The Girl in the Tower (Winternight Trilogy 2) by Katherine Arden

The magical adventure begun in The Bear and the Nightingale continues as brave Vasya, now a young woman, is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.

Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

Finally got to read my ARC from NYCC 2017!!

At a Deleted Scenes panel I went to where Arden was one of the speakers she said that she ended up rewriting The Girl In the Tower twice! The version of The Bear and the Nightingale that was published was only half of her original story, but when she went back to the second half it just wasn’t working anymore. So she scrapped the whole thing and started over for the sequel.

I am still curious what the first draft was like.

I was a bit of a mess when reading this sequel. I started it, got nearly half way through when life got in the way and I was too exhausted to read. Then I went away on a vacation and I never read on a vacation because I am too busy touring. Then I picked up where I left off after I got settled into my regular routine. So I feel a bit disjointed as I try to write this review.

I liked it, though not as much as The Bear and the Nightingale. Maybe I’ll feel differently when I reread it. When the third book comes out I’ll listen to the first two on Audible. I already have TBatN in my library.

I really liked the early scenes with Vasya and Morozko I liked their dynamic and I was happy that my questions from the first book about Morozko and the necklace were answered.

I liked Vasya’s rebellion against a patriarchal society and her fight for freedom in medieval Russia. Though sometimes I shook my head at her when she was risking her disguise with silly wagers and races. Girl, you are playing with fire! Figuratively and literally!

Speaking of medieval Russia, Arden really makes the setting feel just right for this fairy tale. I don’t know much about historical accuracy, though she did as much research as she could for a “poorly documented era” (her words). It just really felt like you were there. I also enjoyed the political games and deceptions being played. That added a frustratingly suspenseful dynamic.

One downside of the story is that I did predict who the ghost really was, though I didn’t guess the twist. It does make me want a prequel novel though because what a tragic love story that is!

There isn’t much of a cliffhanger since the villain was disposed of but I do like Vasya’s niece and I want to see where her magic takes her. I also still just really like the way the relationships are written, especially between Vasya and  Sasha, and Vasya and her horse. And of course we can’t see the last of Morozko.

3.5 out of 5 Chyerti

Some of my favorite poetic quotes: I know they say to check the finished work but I am too lazy and I like the way it was written in the ARC:

Page 67: “The more one knows, the sooner one grows old.”
Page 87: “I carve things of wood because things made by effort are more real than things made by wishing.”
Page 189″ The first stars had kindled in a sky gone royally violet, and the moon heaved a faint silver curve over the ragged line of palaces.”
Page 235: “Every time you take one path, you must live with the memory the other: of a life left unchosen.”

Iron Gold – Pierce Brown book signing at Barnes and Noble – January 24, 2018.

My sister and I got to Barnes and Noble pretty early and we got some good seats.
She had not read Iron Gold yet, but I finished it the day before.

Pierce spoke about the different POVs in Iron Gold and how his writing had to change. He usually does not outline, but he had to for IG and the next book Dark Age, not just because there is more going on but for pacing and syncing up different POVs that have to match at the same point in time. Otherwise there would be a lot of rewriting.

Something Pierce said that I related too when I write was that sometimes when writers outline they have so much energy and momentum while doing so but then lose it when it comes time to actually write. So sometimes it is better to just go for it.

This part threw me off because I noticed that Pierce changed his answer in another interview. At this event he said Lysander was the hardest to write because he’s so smart, and Lyria was the easiest to write. He thought Lyria would be the hardest.

One thing I really liked was when Pierce said that the readers have different experiences in life and it’s not an author’s duty to tell others how to think but to ask questions.

The Q&A portion with the audience was great. These were some of my favorites:

1)Someone asked what are the other Howlers’ real names. Pierce answered that he will reveal them in due time and it wasn’t an oversight to omit them, just there is a way he wants those details to be presented. He also has to find his notes to remember them. HA!

He also spoke a little bit about the differences in his former editor, Mike Braff and his new editor, Tricia Narwani. Mike had become one of his best friends and Mike’s complements could be counted on one hand. He’d say the pacing was slow and get to the killing. So Pierce would put in an Obsidian to distract him. Mike called Obsidians “Space Vikings.”

This is a funny story: Pierce told Mike that the end of Golden Son had a wedding. When he got to the end Mike was sending him messages in all caps and called him. But he was in his cubical so he had to use his inside voice but was clearly like WTF!?

Tricia was a beta reader before, the first person after Mike to read the drafts, so there is still continuity there. She is more complimentary and helps with the pacing when his world building slows down the story.

He has pages and pages of world building and his editor(s) would tell him it’s great and none of it will be used. I think that right there is a great start for a World of Red Rising Encyclopedia.

2)Another person commented how Lyria was written beautifully and wanted to know if he would ever write a novella from Mustang’s POV – as a mother and Sovereign.

Pierce said, “No comment. Seriously.”

Now I have nothing but speculations about Dark Age!

3) This was my favorite question of the night: When Pierce began writing Morning Star he wasn’t going to write a story about the aftermath, the what happens after the Death Star explodes. Is there any series, TV or book, that Pierce would like a follow up like Iron Gold?

Pierce answered almost all of them because when you are in the Falcon or at Hogwarts you feel like you are at home. You miss your home and you miss your friends.

The problem is…would the additions ruin the initial trilogy? He said it’s his burden/responsibility not to demean actions of the first three books: the original story, personal journeys and sacrifices of the characters.

So then, and this was my favorite part of the night, Pierce used The Last Jedi as an example. Luke’s evolution demeaned him from the the Original Trilogy.

Pierce wants to add on to the same journey with Iron Gold. The story should feel like the same characters and not a restart but an evolution of them as older people.

Sometimes he thinks he wants more but maybe it’s better not to have more. Many series go past their prime. He knows this story is not past its prime because he’s exhilarated to write this trilogy and if it didn’t feel right he wouldn’t write it. He doesn’t want to dilute or make the past consequences feel insignificant so that the fans feel cheap for reading it and then have fans say “that’s not my canon” or “not my Darrow.”

By not taking a big break and going right into this new trilogy he has kept the same tone. And there are new things to explore through the different POVs. We see more of the world and culture, and the cracks in their civilization. So it feels richer, and when we reread the first trilogy we’ll know all this is going on outside Darrow’s POV.

Before the signing portion we concluded the Q&A with a collective howl. People in B&N must have been like, WTF, lol.

Photos and a major spoiler below!

Top Ten Tuesday January 2: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2017

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

January 2: Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2017

Some I really enjoyed their work and would read more of their stories. Others are a one and done. I’ll let you guess which based on my reviews.

1) Katherine Arden
2) Vic James
3) Susanna Kearsley
4) Ruth Reichl
5) Connie Willis
6) Matthew Reilly
7) Lesley Livingston
8) Alex Flinn
9) Shelley Sackier
10) Steven Laffoley

Star Wars – From a Certain Point of View by 40 various authors

In celebration of Star Wars’ 40th anniversary, Del Rey is going to shine the spotlight on those unsung weirdos, heroes, and villains with a unique, new anthology. Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, coming October 2017, will bring together more than 40 authors for 40 stories. Each will be told from the perspective of background characters of A New Hope — from X-wing pilots who helped Luke destroy the Death Star to the stormtroopers who never quite could find the droids they were looking for.

This was a New York Comic Con 2017 special edition cover

Experience Star Wars: A New Hope from a whole new point of view.

On May 25, 1977, the world was introduced to Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, and a galaxy full of possibilities. In honor of the 40th anniversary, more than 40 contributors lend their vision to this retelling of Star Wars. Each of the 40 short stories reimagines a moment from the original film, but through the eyes of a supporting character. From a Certain Point of View features contributions by best-selling authors, trendsetting artists, and treasured voices from the literary history of Star Wars:

Gary Whitta bridges the gap from Rogue One to A New Hope through the eyes of Captain Antilles.
Aunt Beru finds her voice in an intimate character study by Meg Cabot.
Nnedi Okorofor brings dignity and depth to a most unlikely character: the monster in the trash compactor.
Pablo Hidalgo provides a chilling glimpse inside the mind of Grand Moff Tarkin.
Pierce Brown chronicles Biggs Darklighter’s final flight during the Rebellion’s harrowing attack on the Death Star.
Wil Wheaton spins a poignant tale of the rebels left behind on Yavin.
Plus 34 more hilarious, heartbreaking, and astonishing tales from Ben Acker, Renée Ahdieh, Tom Angleberger, Ben Blacker, Jeffrey Brown, Rae Carson, Adam Christopher, Zoraida Córdova, Delilah S. Dawson, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Paul Dini, Ian Doescher, Ashley Eckstein, Matt Fraction, Alexander Freed, Jason Fry, Kieron Gillen, Christie Golden, Claudia Gray, E. K. Johnston, Paul S. Kemp, Mur Lafferty, Ken Liu, Griffin McElroy, John Jackson Miller, Daniel José Older, Mallory Ortberg, Beth Revis, Madeleine Roux, Greg Rucka, Gary D. Schmidt, Cavan Scott, Charles Soule, Sabaa Tahir, Elizabeth Wein, Glen Weldon, Chuck Wendig

Narrated by a full cast, including:

Jonathan Davis
Ashley Eckstein
Janina Gavankar
Jon Hamm
Neil Patrick Harris
January LaVoy
Saskia Maarleveld
Carol Monda
Daniel José Older
Marc Thompson
All participating authors have generously forgone any compensation for their stories. Instead, their proceeds will be donated to First Book – a leading nonprofit that provides new books, learning materials, and other essentials to educators and organizations serving children in need. To further celebrate the launch of this book and both companies’ longstanding relationships with First Book, Penguin Random House has donated $100,000 to First Book, and Disney/Lucasfilm has donated 100,000 children’s books – valued at $1 million – to support First Book and their mission of providing equal access to quality education. Over the past 16 years, Disney and Penguin Random House combined have donated more than 88 million books to First Book.

I bought the NYCC edition and read most of it, but mostly I listened to the audiobook. Sometimes I followed along as I listened.

I’m trying to decide how to write up this review. I loved the stories, so this is not a negative review. It’s just I feel like I have to talk about all 40 stories.

Overall, I enjoyed every one of the stories. Mostly the stories are told in chronological order of the movie, though some jump back and forth to set up a character or setting. You can feel the authors’ different personalities and styles. You can also tell the authors didn’t communicate because events in the stories of the same setting (e.g. the Cantina) contradict one another. However, this is just for fun. A chance to see A New Hope from other characters’ eyes and it’s a beautiful way for fans to relive that feeling of experiencing ANH for the very first time again.

5 out of 5 Galaxies.

Now for my thoughts for each story. All 40 of them.

“A long, long time ago in a galaxy far away.”

New York Comic Con 2017 – Sunday, October 8

Sunday, October 8

My sister decided to splurge for Mark Hamill’s autograph. (The price went up since he was last at NYCC in 2011). So in the morning she queued for his signing. Mark had the photo ops first, but the queues get really long real fast.

I left her briefly to go to Rob Reid’s signing at Random House’s booth.

I purchased After On. It was on sale and I got an ARC for Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins with the purchase. Rob’s first book, Year Zero, was a giveaway. He signed both copies.

I was wearing my new Jurassic Park shirt and Rob was wearing a shirt with the Jurassic Park logo, only his said “Golden Gate Park”.

 

 

 

Rob remembered me from the Deleted Scenes panel on Friday. (I was sitting in the front row.) I said the David Hasselhoff scene was hysterical and that really sold the book for me, and too bad it wasn’t in the book (After On). But he said that the character who writes the reviews is in there and all the reviews are online.

I pointed out our sort-of matching shirts and asked for a photo.

Then he said that he hopes I like After On. I read the first page while waiting on the queue. It’s funny.

 

 

 

Then I went back to wait on Mark’s queue. It was a long wait. First he had his photo ops. Then he had a break and I assume had some lunch (it’s only fair). So of course the autograph session stared like more than an hour late. The first people on the queue were cosplaying as Beauty and the (human) Beast. They were spectacular. Wish I had asked for a photo. Hundreds of others were asking.

Finally we get up to talk to Mark. Since my sister was the one actually getting her photo with him signed I just observed.

Mark saw their photo and said, “Look how cute you are.” I think my sister was too nervous and I had to tell her afterward that he said this. She was concentrating on the whole speech she prepared.
She told him that we were at his conversation last night. Mark had said how when he got the script for “The Last Jedi” he was surprised/disappointed about how Luke had lost his optimism.
My sister said she agreed with that and added that Luke also lost his Original Trilogy persistence to save Ben/Kylo.
Mark responded that he “has to be careful” of what he says, but it’s not a long wait. It will be answered before we know it.
We said we’d be there opening weekend and thanked him.

New York Comic Con 2017 – Friday, October 6

Friday, October 6
I had to work in the early part of the day so I missed:

The World of Philip K. Dick – The Man in the High Castle and Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
October 06, 2017, 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Hammerstein Ballroom – 311 W 34th St

Amazon Prime Video presents a journey into the works of legendary author and sci-fi visionary, Philip K. Dick. This engaging panel, moderated by Deadline Hollywood Senior Editor Dominic Patten, will focus on two Prime Exclusive series – The Man in the High Castle, and groundbreaking new anthology series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams – and feature cast and creator discussion, exclusive sneak peeks, content and audience Q&A. Panelists for The Man in the High Castle will include cast members Rufus Sewell (Dark City), Rupert Evans (Hellboy) and Jason O’Mara (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), along with Executive Producers Eric Overmyer (Bosch, The Affair)and Dan Percival (Strike Back). Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams panelists include actor Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones) and Executive Producers Michael Dinner (Justified) and Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica). The panelists will also be joined by Isa Dick Hackett (The Adjustment Bureau), Executive Producer on both series. Panel moderated by Dominic Patten. Talent subject to change.

I am interested in Electric Dreams since Ronald D. Moore is involved.

And I also missed:

Her Universe and Ashley Eckstein Spotlight
October 06, 2017, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Hudson Mercantile – 500 W 36th St
Hosted by Actress and Founder of Her Universe Ashley Eckstein, find out what’s new in the Universe!

Ashley will give advice to fans looking to get into the business of fashion, licensing or acting, share sneak peeks and give new information. Plus she’ll answer your questions!

Her Universe is Your Universe and we hope to see you there!

I got to the convention center a little after 3pm. I met up with my friend Nikki as I was waiting on the queue at the Random House booth for Pierce Brown’s signing.

I had my copy of Golden Son with me (Red Rising I had signed at NYCC in 2014 and Morning Star when it was released in 2016) and Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View. Pierce’s story is called “Desert Son.”

While waiting I saw some people I recognized from the Facebook group. One man had shared a photo of himself in RR cosplay. He was wearing a wolf head cloak. I wanted to introduce myself and say hello but I didn’t want to lose my place in line since Nikki had not come to meet me yet. I thought I’d see them later but I did not.

When it was my turn Nikki took some video but it got cut off so I won’t share it (at this time). I’ll just sum it up.

So a little background: I went to Greece last year and while in Olympia visiting the ruins of the site of the ancient Olympics I bought a gold charm of a laurel. I bought it because it also reminds me of the cover to Golden Son.

I told Pierce I went to Greece and showed him my necklace. He said I got my laurel and it’s not bloody. Haha!

I asked how he came to write from Biggs Darklighter’s point of view in From a Certain Point of View. He said they asked him what he wanted to contribute and Biggs has always been a favorite character of his.

I told him he knows Star Wars so well because his interpretation of the scene was just like the movie. Pierce was surprised I read it already and I said it was the first one I read. (I still have to read the rest but since Pierce signed this copy I want to keep it clean and will listen to the audiobook instead. I also intend to ask the other authors to sign it someday.)

Then I spoke about the Iron Gold sampler.

Minor SPOILERS!!

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New York Comic Con 2017 – Thursday, October 5

Thursday, October 5

I didn’t get to the Javits super early because I didn’t want to wait in the queue hall. So it was a little after 10. Finally they had us go through metal detectors and looked through my bag thoroughly. (I think the shooting in Las Vegas prompted them to be more vigilant.)

I had no definite plan till the end of the day when I had my Doctor Who Team Up photo op with Peter Capaldi and Pearl Mackie.

So my first place to head to was the Penguin Random House/Del Rey booth.
I got the NYCC exclusive edition Star Wars book From a Certain Point of View. And it came with a tote bag.

Top Ten Tuesday – September 5: Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

September 5: Ten Books I Struggled to Get Into But Ended Up Loving or Ten Books That Were A Chore To Get Through or Ten Books I’ve Most Recently Put Down (the theme is…books you had a hard time with…tweak it how ever you need)

1. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane

This was required reading in high school. It was a chore to get through because it’s written in the vernacular of the time period. If it were not for the Cliff’s Notes and discussion in class I would have failed the quizzes and tests.

2. Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Basically I lost patience with the pacing. Should have been a stand-alone YA novel.

3. Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda’s Daughter by Maggie Anton

Where was the magic? Where was the villain?

4. Beheld by Alex Flinn

Not at all how it is described on the book jacket. The main character is barely present. During some chapters I was skimming.

5. The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

I was expecting something more eerie and supernatural and I ended up bored. Also, I would get so annoyed at some of the characters’ behaviors.

6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

It took me a while to get used to the style of writing. She gets very wordy. It was close to the last quarter of the book that I didn’t have to reread sentences to understand the scene. It takes a lot of brain power to read and I was tired after 2 chapters.
The book is told through the perspective of the tenant, Mr. Lockwood, and the story itself is from the perspective of the housekeeper, Ellen Dean (Nelly). And the story she tells happened in the past. So because it is told this way we get a lot of telling and not much showing.

7. Hustling Hitler: The Jewish Vaudevillian Who Fooled the Führer by Walter Shapiro

The title is false advertising. I get that the author was trying to set up a background of Freeman’s life and how he became the man he was but I just wanted it to be about him hustling Hitler. I was not interested in the little details of his many cons and vaudeville days. Just concentrate on that one detail of his life, conning Hitler.

8. The Drafter by Kim Harrison

Everything moves so slow and not much of the plot develops. It is very repetitive and the action is not very enticing. I didn’t even finish.

9. Dodgers by Bill Beverly

I was so bored by the story. I expected an action packed road trip adventure. What I got was a story as mundane as watching the trees and flat plains outside your backseat window.

Just when something exciting would happen, it was short lived. Then it was back to the boring road trip. Blah, blah, blah. I was not much of a fan of they style of writing either.

10. Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities
by Flora Rheta Schreiber

I read this as a young teenager, so long before I had a computer. I got about a quarter through and gave up. Too long, too boring, too disturbing. And I read somewhere that it was all fabricated.

Book Con: Sunday, June 4, 2017

I’ll Take Audiobooks for $400, Please!: an Audience vs. Author Game Show I’ll Take Audiobooks for $400, Please!: an Audience vs. Author Game Show

Jun 04, 2017, 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM, Room 1E10

Test your bookish knowledge, competing head-to-head with Sarah Dessen (Once and For All), Nicola Yoon (Everything, Everything), VE Schwab (A Conjuring of Light), and Kami Garcia (The Lovely Reckless) in categories like “Whose Voice Is It, Anyway?,” “Fantasy Worlds” and “Spotted at BookCon” and more, using audio clips from a wide variety of popular audiobooks. Are you a bigger book nerd than your favorite authors? Four lucky audience members will be recruited to join the fun onstage, hosted by Holly Black (The Cruel Prince). All attendees will receive a pair of earbuds and three free audiobook downloads!

This was a fun panel. It wasn’t really the authors verses the audience. More like an author teamed up with a member of the audience. They were chosen by being the first to answer a question about the author correctly.

The rest of the game was played much like Jeopardy!, and they even had to answer in the form a question.
Many of the clues were easy as they were from current and/or popular books, and the narrators sampled were some famous voices.

The blone girl who was on Kami Garcia’s team was exceptionally good. She had a extensive knowledge about books and authors. She was also really fast at buzzing in.

Authors Left to right: Nicola Yoon, VE Schwab, Kami Garcia,  Sarah Dessen, and Holly Black.

After the panel my sister and I had lunch. Then we met up with Jenn from Australia. We roamed the Exhibit Hall.
There was madness at the Random House booth. There was a ticket giveaway for Leigh Bardugo, who wrote a book about Wonder Woman.

We saw a giant, disorganized crowd surrounding the booth and they had their hands in the air. We later found out that they started giving out the tickets randomly. People who had been waiting on a queue were livid, as they waited for quite a while only to miss out on a ticket to a random selection process.

Book Con: Saturday, June 3, 2017

My sister and I got on the queue at Random House to get our Underlined goodies. We are signed up to Underlined and got an email saying we could skip the line (yea right!) and get prizes.

This is our swag. We each got a tote, a beach towel, an accessory pouch, a phone charger, a book mark, and two books. I got The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman and A Short History of the Girl Next Door by Jared Reck. Sis got The Golden Compass and The Breathless by Tara Goedjen.

Mayim Bialik Autographing
Jun 03, 2017, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Booth 1921

I bought Mayim’s book, Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular so I could get her autograph ticket. It was the only book I bought all weekend.

I started reading it while on the queue. It’s a great read for a girl just starting puberty and I would have loved it when I was 10 or 11. It will be a quick read and will finish the rest in a day, soon.

(While I was on the queue my sister picked up the give away for The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner.)

When I got up to talk to Mayim I told her that Bette Middler should play her mom on The Big Bang Theory. (Beaches reunion!) Mayim said that is a great idea and maybe when she is done with Broadway. (Bette is currently staring in Hello Dolly!)

I think with Sheldon proposing to Amy and there being a possible wedding soon, it’s a perfect opportunity.

After taking a photo with me and my sister she asked, “Sisters?” and we said yes.

Below the cut: Stephen Chbosky and Nicola Yoon.