Literary Feast Discussion: Eternal (pp.234-307)

Hi everyone! We've reached the final course of our Literary Feast -- Eternal, by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Brace yourselves -- it's a chatty discussion. Ready? Let's go!

Shel: I really like when Joshua says, "I'm bored. What is this, intermission?" (p. 235). Mmmm. Just the right hint of meta for my tastes.

Monica: I feel bad, but I sort of grew weary of the angels by the end of the book. Not Zachary, obviously, but the rest of them seemed all… manipulative and somewhat unhelpful. “Mwaha, we’re not going to tell you what you’re actually supposed to do.” “Blahaha, now you have to kill your girlfriend.” “Hee hee hee, well done, have your powers back.” And so on.

Shel: I was still pretty okay. I mean, how often does anyone get a clear message from god or his angelic minions? I liked that the guardian angels were trying to help through the other humans. I thought that was a nice touch. Not nice touch, though -- A spa? That's where Harrison's been? Really? I mean, I get the joke, but I'd have thought there should be more of an adjustment period to the vampire lifestyle.

Monica: I definitely just *stared* at the book when he said that. Not that I was hoping he was running crazed through the woods, eating small children and hiding from men with pitchforks, but hanging out at a spa just seemed too… tame. Seriously, though, I was under the impression that Miranda had taken a much longer time to Vampire It Up. Maybe Harrison adapted more easily because he had planned on it happening?

Shel: I'm with you! That transformation is not an easy process. And I'm guessing this is a small plot hole that we stumbled into. And how about that angel's blood? I bet Buffy could have used some of that. I still wonder if it would have tasted sweet.

Monica: Dude, that was AWESOME! Who saw that coming? I… should have seen that coming, but totally didn’t. I assume that it was the best tasting blood on the planet, and probably *almost* worth combusting over.

Shel: I like Freddy. He as good timing.

Monica: And he’s fun! And sassy! It’s nice that we’ve sorted out the Good Guy?/Bad Guy? issue, though, because that was confusing me back when he was introduced.

Shel: Plus, since I paused between readings for our postings, I totally forgot who he was for a few moments there. But than he amused me. Which is all I ask.

Monica: No lie, I totally want a werebear for a friend, now. Shel? Back me on how awesome this would be? (It does show that the vamps were getting pretty cocky over who they were eating – given the destruction Mama Bear and Papa Bear caused, you’d think they wouldn’t be the best enemies....)

Shel: If you find a werebear to be friends with, I will so want cuddle privileges! And to repeat werebear, werebear, WEREBEAR over and over again. Oh, and look, more stalker action. "Shower time was one of my favorites" (p. 290). And of course, it's closely followed by an implied "if you love me, you'll kill me." Do you think that'll skew anybody's sense of romance?

Monica: Yeah, you’d think being a Creepy Stalker would be frowned upon by Zachary’s boss, but… apparently not? I seriously do find it a little weird, because it opens up all sorts of moral pseudo-religious questions, like about the fact that except for having wings, Zachary seems pretty much completely human, lust and all. I almost wish he’d been a little more… Angelic. But then I suppose the fun of the book might have been nixed.

Shel: Yeah, I see what you mean. I think I'm going to have to go down as anti-lust for angels. Mostly because I don't want to worry about peeking tom shower angels. I don't have time for that batch of crazy.

Shel: Wait. My comment again. Does this story feel a little rushed to you? Like all the pieces are there, but instead of tensions building gradually I feel like sometimes we're getting dumped on and told key points that I would have preferred to learn myself. Like that Sabine would be willing to rebel against Drac. Does that make sense?

Monica: Yes. 100% perfect sense. The entire last section, including where Miranda is making allies and there’s this undercurrent of War and Takeover... it definitely was racing along breakneck. And then BOOM Drac is dead. And then BANG Miranda is dead. And then WHAM Zachary is… just going to sit and wait until he gets to see her again? (Oh, Miranda. If you thought it was bad being a virgin, and then bad being undead and a virgin, think how desperate you’ll be when you’re formerly-undead now-really-dead and a virgin.)

Shel: *Snort* The poor poor girl. Even her would-be boyfriend an ANGEL OF GOD has gotten WAY more action than her. Hmm. So I know this book wasn't quite what we had expected. But overall, whadidya think?

Monica: I give it three and a half out of five stars. I liked the idea, and the author writes beautifully, *and* there was a DS9 shout-out. Heart. But the ending especially, as we mentioned, seemed sort of OMG CAN’T SLOW DOWN!!!1, and I couldn’t quite recover from thinking this would be a ditzy fun book, only to realize it was actually a blood-stained pseudo-tragedy. That’s not the fault of the book, of course, only of my own original perception, but it still definitely impacted the way I read the thing.

Shel: I'm with you there. And I think your misguided perception may be based on my misguided perception that I shared with you. It just...seemed like goofy fun for those first two pages.... But looking at the jokes that I couldn't bring myself to laugh at due to all the horrendous imagery surrounding them, I do think I may have to give this book a second try. In a few years. Now now. And when does Blessed come out?!

Monica: I might have to read whatever her first one is, before I tackle Blessed. I’m wondering if she talks more about the werecritters in that one, since they seemed weirdly tacked-on in Eternal.

Shel: Yep, as far as I can tell, it will have a lot of werewolves. But alas, my copy of it hasn't arrived in the mail yet.

Whoo! Well, that's all for Eternal, friends! Hope you enjoyed the ride. Give us a moment or two to recover, and we'll have a new book picked out and ready for the next Feast. It'll be a good one. A really good one. A really, really really good one. Because, you know, I'm letting Shel pick it out. ;)

Literary Feast Discussion: Eternal (pp. 74-152)

Hey all! Welcome to the second update in our most recent Literary Feast -- Eternal, by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

As always, reader beware! There are spoilers below! ;)

Shel: Reading about Zachary eating egg rolls made me want some of my own. Why don't any of my local Chinese restaurants deliver? *Weeps*

Monica: See, I’m officially off food after having read that oh-so-delicious description of Miranda dipping pumpkin bread in the wannabe Slayer’s blood, fancy-restaurant style. Yick.

Shel: What's that now? I'd been blocking out that lovely image. But, it's interesting. There's still a lot of humor throughout this book, but because of the initial surprising dark turn (and the following dark spots) I can't seem to bring myself to laugh at any of the funny moments. Are you doing any better?

Monica: Oh, heck no. I mean yes, there are a few funny moments here and there, but you never know when it’s going to suddenly take a horrible, horrible turn for the worse. (“Why do they need tongues anyway,” anyone?) I’m definitely reading the entire book in a state of semi-terror, because I’m just *waiting* for Miranda to go all crazy and bite the face off a baby, or something. Maybe with Zachary in the picture, things will tone down / lighten up?

Shel: We can only hope. I do have a point of trepidation...maybe this will be revealed later, but why would Harrison let Zachary through knowing he'd had a stake. I don't understand!

Monica: THANK YOU FOR ASKING! I was so confused. Harrison’s just all, “Oh, stake. Aha. Not this time.” Maybe he assumes that anyone who doesn’t come armed is an idiot, but that doesn’t mean he’ll allow anyone to bring weapons in past the entryway? Maybe he’s just not all that dedicated to his job and doesn’t have the energy to throw stake-wielding people out of the house? Maybe – gasp! – he *wants* someone to assassinate Miranda? No, that makes no sense…. I’m going with not all that dedicated.

Shel: We shall seeeeeeee! Hmmm, Zachary handled seeing vampified-Miranda much better than I would have expected. I'd been envisioning double-takes, open-mouthed staring and stuttering.

Monica: He might still be hung over. I think a six-month bender takes a while to wear off.

Shel: Hahahaha! I really like that Zachary isn't afraid of her (not that he'd have reason to be). Vamps--excuse me--ETERNALS really do go on massive ego trips, no matter the story. It'd be nice to see more characters that put them back in their places.

Monica: I did have to laugh, though (for pretty much the first time so far) when Joshua materialized and had to almost physically restrain him from keeping the insults going. “No, Zachary. You are supposed to become besties with her. Not alienate her permanently.” Because let’s be honest, it would really stink if he got eaten this early on. I wonder what angel blood tastes like, PS? Or do you think he’s all human in the veins?

Shel: I think there's still a bit of angel in his veins. I bet angel blood would taste annoyingly sweet. It'd probably give a drinker a sugar-high. Mmmm, sugar. Well, I'm off to watch some old episodes of True Blood. Cause I can!

Monica: True Blood pah. Nothing beats Angel. ;)

Shel: Pah, if I want Joss at his best, I'll hit up Buffy.

Well, that's it for today, friends. Be sure to drop by on Saturday, when we'll be discussing the next section (pages 153-233). Can't wait to see what y'all think!

Literary Feast Discussion: Eternal (pp. 1-73)

Hi Cool Cats!  Welcome to our new literary feast.  This time around we're enjoying Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith and it looks like this book is going to dish out some surprises.

Our thoughts on the first 73 pages are below.  If you get a chance to pick up this book, we'd love to read your thoughts.

Also, keep in mind that there are spoilers for the book below.

ETERNAL (1-73)

Shel:  Monica, I was entertained from page one.  I have to admit, I've never given guardian angels much though.  I guess I always thought if they existed, they only show up in emergencies.  But now, I have creepy crawly skin.  Is one watching me while I type this?  *glances around*  While I sleep?

Monica:  Oh my word, DITTO on the terrifying fears of guardian angels watching my every move.  I think it wouldn't have been so bad, if they didn't immediately pull out the whole, "that one blessed weekend" where "she spent a full day in bed buck naked."  Zachary, that is creepy as anything.  Not only is she your guardian angel charge, but you've known her literally since she was born!  You have watched her every moment of her life, from infancy to now!  That not just stalkerish, that's... well, I was about to say incesty, but I think that's too harsh a term.  Definitely stalkerish though.

Shel:  It is icky, Twilight falling-in-love-with-a-baby-let-me-watch-you-sleep-without-permission stalker level.  We need a flashing red stalker warning to go with our posts.

Shel: Let's go in a less creepy direction...how do you feel about the shifting point of views?

Monica:  I like it, although I have to tell you -- my OCD is not having an easy time coping with the fact that sometimes a character's point of view repeats (like, a Miranda chapter and then another Miranda chapter).  I sort of feel like if they were going to do a back-and-forth, it should... stay back and forth.  Know what I mean?

Shel: I completely understand.  As I was reading, I found a trouble point as well.  I wish the story would have hinted about vampires existing sooner.  I would have liked that touch of world building from page one.

Monica:  Oh definitely.  Shifters too -- although I don't know if they'll play a particularly big role in this book.

Shel: Okay, I'm starting to get True Blood/Southern Vampire Mystery series flashes.  Am I alone in this?

Monica:  Why sugarplum, I have no ideah what you're talking about!

Shel: Hmm, this story has taken a dark turn.  I'd expected Miranda to remain human much longer.  Since I was so certain of that expectation, the reality feels a little disappointing.

Monica:  I'm not going to lie -- this book has completely thrown me for a loop.  I was thinking the whole vampire (I mean, eternal) thing would be more... romanticized.  And instead, there she is, snapping waiters' necks against a wall so she can get a better angle on the vein, and waxing eloquent on the visual effects of dropping people into fountains of holy water.  Yick.

Shel:  I guess it's a good contrast to some of the other paranormal romances out there....

Monica:  So, is it just me, or is Father getting increasingly creepified?

Shel:  Way creepified!  Normally I'd want Miranda to stand up and kick vampy-ass right about now.  But as the case may be, I guess I'm going to have to hope the stalker guardian angel starts stalking again.

Well, we'll have to see where Eternal takes us on Wednesday.  Then we'll discuss pages 74-152.  Hope to see you then.

REVIEW: Sunshine

McKinley, R. (2003) Sunshine
389 pages – 0425191788

Thirty Second Summary: Rae “Sunshine” Seddon, working as a baker at her family’s restaurant, knows that out of all the demons and creatures that plague the world, vampires are the worst. But when she finds herself trapped with Constantine, a powerful but imprisoned vampire, she must choose – allow Con to die, or risk her own life to save him?

Robin McKinley has the honor of being one of only two authors whose book my mother forbade me to read. (Apparently she objected to her nine-year-old daughter reading Deerskin. Evil rapist fathers what?) She has the second, and perhaps even more impressive, honor of being the only author whose book I stealthily checked out and read, secretly under the covers, despite not being permitted to by my mother. Oh, Robin McKinley. How I love you.

But anyway! On to the review! Of the book!

I want to throw in a bit of a warning right off the bat for anyone under the age of fourteen – there’s some sex in Sunshine (but not too graphic) and a modest amount of crazy, vampire-squishing violence. Oh, and a scene where an emergency magical medical session goes *so* wiggy and blood-splattered that Rae is forced to shriek that “this cannot be healing.” End warning.

I thought Sunshine was a ridiculously enjoyable read – and not just because of my aforementioned love o’ the author. The sense of “place” grabs you right off the bat. The characters inhabit a futuristic post-apocalyptic America which never existed, filled with zombies and incubi and wizards, where people tattoo themselves with protective charms and hang wards from the rear view mirrors of their cars. It’s the sort of world you’d want to visit, as long as you could get home safely afterward.

“You are not afraid of everything,” he said.
“Nearly,” I said. “I am afraid of you. I am afraid of me.” (P. 373)
This pretty much sums up Rae’s attitude throughout the book. There is never a moment when she is not completely and utterly aware of the danger she’s facing. Unlike some OMG VAMPIRE novels, she’s not blissfully unconcerned about Constantine and his eating habits. She recognizes him for the killer he is. Constantine, for his part, makes no attempt to cover up his own nature. Heck, he flat out tells her he’s going to eat her, the day they meet. “It is not hunger that will break me. It is the daylight. The daylight is driving me mad. Some sunset soon I will no longer be myself.” To be fair, he’d rather not, but you never know how far that willingness to not devour Rae is going to last.

As an unrelated aside, if you ignore the Vampires Eating People details, this book was *yummy*! I blame a decade of Redwall for embedding in me a mad love of food porn – curse you, page-long soliloquies of summer nut ale and giant wheels of cheddar cheeses – and Sunshine doesn’t disappoint, with its wild descriptions of chocolate chip hazelnut cookies, butterscotch brownies, Jamdandies, butter-soaked maple cornbread, muffins… I mean, listen to this! “I’d made my special cream-cheese sauce to go with the triple-ginger gingerbread. I’d long felt that gingerbread, while excellent in itself, was still essentially an excuse to eat the sauce, so I’d always made twice as much per portion as the original recipe called for. Then it turned out that some of our customers were even more crazed than I was, so I’d started making three times as much, and we served it in little sauceboats.” Honestly, friends, I never wanted a cinnamon roll more in my life than when I finished reading Sunshine.

Although a highly enjoyable and well-written read, it is the kind of novel that’s just screaming out for a sequel to explain the few but fairly important plot holes. Who, exactly, was Onyx Blaise? Why is Con so much younger-seeming than the rest of his vampirey brethren? The final few pages, however, are so enjoyable that I suppose it’s better if the story ends as it ends.

…

ROBIN MCKINLEY PLEASE WRITE A SEQUEL!!!

Love, Monica

Quotes of Note:

June Yanovsky had tangled with the school board because she chose to teach a section of classic vampire literature to her junior elective. She said that denying kids the opportunity to discuss Dracula and Carmilla and Immortal Death was in the same category of muddleheaded misguided protectiveness that left them to believe that they couldn’t get pregnant if they did it standing up with their shoes on. She won her case. (p. 39)

I didn’t think there was a word for a human so sicko as to rescue a vampire, so he could go on being a vampire, because no one had ever done it. Before. (p. 97)

The reason why, when you were thirteen or fourteen, you outgrew our fascination with the idea that a vampire couldn’t do you unless you let him is that you began to take in the fact that shortly after you said “Come and get me big boy,” you died. (p. 243)

”There are different ways of being what we are....” Something to talk to the academics about. Variability of Aging Among Vampires. Usage of Certain Words Pertaining to Daylight by Aged Vampires. Maybe I could get my pass into the Other Museum’s library after all. No, wait. I was about to die. (p. 332)

Tasty Rating: !!!!!

If you thought this was delicious, try:

Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce.
It’s all the delicious Moody Guy Who Can Kill You drama, with half the graphic violence!