4 1/2 Stars Average
Here we are, yet again at another end of a series for my mission. Ha. I think I am slowly conquering my bookshelf, at least the YA series of mine.
This time, the series I read was the Pellinor series. They are The Naming, The Riddle, The Crow, and The Singing, by ALISON CROGGON. I really enjoyed this one. A lot. It was almost closer to an adult book than a YA.
I liked the format, even if it wasn’t in first person, but that’s okay. It was well done. The writing was something you could find in a myth. The story was so engrossing. The pace was well set. The idea was executed so nicely.
I remember first picking up this book in the library, because it stood out amongst the thin spines of all the other novels. It was in hardcover then, and I remember whipping through it with ease, loving the story. (I had a thing with female heroines, as I think that most girls did/do. I mean, c’mon, we are quite the species, and we don’t always need men to fight for us.) I also liked that she had flaws. Some characters in novels are polished to the point where all you see is a glowing figure ready to save the world. And is that really relateable?
I also liked that there was one big mission that had to be done. And the bad guys had a reason to be bad guys. They also had a history, a long, hard, history that gave them a reason. The idea of what they believed in was also different. Light VS Dark has been used before, but this was used in an unique way.
What I did not like. Hmm. For one, the wait for all of the novels. It took a year or two for them to be released in Canada after they were released in Australia and the US. That really bugged me, and that was something I had to fight through. Knowing that it was out there, but I had to wait to get the book.
I also think that the last book was perhaps a little rushed, and not as strong as the others, even though it needed to be stronger. After all, it is the ending to the story. Then again, it might have been me rushing through, because this is only the second time that I have read the final novel. It takes adapting for me, every time a new book that is part of a series comes out. It feels out of place, and does not seem to meld with the story. That’s okay. Third time (hopefully) will be a charm, and it will flow right in with the others.
The Naming
A slave. That is what Maerad has been for the majority of her life. In Gilman’s cot, a rough and tumble place where the only reason she has lived as long as she has is because the slaves there are convinced that Maerad is a witch…and Gilman thinks that if somebody kills her, she will haunt him the rest of his miserly life.
But that all changes in a moment. When Maerad finds a stranger in the cow byre, she finds out that she has a secret…and a choice. She is a bard. She can escape with the stranger, and live the life she was supposed to have; learn magics, cooking, music, all of the things people her age have done. When she escapes with the stranger, she finds that this may have been more than what she was expecting…
Powerful and written with myth-like creativity, The Naming is a novel you won’t want to to miss.
Author: Alison Croggon
Published: March 14th 2006 by Candlewick (first published 2001)
Page Count: 528
ISBN: 0763631620 (isbn13: 9780763631628)
The Riddle
Maerad and Cadvan have been able to fight through and escape the Dark’s clutches…now they are on a mission for the Treesong, which they think will lead the Light to the defeat of the growing Darkness. But all is not well with the two. After all the travel, things are starting to get strained between them. But when a tragedy strikes, they both find out how much friendship really means, and what love can do.
Author: Alison Croggon
Published: August 8th 2006 by Candlewick (first published August 2006)
Page Count: 512
ISBN: 0763630152 (isbn13: 9780763630157)
The Crow
Hem is a not-so-average Bard. After all, he is an orphan, had a horrible childhood, and only recently accepted Bards and the Bard that is inside him. While his sister is off searching in the north, Hem ends up with his own problems; the Dark is attacking the city, and he is watching it crumble before his eyes. But there is something he can do…at the possible expense of his life.
In the thrilling third book in the series of Pellinor, this novel will be just as thrilling as the other two.
Author: Alison Croggon
Published: September 11th 2007 by Candlewick
Page Count: 528
ISBN: 0763634093 (isbn13: 9780763634094)
The Singing
In the final novel of Pellinor, this is the final showdown between the Light and the Dark. And it’s hard to tell what side is wining. Disaster is ravaging the country, monsters and shadows are chewing the land, and now there are only a handful of people who can save the Seven Kingdoms from a dark and devastating fate. And it all rests squarely on Maerad’s shoulders.
But she has a weapon that nobody else can play…and nobody else can save.
In the thrilling and fast-paced end to the winning series, The Singing is bound to satisfy.
Author: Alison Croggon
Published: March 10th 2009 by Candlewick (first published September 1st 2008)
Page Count: 470
ISBN: 0763636657 (isbn13: 9780763636654)
Alright, so now we go onto the next YA adventure…
Author: Arthur Golden
Published: November 22nd 2005 by Vintage (first published 1997)
Page Count: 502
ISBN: 1400096898 (isbn13: 9781400096893)
