Clockwork Princess

"Clockwork Princess," by Cassandra Clare, is the third and final book in the 'Infernal Devices' trilogy.  If you haven't read the first two books in the series, then I would advise that you not read this, as to not spoil them for yourself.
         Mortmain is almost a thought of the past in the London Institute, with Tessa and Jem busy preparing for their wedding and Will's younger sister, Cecily, recently installed into the household.  Then Gabriel Lightwood comes, pounding on the doors of the Institute, with the news that his father has succumbed to the deadly Demon Pox.  London's supply of Yin Fen, the drug that prolongs the life of people who have contracted Demon Pox, has run out.  Jem, who must also take the drug, is days away from death when the message comes that Mortmain will give the London shadow hunters all the Yin Fen that they want, if only they give him Tessa Gray.  The fight comes to the Institute's own front stoop, and the Shadowhunters are forced to reevaluate everything they know, lest they too fall to the Infernal Devices.

I did not like the ending of this book. What ending do I like?  There are only a few perfect endings in the world, and I'll just have to accept that conclusion.  Sadly, this book is not one of the better endings, though the ending is halfway decent, I'll give it that.  But I hate how everyone has to have their cake and eat it too.  I won't say more than that, lest I spoil anything.  Still, though.  Some people have to go home unhappy at the end of the day, don't they?  -- not saying any more--
       I wish that Tessa was more of a spunky heroine.  She's more of a . . . background character, though, even if the whole book is supposed to center around her.  She's more obsessed with her boys then with getting out of . . . wherever she was.  A bit like in the first book, "Clockwork Angel."  Come on, Tessa!  I thought that we had been making progress in "Clockwork Prince!"  But, noooo, Tessa Gray must be some deranged princess.  She does three great acts throughout the whole books, three great acts that show she has a strong spine, and a fourth that isn't so great but, still, it's definitive. But, her strength is not apparent in her speech, and she is described as 'bookish.'  Uh, I can see Tessa as so much more than that.  It's a shame that her full potential isn't realized.
        Jem Carstairs is a bit better.  He's made his decision of how he's going to live his life, illness or not, and he sticks to that, which is admirable.  He does sort of . . . I won't say anything.  I've just never liked his character that much (I prefer Will).  Jem was always a bit of a wallflower, until he decided that he was going to marry Tessa and then boom, now he's his own person.  He hardly talked to Tessa before he decided he was going to marry her!  In my opinion, at least.  So, I never 'knew' him as well as I would have liked to.  And I won't say anything else here, because I could rant for a good while and give away everything.
       Will Herondale is the real break-out character here.  Before this book, you see him as a good man in the throes of a curse that will ruin his life until his dying day.  Here, Magnus has finally told him he's free of the curse and he's free to live his life as he pleases.  Then Jem and Tessa lay it on him that they're getting married, oops, Will, here's your dreams, let's stick 'em to ya.  In this book, he's dealing with his loyalty to both of them, as well as his loyalty to himself.  His inner turmoil is fantastically done.  You can feel what he's feeling with a rare acuteness, and that's a treat, even if most of what he's feeling is self-loathing.
       The Lightwood brothers also become more prominent in this book, which is good in its own way, but it takes away from the drama surrounding the main three characters.  The time that's spent focusing on Gideon and Gabriel is time that we are not focusing on Tessa.  Also, I had trouble remembering which was the older brother (it's Gideon) because both have the same first letter in their name.
       There are some happy parts where the unexpected happens.  Not that that is a happy thing, because the unexpected is usually not so pretty, but it is good all of the same.  Not everyone has to have a happy ending, and that's a lesson we all need to learn in life.  There are also some mushy parts--namely one--which is annoying, because they're just about to fight demons and stuff.  But, Magnus handles it gamely. (Magnus is, like, the most awesome person in both of the Shadowhunter series.)
       The conflicts in these books are always pretty weird, though.  It's all physiological until the last fifty or so pages, and then some big physical conflict happens.  You know what I'm trying to say?  It's almost as though the story arc has been modified to include some gigantic final battle between the two sides, while the rest of the story is entirely about the manipulation of the mind.  And it has some pretty good manipulation.  Cassandra Clare is, as always, very, very good at portraying human emotion in impossible situations.  
       One of the coolest thing about these book are the crossovers between the stories.  Between the two Shadowhunter series, there are some objects and people that are the same (hint, hint, Isabelle's locket, Church the cat) and it's cool to get their origin stories.  The families that participate in both dramas are the same (So, Clary, it isn't your fault--it's genetic), and you get to see what the 'Mortal Instrument' character's great-grandparents were like.  If you get the hardcover book, the paper covering of the books comes off to become a family tree of the Fairchilds, Lightwoods, and Herondales spanning from the 1800s to 2008.
       As mentioned, this is the third book in the 'Infernal Devicies' triology, with the first two books being 'Clockwork Angel' and 'Clockwork Prince,' respectively. I think that 'Clockwork Prince' was my favorite of the three, with 'Clockwork Angel' and 'Clockwork Princess' tied for third.  And, let me tell you, the name 'Clockwork Princess' is a misnomer.  Technically, it's a metaphor, referring to something Mortmain said in the second book.
       Some things are a little too convenient, and other things are a little too perfect, but as always, Cassandra Clare is adept at capturing the tangled webs of human (or warlock, or Shadowhunter) emotion, making 'Clockwork Princess' a tale that's a little too good.  The cast peddles in humor and misery equally, facing an inhuman army with the pure definition of humanity.
        In our world, in our time, everything goes on as planned, but in the London of the 1800s, the Shadowhunters fight their final fight.  THE INFERNAL DEVICES ARE WITHOUT PITY.  MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON THEIR SOULS.

The url to the Infernal Devices website is this:  http://www.shadowhunters.com/theinfernaldevices/index.php
Though not as extensive as the Mortal Instruments sight, this one does have some pretty decent 'extras,' including a 'Clockwork Princess' countdown widget, which went into negative numbers 10 days, 9 hours, 48 a minutes, and 47 seconds ago.  I got the picture above from the site (I can't draw that well).  

"Beautiful Creatures" Novels

The "Beautiful Creatures" quartet by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohlr can be beautifully intricate . . . or beautifully confusing.
    Beautiful Creatures:  Ethan Wate has wanted to escape Gatlin since he could remember.  To be free, not to be cooped up with in the predictable parameters of small-town Southern life.  Before he gets a chance to make good on his dreams, a girl in a hearse pulls up in the school parking lot, and his life changes forever.  Soon, Ethan has stopped asking how he can get out of Gatlin, but how he can get in to the secrets that the old town holds.
    Beautiful Darkness:  Lena Duchannes blew Gatlin away, almost quiet literally, on her sixteenth birthday.  She put off the decision of her lifetime--Should she become Dark or Light?--  for another year, but the guilt at causing her uncle's death has ravaged her mind.  Already she's pulling away from Ethan and showing Dark tendencies, such as running away with a strange Caster boy.  Concerned and worried Ethan hits the charts with a new friend and finds that the extent to which Lena's mother will go to make Lena Dark is beyond imagination--even in a world where anything is possible.
    Beautiful Chaos: With Lena finally Claimed, life in Gatlin should finally be going back to sweet, sweet normalcy.  But plagues of grasshoppers, drought, and scorching heat are ravaging the land, even though it's the middle of December.  The high-society ladies of Gatlin have decided that it must be the End of Days, but the Casters know better.  Lean broke the Order when she was claimed, and now Mortal and Caster worlds alike must suffer.  Ethan is the only one who has all of the pieces of the puzzle in his hand, and when he puts them together he arrives at a sickening conclusion:  For the world to survive, one of them must die.
    Beautiful Redemption:  The sacrifice has been made, but down in Gatlin no one is willing to let matters be with one of their own buried in the ground.  They must bend Heaven and Earth, putting themselves at risk for death themselves at the hands of their old enemy.  The peril on the other side of the veil is great as well as Ethan risks it all to return to the place he once fought to escape.

My two favorite books in this series are "Beautiful Creatures" and "Beautiful Chaos."  "Beautiful Redemption is pretty decent, while my reaction to "Beautiful Darkness" was 'Wha . . .?  That was random."  But, more on that later.
     Yeah, I know that this is a romance story, okay?  Deal with it.  They also fight evil-demon thingies and evil relatives.  And such.  So, yeah.  And Lena is strange and writes long skirts and funky necklaces and writes depressing poetry, so that makes everything okay.  Anyway . . .
    It's very interesting that these books are written from the perspective of a male. They're obviously aimed towards girls (though, I know a guy who likes them), but they're written by two women. I say kudos to them for being able to pull it off.  No offense to you, males, if you're reading this, but it is very hard to write from your perspectives, I not being one of you. And, most books aimed at girls have girl main characters.  Easier to relate to and all that.  Ethan, though, is very easy to relate too.  Which propels the book to its status.  If you couldn't relate to Ethan, at least, then the second book is too difficult to even attempt to pursue. 
      That leads me to my special rant, written out specifically for you on "Beautiful Darkness."  Wow.  Okay, when you write/read fantasy, you generally come to accept that each fantasy world you enter comes with a certain set of rules.  In "Eragon" by Christopher Paloni, it is accepted that using magic saps some of your energy.  In one book, Eragon gets exhausted from causing rocks to hail down on someone. If, in the next book, he was able to lift an entire mountain using magic without any extra reserves of magic, then everyone would be outraged because he just violated the rules of the world Christopher Paloni created for him.  Does that make any sense?  In the book, the characters operate by the rules which are set down, much like we must operate by the rules of physics and all that.  Because flying isn't possible.  You would look twice at someone who started flying right in the middle of the street, right?  Because that violates the 'rules' of this world.  So, why in the name of all that is did Kathy Garcia and Margret Stohl make Sarafine pull the ---- out of ----!?  That made no sense!  They never said that they couldn't do it, yeah, but they never explained why she could!  Very random.  I was very outraged.  And what was the deal with that place that ---- ----- took Lena?  It was hardly mentioned in the rest of the books.  It was just this random place that they needed to make their story work.  But a story only works if it works within the parameters that's already set out for it.
        Anyway.  Sorry, I've been planning that rant for some time.
        One of the best things about these books are the characters.  We've already established that Ethan is pretty darn awesome. So is Lena.  There are a bunch others, though, that all deserve and honorable mention;  Link, Liv, Ridley, John, Amma, Macon, the Sisters.  They are all fantastically quirky.  Hardly any cookie-cutter in them at all, which is fantastic and keep the whole thing very interesting to read.  I think that you start reading these books for the cool titles they have (Oh, come on, admit it."Beautiful Creatures" is one cool title.) and keep reading for the characters.  They're the sort that stay with you long after the last cover of the last book has been shut.
       One thing that I don't get, though; a bunch of people have names that begin with 'L' and are four or less letters long.  That makes it pretty hard when you speed read.  All during "Beautiful Darkness" I kept tripping up.  "Wait, isn't Lena supposed to be--Oh, wait, that word was Liv."  Yeah.  That might just be an issue for me, but, you know . . .
       Even though some of the books don't follow all of the 'rules' and though they are very mushy and romantic, for each of their bad qualities they have details and twists that redeem them.  And, believe me, the result is very beautiful.

Even though these are popular books, I can't find an official site on it.  But, as half the world knows, there is a movie out (heh heh heh), so here's the link to the IMDb trailer of that.  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1559547/   I would advise you to watch the featurette (is that what it's called?) of Ridley meeting Ethan and Link because it is very amusing.  Also, I want it for the record that no one in the movie looks like they do in the book, and in the book they look better.  And that the dude who plays Ethan is not extraordinarily good looking.  Just saying.

The Mortal Instruments Trilogy

"The Mortal Instruments Trilogy" by Cassandra Clare is comprised of five books but only the first three are worth mentioning:

        City of Bones:  Clary Fray was in the night club Pandemonium when she watched three teenagers dispose of another being.  Now Clary's mother has been taken prisoner by a strange beast and she's found out that her mother has been having her memories erased by a warlock who lives in TriBeCa.  What?  Secrets and dreams are coming apart at the seams, and Clary's having trouble standing on her own two feet when a mysterious group called the Shadowhunters (prickly, pretty Isabelle; prickly and shy Alec; and prickly, egotistical and f-i-n-e Jace) come to help her fight the demons that are creeping up on all sides.

      City of Ashes:  Bodies of Downworlder children, drained with blood, have been found in dark, abandoned alleyways.  Idris and the Clave, the land and government of the Shadowhunters, has decided that its time to get involved, but it would be better if our heroes were left to their own devices because what they'll have to do to save the day won't be sanctioned by any book of regulations.  Clary's trapped in her own personal nightmare when she finds that she has more of a family than she ever could hope for -- if only her new-found familial ties didn't include him.  

      City of Glass:   Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and your family closest of all, because if their hands are in yours they can't stab you in the back.  Breaking several laws, Clary breaks into Idris, the land of the Shadowhunters, enraging the highest magical law on this world or any other.  While hiding out from them in their own country, Clary finds several secrets that she never thought even existed.  But time's running out if she's to stop her own flesh and blood from destroying all she's come to love.  

Let me tell you, these books are wicked.  Yeah, sure, there might be a bit too much romance in some places, but the demon fighting it pretty awesome.  And the psychology behind it all!  It's really quite astounding.  The other two books in this 'Trilogy' (should it be called a 'quintet'?  because, clearly, there are five books) are worth nothing because a) they are simply ridiculous (Just how many times can a person come back from the dead?  Cassandra Clare's got a bit of James Patterson in her.) and b) we get it.  Clary has a boyfriend.  Thank you.  You can stop illustrating your point for us now.

       I really liked the diversity of the characters in this.  Simon, Clary's best friend, is the source of a good chunk of the problems for the group, but, generally, he's a good natured guy and I admire him for that.  He is also a voice of stability and reason among all of the craziness and magic, which is always good in a book like this that can get caught up in the thrill of its own mystique.  Jace is an egotistical maniac, and I think that it's been established that I have a soft spot for that sort.  Isabelle is the ultimate femine fatal, complete with a miniskirt and a sword.  Alec is a lost and a little needy, almost, until he realizes who he is and how he (and him telling the world who he is is one of the most fantastic moments in the whole trilogy). Magnus Bane is a riot, but his majesty is sort of kept under wraps for fear of throwing the whole story overboard.  Clary is the perfect contemporary fiction heroine, with her cell phone and subway map.  Not exactly the cast of 'Spud,' but pretty darn close.

      The villain of the series, Valentine, is intensely complicated, but that doesn't make him seem any more human.  One thing that I don't like about villains in general (like I have only one thing to complain about) is that they're larger than life, and that keeps them from being human.  We can connect with the main characters, the protagonists, but we never feel what the bad guy is feeling.  This is a technique used to make us hate the villain, which is necessary for the story to work, but it still can be sort of . . . impersonal.  How can I hate Valentine if I don't even know the person he is?  You have to just accept that the bad guy is a bad guy and move on in this story.  

      A strong point of this story, other than the wonderful cast of protagonists, is the setting.  Modern New York City with an underbelly full of demons.  To fight the demons, there is a system of police called 'Shadowhunters' run mainly by teenagers because they're the only ones who haven't died yet.  In between the two groups are the 'Downworlders';  werewolves, vampires, Faeries, and other miscellaneous half-demon scum.  It is fantastic.  

      The books, even though they talk about killing demons and your own family members preach about accepting people.  The Shadowhunters hate the Downworlders because the Shadowhunters are part angel and the Downworlders are part demon.  But to win, they must join together.  It's a nice sentiment.

     Final messages:  The books are messed up.  Messed up messed up.  Like, 'oh, is this my brother I'm kissing?!' messed up.  So . . . The books also have a quite bit of religion in them.  Magnus quotes the Bible, at one point, and the whole thing of angels vs. demons is religious, though the demons come from different dimensions, not from deep down under.  Also, Alec is gay.  I, personally, find that pretty awesome because it shows his inner strength and conveys a new way of someone being who they know they are.  

      "The City of Bones" is a movie that comes out on August 23, 2013.  The complete series is, in the order as listed, "The City of Bones," "The City of Ashes," "The City of Glass," "The City of Fallen Angels," and "The City of Lost Souls."  So. The last two books do have their own charms, by the way of you getting to see a side of the characters you didn't get to see in the other three books, but they are so not the best.  Especially not "The City of Fallen Angels."  Just sayin'.  

      Is it fine to tell a white lie for the safety and well being of a person that you love?  But when the lies collapse, the person you lied for might not be as well off as intended.  

This link is better than most book links:  www.mortalintruments.com  The illustrations of the characters are lame, though.  None of the people look like that, I swear.  

This is the link to the movie trailer, which I watch at least once a day: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/   My favorite part is when Clary says "There's too many of them!"  and Jace says "Have a little faith," because Jace is so full of himself, it's rather amusing.  This is the cast list to the movie, which is cool; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/fullcredits    Magnus is awesome.  

Dreamdark: Blackbringer

"Dreamdark:  Blackbringer," Laini Taylor, is a tale of whimsy . . . and the end of the world.
       Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind and a fairy, travels the world, hunting down demons that humans have released from their bottles.  With her seven crows and their traveling caravan, their travels take them far and wide.  But when the mannies release the worst demon of all, the Blackbringer, the stuff of legends and nightmares, Magpie, affectionately 'Pie, must return to a home she hasn't been to in 80 years:  The forest of Dreamdark.  As the destruction of her people becomes immanent, she appeals to the oldest and strongest power for help.  If she can wake him from his sleep and gain his trust, those she loves might be saved.  Secrets are unraveled and truths are revealed, though, and 'Pie learns that the Djinns aren't the only ones who could save the forest. 
      
What book today isn't about the end of the world?  At least this one approaches it creatively, I suppose.  It doesn't come out right and say, "we have to save the world!"  because that would be lame.  And this book wasn't lame, thank the powers that be.  I enjoyed it a lot, actually. 

      The characters were real, and that was a big part of it.  A lot of books don't have well-formed characters.  Well, books that I've been reading of late.  Magpie, though, is three-dimensional, and I knew what she was going to do next.  Rephrasing that:  I never knew what she was going to do next, but the things she didn't made sense and fit in with her character.  The "co-stars," Talon, Poppy, Lady Vesper, Orchardspike, etc, are real as well, and no back story seems to be a stretch.  Everything, every character, fits, as perfect as a puzzle piece.
      There was a sense of unpredictability and haphazardness about the book that was also nice. Everything fit together, but it didn't come together neatly.  It sort of fell together, seemingly at random.  Things that didn't seem important were important.  There were twists and turns that weren't expected, but that had been there all along.  There were items that seemed to have no importance, but changed the course of the plot.  There were actions that were taken at page thirty and had great significances at page 200.  It was a chaotic mess, but it was also a woven pattern. 
      And, you can probably see that I enjoy the illustrations from the picture above.  There are a few good-full sized pictures of the three main characters, and they are very well done.  I took this picture from the website listed down below, and there are several pictures from the book on that site.  I didn't like the internal  picture of Magpie, of course (I'm so picky), but I did enjoy the cover.  The picture above is of Poppy, who is a 'flower fairy,' I suppose.
       Of course, there were a couple things that could be spotted from a mile off.  The slandered happy ending; the fact that the main character is going to be wonderfully and uncommonly gifted.  One can see these cliches from a mile off.  The things that aren't cliched pretty much balance those out, in my opinion.
       Also, this isn't a soppy Disney fairy tale love story.  I'm not saying those are bad or anything (I'm just implying it).  The characters are still teenagers, maybe, in "fairy-years," relatively young teenagers.  So, yeah.  I like things like that. I'm not saying that it doesn't hold elements of sterotypical fairies (see above picture), but there are also non-sterotypical-fairy things.  Like, demons.  And swords.
     I also like how the fairy tales seem to swirl around the characters:  The saga of the hero Bellatrix, the story of Magpie's parents, the myths of the Djinns, the legends of the dragons.  These add flavor to the world of Dreamdark, for what is a culture but their stories and beliefs?  Even Magpie's parents realize this, as shown by their journeys to fairy villages to collect the old stories.  Every little detail in this book comes alive, and either brings a new perspective or adds to a perspective that's already there.
     There's another book in the series, a sequel.  I think it's called "Silksinger."  For sure, I'm going to look into it.  Actually, Laini Taylor's written some other stuff that I like, and I didn't make the connect between her and the other stuff she's written before I looked at her site.  I enjoyed "The Daughter of Smoke and Bone," but I haven't read the sequel to that one yet.  So, that's two books I need to look out for.

You can find all the information here at www.lainitaylor.com  It's a "google blogspot," or whatever they're calling this, if you care to know.

Fablehaven

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull is the first novel that I read that gave the idea that fairies weren't all fairy dust, cute wings, and springtime.
       Seth and Kendra Sorenson were caught unawares when they found out that their grandparent's large farm was actually a preserve for the endangered and hidden species of our world:  the magical and dangerous.  Now they're up to their necks in fairies who turn into imps, egocentric centaurs, Frito-lay-eating and television-watching satyrs, devious demons, shape-shifting dragons, ancient wizards, a quest for the five keys to the demon prison, and an evil society who knows no scruples.  But what is a fantasy story without romance, death, and fairy royalty?  Kendra and Seth will live to explore another day, if only they can figure out how to stop the rising Morning Star.

I believe that these books are Brandon Mull's best.  Sure, there are many different artifacts you have to keep track of, as well as the names of various enemies inside the Society of the Evening Star, but it all ties together nicely.  On top of that, the characters are likable and believable:  none of them are perfect or immune to human emotions.  In fact, more often than naught their actions lead them into more danger then they would've been in if they hadn't acted, if that makes any sense.  The characters are human, therefore, you can connect with the story better.  You find yourself agonizing whenever the characters (or, one character in particular) is going to do something that you know is rash or doesn't heed given directions. 
       Another thing I liked about these books are that you know no more than the characters do.  In some books you cut away to what the enemy is plotting, but in these books you can only see what Kendra (and sometimes Seth) are seeing.  You cannot see what their enemies are planning, so when the surprises come, they come with, well, surprise.  Also, the action comes fairly steadily, so rest assured -- there is at least one grand battle scene in every book (except the second, in which there is a scene involving sneaking somewhere).
        The books should be read in this order:  Fablehaven, Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star, Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague, Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, and Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison.