Rex Cresting by Chrystalla Thoma

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:04:01 -0400

I finished Rex Cresting months after reading Rex Rising. My introduction to the series was part of a free promotion, and I had found it refreshing amongst the trash that was being offered. What drew me about Rex Rising was the fact that we didn’t know everything. What was Elei’s goal? Was Hera good? Who could be trusted? The characters were dynamic, the setting unique, and although I found a few stylistic flaws, I was incredibly pleased with it and ready to read Rex Cresting. Here we are, months later due to other priorities, reviewing Rex Cresting, which I read last night. The review will mainly consist of a comparison to the feelings Rex Rising evoked.

First of all, there are only three events in the book.[SPOILER: Breaking out of the hospital, hanging out in the safe house, and getting Hecate’s box.] In Rex Rising, we were constantly running and endangered and it was loads of fun. For a good chunk of the book, we were recuperating and strategizing here. There was little improvisation and last-minute changes. In fact, the last chunk of the book was therefore the most refreshing to me.

[SPOILER: There’s no betrayal! I was waiting for Kalaes or Alendra to turn out to be evil. Someone has to turn out to be evil. Sacmis’ return was refreshing, but it came too late to be savored.]

I knew things before Elei knew them, and not by my own smarts. One thing I loved about Rex Rising was that you were always guessing, and there were shocks at the same time you felt Elei’s shocks. We knew about Asine before Elei knew about it, and when he found out about it, it was suddenly not as dramatic.

[SPOIlER: I shipped Hera and Elei! Alendra, you’re ruining my pairing!]

But, I was incredibly satisfied considering the points below:

There was still a whole bunch of guessing and uncertainty, especially in regards to the characters. Maybe it was just carryover from the betrayal in Rex Rising, but I was constantly reading between the lines and building up my analysis of “Who do I trust? What do they know that I don’t know?”

Also with the characters, I love the development of character relationships. There’s so many complications, and none of them are straight out of the book of characters. [SPOILER: Alendra, ehhhh. But we’ll see in the upcoming books.]

I was really scared for half of the book. When Elei and his gang go for life-threatening, they really go for life-threatening.

The setting, the parasites, and the culture that evolve around the Seven Islands is still a subtle thing I admire. The whole idealogy is again, incredibly sophisticated and unique, and one of the reasons I am in love with the series.

A note on the flaws I believe to be flaws: This could’ve been a bridge book. If you read a lot of series that have 3-5 books, the even books are usually always the bridge books. We have to solve this problem here, and develop the characters a little here, before we reach <i>Equilibrium</i>.

We’ll see how long it takes me to get to Rex Equilibrium. I can’t wait to see how the story develops into the origins.

Personal Notes Below:

I finished this book a day later than my weekly requirement. It’s okay, though. I spent Saturday frantically trying to read a book I didn’t want to read, and it turned out unproductive. I’ll catch up. I still have the rest of the week to finish a book . I’m not sure if it’ll be Lolita or God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. There’s a lot of resistance with Lolita. It takes time to read.

I also had a resistance with paying $4 for this book, mainly because of my sister’s blatant opposition towards paying for ebooks. Hopefully this’ll go away by the time I spend $5 for Rex Equilibrium. I can’t wait. I should get Prime.

Also, this review is incredibly different from my review of Cat’s Cradle. The book is much more relaxed, I’m not searching for the answer to life in it. I also wrote it in Notepad, instead of tumblr, I wonder how that changes it.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 03:28:00 -0400

I walked into Cat’s Cradle unknowing of the brilliance that is Vonnegut. I was browsing through the Classics section searching for some 20th century literature [that isn’t Kerouac] and chanced upon a collection of mid-life works of Kurt Vonnegut. I’d only heard his name before, and read a few letters, but Cat’s Cradle was the first work of fiction of his I read.

I didn’t realize this was a sci-fi novel. The first few pages reminded me of Ayn Rand, preaching me some philosophy that was self-made and obnoxious. I didn’t understand the point of going through the[se seemingly irrelevant] events of John’s life as a writer. I went as far as to almost skip the vignette on how ice-nine works! (If you haven’t read it yet, don’t skip that part!) I knew that I liked the book, I just didn’t understand how it all tied together. It was about page 130 (out of ~180, in my dictionary-styled collection) that I saw all of the events, information, and narration coming together. And boy, was it glorious!

The climax had me eager for the ending, but when I finally reached the final page, I was shocked at how sudden it was. This isn’t to say it’s bad, it’s actually quite good. I can’t help but feel that every line has an underlying meaning to it, especially the ending. To appease this, I definitely need to read more into the reasons for the book’s genesis, along with the philosophies and activism of the author, and come back for a re-read.

Overall, it was a quick read (3 days) that had so much more to offer than expected. It exhibits the brevity and cynicism that I absolutely adore in 20th century lit, and although the author bio starts with “Like his idol Mark Twain,” Cat’s Cradle is infinitely superior to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I never got to the end of that one.

Personal Notes Below:

Following along with how Ryan Holiday approaches reading, I wish I would’ve done the same with Cat’s Cradle. Sure, there’s a thrill in uncovering the ending as you read, but if I had explored beforehand, I wouldn’t have to re-read.

There are two books I’m reading this week, Lolita and Vonnegut’s next novel, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater. Lolita is going to take time, and I must digest it at an incredibly slow rate, for reasons I can’t explain. I’m going to try the Holiday method for God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, however. We’ll see how that changes things.

Sadly, I can’t highlight, as these are the library’s copies. Perhaps I’ll find an alternative method.

On Books.

Rex Cresting by Chrystalla Thoma

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut