A Curse Dark as Gold

Elizabeth C. Bunce's A Curse Dark as Gold takes on the Rumpelstiltskin tale in a new way. 

Charlotte, our heroine and eldest of two recently orphaned girls, inherits a mill that may be cursed. but she scoffs at the curse, at the idea of the curse, and tries to carry on with determination and hard work.

Bunce's characters are well developed, but some of them, quite often Charlotte, do things that made me want to reach in and strangle them. There's only so many times weird and bizarre things can happen and a character can ignore them.

But the book isn't bad. Rumpelstiltskin is perhaps my favorite fairytale, if only for the many opportunities to fracture it so thoroughly. The Rumpelstiltskin character is presented not without compassion, and it's not Charlotte's firstborn he's asking for. And Charlotte's love interest (husband) is not a stupid, greedy king.

Good job, Bunce, it was a fun read.



Blue

A fun, quirky, mystery with magic, hidden worlds, and obviously skeletons. This book was thoughtful, funny and intelligent. I enjoyed reading this. The characters were believable and complex. Their sarcastic humor made me happy and made me giggle. Sorry I'm not giving more information about this book, but I want you to approach as I did, with no prior knowledge. So go read it.

Brown

This is the fourth book in the famous Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. This book revived my interest in the series. It may sound negative, but it is true. I liked the first one, the second was okay, but after I read the third one I said 'that is enough of that series'. Then Goodreads stepped in.

So I picked up the fourth book. And it might have helped that my husband is a huge fan of the series. I was skeptical as it started in the White Tower. I'll admit it. I don't like the Aes Sedai. I like Elayne, Nyneave, and sometimes Egwene and Moiraine. But all the rest I don't like. I had forgotten that Min had been sent as a messenger their and I was pissed when she got pressed/forced into staying after delivering that message. Not a good way to start the book.

But I kept plodding. And half way through the book the story lines diverge as people go their own way. And then things got really interesting. Bad guys showed up and they weren't exactly determined to destroy everyone that particular moment. That gave the villains flavor and a dash of reality. Especially when the villains also made mistakes.

I don't want to give spoilers away to those who are interested in reading this series, so while Jordan's writing can be Tolkienesk, his characters have blossomed and become beautiful and I want to read the next book.

Brown

The Crown of Embers

I checked out The Crown of Embers by Rae Carson, sequel to The Girl of Fire and Thorns, from my local library, and I'm not sure I'm happier for it. This book is annoyingly good, and I mean that in the way that the third/final book isn't out yet and now I've got to wait a year.

First off, Elisa, our main character and heroine, continues to do a spot on job of being our main character and heroine. She's not perfect, she makes mistakes, but she is human and she does grow stronger. We get to see how she has grown (in character, because she hasn't regained her former size) in the months since the first book ended.

Where The Girl of Fire and Thorns was exciting adventure all new and oooo, this is kingdom building, power relationships, and digging for the history and reasons of this world. Many old characters show up, some that you'd expect, others are a surprise. We also get to meet new characters: ones we like, ones we're surprised to like, and more. Carson does to ruthless, sneaky people well.

Even the love story isn't overplayed or too... much. It's something that, if you're paying close attention and aren't crying to much over the particular deaths in the first book, you can catch a glimpse of at least a hundred pages before this book starts.

On whole, this is a sequel I was not disappointed with. I did want to shout and turn the book a little, but all actions and character decisions played out well. I must now wait for the final book in the trilogy, and will be re-reading both previous books while I wait.


Blue