Suggestions Anyone

So, with the more hectic parts of my year over, I'm hoping to dive right back into blogging. But I'm not sure what the readers want to see. If we have any readers left that is *big eyes*. So are there any suggestions out there? I listed a few of the things I was thinking about below. Check yes or no (awful country song allusion right there):

• Participating in one of those weekly things. Like Waiting on Wednesdays or Teaser Tuesdays or whatever they are called. I'm awful with names.

• Having a contest sidebar

• Posting more often

• More reader interactive posts. Like this one! But, you know, more fun...

• An author guest blog (I know that a lot of blogs do these so I don't want to seem like a copy cat. But I always enjoy reading them!)

• Being more active on the myspace

• Being more active on other people's blogs. If you want us to read yours, just leave a comment! I lurve new bloggerzzzz...

• Any more posts from our fab Maelstrom meetings?
  

So those are a few of the things I was pondering. Any ponders of your own? Or comments on the ones I have up there? Or should we just keep trucking along like we have been?

Hoping for lots of replies,
Aella


BS (Blog Script)- That last question solidified my fears that my use of euphemisms has officially mirrored my grandmother's.

Chanda's Wars by Allan Stratton

A more serious review from the Maelstrom for a more serious novel. After reading Mr. Stratton's book I have gained a precious insight into the trials of a nation and time torn by poverty and internal abuses.

Six months have passed since the untimely death of Chanda’s mother. Alone, but for a misfit group of friends on her street, she must raise her siblings (aged 5 and 6). All the same, motherhood is a difficult occupation and it isn’t long until she must run to the family that once betrayed her when she had need of them most. But there are more dangers out in the bush than relational dystrophy. Rwanda is split down the middle by a horrific civil war. When the cruel general Mandiki kidnaps Chanda’s brother and sister, she must summon all of her bravery and courage to save them from a horrific life as child soldiers in the rebel army.

Chanda’s Wars was written with a great deal of passion. And truly, that is the only way to write a novel dealing with such enormous (and real) issues. While not among the best-written books I have ever read, the story it tells is important enough that it should be read to educate if not to entertain. Some scenes of graphic violence (many involving children) may be found disturbing. But the ultimate redemption of this novel was in Chanda. This character is unforgettable in her strength and drive and her simple, bold understanding of complex matters is inspiring.

I bestow 6.5 lightnings on this novel and encourage you to find and read it at the earliest convenience.

Somewhat Subdued but Inspired,

*Aella Siofra*

*Edit- It appears that there is a book preceding this in Chanda's story, known as Chanda's Secrets. I was not aware of its existence when reading the sequel and believe anyone to be fully capable of reading Chanda's Wars without first reading Secrets. Sorry for any inconvenience.*Aella*

'Tis Swordy...

When the first two pages of a book have to do with rabid animal-types and the cover shows a focused warrior you know that you’ve picked up a sword book. I am perhaps a little obsessed with sword books. These are the novels that have saber/rapier/broadsword/general Drizzt typhonicism. And to add to the brilliant, it was just one element of the first novel in The Twelve Kingdoms series, entitled the Sea of Shadow by Fuyumi Ono.

Thankfully the novel lived up to both cover and sword. Yoko is a somewhat normal Japanese girl (other than that crimson hair), haunted by dreams beyond her comprehension and perfectly satisfied with playing the innocent daughter and gifted schoolmate. But then a strange man arrives, shoves a sword in her hand, touches her foot to his head, and implodes the windows of the teacher’s conference room with a storm of glass shards that leave her hardly scratched. Things will never be the same again.

Yoko finds herself battling it out with demons and transported to a world she doesn’t understand. A world where 12 kingdoms (no. really?) exist that haven’t even heard of Japan and blame the recent destructive storms on Yoko’s arrival. The people appear to speak her language but are decidedly not Japanese in features and want nothing more than to deliver her to the nearest magistrate for a fate worse than death. No one can be trusted. As intrigue builds around our heroine and she seeks out the truth in a universe where children grow on trees, she unknowingly enters into a glorious destiny.

The culture built by Fuyumi Ono is detailed and spun with silver thread into the lore of China and Japan. Impressive fight scenes abound, beautifully described creatures crawl from every page corner, and the heroine develops admirably through the upheaval. Originally written in a manga-like form there is that constant underlying sense of the epic legend, accompanied by fantastic inked drawings that appear every now and again. Happily, the sequel comes out *checks calendar* TOMORROW! If it counts for anything, I am quite eager.

KRRRRRACK! SWHOOM! 6.5 Lightnings out of 7! Cheerz...the sound effects are back!!

I wantz a sword,

*Aella Siofra*

Nobody's Princess

Many grow up on Greek mythology and Homer’s epics if they’re from a household of bibliophiles. I was one of those little girls who stood in front of my mirror and pondered, will I ever look like Helen? Cinderella was ever the afterthought. But as I grew out of my princess phase I maintained a fascination with all things Greek and with the immortal creatures of legend, whether made that way by birth or beauty.

Nobody’s Princess by Esther Friesner is the excellent antithesis to Helen’s centuries of girly-girl portrayal. The Spartan princess is shown as stubborn, fierce, witty, and awkward. This novel gives an insight to the background of a girl far from perfect and sometimes, far from beautiful. Helen begins her story in Sparta, an attractive child hemmed in by life with her spiteful twin and a society that doesn’t allow women to rise to great heights unless on the wings of gods or marriage. Through her own youthful cunning, the Spartan princess discovers her good looks and a fierce determination to provide a great queen to her people. Her self-discipline carries her to places that even a princess would not usually dare go. And what better way to rule Sparta than by the sword?

But all plans for such domination are forgotten when the opportunity arises to accompany her sister to the land of Clytemnestra’s betrothed. This move pushes Helen into a whirlwind of gender prejudices, court politics, and the ever-strong fear of the gods. All the same, our undeniable heroine battles through to conquer and walk the fine line between her gawky adolescence and a destiny that would bring cities to their knees.

Nobody’s Princess is written with brazen ferocity and impeccable research. The characters are likable and real and the setting is well detailed. Greece and all its conflicts lay at your feet with this novel. The flaw most prevalent is that the plot would probably prove difficult for a short time to readers unfamiliar with basic Greek histories and mythology. My only other complaint is that it ended far too fast. Now I have to wait until April 22^nd for the next. * le sigh *

All in all, I was quite satisfied with this book and how it portrayed Helen. So I doth be bestowing upon it a 5.7 out of 7 LIGHTNING STRIKES *insert sound effects here* (first time with the new rating system. Deepest thanks to all our valiant voter-types). Now someone just needs to write a book focusing on Cassandra of Troy and come up with an equally grr... cover.

Being fierce and applying for citizenship to Sparta,

*Aella Siofra*