Review: Shadow Scale

I greatly enjoyed Seraphina. Dragons, half-dragons, and an entirely new world to settle into and become familiar with--who could ask for more? So I was thrilled when the sequel came out, so excited to be part of that world again and to see how Seraphina grew and became herself by the end.

Some of the reviews for Shadow Scale indicated that the narrative would be disappointing, and so I was a little nervous going into the reading that I might come out of it feeling that something was missing. What I experienced, though, was exactly the opposite.

I loved this book, the dragon-lore, the scope and breadth of the plot (from gathering the ityasaari to the war between neighboring kingdoms), and most especially the high and low places that Seraphina's character walks through to come into herself fully and freely.

What I wanted, to see Seraphina become strong and independent, worthy of love and of loving, was exactly what Rachel Hartman delivered. Her last line "I walked myself into the world" perfectly encapsulates the journey that Seraphina traveled from those first pages until the end. For me, the story was always about that.

Thank you again, Ms. Hartman, for sharing Seraphina with us.

The last 10 YA books I read

Not counting the various manuscripts that have rolled across my desk in recent weeks, I read as much as I can in the YA category. My favorite genre is fantasy, but I have been known to read contemporary novels as well. I find reading what's somewhat current in the category of YA important to keeping my developmental editing skills sharp.

I recently had to list the last 10 YA novels I read along with a couple of sentences about what I liked or didn't like about those books... and I thought I'd share them with you! Have you read any of these books? Tell me what you thought of them!

The Bitter Kingdom, Rae Carson (third book in the Girl of Fire and Thorns Trilogy) - This last book of the trilogy was a bit of a letdown for me. Overall I enjoyed the story, but I felt like Elisa's character development took a back seat to the plot and, when THE THING that she thought made her special was taken away from her, instead of breaking down and being reborn, she had a couple of sullen days and then never really considered it again. I had hoped that Elisa would have a more explicit struggle with finding her self-worth separate from her godstone and so, while the plot resolved well, I still felt myself wanting something from the character arc.
The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan (second in the Lady Trent Series)- Marie Brennan's, or more specifically Lady Trent's, narrative voice is what draws me to these books... I mean, aside from the dragons! The world building in this story is fascinating and learning through the eyes of a witty, strong female protagonist makes these books a pleasure.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie - I asked my friends to recommend books that dealt with the current racial climate in the US and someone recommended TATDoaPTI to me. This book was not at all what I expected. The protagonist was painful and broken and motivated and unique and fascinating. I genuinely cared about what would happen to him and enjoyed being able to see through eyes so completely different from my own.
The Iron Knight, Julie Kagawa (fourth book in the Iron Fey Series) - This fourth book in Kagawa's series seemed inevitable. Ash's story needed resolving and had to be resolved without Meghan. And yet... I wanted Meghan... I wanted more romantic tension (similar to the other three books). Ash's voice just didn't do it for me, although the interplay between him and Puck was entertaining.
The Iron Queen, Julie Kagawa (third book in the Iron Fey Series) - I loved watching Meghan grow into her own in this novel. Others complain about her whiny nature throughout the series, but I felt she was extremely relate-able. And I loved the romance! Also, Kagawa's take on the land of Faery and the summer and winter courts was rich and vivid. 
Battle Magic, Tamora Pierce (Circle Reforged #3) - I read Will of the Empress by Pierce and was eager to re-enter the world she had created, so I grabbed this book from the library and devoured it. I love her characters, so full of nuance, and I love the magic systems in this series.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jesse Andrews - This was another recommendation from a friend that I enjoyed, if cringingly... most high school boys are... painfully awkward... and were definitely written that way in this book. After having read TFiOS, the "dying girl" in this story didn't carry the same weight, but I thought that the character development of the protagonist was worth the time I put in to read it.
Crown of Embers, Rae Carson (second book in the Girl of Fire and Thorns Trilogy) - Carson did a great job of raising the stakes and pushing the romance in this book. I ate it up and was so excited to read the third book and find out how Elisa was going to save her kingdom and her lover.
Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo (third book in the Girsha trilogy) - These books fascinated me from start to finish. The Darkling was the yummiest, most horrifying villain I've read in a while, equal parts seduction and terror... Alina was an interesting and flawed heroine... and the pseudo-Russian landscape was so enthralling and different! I loved it. Great series.
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green - I read this because it was such a big deal in the YA scene, not because it's my normal fare. That said, I found Hazel very sympathetic and yes, I cried... more than once... while reading the story. Green wrote a compelling story about sick teenagers who were just trying to live normal lives, without holding back or being afraid to take risks. I can see why it was a hit with the target audience.

6 Questions with James Hunter-Shortland, Fantasy Cartographer

Today I'm excited to share with you 6 questions with fantasy cartographer James Hunter-Shortland! Thanks for sharing with us, James!

Would you please describe what a fantasy cartographer is for people who might not know? Who needs this?
A fantasy cartographer is essentially an artist who makes maps of fictional places or time periods. We're not to be confused with "proper" cartographers, who create maps of Earth using techniques such as GIS (geographical information systems) - they train for a long time and their work is more of a science than an art (though they might disagree). Fantasy cartographers are mainly semi-professional and self-trained. As far as I know, there are no courses or qualifications you can go out and get if you want to create fantasy maps.

The main communities who need fantasy maps are fantasy authors and RPG companies/creators. Sometimes video game developers will have a need for a fantasy map for their game (think Elder Scrolls, Witcher 3, Dragon Age) but most have in-house art teams who will design those. Recently, another cartographer was commissioned to design a tie-in map for the movie After Earth. I was even contacted by an individual who needed "old map" sets of slides for a corporate presentation. So there are lots of possibilities and you never know where the next request is going to come from.

How did you get started doing fantasy cartography? and Why?
I pretty much stumbled into fantasy cartography out of necessity. I was about twelve when I started writing a fantasy novel and realized I wanted a map to go with it. I had grown up with great stories like The Hobbit, LOTR and a series called Redwall, all of which featured these beautiful old style maps inside. I started out imitating my favorite maps, with nothing more at my disposal than a piece of paper and a pencil. Over the years I started to experiment with graphics software. My earliest experience of Photoshop and GIMP was taking movie posters, applying various effects to them and changing the layout. Eventually, I realised that if I could import my maps into PS/GIMP, maybe I could get a better final result than I could achieve by hand.

I don't remember when or how, but at some point I came across the Cartographer's Guild, which is a fantastic online community of fantasy cartographers. There are so many great tutorials on there for all kinds of styles of maps. I started tearing through those tutorials to see what kind of maps I could make. Up until a couple of years ago, I was only making maps for my personal writing projects. It's only recently that I started to make maps on commission.

What's the easiest part? What's the hardest part?
That's a tricky one! I'd say the easiest part of making a map is working out where everything goes and how it all fits together. For example, mountains are like the backbone of a continent and everything else flows down out of them. Rivers are at the mercy of gravity, so they always take the least difficult path, which is usually downhill and around obstacles, not through them. Forests grow around rivers and lakes and so on. Once you get all the rules straight in your head, it becomes easier to know how everything needs to be set out.

The hardest parts, at least for me, are labeling (place names) and anything that requires me to draw anything more than mountain and tree markers! Firstly, map labels are time consuming as there are usually a lot of them. And drawing - I'm a horrible "traditional" artist. While some fantasy cartographers are also great at painting or drawing, I really focus on using digital applications to achieve all my effects. That isn't to say I don't do any manual drawing when I design a map. I do own a graphics tablet which I use to draw in landmasses, create geographic markers and to shade/add in fine details.

What's the most fun project you've worked on recently?
Projects are always a heady mixture of self-doubt, fun and perseverance. There are elements of certain projects I have enjoyed hugely and there are others that I have hated with a passion. There are two projects that come to mind where I really had a fun time.

First was my entry to the One Page Dungeon contest (this year was judged by Ernie Gygax, the son of the late Gary Gygax), "In the Vault of the Howling Palace". I made this weathered paper type thing that was designed to be a page from the journal of a master thief. Needless to say, I didn't win in any category, but I really enjoyed designing that page.

Second was a map called Tar Ebon which I made on commission for author Dayne Edmondson. He had this huge write-up for his world that he emailed to me, which I really enjoyed reading and helped me shape his map. I just really love the colors and the feel of that map - it's a world that I would really love to explore.

How can people contact you if they want to know more?
For more, you can visit my website, The Fantasy Cartographer, or head over to my deviantArt page. I also recently launched my Facebook page so I'd really appreciate some Likes!

What are you currently reading? (Or what's the last book you read?)
I'm currently reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and really enjoying it. I also devour non-fiction history books - if there's a castle or a Roman, I'm sold!

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Thanks so much, James!

Review: Stardust

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This was NOT my favorite Neil Gaiman book. In fact, this was the first Neil Gaiman book I read, and almost the last. I liked it that little. I found the setting and the characters to be hollow. The naming convention he used for the villains made them more flat than they might have actually been.

I put this book down with a "harumph!" and moved on to other things, determining never to read anything by Neil Gaiman again. Then... after following him on Twitter, and really coming to know more about Neil's creative life, I decided to give him another try. I picked up American Gods... and since then have fallen in love with Neil and his worlds of fantasy. I still haven't tried to read Stardust again, and probably won't. But I find that I can forgive him for that book, since the larger body of work he has produced captivates me so.



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