The Story of Kullervo by J. R. R. Tolkien

Information

Goodreads: The Story of Kullervo
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Source: Gift
Published: 2016

Summary

Kullervo, the son of Kalervo, grows up in service to his uncle Untamo, who has killed his father and kidnapped his mother and siblings.  Kullervo vows revenge, but a curse lies upon Kullervo and tragedy awaits.

Review

As with much of Tolkien’s recently and posthumously published work, the editor Verlyn Flieger presents a short (unfinished) story by Tolkien, then struggles to bulk up the rest of the volume. In this case, readers get notes on the story, two essays by Tolkien on the source material (the Kalevala), and an explanation on how this work ties into Middle-earth (Kullervo is the obvious forerunner of Túrin Turambar). The volume attempts to straddle a line between being accessible to the general public and being of interest to Tolkien scholars. With such little material, however, The Story of Kullervo really does seem destined to appeal mostly to those doing research on the Professor.

The trouble with The Story of Kullervo is not only that it remains unfinished, but also that it frankly is not very good. Tolkien seems to have begun the work sometime in his college days, and it shows. Tolkien’s prose lacks the finesse of his later years and instead reads as clunkily ornate. The ways in which he changes the original tale to make it more coherent and to bring out themes that will reoccur in his later works are interesting. But the actual telling of it is a little painful.

Flieger then turns to a speech/essay Tolkien read on the Kalevala–and gives it to readers twice. The second version is a somewhat expanded one, but it is, in essence, the same thing. I imagine many readers skipping over the second attempt, since there is not much new to learn here; the expansions mainly seem to be Tolkien attempting to clarify his point. What his point is, broadly speaking, is apparently that he likes the Kalevala and others should, too. However, I think readers unfamiliar with the Kalevala (such as myself) will find the references somewhat meaningless. I sighed a little when he started listing all the named spirits he could think of as a way to give his listeners the “air” or “feeling” of the Kalevala . What I got is that the air is obscure and wearisome.

Flieger then moves into an explanation of how Tolkien’s take on Kullervo ties into his later story The Children of Húrin–a story which I greatly enjoy and highly recommend. What I recall of Flieger’s essay, however, is a lot of summarizing of The Children of Húrin and reiterating of thematic similarities between it and Kullervo–similarities which should be obvious to anyone who has read both and probably do not need a lot of exposition. But, again, Flieger was clearly struggling to fill the volume with content; points raised at the end were already expounded upon in Flieger’s introduction.

Flieger begins by expressing gratitude at the opportunity for Tolkien’s The Story of Kullervo to receive its own volume and reach a wider audience. Honestly, however, I’m not convinced something so short needed its own volume, nor am I convinced that the general public would want to read this. Having the work in an anthology or a scholarly journal accessible to Tolkien scholars would probably be sufficient. There simply is not enough content here for an entire book, and I think at some point fans are going to tire of Tolkien’s publishers trying to get money from them for every note Tolkien ever scribbled on a piece of paper.

Read Briana’s review of The Story of Kullervo.

The Fall of Númenor by J. R. R. Tolkien, ed. by Brian Sibley

Information

Goodreads: The Fall of Númenor
Series: None
Age Category: Adult
Source: Library
Published: 2022

Summary

Collects previously published material to present the Fall of Númenor, as well as other events of the Second Age, such as the forging of the Rings of Power, in chronological order. Illustrated by Alan Lee.

Review

The Fall of Númenor contains no previously unpublished material, instead compiling excerpts from The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings, The History of Middle-Earth, The Nature of Middle-earth, and J. R. R. Tolkien’s letters in an attempt to present a (sort of) cohesive account of the Second Age of Middle-earth in one place. While it seems likely that this volume was commissioned mostly to profit off the release of The Rings of Power, the concept still has a certain appeal. Even many avid Tolkien fans have not read The Silmarillion or The History of Middle-earth, and those who have may appreciate having the material together in one volume. Brian Sibley’s editing admittedly does not seem to have the same easiness as Christopher Tolkien’s, but I suspect most readers will overlook that and enjoy the story–not to mention the beautiful illustrations by the iconic Alan Lee.

Having read most of the books that the material for The Fall of Númenor comes from, I was initially hesitant about this volume, and even the necessity of its existence. If it has come down to simply repackaging Tolkien’s previously published works, I worry that fans are being taken advantage of by an industry that simply wants to milk Tolkien for everything he is worth. Sibley’s editorial notes, after all, did not add anything to my reading experience or give me any greater insight into Tolkien’s world or writings.

And I frankly found the editing confusing–sometimes the smaller text indicates that Sibley is interjecting (mostly to summarize what readers had just read or were going to read–as if they cannot be trusted to comprehend it themselves), but sometimes the smaller text actually is J. R. R. Tolkien’s own words from letters he wrote, and at least once the small text indicates an editorial intervention Christopher Tolkien had apparently made in a different book. The writer is never clearly delineated, and I sometimes had difficulty figuring out if the editorial interjections were meant to be part of a cohesive story, were just for fun, or were an attempt to squeeze in every single mention of a particular object ever made in a text by Tolkien, so readers could be impressed by all the hard editorial work. Because, honestly, quoting Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings just never seemed to make sense in context, unless an editor was trying to be a completionist and catch every reference ever made.

What really made me appreciate the work is, not surprisingly, Tolkien’s writing. The Fall of Númenor brought me back to Middle-earth, and I relived all the wonder and drama and magic that I have come to know and love from Tolkien’s writings. Even though I was familiar with much of the content already, I found I did appreciate having it one place–despite knowing that the story would never be complete or cohesive, since Tolkien never finished it. There is still enough to immerse readers in a gripping tale, equally full of joy and sorrow.

I also loved the hardcover volume itself, with the illustrations by Alan Lee and the ribbon bookmark. Each chapter starts with a sketch, and there is even some blue text to make the font fancy. Collectors will likely not be disappointed by the format, even if there is no new material.

So, readers who are unfamiliar with the events of the Second Age, or who want it all in one easily accessible place will likely enjoy this volume! The History of Middle-earth is, after all, usually considered more suited to a scholarly audience than a general one, and even avid fans have not all read all the volumes. The Fall of Númenor, meanwhile, while not exactly for a general audience like The Hobbit is, still reads enough like a story that the average Tolkien fan can likely follow it and appreciate it.

(Side Note: Fans of The Rings of Power should be aware that the show did not have the rights to Tolkien’s writings aside from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Consequently, most of the show’s plot points were created by the showrunners. The Fall of Númenor bears little resemblance to The Rings of Power.)

The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

Information

Goodreads: The Last Wish
Series: The Witcher 0.5
Age Category: Adult
Source: Library
Published: 1993

Official Summary

Geralt the Witcher—revered and hated—is a man whose magic powers, enhanced by long training and a mysterious elixir, have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters and vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent.

But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good… and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

Review

The Last Wish is a collection of connected short stories that alternate between the present and flashbacks to Geralt’s past. Overall, it’s an evocative collection that feels familiar in its use of fantasy tropes and allusions but also somehow new. I enjoyed learning about Geralt’s world and his feats as a particularly well-known witcher, while the allusions to things changing in the world added an air of bittersweetness.

My primary concern is the treatment of women in the book, and I believe this needs to be addressed first because the opening scene is just Geralt opening his eyes from sleep to see some random woman coming nymph-like to straddle and seduce him. It’s an odd prologue since it doesn’t seem to have a point besides “ooh sexy woman throwing herself at Geralt because men deserve that” or something, and I wasn’t impressed. I saw a review on Goodreads where someone just quit reading the book entirely after this scene, and I can’t even blame her because I was tempted to DNF, too. As for the rest of the book . . . it waffles a bit on women. Geralt seems to respect women generally and has a firm anti-rape stance that he repeats (a low, low bar), but the book does rather objectify them, and there’s a distinct male gaze. Women’s dresses ripping during fight scenes to expose their breasts. That sort of thing. If you can get over this aspect of the book (and I’m on the fence about whether I did get over it myself), the book has a lot of other merits.

The stories themselves are interesting, and many of them took little twists and turns I didn’t see coming. I loved that Geralt appears to be legendary in his occupation, but often solves the problems he encounters in ways one wouldn’t expect. So while there are certainly fight scenes where Geralt gets to display his skills, there are also times he uses cleverness; he sees some things are riddles where others cannot. He’s also no infallible or even necessarily impressive-looking while at work. The book is open about the fact he gets injuries and he gets things wrong and he gets things done, but he doesn’t always look cool and dignified while getting results. So there’s a human aspect (which is also interesting considering the emphasis on the fact Geralt is not, in fact, human).

There’s also a very layered feel to the book. There’s clearly a history to the world that isn’t on full display here, but the reader can see there are stories and legends and realms and all sorts of things waiting to be discovered. And there’s also a sense of change that brings to mind epics stories like Beowulf. Geralt senses an end of a era, a diminishing of the number of monsters and the need for witchers to deal with them. The world he knows is not going to last, and who’s to say whether that’s good or bad?

The writing is sometimes clunky, and while I suspect some of that might be because of the translation, some of it also seems to just be how the book is structured. A story will be going along and suddenly there will be an inserted explanation of some world building or other background information, and then the story carries on. This happened often enough I definitely noticed it, but it didn’t ruin my general enjoyment of the book.

In terms of plot and world building, this is a top-tier fantasy read. The misogyny, however, put me off and kept me from becoming fully connected to the world. While there are women with influence and impressive skills here, it’s really one of those instances where they’re like weird outliers with mystical powers to be vaguely feared and respected or sex objects. The women in the book rarely felt like people to me in the way that a lot of the male characters did, and this is really disappointing to me. I liked the book, but I don’t know if I care enough to read more of the series, which is a shame.

Note: I have not seen the show. This is my introduction to the Witcher.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien (A Review Upon Rereading)

Information

Goodreads: The Silmarillion
Series: pre-Lord of the Rings
Age Category: Adult
Source: Purchased
Published: 1977

Official Summary

The Silmarillion is an account of the Elder Days, of the First Age of Tolkien’s world. It is the ancient drama to which the characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, and in whose events some of them such as Elrond and Galadriel took part. The tales of The Silmarillion are set in an age when Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, dwelt in Middle-earth, and the High Elves made war upon him for the recovery of the Silmarils, the jewels containing the pure light of Valinor.

Review

I read The Silmarillion once several years ago, but I decided that now was the perfect time for a reread, since Amazon’s The Rings of Power is being released. Amazon, of course, does not actually have the rights to anything in The Silmarillion, so none of the plot of the show is related to The Silmarillion (and most of the The Silmarillion is about the First Age, not the Second Age anyway). However, there have been references to events in The Silmarillion in the show, like references to the War of Wrath, Elrond’s family, the Valar, etc., so rereading it does help one appreciate the show at least a little. But enough about The Rings of Power. (You can read Krysta’s guide to the Second Age here.)

Reviewing The Silmarillion seems a daunting task to me. What can I say that hasn’t already been said? How can I adequately convey how amazing it is? It’s a fantasy classic, even if not as popularly read as The Lord of the Rings, so saying it’s “good” or “bad” seems a bit silly when people will read it no matter what I say. (For the record, I think it’s good.)

Even though it covers an extremely long time period for the First Age, it’s am immersive experience, and I loved seeing the beginning of Arda and then the trials of the Elves. The Elves, for the record, are much more chaotic here. While in The Lord of the Rings, Elves are nearly always associated with goodness, so much that evil things will not pass through areas where Elves once lived, they’re a mixed bag in The Silmarillion. They kill each other, they lust after the titular Silmarils, they betray one another, they ignore the plights of those who need help. They’re still delightfully Other, but they’re not a monolith of wisdom and virtue, and it is fascinating.

It’s also a bit darker than The Lord of the Rings in many ways. While I think the theme of hope still permeates the story, there are things one wouldn’t necessarily except to see in LotR, like Elves killing Elves and some (accidental) incest. It’s a different time in Middle-earth, and Tolkien (and editor Christopher Tolkien!) does an excellent job of making it feel so.

I know many readers find The Silmarillion confusing, but I don’t think it is. Some of the characters have annoyingly similar names, but I didn’t have an issue with that. I actually think I was most confused by the geography; next time I read, I might pull out my Atlas of Middle-earth. Or if anyone has any good guides about the geography, I’d love to know about them! (You can get a free guide to The Silmarillion in general from Tea with Tolkien.)

This is a five star read for me, and I recommend it to any Tolkien fan! I can’t wait to read it again sometime!

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Information

Goodreads: Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Series: The Celestial Kingdom Duology
Age Category: Adult
Source: Library
Published: January 11, 2022

Official Summary

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

Review

Daughter of the Moon Goddess is an enchanting and immersive story focused on family and finding oneself. I enjoyed this modern take on a myth and walking with Xingyin on each step of her difficult journey to earn her mother’s freedom.

The story is winding, starting with Xingyin at home on the book, then quickly depositing her in a land she never thought she’d visit, then following her as her path unexpectedly turns and turns again. Nothing she predicted for her life ever seems to pass, and that’s a large part of the beauty of the book, as readers watch her fight and adapt and never give up striving to get what she wants.

There are times in the book in where some of the plot elements seem a bit convenient to keep things moving in the direction the author wants, but overall I was able to overlook these for the sake of enjoying the story and seeing what happened next. This is also something that might be ironed out a bit more in the sequel, as the author gets more experience writing, so I am looking forward to see how Tan grows.

And while Daughter of the Moon Goddess certainly reads as an adult fantasy, with a bit slower pacing and more narrative musings than the typical YA novel, I definitely see the crossover appeal here, with a young protagonist finding her way in a new world while also experiencing a love triangle and finding out she has super special powers no one else does.

Fans of fantasy, retellings, strong heroines, stories focused on family will want to put this one up ASAP.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

Information

Goodreads: The Atlas Six
Series: The Atlas #1
Age Category: Adult
Source: Purchased
Published: March 1, 2022 (Tor release)

Official Summary

The Alexandrian Society is a secret society of magical academicians, the best in the world. Their members are caretakers of lost knowledge from the greatest civilizations of antiquity. And those who earn a place among their number will secure a life of wealth, power, and prestige beyond their wildest dreams. Each decade, the world’s six most uniquely talented magicians are selected for initiation – and here are the chosen few…

– Libby Rhodes and Nicolás Ferrer de Varona: inseparable enemies, cosmologists who can control matter with their minds.
– Reina Mori: a naturalist who can speak the language of life itself.
– Parisa Kamali: a mind reader whose powers of seduction are unmatched.
– Tristan Caine: the son of a crime kingpin who can see the secrets of the universe.
– Callum Nova: an insanely rich pretty boy who could bring about the end of the world. He need only ask.

When the candidates are recruited by the mysterious Atlas Blakely, they are told they must spend one year together to qualify for initiation. During this time, they will be permitted access to the Society’s archives and judged on their contributions to arcane areas of knowledge. Five, they are told, will be initiated. One will be eliminated. If they can prove themselves to be the best, they will survive. Most of them. 

Review

The Atlas Six started as a self-published novel that became so popular, largely thanks to platforms like BookTok and BookTwitter, that Tor acquired it in order to give it a traditional release. Game to see whether the book lives up to the hype, I ordered a copy of the shiny new and improved (well, I assume improved since Tor probably encouraged a revision!) version. My conclusion: The book is enjoyable, definitely a solid adult fantasy with a range of interesting characters, but I don’t fully get the Internet’s *obsession*. It’s also one of those books that reads better the less deeply you think about it.

Because the story features chapters from the POVs of six different characters, the top magical workers in the world with unparalleled powers that are not yet even fully explored, and all these characters have secrets and ambitions, the book definitely offers readers a wild ride. It’s easy to get sucked into the wild, sometimes disturbing minds of the characters and to try to figure out what games they’re playing and who is going to win.

The setting/premise is also pretty immersive; these six characters are selected for an exclusive, secretive academic opportunity where they can research anything (well, anything the magic library grants them access to) and push the boundaries of the world. And the Society that invited them to do so might not be exactly what it seems. It’s engrossing, and readers will be trying to unlock the mysteries just as the characters are.

However, I found that the book is best when one reads fast, when one just lets themselves get pulled along for the ride, exploring the magic and the characters and accepting things as they come. Read like this, the book is exciting and occasionally thought-provoking; the characters like to pontificate on scientific and magical subjects and frequently also the nature of humanity and how people work, so it can be fun to feel as if one is also a bit of an accomplished academic by reading all these apparently intellectual musings.

Once one starts thinking in detail about the book, however . . . things fall apart slightly. The magic system doesn’t feel completely developed; the characters’ abilities seem to be whatever is exciting and will further the plot. The plot being . . . well, that’s not clear either, at least until close to the end of the book. It’s easy to read a few hundred pages of the book before one realizes it’s not really clear where any of it is going, why the characters are doing anything that they’re doing. It’s interesting, but what exactly is the point and the structure of the whole thing? Most of the book is, actually, a character study.

So, I had fun reading this, and I can see why other people like it, as well. There’s enough of a big reveal/cliffhanger at the end to make me want to read more and believe there will be a more directed plot in the sequel. I just don’t think it stands up to other adult fantasy in terms of pacing/plot and world building. There are flaws, but they’re possible to overlook if you try and take the story just as it is.

My Thoughts on Vanity Fair’s First Look at Amazon’s The Rings of Power Adaptation

On 2/10/22, Vanity Fair gave readers their first look at Amazon’s Tolkien adaptation The Rings of Power. The series will be based on material from The Lord of the Rings appendices and references to the Second Age in The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit; Amazon does not have rights to material from The Silmarillion or other works. Because this material is somewhat sparse, this does mean the show writers will be inventing some characters, plot lines, etc. to fill in the gaps.

Here are some things we learned about the new series in the article, and some of my thoughts:

Tolkien scholars are being consulted.

Fans may know that Tom Shippey was previous dismissed by the show, and many people were worried this was an ominous sign. Vanity Fair speculates this was because Shippey accidentally violated an NDA, but confirms there are still scholars working on the show; Amazon just won’t publicly name them anymore. I consider this good news for Tolkien fans hoping for accuracy and a sense that the series will be thematically true to Tolkien’s work.

Both he and the showrunners decline to say what exactly happened, but the obvious assumption was made by fans. “It seems like the NDA is basically ‘If you tell anyone, we can put you through a wood chipper,’ ” says Drout, the Tolkien professor. Amazon no longer shares the names of its scholars.

Vanity Fair

There will not be rampant sex and nudity.

After news broke that Amazon had hired an intimacy coordinator for its New Zealand set, some fans feared that the production might have lost sight of what makes Tolkien Tolkien. “My worry would be if it becomes a Game of Thrones in the Second Age,” says Dimitra Fimi, a Tolkien scholar and lecturer at the University of Glasgow. “That wouldn’t be what one would associate with Tolkien’s vision. It would also be derivative.”

Vanity Fair

I remember fans (including me!) being worried months ago about indications this adaptation might not exactly be PG-13 because sexually explicit content definitely does not fit the vibe of Tolkien’s work. I think many people breathed a huge sigh of relief after reading the part of the article where the writers directly say they intend the show to be appropriate for tweens to watch. No word on what exactly the intimacy coordinator is doing on set though.

There will be proto-Hobbits.

“One of the very specific things the texts say is that hobbits never did anything historic or noteworthy before the Third Age,” says McKay. “But really, does it feel like Middle-earth if you don’t have hobbits or something like hobbits in it?” The hobbit ancestors in this era are called harfoots.

Vanity Fair

I didn’t personally have thoughts about Hobbits in the series before now, but I can get behind the argument that surely Hobbits are around in Middle-earth in the Second Age. They can’t be big players in big events if the series is staying true to the source material, but we’ll have to see what the writers do with the characters they’re inventing there. It could be interesting. I don’t think we really need Hobbits to market the series to viewers, though. The other familiar characters like Elrond, Galadriel, etc. seem like enough of a draw to get the general public interested to me.

There will be an Elf/Human Romance

 One original story line centers on a silvan elf named Arondir, played by Ismael Cruz Córdova, who will be the first person of color to play an elf onscreen in a Tolkien project. He is involved in a forbidden relationship with Bronwyn, a human village healer played by Nazanin Boniadi, a British actor of Iranian heritage.

Vanity Fair

Can we stop this? I’m enough of a Tolkien purist to be annoyed by this. There are only three named Elf/Human unions in Tolkien; it’s clear this was rare. I guess some people could have had a romance that didn’t ultimately work out and didn’t get a mention in the records of history, but I suppose I’m still bitter about the Elf/Dwarf romance that got thrown into The Hobbit movies. I don’t know what it’s supposed to add to the series besides being dramatic because it’s forbidden, but it seems as if there would be enough excitement without it.

The adaptation will compress the timeline of the material.

In the novels, the aforementioned things take place over thousands of years, but Payne and McKay have compressed events into a single point in time. It is their biggest deviation from the text, and they know it’s a big swing. “We talked with the Tolkien estate,” says Payne. “If you are true to the exact letter of the law, you are going to be telling a story in which your human characters are dying off every season because you’re jumping 200 years in time, and then you’re not meeting really big, important canon characters until season four. Look, there might be some fans who want us to do a documentary of Middle-earth, but we’re going to tell one story that unites all these things.”

Vanity Fair

I’m fine with this. It seems like a reasonable change to make when moving from page to screen. I can see the argument it would be choppy to introduce times and characters and then immediately jump to a different time with different characters, also making it hard for viewers to connect to the plot or the material. I’ve seen fans propose alternate solutions, and maybe compressing the timeline isn’t the only way an adaptation could be done, but I don’t think it’s inherently a bad choice.

We Have Photos and First Looks!

Be sure to click through to the Vanity Fair article to see the photos. Galadriel seems to be highlighted, perhaps because people who have seen the LotR movies but not read any other Tolkien material will already know who she is.

Some aspects of the photos honestly look a bit modern to me, like Galadriel’s hair. However, I am not enough of a Tolkien expert to have an opinion on things like the symbols on costumes or in the backgrounds of photos, and I would caution others to be wary of people who do have strong opinions.

For instance, I’ve seen dozens of people on Twitter complain that the star on Galadriel’s armor is “wrong” or “inaccurate,” yet I’ve also seen about 10 different interpretations of what the star even is. Clearly, some of the people saying, “Oh, it means X and therefore it’s wrong,” are not correct that it’s even X in the first place, so take interpretations with a grain of salt.

And, no, I don’t expect the armor, dresses, etc. to look like the costumes in Peter Jackson’s movies. Besides the fact the creators can’t just copy someone else’s costume designs, there’s the small matter that this series takes place thousands of years before LotR, so fashion will be different.

What are some of your thoughts?

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

Information

Goodreads: The Last Graduate
Series: The Scholomance #2
Age Category: Adult
Source: Gift
Published: September 28, 2021

Official Summary

At the Scholomance, El, Orion, and the other students are faced with their final year–and the looming specter of graduation, a deadly ritual that leaves few students alive in its wake. El is determined that her chosen group will survive, but it is a prospect that is looking harder by the day as the savagery of the school ramps up. Until El realizes that sometimes winning the game means throwing out all the rules . . .

Review

I loved the first Scholomance book, A Deadly Education, with its depiction of a mysteriously dangerous school and a protagonist with edges who secretly wants to do the right thing, even with the time it spends on info dumps. The Last Graduate continues in much the same vein, with a few minor changes in tone, so I was once again captivated by the world of the Scholomance.

I admit that while I defended the info dumps in book one because I just found them fascinating, I found them slightly more off-putting this time around. I would have expected that, since so much stuff had been explained in the other book that it wouldn’t be so necessary in The Last Graduate, but Novik is still going all-in on world building and making sure readers know every bit of it. Every time anything is introduced, a new mal, a new classroom, a new student, a new school tradition, etc., it gets paragraphs of background and explanation. It’s still interesting, but I can see how it’s not for every reader. And due to the ending of The Last Graduate, I know we’re going to get even more info dumps in book three.

But I did still love the book! Novik throws in new challenges for El and her friends to fight as they prepare for graduation, not exactly sure what they’ll be facing even with the cleansing mechanism in the graduation hall supposedly fixed, and as the school seems to change its modus operandi. El thought she knew how the Scholomance functions and how the mals target students, but everything she learned in three years gets turned on its head, and she has to adapt to continue to survive.

I do have slightly mixed feelings about the fact El seems genuinely nicer in this installment. I get its character development, but since so much of book one showcased her harsh exterior, her isolation, her instinct to mainly look out for herself even as she was kind of looking out for others by refusing to use her powers for evil, it’s weird to see her become basically the most altruistic character in the book. She’s still brusque, but she’s so often looking out for other people at her own expense that it’s a little jarring.

The romance is, as ever, meh. The nature of the school is, of course, that relationships are a distraction and getting pregnant (since there’s basically no birth control) is like a death sentence, so of course El tries to avoid the situation. But it’s hard for me as a reader to buy into any chemistry between the characters when El keep avoiding the love interest or insulting him. At least he’s interesting as an individual character.

Still, this is an amazing story. It still feels like something I haven’t read before and like something I desperately want to read more of when it comes out. If you got through book one because the info dumps weren’t a turn-off, you’ll enjoy this one, as well.

The Wickeds by Gayle Forman

Information

Goodreads: The Cleaners
Series: Faraway Collection (Amazon Original)
Age Category: Adult
Source: Free with Prime trial
Published: December 15, 2020

Official Summary

The reviled villainesses of Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel team up to set the record straight in a subversively funny short story by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay.

Envious queen? Evil stepmother? Kidnapping hag? Elsinora, Gwendolyn, and Marguerite are through with warts-and-all tabloids, ugly lies, and the three ungrateful brats who pitted them against each other and the world. But maybe there’s more to the stories than even the Wickeds know. Is it time to finally get revenge? After all, they’re due for a happily-enough-ever-after. Even if they have to write it themselves.

Review

One of 5 Amazon-exclusive short fairy tale retellings from beloved authors, The Wickeds is the only one in the collection I really felt was worth reading. (You can read my review of The Cleaners by Ken Liu here.) To start, The Wickeds is a bit longer than some of the authors, giving a little more time for character development; it also has an interesting premise– trying to make readers wonder if the wicked stepmothers of classic fairy tales might have been misunderstood or even sabotaged (Who made the magic mirror say mean things anyway?). Did they really behave badly? If they did, perhaps their position was understandable?

Now, I don’t think the story succeeds 100% at making the evil characters sympathetic. Many of them did, in fact, actually do things that were pretty horrible! But it was fun following them on their journey to unravel exactly how things played out in the lives, what parts were under their control and what parts weren’t, and which people were actually cruel to them but got away with having a clean reputation.

As with The Cleaners, I’m also not convinced the story is distinctly YA. After all, it follows a bunch of characters who must be in their fifties, and one of the defining characters of YA is that the story has a teen protagonist; however, there’s a lot of crossover appeal here. I see no reason why a YA reader wouldn’t enjoy it.

So, this is fun. It doesn’t quite hit the mark with its message because things aren’t neatly separated into boxes of, “This person was nice and never did something cruel” and “This person was mean for no reason,” but it gives the reader a lot to think about, and the execution of the idea feels pretty original. I do hate that the book fell into the trap where an author seems to believe that a good short story has an ambiguous ending, though.

For the Wolf by Hannah F. Whitten

Information

Goodreads: For the Wolf
Series: Wilderwood #1
Age Category: Adult
Source: Purchased
Published: June 1, 2021

Official Summary

The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.

Review

Reading For the Wolf was a bit of a letdown because most readers seem to have been raving about it since its release in June 2021; it was also nominated for 2021 Goodreads Choice Award. However, I found the book repetitive and don’t think it offered much of a new take on a old tale.

For the Wolf is essentially a “Beauty and the Beast” retelling, set in a magical woods and more enmeshed with the larger-scale politics of the surrounding kingdom than a lot of fairy tale retellings. Normally I love reading “Beauty and the Beast” books, but because it’s a common tale to base a retelling on and because I’ve read a large number of variations on the story, it’s often hard for me to think that any of them stand out. For the Wolf simply . . . doesn’t.

One of its main points seem to be the ~atmospheric~ setting of the magical, dangerous, sentient forest, but I have to say a lot of books that center themselves on having an atmospheric woodsy vibe also sound the same to me. The reader goes on about trees (often in a nonspecific way that doesn’t convince me they truly know that much about trees) and the oppressive, mysterious feeling of the trees, and the characters walk around the trees and discuss their fear of trees and . . . it kind of gets monotonous. That’s even truer in For the Wolf, which has some truly repetitive prose. I think it was supposed to add to the character of the book and really get readers into the minds of the main character, but it was odd feeling like I was reading a passage for the fourth or fifth time in the book.

That said, I didn’t think For the Wolf was terrible or anything. It’s a pretty solid “Beauty and the Beast” retelling with some mystery and romance, and the author works hard to add in the political, historical, and religious aspects that are meant to differentiate it from other retellings. I do wonder if those things will come more to the front in the sequel (which I am not planning to read). A lot of people love this book, and I can kind of seem why, but to me it just felt long and like dozens of other books I read before.