Rutabaga's Reads 2019: Part 6

See?  I read a lot of YA (young-adult) novels. I wasn’t kidding about that. These few extra books represent only a small number of my YA collection, but it’s something.

Heartless (Nov. 8, 2016) by Marissa Meyer.

*This is a standalone novel.*

Before she was all “Off with their heads!,” the Queen of Hearts was Lady Catherine Pinkerton, daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Rock Turtle Cove. What Cath wants the most is something her parents would never approve of for a lady of her station and that is to bake. She’d gladly spend her own marriage dowry to open a bakery selling banana-butterscotch cobblers and lemon tarts and whatever else she and Mary Ann, her servant, desired. Their delectable pastries would be the best in the land. But her mother, Lady Idonia Pinkerton, has her sights set on Cath becoming queen. Unfortunately for Cath, her talent at creating delectable pastries has brought her favoritism from the unmarried king. The stress of an impending marriage proposal is enough to send her into fits. The new Joker – named Jest – is there for her in such a moment. He is handsome and mysterious and magical. Impossible is his specialty. They begin a secret courtship that is often interrupted by the king and the presence of a Jabberwock, the latter of which hasn’t been seen in countless generations, and it cannot be slain without the mythical Vorpal Sword. Cath will make her own path – choose her own fate. But that’s the thing about fate; it’s fickle, and in a land of madness, magic and monsters, what you want is certainly not what you’ll get.

            For anyone looking to read a fractured fairy tale, “Heartless” is the book for you if you haven’t read it already. Although not the best story I’ve ever read, it was a spirited read nonetheless. Meyer has some impressive world-building in this story with characters we are familiar with (e.g. Mad Hatter, Cheshire) and provides parallels to Lewis Carroll’s stories, while creating a showpiece entirely her own. I’ll admit that I do enjoy stories like this when they’re written well: you know, taking an antagonist (who’s “misunderstood”) and giving us a story showcasing how or why that character ended up the way he/she did. There isn’t a high level of danger in this story, but it’s an adventure all the same.

Mortal Engines (Oct. 21, 2003 – 1^st Amer. Ed.) by Philip Reeve.

*This is the first book in a tetralogy.*

The great Traction City of London under Lord Mayor Magnus Crome is up to something. Tier Three Apprentice Historian Thomas Natsworthy knows nothing of it, but Hester Shaw does. Tom meets Hester when she tries to kill Head Historian Thaddeus Valentine. But Valentine has shown him nothing but respect, and he can think of no reason for anyone to think ill of him. Plus, it’s his daughter, Katherine, whose pretty face fills his dreams of heroism. She’s out of reach as a Tier One. Life as a Tier Three Apprentice isn’t anything to brag about, but it’s a sight better than landing in Out-Country, which is where he finds himself with Hester. It’s a messy, muddy, tiring trek. They encounter Anna Fang, an aviatrix, Shrike, a Stalker/Resurrected Man that wants to kill them, and Chrysler Peavey, a pirate-mayor, to name a few. They want to make it back to London for very different reasons: Tom, because it’s home, and Hester, because she still plans to kill Valentine. Unfortunately, if Tom believes Hester, Magnus Crome and London are planning something atrocious. Can Tom and Hester save London? Can they even save themselves?

            It’s a town eat town world out there (literally) in landscapes where static cities are not the norm, and traction cities are. I really liked the premise of the first of four books in the Mortal Engines series. An entire city on wheels? What a concept! Like the Traction City of London going full-steam ahead, this YA dystopian steampunk novel never ceases its forward motion. The story is an adventure from start to finish, but no part of the adventure is fun or relaxing. The tone of the story feels very bleak. The air’s as thick with tension as the Deep Gut is with roiling heat. If the author’s intent was to express the seriousness of towns lacking resources (like lumber and metal) and the animalistic way in which traction cities pursue towns they want to devour, Reeve succeeded. If he wanted to express the bleakness through the harshness of the Out-Country and the life-hardened characters they encounter or the hard truth that Katherine turns up or the savagery, avarice and unethical treatment of people (including corpses), Reeve succeeded. I realize it’s a tough environment all around, except for, perhaps, the Top Tier, but I would’ve liked a supporting character with even the smallest of roles to provide occasional bursts of comic relief to break up all the despair. As interesting a tale as this is, I don’t currently plan to read the rest of the series.

Two Dark Reigns (Sept. 4, 2018) by Kendare Blake.

*This is the third book in a tetralogy.*

The island is calling. But this island is no sunshiny getaway in a beachfront hotel with one’s own personal lanai and umbrella drinks. This is Fennbirn Island. Arsinoe has been having vivid dreams. She is living scenes from the past, all the way back to the Blue Queen (a.k.a. Queen Illiann), but the dreams are from the perspective of Daphne, a mainlander of Centra. Arsinoe and her sister, Mirabella, have made it to the mainland with William “Billy” Chatworth Jr. and are staying with his family. Arsinoe and Mirabella do not belong, and so far from Fennbirn, their gifts are weak at best.

            The Queen Crowned is also whispered to be the Undead Queen. The people do not like Katharine. She’s just another poisoner queen in a long line of arrogant, selfish poisoner queens, who don’t care for the people, brought up by the Arron family. Her king-consort is no longer with her, but Arron relative Pietyr Renard still is. There is rumor of one who would attempt to steal her throne, one with the Legion Curse, born with two gifts. It is said that she has gifts as strong as the triplet queens, but is even stronger as she’s twice-gifted. On top of that, the mist is taking people from the island. Katharine cannot discern why the mist leaves some and lets them pass through while taking others and ripping them apart (yes, messy).

            Jules Milone is a naturalist; her familiar is Camden, a mountain cat. She’s also war-gifted, though it has been bound. She is Legion Cursed, and it is called as such because those touched by two gifts have historically gone mad. It was said she should be drowned at birth, but her mother, Madrigal, would not allow that, so she bound her war gift, which suppressed it for a long time. Madrigal bound it with low magic, which is not acknowledged as an acceptable practice by the temple. But it works, for Jules hasn’t gone mad (yet).

            “Two Dark Reigns” is Book 3 (of 4) in Blake’s Three Dark Crowns series. Blake has created characters so distinct that, even with the multiple perspectives, you never mistake one character’s POV for another. Her brilliant writing is a fast-paced delirium that is as exquisite as it is disturbing. From wind in one’s hair (guided by an elemental, of course) to blood soaking into the snow (blame the mist), this story has a little bit of everything. Just don’t expect any happy, gooey feelings. The ties that bind to kill remain, even if Katharine wants to convince herself that Arsinoe and Mirabella met their demise when they left the island. But it isn’t always Katharine as herself that wants to kill … With a Queen Crowned, a potential usurper and a malevolent mist, no ties are binding. Death has already come and destruction might be happening. Good luck reigning over that!

            Book One: Three Dark Crowns

            Book Two: One Dark Throne

            Companion Novel: Queens of Fennbirn