Review: Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones

Grade B+ Review of Dianna Wynn Jones' Cart and Cwidder (YA fantasy)

Why I picked it up: Any Diana WJ book is worth reading :)

Why I finished it: While the ending was a bit predictable, the story itself was so entertaining! Enough happened that I was keen to see what the next twist would be.

The story:
A family-run traveling troupe of musicians and performers begin their annual route through various towns across a war-torn country. The North vs. South war has gone on for years, making this family one of the few that cross the border, carrying the odd passenger or message. But this time, their route & life are thrown into disarray when one parent is killed, and the other decides to stop performing. It is left to the three children, and their current young passenger to continue on their own.
The family are all musically talented, but the youngest, quietest brother has a skillful touch with the Cwidder, an instrument that seems to be able to influence others when played.
 

Will the young adventurers evade the many bands of warriors and get to safety? Will they manage to earn their living on their own?
 

Overall: This novel is centered around Young Adults, but the story is captivating enough for any audience.
I read the 2nd book in the series, hoping to get more of the characters I so enjoyed in the first one. Even though this book is part of a quartet, I couldn't see any relation to books 2 and 3 (I don't have book 4 yet). So Cart and Cwidder reads as a standalone novel.

You can vote for Locus Mag's Best Novel of 2011

The time to vote for your fav books of 2011 is here! 

Locus Mag's annual list of best Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, novellas, novellettes and short stories for 2011 is now open. I've voted for a few of my fav reads (see list here) - I'm sure there are at least a dozen books that I've forgotten and should have voted for too. 
Still, Snuff and The Wise Man's Fear were truly stellar and both deserve to win Best Fantasy Novel for 2011. My choices:

Patrick Rothfuss, The Wise Man's Fear: 1
Terry Pratchett, Snuff: 2 
Gail Carriger, Heartless: 3
Ghost Ship by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller WriteIn Rank: 4

You don't have to be a subscriber to nominate or vote, and you can choose books that you think should have been nominated (see my 4th vote above).
So what are you waiting for? Oh, the link? Here you go!

Cover Art: Whelan painting the final Wheel of Time & Pratchett's latest

Tor recently announced the cover artist for AMOL ( A Memory of Light), the final book in the long-running wheel of time series - Michael Whelan. Last year, I posted here about how he was picked to design the cover for the AMOL ebook, and now, due to the previous cover artist's death, he will be designing the jacket for the print books too.
He does pretty good work (see The Way of Kings cover here). I just hope these are better than the really ugly covers we've seen from Tor before - see earlier Wheel of Time covers here. In contrast, the ebook covers are impressive! My favorites are the ones by Sam Weber (pictured to the right here) and Raymond Swanland.



In other exciting Pratchett news, the cover for Dodger is here. Dodger is an upcoming Victorian-era novel, not set in the Discworld. This is probably going to be a good place to start for non-Pratchett readers too. What a fantastic year this is going to be for Pratchett fans!! Dodger in September, a new June release collaborative novel, and a new Discworld novel later this year to conclude the Moist van Lipwig trilogy.

My son (and the reason for the no-blog-post weeks)

Day 3

We have a baby!
The baby arrived earlier than the due date, and has taken up all available time since then.
He is now a couple of weeks old, and with a lot of help at home, I should be able to return to regular blog posts soon.

Here is a pic of Aaryan (our son's name). I am now reading a couple of books, so expect reviews to go up starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, thanks for sticking by my blog, and continuing to follow- I appreciate your comments and views very much!

P.S. Any books you recommend on Childcare and Parenting? :D

Ian Rankin's best story ever

The Inspector Rebus books are thrilling crime fiction novels, with a central dark hero - Rebus.
Ian Rankin's brainchild of a series and I've just discovered one reason for the books being so realistic - 


Ian Rankin visited India on a tour or something, and he was on radio in Chennai while we were there - which is why I picked his books up initially.

Girl Genius! New book coming out

The most vibrantly coloured, vividly-told steampunk Webcomic out there - Girl Genius - is releasing book 2 in 10 days. 


Let the countdown begin!

I read this everyday, usually right after lunch - it is such a nice jolt to start the second half of the day with.


The store link - http://us.macmillan.com/girlgeniusomnibusvolumeone/PhilFoglio
Blurb: 
"The Industrial Revolution has become all-out war! Mad Scientists, gifted with the Spark of genius, unleash insane inventions on an unprepared Europe. For centuries, the Heterodyne family of inventors kept the peace, but the last Heterodyne disappeared twenty years ago, leaving their ally Baron Klaus Wulfenbach to maintain order with his fleet of airships and army of unstoppable, if not very bright, Jaeger Monsters. 

At Transylvania Polygnostic University, Agatha Clay dreams of being a scientist herself, but her trouble concentrating dooms her to be a lowly minion at best. When her locket, a family heirloom, is stolen, Agatha shows signs of having the Spark in a spectacular, destructive fashion and captures the attention of the Baron—and the Baron’s handsome young son, Gilgamesh."

Jaipur Lit Fest - Banned and broken

The fracas over the Jaipur lit fest has sort of died down now, so perhaps it is time for a look at what actually happened?
If you don't know what I'm talking about - Jaipur is in India, a town known for a rich, majestic heritage in the arts. Each year, it hosts the largest lit fest in South Asia.
The annual Literature festival held there was in a storm of controversy this year.


Couple of anticipated highlights was Oprah's hour-long interview and visit at the festival, and Salman Rushdie's presence.


While Oprah's interview was truly interesting, Mr. Rushdie's visit was not permitted due to a few fanatics who (possibly never having read his books) protested loudly! 
His book, Satanic Verses, has been banned in India for a few decades - again, religious views triumphed over literature.


Result? No talk, no telecast and no freedom of speech.
Some 4-5 authors read out sections of his book in protest, but that was also not encouraged by the fest's organizers.


A sad show, all around.


More info:
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/26/indian-media-reacts-to-rushdie-row/
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/01/24/security-fears-quashed-rushdies-jaipur-video/

Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics!!!

I really do thank God for NetGalley ALL The Time.
One more reason why: Getting to read Avatar comics pre-release!
Rating: A
What Avatar The Last Airbender (A:TLA) comic is: "The Promise Part 1" is a beautifully done story, by the same Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators of the popular TV series.

Why I picked it up: You might know we've been doing an Avatar Watch/Rewatch at home of the comic series,we're in the middle of Season 3: Fire (the last season, FYI). I read that this comic takes up where the comic series leaves off.

Why I finished it: Seeing Sokka, Aang, Momo, Appa and the gang and the breathtaking coloring resulted in one long session of reading this comic. I tried to draw it out but just couldn't resist finishing the story.

The Story: Written by Gene Lang, the good people at Dark Horse (the publishers) have stayed true to the original theme of the comics. Without spoilers, here's what you get - 
Awesome fight scenes and peace talks that break down. The innocent fun we expect of Aang, and the intense Zuko scenes.Serious Aang features too. Furious and awe-inspiring Katara. Scenes with bit characters like Smellerbee (remember him/her? He was in Season 2, with the refugees)


Extra info: 
I found Gene's website and it added some interesting context to this comic - why he wrote it the way he did, how he refuses to acknowledge Night Shyamalam's movie version of Avatar as canon (Dear Gene, we all hate his movie too).

A Memory of Light - Draft done!

Brandon Sanderson tweeted saying he's done with draft one of A Memory of Light, the final Wheel of Time book!

We know that he isn't touching parts of the story that have already been written by Robert Jordan. We also saw a lot of improvement between the previous two books, and certainly we shall see a fantastic series ending novel!

There is a lot happening in the books just now, building towards the climax - Rand's mind is whole, the men's Black Tower is a crazy place, Semirhage, Graendal, Mesaana lie defeated, the White Tower stands united; On the flip side, Moridin's grand plan is yet unveiled, the Aiel undead is a surprise twist, we still don't know the song the Leaf People have (and perhaps the travellers are looking for...) AND MORE. There are tons of unresolved questions and prophecies, so this book is really going to have a lot riding on it.
Second half of 2012 is the release!


You can read my review of Towers of Midnight here
Read a review of The Gathering Storm here
Never heard of the Wheel of Time before? Go right here!

Holmes for the Holidays

The recent Holiday vacation season gives me a week off, and I've just spent a large chunk of it reading Laurie King's Sherlock Holmesian mysteries. I'm still on the first one, and it is pretty interesting!
This Holmes reading time coincides with the recent spate of promotions around the newest Sherlock Holmes movie by Guy Ritchie...AND far more interestingly, the trailer for the BBC Holmes is out - I present to you: Steven Moffat's brilliantly rendered Sherlock series (part 2) beginning 01.01.12

P.S. This is my first embedded video on this blog, so do let me know if it does/doesn't work in your browser. We loved watching the first series (split into three parts as it airs on BBC). Each part corresponds to one of the Sherlock mysteries from the Arthur Conan Doyle books. Very different from Guy Ritchie's Sherlock, and a "must see"!