Feb 22, 2016

LIBRARY OF SOULS, by Ransom Riggs

Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children, #3)Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 4.5 stars.

A page-turner, and a fitting end to the trilogy. Same tone and pacing as Book 2, but with a more substantial plot.

This series is all-around fun. It almost falls into the same vein as "Harry Potter" and similar MG series, but it has a macabre flavor, sort of like "Beetlejuice" or "The Addams Family." I like the twisted things Jacob faces, and his matter-of-fact way of dealing with them.

When Jacob is with his parents, his tone (the narrator's voice) becomes a little more entertaining and realistic, for me. It's fun to see him interact with normal people.

SPOILER WARNING: SKIP THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ BOOK 1 YET!

My only criticism is that I feel as if too many of the characters remain sketchy sketches, or cloaked in mystery. At the end of this book, I'm still not sure if I would trust Miss Peregrine. She acts like an Aes Sedai. Friend characters such as Addison and Bronwyn seem like one-note personalities, so it's hard to care about them the way Jacob does, and the way I expect the author intended. One is boastful, one is nurturing, one is fashionable, one is bubbly, one is dour, etc. Like the seven dwarves, each has one defining trait (plus a peculiar power). Only Jacob and Emma seem more fully fleshed out, with inner conflicts and personalities that contrast with and compliment each other.

I wanted to know more about Miss Peregrine and her family, and Ymbrynes in general. I want to know how Emma feels about being 100+ years old and in the body of a teenager. I want to know if Enoch will ever have a redeeming quality. I want to know if Jacob's peculiar power can manifest in any other way. So in short, I wish there was more! But all the same, this was a satisfying ending for Jacob's tale.


P.S. -- Can you believe the author made this trailer? This book is probably the best material that Tim Burton has chosen to work with in years. I can't wait!

Feb 18, 2016

Compton Crook Award Finalists

Congratulations to Marshall Ryan Maresca, Ferrett Steinmetz, and Josh Vogt!  I'm so proud to know these three novelists, and I've had the pleasure of reading their first published novels--all contending for this SF/F book award.  I won't tell you which of these three novels I'd choose to reread first if I was on a desert island, but I'll tell you that they're all page-turners.

Thorn of Dentonhill Flex ('Mancer, #1) Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners, #1)

Feb 16, 2016

TWIG Conference

This Saturday, at the Texas State Capitol Building in Austin, TX!

The website says it all.
TWIG Conference


Tickets are $30, or $15 for students.  We have some awesome panelists lined up.  I'm looking forward to the virtual reality talk.