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thistlechaserSo last night every single FFXI server went down. As that happened in my busiest point of my on-game time, I was pretty darned annoyed. I tried to reconnect for a while, then (realizing how tired I was) I grabbed my new book and went to bed early.
Wolf Brother was compared to Harry Potter in many reviews (which was the reason it caught my eye to begin with), but once I read a summary of the story, I knew I wanted it for its own merits.
Set in prehistoric times, Torak and his father live alone in the woods, away from all the other clans. An attack by a (possessed? evil? rabid?) bear kills the father, and 12 year old Torak is left on his own with his promise to his dying father that he would make a journey that could stop the bear.
Doesn't sound much like Harry Potter, does it? The similarities are mostly on the surface (and I can't go into them without spoiling), but that's not a bad thing. This book stands strongly on its own. The writing is just amazing (leagues and leagues ahead of JKR's -- it's the kind of thing where you'll be reading and have to pause to admire a sentence or some image just a couple of words conjure). And the story? Before I turned the first page, I was caught by it. Though I was already so tired and short on sleep, I read half of the book last night. And even when it was so late and I knew how tired I would be today, I didn't care! I wanted to keep on reading!
The single thing I didn't like about the book is a very funky thing: Single quotes are used for dialogue. I kept hoping we'd get a reason for that, but as I'm now halfway through the book, it seems as if there's not one coming. Isn't that an odd thing? I've seen a few fanfics using single quotes for dialogue. Is it some sort of style thing? Or some British thing? (Michelle Paver is from England, I think.)
The book is currently being reprinted and the new copies aren't available yet. You can get a copy of the original printings here. If you want to preorder the new version, you can do it here. I highly recommend it!
Wolf Brother was compared to Harry Potter in many reviews (which was the reason it caught my eye to begin with), but once I read a summary of the story, I knew I wanted it for its own merits.
Set in prehistoric times, Torak and his father live alone in the woods, away from all the other clans. An attack by a (possessed? evil? rabid?) bear kills the father, and 12 year old Torak is left on his own with his promise to his dying father that he would make a journey that could stop the bear.
Doesn't sound much like Harry Potter, does it? The similarities are mostly on the surface (and I can't go into them without spoiling), but that's not a bad thing. This book stands strongly on its own. The writing is just amazing (leagues and leagues ahead of JKR's -- it's the kind of thing where you'll be reading and have to pause to admire a sentence or some image just a couple of words conjure). And the story? Before I turned the first page, I was caught by it. Though I was already so tired and short on sleep, I read half of the book last night. And even when it was so late and I knew how tired I would be today, I didn't care! I wanted to keep on reading!
The single thing I didn't like about the book is a very funky thing: Single quotes are used for dialogue. I kept hoping we'd get a reason for that, but as I'm now halfway through the book, it seems as if there's not one coming. Isn't that an odd thing? I've seen a few fanfics using single quotes for dialogue. Is it some sort of style thing? Or some British thing? (Michelle Paver is from England, I think.)
The book is currently being reprinted and the new copies aren't available yet. You can get a copy of the original printings here. If you want to preorder the new version, you can do it here. I highly recommend it!
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no subject
Date: 2004-09-16 08:53 am (UTC)Pretty consistently, books I get from over there are like that.
So, just a thing. Like center vs centre.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-16 09:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-16 09:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-16 10:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-09-16 04:46 pm (UTC)The Lord Of The Rings has single quotes for dialog as well; I suspect it's a British thing.
no subject
Date: 2004-09-17 09:08 am (UTC);)