Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley - Paul's Review

*I received this book as an eARC from Harper Collins via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*

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Title: Magonia
Author: Maria Dahvana Headley

Paul's Pre Reading

Upcoming Release Date: April 28, 2015


Synopsis: Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. 

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. 

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. 

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie? 

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Review: I haven't read much YA Fantasy that takes place in a contemporary setting. I often find them unbelievable with a whole magical world existing right under the surface of our real world. This book, though, made me believe. The world building in this book is excellent. There is enough that is left unanswered and only hinted at that a world above us between the clouds is somehow believable. Even STORMSHARKS!

Not only is this a great Fantasy book with an awesome world, but the writing is beautiful. The relationship between Aza and Jason is written so realistic. And intelligent. 

Less than a quarter into this book, I was completely hooked. This book sucked me in from the very beginning. The first chapter was excellent. I also loved the casual mention of a same-sex couple.  

Since this book does have a contemporary setting, I enjoyed the actual acknowledgement and use of modern technology like Google. The other nerdy bits also really got me going. Pi and cephalopods both are featured. 

The way this book is written, everything comes together wonderfully. I enjoyed the references throughout the book, like the squid video. 

This book is a strong 5/5 for me. The first quarter is perfect. There are some lower points, for me, later in the book but overall it came together. I highly recommend this to all fans of YA. If you don't usually read fantasy, I think you'll still enjoy this. If you don't usually read contemporary, you'll enjoy this too. Go read this book!


--PAUL

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley - Paul's Pre Reading

*I received this book as an eARC from Harper Collins via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Title: Magonia
Author: Maria Dahvana Headley


Upcoming Release Date: April 28, 2015


Synopsis: Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. 

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. 

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn’t think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. 

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie? 

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Why?: I haven't read a lot of contemporary YA fantasy, but this book sounds so good. A teenager with a life-threatening illness discovers a world filled with flying ships in the clouds? Sounds excellent. 

Expectations:  I'm expecting the story to address death in an interesting way, considering the protagonist seems to have been dealing with the idea of it from a young age. I'm also expecting some awesome world building. 

Judging a book by its cover: This cover is breathtaking. The gold and blue feather turning into birds is beautiful. The starry night and setting sun set a cool mood. Just from this cover alone, I would definitely pick this book up off the shelves. 


--PAUL

Neil Gaiman Presents Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner (audiobook) - Paul's Review

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Title: Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners
Author: Ellen Kushner
Year Published: 1987

Narrators: Ellen Kushner, Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, Robert Fass, Nick Sullivan, Simon Jones
Audiobook Length: 10 hours 54 minutes

Synopsis: On the streets of Riverside, a man lives and dies by the sword. Even the nobles on the Hill turn to duels to settle their disputes. And in this city, the swordsman Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master, as skilled as he is ruthless – until a death by the sword is met with outrage instead of awe, and the city discovers that the line between hero and villain can be altered in the blink of an eye. Because every man lives at sword's point, if you can only find his weakness. And even the greatest swordsman in Riverside has one thing he cares for deeply.

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Review: This audiobook is presented by Neil Gaiman. The majority of the novel is narrated by Ellen Kushner herself. A few of the scenes are acted out, some with even background music and other added sounds. I preferred just Ellen Kushner reading. The acted out scenes weren't frequent enough for me to attach the characters to voices. I was more familiar with Ellen Kushner's voices of the characters. There were also so many characters with unique names that it took me a while to get to know them as well. 

It also took some time to get into the world, too. But once I started to figure out how this world works, I really liked it. The politics of the world reminded me of Downton Abbey, but add Game of Thrones in there. The swordsman are the celebrities in this culture. And the wealthy hire them to fight out their disputes. 

This novel was written in 1987 and I didn't think it felt old. It withstood the 25 years since it was published, in my opinion. The depiction of sexuality was very progressive. Almost all the characters are portrayed as fluid in their sexuality with same-sex pairings commonplace. Besides their sexuality, all the characters are also very grey. There is depth to all of them. They play the game and each have their own ideas of honor and morale. 

I loved the ending. All the pieces fell into place just right. I was very satisfied. I will definitely be looking into the sequels. I give this audiobook a 4/5 and recommend it to fans of intrigue set in a unique world. 

  
--PAUL

Neil Gaiman Presents Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner (audiobook) - Paul's Pre-Reading

 Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Audible

Title: Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners
Author: Ellen Kushner
Year Published: 1987

Narrators: Ellen Kushner, Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, Robert Fass, Nick Sullivan, Simon Jones
Audiobook Length: 10 hours 54 minutes

Synopsis: On the streets of Riverside, a man lives and dies by the sword. Even the nobles on the Hill turn to duels to settle their disputes. And in this city, the swordsman Richard St. Vier is the undisputed master, as skilled as he is ruthless – until a death by the sword is met with outrage instead of awe, and the city discovers that the line between hero and villain can be altered in the blink of an eye. Because every man lives at sword's point, if you can only find his weakness. And even the greatest swordsman in Riverside has one thing he cares for deeply.

Why?: I've heard great things about this book. Felicia Day's book club, Vaginal Fantasy, read this book as one of their alternate picks last year. I added it to my tbr list back then and since then I've subscribed to audible. I saw the audiobook was produced by Neil Gaiman. There's also a quote from George R. R. Martin on the cover featured on goodreads. If so many great people like it, I'm hoping I will too.   

Expectations: I'm expecting an in depth fantasy novel with some same-sex romance. I've heard the fantasy world established is quite vast and I am definitely a sucker for good world building.   

Judging a book by its cover: The cover for the audiobook is pretty simple. There's just a guy in a really unique white cape/jacket of some sort. An alternate cover featured on goodreads shows two characters in elaborate clothes. These covers both remind me of older fantasy novels. This book was published in 1987.  


--PAUL