really focused on that much. And, wonderfully, she is proactive in this book. She does things, she fights, she helps others even if she isn't sure she can. She tries her best, even if she doesn't think she can do it. When something bad happens, she doesn't let it get to her. Her parents don't want to help her? Fine, she'll just leave without their permission. She's not allowed to stay in someone's house. Okay, then, I'll just find an inn. She's a strong character, without being cartoonishly silly or melodramatic and I appreciated that about her.

This was also a pretty fun book, even if it was a bit straightforward. It sticks pretty closely to a three act structure, so you can kind of figure out where it goes, even if you can't predict exactly what will happen. The plot is simple: solve the mystery. But there's definite love in this book, and I'm not talking about the relationships between the characters. A lot of thought went into this story, into the characters, the setting, and the mystery and so all the elements come together, even if it sticks to a formula that we're pretty familiar with. Each character was full of life and the powers were an interesting mix. Sometimes you couldn't even tell if what a person could do was a power or if it was just an exceptionally skilled person. It's a neat little touch and I liked that.

The only real problems I have is, once again, the inclusion of the love triangle. Evelyn, for her part, makes it clear that her priorities are on her sister and she's not interested in romance at the moment, but that doesn't stop Kent and Braddock from getting into these really ridiculous cock-fights that just make you want to slap yourself in the forehead and roll your eyes. They're just shoved into theses arm-candy stereotypes but, thankfully, they do have personalities that develop them a bit more than you might find elsewhere. Kent is really funny and charismatic and Braddock has some good reasons for his brooding and deals with a power that is no benefit to him and makes him harmful to others. I didn't dislike either of them, thankfully. I didn't wish ill on anyone, so that's something. The villain of the book, while formidable, didn't leave that much of an impact either. We don't see him very often and, when he did show up, he just kind of came off as the mad-scientist-with-superiority-complex type that we see a lot. Other than those two things, I did have fun with this book and think anyone with an interest in it would find it amusing.

Final Verdict
A fun, quick, and interesting read. Good characters, an easy to follow story, and great humor and dialogue make for a nice, chill read. If you have an interest in it, defiantly give it a shot because, in my opinion it is worth your money at your local bookstore.

Have you read the book? What did you think? Comment below and share your thoughts. Please make sure to Follow Midnight Readings for instant updates. Have a book you'd like me to read or would like to make a recommendation? Contact me on goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/65448711-michelle-beer

If you would like to read my book, Powerless, you can find it at:

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/Powerless-Shelley-Miller/dp/1543482546/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519062043&sr=8-1&keywords=powerless+by+shelley+miller

Xlibris: https://www.xlibris.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-001175242

Next Time: You might be cool, but you'll never be flat-planet-balanced-on-the-backs-of-four-elephants-riding-on-the-back-of-a-giant-turtle-floating-through-space cool.