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Works In Progress

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Current modus operandi: (updated 5/13/09)

Real Life:
(Invasion Series)
-Chapter 12 up 6/1
-Chapter 13 up 6/3
-Chapter 14 up 6/7
-Chapter 15 done
-Chapter 16 50% done
-Chapter 17 20% done

Plunge:
-Chapter 1 up 12/31
-Chapter 2 10% done

Nova Shots:
-'Frozen Time' uploaded 6/7

Family:
-In progress

I'm Still Here:
-In progress

The Lost One:
-In progress

Requests/winners:
-InvaderJohnny won the 1,000th Star Shot review and asked for some Paulina torture. Title will be 'A Moment of Jealousy'. In progress.
-10 Drabble Mash

Choose the answer that will 'beat' the others: 

40%
30 deviants said Paper
32%
24 deviants said Scissors
28%
21 deviants said Rock
5 comments, Previous Polls

The Latest Recommendation:

Graceling by Kristin Cashore.

In a world where people born with extreme skill – called a Grace – are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to execute his dirty work, punishing and torturing anyone who displeases him.

When she firsts meets Prince Po, who is Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change.

She never expects to become Po’s friend.

She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace – or a terrible secret that lies hidden far away… a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Overall Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

In the debut novel that is overflowing with an iffy plot and a confusing world, Kristin Cashore manages to make her characters shine. I almost put the book down after thirty pages, so oddly worded was her narration and so confusing was the concepts she was passing off. In the first section of the book, she fell headfirst into the horribly common plague of ‘action first, explain important details that allow the reader to understand the action later’.

Then she stopped focusing on plot for a moment and her characters made their move. Ten pages from being destined to be returned to the library as a failed experiment, suddenly I fell in love with Katsa and Po and (eventually) Blitterblue and even the wretched Giddeon. I was determined and destined to worm my way through the novel if for no other reason than to find out what ultimately happens to them. Giggling at their lifelike and boisterous conversations, my breath catching at angsty moments, loving their growth and change as characters…

All the while, rolling my eyes at the convoluted and seemingly random plot. The penultimate ending is abrupt, leaving us with the knowledge that there is more to the story… but most definitely not enough for a sequel without adding in some new twist. The essential ‘ plot’ to the story involving the Mad King certainly is wrapped up… but in a novel based almost completely on character, the character’s strings are left hopelessly up in the air. A mere twenty more pages detailing Katsa’s journey back to Middluns to face with her uncle would have summed up the novel perfectly.

Borrow (don’t buy) this book and slog through the first thirty pages. I promise you that once you get your teeth into the characters, their boundless spirits will echo off the pages, drag you into the story, and will hold a knife to your throat until you finish this. I hope Kristin Cashore can do better with her plot next time, for she has a real Grace when it comes to characterization and will create some truly memorable stories.

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