The Plaid Pladd

This weekend was pretty awesome as far as books go. First I read:

Which I decided to read since I liked Fly By Night so much. As always, Hardinge’s world-building is superb, this time bringing us to the island of Gullstruck, covered in jungles and slave to the whims of its many volcanoes. From many of the native tribes on the island come the peculiar Lost, a group of people whose senses are not tied to their bodies and who can therefore send their sight or hearing drifting miles away from them at will. Hathin thinks she occupies one of the lowliest places in this world in her starving village, one of the hated and feared Lace Tribe. It’s her job to make sure no one ever finds out that her sister, Arilou, famed as the only Lost among the Lace, is not really Lost at all, but “wander-witted”. Or is she? This point becomes especially murky when all of the other Lost mysteriously die at the same time one night, and everyone blames the Lace and Arilou in particular. Hathin and Arilou flee their village to trek all over Gullstruck fleeing their enemies (an evil traveling dentist; racial prejudice) and amassing allies (a group of revenge-seekers; an elephant bird; a governor who’s a little too obsessed with sacrificing ridiculous things to his ancestors, like soap; volcanoes). I don’t think I identified with the characters as much as in Fly By Night but the sense of place was well worth the read.

You should read this book if:
1) You sometimes feel totally invisible in favor of a sibling
2) You like your messages about racial prejudice in an exciting format
3) Sentient volcanoes!

Next up:

I liked this, but I also felt like the book I was reading was three drafts away from being complete and I would like the final copy a lot better. This is the first in a series, so maybe I should read the sequel and see how I feel. Basically, Stephanie is a normal 12-year-old when her uncle dies suddenly and leaves her his house and fortune. It’s there that she meets some men who are trying to kill her for unclear reasons and one of her uncle’s old friends named Skulduggery Pleasant. He’s a mage, private detective, and skeleton. They end up on a quest through Dublin’s magical underbelly to save the world from an evil maniac sorcerer who wants to use your basic Magical Doomsday Device to bring back Evil Ancient Gods Who Want to Destroy Humanity. The Good Part: Skulduggery Pleasant is pretty bitchin. The Bad Part: Stephanie is the main character. It’s generally a good choice to not write a book from the point of view of your most kickass character, but you can tell that Landy really, really wants to, to the point where you have something I’m titling the “Watson-Holmes Effect”. Holmes is clearly the superstar of that pairing, until the point where Watson is hardly even a character anymore in terms of plot, but rather someone who can remark often about how great Holmes is. Also, Stephanie is annoying. I can’t tell if I would have thought so when I was in this book’s target age group or not, but I think so. She’s the particular kind of irritating that some people think makes them sound precocious and mature. Also, there is a point where you can have TOO MUCH banter (shocking, I know).

You should read this book if:
1) Terry Pratchett’s books about Death are your favorite
2) You are all about unattributed dialogue
3) You have always dreamed of choosing your own name

OH RIGHT. That’s the other thing. So in this world, you have three names. The name you were born with, which you probably don’t know but would recognize on some unconscious level, the name you were given, what your parents named you, and the name you chose. A fake name you made up that protects your other two names from being used in spells against you. The name is also supposed to be some kind of reflection of who you are deep inside or something. Hence Skulduggery Pleasant, Nefarian Serpine, China Sorrows, Mr. Bliss, Ghastly Bespoke etc. Guess which one is the bad guy. And when dear Stephanie finally gets around to choosing one for herself: Valkyrie Cain. I bet there are real people out there named Valkyrie, but I also would be unable to take them seriously. Unless they were also a Warrior Mage Princess Sparklpire Unicorn-Riding French-Speaker. Who was a mermaid.

However, on the plus side, I cannot stop thinking about ridiculous things I should name myself. You know, if Pladd is out.