Review: Palace of Stone

Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The first thought in my head is that I LOVE Shannon Hale. Ever since I first picked up a book written by her on a whim, I had decided that she was one of my favorite authors. Her attention to detail, her character creation, her ability to build such an intricate world and culture in each of her books is enough to make me a fan for life.

And of course, Palace of Stone does not fall short from her usual splendor. My only regret is that I hadn't read the darn thing all those months ago when it was first released. I got into it, but my mind ended up being elsewhere. Then, last night before heading off to work, I made the resolved to finally pick it back up and read it. I started from the beginning and in less than twenty-four hours, I'm completely finished.

I base my love of certain books on mostly on how reluctant I am to quit reading -- of course, a fast-paced read doesn't always indicate that I "couldn't put the book down" due to interest. In the case of Palace of Stone, I was hooked almost immediately and still can't fathom why I had set it down in the first place when I last started reading it.

Anyway, as I'm not exactly the best at writing proper reviews, I will simply mention a few things on my mind.

The rich culture and world of the Princess Academy story line itself was what kept me so keen on following Miri's journey. Because as I had mentioned in a blog post sometime last year, despite the story following Miri's narrative, there is so much more going on in the background, and all of it stands out individually as if you could just pick a random detail, a random side character and STILL be able to coax an entire back story out. This is one of the reasons why I love reading Shannon Hale stories.

Palace of Stone itself was no exception, and I enjoyed every little moment of it. There was a point towards the middle of the story where I DID become exceedingly frustrated with Miri. From my recollection, Miri was a strong, witty, and decisive girl who became the top student at the princess academy and saved all of her Mount Eskel friends from bandits. But there were some moments where she seemed to have lost a lot of that spunk in the middle of her wonderment of being in Asland and feeling insignificant all over again. For some reasons, it works since Miri has always had that belittlement complex and still needed to discover herself. A little bit of conflict stirs up a good story and for all it's worth, the story progressed wonderfully. Of course, that doesn't mean that I wasn't frustrated with Miri during that time and was thoroughly relieved when she came back to herself with her climactic resolution. I think I like the spunky and brave Miri more than the indecisive, uncertain Miri.

Anyway, overall, this was an incredible read and I'm glad that I finally got around to it.



View all my reviews

Review: Princess Academy

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



So my attempt at blogging by chapter (or even batched chapters) kind of fell through. But just as the first time I read it, I really enjoyed reading Princess Academy for the second time. For now, I haven't quite decided on how I want to review this piece, so for now, I'll leave it with my chosen rating as well as a high recommendation to anyone who likes young adult, fairy tale-esque stories with a spunky little female lead. For those of us who are already Shannon Hale fans, well, I don't need to say much -- she is just so good at creating an entire culture of people in her books without simply turning them into background that speeds by. I love that in Princess Academy, you know only follow Miri's plight, but you also get to know everyone else around her as well.

I will try to collect my thoughts and maybe write a proper review, but I know I'll probably just leave it at this.

And now I'm looking forward (and ready) for the next book in this line: Palace of Stone!



View all my reviews

Thoughts on: Princess Academy, Chapter 1

"Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat."

To follow Shannon Hale's Squeetus summer book club for Princess Academy, here is the blog post for the first chapter she discusses:
Squeetus summer book club: Princess Academy, chapter 1

There was something about the visual from that very first sentence that made me like the book immediately. And the visuals continue with all the detailed descriptions throughout, describing the home that Miri lives in, the rest of the mountain, as well as the people living on the mountain.

One thing that I love about Shannon Hale's prose is her attention to detail (and lots of it) that let you see what's unfolding rather than just being told about action by one of the characters. The descriptions and analogies are awesome, and I only wish my vocabulary were that good.

The chapter begins with a narration describing life on Mount Eskel, a typical day, as well as diving into Miri's own personal belittle-ments (I know that's not a word, but whatever). The people of the mountain mine Linder for a living and almost everyone takes part in this work. Miri yearns to join her father and the rest of Mount Eskel in the quarry for this important work, but for her whole life, has been denied the opportunity. And because of this, she has always felt small and worthless (talk about a belittling complex).

We get a lot of visualizations of the beauty that is Miri's home village, from the quarry to the homes, and even the surrounding scenery. We meet a lot of the village girls immediately (also with strong visual descriptions unique to each girl) and then we even get to learn about Quarry Speech.

The chapter right away leads us into the main plot device of the book after giving a rather smooth, quick introductory of Mount Eskel and its people. We even get to meet Peder Doterson, a young boy who would be Miri's love interest, as we note the descriptions of how Miri feels those changes taking place like a school girl and her first crush. Of course, this side romance is set aside for later when the Princess Academy is formed and Miri, as well as all the young girls aged twelve to seventeen, will be taken to the Princess Academy to prepare for the Prince's decision.

Not being able to see each other all the time equals: no main romance. But for this particular plot device, it works even for a hopeless romantic like me.

I don't really have much to say about the first chapter that I didn't already say. It's very well paced and I am forever in love with Shannon Hale's prose and style. Of course, at times the dialogue reminds me that this book was written in the form of a fairy tale since a lot of the speech seems too formal and too unnatural to be "the way people actually talk." This isn't a book based on modern day society after all, so it's appropriate; it's more of an historical fairy tale type of book.

The humor, however, could be very easily lost on a lot of people. I, personally, am a person of dry sarcasm or smack-in-the-face simple humor. When you create a character who likes to make people laugh, the most difficult task is making sure that what this person says and does actually comes across as funny. Unfortunately, not everyone finds the same things humorous; and while silly stories about Bena's grandfather smashing a fly against his mouth and leaving it there might sound strange and cute, it may only elicit a laugh from few.

I like to think that, sometimes, when the character isn't purposefully trying to be funny... that's when the hilarity ensues. It's a natural humor that only seems funny because of the seriousness of the situation attached to a single sentence or moment that just stands out like a tickle.

For instance: In Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days there is one particular scene that had me chuckling. Dashti is fretting about the entirety of the situation wherein she and her lady are stuck in a tower with a depleting supply of food because now there are rats creating havoc. On top of that, Dashti has decided that escaping the tower and facing the guards who may no longer be present again is better than facing a starving death. And so in her writing she denotes the following:

Day 920 

[...] Just now, rat meat sounds as tasty as winter antelope. 

Day 921 

Rat meat is not tasty.

What really got me about this particular entry was simply the way it was expressed. You have one day where she is exclaiming that rat meat sounds tasty and the very next beat (the next day) she confirms that rat meat is definitely NOT a delicacy. Maybe the entire context of the situation needs to be read to get the humor. I don't know; call me strange, but I found it funny as I also find a lot of Dashti's narration entertaining and humorous at all the right places. For the most part, it's because she is stuck in such a dire situation, but still has time to be sardonic about it.

But anyway, I digress...

As I already mentioned, the biggest factor of a Shannon Hale book that won my heart has always been her attention to detail and her smooth descriptions. The details, even the littlest of details, shows a reader that this author is indeed paying attention to the characters, setting, and culture she's created to go along with the story. It's not just the story line propelling the characters and the reader along, it's the little things that make you forget that you're reading a fictional telling of a bunch of characters "doing whatever the author has decreed." In Shannon Hale's case, her characters are typically living the stories to completion rather than just being dragged along for the ride.

First chapters are hard to write; if not done properly, it doesn't give the reader that hook that's necessary to continue on. While a lot of us have patience to give the book at least three or four chapters before dooming it, others don't have that kind of time. And so in terms of a first chapter scale which managed great introductory as well as plot progression and descriptive story telling, I would give Shannon Hale a rather high score. The first chapter isn't an immediate hook, but it doesn't drag on the set-up and is written beautifully.

****

The rest of my book blogging about Princess Academy will not necessarily be a chapter at a time, dependent on my mood and convenience. I'm probably going to try to read and enjoy it normally (and slowly) but I won't be blogging everyday just for the sake of blogging. I'll probably end up batching up a few chapters at a time every Monday or something like that (whatever works my fancy).

Thoughts on Princess Academy, by the chapter

I don't really fancy myself a book blogger. In fact, even with my other blog (which is on a bit of hiatus, sadly) I still don't think of myself as a professional review blogger. Everything that comes out just ends up being my own personal opinions, packaged in as nicely a format as I can manage.

And that's that.

For some back story...

I first picked up Princess Academy about three, maybe four years ago at a local Target. My best friend and I love to roam around the store at random moments and look at things that we won't be buying. We peruse DVDs, CDs, books, magazines, and different household items with our own color commentary about who uses this stuff, what use it would become if we bought it, and whether or not it would rate high in our own consumer ratings. With DVDs we would tell each other what kind of movies are good and which ones we have seen and which ones we want to see.

It happens like this a often and repetitively, but it was a nice, lazy way of wasting away the rest of the evening after dinner.

And then sometimes we end up in the book aisle and silently walk around.

I'm a book nerd (as everyone probably has guessed). Whenever you lead me into a book section of a store, it could be at least thirty minutes to the hour before I'm willing to walk away. If you take me to an actual book store, be prepared to spend four to five hours just looking at books with me while I decide what I want to buy and what I know I should spend money on. (Of course, some things have changed now that e-books are the big trend and I can very easily look up a book I want and buy it with a simple push of a button. SO DANGEROUS for my book addiction.)

Anyway, I came across Princess Academy at Target and couldn't help but be drawn to it in every way that makes you know you want to buy that book, on the spot. First off, the cover was pretty attractive, even if quite simple. Its perfect as a young adult, fairy-tale-esque type of story book. Next, the title was just interesting the moment I read it: "Princess Academy. Now that just screams all sorts of adventurous fun with a large group of characters and a learning experience." If you know me well, you know that I'm particularly keen on story lines that boast a sort of "youth group get together" feel. Multiple characters of the same young age living together in a boarding school-like plot device makes for some of the most colorful, entertaining, fun character interactions. (Case in point: Harry Potter was one of my more favorite fictional world settings.)

If it's one thing about a story that draws me in, it's the character interactions. I'm a firm believer that in order to bring characters to life, you must allow the characters to propel the story in their own way, not let the story itself dictate how the character's life will end up. It's sort of a foil to the "Writer is God" idea.

But then again, I' man amateur writer at best, so what do I know?

Coming back to Princess Academy, the final factor that had me excited about the story, was, of course, the overall summary. And this is where the excitement of this adventure begins a new chapter for me.

***

A few months ago, I came across the announcement of Shannon Hale's newest book, Palace of Stone, hailed as the sequel to Princess Academy. Immediately, I was drawn to it. While Princess Academy might not be my favorite Shannon Hale book (Book of a Thousand Days is my favorite), it is still a beloved Shannon Hale read that I really enjoyed. In fact, Princess Academy is the first Shannon Hale book that I laid my hands on, so it's got its own memorable value.

So I'm excited for the new sequel to be release in August (among many other things) and with the upcoming release, I came across a proposed Princess Academy book club activity from Shannon Hale's blog. Each day in July, she will read one chapter of Princess Academy and do an "author's commentary" for all of her reader fans to follow along with.

And I thought to myself, "I had planned on rereading Princess Academy to prepare myself for Palace of Stone's release anyway." And since I wasn't sure how I'd incorporate Princess Academy into my slightly hectic book and drama series itinerary, this was actually a really good proposal. I could follow along, read a chapter at a time (maybe two or three), and slowly have the entire book re-read by the time its sequel is released. At the same time, it doesn't cut into any other books I'm reading, AND I can take a little time out of my day to give a quick summary slash opinion of what I'm thinking.

I've already read the first chapter, but since Ms. Shannon Hale won't be starting her part until tomorrow, July 2, I might give it until tomorrow to post my first set of thoughts on Chapter 1, just so I have time to collect my own thoughts and do a comparison.

***

In other news, my work days are getting quite chaotic (with overtime and my trying to figure out when to sleep since I'm trying to include a routine work-out schedule as well). There are also some family issues happening, involving my grandmother, a total knee replacement, and lots of family visitation.

Finally, one of my best friends will be arriving in town this week for a few days and so there are more things I'm looking forward to as well as some things I'm not too keen on.

I'm keeping myself excited and preoccupied with the two leisurely activities I love the most: reading books and watching Asian drama series. I'm keeping myself updated on what new books will be released when and what new Asian drama series and/or movies will be accessible soon.

Other than that, life has been pretty monotonous, but at the same time, peaceful and fulfilling.

Looking forward to a new book: Palace of Stone

Goodreads Page

Sequel? Where was I when this was announced?

Ahem... Let's not answer that question, because I know where I've been for a while. And we'll leave it at that. There is very little news or commentary about what this sequel to Princess Academy will be about. Either that or I'm not looking hard enough, but I'm still very excited about it. Ever since I first discovered the cute little book and it's cover as my very first Shannon Hale delight a few years ago, I've been in love with all of her work.

To date, Book of a Thousand Days remains my favorite Shannon Hale book, and possibly one of my most favorite of all books I've ever read. She does an excellent job infusing young adult material with fairy-tale fantasy with a side dish of romance and adventure. It just hits all the right spots and it's also a bonus that her writing is so witty and detailed as well.

And now a sequel to Princess Academy? I'm ecstatic and waiting for the moment that I can add it to my collection. The conflict, do I want to buy it in e-book format first or physical book format first? If it's really that good, I'll have it in both formats, much like I have Book of a Thousand Days in my Nook as well as in paperback (it is, so far, the ONLY book I have bought twice).

Princess Academy was the very first Shannon Hale wonder I picked up, so hopefully the sequel will be just as wonderous! Here's looking forward to it!