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rushthatspeaksOh hey I finished one of the three separate Laurence Yep childrens' fantasy series I was in the middle of! I feel obscurely smug. (I have been thwarted on the other two by City of Ice not existing yet and there being no copies in this town of Dragon Steel.)
I think this is the first entire series I've read since starting this book-a-day thing. I could have forgotten something, though.
Anyhow, you probably know not to start a trilogy with the third book, but this is a good third book, a step above either the first or the second. Tom, the protagonist, is apprenticed to Mr. Hu, the tiger. Mr. Hu is the Guardian of the egg of the legendary phoenix, which has the power to create peace in the world, but can only be born when there is already peace in the world. Well, theoretically... And of course the forces of evil want the egg. The first book had a feeling of being rushed, of never quite taking the time to breathe and just take in the sights of the fascinating Chinese mythology; the second book was a distinct improvement, an undersea dragon kingdom full of intriguing color and texture.
This one has actual character development. Also, it's about a war, a war literally to hold the sky up. Possibly because the characters are slightly older than in the first book, possibly because the subject matter is more serious, and possibly just because Yep has had three books to get used to these people, this has a feel of solidity and depth to it that the other two didn't attain; it's still a romp more than an epic, and the moral decisions are still pretty obvious, but this time the plot is not an express train shoving you from point A to point B.
I think the first book is weak enough that I would advise beginning with the second (it would be easy enough to figure out what happened before it), but I recommend the second and third as pleasant light adventure reading with fun mythical creatures. I like them now and would have loved them to pieces when I was eight.
I see City of Ice is due out June 7th. That will be nice.
I think this is the first entire series I've read since starting this book-a-day thing. I could have forgotten something, though.
Anyhow, you probably know not to start a trilogy with the third book, but this is a good third book, a step above either the first or the second. Tom, the protagonist, is apprenticed to Mr. Hu, the tiger. Mr. Hu is the Guardian of the egg of the legendary phoenix, which has the power to create peace in the world, but can only be born when there is already peace in the world. Well, theoretically... And of course the forces of evil want the egg. The first book had a feeling of being rushed, of never quite taking the time to breathe and just take in the sights of the fascinating Chinese mythology; the second book was a distinct improvement, an undersea dragon kingdom full of intriguing color and texture.
This one has actual character development. Also, it's about a war, a war literally to hold the sky up. Possibly because the characters are slightly older than in the first book, possibly because the subject matter is more serious, and possibly just because Yep has had three books to get used to these people, this has a feel of solidity and depth to it that the other two didn't attain; it's still a romp more than an epic, and the moral decisions are still pretty obvious, but this time the plot is not an express train shoving you from point A to point B.
I think the first book is weak enough that I would advise beginning with the second (it would be easy enough to figure out what happened before it), but I recommend the second and third as pleasant light adventure reading with fun mythical creatures. I like them now and would have loved them to pieces when I was eight.
I see City of Ice is due out June 7th. That will be nice.
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Date: 2011-03-26 10:43 am (UTC)I know not to but somehow, sigh, I always end up doing it anyway (sometimes because there's no choice, sometimes because I didn't notice despite attempting to prevent it from happening). I do appreciate the kind of book where one can get along just fine anyway.
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Date: 2011-03-26 04:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-03-26 09:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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