Seasonal Plume

Finally getting around to that book meme Tina tagged me with a good couple of days ago. I kept putting it off because I have five, read it, five draft posts still waiting to get posted.

The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment on Tina’s blog (she’s the one who tagged me) once you’ve posted your three sentences.

I started reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini just yesterday, as I wanted something not very intellectually or emotionally taxing, and I had previously picked it up at the last MPH warehouse sale (book haul coming soon).

They soon left the buildings and found themselves crossing the barren fields at Tarnag’s base. Beyond those, they reached the stone quay that edged the still, gray water.

Waiting for them were two wide rafts tied alongside a pier.

I am now tagging:

1. Angela
2. Caroline
3. Michelle
4. Danielle
5. Lenneth

I just finished Christopher Paolini’s Eragon, after resolving to read it since it’s been turned into a movie (no, I haven’t watched the movie, and yes, I heard it wasn’t good). As a YA fantasy novel, to me it was pretty typical: fast-paced adventure, magic, dragons, a likeable protagonist who is coming of age. It was an enjoyable read, and I’ll definitely be picking up the next installation soon.

(Spoiler warning! I will be talking about some plot elements that affect the ending of the book.)

I don’t exactly know if I feel it’s doing a good bit of foreshadowing or if it’s too much. I obviously haven’t read Eldest, but already I feel like it’s going to be a no-brainer. For one thing, Angela the witch’s foretelling of Eragon’s future felt like… wait, already? So we already know there’s a near-death, someone who’s family will betray him, and there’s a noble love on the horizon.

I felt the near-death would be Brom right off. I mean, seriously, who else was it going to be? Who else (who’s still alive) was close to Eragon other than Roran, Brom, and Saphira? If Saphira dies, there goes the story. There was a chance it would be Roran, but I felt that Brom would make more sense, more impact.

And besides, there was the whole thing about the betrayal of someone who’s family. That instantly pointed to Roran, but! We skip to the end of the book, where we, omg, find out about Murtagh’s past. Murtagh Son of Morzan who, when sparring with Eragon, was his equal in every respect, even when they tire. There was mention of them being so alike each other, but yet differing in beliefs. Let’s not forget Murtagh’s mother, who came from an unknown village, who mysteriously left when Murtagh was three, and returned just as mysteriously.

Oh, what’s that about Eragon’s mother? His mother, who had become apparently rich, went home to Garrow five months pregnant with Eragon, gave birth, and then pleaded that he be raised there, and then disappeared. I mean, seriously? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to put, omg, two long-lost brothers together and, in the end, have them face each other in a heart-rending, emotional battle between good and evil! Not to mention battle for the heart of a noblewoman, Nasuada, apparently. There was a stray thought about it being Arya, but you never know. Would that be possible in Eragon’s world?

Okay, maybe I’m wrong about some of these points. I don’t even know what I think about all these guesses of mine. I feel like, what, why is this so easy?? I don’t know if I enjoy it, making all these guesses.

I finished Lloyd Alexander’s last work sometime last week. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio was light, and in keeping with how I know Alexander’s work to be: seemingly simple, but something with great depth. I loved the characters he created, as usual — for all the short time I got to know them, by the time I ended the book I loved them all.

The story is about Carlo, who is forced to leave his uncle’s home after a disastrous errand. Armed with only a treasure map and a coat with gold coins sewn in (effectively “wearing [his] fortune on [his] back…not the most fashionably dressed, but, no doubt, the most expensively”, in Carlo’s own words), he travels to Sidya and meets the beautiful, capable Shira and the rather shady Baksheesh, who goes with him on his journey on the Golden Road in order to find the treasure.

The story is an adventure, both literally and in the self-discovery sense. As someone who loves The Prydain Chronicles, I’ll go ahead with comparisons between the two. Like the idealistic Taran, Carlo must go through the same learning and awakening. Like Taran, he is kept wondering about the real deal with Shira, who admits to liking him but tells him that she will leave him. Like Fflewddur Fflam, Baksheesh loves exaggeration and won’t scruple to hide the truth (but as someone who’s always complaining, I admit to getting annoyed with Baksheesh!). I’d say Baksheesh is a mix between Doli and Fflewddur, leaning more on the Doli-scale. And the wise old man Salamon? He’d be in a league all his own. I loved the interaction between the ever-optimistic Salamon and the complaining Baksheesh.

My favorite secondary character would have to be Bashir, however, of the Bashir-Bazouks. He doesn’t come in until much later in the book, but he’s filled with such life, simplicity, enthusiasm, and good will. Even when you feel you should hate him, you just can’t get yourself to hate him. And for a secondary character who doesn’t have much screen time, it almost feels like you know him already; he’s not flat or stereotypical.

I admit to feeling that the book was far too short, that I would have wanted to be with Carlo, Shira, Baksheesh, and Salamon more. The Chronicles of Prydain are still my favorite Lloyd Alexander books, but The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio is still one amazing, well-written book that shouldn’t be passed on.