FICTION: Death Sworn by Leah Cypess

Image from Goodreads

 
At a glance: YA, fantasy, romance


From Goodreads

When Ileni lost her magic, she lost everything: her place in society, her purpose in life, and the man she had expected to spend her life with. So when the Elders sent her to be magic tutor to a secret sect of assassins, she went willingly, even though the last two tutors had died under mysterious circumstances.

But beneath the assassins’ caves, Ileni will discover a new place and a new purpose… and a new and dangerous love. She will struggle to keep her lost magic a secret while teaching it to her deadly students, and to find out what happened to the two tutors who preceded her. But what she discovers will change not only her future, but the future of her people, the assassins… and possibly the entire world.

Luna comments

I've read Leah Cypess's Mistwood & Nightspell, & I liked the plot for both of those. So I was quite keen on this one.

I liked the idea that Ileni used to be a powerful sorceress, but then is in the process of losing her power.

However, in terms of characters, I don't feel there's anything particularly interesting about the characters. I get the feeling that the typical YA characters are:

• (for females) a slightly hot-headed, impulsive, has immature/overly emotional moments despite their very dire situation, clever, skilful, carrying a bit of a burden or mental obsession, has a bit of anger or angst because of that burden or obsession, but has the tendency to not apply their cleverness or skills until something they really care about forces them to do it; & 
• (for males) silent, broody, outwardly unapproachable, skilful, clever, carries another sort of burden that makes them so taciturn & broody & unapproachable, is always cool-headed & calm but then pulls off an out-of-character risk or act of stupidity when something they care about (i.e. the love interest/protagonist) is threatened.

Ileni & Sorin (love interest) fit that mould pretty well.

However, having said that, I don't think it's fair to 'penalise' them for having typical YA characteristics. They're characters in their own right. But anyway, there's a low-down of who they are.

I did, however, like the master of the assassins. I like how he doesn't make much of an appearance, but his presence is always felt because everyone's so scared of him. The only thing is that sometimes I think he acts a bit too overconfident for someone of his experience & reputation, but this is one of those things where I think it could have gone either way.

The plot...I enjoyed seeing how it played out & how everything eventually fit together. So upon reading the ending, I could go, "Oh yes, I enjoyed that book", in a sort of detached way (actually, I can't think of anything I particularly liked, except the premise). But during the process of reading, I didn't feel that. In a way, that could be testimony to how well Cypess has managed to work the undercurrents seamlessly into the narration. But what kept me reading wasn't so much that I was enjoying every moment as that I wanted to find out what on Earth was happening.


Closing

So, upon finishing, I was satisfied. I got a bit impatient in the middle, though. I'm still keen on the sequel & seeing how the rest of the story plays out.

However, I feel that this book has the sort of feeling that successful YA books give off, so perhaps its intended demographic (i.e. young adults) would enjoy it a lot more.

FICTION: Cress by Marissa Meyer

From the author's website

At a glance: young adult, romance, sci-fi, futuristic


From the author's website

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker – unfortunately, she’s being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Luna comments

This is the third book of the Lunar Chronicles. I've already talked about the second book here.

Each book in this series is more or less based on a fairy tale. In Cress, a girl is locked up in a satellite for years, & used for her technological skills (which in many sci-fi or futuristic stories translates to hacking). Obviously she is a very futuristic Rapunzel.

Once again, the thing that draws me to this series is mainly the plot & the world. How this series is structured is that, with each book, the author properly introduces a new heroine (& a corresponding male protagonist). So by the time of book three, that's three of them, each with their own stories & their roles in the plot. It means a lot of travelling around the world, separating, finding each other again, carrying out activities in big groups with various roles allocated to them, so on. It makes the plot rather complicated & all over the place (in a good way) & quite interesting.

Although I think that the characters are starting to get more interesting - in this book, a new heroine is properly introduced (she's made cameo appearances before). Her name is Cress, & having lived in a spaceship by herself for most of her life, with only occasional visits from her overseer, she's a bit innocent & naive. Her knowledge of the outside world, especially Earth, mostly comes in the form of fiction, & hence her view of the world is very romanticised. So she & her occasionally inappropriate reactions were fun to read about :)

There are some other interesting characters too. Her corresponding male protagonist, Thorne, is a slippery character with a smooth tongue & comic relief value. So I like him too. He actually appeared in Scarlet, but there's more of him to see in this book. There's also Princess Winter, who makes her first appearance in the series. She's a bit loony, which is rather symbolically suitable since she's the princess of Luna (the moon). And then Winter's corresponding male protagonist, who acts as if it'd kill him to be nice.

As you can see, entertainment value (in the currency of potential for humour) is a major factor influencing whether I like a character or not.

The excitement is also building up now, as Lunar Queen becomes increasingly dissatisfied with the state of affairs on Earth (because she still isn't in power yet), & I'm really anticipating an all-over-the-place, lots-of-things-happening fourth book.

On another note, I don't particularly like the typeface used for the text of this series. It's pretty, & suits the futuristic setting well, but it feels less comfortable & flowing compared to the more typical-looking ones.


Closing

I would recommend this series for the plot. =] 

FICTION: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

From the author's website

At a glance: young adult, romance, sci-fi, futuristic


From the author's website

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Luna comments 

Scarlet is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. This is the second book of the Lunar Chronicles, which I'm quite enjoying so far.

The one thing that really draws me into this series is the plot & the world (which is also because it's intertwined with the plot). This world is set sometime in the distant future, with incredible technologies which we can't even dream of.

The most interesting thing is that there are two 'types' of humans - the normal Earthens, who live on Earth, and the Lunars who have colonised the moon. The Lunars are rather scary because they have a genetic ability to control bioelectricity, which effectively allows them to manipulate other people, physically & mentally. Furthermore, the Lunar Queen has set her sights on ruling Earth, which doesn't bode too well for mere Earthlings.

The plot of the Cinder, the prequel, was the retelling of Cinderella where the protagonist has become a renowned mechanic and a cyborg. The story in that was a lot more straightforward, but even then it was making various references to the Lunars and the plans of their Queen - greater plans which are further elaborated in Scarlet (which happens on the other side of the world). I expect the plot will get even messier, because there are two more protagonists to introduce.

As I said, the thing that draws me into this series is the plot. Things happen all over the world, various characters get into trouble, a lot of things happen. I really enjoy seeing how Meyer has woven the different threads of the story together.


Closing

The trouble with liking a book for its plot is that it's rather hard to talk about. Give this series a shot sometime :)

ANIME: 言の葉の庭 (The Garden of Words)

This is also known as Kotonoha no Niwa , which is the romanisation of the Japanese.

Image from official website
Where he tries to make shoes for her. Click for larger image. Isn't the art so pretty?

At a glance: drama, romance, contemporary; movie (46 minutes)


Summary from the English website:

When Takao, a young high school student who dreams of becoming a shoe designer, decides to skip school one day in favor of sketching in a rainy garden, he has no idea how much his life will change when he encounters Yukino. Older, but perhaps not as much wiser, she seems adrift in the world. Despite the difference in their ages, they strike up an unusual relationship that unexpectedly continues and evolves, without planning, with random meetings that always occur in the same garden on each rainy day. But the rainy season is coming to a close, and there are so many things still left unsaid and undone between them. Will there be time left for Takao to put his feelings into actions and words? Between the raindrops, between the calms in the storm, what will blossom in THE GARDEN OF WORDS?

Luna comments

The first thing that strikes me about this film is how incredibly well-presented it is, especially in the artwork and the soundtrack. As you can see above, the artwork is ineffably beautiful. It's realistic, but also has a certain element of fantasy in it, even though the story is firmly rooted in the real world. There's an insane amount of detail (unfortunately I didn't watch this in very high resolution) but also softness in the pictures. The central setting for this film is the garden (the Shinjuku Gyoen), but the way the artists have drawn it makes it almost like a magical, otherworldly place. The rainy scenes are drawn especially well.

There's a subdued & bittersweet tone to the movie. The pace of the story is rather slow, which I actually didn't mind in this one - for one, it suits the story, & for two, it gave me time to absorb the imagery & the music.

The plot is centred around the Akizuki Takao, the 15-year-old serial truant (only on rainy days) & Yukino, the 27-year-old woman who keeps skipping work. Both of them are lonely in their own lives, & come to enjoy each other's company. There's something really...nice, for lack of a better word, in the simple interactions that they share. He's very mature for his age; she feels a bit lost & childish for hers. I like how I didn't even feel the massive age gap between them, & I also liked how they didn't even know very much about each other all the way through. I guess that this film, for me, seems to strip away all the things unnecessary to a fulfilling relationship (not just in the romantic sense) with other people.

My favourite parts

• Anything that takes place in the garden
• The final scene before the song & credits

Closing 
I would recommend this show purely for its artwork; fortunately, it has the rest of the goods to match =]