Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant / The Kings Shilling

Delilah Dirk is one of the funnest graphic novels I've read in a long time. Full of action, awesome characters, and beautiful illustrations, Delilah Dirk is a brilliant adventure. 

I love Delilah. She is a witty thief/adventurer who can do amazing feats and always gets out of trouble. On a chance encounter in a Turkish prison, Mr. Selim finds out her backstory and tells the Sultan he works for. But the Sultan comes to think that they are in on her theft together and orders him executed. After escaping from her cell, she finds Mr. Selim and rescues him in her flying ship. Thus their adventures start. There is much more to this story that is fantastic and must be seen.

The second book, starts out with Mr. Selim and Delilah in Portugal where they find one Major Merrick. He sets Delilah up as a spy for the French, who are at war with the English at this time, and sullies Miss Dirk's good name. She can't have this and is forced to follow the Major back to England. Mr. Selim is all too happy to see England which he has only heard the best of. But he is poorly disappointed when England isn't all it was brought up to be.

I had to read more. These were fantastic books and Delilah reminded me of a character one of my friends created. So it hit home.

Anyone who loves Indiana Jones or swashbuckling Jane Austen will love these books. They are good for all ages, boys or girls.

Check out Tony Cliff's website because there are short stories and little featurettes for Delilah that are just as amazing.

Under A Painted Sky

Under A Painted Sky is a nominee for the Beehive Award and for a reason. It is about a Chinese girl, Samantha, in Missouri in 1849. Tragedy strikes and she quickly finds herself an outlaw and on the run with a runaway slave, Annamae (*cough cough* close to Anime much? Anyway... ).They head west to California under the disguise of boys off to the Gold Fields. One night two they find themselves in the much needed company (for survival as criminals and in the wild west) of three cowboys.

This is a YA book, so, of course, the law of attraction takes a big role in this story. Girls like boys though trying their best to act like boys, boys are confused.

It's language was beautiful. The dialogue was "ingenious." There were a lot of characters that came from different places and had many different accents. Mrs. Lee tried her best to imitate the accents with how she wrote it, which I haven't seen very often, though I've tried to replicate. The metaphors and similes were masterfully done and well thought out. If I was trying to teach a Creative Writing class about good metaphors, I would suggest this book. For plot and setting, however, I would not. This is an extremely character driven book where the need and development of the characters took precedence in the author's mind. I think the story was set up well in the development of the characters, use getting to know them and their backgrounds. This is super important and, as I said, was well done.

There is also a lot of witty bantering back and forth between the characters that made me laugh. I enjoyed that immensely.

It had great little morals to the story throughout the book. Little perks of ancient Chinese/Biblical wisdom. My favorite one was, "Maybe what matters is not so much the path as who walks beside you." (I think she took this sentence to heart though when she resented setting and plot.) And the overlaying idea that race shouldn't stop love. Asian, hispanic, black, white, it doesn't matter. I like that.

There is some cursing scattered throughout the book, but I was surprised that they said "Dang" more often than not. One of the cowboys tended to get around with the ladies, though he gets pummeled for it. There isn't anything graphic in the book even though there end up being a handful of dead guys scattered like the curse words.

I did have a huge question: if she is Chinese from a Chinese father and mother, why is her name Samantha Young? Young I could see. But Samantha? For such an English name for a Chinese girl? There was no reason given as to why she wasn't given a Chinese name. Her father didn't hate China and taught her a lot about China and the culture. So why Samantha? o.O?

I also felt like the plot was lacking. The story is based greatly on the love connections between the characters. But the slowly progress towards California takes a massive back seat where it is almost forgotten. Something as important as the "quest" of a story shouldn't be as much of a shadow as it was.

But the biggest downside to me was the setting. It was minimal. I will give the author a little bit of sway what with them walking through prairie lands with grass and rocks being the only landscape around them. However, there are many poets and songs written about the prairie and surrounding lands. The rock formations that are out there are magnificent. Also, while the characters are in town we get no description of the town or the rooms that they are in.

At the beginning, Samantha is in a hotel room (I think) where the only description we really get is a bathtub and a bed. Not the colors of the sheets or type of tub, not the color of the wall paper or any other furniture in the room. I know of some readers who skim through setting descriptions (You know who you are. *wink wink*). That is okay. There can be sometimes when you can get bogged down with description, but there was such a lack of it that I felt left out.

We should be good readers and be able to fill in the blanks as needed, but this seemed almost like a lack of research. These names that Mrs. Lee gives as landmarks, aside from Independance Rock and the Forts they pass, I had a hard time finding online. How made up are they? If she is going to make up cities/landmarks, which she has every right too mind you, couldn't she give us images of what it looked like. Make us see more than the tree she is sitting under. More than just a river that had fish in it.

It's ironic that the title is Under A Painted Sky when the beauty of the landscape around is left out of the book for the most part.

Over all, I would recommend this to particular people, but not to everyone.

Rebel of the Sands

Rebel of the Sands is  one that I would recommend and is part of the Rebel of the Sands Series. It is one that got me out of a funk of not wanting
to read. It was a book I finished in four days, which can be quite a feat some weeks.

I ended up describing this book to my husband as a mixture between the Wild West and Aladdin. It takes place in a fantasy world that is supposed to resemble Saudi Arabia or an equivalent (which was nice considering most of fantasy novels take place in northern Europe/Britain). But it's not only a time of scimitars and horses, though there are a few of them, there are also guns and magical beings.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about Rebel of the Sands was the religions and mythology in the story. It plays a vital role in the story as the plot moves forward and I think Alwyn Hamilton does a good job in presenting it to the reader. I also think she's gutzy because I've read a bunch of books who keep away from religion because they think it would be a turnoff for many readers. But Alwyn Hamilton didn't and made it vital the story. I thank her for it.

I also enjoyed the mythical creatures that come to life out of the sands. There are moments when Amani, the main character, recalls moments in the past to better understand these creatures that attack in the night. It gives us Amani's background, her spunky personality, and the world in which we are being brought to. There were many different types of creatures that roam the dark here. From Nightmares that kill you in your sleep, to Demdji--half human half Djinni--who are often killed for being an abomination, to the majestic Buraqi--immortal horses--that are faster than anything but a train. The world building was very well done in this book.

Amani and Jin were interesting characters. They were well developed. They ended up fighting, of course, and their fight and make up was believable.

The only thing I that I didn't really care for was the predictability. It is a YA book, and they have their own kind of predictability. But there were some things I didn't see coming. It is presented well, so if you were to pay close attention you probably could get it. Still I found it very enjoyable.

The next book is Traitor to the Throne. 

Les Miserables (Manga)

 Les Miserables but for now I recommend this wonderful Manga. The pictures inside are marvelous!
I am working my way up to the true

This book is based off the original, unabridged novel by Victor Hugo (not the musical), but because it is a single manga and not fifty or so it did have to get edited down.

I was happily surprised by the additions that weren't in the musical (the only other way I've seen this story presented) though I feel like some of the artistry in the people and scenes was influenced by the movie with Hugh Jackman from 2012. Like how Eponine and Marius meet and her family's little influences (though end up being big) progress the story.

Again the artist's work here was amazing and breathtaking. For those who need a quick read of this for school *wink wink* or those who are intimidated by the approximate 1100 page unabridged book, this is a good one to start out with.

I thoroughly enjoyed this manga.

The Emperor's Soul

The Emperor's Soul is a novella written by Brandon Sanderson and is one of my favorite books that he's written.

This book is so very different and so very new that the first time I read it, I couldn't put it down even while I was at work. (Thankfully I worked in the evening when the library was slow and no one came into the children's area which I was supposed to be supervising. :D )

The story takes place in 101 days of Shai being imprisoned for trying to steal The Moon Scepter with her own Forgery. But when she is caught, she is persuaded (ordered more like it) to assist the Empire by Forging their Emperor's soul--just a few days previous to her attempted thievery he was almost assassinated, they were able to heal his body but his mind was gone. Shai is put to the task of refilling his mind with her Forgery and to have this copy of their Emperor be perfect enough to fool everyone. But, of course, she has to also find a way to escape and get her own Essence Marks back from  her captors before they kill her, faking that they would let her go once her task was done.

This is a short book, only 167 pages, but it is enveloping and fast pace. Yet, amazingly, it gives enough background and character development for all the characters named that we care for them and are super sad when it's over. I think the characters are the reason I wanted to reread the book again. Yes, the story and the way of this world, the Soul Stamps, are amazing and and keep the story rolling, but this is very much a character driven novel that I have fallen in love with.

Then as a bonus, my favorite underlying message that everyone (especially now) needs to realize, is that there are so many things that go into a person. There are emotions on top of emotions, logics and counter one another while enhance others. People are all so complicated and it is only through careful examination, time, and the love that comes from being with them that we can even look through the window into who they really are.

ALSO, I love the cover art. It is beautiful!