The story begins as our scantily clad heroine, Xylara, feels a bit homesick, despite being hopelessly head-over-heels in love with her Warlord.  In order to be officially confirmed as his Warprize, the two must travel to the Heart of the Plains.  However, Xylara’s penchant for providing medical care to everyone in need overshadows her usual common sense, and so the Firelanders must face an unknown enemy–the Plague.  Meanwhile, tensions within the camp and a fear of the unknown threaten to upset the Warlord’s power.

This book isn’t quite as lighthearted as the last one, and some characters do die, but as a whole it still does convey a feel-good message of hope.  I definitely think that of the two books, “Warprize” was better, but I was still caught up in the story, and I like the way that Xylara and her Warlord become closer as a couple throughout the book despite realizing each other’s weaknesses.  It’s nice to take a story beyond the initial happily-ever-after and see how the couple progresses to face new challenges.  I was also glad to be able to see more of the Fireland culture, especially their celebratory traditions.  One of my favorite little details in the story was the way that Xylara taught the Firelanders to play chess, and the way that they changed the rules and adapted it to make it more suitable to their warrior culture.

If this were just a romance novel, I don’t think that I’d find this series as addicting as I have, but I’m a fan of the medieval setting and I love the way that Vaughan is able to build another culture that isn’t just a copy/paste version of an existing one.  There’s enough action and conflict to keep the story interesting, and Xylara and her Warlord make a cute couple.

While the book is far from perfect, the story is entertaining and fun.  I tend to have difficulty finding good escapist novels, but so far this series is working out well for me.  I’ll be back to my usual types of reviews in a few days, but for now light reading is a nice break from the routine.

Our heroine, Xylara, is both a princess and a healer.  When her kingdom is defeated by the barbarian Firelanders, part of the terms of the surrender are that she be given to the Warlord as his Warprize.  Resigning herself to slavery in order to save her people, Xylara begins to live with the Firelanders, only to discover that there is far more to their culture than meets the eye.  Oh, and of course the Warlord is tall, dark, and handsome…

I liked the way that Vaughan was able to focus on the cultural differences between Xylara’s people and the Firelanders, who have both male and female warriors and drink a coffee-like beverage called “kavage.”  A warrior society of caffeine addicts is pretty fun.  I also thought it was interesting that the author chose to keep Xylara in a very traditional feminine role throughout the story–she doesn’t fight, isn’t scheming for power, etc., but at the same time is able to play a pivotal role in preserving peace and acting as a bridge between two very different societies.

Although the book is a romance, there are no annoying love triangles, and the sex scenes aren’t terribly awkward.  In fact, I don’t think that there are more than one or two sex scenes in the book, which I wouldn’t have guessed from the book’s description.  The story reminded me a bit of the Dany/Khal Drogo dynamic in Game of Thrones, except with less rape and eating-of-horse-hearts.  It’s a very non-stressful story, and it’s about the closest thing to a real romance novel that I can handle.  While the writing isn’t perfect, it’s tolerable.

This isn’t a high work of literature, nor is it meant to be.  It’s a guilty-pleasure fantasy romance novel featuring a scantily clad heroine and ends with a happily-ever-after, which is exactly what I needed.

From this point forward there may be spoilers.  I’ll post a spoiler-free review for anyone who hasn’t been reading along at the end of the groupread.
1.  How have your perceptions of the Mule and his form of governing grown or changed, or not, after spending more time with him in this novel?

I still like the Mule.  I think I’m more impressed with him the more that I see him; he’s intelligent and manipulative, but at the same time I enjoyed the way that he handled his encounters with Bail.  Even though I was rooting for the Second Foundationers, I see the Mule as a benevolent dictator who is mostly harmless.  I also feel bad for him, as his mutant condition dooms him to eternal loneliness.

2. Having finally gotten a glimpse into the mysterious Second Foundation, what are your feelings/thoughts about this group and their methods (as revealed thus far).

I want to know so much more about the Second Foundation.  Their telepathic communication intrigues me, as well as the way that they continue to update Seldon’s plan to conform to current circumstances.  They remind me a bit of mathematical Jedi.  Even though they’re portrayed as the “good guys,” their motives and methods aren’t entirely clean, and they’re just as willing to use mind control to achieve their own ends as the Mule.  At the same time, it appears that at least with the Second Foundationers, the mind control occurs on a purely voluntary basis based on a commitment to their ideal society.  Unfortunately, I felt a wee bit less sympathetic when I found out that they were grooming themselves to be powerful overlords.

3. Has your understanding of the Seldon Plan changed at all with the revelations about the plan and the Second Foundationers near the end of this first part of our reading? Looking back does it alter any ideas you had about Seldon and his predictions?

At first I thought of Hari Seldon as a bit of a wise Dumbledore-like figure.  In the first two books, I completely approved of him, even though sometimes he had a bit of a Messianic complex.  Seeing the full complexity of his plan makes me appreciate his genius even more, but at the same time I don’t approve of the strict class division that will be present in his ultimate society between those who have mental powers and those who do not.

4. A simple one: How did you feel the first part of Second Foundation held up in comparison to the sections we’ve previously read?

This was my favorite section thus far.  I found the idea of the Second Foundation to be brilliant, and I loved the mental chess between the Mule and the Second Foundationers.  It was a pleasure to read.

5. It is perhaps not surprising that Asimov’s second important female character in the trilogy would be a direct descendent of the first. What do you think of young Arcadia “Arkady” Darell?

She’s awesome.  Arkady can be a little twit, but at the same time she’s very intelligent and is capable of far more than people give her credit for.  I loved the dialogue she had when a man tried to climb in her window; it was impudent, impertinent, and utterly unexpected.

One other thing that I noticed in this section–

Her lips tightened as she thought of her father looking up from his book-viewer just long enough to say, “But if you’re going to pretend you’re nineteen, Arcadia, what will you do when you’re twenty-five and all of the boys think you’re thirty?”

Did Asimov just predict the Kindle?

See everyone next week for discussions on the second half of the book!

For anyone considering reading “Ender’s Game”–read the author’s introduction.  Card has a sense of humor.  He acknowledges on the first page that the majority of readers probably won’t bother to read the introduction anyway, before going into some of his thought processes when writing the book.

“Ender’s Game” is set on a futuristic Earth that is threatened by the Buggers.  In order to prepare for the Third Invasion, genius kids are trained from a young age in tactics and warfare at a specialized Battle School.

The protagonist, Ender Wiggin, leaves his family to begin training at the age of six.  As his training progresses, Ender faces obstacles that none of the other kids have had to deal with, and eventually comes to the realization that he is being trained to become the commander of Earth’s forces for the Third Invasion.  He struggles internally with his own alienation from his peers, and that he is forced to dealing with bullies in a cruel manner out of self-preservation.  Meanwhile, the inevitable conflict with the Buggers is approaching sooner than Ender could have suspected…

My favorite characters were “Locke” and “Demosthenes.”  These were the screennames of Ender’s brother and sister, who hid behind seven proxies in order to achieve political fame on the internet.  The world grows to respect their political opinions without realizing that they’re just a couple of kids.  The anonymity that the internet offers with regards to age was an amazing discovery for me in junior high and high school, and I had some great discussions with people who assumed that I was far older than I was.  The “Locke” and “Demosthenes” scheme was absolutely brilliant, and I loved every minute of it.

One of the biggest complaints that a lot of people have with the book is the fact that the kids are too mature for their age.  I didn’t have a problem with this; I thought that their age made them suitable for the type of tactics that commanding an army against the Buggers required, because it is a lot like playing a complicated video game.  Meanwhile, despite the overall impression of maturity that the kids try to convey, there are a lot of times in the story where their childhood emotions shine through.

I felt at first like the ending was a bit anticlimactic (mostly because I knew what was going to happen from reading Ender’s Shadow), but I hadn’t expected the whole Speaker for the Dead thing, which was mind-blowingly awesome.  I couldn’t think of a better way that the novel could have ended, and it made me think that there’s a lot more to Card than I originally gave him credit for.

Rumor has it that there’s supposed to be a movie version of “Ender’s Game” coming out in 2013.  I’m a bit skeptical as to how it would play out in a movie format, but I do know that the book is excellent.  I’d highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys science fiction or is just looking for a good read!

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I read this book as part of The 2012 Science Fiction Experience hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings and the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Baffled Books.  “Ender’s Game” was a dual-winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards, which is quite an achievement, and as so I am also including it in the Award Winning Books Reading Challenge hosted by Gathering Books.

“Mockingjay” takes it’s name from a species of bird that exists within the book that is a cross between a jabberjay and a mockingbird.  Jabberjays were birds that the Capitol used to memorize and deliver messages, kind of like more intelligent parrots.  When jabberjays bred with mockingbirds, they created a species capable of memorizing and repeating human songs with lyrics as part of their bird calls.  It becomes a symbol of revolution, because the Capitol never meant for them to exist.  Little touches like the mockingjay are a part of why this book resonated so well with me; it’s that touch of creativity that adds little glimpses of sunshine and hope in the middle of a very bleak world.

The bulk of this installment in the trilogy takes place in District 13, which was firebombed in the previous revolt that occurred around 75 years before the trilogy takes place.  However, much of District 13 survived in underground tunnels and bunkers and continued to thrive, unknown to the average citizens of the Capitol and the other districts.  The resistance is headquartered there, and is using Katniss as part of their official propaganda.  Now officially a part of the revolution, Katniss finds herself questioning whether the ends justify the means, and what the cost of a victory would be.  Meanwhile, a good friend is in enemy hands, and Katniss feels increasingly powerless while caught up in a conflict larger than herself.

The first two books in the series were rather emotional, but this one takes the cake.  I cried several times while reading it, but at the same time couldn’t put it down because it was so suspenseful and I had to know how everything would end.  Overall, I was quite satisfied with the ending.  Katniss’ life after the revolution didn’t take the direction that I expected, and I’m glad.  It was interesting to see the way that Katniss evolves since the first book, becoming more and more jaded (and kind of scarred for life) since the moment she volunteered herself for the Hunger Games to protect her little sister.  She matures a lot as the books progress.

The ending of the book also (finally!) resolves Katniss’ love life dilemma, and I think it rather funny that most of my friends are very adamant about who they thought Katniss should end up with.  I was happy with her choice; my sister was not.  For anyone who’s read it, who did you like more, Gale or Peeta?

Overall, I’m definitely glad that I read this series.  Normally I’m a bit hesitant when everybody gets obsessed with a book, because let’s face it, everybody was obsessed with “Twilight” too.  “The Hunger Games” isn’t like that; it’s more mature and leaves room for thought, and the writing is infinitely better, despite its flaws.  I tend to shy away from YA novels, not because I don’t like them, but because I’m a fast reader and tend to go through them too quickly.  Luckily, I made an exception for this, and it’s something that I may have to do more often!

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I read “Mockingjay” as a part of The 2012 Science Fiction Experience hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings and the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Baffled Books.

During “The Hunger Games,” Katniss performs a gesture that is interpreted by dissidents within the twelve Districts as a revolutionary action, as it symbolically frees her from the Capitol’s power.  She didn’t intend for it to have major ramifications, but rather viewed it as a way out of doing something she didn’t find to be morally acceptable.

“Catching Fire” begins as the ever-so-creepy President Snow, who reminds me a bit of a bloodsucking vampire, shows up at Katniss’ door, warning her to behave herself and to conform to the Capitol’s idea of a victor.   He threatens her family, knowing fully well that Katniss has become the unofficial symbol of the revolution.  Meanwhile, the 75th Hunger Games are about to begin, and since it’s on a 25-year mark, the games operate by different (and more sadistic) rules.

One thing that I noticed is that this book had much better editing than the first one.  It makes me think that the editors were a bit lazy until they realized that “The Hunger Games” was a hit, and then they finally got their act together.  It’s definitely a good thing that they did, but I still wish that they’d have gotten it right in the first book too.

In this book, I got a bit annoyed with the way that Katniss tended to flip-flop between liking Gale and liking Peeta more.  On one hand, I realize that she does genuinely like both of them, but it seems to me that she’s leading both of them on until she makes up her mind, even if she doesn’t intend to, and it is basically a lot of teenage drama.  At the same time, this book is written for a young adult audience, so I try to overlook it.

This book made me appreciate Haymitch a lot more.  In the first book, he’s portrayed as a continuously drunken alcoholic who is there mostly for comic relief.  In “Catching Fire,” he starts to rise above that role, and we begin to understand that he drinks to drown the memories of competing in and winning the Hunger Games and his self-hatred for being a tool of the Capitol.  His interactions with Katniss and Peeta have inspired him to take action, and he becomes increasingly important in this book and the next..

Despite the relationship drama, I did like this book a lot better than the first one.  Revolutions against tyranny tend to make good stories, and as with “The Hunger Games,” I couldn’t put this book down.  “Catching Fire” doesn’t really end, which is why I recommend reading the trilogy on a weekend or even a long weekend so that you don’t end up pulling an all-nighter and then being exhausted and mildly incoherent at work the next day.

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This book counts toward The 2012 Science Fiction Experience hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings and the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Baffled Books.

“Foundation and Empire” is the continuation of the story that Asimov began in The Foundation.  Hari Seldon, a psychohistorian, predicted the downfall of the Galactic Empire, and so he established two Foundations at opposite ends of the galaxy in order to prevent mankind from falling into a dark age.  Asimov writes in an episodic manner, as the Foundation Trilogy was originally written and published as a serial.

In the first half of the book, readers are exposed to what is left of the Empire.  A brilliant young commander named Bel Riose hears rumors about the Foundation and perceives them as a threat to the Empire, and so sends ships to attack.  They capture a man named Devers who finds himself tasked with saving the Foundation from imminent destruction.

In the second half of the book, we see the first strong female character in the trilogy, Bayta.  She and her husband Toran find themselves in the midst of a conflict involving a mysterious mutant called The Mule.

I liked “Foundation and Empire” even more than I liked “Foundation.”  Asimov does a brilliant job of creating complex characters who are not entirely good or evil, and he does so in such a way that readers can find themselves sympathizing with villains or being frustrated with heroes.  All the while, Asimov uses the concept of the Foundation in the same way as most authors would use a protagonist, and so each segment of a book feels like a story in and of itself.  Even though the Foundation novels were written in the 1950s, the story remains fresh and relevant to modern audiences.

Next week we will begin a groupread of the final novel in the trilogy, “Second Foundation.”

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I read this book during a groupread for The 2012 Science Fiction Experience hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings.  It also counts toward the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Baffled Books and the Award Winning Books Reading Challenge hosted by Gathering Books, as the Foundation Trilogy won a Hugo Award in 1966 as the Best All-Time Series.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic North America, which is divided between the Capitol and thirteen districts.  Around 75 years before the story begins, the districts revolted against the Capitol’s control.  The revolution ended disastrously.  District 13 was annihilated, and as punishment and a warning against future uprisings, the Hunger Games were created.  The names of one boy and one girl from each district are drawn every year, and those children are sent to the Capitol as tribute, where they fight each other to the death in an arena.

Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist, is a teenager from District 12 who spends her days in the forests with her friend Gale, poaching to scavenge enough meat to feed their starving families.  When that year’s tributes from District 12 are selected, Katniss’ little sister’s name is called.  Katniss volunteers to take her place in order to save her life, and the Hunger Games begin.  Meanwhile, Katniss is conflicted by her feelings for Gale and her feelings for Peeta, the male tribute from her district.

Collins’ writing is decent.  She switches tenses in weird places at times, and the first book in the trilogy has some major editing issues, but at the same time, it’s the kind of book that is impossible to put down once you start reading it.

“The Hunger Games” is geared toward a young adult audience, and is a relatively quick read.  The controversy surrounding this book comes from the fact that much of the plot is about kids killing kids.  At the same time, the messages of the book promote self-sacrifice and trying to do the right thing despite enormous pressure, while taking a strong stand against authoritarianism.  It certainly has a better message than “Lord of the Flies.”

I’m glad that I finally read “The Hunger Games,” and I think that it’s worth the read.  It’s a fast-paced novel filled with adventure and complex themes, and I particularly recommend it for reluctant readers.

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This book counts toward The 2012 Science Fiction Experience hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings and the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Baffled Books.

“The Hunger Games” also counts toward the Award Winning Books Reading Challenge hosted by Gathering Books, as it won a Golden Duck Award for Best Young Adult Fiction in 2009.  The Golden Duck Awards promote science fiction literature for children and young adult audiences.  “The Hunger Games” also won a 2011 California Young Reader Medal and a 2008 Cybil Award for Fantasy & Science Fiction.

The story is set in a distant future where telepathy and psychokinesis have been scientifically proven to exist among a small percentage of the population.  These individual Talents are used to transport goods and shuttles from one planet to another.

A freak accident destroys a mining camp on the planet of Altair.  One child survives who happens to have more Talent than anyone else on the planet, and every remotely sensitive person on Altair hears the psychic broadcast of her shrieks of terror and unhappiness until she is found.  Known only as The Rowan, the child grows up and learns to develop her talent, eventually becoming the head of the Callisto space station.  One day, she hears a psychic call for help from a guy named Jeff whose planet happens to be under attack by aliens.  She and Jeff end up becoming involved in a cute interstellar romance while saving the world.

While the book involves a romance, it isn’t an obnoxious one.  I was a bit afraid that it would be when I picked up the book, mostly because of the terrible cover and the Harlequin-esque description on the back of the book.  It wasn’t like that at all.  The romance was secondary and was just a part of telling The Rowan’s story, and it seems to me that the publisher was trying to reach a demographic that would normally be intimidated by science fiction by playing up other elements of the novel.

The more Anne McCaffrey books I read, the more I am impressed with her writing.  She’s the kind of storyteller that makes you forget about your own surroundings and become immersed in other worlds, and at the same time her stories tend to be somewhat heartwarming and not at all depressing.  I’d recommend “The Rowan” to anyone looking for some good escapist sci-fi.

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I read this book as a part of The 2012 Science Fiction Experience hosted by Stainless Steel Droppings and the Speculative Fiction Challenge hosted by Baffled Books.

Welcome to the conclusion of the Foundation and Empire Groupread.  Last week’s discussion can be found here.

This post will contain spoilers.  I’ll be posting a spoiler-free review sometime later in the week for anyone who hasn’t read the book.

1.  While it didn’t break new ground, Asimov did have a female character who played a major role in this second half of the book.  What are your thoughts on how Asimov portrayed Bayta?

I’m a big fan of Bayta.  She’s intelligent, determined, and knows when shooting someone is the correct course of action.

2. Now that you know the Mule’s identity, were you surprised or had you figured it out along the way? If you did figure it out, how did that affect your reading of the book?

When I was reading this section, I guessed the Mule’s identity early on.  His absence was so conspicuous that I guessed that he had to be the clown, especially after a certain musical performance.  However, I had thought that Bayta shooting Mis at first was a manifestation of the fact that the Mule had taken over her emotions.  I hadn’t guessed that she would have been the only one to escape.

3. In previous posts we discussed the role individuals seemed to have in the unfolding of Seldon’s plan. How do you feel about the issue now that we’ve seen an individual derail Seldon’s plans?

I almost want to say that they deserved it.  Let’s face it, the Foundation guys were a bit obnoxious in this section, and there was way too much stagnation and squabbling going on.  So it was the Mule instead of the Traders… and I was okay with that.  I think that it’s a neat twist to show how an outside force can change Seldon’s plan.  I don’t think that the fact that the Mule was an individual was important; what was important was that he could change the rules of social/group behavior, which is what allowed him to take over in the first place.

4. Did it surprise you in the end that the Mule was allowed to get away? Did Asimov make you feel any pity or empathy for the Mule, either as the clown and/or when you discovered he was the Mule?

You know… I like the Mule.  He’s mostly harmless.  He doesn’t seem to be hurting anyone, and his conquest was largely bloodless.  Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he did succeed, if he could learn when to stop with his emotional manipulation and let people live their own lives.  We’d see a new empire, surprisingly free of obstacles and bloodshed.  I’d be upset about a dynasty though; that could go the wrong way very quickly.  I felt bad for the Mule, because it must have been lonely knowing that nobody except for Bayta liked him for who he was.  I’m glad he got away in the end.  I didn’t want to see Bayta have to kill someone whom she’d befriended.  It would feel like a betrayal.

5. How do you feel this story compared to all the other stories that have made up the two Foundation novels we’ve read?

This was my favorite section thus far.  It was so interesting!  I enjoyed having a likable villain who was able to display the limitations of Seldon’s plan.  I’m also glad that Asimov is finally starting to give us more time with the characters; while I like short stories, I think that the longer ones work a bit better at this point in the Foundation’s history.

6. What final thoughts do you have about Foundation and Empire?

I’m incredibly curious about the Second Foundation.  I liked hearing Mis’s theories about it, and I want to know where it’s hidden and what it’s like.  I also thought it was neat to see the ruins of Trantor; up until this point, the Empire was stagnating but still hanging on.  Now we’re finally seeing Seldon’s predictions in full motion at the very same time as his predictions for the Foundation were disturbed by an outside force.

Feel free to join us for the groupread of “Second Foundation,” which we will be starting next week!