Originally published at Thus Sayeth the Lord…. You can comment here or there.
Midnight for Charlie Bone
I had reservations about picking up a book that was marketed so obviously as a Harry Potter derivative. From a certain point of view, this is the general plot– Boy learns he has a secret, magical past involving his parents and a deadly foe, goes to a school for other magic children to learn about how special he is, encounters a foe who is both powerful and arrogant, and makes friends with misfit children.
Luckily, Jenny Nimmo is a capable author. Despite the surface similarities, Charlie Bone differentiates itself from the HP series successfully and artfully. The differences are numerous– Charlie Bone’s mother is alive and involved in his life; Charlie Bone does NOT want to attend Bloors academy; Charlie Bone is NOT the most powerful/resourceful/destined childe of magyck; Charlie Bone is everyman. 
Well, almost.
The book suffers from predictability, though. Charlie is given the task to find the missing child of a bookeeper friend. He knows that the child is in Bloors academy, but there are so many students, who could it be?!!? Within five minutes, the reader knows. Additionally, Charlie does some blindingly stupid, out of character things– things that are expected in Teeny Gore/Horror shows, but are wrenching in a fantasy series like this.
Despite that, Charlie Bone is a good read. The relationships between Charlie and everyone else in his life are especially well done. Charlie is a nice kid– he’s not nasty or spiteful, despite some terrible things that happen to him. This doesn’t mean he’s a paragon of virtue– no, he’s just likeable. That may be the greatest strength of these books– Charlie does what’s right, not for any utilitarian purpose (a charge that been justly leveled at Harry Potter), but because, goshdarnit, it’s RIGHT. And that’s endearing.
The Grey King
I read this book the first time when I was in elementary school, and loved it. Now, I turn my critical, jaded, adult eye toward the text I loved, and find–
For the most part, it lives up to my childhood memories.
Many YA novels make the mistake of being filled with flowery imagery– every scintillating, scurious, scabby, fecund detail MUST be diagrammed out to be digested by eager readers. I am thankful that Susan Cooper mostly avoids this literary affectation– we see what the protagonist, Will Stanton, sees, and get his interpretation of it. What a relief– I came at Grey King after listening to the first four chapters of ‘The Folk Keeper,’ a genuine travesty of style. Folk Keeper had a good idea, but was told in journal format. The main character, a young girl, used so much heavy imagery it ruined the story. I just couldn’t believe her– the author’s insistence on using pretty words got in the way.
No such problem with Susan Cooper.
The problem, I found, was that I developed a gradual disconnect with Will Stanton. Will starts off as an invalid– he’s recovering from hepatitis, is physically weak, and has forgotten something vital. He is sent to his uncle’s farm in Wales to recover. As he recovers, he regains his memory– Will is an Old One, the last of an ancient line of protectors that fight against the Dark. It is his task to wake the Sleepers so that they can join the Old Ones, and add their powers to protecting humanity.
As long as Will had NO power, in fact, as long as he was HUMAN, he worked very well as a character. But the paragraph that he co
mes into his full Old One abilities (about 3/4’s of the way through the book), I lost that connection. John Roland, a Welsh hand on Will’s uncle’s farm, makes a similar note about him– the Old Ones aren’t human, and their desire to protect humanity often requires harsh-seeming actions. When Will becomes an Old One, I lost sympathy with him, because I lost the capacity to really understand him.
Cooper, I think, would have done much better to switch, mid-book to following Bran– one of Will’s friends. Bran is the one that suffers the most from the actions taken by Will and others– and he is one of the primary movers in the book.
But aside from those details, the Grey King was a real pleasure to re-read.
Inkheart
This is an astounding book, whose effects I hope will linger within me for the rest of my life.
At the center of the book is Meggie, a girl who loves books. She lives alone (and happily) with her father, a bookbinder– until the day a stranger shows up at their door, and she begins to unravel the mysteries of her mother’s disappearance, and her father’s reluctance to read outloud.
Magic, intrigue, death, blood, gold and fire follow.
Cornelia Funke is not only an able writer– she’s a freaking wonder. Inkheart is NOT full of plot twists; nevertheless, the characters are so REAL it doesn’t matter the slightest. I was never tempted to try and solve the mystery, because I was living in the pages of Funke’s world, and when you’re being chased by people who burn down family farms, and torture small animals for giggles, you just don’t stop to think about why exactly your father is soooo vital to them…
The characters make this book. There are no two-dimensional cardboard stand ups to be found here, not even in the minor roles. The decisions they make feel real, believable, and heartbreaking. At one point, the trickster character is on the edge of killing one of the badguys, in front of young Meggie. Funke draws this scene so well, so aptly, I had a hard time not pulling over and just listening– it was exquisite. The terror, the fear of seeing that awful act, Meggie’s youth, the badguy’s fear– just wonderfully presented.
Go and read it.