Bartimaeus, and Falling In

[osprey_archer]

First, a question. Has anyone read Jonathon Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy? I read the first book and liked it well enough (yay footnotes!), but not so very well that I'm sure I want to commit to books two and three - especially given that the reading teacher who lent it to me said the first was by far the best.

But she also told me that Eragon was AMAZING, so I'm taking her literary advice with a grain of salt. So I ask you, dear readers: books two and three of the Bartimaeus trilogy? Worth the plunge?

***

In return, I give you - an anti-recommendation. Francis O'Roark Dowell's Falling In chronicles the adventures the intrepid half-changeling Isabelle Bean, who falls through a school closet into a magical land. Doesn't that sound like a promising set-up?

Except…except…once she's through the closet, nothing particularly magical happens. All Isabelle manages to do is learn some random herb lore and nurse people. Not to be demanding, but WHERE ARE MY MAGICAL WISH FULFILLMENT ADVENTURES?

What's more! Dowell is clearly aware of this problem! Every so often she pauses for a short meta chapter of commentary on the story, and one of them, I kid you not, is about how there's no adventuring going on, and what's up with that?

If you ever find yourself writing meta-commentary into your book about how boring your book is, that would probably be a good time to bring in a fire-breathing troll. Just sayin'.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

If you ever find yourself writing meta-commentary into your book about how boring your book is, that would probably be a good time to bring in a fire-breathing troll.

I WILL remember this!

Actually, something like that came up for me. I'm in the process of expanding Pen Pal, right? And that means developing and fleshing out some secondary characters. But NOT letting the secondary characters (who are new to me, and therefore intriguing to me) overwhelm the primary ones. When I found myself trying to wrench the story back to the main characters, I knew I had gone down a wrong path.

(I took all that out and now it's Better.)

As for Bartimaeus, I have no advice, except to say that the healing angel likes them... but he also liked Eragon. So. I dunno.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

If I see a fire-breathing troll in your stories anytime soon, I am totally demanding credit. :p

Secondary characters do that ALL THE TIME. They show up! They have new stories! Their stories are exciting! I think, "If I don't tell their stories now then they may NEVER BE TOLD." And then I rip the story from its moorings, end up with about sixteen main characters, and become so discombobulated that I quit 30,000 words in.

Does he merely like Eragon, or does he think Eragon is AMAZING? There's an important difference.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

He definitely doesn't think it's amazing--in fact, he's stalled out on finishing the third book--but when he goes through a phase of reading it, he gets really into it. But not as into it as he's into books he really likes.

His favorites have been the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series (an ice-age fantasy series), the Percy Jackson books, and the unpublished novel of Sherwood's and Rachel's, which he beta read. (He LOVED that)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

the unpublished novel of Sherwood's and Rachel's

He got to read that?!?!?!? I am sooooooooo jealous!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

He was the target age and a boy, so they were really interested in what he'd think :D

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

If you ever find yourself writing meta-commentary into your book about how boring your book is, that would probably be a good time to bring in a fire-breathing troll.

Very good advice, indeed. :)

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Would that it were that easy to follow, right? It's all very good to talk about fire-breathing trolls, but then you toss one in and it goes clomping all over your beautifully crafted plot, and then it eats the heroine's love interest and thus your romantic subplot, and...