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BOOK REVIEWS
FANTASY
The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Alternate title: Northern Lights
Page Count: 351 pages
Date Published: September 2003
Publisher: Laurel Leaf Library
Series: His Dark Materials
Synopsis: Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars in Jordan College, her daemon familiar always by her side. The moment she hears hushed talk of Dust, an extraordinary particle, she's drawn to the heart of a terrible struggle - a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears. As she hurtles toward danger in the cold, far North, young Lyra never susects the shocking truth: her own destiny must be fulfilled not in this world, but far beyond.
Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass is the first book in the trilogy, His Dark Materials. The novel follows a young girl, Lyra, and her daemon, Pantalaimon as the world they know is turned upside down. This is the story about a brave little girl going on a quest to save her kidnapped friend. Along the way she meets an interesting cast of characters including witches, gypsies and armored bears. The characters that captured my attention most are the daemons, animal familiars that are lifelong companions to each person. As children, daemons are able to change their shape, but begin to settle on one form as their child grows into an adult. That form is meant to reflect the personality of their human. The panserbjørn (armored bears) are also quite interesting with their ability to speak like humans. Much like The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, the trilogy has been criticized for parallels to religious mythology. Putting aside the religious debate, The Golden Compass makes for a decent read for anyone interested in fantasies where everyone has an animal familiar and can befriend armored bears.
Rating: 2.5/5
FANTASY
The Snow Queen
Author: Mercedes Lackey
Page Count: 408
Date Published: 2008
Publisher: Luna Books
Series: Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms
Synopsis: Aleksia, Queen of the Northern Lights, is mysterious, beautiful and widely known to have a heart of ice. But when she's falsely accused of unleashing evil on nearby villages, she realizes there's an impostor out there far more heartless than she could ever be. And when a young warrior disappears, Aleksia's powers are needed as never before. Now, on a journey through a realm of perpetual winter, it will take all her skills, a mother's faith and a little magic to face down an enemy more formidable than any she has ever known....
Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms wasn’t a series that I’d previously read. Luckily, most of the novels can stand alone if you understand that they all follow the idea that an unseen force called Traditions compels people toward their fairy tale fates. This novel is a reimagining of the Hans Christian Anderson tale. Aleksia, the titular Snow Queen, is a Godmother who oversees the process of people following the path that the Traditions have planned for them. When a young warrior goes missing, Aleksia must set out to find him and learn who has been using her name to cause trouble.
The setting of the novel, in relation to the original Hans Christian Anderson story, is a great way to give a sympathetic side to a character thought to be a villain. Aleksia is simply misunderstood and thought to be cold hearted because she takes young selfish men on the cusp of becoming evil. This process is meant to make the men rethink their ambitious ways and long for the love of the girl they were oblivious to. That very same young girl is also set on a rescue mission where obstacles are placed in her way to allow her to grow and learn self-confidence. We get to see her as a benevolent force, rather than a destructive one.
The book follows Aleksia and two other women as they work to track down the false Snow Queen. Annouka and Kaari aren’t as well-developed as Aleksia. The male characters also suffered from a lack of development. All we really know about Veikko is that he’s Annouka’s son and Kaari’s fiancé. Fans of the series will be happy to know that Elena, the title character from The Fairy Godmother, appears in the story as well.
The downfall for this novel was simply too much build-up and not enough impact afterward. Lackey spends nearly the entire novel building up to the climax, only for it to feel rushed in the last few chapters. If Lackey could have taken more time to develop the ending of the story as she had the beginning, the novel would have been far more than just a fluffy read.
Rating: 2.5/5