The Way of Kings

 

By Brandon Sanderson

 

Reading this book reminded me of The Screwtape Letters. At one point Wormwood’s affectionate uncle Screwtape offered the young demon a particular temptation that has always stuck with me.

“You should always try to make the patient abandon the people or food or books he really likes in favor of the ‘best’ people, the ‘right’ food, the ‘important’ books.”

 

I don’t know if anyone will ever consider The Way of Kings to be an extremely important book.  It is a 1,000 page beginning to what appears to be at least a 10 book series of fantasy novels.  This usually means that a certain group of people who are fans of the genre will eat them up, while everyone else barely knows of their existence.  The prose is pretty straight forward (more on that later) and while there are elements of politics, racism and religion at play, the book doesn’t seem to be trying hard to make a point in any of these areas.

It’s just a lot of fun to read, and I find that very refreshing.

Don’t be fooled, this is not just a quaint little story.  Sanderson is creating a new world of his own here, and it looks to be big.  What is revealed in this first book evidences a long history, diverse cultures, and a unique environment which itself looks like it will be playing a major role in the plot as the series develops.  Sanderson gives us enough detail so that we have a feel for this world, but one can easily see that he is holding a lot back, and I don’t fault him for that.

This brings me to his prose.  Usually when I see a book this big, I expect a lot of it to get bogged down in overly long descriptions of characters and places or internal monologues within the mind of a character that more than anything serve as filler.  However Sanderson doesn’t let his writing get in the way of his story.  The plot moves forward quickly, jumping between multiple story lines in a way that effectively held my interest.  He does provide plenty of descriptive details, but these are stretched out throughout the story rather than just dropped in a big lump whenever we meet something new.  I found myself changing the internal images I had created of different characters and settings multiple times throughout the story.

I wouldn’t say the story all that original.  Sanderson does use a number of clichés often found in fantasy or adventure novels, but has given them enough of a twist that I found them interesting.  Like I said earlier, reading this book was just a lot of fun.

I know what you may be thinking, “Yes that’s all well and good but I’ve read this supposed review of yours and I still have no idea what the book is about!”  So sorry, let me get to that.

There is a world full of stuff and people are fighting and stuff and there is a guy who got in trouble over some stuff and now has to carry stuff and this girl who wants to learn stuff so she can steal stuff and an older guy that is in charge of a bunch of stuff and they are all connected in a great big story.  Also it is a fantasy book so there is magic stuff.  To learn more read it yourself and enjoy!

By Mr. Willis

Because of Winn Dixie

Written by Kate DeCamillo

India Opal Buloni moves to Naomi, Florida, with her preacher father, the summer she is 10 years old. Her mother left when she was three, and ever since then she has been lonely and without friends. One day Opal befriends a stray dog, and names him after the store she found him in – Winn-Dixie. With Winn-Dixie’s help, Opal finds herself making some additional friends – old Gloria, who is nearly blind, Miss Franny Block, the librarian, and Otis at the pet store.  This is a story for anyone who wonders if they’ll ever have a friend, or needs someone to love them, or just loves dog stories.

By Mrs. Titus

Regarding the Fountain

In this story by Kate Klise, what Dry Creek Middle School needs is a plain, functional drinking fountain to replace its leaking old one. What it gets is Florence Waters, impresario fountain designer who has in mind something exotic. This rollicking story, told entirely through letters, memos, newspaper articles and transcripts, escalates into a hullabaloo.

By Ms. Frankie

The Titan’s Curse

Ever since the Harry Potter Novels became a national phenomenon, other authors have begun to imagine schools that are a little out of the ordinary.  Rick Riordan takes that idea into the world of Greek mythology.  The result is a rather unique collision of very old characters and a surprisingly modern setting.

In this particular episode Percy receives a distress call from his good friend Grover.  Rushing to his rescue Percy soon learns that he is involved in a plot involving 2 new powerful demi-gods, a missing goddess, and rumors of a creature powerful enough to take down the might Olympians.

In the world of Percy Jackson the Greek gods still maintain a supernatural world that is in many ways separate from the world of regular people.  At the same time, these gods have not fallen behind with the times.  They’ve traded in robes for suits and chariots for muscle cars.  With this unique combination Riordan creates a world that is rich with Greek mythology while at the same time accessible to young readers.  As this is the 4^th novel in the series I highly recommend reading them all.

By Mr. Willis

Rissa Bartholomew’s Declaration of Independence

Many of you may remember a former GCMS 5^th grade teacher, Ms. Rosie Brill. Lynda B. Comerford, the author of Rissa Bartholomew’s Declaration of Independence, is her sister. With the beginning of middle school approaching, Rissa finds she has very little in common with her old friends. As she soon discovers, being true to herself isn’t always easy. The characters and situations are true-to-life and will resonate with readers. Every middle-school-age girl picking up this book will see herself within the covers.

By Mrs. Titus