Maus

Maus: A Survivor's Tale
Vol. I -- My Father Bleeds History
Vol. II -- And Here My Troubles Began
By Art Spiegelman
Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., 1991

Just when you think you've made up your mind about a certain genre, a book comes along and changes your entire view of said genre -- or at least begs you to take a closer look.

I say this because I long ago dismissed comic books as a cheap substitute for the real thing. Call them "manga" or "graphic novels" if you will, but I much prefer books whose text pages outnumber the illustrations. Most comic books I have found have been mindlessly violent, poorly drawn and/or written, or a combination of both. Even most of the Star Wars comic books fail to grab my attention (check out the first issue of Dark Horse Comics' Empire series, "Betrayal" -- Vader looks like he had a run-in with a pile driver, and who'd have thought blasters and lightsabers could make such a bloody mess?).

Then I found Maus, a two-volume graphic novel about author Spiegelman's father Vladek, a Polish Jew who survived the horrors of Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Maus simultaneously tells two stories -- that of Vladek's life, family, and struggles to survive in an increasingly anti-Semitic Europe; and that of the author interviewing his father in 1980s New York, where the two of them share a turbulent relationship.

What makes this story different from so many other accounts of the Holocaust is that, not only is it presented in comic-book form, but that the characters are presented as animals. The Jews are depicted as mice, the Germans as cats (naturally). Americans are dogs, Frenchmen frogs, Polishmen pigs, Swedes reindeer, a gypsy woman a fly, and so on. But this is by no means a Disney-fied retelling of the terrors of Auschwitz. On the contrary, the raw, rough look of the black-and-white illustrations and the eerily expressive faces of the characters are as powerful as the story itself.

I am happy to say that Maus was nothing like I expected. Spiegelman has made no attempt to sweeten the story in order to make it easier to swallow. I found Maus to be at once powerful, heartbreaking, brutal, hopeful, and shocking. Yes, even more shocking than watching a luckless mercenary get messily decapitated by a lightsaber.

A final warning -- this book is not for children. Yes, they probably see worse violence in most manga, but the violence of Maus is of a different nature, and there are also brief instances of nudity and explicit language.

Hoot

Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen
Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House, Inc., 2004

I think books targeted at young adults get a bad rap. I have heard many complaints regarding the YA genre -- too cutesy, badly written, sacrifice style for cheap thrills, don't provide insight like more "mature" novels do... you get the idea. And yes, the genre has its share of less-than-fantastic works. But I find that a well-written YA novel can be just as entertaining, stylish, well-written, and even insightful as any other book from any other genre. And Hoot is a great example of this. I have to say this, just to get it out of the way -- Hoot is a hoot.

In Hoot, Roy Eberhardt is still trying to adjust to his family's recent move from mountainous Montana to flat, humid Florida (in his own words, "Disneyland's an armpit compared to Montana"). And as the new kid, he has to put up with the typical new kid bullying. But for once he is thankful for Trace Middle School's goon-in-residence for smashing his face against a school bus window... because it allows him to catch a glimpse of a boy running down the street with no backpack, no books, and weirdest of all, no shoes. Once out of the bully's clutches, Roy is determined to find out who the Running Boy is and what he is running to or from. His search will result in encounters with Beatrice (an athletic schoolmate with a lousy home life and jaws like a wolverine), a down-on-his-luck police officer, outhouse-inhabiting alligators, poisonous snakes with weirdly sparkling tales... and a community of burrowing owls whose very lives are threatened by the impending arrival of a pancake-house franchise.

This is Carl Hiaasen's first YA novel, and I surely hope it isn't his last, because his screwball wit and lightly satirical style are just what the genre needs. His characters are quirky without being ridiculous (you've probably met stranger in your own neighborhood), and he manages to touch on the subject of ecology -- and even stir sympathy for our rapidly vanishing wilds -- without turning Hoot into a preachy "Save the Earth" novel. This book had me laughing out loud more than once, and I look forward to re-reading it.

Life of Pi

Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
Harcourt, Inc., 2001

For those who not only enjoy reading, but consider it as vital to life as food and water, books offer various degrees of nourishment. Some books are little more than a piece of candy popped into the mouth -- a quick breeze through the pages, and you're satisfied. Some books are a decent snack, something to indulge in for a few hours and enjoy before moving on to other things. Some books are a good meal -- they stick to your ribs, so to speak, their taste lingering in your mind for a long while afterward.

And a select few books, like Life of Pi, are a rich banquet that leaves you feeling completely satisfied and yet hungry for more all at the same time.

I do not exaggerate -- Life of Pi is perhaps the best book I have read in a long time, Eldest and Dark Lord notwithstanding. Author Yann Martel claims the book is a true story (though most libraries file it under "fiction"), yet there is an element of the fantastic about it, making it less a biography or memoir and more a modern-day fable or an updated version of the Odyssey. It is one I will definitely read again... and again... and again.

Sixteen year old Piscine "Pi" Patel, the son of a zookeeper and a practicing Hindu, Christian, and Muslim (yes, all three at the same time), has lived a relatively quiet life in his homeland of India, concentrating on school, religion, and animals. This quiet life is disrupted when his family moves to Canada -- taking the animals with them to sell to zoos in the United States. En route to their new homeland, the ship sinks, leaving Pi as the sole human survivor. But he is not alone -- he shares his lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi's struggle to survive is unique to say the least, for not only must he obtain food, water, and shelter from an unforgiving sea, but he must somehow master the tiger if he is to survive.

Pi's epic tale of survival and faith is many things at many times. Ghastly and harrowing, yes. Heartbreaking and bleak, yes. But even at the worst of times there is a sense of hope, deep faith, and even humor that suffuses Pi's story. Richard Parker is portrayed neither as a brutal mindless monster nor as a cuddly Disney sidekick, but as a character as fully fleshed and worthy of respect as Pi himself. And the bond of respect, and even friendship, that boy and tiger form is as deeply moving as Pi's struggle to survive.

I laughed and cried reading Life of Pi, and I can almost guarantee that you will too. And yes, deep inside of me, there is a strange hope that this story is not fiction, but truth.

Saint of Dragons

Saint of Dragons
by Jason Hightman
HarperCollins Publishers, 2004

I admit to having a weakness for most books with a dragon gracing the cover. But in the case of Saint of Dragons... let it be known that this book wins the unofficial Starflight Award for Ugliest Dragon on the Cover of a Young Adult Novel. Cover issues aside, however, this is a fast-paced fantasy adventure that will keep the reader turning pages to the very end. The intended audience is teen and preteen boys (obvious from the amount of sword-and-dragonfire warfare that takes place), but I believe even adults will enjoy this foray into a modern world populated with not-your-typical dragons.

Simon St. George, a quiet outcast from his peers, lives in a boarding school in New England. He has no memory of his parents... so is, needless to say, rather surprised when a ragged, half-mad man on horseback snatches him away from the school's Halloween party and reveals that not only is he Simon's father, but they are the last living descendants of the fabled Saint George and humanity's last hope against dragonkind. For the dragons are not simply winged beasts anymore, but living among humankind, causing despair and destruction wherever they go. Simon finds himself sucked into his father's madcap quest to eliminate dragonkind, before the mightiest of the dragons can unleash a deadly plan that could mean the ultimate destruction of the human race.

One of the greatest strengths of this book, strangely enough, is weakness. The heroes are not the typical "perfect" image we have come to expect in dragonslayers, but have faults. They miss shots, clash tempers, and in general, act human. The dragons are each vividly described and are appropriately nasty. And even the minor characters -- Fenwick the fox, for example -- are endearing enough to stay with the reader long after the pages are closed.

Eragon & Eldest

Eragon
by Christopher Paolini
Alfred A. Knopf, imprint of Random House, Inc., 2003

Eldest
by Christopher Paolini
Alfred A. Knopf, imprint of Random House, Inc, 2005

The only reason I picked up the first book of the Inheritance trilogy was because of an Eragon poetry contest my grandmother informed me of (I never found out if I won). Well, the fact that there was a big blue dragon on the front had some pull as well, never mind the old adage about books and covers. But after only a few pages, I found myself drawn into the world of Alagaesia as few literary worlds have ever drawn me. It's a bold mix of elements from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and The Dragonriders of Pern, but with fantastic creative touches on the part of author Paolini. And the story is even more incredible when you realize that Paolini was only nineteen when Eragon hit the New York Times Bestseller List.

Eragon starts off with a bang -- almost literally -- when a weird blue stone appears in a flash of fire and magic almost at fifteen-year-old Eragon's feet. At first Eragon plans to sell the stone to buy food for his family, but plans quickly change when a beautiful, telepathic dragon hatches from the "stone," and when two eerie strangers arrive at the village seeking Eragon. When tragedy strikes his family, Eragon flees with Brom, the village storyteller, and Saphira, the dragon now bound to him, to fulfill a greater destiny than he could have ever imagined. For Alagaesia lies in the grip of the mad dictator Galbatorix, and only Eragon and Saphira, as the last of the Dragon Riders, can overthrow him. As Eragon progresses, and throughout Eldest as well, Eragon travels the land and encounters many allies and foes -- Durza, the evil Shade who controls the army of Alagaesia; the Ra'zac, the twisted henchmen of Galbatorix; Angela, the eccentric witch, and her wisecracking werecat Solembum; the gruff but friendly dwarf warrior Orik; and Arya, an exotic elf woman and Eragon's love interest.

Though much of this book will remind readers of epic works by other authors (especially Tolkien, McCaffrey, and Lucas), Paolini still manages to make his work fresh and captivating. Eragon and Saphira are fully realized characters, complete with flaws and fears, and the world around them is equally fully realized, with careful attention to detail. Both books gripped me for hours at a time, and I found it difficult to put either book down. My one nitpick is that many of the names, especially of locations, and words from the various languages of Alagaesia are difficult to pronounce, but luckily Paolini has provided a pronunciation guide and, even better, a translation glossary in the back of each book.

I look forward to the third and final (?) book in Eragon's saga with great anticipation.

Happy reading, and se onr svedar sitja hvass! (May your swords stay sharp!)

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader
By James Luceno
Del Ray Books, 2005

You knew there'd be a Star Wars book somewhere in here, didn't you? Do not -- I repeat -- do not read this book unless you have seen Revenge of the Sith, as this book drops you relentlessly into the middle of a galaxy reeling from the events of the aforementioned movie, and a reader who is not familiar with the movie will be quickly lost. Stop reading now if you haven't seen the film, as the rest of this review will contain spoilers...

The story centers mainly on two characters -- Darth Vader, the Emperor's new Sith Apprentice who is still grieving for his losses and bent on vengeance against the Jedi at all costs, and author Luceno's original character Roan Shrynne, a Jedi Knight who is blindsided by Order 66 and finds himself on the run with a headstrong Master-less Padawan and a gang of ragtag smugglers (one of whom is an uncomfortable link to his past). As Shrynne struggles to survive in a galaxy that has suddenly turned against him and finds himself questioning the very Jedi Order he served all his life, Vader hunts him at every turn.

Personally, I would have liked to see a little more attention given to Vader and less focus on Shrynne (the story is titled Dark Lord, after all, not Runaway Jedi). But that doesn't make this book any less powerful, gripping, or haunting. We see something in this book that the original movies hinted at but never had a chance to really show -- Darth Vader, not as a full-blown villain, but as a tortured man still in agony over his decisions and betrayals, still coming to grips with what he has done and what he has become (The book also describes, in cringe-inducing detail, the life-support armor he must wear and his reaction to it, which explains some of his behaviors in the movies). Passages devoted to other characters, such as Bail Organa and our favorite droid duo C3P0 and R2D2, provide additional insight into their characters -- especially Bail's, a blessing as his character was never really fleshed out in the prequels. Despite my earlier complaint, Shrynne's character is intriguing to explore, as he grapples with the realization that the Jedi Order was played, betrayed... and quite possibly flawed. And Palpatine, who expertly moves the characters about like chess pieces on a carefully arranged board, is granted due page space as well, and his thoughts regarding Vader are enough to make you want to give the Dark Lord a hug... or just go take a shower.

A must-read for Star Wars fans, and worth looking into for anyone else. But watch Revenge of the Sith first.