Release date: Tuesday, September 23, 2008

“RuneWarriors” is the story of Dane and his friends, a band of 13-year old Vikings who set out to avenge their town and rescue the lovely Astrid from the grips of Thidrek the Terrifying.

Boys that like fart jokes will probably like “RuneWarriors.” Come, on, I mean one of the characters is named “Fulnir the Stinking.” However, although the story really picks up and becomes fairly engaging towards the end, this book has a lot of issues. One incredibly frustrating thing was the frequent use of anachronism. I would expect a book for ages 8-12 to attempt to connect with the readers in some way, but not the blatantly modern terminology used here. The characters would have been more believable as 15 than they were at 13, which might have allowed the writers to bump up their targeted ages to 10-15, which would have allowed for the style to flow much more smoothly.

Basically this is a fun adventure book, but definitely not a great one.

Preorder this book on Amazon.

1. Welcome to Devourer of Books, Scott!  I’m glad to have you here.  When you started this blog tour, you suggested that perhaps the interviews be in fun, exotic places; I’m fairly certain that, since then, everyone has been imposing ‘interview locations’ on you right and left.  I’m sure most everywhere has been interesting, but I want to leave the decision of our interview location up to you.  What is the one place you have not yet ‘visited’ on this blog tour and wish you had?

If there was one real or imaginary place I could go, I honestly think it would be Hogwarts. That just became such a real place in my imagination. One of my biggest gripes with HP book seven was that we really didn’t get to spend much time there.

2. I agree.  I definitely missed Hogwarts in HP7.  Speaking of Harry Potter, as most of my readers already know, you yourself wrote an absolutely fantastic young adult fantasy book, which is what we’re here to talk about.  So let’s begin at the beginning: I was incredibly frustrated at the beginning of the book trying to figure out what was going on.  This was a good kind of frustration, a frustration that FORCED me to read on to figure out what on earth was happening.  How did you find the line between “Oh my gosh, I have no idea what is happening, I’d better read more and find out!” and “I have no idea what is going on in this stupid book, I hate it!”?

That is a very hard line to walk. If you give away too much too soon, the reader gets bored. If you take too long, the reader either skips pages or puts the book down completely. I think the key is to have some small “aha” moments along the way. If you can figure out a few things, you’ll keep pushing toward the ultimate “aha.” I hope that’s the case with the series too. There are still a lot of unknowns.

3. Well, whatever you did, it sure worked for me.  What is the last book that made YOU say, “I have no idea what is happening!  I have to read faster!”?

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Love, love, loved it. But for the first half of the book, I was totally confused.

4. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read anything by Gaiman.  Now that I have your recommendation, I may have to go and pick that up.  There was one thing at the beginning of “FarWorld” that didn’t exactly confuse me, but sort of amazed me - Marcus’ disability.  My first thoughts when Chet started talking about the “freak” in the wheelchair was, “I wonder if Scott is actually going to make this kid who is wheelchair-bound his protagonist?”  I really, really hoped so because persons with pretty much all sorts of physical and mental (although not emotional, I suppose) disabilities tend to be really underrepresented in literature.  What made you decide that Marcus’ childhood injuries should be severe enough to leave him in a wheelchair?  Did Marcus’ disability would create any challenges for you in telling his story?

Stephen King compares writing to uncovering a fossil. You want to get as close as you can while not breaking anything. That’s how I felt about writing Water Keep. I knew Marcus had to be disabled for dozens of reasons. It just would not have been the same story without it. In fact I would have trashed the series if I had to do it differently. But at the same time, it made writing the story so much harder. I immediately understood why not many writers try it. It was suggested that maybe I make his disability not quite as major. I was even told it might hurt the chances of selling the movie rights. But it didn’t matter. You can’t change the fossil, you can only dig up what is already there.

5. What do your kids think of this story?   Have they already heard the plans for the whole series, or are they being kept on the same starvation diet as the rest of us, waiting for the next book to be published?

No. They don’t know what’s going to happen. Only my wife and my publisher do. My ten-year-old son is about to kill me because I’m not yet ready to have him read any of book two. But my kids are my front line feedback so He’ll get to read it when I have more ready.

6. It seemed to me that at the beginning of “Water Keep” I saw a little “Harry Potter” (the evil man, the snakes, the tone) and a little “Star Wars” (when Kyja is leaving the farm).  Am I simply bringing my own cultural knowledge to the story?  What works do you think provided inspiration for you while you were plotting the course of “Farworld”?

I like writing a fantasy to hiking up a mountain. There are only so many trailheads you can start from. take this beginning for example. A boy is orphaned, he goes to live with his relatives, they treat him poorly. He meets a man who tells him about magic, and he goes on an adventure. Harry Potter? Or James and Giant Peach? Or change the gender and it’s Cinderella.

A typical fantasy journey may start with a child/children who discover a new world and set off on a journey to save it. But it’s where they go from there the makes the story either derivative or unique. So I have no problem with a reader thinking, “Hmm, this reminds me a little of [fill in the blank],” for the first 100 pages or so. But as the story progresses, it must take on a life of its own.

7. Definitely by the time your story got going it was YOUR story.  Thank you so much for the chance to read your book, it was really fantastic.  And, of course, the question everyone has been waiting for, what was your favorite story starter?  Which of our aspiring novelists will be winning the autographed copy of YOUR novel?

Hmm. This is a really tough choice, I mean we have pirates, wedding buffets, warthogs, unexpected trips. And really all very good writing. The thing that I look for most in a story beginning though is immediacy. Pull me in by having something happening right her and now. I can get description and inner dialog later. And the story that held the most immediacy for me was . . . Blink. Although it gave me a serious twitch. So that’s my choice. Congratulations. Now write the rest of it.

Congratulations to the author of Blink, who is winning a copy of FarWorld and the author of “Insert Clever Title Here,” who is winning a $10 Amazon gift certificate!

Have you ever felt pressured to read something because ‘everyone else’ was reading it? Have you ever given in and read the book(s) in question or do you resist? If you are a reviewer, etc, do you feel it’s your duty to keep up on current trends?

I have never felt pressured to read something because everyone else was, although I have often been curious as to what all the buzz was about.  I read Da Vinci Code and Twilight to see what everyone was talking about, both good and bad, because I wanted to be able to have informed conversation.  There are some books, though, that I know I will hate.  Those I have no problem avoiding indefinitely, regardless of how many people talk about them.  Case in point, “Eat, Pray, Love.”  I read the first chapter through Dear Reader and knew then and there that there was no way I would actually read that book.

Sometimes avoiding things on the basis of popularity or buzz causes you to miss out on an enjoyable experience.  I thought Harry Potter sounded so stupid when my mother and sister were reading it.  I finally broke down and read it, but only because we were all on vacation and I finished all of the books I brought to read.  I’m very glad I did read it, because I ended up loving Harry Potter and loving following his story.  I also avoided The Historian for some time because it just seemed to be everywhere and that sort of annoyed me.  When I finally did read it, I found it very enjoyable and, as with Harry Potter, I have reread it a few times.

As a book blogger I feel some responsibility to keep up with trends, because I can see that people are searching for information about certain books online.  However, I am not going to read a book that is not appealing to me just to satisfy my reading public.  There is another book blogger out there somewhere who DOES want to read the book, and google will help readers find them.  I occasionally put priority on books from my TBR shelf if I know lots of people are searching for them, but don’t expect me to go out and buy Eat, Pray, Love.  I think bloggers have a great power to introduce readers to books other than those they see constantly on the bestsellers lists, gems that they might have otherwise missed.

Are you someone who follows the reading trends, or do you ignore popular books on principle?

Just one day left in my Matrimony giveaway!

Natasha of Maw Books is that person for the book blogging community right now.  She has been very touched by the crisis of genocide in Darfur, and she has decided to do something about it.  She has already been raising awareness through her blog posts for months, but she is going to do even more in the month of September.

(click the button to go to Natasha’s page)

Everything that Natasha reads and blogs in September will raise money for the people of Darfur.  First, what she’s doing:

• Donating 25 cents for each person who blogs about this awareness and money-raising project
• Donating 25 cents for each person who keeps the above button in their sidebar for all of September
• Donating 10 cents for each comment left on her blog during September
• Donating 50 cents for each movie watched or book read from this page - donating $1 if those books or movies are reviewed on someone’s blog.

Here’s what YOU can do:

• If you have a blog, write about her project and add the button to the sidebar!
• Comment on her blog!
• Read one of the books or watch one of the movies on this page then tell Natasha!
• Commit to donate a penny for every page Natasha reads this month
• Commit to donate 50 cents for every post Natasha writes this month.
• All of the above!

I am planning on doing every one of these things.  What are YOU going to do?

Released Monday:

Released Tuesday:

Released Wednesday:

Release date: Monday, September 15th, 2008

“The Shiniest Jewel” represents my very first experience with a graphic novel, although actually it is not a novel, but a graphic memoir.  The graphic memoir seems really to be taking off, I have Persepolis in my teetering TBR pile, but I got to this first. I think this format can work really, really well for a memoir, particularly one like this that only spans a year or so.

I really enjoyed Henley’s story.  I was under the impression that it was completely about her experience with foreign adoption at the age of 50, but it was really much more.  The subtitle, “A Family Love Story,” is extremely fitting.  “The Shiniest Jewel” deals with Henley’s relationship with her parents, particularly her ailing father, her marriage-phobic relationship with her boyfriend, and the emotional ups and downs of adoption.  The illustrations are at times both poignant and hilarious, and the story itself was very moving.

This is something I would recommend to anyone, but particularly those who are contemplating or have gone through adoption, particularly foreign adoption.

Buy this book on Amazon.

Today’s question: Members who have your books. Do you ever look at this feature? Do you use it to make LT friends, or compare notes? There are three tabs- weighted, raw, and recent. “Weighted,” which means “weighted by book obscurity and library size” is probably the least self-explanatory of the three, whereas “raw” and “recent” are more so. Do you get any kind of use out of this feature?

 ”Members With Your Books” isn’t really a feature I use very often.  Every so often, when I remember, I will look over at it, but mostly just to see which of my LT Friends and the people I interact with on Talk are on there and where.  Once or twice I have checked out some of the people who had the most books in commeon with me, but I haven’t done much about it.

Do you use this feature?  If you aren’t on LibraryThing, would you like to easily see who shares what books with you?

Check out my contest for Joshua Henkin’s “Matrimony” and consider reviewing my copy of “The Necklace”. 

Release date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Reviewed for Blog Stop Book Tours

Sarah Carrier is a young girl from an unliked family living in Massachusetts at the end of th 17th century. Her father is too tall, too quiet, and greatly feared by other men - rumors about him abound. Sarah’s mother, though, Martha Carrier, she is the one who provokes the most discomfort in the neighbors. Martha is an incredibly strong, often abrasive woman. She is sure of her own opinion and nothing will keep her from speaking her mind. This incredibly strong will is not looked upon kindly by the Puritan society in which they live.

Like their neighbors, Sarah is also frequently at odds with her mother. She feels that Martha is distant, cold, and bossy. She wishes for a mother more like her aunt Mary, more like society’s expectation of a wife and mother.

That is, of course, until the world in which they live turns upside down. A few young girls in Salem begin denouncing people for witchcraft, and the accusations spread like the plague. Martha has infuriated far too many of the people around her by standing up for her own beliefs to be left alone for long. As the madness builds, Sarah realizes that her mother’s strength and defiance is the only thing that stands between her and Gallows Hill.

I thought this book was remarkably well done, particularly considering that this is Kent’s first novel. Everything was clearly meticulously researched and carried all the more emotional strength because Kent is herself a tenth-generation descendant of Martha Carrier. I have long been interested in what happened at the Salem Witch Trials, and this book offered a fantastic and very personal perspective. I would definitely recommend this book to both those interested in historical fiction and those interested in studying how it is that people can so fervently persecute those around them.

Buy this book on Amazon.

So I started the book.  The premise is that 13 women in their 50s and 60s each put in about $1200 to buy the 15+ carat necklace pictured on the cover.  And evidently it changes their lives.  This is so not my kind of book it isn’t even funny.  It is a little chick-lit-y (although it is a memoir, I guess) which is not really to my taste.  Plus, I can’t find that I really relate to any of these women, perhaps partly because they’re twice my age, and partly because they have an extra grand lying around with which to buy a diamond necklace.  Although I think the biggest problem is that it is just not. my. kind. of. book. - which is why I didn’t request it (I checked, no outgoing email, I guess Random House just thought I might like it, they were sending me a ton of other stuff at the time anyway).  The first 50 pages or so were very well written, I just wasn’t interested - although I think some of you might be.

Since this is an ARC and I won’t be reading it, I would like to find someone who would like to read it.  Tell me why you would like the book and I’ll either pick the best/most compelling reason or just use a list randomizer, depending on how I feel.  All I ask is that you agree to read and review this book sometime in the next few months, because that is what it is out for.  I will choose my winner right before I leave work Wednesday afternoon (September 3rd at 5 p.m. Central Time) so I can get the book out by Friday.  U.S. only in this case, please.  I usually open my contests up worldwide, but I want to get this book sent and received A.S.A.P. since Random House did send it out as an Advance Copy for a review.

In other news, I am actually reading a non-review book right now!  Actually I’m reading two books, and ONE of them is not a review book.  I find that I sometimes have difficulty picking a new book after something I’m just ‘eh’ about or after abandoning a book.  Nothing on my review list seemed to fit my mood, so I decided on something relatively mindless:

Yes, that is correct, I have crawled out from under my rock and am FINALLY reading some Stephanie Meyer.  I figured that something written for teens would be fun and engaging and a good mental break - especially as the other book I’m currently reading is one of Shakespeare’s history plays: Henry VI, Part II!  I have heard over and over how whiny and smitten and annoying Bella gets after falling in love with Edward, and it is entirely possible I’ll want to kill her, but Meyer’s writing definitely fits the bill for fun and engaging so far.  Since I’m engaged in a direct comparison I can say with confidence that ‘Shakespeare it ain’t!’ but I think it is a good choice right now.  Plus, I have to see what all the hype, both postitive and negative, is about.

The real news here, though, is that after reading nothing but ARCs and books sent to me for review for 2.5 months, I have actually chosen something from my ever-growing TBR pile.  It is a miracle!