Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Janet Lee Carey: Dragonswood

I loved Dragon's Keep.  This book was good, but not my favorite.   It takes place two generations after Keep, and the Fey and Dragons'  safety are being jeopardized.  
There are elements of the Salem Witch Trials, Merlin, and Robin Hood (King John) woven in throughout this book.  The beginning is slow and slightly painful to get through, but the last 100 pages make the beginning and middle worthwhile.  I wish that the dragon/fey/human interaction would have been the focus rather than on Tess and witch hunters and the brooding Garth.  The ending is good, and leaves an opening for a sequel if Carey chooses.  Not sure if I would recommend this book though.  

Monday, March 12, 2012

Veronica Rossi: Under the Never Sky

UK Version (I like this cover better)
US Version
Read this in one day.  Once I got into the rhythm of the book, and fell into the dystopia that exists for Aria, I was hooked.  This is fast-paced, interesting, and the tribes that have been created due to the separation between the classes (my guess), is disturbing to say the least.  Those living underground live in Realms created by a contact-lens type of device that sucks the wearer into a virtual reality.  No pain, no sickness, no REAL anything.  Those living above ground must fight to stay alive.  Blood Lords rule clans, and powers exist in some due to Aether storms constantly destroying things around them.  Aria is whiny at first, and annoying, and I was easily frustrated with Perry but sympathized and liked him.  But then things became reversed.   I appreciated Aria and grew irritated with Perry.  The ending leaves MANY questions and several different directions the series could take.  I wish the ending had been more satisfying, but I understand why it ended the way it did. Glad I snagged it from the library when I did.